thanatos | torvas

one

dim lights. trance music bouncing off the speakers. sleazy gazes and sloppy kisses in every corner. paolo scans the room, one pair of eyes to another. she had to be here somewhere. he just needed to look harder. and sitting around isn't going to do him any good. he rises to his feet, in control of himself and mind fully awake. the air reeks of cheap beer and cigarettes, but it leaves him unfazed.

paolo makes his way through the messy crowd, bumping into a few people here and there, but he manages to apologize before any trouble could ensue.  he kept walking in the same circles until he found her.

she was dancing with some guy with a name she hardly remembers. paolo would be lying if he said he wasn't enticed by her even just a little. although, seeing how loose her feet were, he can tell she's had more than enough to drink by now. he checks his watch, and decides that he needed to hurry because the clock is ticking.

"hey, mind if i cut in?" paolo politely says to the other man. he infuses just a tiny bit of his charmspeaking energy into his words. the other guy has already been intoxicated beforehand, therefore he didn't really need much of it.

"knock yourself out, buddy." the guy gave paolo a friendly tap on his shoulder. he appreciates the gesture, before stepping in between the girl's arms and holding her hips close.

their foreheads meet, and paolo emits a small chuckle as he stares deep into her eyes. they were in a beautiful shade of green, and as much as he'd hate to take the life out of them, there's really no escaping it. instead, he tries to focus on having fun with her during her last moments.

"what's your name?" she asks him.

"paolo. what's yours?"

"ashley. but not the bitchy kind, though."

paolo cracks a laugh. she's quite funny.

he pulls her closer to him, both hips swaying in sync to the beat. he leans to one ear, brushing her dark locks behind them. he whispers, "well, ashley, not sure if you noticed, but i've had my eyes on you the whole night."

"oh really?"

"really." he confirms. he kisses her cheek, "second floor bathroom in 5. don't be late."

he pulls away and takes his exit, now walking towards the rendezvous. he hopes that she'll safely get there, considering how out of focus her gaze was. he took the stairs, and again, bumping into couples who were humping into each other as if their life depended on it. he shudders at the vile sight. he'd never treat a woman so impetuously.

paolo arrives at the bathroom and offers his face a little rinse. he takes a deep breath. he's done this countless of times, but each and every one will always feel like a burden to him, each toppling over one another. he decides to take a leak, in hopes that it would ease his mind even just a little bit.

"hey there."

thank god he finished in time. paolo shoots her a look that compels her to come closer, and as expected, she does so. ashley wraps her arms around his neck and their noses brush against each other. now that all the smoke and alcohol was out of the way, paolo catches the sweet floral scent of his soon-to-be victim. he should work on another name besides 'victim'—he's giving his curse more credit than it already holds.

she looks around and her lips curve into lopsided smile, "pretty sick place. do you always take your 'conquests' here?"

"it's the only place with privacy." paolo returns the smile. he didn't want to lie and tell her she's the only girl he's ever brought here. it would go against his only moral code—only the truth and nothing but the truth, no matter how rotten it could be. he's committed any crime you could think of, but lying definitely isn't one of them.

"you're brutally honest. but i like that in a man."

ashley leans in for a kiss. everything is going as well as he planned it to be, but inside, he was bracing for the impact. he holds on to whatever strength he has left, because the worst part of every hunt is standing here in front of him, only an inch away.

when their lips finally lock, paolo feels a pull so strong that he had no choice but give in to.

he finds himself sitting on a couch in a dark room, only dimly lit. they say the eyes are the windows to the soul—and they were right, this one is as bright as the others. he figures that it's ashley's birthday. the first. the beginning of it all. it always feels like watching tv—he was seeing everything through her eyes and everyone's smiling faces were looking at him. the doctor, nurses, and a woman most likely in her mid 30's. she looked beautiful, even with the beads of sweat still trickling down her face. ashley's mother looks at her daughter with an amount of love so overwhelming that it almost brings tears to his eyes.

"you're safe with me. i won't let anyone hurt you, baby girl." her mother whispers softly into her daughter's ears.

in no time, ashley grew into a healthy toddler. he stays in his seat and watches through it all. her first words. her first steps. her first injury. her first tantrum.

and then came her adolescent days. they've started to fight from time to time. it was then he realized that ashley's mother was a single parent. her dad never took responsibility, and that fact was taking a toll on their relationship. he's seen countless of these things, yet it still feels as painful as the first one.

paolo watches her life unfold before him. every moment of it.

her first love.

her first date.

her first kiss.

her first time.

her first drink.

all the horrible decisions.

all the fights and all the crying.

all the thoughts. all the fears.

and as he does, he slowly sucks out a part of her soul through their kiss, bit by bit. more intense as each second passes. he feels his heart breaking into a million pieces, as excruciatingly painful as it always is.

everything that's happened in her whole, entire life has brought her here, to this exact moment. in the second floor's bathroom in the middle of some guy's house party, kissing a guy she barely knew—who, as it turned out, was already planning to devour her soul the moment he stepped into the room.

after there is nothing left of her for him to take away, paolo holds ashley in his arms, rocking her side to side as anyone would to a baby. he softly apologizes and transports her back to her bedroom, only for her poor mother to find a cold, lifeless body laying on her beloved daughter's bed.

paolo curses himself. he hates having to go through it all. the happy moments. the sad moments. the smiles. the pain. and how he stole them all away from her.

but most of all, he hates the exuberant pleasure it bestows upon him.