Chapter 1

            Some scenes are better from an outsider’s perspective.  Sitting alone in the dark underneath a wash of stars, near a slow-flowing river, a man sat holding a young woman.  The man was large enough to be mistaken for a bear with skin stained with night making it easy to miss him in the midnight hours. Only by comparison did the woman’s form, a lighter shadow in the night, materialize, her dewy skin softly glowing like a dark river light by starlight. To anyone passing by it was a scene that appeared tragically romantic. 

            Of course, this is why sometimes being ignorant is actually bliss.  If a viewer knew or understood what had transpired moments before, then their skin would crawl, and the dream would swiftly turn into a night terror.  The charming, tattooed prince would easily become a demon as his fingers clenched tight around the woman’s fragile neck. Yet that had already passed and now he sat holding the girl, whose neck he could have easily broken.  He hadn’t.  He hadn’t let his hands embrace through her neck, though it had been close. 

            Cain held Alessandra Yᴔsin in his arms as Romeo must have held the sleeping Juliet. Her face shone brighter than the stars off the nearby river, her skin damp with perspiration and the palest purple tinting her lips and cheeks.  The black from his tattoos appeared to have stained her tawny neck as deep bruises formed where his fingers had lain. Aless lay so still Cain almost wanted to check her breath to make sure it still rose from her chest and mouth.  He didn’t though.  Cain knew his strength and knew he had not killed her. 

            It had been but a short while ago that Aless had found him doing what he did best, teaching a miserable life a lesson.  She had been running through the buildings as if she were chasing something, her eyes fixed on the sky.  Then she had found him as he laid his fist again and again into a piece of scum who dared call himself a man.  Her gasp had drawn Cain’s attention and he couldn’t help but smile.  There was no one he would have rather seen at that moment.  No one who would have made it more perfect than Aless in all her innocent perfection.  Beating a man and killing a man were Cain’s greatest joy.  He was amazing at it, and it always gave him such a rush.  Yet being crammed into this small town in the middle of the Frying Pan had deprived him the opportunity to exercise his talent while he waited for his orders from his master. 

            Good fortune always smiled on those who were patient though.  A man who had dared to lay a hand on Aless had appeared and, while Cain had to wait a few days for the man to be alone, Cain had used her as an excuse to act on his desires.  The worm had been so pathetic, begging, and crying for mercy.  As if mercy actually existed.  Of course, just as Cain was finally reaching his stride, Aless appeared.  For over a week Cain had been debating about taking Aless for his own. Not sexually, of course. Cain never got that part of human nature, but as his toy, his companion, his…well, he didn’t really know. Just as his.  Something had always stopped him, but then there she was, witnessing his skill.  It was serendipity. 

            Within seconds his hands had been around her neck as she cried out his name in surprise.  Excitement flooded Cain like never before as he felt the warmth of her skin flaring against his hands; the pulse of her blood fighting his grip as her muscles strained to help her.  Her fingers twisted into his hands as her eyes mirrored total surprise.  She was perfection, total perfection.  Yet Aless had not screamed or even tried to.  He would have felt her throat contract in the effort if she had.  Aless merely held his gaze as she struggled.  Then as her breath and pulse slowed, the pale purple fire slipping into her lips and face, Aless murmured one word.  It had surprised him so utterly that he almost dropped her.  In his experience, people used their last breath before passing out or dying to say no, please, why, stop, or to call out for their parents.  Alessandra had held his gaze until the last minute and whispered, “Cain” as if she was talking to him as a friend. 

            A bolt of lightning shot through his chest; he would say through his heart, but he knew he did not have one, and his grip on her slipped.  Catching her in his hands, Cain slumped to his knees then back onto his backside, where he sat cradling her, admiring the purple fire inside of her. Aless was fire to him. The hottest flame he could imagine.   Cain had never intended to kill Aless, not then at least, but when she uttered his name, Cain could think of nothing.  So, he held her and watched her. 

