The Forlorn Lovers

This is a graphic drama, and while there is sex, it focuses more on the characters and their lives. If this is not your cup of tea, please go back to the main page. If you do read, I hope you’ll read to the end before voting. Thank you.

Carter reached into the trashcan, searching for food. He didn’t care what it tasted like or what condition it was in; he just wanted something to ease the empty throbbing in his stomach. His whole body was racked with pain and he wanted at least one part of his body not to hurt. He was standing under a graffiti-covered bridge while the rain hammered outside. While he didn’t make a smile or even a grunt, he was relieved to find a half-eaten hotdog. He walked outside and sat on a bench, gorging himself on the ratty food. He leaned back, letting the rain wash away the dark bloodstains in his clothes.
Carter was in his early twenties, had medium-length matted hair, and a shady beginning of a beard from days of not shaving. He had a sickly complexion and sunken bloodshot eyes. His build was more muscle than fat, but that was due mostly to how little he ate. He was a man between life and death, with his body leaning towards the latter and his soul so hollow that it might as well be the same. His mind was even less healthy, and his actions in the past would prove that, along with the actions of the near future.
His life had been a tragedy, marked by disease and death. Little could be said about his personality, there wasn’t much to describe. His emotions were gone, he had no tastes in music or art, and a path down memory lane didn’t exactly bring up any happy stories. The person formerly known as Carter Locke was gone, his identity was gone, and pain and insanity had taken everything away. All that was left was agony. It was all he felt and it was his identity. Pain was all that remained of what was left of his life, and soon more people would feel his pain.

Eleanor Rose was sitting in her dorm room, watching the news on TV. Her eyes were filled with fear and her hands were over her mouth. The story of the evening was a very grim one: another campus massacre had taken place, the fifth in a brutal chain. The story was the same in each case: a stranger enters a campus house party, pulls out some sort of machete-like weapon, and begins slaughtering everyone. Over a hundred people had been murdered so far, with the killer still on the loose.
Eleanor was nineteen and was in both the prime of her youth and beauty. She had pale skin that looked like marble, bright blue eyes that seemed to glow, and long straight hair that was darker than granite. She was also gifted with the figure of a ballerina, but with a fuller chest. Regardless of her physical beauty, she always hid her body with very bland or dark clothes and multiple layers whenever possible. She had always been a shy girl, always lonely but wanting to be alone, brought on by life with parents that couldn’t care less. The only reason why she was in college was because she managed to get a scholarship. She considered herself lucky that alcohol didn’t run through her family, or abuse would have occupied most of her life: physical, psychological, and even sexual.
She had very few friends, and even fewer close friends. She had spent her middle and high school years wishing she could join a clique, but was never happy when she tried or was even in one. She had never been in love, never been where she felt she belonged, never gotten involved in anything, and never even been happy.
The door suddenly opened and her roommate Anna stepped in. The blonde beauty had a heart that was the same shade as her hair, but she also had a pussy stretched by over a dozen frat boys. Ever since the two had met, Anna had taken it upon herself to pull Eleanor out of her shell.
“What are you doing? There is a party down the road with your name on it!” she said with excitement, checking her hair in the mirror for the umpteenth time.
“I’m not going.”
“What, are you listening to those media horror stories? Come on, there is no chance of that maniac heading our way. Listen, you make excuses every time. If you go out now, you’re curse will be lifted!”
“Listen, I just don’t want to go. That killer out there should be reason enough.”
“Well what are you going to do? Sit in the dark and feel bad for yourself? You’re always saying that you wish you had someone to talk to, well how are you supposed to find someone like that if you always choose to be alone?”
Eleanor was silent.
“Listen, just come this time, try and talk to people, and if you aren’t happy after ten minutes, we’ll both come back.”
“Ok.”
“Come on, honey. You REALLY need a drink,” Anna said with a smile as she pulled Eleanor out into the hall. As Eleanor followed her unwanted life coach to the stairwell, she tugged on her sleeves, making sure that the scars on her wrists were covered.

Loud music bounced off the walls of the house and was quickly distorted by the conversations of the drunken college kids. Eleanor stood by the staircase, desperate to have someone to talk too, but too shy and nervous to actually say something to someone. Across the room, Anna was flirting with a buzzed football player.

Carter was standing across the street from the house, nearly invisible with his body hidden behind a small tree.
‘Kill them all,’ a voice hissed in his mind.
‘Slaughter them,’ Another voice ordered.
“I know,” Carter muttered.
‘Make them pay,’ a third voice said.
“Shut up, just shut up!” Carter swore, trying to keep his voice down.
‘They all deserve to die!’ The first voice roared. While the sound was all in his head, he instinctively tried to cover his ears and block it out.
“I will end their lives. I will make them pay for the crimes they have and will commit. Just be silent and stay out of my way.”
His tone so cold and harsh that his breath was almost turning to fog in front of his face. When the voices in his mind didn’t reply, he took a deep breath and stepped forward, making his way towards the house.

