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More Than Darkness	By : SaMe Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time In Mexico Views: 4591 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the movie that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-1
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 27-27
- 28-28
- 29-29
- 30-30
- 31-31
- 32-32
- 33-33
- 34-34
- 35-35
- 36-36
- 37-37
- 38-38
- 39-39
- 40-40
- 41-41
- 42-42
- 43-43
- 44-44
- 45-45
- 46-46
- 47-47
- 48-48
- 49-49
- 50-50
- 51-51
- 52-52
- 53-53
- 54-54
- 55-55
- 56-56
- 57-57
- 58-58
- 59-59
- 60-60
- 61-61
- 62-62
- 63-63
- 64-64
- 65-65
- 66-66
- 67-67
- 68-68
- 69-69
- 70-70
- 71-71
- 72-72
- 73-73
- 74-74
- 75-75
- 76-76
- 77-77
- 78-78
- 79-79
- 80-80
- 81-81
- 82-82
- 83-83
- 84-84
- 85-85
- 86-86
- 87-87
- 88-88
- 89-89
- 55
- 56
- 57
�Is this what normal people do?� Jeffrey
muttered as they looked at yet another SUV.
�Can�t we just pick one and buy it?
How about that one?�

�I don�t like the color,� Salida said, looking at the white
vehicle. �It just screams �getaway
car.��

Jeffrey rolled his eyes at that.
�Okay fine. No getaway cars. How about that one?�

They looked through a window. �It
has black leather seats. Won�t that get
hot?�

�For fuck�s sake, Salida. Just pick one. Please,� he begged her desperately. His desperation increased when he saw a
salesman headed their direction.
�Fuck. We�ve been spotted.�

�Are you going to kill him?� she asked sotto voice, adopting a bored
look.

�Can I? Please?� he asked in a
bright voice.

�No,� she hushed him. �I don�t
want any more ghosts bothering me.�

He let out a suffering sigh, but nodded.
�Spoilsport.�

�We want a luxury SUV with tan leather seats in some kind of shade of
green or red. Money is no object, but you�re
not going to talk us into things we don�t need.� Salida roughly listed out what they were
looking for before the salesman could do so much as extend a hand in greeting.

�I love a woman who knows what she wants. Don�t you?� Jeffrey said with a smirk as he
shook the man�s hand. �You can leave now
unless you have what we�re looking for.�

�I, uh . . .� the salesman took a moment to regain his bearings before
speaking. �If you�ll come with me into
the showroom, I�m sure I can find what you�re looking for.�

�If you can�t produce it in five minutes for a test drive, we�re going
to another dealership,� Salida said in that same bored tone of voice as she dug
in the proverbial spurs.

�Yes, ma�am,� the salesman murmured and scurried off to find help before
she could say another word.

�Are you sure I can�t kill
him?� Jeffrey asked as he turned to her.

�Yes.� She mock-glared at him.

�Positive?� he asked, moving closer to her and reaching out a hand to
run his fingers along her side through her shirt slowly.

Salida stared blankly for a moment, then shook herself back to
reality. �Yes. If you need to do that, go take care of it
tonight.�

�Will you come with me?� he didn�t know what possessed him to ask, but
it was too late to stop himself now.

A look of uncertainty crossed her face.
�Why?�

�Forget it.�

�No. Tell me.� Looking around, Salida determined that they
still had a few minutes of peace and quiet.

He took a breath. �I like it when
you watch. I like the attention. I like sharing it with you.� I want
you to like it too.

�I guess I don�t mind doing that,� Salida said slowly. �As long as I only have to watch, and as long
as we get our shopping done first. New
cars don�t come with plates.�

�You would do that for me?� he asked, moving even closer still.

�The list of what I wouldn�t do for you is a very, very short one,� she murmured, meeting his eyes.

�Oh really?� he asked, hearing the salesman come running back with what
sounded like keys in his hand. The
little bastard had done it. Or so it
seemed. He didn�t move away from her,
and in fact, moved even closer to that he could whisper in her ear. �If this is really going to be our new car, I
think it needs a proper christening.
Don�t you?�

Salida�s heart stopped and the more than apparent desire in his
voice. Unfortunately, they were
interrupted before she could answer her husband.

�Do you �� The irritated woman
interrupted before the Todd wanna-be could get any farther.

�Yes, we�ll take it for a test drive.
Thank you.� Salida snatched the
keys and pressed them into Jeffrey�s hand.

�Like I said. She knows what she
wants,� Jeffrey told the bewildered salesman as they headed over to the car he
had vaguely gestured to. Don�t
worry. I won�t break it,� he said with a
wink. Before the man could even hope to
form a response to that, Salida and Jeffrey were already in the car, and it was
leaving the parking lot at speed.

****************************** ***
******************************

After ten or fifteen minutes of
driving around the city in silence, Salida turned to her husband. �What did you have in mind?�

�You. Naked on the tan leather
that you so specifically asked for.�

�And your timeline?�

�As soon as I can find a place to fucking park.�

�A remote place, I hope,� Salida murmured, unbuckling her seatbelt so
she could turn in her seat and touch him.

�Remote enough,� he murmured, heading out of the city into the
surrounding bayous.

�Very remote,� she agreed. When
she reached to unfasten the buckles of her overalls, Jeffrey stopped her with a
sharp glance.

�Don�t. My job.�

�You don�t believe in equal opportunity?� Salida asked, her voice a
little breathless.

�Not when it comes to undressing you,� he said with a shake of his
head. �But I tell you what. I�ll let you do the same to me. That equal enough for you?�

�Yes.� Sitting on her knees, she
leaned over and started kissing the side of her husband�s face.

�You�re going to make me wreck the car that�s not even ours yet, Vixen.�

�Then stop the car already.�

He stopped.

�Are we off the road?� she asked between kisses.

�We are now,� he said, turning off the car and putting on the parking
break before turning to intercept her.

They kissed passionately for a few minutes before Salida broke
away. �Backseat,� she panted, reaching
for her door handle.

�I�ll race you,� he murmured, getting out the car before he realized
that his seatbelt was still on and cursing to unbuckle it, practically spill
out of the car, slam the door shut behind him, and meet her in the back seat
where their kissing was resumed with hands fumbling to touch and to remove
clothing.

�God, I�ve missed this,� Salida hissed as Jeffrey broke the kiss to bite
at her neck.

�I have too,� he responded between passionate nips at her neck and the
underside of her jaw. He couldn�t get
enough of the taste of her skin, it seemed.
He nipped and bit his way across her skin as his hands moved to caress
her full breasts through her overalls for a few long moments before his hands
moved to unhook her overalls and push them down.

�Shirt,� she insisted, pulling at the hem of his. Once it was off, she sent her hands questing
over his chest, her nails alternately scratching lightly and dragging harshly.

He arched under her questing hands for a long pleasurable while before
responding tit for tat and removing her own shirt and bra in one movement and
immediately lowering his head to latch onto one of her nipples with his teeth
and lips.

Salida cried out, her hands flying to his head and winding themselves in
his hair. She pulled his head up without
thinking, knowing only that that had been too rough.

�I�m sorry,� he gasped between shallow breaths, his voice thick with
lust.

She gifted him with a one-sided smile.
�You didn�t know. Just be a
little more careful.�

He nodded, and moved himself out of her hands to kiss the side of her
neck, intending to mark her, while his hands moved to caress her breasts
gently, but not so gentle that it dampened her arousal any.

�Ever done it in a car?� she grinned up at him as they maneuvered
themselves so that she was lying back on the bench-seat.

�You know what? I don�t think I
have,� he said as he pulled her overalls down and off of her legs so that she
was indeed lying naked on tan leather.
�Just what I wanted,� he said with a grin.

�My hair is still pulled back,� she reminded him.

�So is mine,� he murmured as he reached out to loose her hair so that it
fanned out around her head in a dark halo.
He smiled. �Much better, my dark
goddess,� he said as he leaned down to kiss a line between and over her
breasts.

She smiled at the reminder of better times, then reached up to release
his hair. It was really better looking
down. �That feels nice,� she slowly
commented, feeling her wits sink down into a morass of lust, desire, and love.

He hummed a response into her skin as he kept kissing, moving ever lower
as he did so. Instead of treating her
bulging stomach with reverence like he had before though, he simply kept
kissing faster and lower as if the very act of kissing her was pushing his own
lust to its limits. Perhaps it was.

Salida purred, and arched as close to him as she could. There was no room in her mind for anything
but the way her husband � her lover � was making her feel. Her hands tangled themselves in his dark hair
simply for the joy of feeling the silky strands. Direction didn�t matter. Time didn�t matter. All that mattered was the person she was
with.

Jeffrey smiled to hear such a noise come out of her mouth and showed her
his appreciation by darting his tongue out to lick along her clit quickly,
delighting in her gasp. �I love the
sounds you make, Vixen,� he murmured against her before repeating his actions,
liking it even more than she was now pulling at his hair as well.

�P-please . . . no teasing,� she gasped.
�I can�t stand it.�

�But what if I want to tease, Vixen?
What if I like to see you writhe beneath me as I drag my tongue along
your sensitized bundle of nerves and down further still; thrusting into your
wet heat and lapping up your sweet nectar as you quiver around me? What if I enjoy that? What then?�

He didn�t need to bother with his tongue, or at least not in the way he
meant. Just hearing him say that made
her quiver. But while her mind might
have been in a state of euphoria from his little speech, her body was starting
to grow rather demanding. Almost of
their own accord, her arms pulled up, trying to get him to come face to face
with her again.

