Chapter 20 Violation

A violent gasp for breath was met with joyful laughter and a bell jingling.  Ioan was up first.  His description of the situation struck a chord with Ernest who tried, and failed, to conjure his own words.  There was no sign of Reader, they didn't know where they were, and their host was the last 'person' either of them wanted to see. 

"This is not good."

"No Ioan.  No, it is not."

Ernest tried soothing the painful ringing he was hearing.  It took a while for his abused senses to realize that it wasn't coming from a concussion, but from the Male Twin who played a festive tune on his infernal hand bells.  One bell, two bells, three, one, two.  Either he was seeing multiple images, or the Twin was making multiple ones disappear like some magic trick. 

Ioan had gotten up from what had the semblance of a grassy field, and stood at attention next to Ernest, who was lucky enough to land in a chair of honor at the table set before them.  Considering who they were dining with, Ioan struck the 'lucky' descriptor from his mind.  Permanent back pain would be preferable to this meeting, he was sure. 

"They sure do have a strange way to decorate." Ioan muttered.

The 'room', for it did have an enclosed quality about it, seemed surrounded by flowing drapes.  Deep reds trimmed with gold turned into black and white shades.  They fluttered without wind, shifting endlessly like the surface of a moving serpent.  Whenever the monochrome pattern would appear, there would be these glimpses of hopeful escape - halls and floors that twisted and turned into spirals impossible to walk.  These paths went to some distant fantasy and often turned violently out of sight; knowing their designer, they would likely lead back to this very room. 

Its floor was plush.  When Ioan's face had registered its content, he could concede that no rug in his living memory ever felt so fine yet be made to appear so much like nature's bountiful grass.  A remarkable piece of texture with a checkerboard pattern that reminded viewers of its artificial and alien nature.  It sure was soft... He crushed his heel into the ground in annoyance.

And the dinner table!  How gaudy.  Garish even.  I mean look at the amount of silverware here.  It's like they've never seen a proper tea gathering before and tried to make it up as they went along.  There's just too much on the table.  Jars and plates and pots and containers, and is that a pot roast?  Even if an imitation that roast pig looks and smells quite delicious...  Why I haven't had a bite to eat since that infernal music box sucked me in with its tortoise shell pattern and-

"Ioan.  Are you hungry?  I believe I just heard your stomach growl."
"I am a bit peckish, yes."
"I would have mistaken that for a tiger."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be Ioan.  Anything to drown out that ringing."

As if on cue, the Male Twin stopped his ringing, abandoned the bells over his shoulder and motioned dramatically at the only other chair in the room.  The Female Twin graciously applauded the Male's performance and regally threw back her inky hair before beaming under the spotlight that shone from an undisclosed source up above.

Ioan thought that this was rather rude for there to be no chair for him, but became too distracted as the dinner table smells wafted into his nostrils.  His tongue slowly snaked out to try and get just a bit of a morsel, before Ernest slapped it back with all the effort of a wet fish.  This new area wasn't doing him any good.  He looked pale as a corpse and sweated profusely.   

"At last! My Love has come along!" The Female Twin rolled off her tongue with all the ham she could muster.  Ioan grumbled as she cradled the table's roast pork in the kind of loving embrace that only stuffed animals ever truly enjoy.  He couldn't hold back his stomach's growl when she continued to play with her food, mentioning how long she has waited for this moment, how she has longed for this arranged meeting; how tortured she felt at the separation since they first met.

The Agony on Ioan's face was apparent.  He shed a tear during this speech.  His teeth clenched painfully as he watched her strip the meat off the pig and putting its juicy black flesh between her lips. 

"I don't know how much more of this I can take Ernest."
"Be strong Ioan.  Be patient."

Her impassioned speech reached a high note as she tossed the pig's remains to the side.  Ioan watched helplessly in despair as the carcass flew in an arc that would never cross his path.  It vanished into oblivion, devoured by the curtains. 

Ioan, was crushed.

"Finally," she cooed, "We are alone."

She settled into her high chair like a cat in its throne.  Her eyes burned with a mischievous glint as she traced the outline of her lips with a single index finger.  Ioan in the mean time, sobbed gently into his arm, unable to cope with the loss of such fine pork.  It was the sobbing that broke her smug features.  The spotlight became painfully bright as it filled the room.  Those sensual features of the Female Twin rippled in annoyance as her eyes opened in recognition of the vampire.

"You.  I was not expecting you to be here." She remarked.  The Male Twin gave a disapproving glance, before pulling out his pipe in annoyance.

"An unexpected guest... It's nothing I can't handle.  But he will have to stand away from the table.  No room, no room."  No room she said and each time the table seemed to get smaller.  The table became crowded with all its wares screaming in discomfort till beaten into silence by a disgruntled Male Twin.  The curtains shivered in anticipation, drawing their skirts up as they got closer for the excitement to go down.  No room, no room, Ioan get out of town.