A knock thumped from the front door, but it was barely heard over the garbled noise of the party. The drunken hostess staggered over to the front door and wrenched it open. Her open cleavage was soaked with beer, most of which from the plastic cup that she was swinging around.
“Hey, come on in! Beer’s in the kitchen and pussy is in the bedroom!” she laughed.
The figure standing at the door slowly raised his head, glaring at her with sunken bloodshot eyes. “You are guilty.”
As fast as lightning, he reached into a sheath hidden in his overcoat and drew a strip of rusty steel, honed into an amateur sword with only a layer of fabric as the handle. The blade was jagged and serrated, but that was only a mistake in the attempted creation of an edge. Before the girl could even realize what he was holding, he lashed out and stabbed her in the gut, piercing her through. The rusty edge burst out of her back with blood oozing from the jagged points that ran up the edge. As he pulled the blade free, a woman spotted the dead hostess fall to her knees and screamed.
“You are all guilty!” Carter snarled as everyone in the vicinity turned to him.
Eleanor stared at Carter and released a trembling gasp. Even from that distance, Eleanor was able to look his eyes and see the hatred within him. Never before had she seen so much anger and pain in someone or felt so overwhelmed and crushed by its intensity. He didn’t even seem to be human. She quickly ducked down to the floor, hoping she wouldn’t be noticed.
The madman bolted forward, swinging his mock sword wildly and slashing at the people closest to the door. With each swing, the serrated blade would tear through flesh with ease. His second victim was another woman and he stabbed her through the chest, right through her open cleavage. He then turned around and struck a man who had come forward to see what was going on. Carter slashed him from shoulder to hip, severing almost every artery in his chest and making it so that he would bleed to death in less than a minute.
Until now, the party had been so cramped that no one could run away, but that wouldn’t last for long. People were already shoving each other as they tried to get to another part of the house, and until the backdoor was used and people actually began to escape, they were all packed like sardines and completely vulnerable. Eleanor was one of them, trying to get away, but all of the frantic partiers just pinned her to the wall in their own desperation, as if she were thrown against the rocks by a raging river. She was forced to hide under a table and wait for the crowd to thin out.
By now, Carter was completely blood-drunk. The pain that racked his body had not lessened, but it was now being fought by a sensation of fulfillment. The voices that haunted his mind could not stop him, his disease could not stop him, and until his mission was complete, he would never end his path of destruction. With that sword in his hand, he had abandoned his physical form, leaving only the pain and vengeance in his heart to wreck havoc upon those he deemed guilty. He did not enjoy killing, but it was something he had to do; it was his purpose.
Moving into the crowd, he hacked, stabbed, and slashed wildly at everyone in his reach. Blood sprayed freely with each injury, soaking the walls, floor, and Carter’s clothes. Bodies were falling like dominos as he worked his way through the horde. No one could even hurt him, because they were all too drunk to properly fight back. He stepped towards a couch where a couple was making out. Even with all the screams, they were completely unaware of what was going on.
“Oh shit!” the boy cursed, looking over his girlfriend’s shoulder and spotting the bloody sword in Carter’s hand.
With a wide slash, Carter beheaded the girl, sending up a fountain of blood. Still erect from his girlfriend straddling his lap, the man didn’t have time to react as the killer slashed his throat, giving it a wide bloody smile. Throwing aside his football jacket, a jock ran towards Carter with a broken beer bottle in his hand. Carter lazily turned around and didn’t bother to stop the jock from stabbing him just bellow the ribs. The ring of lacerations further soaked his already bloody shirt, but the tormented swordsmen didn’t even react.
“Do you honestly think that you can make me feel more pain than I am enduring now?” he said coldly before stabbing his next victim through the gut.
By now the house was almost empty, as the partiers were rushing out the backdoor or climbing out the windows as fast as they could, but there were still over two dozen people in the first floor alone. Carter spotted a group of partiers at a window, frantically trying to open it. In desperation, one of them punched through the glass, tearing up his hand. He then tried to climb out, while getting torn and shredded on the remaining shards. The others quickly tried to push him through so they could escape.
“You cannot escape your sins!” Carter roared in a blood drunk daze before charging towards them.
The partiers screamed and begged for mercy, but the madman did not hesitate in cutting them all down. From under her table, Eleanor had her hands over her mouth, trying to stifle her fearful sobs. When Carter had his back turned, Eleanor left her hiding place, running towards the staircase. Hearing her, Carter turned around and gave chase. With the heavy footfalls of Carter behind her, Eleanor was more terrified than ever before in her life. Just the distance from the table to the staircase felt like it was a mile long, with the serial killer behind her more resembling a pack of rabid wolves, snapping at her heels.
He reached her before she could climb up the stairs, grabbing her by the wrist. He quickly turned her around and threw her down at the stairs, raising his sword above his head. Eleanor turned to face him, and the second their eyes met, Carter stopped. In a single moment, he seemed to become like a statue, holding his sword over her in mid-stab. Eleanor was in the same state, unable to move. She was fixated on his face and eyes, which had completely changed. Before, they showed only hatred and agony; the unstoppable desire to kill, but so much misery that came with it, as if killing was the only way to relieve his pain.
Now the hatred and misery were turned inwards. He looked like tears were about to fall from his bloodshot eyes and his face showed more misery and pain than Eleanor thought possible, as if she were looking at someone who had just had everything they loved destroyed in front of them. His eyes almost proved this belief, being filled with deep mourning, as if he were at the funeral of someone he loved.
Carter couldn’t believe his eyes, there was no way that this could be real. He analyzed and focused on every single detail of her visage, from the complexion of her teardrop-shaped face, to her bright blue eyes, to her obsidian-shade hair. Every single centimeter of her beautiful face sent a wave of toxic pain through his icy heart. ‘Why? Why do I have to face this? After every hardship I’ve faced, why must I be haunted and tormented even further?’
Carter and Eleanor were so still, it was as if time had frozen, and they were both staring at each other without even blinking. Suddenly, Carter lurched forward and covered his mouth to stifle a bloody cough. Eleanor gasped as a few spots of his blood peppered her face, contrasting brightly against her pale skin. He staggered back, coughing uncontrollably with blood oozing from between his fingers. Again, his expression had changed. Now he seemed full of fear, as if he were more afraid of Eleanor than Eleanor was of him. She desperately wished to say something, but she felt like she couldn’t even breathe. Carter staggered to the door, wrenching it open and running out into the cold night, still coughing up blood. Eleanor remained on the stairs, not sure of what to do or say.
Finally, the softest words she had ever spoken passed her lips, “Don’t leave me.”