�What? Do you not want me to
tease and taste and bite and kiss between your legs? Would you rather I put something else there
instead? Something hard and warm and
just aching for your embrace?� he moved where she wanted him to but not before
taking her hands in his and lowering them to his waist. �Only one problem with that idea, Vixen,� he
murmured, bringing her hands to his cloth covered arousal and moaning even as
he did so. �I�m more than capable of
handling this problem myself, but it�s so much more fun when you do.�

Salida automatically squeezed the mound her hand was covering before she
realized what he was asking her to do.
When she did finally figure it out, there was nothing that could have
stopped her eager little fingers from unbuttoning and unzipping his
shorts. Before either of them could
thing, her hand was inside shorts and boxers, and it was his turn to make the
little noises that indicated heightened arousal.

�Ohh . . . I�d tell you to stop teasing but . . . fuck me if I don�t
want you to move y-your . . . hand yet,� he groaned, kissing her as best as he
could between gasps as she ran fingernails over him.

�Fuck me,� she repeated,
leaning forward a little so they could better kiss.

Jeffrey just nodded and kissed her passionately; one hand moving to push
his shorts and boxers down as best he could while the other reluctantly pulled
her hand off of him � but not before she gave one last hard squeeze that had
him moaning again � and thrust into her hard in one swift motion.

�Jeffrey!� His name left her lips
as a mangled scream as she reflexively arched towards him, needing to be as
close to his heat as possible.

Jeffrey smiled to hear his named called out so, and moved his arms under
the curve of her back as she arched against him and pulled her as close as he
could as he thrust into her. �Oh
Vixen. You make me so fucking hot and
hard and god, I just want you all the fucking time,� he groaned out as he began
to bite and kiss her in equal measure, as if he couldn�t decide which he would
rather do. He growled against her skin
when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close as he did the same to
her. �You�re fucking mine, Vixen.. My
lover. My wife. And I am
yours. God yes, I�m yours.�

�Mine,� she groaned, working
to get her legs around his waist. The
cramped confines of the SUV were one thing, but she�d obviously grown a bit as
well, and was no longer as flexible as she�d once been. Salida tried not to let it bother her � not a
hard thing to do at the moment � and scraped her nails down his spine, trying
to let him know how much she was enjoying this.

Jeffrey got the message as he arched even further against her under her
near scorching touch. �God, I don�t know
how you do it to me sometimes, Salida.
How you�re able to make me wholly yours with a single touch; a look
even,� he was surprising himself with how coherent he was being, �And you know
what? I don�t care. Do it to me all over again and I�ll go
without a fight. Well, not much of one
anyway,� he murmured as nipped at her bottom lip and sped up his thrusts� pace.

Salida pried her eyes open to look up at him dazedly. Her body reacted instinctively, but her hands
traveled up to cup his face as she watched him.

�Yeah . . . like that,� he murmured.
�You look up at me with those ocean blue eyes of yours and I�m fucking
lost and happy to be so.�

�Love me?� she asked breathlessly.

�More than I could ever say,� he responded without hesitation, meeting
her eyes as she held his head in her hands.

�Love you too.� And with that,
Salida dropped her hands and tossed her head, willing just to let sensation
completely take over.

When he realized that his head was free to move again he lowered it to
her neck and left shoulder, kissing randomly and passionately, grunting
unintelligible murmurings against her skin as he did so. He could feel his arousal begin to rise to its
peak, but beyond that he paid it no mind.
He was so lost in her and pleasing her that his own needs truly didn�t
matter at the moment. While he had given
up much of his control in an attempt to follow her lead, he would not let
himself be ruled by his arousal. This
was for her. This was hers. His own needs while pressing, ultimately
didn�t matter. He owed her this.

For a few long minutes, the inside the vehicle was filled only by the
harsh sounds of two bodies trying to come together as fast and hard as
plausible. Then there was a shrill
scream as Salida lost her grip on what sanity she had left and plunged over the
pleasurable slope her husband had been pushing her up. Colors and unnamed shapes exploded behind her
closed eyelids as she held him as tightly to her as she could with her arms and
legs.

Jeffrey didn�t even slow his movements as he sought to draw out her
orgasm for as long as possible, wanting to give her as much pleasure as he
possibly could. His left hand snaked
around her waist to begin kneading at her breast while his other kept up the
pressure between their bodies as he held her close.

Salida finally went limp in his grasp, panting softly as her eyes
fluttered open to look at him. There was
a small smile on her lips, and after a few seconds, she pulled him down so she
could kiss him with slow, passionate intensity.

It was only then when he saw that she had had her fun that he let
himself fall into his own desires, returning her kiss with equal passion. He noticed offhand that he had begun to
tremble slightly with restrained lust, but he paid it no mind. It would be sated soon enough at this rate.

While she held back the wry �You�re
quivering,� that she was dying to
say, Salida moved her weary arms until she was holding her husband close. His head slipped down to the place where
shoulder and neck merged, and her lips landed on his shoulder. As he worked to reach his own release, she
simply held him and tried to catch her breath.

Once he had stopped himself from holing off his release, it came easily enough
with such force the he grunted each time he moved inside of her. His hands sought purchase on her body as he
simply tried to hold on as his climax raged.
After an immeasurable amount of time, he suddenly falling against her,
simply enjoying her presence and the wonderfully blissful sensation he was
currently feeling right now.

�That was nice,� Salida murmured, nuzzling the side of his face and
shifting a little on the seat. Having
all his weight on top of her was just a little uncomfortable.
�More
than nice,� he responded, turning on his side and pulling her in his arms as
best he could in the seat.

She yawned. �Does this mean we�re
keeping it?�

�Do you like it? We can always
christen another if you don�t,� he said with as wicked a smile as he could
manage at the moment.

�Well . . . this isn�t really a minivan,� she murmured as a wicked smile
twisted her lips.

�And that�s the way it�s going to stay, Vixen. No minivans.�

�Minivans have more room,� she tempted.
�Reclining seats . . .�

He shook his head. �It�s not
going to happen, Vixen. No minivans,� he
repeated.

�Tyrant,� she muttered, snuggling a little closer for the pure joy of
it.

�Yep,� he responded, kissing the top her head as she moved against him.

�Then yes, this one is fine.
Besides, I think that after my being so rude, our salesman deserves to
make the sale.�

�Fuck that. You weren�t rude, you
were decisive. You�re the one calling
the shots, not him. If he doesn�t like
it, he can get another fucking job.�

She laughed in a low voice. �That
sounds like my husband.�

�That�s good, because I am
your husband, Vixen.�

Salida just smiled and tucked her face into his neck.

�Think we�ll get in trouble if we don�t return the car?� Jeffrey murmured
after a moment of contented silence.

�Probably. The Porsche is still
at the dealership.�

�Damn,� he said with a sigh. �I
was just beginning to grow attached to it.
Well, more attached to you within it, but you get the idea.�

�We can buy it,� she reminded him.
�We just have to go back to do it.�

�And that�s the dilemma. I can think of nothing I�d rather do than just
forget the whole fucking thing and stay here with you here, like this, for as
long as I can. Everything else can go to
hell.�

�We�re going to have to go soon,� she told him regretfully. �That clerk was so jumpy that I wouldn�t be
surprised if he hasn�t already reported the car as stolen, and that would just
be a pain in the ass to deal with.�

�It would have been easier if I had just fucking killed him,� he
muttered, pulling her to him possessively as he thought about having to go
back.

�No, because then someone around here would be facing a murder charge
along with grand theft auto. And I�m in
no mood to deal with that.� Salida�s
arms slipped down and wrapped around his waist.

�Do you have any idea how many murder charges I�ve got hanging over my
head? It�s a lot. And grand theft auto�s not so bad when
compared to that.�

�But none of those charges are here. And I don�t want to have to skip town.� Salida pulled back and looked up at him
piously.

Jeffrey sighed. �I guess I don�t
want to either. Fine. The little worm gets to live. But I�m still not ready to go back yet. I like it here with you. Alone.�

Confident that she�d gotten her way, Salida came back to nuzzle his neck
again. �I like it too.�

�Do you think we could get away with a fucking weekend to ourselves?� he
asked hopefully and out of the blue.

�That would be nice, but I doubt it.�

He sighed. �That�s what I fucking
figured.�

�What would we do even if we had a weekend to ourselves?� she asked
sleepily.

�Anything we fucking wanted.
That�s the whole point of having time to yourself. You don�t have to worry about everyone else.�

�Would we go somewhere?�

�If that�s what you wanted.�

The only place Salida really had an urge to go was the only place she couldn�t go. �No . . . that�s alright,� she said slowly.

Jeffrey guessed what she was thinking and gave her a sad smile. �You�ll go back there someday, Vixen. I know you will.�

�I can�t. It�s too dangerous.�

�You don�t know that, Salida.�

�It�s not worth the risk.�

�Of course it fucking is. If it
matters to you and makes you happy, then it�s worth it.�

He didn�t understand. The only
place it�d satisfy her to be was the courtyard where she�d been �born.� She didn�t care about tourist traps, pristine
beaches, or touring ancient Aztec pyramids. She wanted to go home. But the consequences
of going there would be too high.

�What are you thinking, Vixen?
Why are you looking at me like I couldn�t ever hope to understand why
you can�t just go back? Explain it to
me.�

�Unless you have an overwhelming urge to go live in a house that burned
down ages ago, you�re never going to understand,� she murmured.

�It was never mine. I don�t miss
it and I didn�t burn it down,� he murmured, beginning to understand her meaning
at least if not her feelings behind it.

�What is a place that�s yours then?
Do you even have a place?�

He just shrugged. He didn�t
honestly know.

