Of Assassination and Murder - part 2

[Aria]

The black became memories. Memories that brought more darkness. The rush, the joy, the complete satisfaction of her desires. There was a moment of peace in that black just before hands wrapped around her neck and oxygen started to become precious.

A distinct weight on her chest made Aria pop open her eyes. She stared up at the man who'd hit her. In the seconds of realization Aria took her shields down. She remembered the last man who had tried to kill her in a similar fashion with longing - his weapon of choice a small paring knife.

The memory let the remaining barriers down. She knew it wasn't Dane. But the situation was so very similar, so familiar - like a dark dream come true. But she let her emotions flood from her body, from every pore. It wasn't one specific thing that she sent him; she sent him everything. The man downstairs who was frustrated. It was Nox across the street depressed and angry and concerned all at the same time. How long had she been out? He wasn't rushing in yet so it couldn't have been long. But the thought rushed away with each emotion that fled her body.

There was the doorman and the front desk clerk, and the people in the cafe around the corner. And the buildings full of people that were in range of her senses. But most of all it was her emotions. The fear and pain the girls from the dungeon had felt. The love for Lucas, the friendship with Nox, and the longing that Dane invoked - the darkness that pushed at her. The darkness she kept; she held it tight like a child would a favorite stuffed toy.

The darkness was hers. She didn't give this impostor herself like she had Dane, but she pushed everything else at him. She didn't hold back. In the light in the back of her head Aria saw Dane and her unwillingness to kill the man when she had the chance. He was dangerous but her obsession had gotten in the way.

She smirked at the man with his hands around her neck. Aria wanted to speak but gasping for air was the only option. It was only moments since the strangulation had begun but she was starting to feel its effects.

The memories flooded in with each breath not taken - unspoken dreams, things of darkness, things she'd thought she'd lost or moved past rushed back inside. Things a glance had started. A choice. Her choice. And the man who started it all. This man would not get the same chance at life as Dane did. Aria didn't care if he killed Aurora anymore; she was going to kill him, but first...

[Aurora]

She twitched and her head moved slightly. He came out of the dark angry cloud in which he had been biding his time. He clenched his jaw in anticipation as he straddled her and began to choke, only lightly at first. He wanted to see her eyes. It was all in the eyes.

They opened and for one brief and glorious moment, he was in pure orgasmic ecstasy. And then he was not. He was lying on a bed, looking into the face of death, pain fountaining from a thousand places. He was hanging from a chain, throat raw from screaming, heart weak and fear choking him. He was burning alive in fire, every nerve of his in agony. He was in the water looking up, struggling for breath as he beat on the glass that blocked that sweet precious air he so craved.

Every possible variation, every painful thing that could be imagined, he felt it all at once. Pain a blanket smothering him, sneaking down his throat when he opened his mouth to scream, inescapable. Terrors stalked his mind, relentless in their pursuit and there was no place he could escape to. And he long for death, prayed for it, pleaded for an end. But it went on and on and on....

[Aria]

His grip finally lessened and Aria gasped for breath; she could see the terror on his face and she sent more, pushed harder. His breathing became ragged. She'd seen it before, but it hadn't registered. The reporter before Dane hit her. Aria smiled up at him with darkest intent.

Her hands were tied with plastic zip ties behind her back; her feet were bound and she could hardly do anything.

Aria spoke sternly, "Get off me and out of these, and I'll make it stop."
As she spoke she changed the feelings she sent him - feelings of desire to do her bidding to make her happy, to obey, because he wanted to. He wouldn't know the difference anymore. He was hers.

It took a moment for what she said to register, as if it had to pass through layers and layers of pain. The thought made her smile. The longing for release was clear and he moved as if he was a child, obeying his mother's wish. He seemed weak as he walked to the counter and got the knife and cut through her bonds. He waited, the hope and pleading on his face growing painfully, as if she held his future in her hands.

Aria rubbed her wrists and gave her new pet a bright smile. You rewarded your pets for good behavior after all. She reached out and ran her fingers gently down the side of his face and made sure that he felt every bit of longing she had once felt. How much she'd wanted Dane to touch her - to touch him. The anticipation itself was great.

There were answers she needed, she at least remembered that. If she killed the man without answers Nox would be pissed. And that was something Aria didn't want to do, she couldn't exactly remember why she didn't want to piss off her friend who stood outside. But it was a strong emotion that kept her on task.

Aria moved close to De La Cruz and spoke softly, "Tell me, Diego, where is Aurora? You remember her don't you?"
Aria brushed her lips against his ear. "Tell me the truth and you won't feel anymore pain."
Aria gave him a fleeting moment of the said pain to come if he lied. She felt his body arch with the pain. The fear lanced through his body. "There is only more of that if you lie to me."
Aria pulled back the pain, but she left it lingering on the edge, he knew it was there, but he didn't feel it outright.

"She is dead,"
he said, hope in his eyes. He wanted to please her and knew that his words would do just that. "I transformed her at my cabin. I made her a goddess, forever floating, forever free."
He didn't feel ashamed. He seemed proud of it, as if he had done something good and beautiful and wanted her to know what he was, what he could do.

Crushing pain lanced through Aria's body, she didn't know if it was her's or someone else's. She couldn't find it, couldn't place it. The knowledge tore at her, the little control she had left crumbled underneath the strain. Aria had made a semi-promise to the man in front of her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't die the same way. She'd once killed a boy with a kiss. Happiness was just as deadly. She had one more question. "Where is her body?"


Aria fought back the pain that tried to invade her body. Aurora was dead. Those three words echoed in her head over and over again as Diego gave her an exact location. Precise directions as he looked longingly down at her.

Aria wanted to carve this man's heart out for killing Nox's sister - for Nox. But she fought that desire. Fought the darkness. He would die there was no doubt about it. Aria gave the man one final smile as she laid both hands on his face and pulled his forehead against hers and she pushed every happy moment she had gathered in her life, those around her, every single moment Nox had of his sister she pushed it violently down the connection to this man. She could feel the weight of the world pressing in on them both.

He sank to his knees and Aria went with him. Pushing more, falling deeper into that world, into the pain that was overloading the fragile heart. Aria could feel her own near bursting as the final breathe left the man's body.

Aria gasped for breath as she pulled herself from him. Pulled her emotions back to herself. There was only one feeling throbbing inside of her. The one focal point, the pain of loss. Aria curled up next to the body and cried. Cried for Aurora. And cried for Lucas. Aria whispered, but she knew Nox would hear. "He's dead Nox. He's dead."


[[with Aurora/Deigo]]