Police swarmed through the entire university, searching every single room for Carter. The house itself was completely filled with officers, all analyzing the bodies and getting statements from any survivors they could find. There was so much blood that it was soaking through the floorboard and dripping into the basement, and the body count was incomprehensible. Many of the forensic investigators struggled not to throw up or even cry at the sight of the gruesome massacre.
Eleanor was sitting on the stairs, wrapped in a blanket that the police had given her, though she wasn’t even aware of it. Her mind was completely fixated on that indescribable stretch of time when she and Carter were as still as statues, staring into each other’s eyes. Never in her life had she ever been so terrified and afraid of her life, but also never felt so… comforted. As scared as she was of the serial killer that had just massacred dozens of people right in front of her, looking into his eyes actually made her feel safe and feel like she wasn’t alone. She hadn’t even wiped away the dots of blood on her face.
Anna walked over to Eleanor, mentally and physically deflated from the night. Like her friend, she was wrapped in a police blanket and completely shaken to her core. “Come on, the cops say we can leave,” she said softly, desperately looking for a place to rest her gaze that wasn’t soaked with blood.
“Ok,” Eleanor whispered and she stood up, letting the blanket fall away.
As they walked out of the slaughterhouse, Anna turned to her friend. “I saw you, you were the one person he didn’t kill. He completely froze when you saw you. Eleanor… what happened? Why didn’t he hurt you?”
Eleanor was hesitant to answer. “I don’t know, but I hope I meet him again so that I can ask him.”

Carter fell to his knees in a field on the outskirts of town. His bloody sword lay beside him and his body shook as he screamed in agony. The pain in his body was so terrible that it went beyond comprehension, but it was the pain in his soul that was affecting him the most. The dark storm clouds that filled the sky answered his roar, cracking with ear-splitting volume. In one great deluge, rain began to pour down from the tempest, bombarding Carter and the surrounding landscape. The ground around him became red as all the gore had had soaked his clothes was purged, like a spirit being released of its sins.
Carter looked up at the sky, letting the raindrops wash away the blood and his own tears. The image of the girl on the staircase was burned into his mind, reigniting old feelings and old memories. The heart he thought he had lost had reappeared, but with it, his pain was greater now more than ever. He howled at the top of his lungs, trying to forget Eleanor’s face and the taunting sting it left in his heart.

Classes were suspended while a ceremony for the slain students was prepared. Therapists and grief counselors flooded the university to provide psychiatric help for people who were traumatized by the massacre. The people who were in the house during the massacre were both treated as heroes and victims. Almost every student who had attended the party took advantage of this, looking for attention to act like they were right in the middle of the killing, even if they didn’t actually see anything. The PTSD wannabes acted like they personally fought off the madman or watched as everyone they loved was brutally killed, even if they were just having sex in one of the upstairs bedroom and jumped out the window the second people came in to hide.

Eleanor was curled up in her bed, having spent the last two days drifting in and out of consciousness. Her mental state had not changed since the night of the massacre; every single thought that passed through her mind was completely focused on her encounter with the killer, and that indescribable feeling of when their eyes met. On the other side of the dorm room, Anna was packing her things. Almost half of the students at the university were leaving to spend time with their families before classes resumed. They were trying to get as far away from the scene of the massacre as possible and try to cope with it, even if it meant just temporarily forgetting it.
“I can’t believe you aren’t going home to see your parents,” Anna hummed sadly.
“Just because my parents are there doesn’t mean it’s home,” she replied, so softly that Anna barely heard her.
“Well you should really get out of here, get a change of scenery.”
“The last time I did that, I was nearly killed.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m just trying to help.”
Eleanor said nothing in return. Anna sighed and picked up an index card on her desk, quickly scribbling something on it with the first pen she found. She set it down on Eleanor’s bedside table. “This is the address and phone number of my parents house. Feel free to come over.”

After a night of lying awake in the dark, Eleanor finally rolled over and looked at the card that Anna had left, using the pale light of the rising sun to read it. She began mulling over the idea of meeting up with Anna, but in truth, she had already made the decision. She could stay here in bed or go to a place where she would be welcomed. She stood up to begin packing her things and instantly fell to her knees. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten anything.

The sun was shining brightly on the country road, with the roaring of the engine in Eleanor’s car being the only sound that bounced between the two walls of trees. With her eyes darting between the road and printed directions from map-quest, Eleanor struggled to keep her car below the highway speed limit. She cursed when her eyes flicked to the gas gauge, showing that the tank was almost empty. Her swear was replaced by a huff of relief as she saw a rest stop sign.
She pulled up to the gas station, spotting no one else. There was only one other car, and it belonged to the cashier inside. As Eleanor began filling the tank, her eyes wandered to the surrounding area. I was a beautiful day to be outside. Her gaze finally fell on a homeless man, digging in the trash on the shady side of the building. He had a shaggy head of hair and a long black overcoat.
Eleanor was shaken from her daze by the ringing of the gas pump, signaling that the tank was full. She hooked up the nozzle and walked into the station to pay. She stood by the counter, waiting for the cashier to finish organizing cigarettes. Again, Eleanor’s mind drifted, this time returning to the homeless man she had seen outside. Something didn’t seem quite right…
The gas station was miles away from town, so why would a homeless person walk all the way out here? Not to mention the fact that he would have been picked up by police if he walked along the side of the highway, plus the fact that there wasn’t any food out here in the wilderness. That guy wasn’t out here looking for food; he was traveling cross-country.
“Uh, excuse me…” the cashier said, drawing her attention. Apparently that wasn’t the first time he tried to get an answer.
“Sorry, I’ve been zoning out a lot today,” She said shakily, handing the cashier a debit card.
As she paid for the gas, her suspicions did not go away. Her card was returned to her and she walked outside. Halfway to her car, she came to a dead stop. She had seen almost a hundred homeless people in town; one wearing a black overcoat and digging in the trash was pretty common. But if there was even the slightest chance that the man at the side of the building was who she thought, she had to see it to the end.
After taking a deep breath, she walked over to the side of the building, where the stranger was still searching for food in the trashcan. He hadn’t noticed her, but even with his face hidden under matted hair, she knew it was him. It wasn’t until he began coughing into his hand and leaving splatters of blood on his palm that she was completely sure.
“It really is you.”
Carter turned to her and his eyes widened at the sight of her beautiful face. The face that had been haunting him for days was staring at him now. Her beauty brought waves of relief to his cold soul, like sunlight after weeks of a cloudy weather, but along with relief, just the sight and existence of this woman filled him with more pain than he could endure. He staggered back, coughing into his hand with his eyes filled with pain and misery, just like last time. The man who had just gone on a killing spree looked no more dangerous than a warzone orphan. Eleanor’s fear of him was gone, replaced by sympathy, regardless of what she had seen him do.
“No, wait!” Eleanor called out as he turned around and ran into the woods.
Desperate for answers, Eleanor chased after him, sprinting through the forest. Carter’s steps were clumsy and erratic as he tried to run, but his bloody cough was making it next to impossible to breath. Even with this handicap, he managed to elude his pursuer.