�That�s why I think you won�t understand.�

He sighed. �I say I would try,
but I don�t think that would make any difference.�

�No. It doesn�t.� Salida sighed and closed her eyes.

�Sorry,� he muttered, bitter with himself that this was an aspect of his
wife � whom he strove to know and understand above all others � that he could
never hope to comprehend.

�It�s not your fault,� she assured him in a very soft voice. �I�m just screwed differently than you are.�

�How do you figure?� he murmured.

�You can�t � and don�t want to � go home, but because of something you
actively participated in. I want to go
home but can�t because of whose body I�m in.�

�I�m sorry, Salida,� he said softly, moving a hand to cup her cheek
gently as he looked at her. �It probably
sounds fucking trite under the circumstances, but my home is with you. It�s the only one that matters for me
anymore. I . . . hope it can at least
act as a substitute for you.�

Salida sighed. �You�re enough . .
. until the itch to go South comes, and then I just want to run back. With you, of course.�

�Of course,� he murmured.

�We should be getting back, shouldn�t we?� Now that she�d so effectively destroyed any
lingering sense of happiness, she couldn�t imagine that Jeffrey would want to
stay here any longer.

�I guess,� Jeffrey murmured, sitting up slowly and grabbing his clothes
and hers as best he could in the confined space and handing her hers before
pulling up his shorts and boxers. He
waited until she had gotten mostly dressed before getting out of the car,
pulling on his shirt once he was standing at the side of the road. He took a moment to look at his surroundings
before getting back behind the wheel next to his wife.

�I�m sorry,� she murmured, making no move to fasten her seatbelt.

�Why are you sorry?� he asked, not starting the car yet and not really
wanting to either.

�I didn�t mean to be so
depressing.�

�It�s not your fault, Vixen. You
just want to go home.�

�I want us to go to my home.�

�But you don�t think you can ever go back there again.�

�I know I can�t go back. They�d kill you, take away the children, and
god only knows what they�d do to me for Tessa�s supposed refusal to do as they
ordered.�

�Then I�m fucking sorry,� he said softly. He didn�t know what else to say. What could he say to that?

�It doesn�t matter,� she insisted, violently shaking her head. �It�s just the passing whim of a crazy
woman.�

�Don�t say that. Don�t fucking
cheapen it like that. No one can fault
you for wanting to see your home again, Vixen.
Especially considering the way you were forced to leave it.�

And she had been, hadn�t she?
There had been nothing she could do to prevent Tess from leaving Mexico.

Hiding suddenly shaking hands, Salida looked out the window and
murmured, �If I hadn�t been forced to Boston,
we never would have met.�

�Yeah, well fate�s fucking twisted sometimes,� he muttered.

�Is that a good thing or a bad thing?�

�I don�t know yet.�

�You don�t know if it was good that we met?�

�Do you?� he responded, not answering one way or the other. Truthfully, he considered that fateful night
the fulcrum of his continued existence, but he was curious to hear her answer.

�No, I consider it the worst night of my life.� Salida�s voice was hurt and outraged at the
same time, as if she couldn�t believe that he�d had the audacity to turn her
own question back on her.

�Is that really what you think or are you just pissed at me because I
turned your question back on you?�

Salida replied in silence, folding her arms over her chest.

�I consider it the best night of my life, Vixen, alright? I can�t imagine what my life would be now if
I hadn�t met you then, and I don�t want to.
Fate may be fucking fickle sometimes, but it was on my side that night.� The silence thawed a little and his wife
relaxed at his confession. �I should have
told you when you first asked. I�m
sorry, Vixen.�

�No . . . it�s alright. I�m just
being moody.�

�I was being manipulative. You
had a right to get upset with me, moody or not.�

She laughed. �That was hardly
what I�d call �manipulative.� At least,
not from you.�

�Well, the intent was there,� Jeffrey allowed, a small smile on his face
at hearing her laugh.

�It was there when I asked the question in the first place,� she
admitted.

�Then we�re both guilty then. We
can have side-by-side cells in fucking morality prison,� he said wryly. �Don�t worry about it, Vixen.�

�I�m not.�

�Good. Because you shouldn�t be,�
he murmured, buckling his seatbelt and placing his hand on the keys to start
the car. �Buckle your fucking seatbelt,�
he ordered gently.

�Why?�

�Because I told you too.�

�That�s not a reason,� she pouted.

�Because it�s fucking dangerous not to, alright? Because I only trust myself to keep you safe,
not any of them.�

�Fine,� Salida sighed, secretly pleased by his declaration. Without further argument, she fastened her
seatbelt. �Happy now?�

�Deliriously so.� He sighed. �I guess we better go before Mr. Premature
Ejaculation decides we�ve stolen his car and sends out the hounds.�

Salida just laughed as they drove off.

****************************** ***
******************************

�Good god, your name should be
Pig instead of Salida. Do you ever stop
eating?� Val asked with clear disgust in her voice as she came upon Salida
sitting at the dining room table and stuffing food just as fast as she could
into that gaping maw of hers.

Salida was grinning gleefully . . . on the inside. The bitch had returned. She could have some fun. All she said at the moment though was a cool,
�Jeffrey likes his women to have curves.�

�Funny, I don�t think rolls of fucking fat would constitute as curves,�
Val returned with a glare.

�What? The belly? No, the belly is a turn on. It�s not fat, you know. It�s his children.� She couldn�t wait to see what that tidbit of
information would yield.

�You�re a lying whore,� Val hissed.

�Well . . . you�re right on one count, but I can assure you that I�m
pregnant.�

�He wouldn�t do that to me,� Val said unwaveringly.

�He never even knew that you existed until recently, and he can�t stand
you.�

�That�s not true! He cares for
me! He loves me!� Valencia
yelled.

�He hates your guts. Or at least
he would if they weren�t his own as well.�

�No he doesn�t. You�re just
saying these things to turn me against him.
It won�t work. I love him and he
loves me.�

�Well . . . we�re all insane so I guess there�s no reason why you can�t
be deluded as well.�

�I am not deluded! You�re a liar!�

�With you?� Salida sounded
aghast. �I�d never lie to you. I dislike
you too much. Besides, the truth gets
such interesting results from you.�

�Shut up, shut up, shut up!� Valencia
yelled, pressing her hands to the sides of her head. �I hate you!
I wish he had just killed you!�

�Ah, but he won�t. Besides, you
have no idea how much I enjoy our little chats.�

�Why, so you can be mean to me?� Valencia
asked in a hurt voice, her anger suddenly disappearing as if it had never
existed. Her hands were still pressed
against the sides of her head though; as if she were keeping everything in from
falling out.

�Well . . . I need someone to fight with,� Salida said heartlessly. �And it wasn�t a good idea to fight with
Jeffrey any more.�

�Why because you were driving him fucking insane with your constant
bickering?� Val asked coldly. �You were,
you know.�

�Yes, I am well aware of that, thank you. Why else do you think I�ve been restraining
myself of late?�

�But you haven�t! You�re just as bad
now as you�ve always been! You hurt
him!�

�When?� Salida snorted.

�What do you mean, when? When do
you stop?�

�Well, apparently someone wasn�t paying attention earlier, because our
relationship seems to be just as . . . hot . . . as ever.�

�Stop saying that! He doesn�t
love you! You�re just his whore, a
plaything! He�ll grow tired of you and
leave! He will!�

�There was a time when I might
have agreed with you,� Salida said calmly, hiding the prickle that comment had
raised, �but since he was the one that talked me out of an abortion . . .�

�That doesn�t mean anything!
Maybe he just wanted to kill the little bastards himself!�

�Why don�t you just ask him?�

�I would, but it would seem he wants nothing to do with you. He�s not here.�

Salida laughed. �It�s not me he
doesn�t want anything to do with, sweetie.�

�Shut up! God I hate you! You don�t know anything about him. Not like I do. You will never
know him like I do.�

�And you�ll never know him
like I do,� Salida smirked.

�Fuck you! I�m fucking leaving,
you bitch! You won�t be able to hurt him
ever again!� Valencia
hissed, turning and heading out of the kitchen and into the living room,
determined to just leave and not look back.

�No matter where you go, he�ll come back to me,� Salida called. �Not only that, but they�ll both be pissed
with you for making them leave.�

�No, they won�t. They love
me. They love me. They love me,� she repeated to herself over
and over as she headed towards the door.

�You�re setting yourself up for
disappointment, but far be it from me to keep you from trying.�

Valencia
was listening any longer. She headed out
the front door, tears streaming down her face.
She didn�t want to believe it.
She couldn�t believe it. They
loved her. They had to. How could they not love her when she loved
them both more than life itself? It
didn�t make any sense. They had to love
her. And if they didn�t . . . no. They did.
She had to believe that.

She wiped at her face, got into the Porsche, and even managed to start
backing out of the driveway before she was stopped.

Salida watched from the porch, just waiting to see what was going to
happen. The worst that could happen was that Val would manage
to get out of state before the �boys� woke.
And even then, they wouldn�t be gone that long. By the looks of things however, she wasn�t
going to get nearly that far.

�What in fuck do you think you�re doing?� Jeffrey asked so suddenly that
Valencia let
out a squeak in fear.

�I�m-I�m leaving. It�s for the
best,� Valencia
said after taking a moment to calm herself.

�What do you mean, you�re leaving?
Jeffrey, what the fuck is going on here?� Sands asked with a frown. �Where are you going, Valencia?�

�Away. I�m doing this for you
both. You don�t need them, either of
you. You don�t need anyone. It was better without them,� Valencia
said with conviction.

