Matthew woke with a start. Right away, without ever opening his eyes, he knew he was not alone. A vast, indelible presence filled his room; and Matthew felt tears prickle behind his closed eyelids at the sheer intensity of the sensation.

Opening his eyes, Matthew glanced at his alarm clock, acting on habit. 3:43. Then the numbers wavered, danced crazily, and died.

Great figures were closing in on him; and there was blood, and pain, and darkness. The vermin scuttling over his skin were burrowing into his flesh, laying eggs, and dying; their young hatching to gorge themselves on him once again. The needle piecing his eye inch by inch was agony beyond all imagining, worse even than that fire withering his skin with its hungry caress. Matthew bit his tongue until it bled, transfixed on watching eyes.

And then, when the black talons sank into his shoulder and tore away what was left of his humanity, as the rumbling laughter touched every part of his soul, as Erin wept in heartbreak, all became nothingness.

Matthew woke to the insistent beeping of his alarm clock, his pillow wet with tears. Every inch of his body ached terribly, his muscles clenched and spasmed, and a throbbing headache pounded on the inside of his skull. Keenly aware of his roiling stomach, Matthew struggled out of his bedclothes and fell to the floor, striking his head against the nightstand.

The young man bit back a groan. Fighting the weakness permeating his body, he crawled to the door. Pulling himself painfully upright on the doorjamb, he opened the door and stumbled out into the hall… right into Elisha.

The girl staggered backwards, and barely managed to grab Matthew as she realized he was falling.

“G-Good God!” She stammered, bracing herself against the balcony railing. “Matthew, what’s wrong? Are – are you sick?”

“Bathroom,” Matthew whispered in a cracked voice.

Elisha helped him to the bathroom, and watched anxiously as he flung back the toilet seat and vomited into the clear water, convulsively gripping the edges of the bowl with white-knuckled hands.

How long it took for his retching to subside, Matthew did not know, but Elisha stayed with him throughout it all, a comforting, hovering presence. When he had settled a bit, the young woman helped him to his feet and back to his room. Matthew barely managed to murmur thanks before drifting into darkness.

When next he woke, Matthew was in substantially less pain, but a terrible weakness gripped him. Golden light seeped into his room around the midnight blue curtains, but failed to make substantial headway in the gloom.

Turning his head with considerable effort, Matthew saw that Rob was seated by his bed, watching him worriedly. Matthew smiled wanly. “’ello,” he rasped.

“Don’t try and speak too much,” Rob advised him, concern clear in his voice. “You’re very weak.”

Matthew nodded feebly.

“If it were up to me, you’d be in the hospital right now,” his friend continued. “But your ‘dear family’ is insisting you’ve just got a bad case of the flu, and all you need is rest.”

“Bullshit,” Jephel snapped, crawling out from under the bed. “Your aura is fucking hemorrhaging energy into the ether. In twenty-four hours, you’ll be dead.”

Rob yelped and leapt about a foot into the air. “What the fuck is that?!” he yelled.

“S’ok,” Matthew whispered. “Jeph’s a friend.”

“And you’d better pipe down, small fry,” Jephel instructed belligerently. “The last thing we need is more attention.”

“I repeat,” Rob said again, reducing his volume but not his tone. “What the fuck is that?”

“I could ask you the same question, oh Insignificant One,” Jephel sniffed. “But seeing as my Master is currently indisposed, I will grant your simple, puerile request.” The daemon drew himself up to his full height and puffed out his chest. “I am Jephel the Mighty! Jephel the Magnificent! Doubt not my power or my ingenuity, oh slavering slack-jawed savant of servile slavishness! I am the beginning and the end, the answer to the Eternal Question, the Gatekeeper of the doors between life and death! Fear me!”

“Must be a very small question,” Rob observed dryly, having lost much of his fear during the wight’s monologue.

Jephel bristled like an irate porcupine, but subsided when Matthew uttered a reproving murmur. “Explain to him what happened,” the young man whispered. “Simply.”

Jephel nodded reluctantly and began the tale, speaking sharply, but clear and to the point. He started from when the old man entered the store, and ended with Matthew night of ordeal. “I don’t know what happened to him,” the daemon concluded. “No two tests are the same. But he survived. Not everyone can say that. I remember this one time in Tyre…”

Rob laughed, cutting him off. “This is wild. Matthew…” the slender youth let his voice trail off as he realized his friend has lapsed into unconsciousness once again.