Carter fell to his knees, coughing up so much blood that a crimson puddle was forming beneath his face.
“Why… Why? Why! WHY!” he snarled, slamming his fists on the ground.
‘Kill her…’ a voice whispered in the back of his mind.
“No, shut up.”
‘She is no different than the others, she is no less guilty,’ another argued.
“I said shut up!” he ordered, even louder.
‘Kill her!’ a third yelled, so loudly that Carter winced.
With his hands over his ears, he looked up at the sky. “LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Eleanor was finally forced to stop and catch her breath, swearing in frustration. She was so close to figuring out who the killer was and why he spared her life, but now he was gone. Reluctantly, she turned around to walk back to her car. After only a few steps, she heard his voice call out. He seemed to be shouting in pain and was more than loud enough for her to follow him. As his tormented voice echoed through the forest, Eleanor followed the noise and finally found him, but kept her distance.
Carter was on his knees in a small clearing, gripping his head as if his scalp was on fire. With the agony in his voice and how loud he was shouting, it seemed like that’s what he was really experiencing.
“SHUT UP! SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!” he howled, clawing at his ears while tears poured from his eyes.
Eleanor was breathless, finally being able to see the pain that the man she had been obsessing over was dealing with. He wasn’t evil, just sick and in agony.
“BE QUIET! I DON’T WANT TO SUFFER ANYMORE, JUST LET ME BE IN PEACE!”
He then ran over to the nearest tree and began slamming his head against it, trying to beat the voices into submission, but only leaving a bloody gash on his forehead. Carter finally fell to the ground, sobbing as blood and tears fell from his face. Eleanor silently stepped into the clearing and slowly walked over to him, no longer feeling any fear. She crouched down and placed her hand on his cheek, causing his eyes to bolt open and him to stare at her.
“Who are you?”
Carter did not reply, but his whole body was trembling.
“Who are you? I have to know!”
When Carter didn’t say anything, tears began to fall from her own eyes and pelt his face, just like when his blood pelted hers.
“I saw what you did, I saw all the people you killed. I want to be afraid of you, I want to hate you, and I want to see you as the monster that has murdered so many innocent people. But whenever I think of you, in my heart, I want to help you. Please, I have to know why I am feeling this way.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to see hatred in your eyes, but neither do I want to see kindness. I don’t deserve anything from you. Just forget about me.”
“Why did you spare my life?” Eleanor asked, desperate for the answer that had been plaguing her for days.
“I couldn’t bear to hurt you.”
“But why? Why me? Why couldn’t you just end my life? Why couldn’t you just kill me so that I wouldn’t have to be alone anymore?” she begged, unable to maintain her composure.
Carter and Eleanor stared at each other, both trying to think of something to say. Carter’s heart ached to hear her say those words and Eleanor couldn’t believe how honest she was being with a total stranger.
“I don’t know what you have experienced, but it seems like you have been through pain as well,” Carter said softly.
“I just don’t know what to do to be happy. I don’t want to be miserable anymore, but I don’t know anything else. I don’t even know if I can be happy.”
Carter slowly reached up and placed his shaky hand on her cheek, just as she had her hand on his. “I was happy one time, but I will never be happy again. That is my fate.”
“What’s your name? I’m Eleanor.”
“Carter.”
For the first time in a long time, she smiled. He was about to smile as well, but his bloody coughing returned.
“Let me take you to the hospital, a doctor should look at that cough,” she said without losing her smile.
“I already know my disease and there is no cure for what I have.”
“Do you know how long you have?” Eleanor asked, taking Carter’s hand off her cheek but clutching it with both of hers.
“A month, maybe more, maybe less. But that is only how I feel. For all I know, this cough could just be a minor inconvenience and I could live a long and full lifetime.”
“Well how do you plan on spending that time?”
“By killing.”
Eleanor lost her smile. “Why? Why do you have to kill?”
“For vengeance, for punishment.”
“But the people you killed at that party have done nothing to you.”
Carter stared deep into her eyes before speaking. “They are all guilty, but not for any crimes against me.”
“But you don’t need to kill. I know you’re mind is sick, but if you can get the right medicine, you won’t be tormented by those voices anymore. You don’t have to live and die this way.”
“Yes I do, it is my only path.”
“You say your only path is one that you kill, but you didn’t kill me. Tell me, why did you spare my life?”
Carter was silent and could not meet her gaze.
“If I can help you so that you no longer need to kill, will you answer my question?”
“No.”
“Are you saying that because you want to continue killing or because you can’t imagine your fate as anything different?”
Carter did not respond.
“Please, let me help you.”
“I don’t deserve help. I don’t deserve kindness or happiness, I only deserve pain, and that is all my life is and will be.”
“Let me show you different. Please, for me.”
Carter looked back into her eyes, trying to come up with an argument so that he could resume his miserable existence the way it was.
“For you.”
Eleanor’s smile widened, growing brighter than ever in her life. With his arm over her shoulder, she helped Carter walk back to her car.