�The fuck you are, bitch! You�re
not fucking going anywhere!� Jeffrey yelled, reaching around to turn off the car
before handing the keys to Sands. �I�m
going right back inside to my wife!�

�Did you honestly think that you could get away with it?� Sands asked
with a scowl. �We would have stopped
you, no matter what.�

�Why?� Valencia
asked, with a clear hitch in her voice now. �Why can�t you leave them? Why can�t you love me like I love you? I love you both so much and you don�t even
care. All you care about it them. I hate them both. They�ve stolen you both away from me and
they�re laughing about it. Always
laughing. Poor stupid Valencia. She can never know love. She doesn�t even exist,� Valencia
hissed in a mocking voice. �I�ll show
them both. I�ll make you love me. I�ll make you see.�

�No, you�re the one who needs
to fucking see. I don�t love you. Sands doesn�t love you. We neither need nor fucking want you
here. We never have. You�re deluding yourself,� Jeffrey said.

Valencia
shook her head. �No, you�re just
confused. You both are. They�ve tricked you. Well I�ll show them. I�ll get rid of them for you. Both of them.
I could do it. It would be so
easy.�

�If you ever threaten my wife again, I�ll make you disappear, Valencia. That was your first and fucking last
warning,� Sands growled in a low voice.

�I did it to bastard, and I could and will do it to you,� Jeffrey added.

Valencia
was visibly shaken by the threats, but she tried to not let them get to
her. She knew how they really felt. �It�s alright. I can wait.
And I will. I�ll make you see.� With that, she was gone.

�I was almost hoping she�d succeed,� Salida drawled as the men came back
to the house after parking the car. �If
for no other reason than I�d love to
hear how she reacted when you found yourself miles from home.�

�She�ll fucking try again, Vixen.
You just may get your wish,� Jeffrey murmured with a scowl. �She�s a problem, Sands. You heard what she said. She�ll fucking do it. She has to fucking go.�

Sands rubbed a hand across his face.
�Don�t you think I know that?�

�Then what�s fucking stopping you?�� Jeffrey asked incredulously.

�The memory of what happened to me last
time I fucking got rid of one of the voices in my head. I can�t say I want to fucking go through that
again.�

�Pussy,� Jeffrey muttered, but Sands had a fucking point. Damn it.

�Okay, I�m feeling a bit out of the loop here. What did she say she�d do?�

�Only to fucking kill you and kitty both.�

�For us,� Sands added with a scowl.

�I�d like to see her try,� Salida said disdainfully. �The moment she�s reminded she�s really a man
and not a woman � and therefore has no hope of actually pleasing either of you � she looses control.�

�You didn�t fucking hear her.
She�s convinced herself that she�s right and won�t listen to anything
that goes against that. She�s obsessed,
and she�ll do anything to further her obsession. But that�s not what I�m really worried about
at the moment. I know you can take care
of yourself, Sunrise. You�ve done it before.�

�What are you worried about,
then?� Jeffrey asked. �Oh. That.
Fuck.�

�What is �oh that?��

�I have a feeling that she�s the type that when she doesn�t get what she
wants, will go to extremes,� Sands answered her.

�Like, �if I can�t fucking have them, no one will,� kind of extremes,�
Jeffrey muttered.

�You�d think she�d commit mass suicide?�
Salida didn�t like the sound of that at all.

�Let�s just say, I�d rather not give her the option,� Sands replied.

�Kill her.� Her face and voice
were utterly serious. �I�ll lose my
sparring partner, but it�s better her than you.�

�You saw what fucking happened last time, Sunrise. You were there,� Sands muttered.

�Fuck that. You don�t know that
what happened will happen again. Vixen�s
right. The bitch has to go,� Jeffrey
said, setting his jaw in determination.
�If you don�t, I will.�

�Maybe she�s not as . . . firmly rooted as bastard was.� Sands was still looking mulish. �Look, Sands, I don�t like this as our only
option either, but something has to be done.
I don�t want her to kill you, I don�t want to have to kill you, and I
don�t want you to kill yourself is she manages to actually make good on her
threat. That doesn�t leave us with a lot
of choices, now does it?�

�No. Damn it,� Sands
muttered. �It doesn�t matter that she
hasn�t been around as long as bastard was or whatever. She�ll fucking fight.�

�And we�ll fucking win. There�s
no other choice, Sands,� Jeffrey said with a bit of a shrug. �It�s kill or be killed. Take your pick. Only know, that my vote is for kill and I�m
definitely not going to let myself be killed so that sort of limits your
options.�

�Fine. I�ll do it. There�s no other choice. But if I have another fucking seizure because
of this, I�m going to be fucking pissed off,� he muttered.

Jeffrey actually laughed at that.
�You and me both.�

�Should we do it down here?� Salida asked, glancing at the stairs. Aida was upstairs sleeping, and she didn�t
really want to wake the other woman on the off-chance that she might wake up
and convince Sands to be stubborn.

�Why the fuck not? It doesn�t
matter. The result�s going to be the
same either way,� Sands muttered.

�Oh, stop your bitching. Maybe she�ll
just decide to give up and save us the trouble,� Jeffrey ventured. At Sands� look, he shrugged. �Okay fine.
She won�t.�

When Sands would have sat in a chair, Salida made him lie down on the
couch. It was hard to do CPR on someone
who was sitting up.

�Be careful,� she murmured softly, brushing the left side of the men�s
face. �She�s supposedly a woman � she
won�t fight fair. I don�t care what she
looks like. Just take her down.�

****************************** ***
******************************

Sands opened his eyes and frowned. He was right where he had been when he had
closed them. He looked over to Salida
and frowned. �What happened? Did you wake me up? I haven�t found Valencia yet.�

�You don�t have to worry about
that. I found a little something that
would take care of her.�

�Well why the fuck didn�t you tell
me sooner? What is it?�

Salida shrugged and smiled warmly. �Does it matter? It must have worked.�

Sands frowned at her reaction. �Yes, it matters. I don�t know that it worked. And where did Jeffrey go?� Something wasn�t right about this. But what? Maybe instead of having a fucking seizure, he�d
be stuck feeling unhinged and confused for awhile. He almost preferred the seizures.

Salida�s expression turned a bit
peeved. �Well you�re certainly
welcome. I manage to solve this little
dilemma without bloodshed and I get an interrogation. I don�t know why I expected anything else.�

Sands began shaking his head. �No, this isn�t right. Something is wrong. Something�s happening.�

�What�s happening is that you�re
being a paranoid bastard. I�m going to
get something to eat.�

Sands frowned. He couldn�t shake the feeling that something
was definitely wrong about all of this. But
what was it? �Don�t you even care to
know if Jeffrey�s alright?� Sands asked offhandedly. �He was supposed to stay with you, and now I
don�t know where he is.� This bothered
him, why didn�t it bother her?

�The stuff I gave you to make Valencia�s problems go away is also keeping him a
little quiet. It won�t last forever.�

�Valencia�s problems?
What are you talking about? You wanted me to kill her, not just keep her
quiet for a little while. And when did
you have time to do all of this? It
doesn�t even feel like any time has passed since I first closed my eyes.�

�Your mind,� was all Salida said
as she went into the kitchen.

What? What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Sands got up off of the couch and followed
her. �You didn�t answer my questions, Sunrise.�

As she went into the kitchen,
Salida avoided a large puddle of sunlight on her way to the fridge. �What
question would that be?�

Sands saw her movement around the
sunlight and frowned. Didn�t Salida love
the sunlight? Hadn�t he heard Jeffrey
mention something along those lines once? She was always out in it, she must. So why was she avoiding it now? And why was she avoiding his fucking
questions? �Stop playing fucking games, Sunrise. You
know what I�m talking about.�

�No I don�t. I�m a big, fat, hormonal woman who can�t keep
a single non-combative thought in her head.�

�I don�t believe that. What are you not telling me?� Sands asked,
walking over to her.

�First you�re assuming that I�m
not such a bitch that I wouldn�t just say to your face that I�m not telling you
something.� Her lecture was distracted
as she searched through containers. �Ew. Chinese.
I hate Chinese.�

�No, you don�t.� He knew that for a fact. �Salida, what the fuck is going on?�

�Why are you being so mean?�
Salida whined.

�No, no this is wrong. This isn�t real. You�re not her,� Sands said with wide wary
eyes.

�Of course I�m myself,� Salida
said peevishly. �If you�re not sure, go ask your wife.�

Sands gave her one last frowning
look but did as she told him to, taking the stairs two at a time in his haste
to get to his wife�s side and figure out just what the hell was going on. He pushed the bedroom door open and stepped
inside, completely unprepared for what he saw before him. Aida was sleeping still, just as he had left
her, and yet everything had changed. Her
hair was back in its full red curled radiance, and what was even better, she
was the very picture of health. Her skin
was pink and full, her curves rounded once more and simply begging to be
touched and explored. God, he wanted to
believe what he was seeing so badly that he almost said fuck everything else
and just stayed with her. But he couldn�t.
He now knew beyond a doubt that none of
this was real. This was the way he
wanted things to be, not how they were. With one last longing look toward the fantasy
of his wife, he went back downstairs to confront the person who thought she
could fucking trick him. He didn�t like
being tricked.

The faux-Salida had pulled the
curtains so that she was in the shade and she was eating celery sticks. �Fat cow,� she was muttering under her breath.

�I know who you are,� Sands said
with a scowl as he approached her. �Did
you honestly think that it would work, Valencia?�

�You want her like that. Seeing her so sick . . . it makes you sick. You like
the feel of her hair.� Valencia changed her form into that of Aida�s. �I can
do this for you,� she said in Aida�s voice.
�I can be her.�

�You can never be her,� Sands said evenly. �Give it up and I promise I�ll make it quick. Only know this; you�re through. You�re no longer needed and therefore you have
to go.�

Valencia closed her eyes. Everything . . . jerked. The house, the air, Sands could even feel his
own flesh as that unnamable something flowed through his mind. When Valencia opened her eyes . . .