“Gods damn it,” the small wight ground out, and laid a surprisingly gentle hand on Matthew’s arm. “He’s losing strength fast. We need to get him help.”

Rob got up quickly, his brow furrowed. “The hospital?”

“Would make him very comfortable and watch him die,” Jephel shot back. “There’s nothing they can do for him. He needs a serious influx of raw energy, fast, or he’s done for.”

Rob blinked rapidly. “You mean…” he hesitated delicately.

“Down straight,” Jephel snapped. “Who’s available?”

Rob half-laughed, incredulously. “Look, demon dude, it’d be tough getting him laid on a good day. He really polite and overly moralistic, which doesn’t really get the girls hot. And this is not a good day.”

“He’s dying,” Jephel said grimly.

“Oh, yet another attractive quality!” Rob shouted. “He’s unconscious, man! What the hell do you want from me!?”

“The name and location of some girl who care enough about him to do this.”

“That’s insane!” Rob scoffed. “The only person who cares that much about him is…” the young man stopped mid-sentence as a thought struck him. “Oh, wait. That could work. She’s not actually his sister.”

“Enlighten me?” Jephel said tightly.

“Elisha,” Rob said slowly. She’s had a crush on him since day one. But we’d have to tell her. I don’t see this working any other way.”

“Then bring her in now, and let’s get this over with,” Jephel sighed.

Elisha sat quietly for a minute after Jephel finished, still looking somewhat afraid. She had panicked when she first saw the daemon, and it had taken all of Rob’s power’s of persuasion to keep her from bolting.

“You want me to – to sleep with him?” Elisha said in a small voice.

“No,” Jephel rejoined flatly. “I want you to fuck him.”

Elisha paled, and Rob glared at the small wight. “Your bedside manner leaves something to be desired.” Moderating his tone, he turned to the young woman. “Look, Elisha, we wouldn’t ask you to do this if there were any other way. But look at him! He’s dying, and this looks like his only chance at making it through this.”

Elisha bit her lip nervously. “Wh-When should I…”

“ASAP. Daylight’s awasting. Time is money on this job.” Jephel pointedly ignored Rob’s glare.

“I’ve never done this before,” the golden-haired girl continued.

“There’s a first time for everything,” Jephel said relentlessly. “It’s simple. Insert tab A into slot B. Repeat as necessary until desired result occurs.”

“Ok,” Rob snapped. “That’s quite enough.” He seized Jephel by the shoulder and propelled him forcefully from the room.

Left alone with Matthew’s still form, Elisha clasped her hands together firmly, hoping to stop the shaking. Crossing to the side of the bed, she gazed down at Matthew’s face.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered to him, absently tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear before reaching out to touch his face. “I’m scared.”

Her eyes ran over Matthew’s closed lids, his sharply defined nose, and down to his soft, inviting lips. Despite the strangeness of the situation, Elisha felt a familiar tightening in her stomach, and a slow tingle between her legs. Leaning down, she buried her face in the warm space between Matthew’s neck and shoulder. For a minute she just lay there, breathing in his scent and reveling in the softness of his skin.

Turning her face, Elisha began placing feather-soft kisses along Matthew’s neck, slowly working her way up to his chin, across his cheek, and finally to his lips. There she lingered for some time, delighting in the firmness of his mouth, the way his stubble scraped against her skin.

Her hands wandered, grasping as his shoulders and feeling the muscle beneath his skin; before shifting to run across his broad chest. Elisha leaned back a moment and bit her lip nervously. Taking a deep breath, she grasped the bottom of her shirt with both hands, and quickly slipped out of it. Reaching behind her back, the young woman fumbled a moment with the clasp of her bra, fingers suddenly clumsy, before she got it free.

Slowly, hesitantly, Elisha let the confining bit of red cloth slide free, baring her pleasantly rounded breasts to the air. Elisha stifled a gasp as the silky material brushed over her nipples, which were almost painfully hard and very sensitive. She pinched them lightly, then a bit harder, sighing softly with pleasure. Emboldened by the sensations running through her young body, Elisha pulled down Matthew’s sweats and underwear, and swallowed hard at the sight of what awaited her there.

She touched his slack member lightly at first, half-frightened, and was entranced by the warmth and softness of his skin. Curling her fingers around the shaft, Elisha stroked him up and down, and was delighted to feel a responsive stirring under her touch.