“We’ll spend the night here,” Eleanor said as she unlocked the door of the motel room.
Carter was silent and had an unsure look on his face. They stepped inside and turned on the lights, looking around the subpar room. The motel dwelling was pretty standard, and could actually be considered comfortable (as long as you ignored all of the nearly invisible stains and germs). The bed was queen-sized with yellow sheets, matching the tacky 70’s wallpaper and the red shag carpet. Next to the bed was a night stand, with a small dinner table and two chairs ten feet away. Against the wall was a TV and a mini-fridge on a bureau, covered in rings from over a hundred beer bottles and cans.
“Where would you normally sleep?” Eleanor asked, noting that Carter almost seemed lost in the motel room.
“Anywhere warm enough to stay alive.”
“What do you mean ‘enough to say alive’?”
Carter crouched down and pressed down on the bed with his hand.
“I would look for a place that would at least keep me alive, but I would do everything I could to avoid being comfortable.”
“Why didn’t you want to be comfortable?” Eleanor asked, walking over and placing her hand on his shoulder.
“Because I don’t deserve it.”
“Well what did you eat?”
Carter finally looked at her. “Anything I could find, but only enough to keep me alive. Why do you want to help me?” The longer he looked into her beautiful eyes, the more relief he felt.
“Because you need it. You’re sick, mentally and physically. I don’t know why you kill, but you don’t need to do it. If you can get the help you need, then you will no longer be a danger to society and you can live in peace. You spared my life, so now I want to save yours.”
“There is no peace for me, I can never be happy or content. For me, there is only pain. Why on earth would someone like you want to help someone like me? How do you expect me to believe that you won’t call the police are haven’t already?”
“Give me the chance to show you that there is still hope. I don’t believe you are a monster, just someone with a broken heart and an unstable mind. I won’t hand you over to the police, not until I’m sure I can help you first. Here, lay down,” she replied, motioning to the bed.
Reluctantly, Carter lied down on the bed and Eleanor lifted up his shirt, examining the wound he had received at the party. The ring of lacerations had closed and was now a dark scar. The fact that it didn’t seem to be infected was a miracle. While she examined it, she couldn’t help but notice that he was practically skin and bones.
“Your injury seems to be ok, but have you done anything at all to take care of it?”
“No.”
“Do you do anything to take care of your body?” She inquired, already knowing the answer.
“I don’t deserve to be healthy. This body is worthless, it serves no purpose other than to take people’s lives and fill my own life with agony. If I bleed, I let it stop on its own. If I’m cold, I just ignore it and keep moving. If I’m hungry, I find whatever is even slightly edible and eat just enough to keep me from starving,” he stated before coughing up blood into his hand.
“You’re punishing yourself.”
“It’s what I deserve,” he repeated, finally looking into her eyes. Several silent moments passed by, with the two tormented souls just staring at each other.
“I think getting cleaned up will do you the most good right now,” Eleanor suggested, backing off to the foot of the bed.
Carter still couldn’t believe what was happening. For weeks, his mind had been occupied solely by pain and misery. Now, this beautiful woman was being more kind to him than he thought possible. He looked around the motel room, almost expecting it to shatter as nothing but a dream and to wake up in the woods. Barely aware of what he was doing, Carter slowly got to his feet and began limping to the bathroom, but Eleanor quickly stopped him. She stepped behind him and gently removed his coat.
“Thank you,” He murmured, confused by her actions.
Once Carter stepped into the bathroom, Eleanor set the dirty overcoat down on one of the chairs. As it left her hand, his handmade sword fell out of the mediocre sheath hidden inside, bouncing on the shag carpet. Eleanor froze as she gazed at the weapon, still covered in blood. She slowly crouched down and picked up the blade, holding it with shaky hands.
As she examined the blade, she could hear Carter in the shower. The single-edged sword was by no means master-crafted. It seemed more like a strip of heavy metal that had just been beaten into a sword form using rocks and a trashcan fire. Like Carter’s lifestyle, the blade offered no comfort to the user. The thin fabric handle did not protect the user from the rough edges of the metal. It only served to keep the sword from falling out of the user’s hand. Eleanor couldn’t imagine using it without her hand being torn up.
In the bathroom, Carter was scrubbing off so much blood and grime that the water on the shower floor was dark brown. In all honesty, he was only using the shower because Eleanor suggested it. Under normal circumstances, he would not have used it, as he believed he did not deserve such a luxury. But now that he finally had the opportunity, he had to admit that it was great. Once all the dirt that could be removed without a hammer and chisel was washed off, Carter put down the bar of soap (which was now half its original size and looked like a chiseled brick), stepped out of the shower, and looked down at the sink counter, where a small personal hygiene set had been laid out by the motel staff.
While the motel was maybe only one star (at most), the complimentary gifts were surprisingly thorough. There was a set of shaving razors, a small can of shaving cream, two packaged toothbrushes, a small tube of toothpaste, tampons, cologne, deodorant, and just about anything else that someone spending the night would need. Someone at this motel was definitely taking their pride in their work.
He picked up the razor, once again only doing it because Eleanor suggested it. Ever since they had first spoken, something within him instantly became loyally bound to her, like an old hunting dog following its owner.

