“So, the woman is still alive,” He said as he slid the large black and white photo closer to his end of the table. In the picture was a very contrite Victor, holding tightly to the very woman he said he had killed. He was more than displeased by this. It was unlike Victor, he was smarter than that. He pushed the picture back towards the fumbling man who sat across from him. The man snatched the picture up and hugged it to himself. His eyes were full of regret and concern.

“You did the right thing. You know that, right? I don’t pay you to sit around and do nothing,” He explained to the sad little man. The man nodded half heartedly, still clutching at the photo. A chunk of dusty brown hair fell into his face, he mindlessly puffed it back. The man seemed so innocent so weak. He was starting to wonder why he had chosen him for this job in the first place.

“I know… I just… feel like a traitor” the man whispered half to Him and half to the picture.

“The only traitor in this situation is Victor, and trust that he will pay dearly or his mistakes…”

Victor sat on the edge of his bed, staring out the big paned window. He had been staring at it for hours now. He watched as the world outside got darker and darker. It was pitch black out now, and he could feel his chest tighten with fear. But, he couldn’t look away. He just kept staring, hoping that the lovely little women would magically appear as she had so many times before. He needed to believe that she would forgive him, and return to his arms.

However, as the clock ticked away, so did his hope. It would be understandable if she decided he was more trouble than he was worth. He hadn’t exactly treated her well. He needed her though. Over the months, he had become dependent on her without even realizing it had happened. She realized it. She had told him her deepest, most honest feelings, and he had thrown her out. Every time he thought about it, his stomach would sink. Those lovely green eyes, wet with tears. Her face twisted in sadness, and confusion. The whole thing made him sick.

Victor stood sharply and walked over to his bedroom door. He threw it open, heading into the bathroom. After a moment of patting the wall, he flicked on the light. It was blinding, after having sat in darkness for so long. He turned on the cold water, and let it splash a bit into the porcelain sink, before throwing some over his face.

He examined himself in the mirror with disgust. His unkempt hair fell in awkward waves over his drawn face. His eyes were so sunken into his head that he looked like a corpse. The dark circles under his eyes screamed truths about his awful insomnia. A long scar ran across his cheek, a souvenir from a night long ago, a night he wished he could erase from his mind. He couldn’t even begin to understand what Jinx saw in him, how could she long for someone who wore all his burdens on his face. A person whose face bore all the sadness he felt inside.

Stepping away from the sink, Victor took one last look at himself before shutting the light and throwing the room into darkness. He turned and headed back into his bedroom. His dark eyes were pointed towards the floor. He couldn’t bear to look at the empty window any longer. She wasn’t coming back, he had to accept that.

“Hi there.” The melodic voice caught him off guard.

His heart sped up a little bit. There she was sitting tall, her pale, thin legs crossed at the thigh. She wore a silky red dress that was dangerously short. Her long pea coat was fanned out behind her, the cuffs of which covered most of her little hands. Long black waves of hair spilled over her shoulders, and blew lightly as the breeze that wafted through the open window. Beside her sat a huge long cardboard box.

“I honestly didn’t think you were going to come,” Victor said, trying to fight the smile that threatened to spread across his lips.

“I wasn’t going to, but I have this weird problem, I can’t seem to stay away from you,” she joked.

“Well, I’m glad you did. Doesn’t really matter why, but um… what’s in the box?” Victor couldn’t help himself anymore, he had to know what the hell was in the awkward shaped box.

“It’s a present. See not only did I come, but I brought gifts. You’re a lucky man,” she laughed.

Jinx stood on the window sill and tilted the box up. With a carefully manicured hand, she ripped into the top of the box. Victor was a little frightened by the ease in which she sliced through it. She reached in, and pulled out a long tubular thing. Seeing what was inside didn’t help to answer Victor’s question any. She reached under his curtains and placed the tube underneath.

“Do you need like a screw driver, or something?” Victor asked, feeling more than confused.

“Um, Victor, I’m a vampire. Do you think I would need something silly like a screwdriver?” She scoffed. After a couple of moments she emerged from under the curtain, she turned to him smiling wide.

“Are you ready for this?” she giggled. She reached up and flicked a switch that was somewhere out of Victor’s eyes shot. A light flicked on under the curtain. Jinx pulled the curtains closed, and the light glowed through them. She skipped over and sat on the bed beside him.

“See, it’s a daylight simulator. It’s not perfectly realistic, but it comes pretty close. I know how you hate the darkness. This is a sad attempt at making it better,” she explained. Victor stared at the glowing light. The tightness in his chest eased, not a lot, but just enough. It was an incredibly sweet gesture, but he had always been bad at thank yous.