            Her breath was slow and, at first, irregular.  But she still breathed all the same.  Her body lay limp in his hand, but heat seemed to consume her flesh as it filled with fresh life. The man he had beaten just moments before bled unnoticed and forgotten only feet away on the riverbank.  Nothing mattered in the world except for Aless. 

            Cain wondered how his master, how Cahan Jᴔnsa, had missed such a girl as Aless.  The whole reason Cain was in town was to find the slave girl that Jᴔnsa desired and didn’t trust anyone else to catch. The slave girl was supposedly a challenge. 

            “You’ll know her when you see her,” Jᴔnsa had grinned two weeks ago as Cain packed up his car. 

            Cain had known the girl when he saw her.  Kayla.  Aless’s annoying friend.  Kayla was bubbly and flirty with the traditional look of beauty that Cain found tiring.  He had been sure that it was her, but, as he held Aless, Cain wondered how Jᴔnsa had overlooked Aless.  In the past Cain had always viewed his master with respect, finding his temper and wit to make him stand above the rest, even if Cain thought Jᴔnsa was too soft sometimes.  Yet for Jᴔnsa taste in women had always been his flaw.  He liked shallow women with large breasts and small brains.  Women that he knew only would entertain him for a short while.   

            Brushing back a loose piece of hair from Aless’s face, Cain felt her timid breath weave between his fingers.  It was so delicate a breath he thought he could break it as it hung in the air.  For a long time, Cain sat there with Aless, letting her life slowly slink back into her body.  He had no desire to do more to her.  The urge had left him the moment she had whispered his name.  For the first time in his life, Cain wanted nothing more than to hold her and look into her eyes.  Yet her eyes were shut so he waited.  He waited to see himself in her eyes again.  The moment before she lost consciousness, Cain had seen himself clearly in her Sǐwáng Moon, or Death Moon, eyes. 

            Dawn slowly crept up over the skyline as Cain held Aless.  As the cool rays of the sun touched her skin, Aless’s eyes fluttered.  Cain held his breath as he saw them flutter with more strength.  Then timidly as if she was unsure she wanted to wake, Alessandra opened her eyes. 

            Everything hurt.  Her neck screamed as her head cried out in agony.  She didn’t wish to move a muscle.  Alessandra, better known as Aless by her friends, could feel her body being cradled by a mix of hard and soft.  The sky was too bright, blurring her version.  What fresh hell was she in now? At first, as her vision cleared, Aless thought it was still night and that she was looking up into the dark sky, but then slowly she started distinguishing a face and eyes. 

            Cain.

            Her heart stuttered as her memories flooded back of his hands around her neck, choking her.  Her body unable to scream or fight for help.  The only thing she could do, the only thing she could think of was her father…and Jᴔnsa.  Blushing Alessandra remember in some desperate part of her heart she had called out for his help.

“As if he could have really heard me,” she snorted inwardly. 

“Aless,” Cain whispered tenderly.

Delicately, Cain stroked her hair. Alessandra tried to jerk away but searing pain in her neck prevented her.  Cain looked concerned, which confused and revolted Aless.  He done this to her and yet was looking as innocent as a lamb. 

“Aless,” he repeated just as sweetly.

This time Aless was able to moisten her dry mouth enough to talk. 

“Cain…what…” she creaked in a dry, sore voice.

Briefly, she contemplated feigning ignorance about the situation. 

“Aless, don’t speak, please.   I did a lot of damage to your neck.  You must be very sore,” he cooed still stroking her hair.

Blanching, Aless was startled by his candor.  He neither blushed nor looked remorseful about his previous actions.  Cain just looked like Cain.

“What time is it?” she finally croaked.

Attempting to appear casual, Aless knew she was failing.

“Probably five in the morning.  You were unconscious for a long time.”

“You choked…”

“Yes, I did.”

Cain’s voice became thick with the memory, his body titillating.  Aless suppressed a shiver as his fingers tightened around her shoulders.  Looking deep into her eyes, Cain watched himself.  There was something about his reflection in her eyes that entranced him. Was this how the moon felt when it saw itself in the ocean?