Was he certain this wasn�t Aida in
front of him? Had he woken up? This Aida was pale, weak, and bald. Her thin arms reached for him . . . god, he could smell her . . . and the dry skin of her palm connected with his
cheek.

�You�re awake. Thank god.
Salida rushed upstairs and said that . . . she said you had another
seizure. That you�d been unconscious for
hours.� He noticed that he did seem to
be lying on the couch and that Aida was looking down at him. �I was getting ready to call 9-1-1.�

Sands pulled away from her touch
as if she had burned him. �How do I know
this isn�t just another one of your tricks?� he hissed. �I�m not falling for it again, Valencia.�

Aida�s eyes filled with
alarm. �Sands . . .�

�Don�t. You�re not her. Your petty fucking tricks aren�t working
anymore. I see through it all. I�m going to fucking enjoy killing you.�

�You�re scaring me,� Aida
whispered, her face bone white and her brown eyes enormous in her face. Very slowly she backed away from the couch.

�You should be fucking scared. But that�s not going to work with me. I�ll kill you before I let you even touch my
wife,� Sands growled, rising from the couch and moving toward her.

�I am your wife,� Aida tried to convince him. �We just celebrated my birthday. You forgot me because Valencia showed up.
My parents are coming to visit and you�re afraid to tell Jeffrey.�

Sands shook his head. �It�s not going to work. I know you would know all of that, Valencia. I�m
not fucking stupid.�

Her face screwed up. �You
once offered to let me turn you in to the police.�

�And I bet you would have just
loved that, wouldn�t you, Valencia? No
more Aida to deal with while I was in prison? Too bad she didn�t go for it, right?�

�I nag you, and you hate it, but
you let me anyway. You bought decent
pajamas for me to wear.� Aida was
backing up now and talking furiously. If
he killed her, she knew � knew � he�d
be sorry.

�All very good guesses, Valencia. You
must really be bored all day if you have nothing better to do than to listen to
my conversations and go through my thoughts and memories. Where�s Sunrise by the way? Or did you decide that pretending to be her
again wasn�t worth it?�

�She�s outside in the sun,� Aida
whispered. �She said she needed to calm
down so she could think. That there must
have been something in all those books she read that could help now.�

�Why should I believe a single
word you�re telling me? Why shouldn�t I
kill you right fucking now and save myself the trouble of having to listen to
all this bullshit?�

With tears trailing down her
cheeks, Aida stood her ground, chin up. �I
won�t let you kill me. You�d only follow
after me after you realized what you�d done.
If Jeffrey didn�t stop you so he could stay with Salida.�

For the first time since he had
woken up, Sands began to doubt. �How can
I know you�re real? How can I know you�re
Aida?�

�You have to trust me. Love takes trust.�

�But . . . what happened? Why did Sunrise leave? Where�s Jeffrey?�

�You had another seizure. Remember how long it took for Jeffrey to come
back the last time? Salida came and got
me to watch over you because she was close to freaking out herself. Or at least that�s what she said.�

�What do you mean Salida was
freaking out? How close?� He still didn�t entirely believe her, but he
was listening.

�She said her head was about to
explode, and she was wringing her hands.
The moment she made sure I was going to toddle downstairs, she raced out
of the room. The next thing I heard was
the door slamming. When I looked out the
window, I saw her in her hammock.�

Sands frowned. �She�ll be alright. If she was able to wait long enough for you to
come down before running outside, then she�ll be okay.�

�I-I�m just glad that you�re alright.� She reached out for him, but drew her hands
back at the last moment as if unsure how welcome her touch would be. �I know you hate it, but do you think we
should go to the hospital?�

Sands shook his head. �No . . . I think I�m alright. I�ll let you know if that changes. Sorry I thought you were fucking Valencia. She
tried to fuck with me by making me see what wasn�t real. I wasn�t sure that it was over yet.�

�It�s over,� she assured him. �You�re here with me.� After a moment of study, Aida hesitantly
offered, �Maybe you should take a nap.
Seizures must be tiring.�

�No shit,� he muttered. �Sorry.
Yeah, I really don�t feel all that well. Don�t let me sleep too long though, okay? I hate taking naps. They always seem like a waste of time. But no, you�re right.�

�I promise.� Still acting a bit unsure of him, Aida kissed
his forehead and then directed him back to the couch. �You go ahead and sleep. I just need to let Salida know that
everything�s alright.�

�I�m not sure that it is . . . but
alright. I�ll sleep. Maybe I�ll feel better when I wake up . . . less
. . . confused,� he murmured, laying back on the couch and staring at a point
across the room.

�Just sleep, my love. I�ll be right here when you wake up. And we�ll talk about all of this.�

�Right. We�ll talk,� Sands murmured closing his eyes
and letting sleep take over him.

****************************** ***
******************************

�You�re sure he�s going to be
alright?� Aida asked for what seemed to Salida to be the thousandth time.

�No, I�m not fucking sure of anything, Grant.�

Sands opened his eyes, looked over at the hovering presence of the two
women above them and immediately closed his eyes again, shaking his head. �Fuck this,� he muttered himself again before
opening his eyes into slits and sitting upright on the couch, seemingly
startling both women. Well, fucking
good. He wasn�t sure which one of them
was the bitch Valencia,
but he was fucking tired of this. �So,
which of you is it going to be? I myself
would prefer Sunrise, but hey, it�s
your call.�

�Which of us is going to be what?� Salida asked, arching an
eyebrow. �Never mind. Did you get rid of the bitch yet?�

�I was just getting to that,� Sands said coldly, swinging his legs off
of the couch and standing up in front of her. �So, it�s going to be you? That�s fine with me.� He took a step towards her, his entire
countenance still and set for murder. �She
can watch,� he said, hiking a thumb towards the figure of the Aida he knew to
be false.

�Watch what?� Salida asked, standing up and going toe-to-toe with
him. �Watch you make an ass of yourself?�

�You know, this is actually going to be fun,� he murmured with a grin
and reached out to wrap his hands around the column of the fake Salida�s throat
and squeeze. God, he wanted to see her
gasp and try to plead for her life. He
wanted to feel her hands beating at his arms and trying to get them loose with
the knowledge that it would be no use. He
wanted her fucking gone. �I want you
fucking out of my head. In fact, I want
you all out of my fucking head. But I guess I�ll just have to settle for you.�

Salida bashed one arm aside as she turned to run, but Sands pulled her
back against her with his other arm and then got her in a chokehold. Her right hand came up to ineffectively tear
at the sleeve of the arm around her throat while Sands caught and pinned her
left arm. �Are you crazy!?� she tried to
yell; it came out as a choked gasp.

Aida stood off to the side, watching in absolute shock.

�I would have thought that would have been obvious,� he commented dryly.
�You tell me. You�re in here with me,� he said with a slight
shrug, allowing himself to take pleasure in her struggles. His eyes moved away from Salida�s gasping form
and set upon the faux Aida. �Do you like
this? Does this affect you too? When she dies, then what? Do you just disappear? Or do I get to kill you too? Because that, my dear Valencia,
would be the perfect end to this whole fucking charade.� He turned away from her and looked back to
Salida. �You hate her, don�t you? You hate that Jeffrey is with her. You hate that she�s bearing his children. Well how about this?� With a wicked grin, he traced his tongue alongside
Salida�s now slightly blue tined face slowly, taking clear pleasure in the act.
�Even if I didn�t have Aida, I still
wouldn�t choose you.�

�Sands!� Aida barked, jumping into action. �Stop
it! You�re killing her.� Gathering what strength she had, Aida rammed her right fist
into his ear. Even as skinny as she now
was, she was still able to pack a bit of a punch, and that had hurt.

Sands roared in pain and his left hand went to his throbbing ear,
letting Salida�s arm free in the process, but not loosing his chokehold in the
slightest. �You bitch! I am going to make you fucking suffer if you
don�t die with her.�

�We�re separate people!� Aida screamed at him, eyes flashing. �Didn�t Salida tell you that Valencia was
tricky?! You�re killing the real Salida!�

Sands just laughed at that. �Lies,
lies, always lies. She tells me one
thing, you tell me another; you say don�t do this, she says don�t do that. Maybe I should just kill all of you and sort
it out later,� he murmured aloud, seriously contemplating it.

She slapped him. �Don�t talk like that.� Aida was trembling in fear, but this was up
to her to settle before Salida . . . Oh god, she doesn�t look good.

Salida was fighting to stay conscious now, the hand on Sands� arm doing
nothing more than helping to support her dead weight as her legs went all
tingly. She could distantly hear what
was happening, but couldn�t quite understand.

�Hit me again and I�ll have your fucking arm,� Sands hissed.

�Sands, you�re scaring me.�

�Oh boo-fucking-hoo. Why should I
fucking care if I scare you? I want you
dead. And by the looks of it, it�s
nearly your turn,� he said, with a grin, taking in Salida�s weak form. She was barely even fighting him anymore.

�How can I prove to you that you�re wrong?� Aida asked, a panicked eye
on Salida�s face.

�You can�t. There�s nothing that
I know that you don�t know. You�re good,
but you�re not Aida.�

�Jeffrey . . .� Salida coughed.
She was gasping weakly through her mouth now, trying desperately to stay
conscious.