“I know its lame, I just thought…”

“No it’s.. it’s great. Just, never really got a gift before. I’m not sure what to say or do.”

“Well, maybe you could tell me why you hate the dark so much… I mean, I did tell you about my family. Not trying to pry or anything. Just saying it would only be fair really,” she said slyly. Victor had tried to hard to push away all those memories. He didn’t like thinking about that awful night. Telling her would mean reliving it. On the other hand, it might help her understand why he was so cold. Because, no matter how he felt about her inside, he would never be able to show it outwardly, not the right way anyways.

“Fine, but its not going to be a very nice story,” he warned.

“There’s no such thing as a nice story, Victor. We wouldn’t be who we are now, if it was a nice story” Jinx said. She pulled her legs up and sat cross legged on the bed. She looked at him with eager eyes.

“Alright, here goes…”

“Mommy where are we going?” Victor whined. He snatched his hand away from his mother. They had been running for what seemed like hours. Now the sun had se,t and they were no closer to being anywhere. His mother turned on her heels. She knelt down in front of him, and ran one of her slender hands through his messy, tangled hair.

“Listen baby, we need to keep moving, ok? I know you’re tired, but please just a little longer,” her voice was full of terror and sadness. Her face was twisted with worry. His mother’s deep green eyes darted around in the darkness, searching for something. Victor took her hand again, and let her continue dragging him through the darkness. Only a little bit more, she said, soon they could stop and rest.

The pair ran through a little patch of trees. His mother’s leg got caught up under a tree root. She tumbled down the slight incline of the tree line. Victor hurried over to her. She lay crumpled on the floor, her pale hands clutched at her ankle.

“Mommy, are you ok?” he asked. Her eyes shut tightly. His mother took a few deep breaths. She planted her hands on the ground and stood slowly. Her left leg was lifted slightly above the ground.

“I’m fine. Come on, we have to go,” she cried out as she hobbled towards him. The grouping of trees ended just before a large corn field. The stalks were so high they covered bother their heads. Victor stared up in wonder. They were encapsulated in the vegetation. He ran out in front of her, clearing a path for his hurt mother. Tear streamed down her face.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Victor said as he threw his arms around her waist.

He held her tightly, afraid of what was making her so upset. If it scared her, then it had to be horrible. Just then a bright light clicked on. It seemed almost like car headlights. His mother fell to the ground, dragging him down with her. The lights grew a little brighter, an engine roared from somewhere just out of eyeshot. Victor’s mother pulled him close to her. She brushed aside some of the corn stalks, a long black car sat idle, the head lights shining brightly. A shadowy figure emerged from the driver’s side. His mother pulled her hand back quickly and clasped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were filled with fear and indecision. She looked at Victor, her cold hands stroking the back of his hair mindlessly.

“Victor, sweetie, mommy can’t run anymore, ok? But you still can right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Listen to me very closely. You see that man?” she whispered. Victor nodded.

“He is a very bad man, ok. Mommy is going to go distract him, and you are going to run, ok? No matter what you hear, Victor honey, you just run. Find some grownups and ask them for help,” she explained. The tears fell faster now. Her voice was shaky, and unsure.

“What about you, Mommy?” Victor cried.

“Mommy has been running for so long, since before you were born. It’s time for her to own what’s hers,” she leaned over and kissed his forehead.

“Mommy loves you always,” she sobbed. Victor looked into her beautiful green eye one last time. “And remember Victor, don’t stop running”

Victor stayed there, lying on his stomach in the big corn field. His mother hobbled through the thick brush, until she was standing flush in the light of the car. The man walked around the car and stood before her. The headlights made them silhouettes. The two melted together, closer then strangers would ever stand. They stood like that for what seemed like forever. Victor watched as the two spoke about things he couldn’t hear. He skittered around in the darkness, trying to get a better look. He knew he should be running, but he didn’t want to leave her behind. He just couldn’t do it. He was almost to the car when he stopped, afraid of revealing himself to the stranger.

The man held his mother close as she looked at him with the strangest expression. No fear, no worry, it was a look that was strangely placid. The man reached into his coat and pulled out a gun. Victors stomach sank, the man pressed the barrel of the gun against his mother’s stomach. Victor wanted to stop him, but his fear kept him captive to the spot where he stood. The two held eye contact, in their strange contradicting embrace.

The gun fire echoed loudly in the empty field. Crimson red blood poured out of his mother, and the man held her tightly. The pair fell to the ground together. Victor couldn’t help it, he cried out. The stranger turned his head slowly, and met his eyes. They were deep set and dark, just like his own...