As the sound of the door handle shaking rang through the motel room, Eleanor quickly stashed the sword back in the sheath in Carter’s overcoat. Carter stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. The man and woman stared at each other and each gained a very small but very warm smile. Today was the first day either of them had smiled in a very long time. With his hair combed back and his face shaved, Eleanor had to admit that Carter was much more handsome than before. By taking a shower, Carter felt like his senses had been cleaned as well as his body. His hearing was much sharper, his eyesight didn’t blur everything he saw (something that had happened without him even noticing), and with it, his view of Eleanor had been enhanced. She was even more beautiful than before, with every facial feature clearer than glass. Radiant was an understatement. But soon, Carter’s smile faded.
“For your sake, I should get going. Your life would be better if I wasn’t around.”
“Please, don’t go.”
“Why… Why are you trying to help me? Why are you being so kind to me? Why in the world would you care about someone like me?” he asked, taking a few steps towards her.
“Because you need help, you need someone to be kind to you,” she said softly, taking a few steps towards him.
“But why you? Why don’t you just hand me off to the police? Why is it so important that you are the one to help me?” he asked, taking a few more steps towards her.
They were standing less than a foot apart. Carter’s face was stricken with sadness and Eleanor was silent as she tried to come up with a response. Finally, she reached up and placed her hand on Carter’s cheek. “Because maybe you can help me.”
Just as Carter was about to respond, he began coughing uncontrollably, falling to his knees and trying to keep blood from splattering on Eleanor. Eleanor quickly crouched down, and before she knew what she was doing, she had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Once Carter finally stopped coughing, Eleanor smelled the air and smiled. “Thanks for brushing your teeth,” she said, almost making Carter laugh.
A sudden knock on the door sent him sprawling back to the bathroom, fearing the police. “Don’t worry, I just ordered takeout!” Eleanor quickly said, trying to calm him down.
As she paid for the food with the door only half open, Carter kept his eyes focused on his coat on the nearby chair, trying to figure out how quickly he could grab his sword if he needed it. He gave a sigh of relief when a bag of Chinese takeout came into view.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe with me. I won’t just hand you over to the police,” she said warmly. Carter gained a sad smile as she set the food down on the table.
“I’m not sure what you like, so I just got a lot of simple stuff.”
“Don’t worry, you can have it all. I ate yesterday, so I don’t need anything for today.”
Eleanor lost her smile. “Please, Carter, eat with me. You can eat more than just the absolute minimum. Just this once, try and be happy instead of torturing yourself.”
“As you wish,” he reluctantly said, making Eleanor smile.
They both sat down at the table and began eating. Before he even knew what he was doing, Carter was devouring every last bit of food he could get his hands on. For the first time in her life, Eleanor was struggling not to laugh as she watched him become a human garbage disposal. She was almost afraid to reach out past her own food on the chance that she could lose her hand. She actually had to match his speed so that he wouldn’t take all the food for himself. After twenty minutes, Carter and Eleanor both sat back and sighed in bliss, holding their full stomachs.
“You know, I can’t remember the last time I ate with someone like this; enjoying a mean with someone,” Eleanor said with a sad smile.
“What do you mean?”
The bright mood was dampened.
“My parents never cared about me, they never gave me anything. When they weren’t screaming at each other, they were completely ignoring me. I was always terrified that my father would molest me or my mother would beat me. I learned early on to make my own meals and avoid them. Outside of my house, I was always too scared to make friends, but I was so lonely that I was actually physically sick from my depression. I basically went through my entire school life without touching anyone. I can’t even remember ever having a real conversation with anyone at school.
When I first came to college, I met Anna. She personally assigned herself the position of my life-coach. She is probably the only friend I’ve ever had, but I was too scared to leave my dorm room, and she often had to drag me to social situations because she was obsessed with making me develop social skills. My whole life, I’ve been lonely, but too scared to go out and talk to people. I guess I’m lucky to have Anna to pull me out of my shell.”
Several silent moments passed by.
“I used to know someone like that,” Carter said softly.