That small plea fired Aida�s imagination and she ran with it before
Sands could say any more hurtful things.
�Ask Jeffery,� she said quickly. �If
you�re in your mind, you�ll see him as a separate person, right?�

�Why? Why should I? You�re just trying to fucking stall me.�

�You�ll be very glad for that if you discover you�re wide awake. Now ask.�

�It�s not going to make any difference, bitch. Jeffrey wants you dead just as much as I do. This won�t save you or her.� Sands scowled at her, but did what she told
him to do. �Jeffrey?�

After a long moment, there was nothing but silence except for Salida�s
labored breathing. Then, �What? Did you fucking kill the bitch � what the fuck do you think you�re doing?� he
screamed at Sands, practically throwing himself away from Salida. �Let her fucking go!�

Sands didn�t have a choice under Jeffrey�s onslaught, falling to the
floor and away from Salida with a grunt upon impact. �This-this is real?� he asked in a quavering
voice, looking over at Salida as she slumped to the floor. �I didn�t know. I didn�t. I�m sorry. I didn�t know. She tricked me. Don�t. She�ll
be alright. I didn�t kill her. She�ll be fine. Don�t do anything. She�s alright,� Sands pleaded with Jeffrey,
staring at his wife and hoping to god that she would be able to help fix the
mess he had made. If Salida died . . . if
Salida died then he had no doubt that Jeffrey would follow her and take Sands
with him. No doubt at all.

Aida had dropped down to Salida�s side.
The younger woman was lying limply on the floor, wheezing as she tried
to breath through air passages that felt as if they�d been rubbed raw with
sandpaper. But she was breathing. Aida decided
to concentrate on that and not on the husband she wasn�t sure how to talk to at
the moment. If she even wanted to.

As much as Jeffrey wanted to keep Sands away from Salida, he couldn�t
keep himself from rushing to her side. �Salida?
Vixen? Oh god, breathe. Don�t leave me, please. I�m sorry, I�m so sorry. I should have been here. I didn�t-oh please be okay,� he pleaded with a
broken voice. He was seeing his life
pass away before his eyes and he couldn�t � he couldn�t do anything. He was helpless, so utterly damned helpless. He laid a trembling hand on her cheek, willing
her to be okay, offering anything to anyone who was listening if only she would
be okay. This couldn�t be happening.

Salida weakly but insistently shoved his hand away from her, showing a
flare of temper.

Jeffrey let out a bereft noise at her action but didn�t try to touch her
again. He went so far as to move back
from her side and wrap his arms around himself, unable to do anything else.

Slowly, Salida�s lips regained their natural rosy color. Her struggles eased. Nearly a quarter of an hour after Sands had
dropped her, she opened her eyes; she was glaring.

�I want that bitch dead. Now,� she rasped.

Sands or Jeffrey nodded � they couldn�t be sure of which � and Jeffrey
laid down on his side on the floor, still hugging himself tightly. �I�m sorry,� Sands murmured. �I�ll kill her. I�m sorry.�

�I told you �� She started
coughing. It sounded painful, but when
it stopped she continued. �I told you to
be careful.�

�I thought I was,� Sands muttered.

�Obviously fucking not,� Jeffrey responded coldly.

�Don�t,� Sands asked him softly. �I
didn�t know. She tricked me. I didn�t know.�

�Fuck that. You should have,�
Jeffrey growled. �I don�t fucking know
what happened to you, but you should have fucking known.�

�I�m sorry,� Sands whispered. �I�ll
end it. She won�t get another chance. I promise.�

�Fuck promises. You swear on
kitty�s life that you�ll take care of the bitch once and for all. Swear it.�

Sands couldn�t respond to that.

�Swear it!� Jeffrey hissed.

Sands shook his head. �Leave me
alone. I�ll kill her. That�s enough.�

�Jeffery, behave,� Salida croaked.
She didn�t want to hear any talk of swearing on anyone�s life. The only person dying today was going to be
that bitch.

�I will.� With a short glance at
his wife that only served to sadden and depress him as she was resolutely not
looking at him, he closed his eyes, hugged himself a little tighter and brought
his knees up to his arms, and closed his eyes. He had to stop this, once and for all.

****************************** ***
******************************

When Sands opened his eyes one last time, he was pleased to see that Valencia had apparently grown tired of her game and
given up the masquerade. He didn�t know
where he was, but it certainly didn�t look like home. Well, that wasn�t entirely true. It did look like home, but everything was
different. All of Salida�s decorations
were gone; replaced. Impressionist paintings
by Monet and da Vinci now adorned the walls and lent class to a room that was
otherwise lacking. The entire place was
decorated in shades of pinks and reds that made his eyes hurt to look at. Nothing matched anything in particular, it all
just seemed to . . . meld. Consequently,
he looked almost garishly out of place while the blonde woman whom he had never
seen before yet knew instantly standing in the middle of it all looked as if
she belonged there and always would. �Hello,
Valencia,� he addressed her coldly.

Her lovely, composed face
drooped. �Is that all I get? Haven�t I proved how useless they are? It wouldn�t have mattered if you had killed
them. I can be them. I can be them so
thoroughly that you can�t even tell the difference between us. You don�t need them. I can be
everything to you. I love you more than
they ever will.�

�You�re nothing to me but a
problem to be solved, Valencia. That�s
all you ever were.�

�Don�t test me, my love.� Valencia�s voice had turned to ice. �I can make you regret it.�

�I already regret your very
existence, Valencia. I wish you had never even come
into being. I�m more than done with you. I don�t need you. I never did.�

The floor started to shake under
their feet as anger gathered on Valencia�s face. �They�re
watching you seizure right now,� she informed him.

�So? It doesn�t affect me here. I�m still going to fucking kill you. And I�m going to do it with my bare hands.� He lunged at her.

Valencia slashed out with hands
that were suddenly equipped with claw-like nails. They ripped through both his shirt and his
skin, drawing blood.

Sands hissed in pain, but he didn�t
let it stop him; he couldn�t. He
backhanded her hard across the face, sending her stumbling to the left. He kept after her, managing to get a hand
around her throat before she clawed at him again across the face.

No! This was not the way things were going to
end. Her love was not going to kill her. He
wouldn�t. Yet the pressure on her throat
didn�t let up and Valencia soon lost her lady-like timidity; her fingers ripped
at his hand, nearly severing the pinky.

Sands screamed in pain and
outrage, immediately letting go and cradling his injured hand to his chest;
blood dripping down from his hand, ruining the plush carpet beneath his feet. He was far from done yet though. Though the pain was nearly blinding, he knew
that much. This had to end. If she wanted to play fucking dirty, fine. With a hard shove, he sent them both sprawling
to the floor where they landed and immediately began to struggle to either get
up or to straddle the other person and gain the upper hand. Valencia took turns
both leaving bloodied rents in skin and clothing alike, and pulling his hair. �Fuck you, you bitch! Let me go! Jeffrey you bastard, come and help me!�

As if he had been waiting for such
a moment, Jeffrey simply appeared, and Valencia and Sands unintentionally stopped their
battle to gape at him. He was very
nearly Sands� exact twin in every way, and yet there were little differences. The lines of his face perhaps, the way he held
himself. Nothing you would notice by
itself, but when compared with Sands they each became intuitively obvious. A knife was gripped in his hand. Like Sands, he wanted Valencia to die slow and to do it personally. Unlike Sands, he had no desire to use anything
but a sharp blade.

�No . . .� she hissed. �I love you both and I will not let you kill
me.� In the wake of that brief moment of
stillness, Valencia thrust herself to her feet and ran for the stairs.

�Fuck,� Jeffrey and Sands muttered
in eerie unison. They looked at each
other briefly, and Jeffrey took the time to see Sands to his feet before they
gave chase.

�You�re ours, bitch. You�re going to die screaming. It�s a promise,� Jeffrey hissed as they
reached the top of the stairs and entered a large . . . well, shrine would
probably be the most accurate of words. There
were images of the two of them set up or hung up in nearly every available
space, with vases of pink roses taking up the space the numerous pictures did
not. �This is fucking surreal,� Jeffrey
muttered sotto voice.

�No shit,� Sands answered, still
cradling his bleeding hand to his chest. It didn�t matter. He embraced the pain. �Come out, come out, wherever you are! Your boys
are here,� Sands called out mockingly.

The door slammed shut. All lights went out except for the
candles. Candles that weren�t placed
before pictures of Sands or Jeffrey, but pictures of corpses. Familiar corpses with red or brunette hair.

�You know this is what you want.� Valencia�s whisper came from all around them. �You dream about them like this. You may be managing to control your urges,
Sands, but Jeffrey . . .� His name was a
purr. �You�re so close to coming full
circle. All those other women were just
practice for this one. They way you
leave their bodies � especially that bitch Yvette � is art. Just think of what you could do with a
pregnant canvas.�

Jeffrey swallowed, his entire
being growing stony and hate-filled. He
could deny that he hadn�t thought about killing Salida in his darker
blood-soaked moments, but Valencia would know better and that angered him
considerably. �Fuck you, bitch. You�re a fucking coward with your tricks and
your games. You know you can�t fucking
beat us. This isn�t your fucking world,
it�s Sands� and he�s not going to suffer you to live in it.�

�Not one fucking second longer,�
Sands said, going with Jeffrey�s flow. �You
don�t belong here. You�re a parasite; a
leech. An insignificant nothing in the
landscape of my mind and like I would with any other fucking insect, I�m going
to crush you. You will be our finest
work yet. An example must be made so
that others don�t try to take your place once you�re gone.�

�As long as you�re weak, others
will always push forward. They make you weak. Make them
your example.� A breeze came from
somewhere, making the candles flare; soft light shone on golden hair. Valencia was tucked away in a corner. �Three is the perfect number,� she continued,
unaware that they knew where she was. �Triangles
are the most solid shape in geometry.
Together we could make sure that no one else ever bothers you
again. You wouldn�t even have to kill
the bitches right away. That could wait
until later, until they no longer make you so weak.�

�You are the only one making us weak right now, Valencia. Only
you,� Sands said as he and Jeffrey moved with silent deadly grace towards her. Sands had imagined himself a knife to match
Jeffrey�s. Bare hands, while deliciously
personal, were simply not enough for what he had in store for her. He wanted to see her blood fly and paint the
walls. He wanted it to spatter pictures
and candles alike, leaving the room as macabre as he could ever possibly want
or imagination. For Jeffrey was right;
this was his world, and he always
got what he wanted.