"I didn't want to be here in the first place." Ioan snarled as he knocked away a teapot set his way.  He glared at the Male Twin who giggled before putting his pipe away - from the table at least.  Using a smoking pipe and the silverware for a game of crochet?  How revolting.

"Party's already started, now it's time for Tea.  Stand aside vampire, I have a love to feed."

With a stab of her finger, a pastry screamed its last.  A slash and all candles too tall, lost their fiery heads.  Stretched out further and further that finger became, until it dropped its food on Ernest's plate. 

He didn't so much as look at it.  It seemed if anything, Ernest was focusing on his breathing and the pain in his side.

She piled up his plate with love and care, creating a tower of bleeding dessert of which he ignored.  Piled on high till his face was obscured.  Ioan licked his lips as the pastries reached out to them, begging to be eaten to be spared the misery of existence.  Yes, just one, just one bite, I've been good-Ernest smacked the offending pile away. 

Ioan stamped his foot and clutched his fist.  The pain was taking its toll.

"Aren't you hungry?  Just have a taste." She insisted.  Her hands shoved the babbling food and plates forward until they overflowed and covered Ernest's form.  He shrugged off the waves of refuse like a ship in a storm.  Ioan wept at the waste he was shown.  Table cleared, she slid on it shoulder first getting closer, as the Male Twin wiped away the crud on their guest's shoulders.

"Aren't you thirsty?" She asked, picking up a weeping teapot which cried into the mouth of a choking teacup.  The Male Twin presented the black brew.  Ernest ignored it with an unfocused stare. 

"Where is Reader?"  Ernest asked the air.

The Male Twin threw the cup at the curtains which scattered back like a jilted crowd.  A flock of flowers cawed from the meadow ground.  Her face was serene as she slid back to the throne, the Female Twin kept in control.

"How did that letter go," She confided to the Male, "Ah yes, 'Goodbye Reader, you are becoming a nuisance and that's something we don't want.  And now we get Ernest to come to Us.  Thanks for Playing.  Thanks for all the fish.  Thanks for using the Golden Ticket.' Didn't you get the memo Love?"

She giggled into her hand, biting her lip with anticipation.  A new pair of cups was placed on their barren table.  Each filled with a steaming brew from a weary tea kettle.  The Male Twin busied himself with these tasks, while the Female continued to add sugar to her glass. 

"Bring Reader back." Ernest demanded to the air.

She giggled once more, gently stirring the sand-like contents of her over sugared drink.
"Oh?  You cared so much for that cup?  It's getting quite full, all the way to the brim.  Soon to crack at the end."

As if to illustrate her cup cracked as she poured the goo into her mouth, fragments and all, Ioan kept count.  Gone was the cup, the brew, and all it could have been, into a dainty mouth which sucked on a finger tip. 

The air filled with lazy smoke as the Male Twin lit his pipe.  Ernest coughed violently into his hand.  Ioan snapped up the tea cup's saucer and sent it flying, cutting the pipe in half.

"Can't you see Ernest is sick?" Ioan shouted, only to growl further at the Male Twin's smirk.

"I'm not sick." Ernest wheezed, "Just a flesh wound.  It barely... tingles..."

"You look absolutely famished darling, have something to eat."  She whispered with insistence.  The Male Twin provided a small plate of decadence covered in a gravy sauce.  The black wiggling substance was cubed by a dainty fork.  She pierced its sides and stretched the fork lance across space and time to touch Ernest's chapped lips.  Back and forth she smeared the substance.

"Just a small bite.  I made this part from me this time~."

"Back Demon!"

Ioan's hand sliced through the air, causing the fork and its fare to fall to the table.  Just as quickly did he then take the spoon and sent the silverware right through her skull.  She broke out laughing quite loudly.  The spoon fell aside without a dent.  The fork and its morsel became more like a hand, then a small person with a parcel on its back.  A servant doll that bled ink with each step.  It struggled to make its way back across the table, until it was snatched up by its bemused goddess. 

"All this attention from the one I don't want.  Come now Ernest, give me what I want. Come. Eat me. Drink me. Take your fill."

She crossed her legs to send a tapestry of silk to strike from the sides, Ioan's hands became full as he battered her advances away. 

"I laugh at every single thing you do, as you perform for me with each motion.  Step aside unwanted, and let me enjoy my moment."

Ioan doubled up his efforts.  He shredded the silky serpents then blew his nose into their rags.  The Twins sniffed their disgust.  The Female turned to the matter at hand.  Her little doll servant with its pack still struggled to hold on to her ink soaked hand.  Slowly she began to lap at its juicy body.  Ernest began to cringe. 

"Aaahh Ernest, I'd just evaporate if it wasn't for you.  We're so close, closer than you'll admit.  I know everything about what's inside that ticks-ticks-away." 

She looked at him with one eye, smiled, and speared her tongue through the little food doll.  Ernest crumpled, head smacking onto the table.  Ioan was at his side, checking his wound which now seemed alive.  Something crawled underneath, deep within.  Ernest finally looked at the Twins.