“Wh…”

“Aless, don’t ask why…you are better than that,” Cain sighed.

Tiredly, Cain rubbed one of his large hands on his head. 

“I enjoy what I do.  I enjoyed what I did to you but for some reason, it wasn’t enough.”

Aless stayed frozen, unsure where he was going with this.

“It’s always been enough to hurt someone unless I wanted to kill them.”

Staring back at the corpse near them, Cain ran his teeth over his bottom lip. How could he talk so casually about murder? Aless wondered in silent mortified horror.  Then as he turned back to look at her, Aless saw it, his Josӕng.  Unlike a traditional Josӕng, which was a tattoo on an adult’s temples symbolizing their family and adulthood, Cain’s Josӕng was made from the paper-thin lines and space between the dots and triangle that covered every inch of his body.  Through paper-thin lines, Cain’s Josӕng formed the shape of the Deity’s Eye.  It was like an optical illusion that required a person’s eyes to cross to see it but, once it was seen, it could not be unseen. Cain’s voice broke Aless’s gaze from the Deity’s Eye.

“Yet I didn’t want to kill you.  I just wanted to hear you say my name and look at me the way you did before.   No one has ever looked at me that way.”

“In what way?”

“Like I’m really here.”

“What?”

“I’m a large man covered completely covered in tattoos.  I like hurting people and others can sense it.  And even if they can’t, people are cowards and they fear me.  I like it.  But you look at me as if I’m a person and it confuses me.   I like it, but it’s different.”

Looking at himself in her large moon eyes, Cain wondered if he really looked like that in her mind.

“You realize you’re an idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re an idiot because you trusted me.”

“I won’t make that mistake again, trust me.”

Cain grinned wider.  He touched Aless’s cheek.

“Good, because I’ll do it again…and again…and again…”

His different colored eyes seemed to darken and he licked his lips, his hands twitching.  Cain realized that he liked what he had done and he liked them talking about it afterward.  He liked everything she did and said before and after.  It was a new thrill.  Taking a breath, Cain practiced his rarely used self-restraint. Aless could feel the mood swing violently as Cain mulled something over in his mind.  Her instincts screamed that she was in danger again, but she knew she couldn’t outrun him.  Even if she tried, he’d have his hands around her neck before she could even move a muscle. 

“You need to go, Aless,” he growled hungrily.  “You need to get away from me now.”

Aless didn’t need to be told twice.  As quickly as her tender body would let her, Alessandra sprang up and ran.  It took all of Cain’s will power not to grab her and throw her back to the ground.  A rush of heat made him blink as he held back his primal desires.  He knew he’d see her again.  After all, she was an idiot and as long as she stayed with her friend Kayla, Cain would be able to find her.  Already filling his mind was the image of her moon-eyed face, the hottest purple flames running through her veins just for him to watch, he started cleaning up the mess around him.  

Stumbling Alessandra ran.  Her heart was thudding so hard that she was sure she was going to be sick.  Everything in her mind screamed for help from someone…anyone.  Her throat seared in pain and there was only one thing she knew for sure: she couldn’t stay in town anymore.  Panic gave Aless tunnel vision and she only saw the door of the diner.  Jesus was standing in front of it just on the other side with Master and Madame Wes.  They all looked concerned and anxious.   Wanting to call for them, Aless opened her mouth but nothing came out.  She had no voice.  No energy.  Emptiness filled every nook and cranny of her being.  All that mattered was she reach them.  She just had to reach them.

Her clammy hand touched the diner’s door as her vision swam.  All three turned mesmerized in her direction.  Alarm crossed each face simultaneously as Aless felt her body lose control and she crashed into the door.  Swinging under her weight, the door flew open as she gasped in relief and pain.  Her eyes barely managed to absorb the large wrinkled arms that caught her before she lost hold of the world completely.