Valencia tried to escape, but they
each grabbed an arm and threw her back into her corner. Undaunted, she tried again . . . with the
same results. This time as she hit the
wall, the house shook hard enough to send pictures, flowers, and candles
plummeting to the floor. Unnoticed, one
candle in a corner behind the men started to smoke and slowly spread.

Each man took a side, unaware of
anything save their prey. They moved in
deadly synchronicity; a matched pair of killers united in a common goal. Their knives tore and punctured flesh easily,
each cut meant to inflict the most pain and spill the largest amount of blood
possible. They would have their pound of
flesh, with interest. Neither man said a
word while they preformed this grim duty, having met an unspoken compromise
beforehand that they would much rather listen to Valencia�s screams than their own voices. They
each delighted in them now. And
the smoke spread followed by orange flames beginning to melt and curl pictures
in their frames. Neither man noticed.

There were tears on Valencia�s face at the last. The contrasted strongly with the look of hate
and possession on her face. As her knees
buckled under her, her body no longer able to sustain her, she whispered, �In
the end, you�re still mine.� She slid
down the wall, leaving a bloody trail behind her.

�We were never fucking yours,�
Jeffrey hissed, but Valencia didn�t hear him. She was well
and truly gone. �She�s fucking dead and
that was fucking fun. Let�s get the fuck
out of �� Jeffrey turned to look at Sands but found that Sands wasn�t paying
any attention to him nor to Valencia. Jeffrey frowned, and turned to see what Sands
was staring at. �Oh . . . fuck.� The room was a fucking inferno. �This is bad.�

Sands just nodded. �I don�t know how to stop it.�

�What is this doing to you, you
know, out there?� Jeffrey asked, his eyes looking over the raging flames.

�I don�t think I want to know,� Sands muttered.

****************************** ***
******************************

�Is it over?�

Aida and Salida had just spent the last half hour performing off and on
CPR. Neither was strong enough to do it
on their own. Luckily they both knew the
procedure. It�d taken the last of their
strength to keep the body that housed their husbands breathing though, and now
with his fever sky-rocketing, Salida wasn�t sure how to answer Aida�s question.

�I don�t know,� she finally whispered.
�I don�t think there�s anything left that we can do. Except . . . except
maybe if we called to them?� They looked
at each other over Sands� body. At the
moment they were allies, though neither was sure how long the alliance would
last.

�Just call to them?� Aida asked.

�Unless you have a better idea.�
Salida�s challenge was met by the sound of Aida calling her husband�s
name.

****************************** ***
******************************

�Sands, did you fucking hear something?� Jeffrey asked with a frown as
the two of them backed up against the wall, trying to keep out of the way of
the flames.

�Are you fucking kidding me? This is my fucking head. In this place, I hear everything,� Sands answered, eyeing the flames warily.

�Yeah, well if it�s your fucking
head, get us the fuck out of here.�

�I can�t just leave this place
burning like this . . . can I?� Sands asked with a frown. �I mean, this isn�t real. This can�t affect me in the real world, right?�

�How the fuck should I know? It�s your fucking head, not mine. I just live here.�

Sands rolled his eyes at that. �Okay, so how the fuck do we get out of here? We just wake up, right?�

�There�s no fucking place like
home,� Jeffrey muttered. �Got your ruby
slippers, Dorothy?�

Sands glared at him, curiously
thankful for the opportunity to do so. �Shut
the fuck up, Toto, and just do it.�

Jeffrey scowled but closed his
eyes and whispered, �There�s no place like home.� Sands snorted, but found he couldn�t help but
do the same. He just hoped that whatever
this was � this raging inferno eating up everything and anything in its path � would
simply vanish once he left. And if it
didn�t, if it was causing him problems in the waking world, well, he�d deal
with that later.

****************************** ***
******************************

Both women jumped back as Sands
stirred, Salida�s hand going to the hilt of the knife she�d retrieved
earlier. The last thing she wanted was a
repeat of what had happened the last time Sands had opened his eyes. If he was confused again she intended not to
add any more wounds to her bruised neck.

Sands moaned and raised a trembling hand to his face, frowning when he
felt the heat there. Why did he feel so
warm? He knew there was probably a good
reason, but he simply couldn�t grasp it.

�Fuck me sideways, I feel like shit,� Jeffrey groaned, cracking a single
eye open to look up at the two women. �Hi,�
he muttered.

�Aida . . . go get a bag of ice.�
Salida�s order was reluctant, and Aida�s obedience even more so. She didn�t want to leave. She wanted to see if her husband was
alright. The look that Salida was
shooting her however made protest seem like a bad idea. Even when she came back, Salida made her stop
a good six feet from the men and then toss the bag of ice to them.

Sands immediately moved the bag of ice Jeffrey had caught to his face,
hissing as a flash of phantom pain went through his hand from his pinky finger.
He double checked, it was whole and
uninjured, but damn it, that had felt fucking real. Stupid . . . his thoughts simply drifted away
as the cool ice came into contact with his head.

Jeffrey plucked at the t-shirt he was wearing, rolling up the hem as far
as he could. �Why is it so fucking hot
in here?� he muttered, not really asking anyone, more commenting aloud.

It was plain enough to Aida that the men weren�t in any state to be a
threat even if they wanted to be.
Ignoring Salida�s warning look, she stepped forward to move to their
side. Salida on the other hand felt that
it was better to be safe than sorry; she threw out an arm, halting Aida in her
tracks, hissing at her to stay put.

That seemed to have shaken Jeffrey at least into awareness and he looked
over to where they stood. �What�s . . . what�s
wrong with me? Everything�s fucking . .
. spinning,� Jeffrey murmured, taking in the features of the room. Nothing seemed to want to stay put. He saw Aida and Salida�s faces dancing about
as if they had both been turned into hummingbirds on speed. �Make it fucking stop. Sands . . . ?�

�Don�t . . . talk,� Sands murmured. �Be still. We�re moving, not them.�

�They�re sick,� Aida growled. �Let
me go.�

�No,� Salida said, keeping her ground. She was
bigger and healthier than Aida and had no trouble keeping her put.

�Vixen?� Jeffrey called out with a frown. �What the fuck is happening? We killed her and now . . . fuck. Sands� fault . . .�

Sands shook his head and immediately regretted it as the room began to
spin even more. He shut his eyes tightly
and willed it to stop.

�I want off . . . this fucking ride,� Jeffrey moaned, attempting to curl
in on himself without rolling off the couch.

Aida literally ripped free of Salida, tearing the sleeve of her pajamas
in the process, and went to the mens� side.
She took Sands� hand and placed her other hand over the one on the bag
of ice. �Sands?� she asked softly, a
worried look on her face.

Sands opened his eyes at hearing his name and feeling her hand on his
and looked at her. �Aida?� he called out
softly, looking over at her. He gasped
to see that she was surrounded by a snaking coil of dark green light that moved
around her form as only something sinuous and liquid could. It moved about her with the ease and mystery
of smoke, circling around her features as if to accentuate them. It was so real. It had to be real.

�Fuck . . . I see it too,� Jeffrey murmured. �It can�t be real. Kitty would . . . she would see it.�

�See what?� she asked, the lines on her face deepening as her worry
grew. �What�s wrong?�

�Hallucination,� Jeffrey muttered before Sands could, his brow furrowing
as he looked over to his wife only to see that she had had a coil of dancing
light too; hers a dark blue. �This is .
. . fucked up.�

�You must be exhausted,� Aida whispered, letting go of the ice to run
her fingertips along his brow. �Do you
think you can sleep?�

Sands shook his head and flinched at the effects the movement caused. �Don�t want to sleep. I�ll wake up somewhere else.�

�There�s nowhere else for you to go.�
Aida looked up to Salida for backup, but the other woman had left the
room entirely. Doing her best to handle
things on her own, Aida looked back to her husband. �I wouldn�t let you go anywhere else. You�re mine.�

Before Sands could respond to that, Jeffrey spoke up in a curiously
frightened voice. �Where�s Vixen? Is she alright? Why isn�t she here? What happened to her?� His eyes cast about the room in the frantic
hope to witness his wife, but he couldn�t find her. He let out a whimper and attempted to roll off
of the couch. He had to find her.

�You�re in no condition to go anywhere,� Aida said, bracing him with her
hands. �If you really need to see her, I�ll
go find her, but I don�t want you moving off this couch.�

�Let me go,� Jeffrey groaned, struggling against her as best as he
could. �I need to find her. Make sure she hasn�t grown butterfly wings,�
he said seriously.

Sands frowned at that, both worried that Jeffrey had said something like
that, and more so that it had made perfect sense to him. Another twisting line of light had joined the
first, and now the two seemed to be doing battle around Aida�s body. It was rather beautiful to watch in a
disturbing, psychotic kind of way.