“I took off into the darkness, but the weight of everything I had witnessed, and being lost and alone was too much. I just felt like I was suffocating, like the life was being sucked out of me. He found me eventually, but he didn’t kill me like I thought he would. He took me home. He raised me and taught me how to be a hitman. I don’t know, I just feel like he ruined me, and made me this incredibly hatful person,” Victor explained. Jinx sat there, riveted by his story.

“Oh, Victor,” she whispered as she scooted closer to him.

“I hate the darkness. It makes me feel like I’m 10 again. It brings me right back to that night,” he sighed.

“You know why I couldn’t kill you, right? You and her… you have the same eyes. The same perfect shade of jade green, the same mixture of wisdom, defiance, and unbearable sadness. The kind of eyes that have seen things no one should ever have to. When you looked at me, I just couldn’t pull the trigger,” he confessed as embarrassment set in. Why was he telling her all these things? She probably didn’t even care.

“Victor, I…”

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m being stupid… I’m gonna stop talking now.”

Victor turned away from her, hanging his head low to hide the embarrassment that was surely written all over his face. Jinx placed the tips of her icy fingers under his chin, and tilted his head towards hers. Their faces were mere inches apart. She smiled shyly, before pressing her lips to his. It began innocently enough, however as the moments passed it grew in passion and ferocity. Victor broke the kiss.

“Listen, Jinx. I don’t know what you expect from me. I am never going to be emotional, or warm. I just don’t want you to be disappoint…”

Jinx pressed her fingers to his lips.

“Victor, you’re ruining the moment. Just shut up and kiss me,” she said, her eyes full of lust. It made his heart race. Women had looked at him that way before, but never with such confidence. She almost seemed to be posing a challenge, and it was a challenge he was fully willing to accept.

Victor pulled the ice cold woman close, kissing her with all the passion he could muster. He slanted his lips against hers, sliding a hand up to fist in her soft, raven hair as he reveled in the feel of their bodies pressed so tightly together. She responded with a throaty moan as she gently nibbled on his lower lip. The sharpness of her fangs against that soft skin made his body jolt slightly. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was in any danger, if maybe this was all a ploy to get at his throat. However, the thought was fleeting. It completely faded away when Jinx gently tugged him down on top of her.

Victor carefully slid her coat down over her shoulders as his kisses wandered down the tender skin of her neck. The skin of her arms was soft and smooth, and cold as ice. He let his tongue flicker over her pulse, and her body arched up against him in response. She tasted like winter, cool, crisp, and pure…odd considering what she was. He continued over her shoulder as she slid her arms out of the jacket. When it was off, Victor tossed it to the side carelessly.

He looked down at the beautiful woman in the red silk dress. He loved her in that dress. The blood red of the fabric made her skin seem paler, more like porcelain. It made her eyes seem brighter, bigger as they looked up at him with a strange mixture of confidence and uncertainty that only Jinx could pull off. She looked up at him with lust darkened, green eyes, a light flush of arousal settling over the ridge of her nose. In that moment, she seemed like both the seductress and the saint. Again, it was a combination only Jinx could manage.

Jinx ran her icy hands down the length of his chest and stomach, sending chills down his spine with her cool touch. She hooked her fingers in the elastic of his sweatpants and tugged at them roughly. She defiantly wasn’t the submissive kind. Victor couldn’t help but smirk to himself at the thought. He nuzzled under her chin and nipped at her throat. She let out a breathy sigh as he flicked his tongue over the arch of her neck.

Victor let his hands travel slowly up the smooth skin of her cream-white thighs. His fingers played with the lace edges of her panties, itching to touch what lay underneath them. The tiny women moaned loudly, arching up under him. Rougher than he meant to, Victor tugged down her underwear, and threw them across the room. Jinx gasped a little before pulling him down for a kiss. Her tongue searched hungrily for his, her arms wrapped around him tightly. Excitement built up in Victor’s core, the pressure building at the base of his spine.

The tension between them was at its breaking point. Victor needed her, badly, more then he had ever needed anyone before. Jinx’s lustful moans seemed to mirror his need. Jinx deepened her kisses as she muscled off his pants. There was no fighting her. She knew what she wanted, and was determined to get it. She wiggled out from under him, and threw him over on his back. Victor wasn’t used to the kind of dominance Jinx exerted, but he certainly didn’t dislike it. She raked her nails down his chest and flashed him a wide grin. Desire stalked like a panther behind her eyes along with something else…something deeper, sweeter. Her smile faded.

