The author narrates.
Vikram took a deep breath, like someone trying to erase with air what he had just experienced.
He wanted to kill that soul.
Until nothing remained.
But Bi had stopped him.
And she was right: it wasn't worth it.
Frustrated, he slumped in his chair.
His breathing was rapid, his jaw clenched.
One hand to his forehead.
The other tapping the table with his finger, again and again. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Drelm watched him from the bar.
There were no other customers.
Only smoke, empty glasses, and the echo of what had gone unsaid.
He took advantage of the silence.
Drelm: Stop getting upset over a few simple words.
Be a man.
What you're doing isn't wrong. It's just a change. A transformation.
Vikram didn't raise his head.
But the finger stopped moving.
Drelm: That soul still doesn't know what it's going through or what it really needs to do.
That's why it asked you for help.
It thought you'd be its salvation. Acting like this makes you look like a complete idiot.
The blow was sharp.
Vikram raised his hand and slammed it down hard on the counter.
Vikram: Shut your mouth! You don't know anything about what I've been through.
Drelm didn't flinch.
He didn't even look at him.
Drelm: That's true. I don't know completely. And I don't care to know.
He went back to his work.
As if nothing had happened.
As if his words had no weight.
Vikram gritted his teeth.
He turned to Bi, frowning.
Vikram: Did you really have to bring me all the way here?
She sipped slowly, her eyes half-closed.
She savored it.
Not just the drink.
Bi: Hey,' she finally said, unhurriedly. 'I brought you to the place where I usually take breaks... when you're getting pleasure.
I have a soul too.
I need to breathe too. I brought you here so you could relax. And enjoy yourself a little.'
Vikram crossed his arms.
Then he leaned toward the counter and rested his head on them, like a child tired of fighting.
Vikram: Well... thanks for bringing me.
His tone was acidic.
Laden with sarcasm.
He was still burning inside.
Bi: You're welcome.
She smiled.
As if everything was going according to plan.
Vikram watched him for a few minutes.
Drelm was cleaning a glass with the same intensity as someone polishing a wound they don't want to heal.
The silence between them was thick, but not uncomfortable.
Just... heavy.
Vikram took a deep breath, like someone deciding to leave the annoyance behind.
He forced a smile.
Vikram: Hey, big guy... do you have a girlfriend?
Drelm stopped.
He slowly turned his head and looked directly at him.
The atmosphere turned cold.
And the place had been warm.
Drelm: I don't talk about my private life with anyone.
Vikram barely nodded, as if he hadn't expected anything else.
But he asked another question, in a light tone.
Vikram: Have you tried being with someone?
Maybe it would do you good... to bring out that cold side of you.
Drelm: You don't decide what's right for me and what's not.
Vikram: True... but with a girlfriend you could-
The thud was sharp.
Both of Drelm's hands fell hard on the counter.
He leaned toward Vikram, like a shadow expanding without permission.
Vikram tensed instantly.
His body slumped back.
The smile vanished.
His eyes opened only slightly wider.
Drelm: You'd better not speak or ask too many questions, human. Because you'll leave here with your soul corrupted.
And without waiting for a reply, Drelm turned and disappeared through the back of the place.
Vikram stood still.
He breathed nervously, as if he had crossed an invisible boundary.
And he knew it.
Even though his questions seemed normal.
Bi drank calmly.
She didn't seem surprised.
Bi: To be honest, Vikram... he doesn't want anyone to know much about his life.
He likes being isolated.
But work keeps him here.
He likes it more than he admits.
Vikram nodded slowly, lowering his gaze.
Not out of discouragement.
But because he was already thinking of other questions.
A way to approach without disturbing him.
Bi: If you want, when he gets back... ask him about the place.
Or if this bar is his favorite pastime. But don't ask him things like, "Do you have a girlfriend yet?" That doesn't bode well.
And besides... it's boring.
She finished her drink.
And smiled, as if all this were part of a game only she understood.
•⊰[🍻]⊱•
A few minutes passed.
Vikram was still leaning against the counter, his body relaxed, his eyes lost somewhere on the floor.
He was playing with a cigarette between his fingers, twisting it, bending it, as if that could distract him from the weight bearing down on him.
Bi watched him silently.
She noticed the boredom, but also the tension lurking beneath it.
She brought the glass to her lips, took a slow sip, and thought about how to revive him.
Or at least, how to shake him out of his lethargy.