"I have it! I have what I want! What I've wanted all along! Eyes all on me, and a body to be free!"  She exclaimed in joy, her tongue releasing its hold on the sympathetic doll in her hand.  Ernest glared at the Female Twin.

"Oh I'm so excited Ernest, you must know!  Today will be my birthday once you die.  So happy unbirthday to you and your life!"  She laughed then, laughed like a child given cake. 

"Where is Reader?" Was all Ernest asked.

This time she didn't react like smooth glass.  She slammed the servant doll into the table causing it to splat.  Then ripped it off with the intention to throw it, but held back.  Instead she leaned back and began to chew on the squirming thing's legs. 

When she replied this is what she said, "Oh, I wouldn't be worried about that rabbit.  It is falling down a hole to be forgotten.  You should be thankful for what I've done, now we can be one.  No physical barriers to keep us away this time.  No more flavorless meat that'll rot.  Just the spirit to drink in, till I burst.  I can't wait to devour my Love.  Even if you weren't to accept my advances, your situation is still precarious.  You might no longer die from consumption, but your time is still limited.  Who knows how long you'll survive in this new state, since you've been trapped in another's belly.  Oh it tried to protect you like a mother fish, but for how long will it resist your tasty bits?" 

Between licks and bites and playful kisses, the doll of ink was devoured like a bunch of grapes, pulled long like fine melted cheese, and chewed deliberately between porcelain teeth.  Her snack done she seemed impatient, like she had won, but not entirely... After all her guest was still lively.  And being quite rude.  He will break eye contact soon.

"At tea time, everyone should tell a story." She announced.

"A story, a story! I'll start.  My story is about my Love."

Ioan rolled his eyes.

"I remember when you walked in and saw me here.  Did you feel my attraction in the air?  I knew I would crave you at first touch."

To emphasize she touched herself, mimicking Ernest's facial marks.  She trailed the bruise lines on Ernest's throat to her own, while the Male Twin gestured with fingers that clawed what she wrote into the air, "A child amongst 30, the last child left, and with all due respect the top of the class.  All the others are long gone.  Failed to survive the demands of their old god.  Give mommy and daddy a kiss, the broken caretakers will not be missed.  It's just you and me Love, we are all that remain of memories left in locked up homes.  The frame is bent.  The picture is faded.  Colors fall away like dainty dresses.  Just you and me Love, in our world of monotone.  Black and white, with you as my delight.  Soon to be black on black, if only you wouldn't fight back.  Black on Black how about that?  Black on Black so soft and accepting.  Like eternal sleep, so inviting.  Black on Black my Love....  Just. Give. Up."

She lunged across the table.  Ioan chastened her with a punch.  She tore apart the table in frustration.  Now all that was left were the two chairs, and the Male Twin placating himself at the feet of her throne.  Her eyes glowered at the interception. The curtains shivered, the meadow froze and Ernest breathed ragged on his own throne. 

"Let's not get hasty, not everyone here has told a story." Ioan remarked.

"Uninvited guests have no right to talk." The Twins said in unison.

A cough from Ernest cut into the tense air, "What nonsense are you spewing?  Not all of my siblings are dead.  At least one still lives that I know of, and there were at least five that left the School-"

"-Dead dead last one left, Dead-dead no regrets-"

"-They are not dead!"

The Twin's happy little dance stopped long enough for the pair to giggle at the enraged Ernest.  The sound of his clawed hands crushing his throne's armrests was music to celebrate by.  The Twins circled each other round and round to this sound until a sigh of release came from Ernest's lips.  Draped in shadows he looked very much like his name sake.  His eyes burned like candles in the night.  The Twins settled in for a staring contest they wouldn't miss.

"What do you want?"  Ernest asked.

"All business for my pleasure?  That's what I like about you, so Ernest.  I want you.  I want your acknowledgement.  I want you to stop resisting my advances.  I want us to be, together free.  Free of this trap and its boundaries." The Twins replied, obsession in their eyes.

"You want to kill me." Ernest retorted.

The Twins didn't deny it, but their hunger seemed to be held so long as Ernest spoke.

"If you want to kill me, then why don't you?  What are you waiting for?"

At this the Male Twin smiled as he procured a strange teapot shaped like an hourglass.  He poured out its sand into the Female's waiting hand.  "Congratulations.  He gets a prize for making it this far, but he's out of time.  No more space. No more lives. Out of meat and pudding and wine.  A toast for our cheerful success, may he enjoy his eternal rest."  Ioan stood at the ready for whatever may come.  Ernest felt something slipping away under his thumb.

Something slipping away and getting very far.  No more tingling or pain or sense of where they are.  Borders and lines blurred as the world felt cold, then nothing at all. 

Ernest felt his side.  The wound was gone.  And yet, something was wrong.

Something was very, very wrong.

"I am in control here," she said, "No Locker to hold me back.  You're in my world now jack."