�Sit,� Aida growled, fixing a stern glare on the men.

�Are you going to bite?� Sands asked with a frown, doing as she said
even as Jeffrey still tried to struggle.

�I�m going to go find Salida. Or
at least I will when I�m sure that Jeffrey isn�t going to fall flat on your
face as he tries the same.�

�He won�t fall. He can ��

�I can fly now. Just like those
funny little lights swirling around you.�

�They�re going to eat each other soon. Then there won�t be any more lights,� Sands
murmured with a sad frown.

�God, you two scare me,� Aida uttered under her breath. Aloud she said, �Stay here. I�ll be right back with Salida.�

�Don�t mean to scare. We�re not
the big ��

�� bad wolf. Not enough breath. Wouldn�t want to be a wolf. Too much ��

�� fur. Too hot. It�s too hot already. Want to be a ��

�� penguin instead. They�re cold,
right?�

Aida covered their mouth before they could continue. �Just stay put,� she whispered. Then she got up and quickly left the room.

Several minutes passed before she returned, herding a reluctant Salida
before her. It was clear to any who
looked that Salida did not want to be in the same room with Sands, but Aida�s
determination was leaving her with little chance to escape.

Eventually she was herded to the couch were she stood off to the side,
knife still clutched in her right hand, a petulant expression on her face.

�Vixen,� Jeffrey sighed happily before frowning a little and looking at
her shrewdly. �You didn�t grow butterfly
wings, did you?�

�I don�t see any,� Sands murmured, looking over at her. �Flowers are safe.�

Jeffrey let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her. �I�m glad you�re back. You�re pretty. Especially with the lights. Yours aren�t trying to eat each other yet, are
they?�

�There are no lights,� she said flatly.
Aida elbowed her in the side for her rudeness, and Salida just barely
keep herself from snapping at the other woman.
Couldn�t she see that just being around Sands � especially when he wasn�t
in his right mind � made her edgy?

Jeffrey frowned. �Yes there are.
Pretty blue ones . . .� He might have
said more, but the room had begun spinning again, and he had to sit back on the
couch and grip it tightly before he was spun off of it.

�Whoa . . . this is no fun. I think I want my money back,� Sands
muttered, not letting go of the couch either.

�You need sleep,� Salida stated.

�Why?�

�Because you�re seeing things and talking nonsense.� Her fingers tightened on the handle of the
knife.

�Oh,� Jeffrey said with a frown. �Are
you sure?�

�Yes.�

�But I don�t want to sleep. I
want to stay up and talk to you,� Jeffrey pouted. �You promised to come with me tonight.�

�You�re not going anywhere
tonight.� Salida�s eyes refused to meet
her husband�s. �I�d think you�ve both
seen enough carnage for the time being.�

�But . . . but you promised,� Jeffrey said with a disbelieving frown.

�You�re in the middle of a hallucinogenic trip. Do you really think I�d let you leave the
house?�

Jeffrey just nodded sullenly. �You
promised,� he muttered again under his breath.

�I promised I�d go with you. I
never promised that you�d get to leave the house tonight.�

�Cheating,� Jeffrey muttered, looking away from her with a frown.

Salida had no answer for that so she said nothing.

�Just leave then. You don�t want
to be here. You wouldn�t come closer to
let me see your wings.�

�I don�t have wings, Jeffrey,�
she muttered as she shuffled a few steps closer.

�Yes, you do. Only I don�t think
they�re butterfly wings anymore. They�re
bird wings. Butterflies don�t have
feathers. Can I have a feather? Just a little one?�

�You�re insane.�

�I know,� Jeffrey said with a laugh.

�It�s not funny.�

�Why not?�

�Because it isn�t. Are you still
hot?�

He nodded. �You should turn the
heat down. It�s summer, you know.�

�It�s not the heat. You were fine
until the seizures started.�

�Oh. How many? New record?�

�Just two.�

�Aww.� It was Sands who spoke
now. �Have to try better next time. Didn�t win.�

Salida skipped back at the sound of Sands� voice, her knuckles going
white.

�What? What did I do?� Sands
asked, both confused and frightened by her reaction.

Salida laughed harshly, the sound soon turning into a cough.

�Oh. Sorry. She tricked me. It wasn�t very nice. I didn�t mean to hurt you. I�m sorry. I was bad. Should be sent to the corner.�

�Should be in for a fucking ass kicking,� Salida muttered.

Sands frowned at that. �Right,
right. Should be punished. Will you punish?�

�We�ll see. I plan to wait until
you�re at least cognizant of what�s going on before I make any decision.�

�Cognizant. Right. Not now. Got it.
Seeing things, fever dreams, hardly helpful.�

�You two need to sleep,� she mumbled again.

�No. No sleep. Sleep leads to confusion to bad to punishment.
Don�t want to sleep.�

�Not tired,� Jeffrey added.

�Your mind needs sleep to replinsh itself.�

�My mind can�t run out, silly Salida. I�ve got more than enough to share,� Sands
said with a grin.

She threw up her hands in frustration.
Barely restraining the impulse to start pacing, she growled, �Either
choose to take a nap, or I�ll take the choice from you.�

�Why would you do that?�

�That�s not very nice.�

�Do you think I�d tell you to get sleep just to rid of you? Or do you think I have a reason to say what I
am?�

�But I�m not tired, vixen. I want to stay up and watch your color
streamer some more. It�s pretty. And blue like your eyes. I like your eyes. They�re blue,� Jeffrey assured her with a nod.

�I don�t want to go to sleep either. I want to go outside for a little while. I want to see the alligators,� Sands added.

�I give up,� Salida said. �I�ll
be right back, and you�d better be resigned to taking a nap. Because I�m not going to care whether you
want to or not.�

�But I don�t want to take a nap,� Sands said to Aida once Salida had
left. �Naps are bad. Very unhealthy. Should only be taken in single servings. I�ve had mine today.�

�Mine too,� Jeffrey muttered.

�You have Salida worried,� Aida murmured, sitting on the edge of the
table. �I don�t think she knows exactly
how to help you, but thinks sleep is for the best.�

�Why?�

�Because the mind can heal itself while sleeping. Besides, your body has been through a lot of
stress. You seizured, remember?�

Sands shook his head. �Wasn�t
here, don�t remember. Was it bad?�

�It was bad to watch.� She smiled
at him, a hint of her own exhaustion showing through. �Salida wasn�t the only one who was
worried. And she knows a lot more about
such things than I do.�

�But I don�t want to take a nap,� Sands pouted. �They�re no fun. Always end up feeling worse afterwards. And bad things happen to me when I take them.�

�You hurt vixen,� Jeffrey said with a stormy scowl. �Could have ended her.�

�I won�t do it again.�

�Oh. Okay. You better not.�

Salida reappeared, syringe in hand and scowl firmly in place. �Say goodnight, boys.�

�Why? What are you going to � oh.
I don�t like needles. Don�t,� Sands pleaded with her, backing away
as best as he could considering the room had been put on the spin cycle again.

�Sands!� Salida stamped her foot
and frowned. �You need to sleep. You�re refusing to do so, or even to answer
my questions about why you think I�m insisting that you do so. What other choice are you leaving me?�

�But when I go to sleep, that�s when I hurt you. And if I hurt you again, Jeffrey will hurt me.
And then she will show up again and . .
. no. Don�t make me sleep. Please. I won�t hurt you again.�

�You were never asleep! You were
fucking tricked into thinking that you had!�

Sands frowned in confusion at her insistence. �I wasn�t? But . . . but I closed my eyes. I slept?�

�No.�

�Oh. Well . . . if you�re sure .
. . then I guess sleep is okay. But I
still don�t want to,� he said with a frown.

�I don�t care any longer. And I
don�t like feeling like this,� Jeffrey muttered, taking a step towards Salida
and offering her his arm. �Say
goodnight, vixen. But remember you
promised.�

�Promised what?� Now that she was
getting her own way, Salida�s voice was a little gentler.
�To
come with me tonight. You said you
would. You�d watch. I like it when you watch.�

�I also said that you weren�t going to be leaving the house tonight.� She injected him before he could object.

�But you said. Tonight. Not tomorrow, not yesterday, tonight,� Jeffrey
pouted, rubbing at his arm but making no move towards the couch to lay down
yet.

�Why are you always poking me with things? You�re not a porcupine, you�re a Sunrise,�
Sands muttered.

�We�re not talking about this anymore,� Salida said, turning her back on
them. If Jeffrey was in any sort of
rational mindframe, he�d realize himself that he couldn�t go out tonight.

�Why not?� Jeffrey asked, stumbling a bit as the sedative she had given
him began to take affect.

�Because I�m not sure you even realize what you�re talking about. That�s why.
Now sit down before you hurt yourself.�

�I�m not going to hurt myself. I
wanted to hurt someone else,� he muttered, but took a step like she had
suggested more because his legs had given out than consideration for the sense
she was making.

�That�s always fun,� Sands murmured, slumping back against the couch
after Jeffrey had sat down.

�Sleep is fun too,� Salida murmured, swallowing hard as her throat
informed her that it was feeling to dry.
Any minute she was going to have another coughing attack.

�Sometimes,� Sands murmured, his eyes drifting shut. �Not alone.�

�Never alone,� Jeffrey agreed in a sleepy slur.

Neither woman said anything.

After a few minutes of silence, it was clear they the men were asleep;
half lying half sitting on the couch. It
didn�t look like a very comfortable position to be sleeping in, but neither
Sands nor Jeffery seemed to mind too much as they began to snore softly. Whether or not anything would be solved once
they awoke was still in question. They�d
just have to see.
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More Than Darkness