Bi: Vikram... do you want a drink?
He didn't answer right away.
He just stayed there, motionless, as if the question had reached him from a great distance.
After a few seconds, he slowly sat up and looked at her.
His face was dull, his eyes lifeless, his mouth twisted in a grimace of boredom.
Vikram: I want to... —he finally said, in a low voice— but I still don't trust the place.
He glanced down the corridor where Drelm had disappeared.
The Executioner still hadn't returned.
Bi swirled her glass elegantly, making the amber liquid spiral slowly.
She had poured herself another drink from a bottle she'd taken without asking.
And then, as if an idea had just touched her tongue, she smiled.
Bi: And wouldn't you like... you know... - she leaned slightly toward him, with a lopsided, almost feline smile - for me to bring you an Executioner to please you and revive you?
She raised her eyebrows a couple of times, playfully.
As if she were offering a treat.
As if she didn't know—or didn't care—what that meant to him.
Vikram tensed instantly.
The straw fell from his fingers.
His breathing quickened. His eyes opened with a mixture of fear and rage.
Vikram: "No!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking inside. "I don't want to feel pleasure again... from that stuff!"
Bi didn't move.
He just looked at him.
And nodded, slowly, without losing his composure.
Bi: "Okay.
But at least... you could try to enjoy the place, man."
Vikram crossed his arms.
Then he hugged himself, as if he needed to contain something that threatened to burst out.
He looked away, swallowing hard.
It wasn't just the suggestion.
It was what it reminded him of.
What he had felt.
What he didn't want to feel again.
Bi didn't insist.
He just took another sip.
And let the silence do the rest.
A few more minutes passed.
The sound of heavy footsteps announced Drelm's return.
In his dominant hand, he carried a thick glass, filled to the brim with a thick, white, almost pearly liquid.
It wasn't milk.
It wasn't wine.
It was something else.
Something that was only served when Bi asked for it.
And never for her.
His fingers trembled slightly, as if they had just been boiled.
Or in something worse.
Vikram saw him enter and sat up straight, alert.
His eyes fixed on the glass.
On the way Drelm held it. On the silence that surrounded it.
Bi smiled faintly.
Like someone who had been waiting for this very moment.
Drelm approached without a word.
He placed the glass in front of Vikram with a curt gesture.
But on his face... a grimace of displeasure. As if he'd just done something unspoken.
Not yet.
Vikram frowned.
He looked at the glass.
Then at Drelm.
And back at its contents.
It was thick.
White.
It almost seemed to move on its own.
Bi stood up gently, walked over to him, and draped an arm around his neck, leaning lightly against him.
Her perfume was sweet.
But her presence... was something else.
Bi: Well, Vikram... the moment has arrived - she whispered close to his ear, with a smile that seemed more playful than an invitation. - I'm going to ask you to enjoy this place. Just drink that glass in front of you.
Vikram felt an internal alarm go off.
It wasn't fear.
It was instinct.
Something in his body told him he shouldn't drink that.
He turned to look at Drelm.
The Executioner was breathing heavily, holding his breath.
He wasn't speaking.
He just watched it.
As if he were waiting for something.
As if he knew something.
Vikram: But... what's in it?
His voice came out lower than he expected.
He swallowed.
The glass was still there.
Motionless.
Waiting.
Bi smiled wider.
She took the glass delicately and held it up to him.
Bi: Well, it just has some strong alcohol... and a little bit of brute force.
A secret ingredient.
Drink it. Nothing's going to happen to you.
She leaned closer.
So close that their cheeks touched.
Her enthusiasm was palpable.
And that, rather than calming him, unsettled him.
You could expect anything from Bi.
And he knew it.
She placed the glass in his hands.
Vikram held it, but didn't drink.
He looked at it.
He smelled it. He felt the heat emanating from the liquid.
And that sensation... that inner warning...
shouted that if he drank it, something inside him would change.
And there would be no going back.
The smell was strange.
A mixture of strong alcohol and something else... something the alcohol itself seemed to want to hide.
Vikram smelled it cautiously.
He took a deep breath.
He sighed.
The thick, white liquid stared at him from the bottom of the glass as if it were also evaluating him.
"It doesn't seem dangerous... It smells like alcohol... But with something else...
And why are you afraid?
I'm not afraid! It's just that..." Vikram thought, talking to himself. Stray words he wanted to silence.
He didn't want to seem cowardly.