Varying her caresses from firm to gentle, Elisha was soon gazing avidly at Matthew’s erection, pulsing rhythmically against his stomach. She felt another hot spike of arousal course through her at the sight. Biting her lip, the young woman wriggled out of her jeans and dampened panties and tossed them aside.

Slipping her fingers through her slick, wet heat, Elisha straddled Matthew. As she leaned down to kiss him again, her fingers guided him into her as she slowly lowered herself onto her unconscious crush.

Elisha threw her head back and let out a strangled gasp as Matthew’s cock sank into her hot, clenching depths. He felt so *big*! The young woman felt stretched, filled completely… and he was less than half-way in!

Gritting her teeth against the new, strange sensation, Elisha sank lower, stopping short as his member reached the barrier deep within her. The young woman took a deep breath, her heart racing. *I hope this doesn’t hurt too much* Her resolve firm, Elisha pushed her hips down with a short, sharp movement, bracing herself against the pain.

But there was no pain, only pleasure. She opened her mouth to scream out her ecstasy, but all that emerged was a strangled, breathless gasp. Staying there, almost motionless, Elisha swallowed convulsively, his inner muscles fluttering around the obdurate invader transfixing her.

Slowly at first, the young woman began moving up and down, raising and lowering on Matthew’s glistening shaft. Every nerve her body felt strained to overloading. Her lithe body tightened and quivered. Then, all at once, as he position shifted just slightly and Matthew’s cock penetrated her just a shade deeper, it nudged against a hidden place within her, and Elisha lost it.

Everything seemed to tear apart, to fly free, and it felt so good. The young woman’s eyes rolled back in her head as her hips moved spastically, chasing the hot rush of ecstasy. Elisha whimpered as her pussy contracted violently on Matthew’s cock, squeezing and milking it, every ridge sharply defined against her inner walls.

Consumed in the moment, Elisha barely noticed when Matthew’s hands gripped her hips. She did not see a strange mark, four roughly parallel grooves engraved in the skin of his left shoulder, begin to pulse a deep crimson. What she did respond to, with a groan that seemed wrenched from the depths of her being, was the sharp, almost painful pleasure that struck her as Matthew drew back his hips a fraction, before slamming back into her steaming depths.

Elisha fell forward onto her lover, all the strength gone from her, as Matthew came to life and took her. The young woman gasped as a hand skimmed up her side, trailing fire, to caress the smooth, rounded curve of her breast. His hips moved in a forceful, insistent rhythm that drove all thought from her mind but the pursuit of greater pleasure.

All of a moment, everything shifted and turned, and Elisha opened her eyes to find herself lying on her back, her head against the pillows as Matthew loomed over her. She was cold, without his touch, and she reached out to him. When he came to her, it was as a wave crashing upon the shore. Elisha let everything go, and was washed away in bliss.

“I know, I know,” Erin said reluctantly into her cell. “It’s just… Adrianne called and she needs me tonight.”

The redhead paused and listened to the angry response on the other side of the phone, absent-mindedly scratching at the faint outlines of a bite-mark on her neck.

“Yeah, I know, but what can I do? She is my best friend.” Another pause. “Ok, Craig. I’ll make it up to you, baby. Ok… bye.”

Erin sighed as she hung up. It was lucky that Adrianne was a good enough friend that she’d provide an alibi with no questions asked. The truth was, Erin just didn’t feel at all like seeing her boyfriend right now. Just the thought of him filled her with nausea, which made no sense. One of the strong and enduring factors of their relationship has always been their almost animal attraction to one another. But after that night at the store…

Erin shook her head angrily. She didn’t want to think about it, but her thoughts seemed to go nowhere else now. She didn’t understand it at all. With *Matthew* of all people! A slimy suck-up to his superiors, and insultingly condescending to anyone else, the redhead could think of few people she despised more.

Erin realized she was rubbing the mark on her neck again, and snatched her hand way instantly. Disgust filled her. Not only had he taken advantage of her fit of insanity, Matthew had marked her, like some sort of beast. She tried to feel outrage, but for some reason, that kept falling to a simple sense of wonder.

Her hand went back to the impressions in her flesh. Matthew had marked her. He had taken her. Erin shivered, and not in revulsion. She remembered her arms around her, his touch, the look in his eyes when he possessed her.

Erin hung her head in misery and confusion, hot tears coming to her eyes. She hated Matthew! She despised him!

Didn’t she?