“The quest for the other half of my soul.”
“Your soul?”
“Through time, I spent a lot of my life seducing, using and giving women what I thought they wanted. I was a sexual presence and these women were answers to all my inner desires. I’d fulfill their needs and show them the freedom that their own sexuality could bring them. A woman freed from all the outside influences can give a man such pleasure. I have seen that much and more. Then I met someone who taught me this firsthand. She is the other half of my soul. I lost her and now my search is to find her within one of the women I meet. She’s among the living, I just need to find her again.”
“What happened? How did you lose her?” Alyson held her hand out to the dark man.
“I cannot take you there. This memory is mine. It’s a part of my life that is sacred. Something I treasure and will not diminish by sharing it.” His eyes grew weary and heavy. This was clearly a painful memory, still brimming at the surface.
“Maybe if you tell me about her? Maybe it can help you deal with it. What happened? Please show me…”
The dark man remained silent for a long time. Then he spoke.
“I have never shared this with another. I can’t show you, but I will tell you what happened.”
His voice echoed through her mind as Alyson saw his story come to life.
~~~*~~~
Kelly
My head throbbed with pain and my eyes were swollen so badly I could barely open them to see a shaft of light. Even when I did, it hurt to look at it.
“It’s okay, shhh—just relax.” The voice was soft and comforting. “I think you’ve been burned or something. You need to see a doctor.”
“No. I don’t need a doctor. I’ll be fine.” I paused a second and felt my chest ache as I spoke. “Who are you?”
“My name is Kelly. I found you in the alley behind my apartment. I heard what sounded like lightning strikes over and over.” She cleaned around my eyes with a cold wet towel and continued. “When I went outside, the rain was pouring and I found you slumped against the wall. I managed to get you to your feet and guide you inside. Who are you? Can you tell me your name?”
“Pilan…my name is Pilan. Why are you helping me? You don’t know me.”
I opened my eyes slowly to see an image before me. The woman had long black hair, pulled back in a ponytail. Her face was angelic. There was a calm surrounding her.
“Because I’m an idiot. Something about you compelled me. You were pretty much out of it and it looked like you were hurt really bad. I couldn’t leave you out there to die.”
“Hey, where are my clothes?”
“Well, I—uh—I needed to make sure you were dry. They’re hanging over the tub. Everything else seems to be—um—unharmed. You are a lucky man. Very lucky.” She paused. “You don’t have to worry. I was almost a nurse and I’ve oiled and rubbed muscles for bodybuilders at a gym.”
“Fuck, my head hurts. My medallion? Where’s my medallion?” I tried to sit up but she pushed me back down.
“You didn’t have a medallion. In fact, you don’t have any identification or a wallet or anything. I was afraid you’d been mugged. You need rest.” She pushed firmly against me.
Something had changed. I could feel the pain. Real pain. My skin was burnt and peeling from the bolts of lightning. My muscles ached, radiating through me. When I breathed in, sharp agony shot through my chest.
“You have at least three broken ribs,” she said, trying to keep me lying down. “And you’re burned here and there. What the hell happened?”
I could feel there were electrical burns on my back and abdomen from the lightning and I had a recurring headache from my fall from grace. “I don’t know,” I answered. “Look at me.”
She looked toward me and it was then I noticed a whitened film over her eyes. I wanted to see inside her thoughts, as I always did with women.
“What?” she asked inquisitively.
My powers were gone. I couldn’t see anything. The penalty for causing death was mortality. I was going to be forced to live as a mortal. There were no guidelines for what had happened. I had lost everything. There was nothing to tell me what to do to become the being I once was.
Her name was Kelly.
She nursed me back to health. Instead of what used to be instantaneous recovery from any injury, now I healed in the same time a normal person would. Yet she never asked me for anything in return, except my company.