“Victor, I adore you,” she said in the warm voice he had come to love. She leaned in close, her lips brushed his ear as her dark hair fell around him like a curtain. All he could smell was cinnamon and sex.

“Promise me you won’t hurt me again. Being without you is a fate worse than death,” she whispered sweetly into his ear. Victor brushed back her hair, taking her face in both his hands. Her green eyes locked onto his fearlessly.

“I can’t promise I wont hurt you ever,” Victor said. Her lids flickered closed, and she shifted her glance away from his for the first time, ever.

“But, I care about you enough to try,” Victor whispered as he pulled her closer. She fixed her gaze on him again. Her perfect, alabaster skin seemed to glow. Deep black hair framed her perfect face. She was beautiful to him, perfect in every way. He kissed her softly, his large hands taking up fistfuls of the silky red dress.

Jinx sat up, and in one swift motion, lifted the dress over her head. He reached out, letting finger tips play over ribs and down her flat stomach. The vixen let out a little purr, throwing her head back and arching. He moved down over her hips, letting his hand wander up the center of her stomach, and up to her perfect breast. Jinx let out a gasp at the feeling of his warm palm, almost searing into her cold skin.

She leaned down, planting both hands on the pillow beside his head. She lifted her hips and with a purr, she took the length of him inside her. His breath caught in his chest, and a groan escaped his lips. Jinx shut her eyes tight, her cheeks were flushed pink. Different muscles moved smoothly under her fine white skin as she slowly worked her hips, grinding against him. Her arms gave way, and she collapsed against him. She nuzzled under his neck. Her breath was hot on his skin. Cold fingers traced little circles on his burning flesh. Her movements were smooth and skilled, and Victor couldn’t help but be enamored by her.

Victor rolled her over onto her back, watching as her hair fanned out behind her, little bits stuck in dark tendrils to her face. Her lips parted slightly, her breath ragged and uneven. He entered her slowly at first, sliding in and out almost lethargically as he watched her writhe and arch prettily beneath him. After a few moments, he started moving faster, picking up pace with each thrust. Jinx’s tiny hand clutched the pillow under her head. Her chest arched upward, breasts bouncing with his rhythm.

The pressure was building, and everything was getting a bit fuzzy. Victor clenched his jaw, trying to hold on a little bit longer. She was just so beautiful. He didn’t want the moment to end. Right now, nothing mattered. There was no Eternity Inc. There was no past, no hate or death. All that existed was Jinx and Victor, simple and clean. Two people who were so alone, and found comfort in one another. Two people who fit together, because they were all wrong for each other. It didn’t have to make sense, it just was.

Jinxs body tensed, her breath slowed, her fingers clutched tight around the pillow case until her knuckles turned white. Her whole body arched upwards, her kiss reddened mouth falling open in a silent scream of completion. Watching her in her moment of release sent Victor over the edge. He let the pressure escape him, shuddering as the waves of climax coursed over his skin. His heart pounded in his chest as he listened to Jinx pant loudly. He kissed her passionately one last time, before he rolled off her. He collapsed on his back, still breathing erratically. Jinx moved onto her side, and rested her head on his chest. With a shaky hand, he combed his fingers through her hair.

“I love you, Victor,” she said shyly. He wanted to say it back, he really did. But, everything inside him fought those words away.

“You don’t have to say it back. I know it’s hard for you… I just wanted you to know that I love you.” She smiled.

Victor held her just a little tighter. She was too amazing to be real. He was afraid she would disappear, or maybe he might wake up and realize it had all been a dream. The thought made his stomach sink. She had come into his life so unexpectedly, like a hurricane. It only made sense that she would leave as dramatically. After all, doesn’t everything that’s good have to end?

Victor swatted away the awful thoughts that were crowding into his head. He had found something precious, someone precious. She wouldn’t have to leave if he protected her. She would stay if he could find a way to break down the walls he’d built around himself. He looked at the alabaster angel. Her lids fluttered closed, her breathing evened out and grew slower. He wished so much that he could say all of those things out loud, that he could express to her how much she had changed his world. He wanted to tell her how he had forgotten what color was. How the world had been so grey, until she looked at him with those green eyes of hers, the only color in his world.

But, he couldn’t say those things… and she would probably never fully understand how much she meant to him. A tiny snore fluttered through her lips. Victor smiled to himself as he watched the beautiful woman in his arms rest peacefully. The world was a dark and murderous place. However, in his apartment, in that moment, everything didn’t seem so bad. Whatever tomorrow had in store for them, well, it just didn’t matter…

All that existed, all that mattered, was Jinx and Victor, and their own private world…