Carter was in the bathroom, washing his clothes in the sink and hanging them up on the shower curtain rod to dry. He set up the hairdryer with them, blowing on full blast. They would be dry enough for him to sleep in after just an hour. However, he wasn’t sure where he was going to sleep, and he wasn’t the only one wondering,
“Ok… Ok, thank you,” Eleanor nervously said, putting down the motel phone.
She was sitting on the bed and had just been talking to the motel manager, asking if an extra cot could be sent to her room for Carter to use. Unfortunately, there weren’t any. Carter stepped out the bathroom and Eleanor quickly spun around. From just looking into her eyes for a single moment, Carter instantly knew what she was thinking.
“My clothes should be dry in about an hour, then I can just sleep outside. I’m used to sleeping on the ground, I’ll be fine,” he said, quickly trying to avoid her gaze.
“You don’t have to sleep outside, don’t feel like you have to punish yourself. Besides, I want to keep you close by.”
“Alright, I’ll just sleep on the floor.”
“Carter…”
He looked up and stared into her eyes.
“The bed is big enough for us to share,” she said nervously, placing her hand on the other side of the mattress.
Carter sighed. “Why are you so unafraid of me? Why are you willing to be so close and open with me? You’re saying that you’re ok with sharing a bed with me. Eleanor, I’m a total stranger to you, I’m a stranger that has killed more people than I can even count. Why are you so desperate to help me?”
Eleanor looked away, trying to come up with an answer. In all honesty, she had no idea why she was acting this way. She have never been this friendly, this open, and this charitable with anyone in her entire life.
“I’ll only answer your question if you answer mine first: Why do you kill? Why are you so desperate to punish innocent people and punish yourself? I know you’re sick, probably schizophrenic, but there has to be more.”
“The answer to that question ties into why I spared your life,” Carter said, making Eleanor’s eyes widen. He sat down on the bed and turned to her.
“I was put into foster care the second I was born, cast aside by parents who wanted nothing to do with a sick child. Both my body and my mind have always been a train wreck. I was often bedridden, swallowing pills to help deal with each new health condition and my dementia. I don’t have schizophrenia. That doesn’t manifest until adolescence. I’d heard these voices since I was born. Throughout my life, I received barely any attention or help as I suffered from my diseases. The voices in my mind were so intense that I did not have the will to disobey them, making people hate me for the things I did. I was adopted countless times, but no idealist couple with the dreams of rescuing an orphan could withstand the results of my insanity and the crimes that the voices made me commit, not to mention my constant medical bills were a deal-breaker alone.
Halfway through high school, when I was at the peak of my suicidal desires, I fell in love with a beautiful and sweet girl. Her name was Claire, and she alone was able to make the voices in my head be silent, when all medication and therapy had failed. We were so in love; she was my whole reason for living and the keystone for any sanity I could achieve, and she saw herself as my guardian angel and wanted to spend her life with me. We went to the same college because we couldn’t bear to be in a long-distance relationship. She even stayed with me after I was diagnosed with cancer, saying that if I lost the fight and my life was taken, she would take her own life to be with me. I thought that we would spend the rest of our lives together.”
Carter spoke with tears pouring down his face and Eleanor was shaking with her eyes wide.
“What kind of cancer do you have?”
“Of all of them, you could say it’s the bad kind. Other than that, there is no point in describing it.
Then one night, my whole world came crashing down. Claire was always trying to get me to socialize with other people, often dragging to social events so that I could learn to be open with more people instead of relying entirely on her as my link to the outside world. She brought me to a campus party. At one point, we were separated and I went to go look for her. I found her unconscious in one of the bedrooms. She wasn’t alone. There were a dozen men, some of them her trusted friends and good people… They were all taking turns raping her and laughing as they did it.”
Eleanor gasped and tears began to fall from her own eyes. Carter then began to chuckle hysterically, while crying at the same time.
“Do you know what it’s like to base your entire world and will to live on one person? To love them with all your heart and soul and devote every aspect of your existence to them? And then watch as they are betrayed and ravaged before your eyes? The person you cherished above all else, being used as a sex toy and tortured by their friends? There were other girls in the room, but they laughed just like the men and were taking pictures.
When I found them, I lost control and attacked. I grabbed a crowbar from the corner of the room and managed to kill a few and send the rest scurrying away. I picked up Claire, soaked in the seed in other men, and tried to wake her up. I couldn’t. They had roofied her so that she wouldn’t fight back… but they gave her too much and her heart stopped. I sat there, more dead than alive. My heart was gone, my soul was gone, and all that was left was pain. The woman I loved had been taken away from me in the most brutal way possible, leaving me with a disease-riddled body and a shattered mind. Every aspect of my existence was gone, leaving only pain and vengeance.
Sitting on that bed, clutching her dead body, I did not resist as the voices in my mind returned after years of peace, telling me to commit more crimes. Only this time, I did not care. I wanted vengeance. Ignoring the agony the racked my broken body, I retrieved the crowbar I had used and returned to the party. It was as if my eyes and mind had changed, letting me understand what the pain that I had endured.”
He then stood up with his back to Eleanor. When he resumed speaking, it was with a raised voice. “I looked around wildly at all the people at the party, seeing them for the monsters they really were. There is no decency in this world, no kindness or civility. All the people around me were only as good as their circumstances, and as soon as things bent in their favor, they would choose to take whatever they wanted, even if it meant torturing for their own amusement and violating innocent women. Men and women, they had both been responsible for the loss of the love of my life. You hear it all the time about campus rapes. Why do you think it happens so much?! It’s because everyone is sick and evil and don’t care about who they hurt!
The one light in my life was taken away, all because of this cycle or perversion. Everyone there was guilty, they had all contributed in the taking of my dearly beloved. With a roar of vengeance, I began to slaughter them all, first killing the men that had raped Claire and then killing as many people at party as I could before they escaped. From that point on, the sole purpose in my life was to achieve vengeance and punish the morally guilty. I turned that crowbar into a sword, transforming it from a meaningless tool into a symbol of retribution. There was no going back from then on. The voices in my mind had always told me to commit horrible crimes, and it was Claire who taught me how to disobey them. But without her, I saw no reason to resist. I neither obeyed them nor ignored them; they told me to kill and I did, but not for them. I killed for Claire and for the agony in my heart.”
Both he and Eleanor were completely silent. The only sound was Eleanor’s tears dripping onto the bed sheets. Carter then broke the silence by stepping into the bathroom and retrieving something. He walked back to the bed and held out his hand to Eleanor, with a folded photograph sitting on his palm. “This is why I could not bear to harm you.”
Eleanor slowly picked up the photo and unfolded it, gasping with her hands shaking as she stared at the picture. The image was of Carter and Claire together and smiling, with Claire resembling Eleanor to the point that they could be considered exact clones.
“This is why I could not bear to harm you. Because I do not want to lose you again.”

The night was an awkward one, with neither Carter nor Eleanor getting any sleep. They were both on the fringes of the bed, with Carter sleeping in his pants and Eleanor sleeping in a nightgown. Whenever one of them would roll towards the middle, the other would roll away, as neither had the nerve to face the other.