He didn't remember himself like that.
He didn't want to be like that.
So he did it.
He brought the glass to his lips and began to drink.
The liquid slid down his throat like a hot, thick, invasive tongue.
It felt thick.
Too thick.
And it wasn't just alcohol.
Bi smiled.
He let out a low, almost private laugh, while glancing briefly at Drelm.
Drelm, arms crossed, shook his head.
He said nothing.
But his expression spoke volumes.
Some of the liquid trickled down the corner of Vikram's lips.
It was impossible to swallow it all at once.
Too thick.
Too... intimate.
~
A moan escaped him.
Involuntary.
And that was enough for Drelm to turn around and walk back to the rear of the room, as if he couldn't bear what he was seeing.
Bi took the glass in one hand and gently pushed it toward Vikram's mouth.
Bi: Careful... you have to drink it all.
Vikram looked at her, surprised.
She was too close.
Their cheeks brushed.
And there was an enthusiasm on her face that wasn't entirely innocent.
That unsettled him.
Anything could be expected from Bi.
And he knew it.
She pushed the glass down a little further.
Part of him had been screaming at her not to from the start. But he was already drinking it. It was too late.
He drank. And drank some more.
When the liquid filled his stomach, a tingling sensation ran through his body.
As if something had been activated.
As if he had crossed a threshold without realizing it.
When he finished, Bi put down the glass.
Vikram slammed it on the table.
The sound was sharp.
The glass didn't break.
He let out a laugh.
A nervous laugh.
As if he had just survived something he didn't understand.
Vikram: Damn... for a moment I thought it was poison, he said, laughing.
Bi nodded.
But his smile...
wasn't friendly at all.
And Vikram noticed.
Even so he kept laughing.
So that it wouldn't be obvious that he was now even more nervous than before.
Bi settled back into his chair with the same grace with which a snake coils itself to observe its prey.
Her lips curved in a calm, almost maternal smile, while her eyes remained fixed on Vikram.
He tried to maintain his composure, but his nervousness was evident.
And for Bi, that was delicious.
"Why is she looking at me like that?" Vikram thought nervously.
He crossed one leg over the other gracefully.
He picked up the bottle, raised it with one hand, and poured the alcohol into his glass with a slow, almost ceremonial motion.
The liquid fell with a thick, dense sound.
Then he raised the glass in the air, as if toasting a ghost, and looked back at Vikram.
He was smiling.
But it was a tense smile.
Forced.
As if he were trying to convince himself that everything was alright.
Bi said nothing.
And that silence stretched on.
It stretched like an invisible rope between them, about to snap.
From Vikram's perspective, Bi always seemed on the verge of speaking.
But she didn't.
She liked the silence.
She liked seeing him confused.
She liked watching him writhe in his own uncertainty.
That smile of hers...
gave nothing away.
And her eyes, so vivid, so dark, hid more than they revealed.
Until, finally, she spoke.
Bi: Do you want to know what was in it... besides the alcohol?
Vikram swallowed.
More nervous than before.
The question pierced him like a needle.
Vikram: Um... yes... sure.
His voice trembled.
Just like his.
Bi didn't stop smiling.
But Vikram's smile... faded.
She placed the glass on the counter.
She leaned toward him, closing the distance.
And just as she was about to speak... she stopped.
Because she felt it. Because he saw it.
Something in Vikram had changed.
He narrowed his eyes.
His breathing slowed.
Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead.
He placed a hand on his chest, as if something inside him had been released.
A tingle rose from his stomach to his throat.
A warm, moist current coursed through his body like a whisper.
But no one was touching him.
He looked at Bi.
She looked back at him.
And in her eyes there was more than mockery.
There was satisfaction.
Vikram slumped against the counter with a thud.
His body began to gasp.
Not from exertion.
But from pleasure.
A pleasure he didn't understand.
That he hadn't asked for.
That was coursing through him from within.
~
He laughed softly, his voice thick with emotion.
His cheeks flushed. His eyes rolled back, as if he were seeing stars.
As if someone were pleasing him... from within.
Without hands.
Without skin.
Only... essence.
And Bi watched him.
Triumphant.
Like someone who has finished a spell and is only waiting to see the effects.
For her, the plan had worked.
And Vikram... was no longer the same.
___________________________________
.░▒▓█Episode completed█▓▒░.
🍻❣️
Mon amour.
[-☘️-];