Tourist – Part 4

Julian hadn’t meant to do that.  It was a tiny nick, to be sure, but the fact that it hadn’t been intentional, that he’d neglected to anticipate the girl’s state of panic, annoyed him. It didn’t overshadow the esthetic pleasure of watching one viscous bead of blood, and then another, erupt from the tiny cut […]

Tourist – Part 3

“Oh, no, no, no…” she said, so softly, more air than words, as if anything louder could trigger a cataclysm. The tip of the knife. Its impossible point hiccupped on her pores as it traced her jaw line. A tear slipped over the crest of her lip, hung there, burning the kiss-bruised flesh with its […]

Tourist – Part 2

In Julian’s experience, people who willfully sought their own degradation were those who could afford to do so. Seated in the recesses of the faux suede banquette, he surveyed the establishment: a club much like all the other clubs he’d been to. They existed in every large metropolis in the Western World. True, there were […]

Tourist – Part 1

“It’s what she wants.” Impatience turned the words brittle.  Marcus arched an eyebrow and gave me one curt nod, then relented. “And it’s what you want or you wouldn’t be here. Would you?” Meanwhile, the twenty-something girl bent over the bench and cuffed to its legs craned her neck to face me and scowled. I’d […]