It was about two in the morning, and it was Carter’s turn to face Eleanor, with Eleanor’s back to him. The moonlight was shining through the motel window, giving her pale skin a white aura and reflecting off her dark hair. The longer he stared at her, the more he began to feel a very familiar sensation. It was a form of heartache, once that brought both pain and relief. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to move closer to her, as at that moment, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so safe and relaxed. He longed to hold onto Eleanor, but was also terrified of the possibility of her rejecting him and being upset with him. This fear both taunted and excited him, as he spent the dark minutes pondering what to do, while admiring Eleanor’s beautiful body, lightly hidden by her thin nightgown.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally worked up the courage and slowly moved over to her, while trying to shake the bed as little as possible. Lying just a few inches from Eleanor, Carter held his breath, afraid to make the next move. Finally, he slowly wrapped his arm around her slender waist and pressed himself against her, savoring the feeling of her warm back against his bare chest. He brought his head closer to hers, with his chin against the back of her shoulder, and the sweet smell of her soft silky hair filling his senses.
This was the same way he used to hold Claire, and there were no words that could even begin to describe how good it felt and how much he missed it. The sweet smell of her hair, the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin against his lips, the sound of her gentle breathing; he relished it all. It was both so similar to when he was with Claire that he almost wanted to whisper her name, but it was also very unique. Holding Eleanor in his arms felt different than holding Claire, but it still felt as sweet and calming.
“Carter…” Eleanor said softly, making him tense up. Was this a mistake? Should he back away?
His fears were extinguished when Eleanor wrapped her hand around his and pressed herself more tightly against him. “I never answered your question before. I never told you why I was so unafraid of you and why I was so open and kind to you. Why I treated you like you weren’t a stranger…
At that party, when I was on the stairs and you were standing over me, I had never felt more at home then when I looked into your eyes. I knew you had killed people, and I had just watched you take so many innocent lives. But looking into your eyes, I felt so safe and secure. It was like looking into the eyes of a stray dog that just wanted a home and to be loved. After you fled, I was so desperate to feel that warmth again. Every thought I had was about you, every dream I had was of finding you. I wanted to see you again so badly that it took me forever just to wash your blood off my face, because it felt like I was washing away my one connection to you.”
She then rolled over and he stared into her beautiful blue eyes, which seemed to be glowing in the dark. “I have not felt as much pain as you have, I know that. But like you, my life has been shaped by misery and loneliness. I was so desperate to find you again, because I was hoping that maybe I could remove your pain and you could remove mine. I didn’t care about your crimes and I didn’t care about the people you killed. All I cared about was finding you again, because maybe, just maybe, we could fall in love…”
She then leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. Her lips were so soft, they were like kissing rose petals, and her breath was like sweet perfume. “…And be together forever.”
Carter took a deep shuddering breath before responding. “When I first saw your face, I thought I was being punished for my crimes. I thought the face of the woman I loved, as some sort of cruel joke by fate, was haunting me. Since that night, every thought that passed through my mind was that scene we shared. When you found me today and confronted me in the woods, I thought it was a sign that I had to repent for my sins. The more we talked, the more I realized that you were here to help me. I tried to fight that idea, as my guilt would not let me be happy. I don’t deserve to be happy. I could not protect Claire and I’ve killed to many people in the name of vengeance.
But the longer we were together and the more we connected, I realized that you were my second chance at being happy. Ever since we met in the woods, the voices have been completely silent and the pain that usually racks my body has been extinguished. You were able to bring me a peace that I thought I would never experience again. You look so much like Claire, but I love you as Eleanor.”
“You can call me Claire if you want or you can call me Eleanor. I don’t care what my name is, call me whatever you want. All that matters is that you love me.”
“No, you are not her replacement. You are completely unique and I love you in a completely unique way. Don’t think you have to compare yourself to her. I love you for who you are, not who you resemble.”
They kissed for several more seconds before Eleanor ended it. “I’ve never been with a man before. Will you be gentle?”
“Of course, I would rather die than cause you discomfort. But are you sure that you want your first time to be with someone like me?”
“Your crimes do not matter to me, and if your disease should claim your life, then I will end mine to be with you, because you are the only thing that has ever made me happy. You are all that matters to me,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest.
“Eleanor…”
“Please, I don’t want to think about these things. I love you and you love me, so let’s enjoy the present, not worry about the future. I love you, Carter, now please, take me.”
“Yes, my love,” she whispered in her ear.
Eleanor looked up at him they began to kiss, pressing their lips against each other’s over and over again in endless burning passion. Each sweet touch was like was like getting their souls massaged by each other’s love and seemed to take away their loneliness and pain. As they kissed, Eleanor pressed herself against Carter as tightly as possible, taking solace in his warm embrace, while Carter had his arms wrapped around her thin body, and was exploring her physical beauty with his hands. Her form was so familiar to Claire’s, and yet it was entirely unique. Every gentle curve in her figure and smooth crease between her muscles seemed to tell her story, letting Carter looked deep into her life without her even having to speak.
It was difficult to tell who was enjoying the touching more. It had been so long since Carter had enjoyed the feel of a woman, it was a sweet nostalgia that was being reawakened with every second. For the first time in a long time, he was actually horny. This being her first time being touched in such a way, Eleanor was ecstatic as well. She would hum and purr as he squeezed her breasts, shiver in arousal he ran his hands over her smooth rear, and squirm in excitement as he traced his fingers along her inner thighs.
As he reached down to hold her hands, he found the scars on her wrists from when she had cut herself. She could feel him stop and focus on the scars, and she responded by ending the kiss. “Just some mementos from bad times.”
“Well you’ll never have to do it again.”
With a small smile, Carter brought up her hands and began kissing her wrists over and over, running his lips over the faint scars. Eleanor just lay there and purred, letting her arousal rise with every soft touch.
After a few minutes, Carter moved his hands to her shoulders and gently tugged on her nightgown. Eleanor smiled and sat up, pulling off the nightgown and revealing her bra and panties. Kissing her over and over again, she slowly reached behind her back and unfastened her bra, letting it slip down past her shoulders. Nervous but excited, she kept her arms crossed against her chest and was blushing all over. Carter resumed kissing her, and as their lips touched again and again, she became more confident, lowering her arms and revealing her round breasts. She smiled and purred with arousal as Carter brushed his hands against the soft mounds, being so gentle that he was almost tickling her. Her nipples were pointing like pencil erasers, matching her excitement.
Carter slowly moved his hands down her smooth body, hooking his fingers underneath the waistband of her panties. Still nervous, Eleanor kept her smooth thighs clamped tightly together as Carter removed the last article of clothing, slowly pulling the piece of lingerie down her long luscious legs.
“Oh my god, you’re body is so beautiful,” Carter hummed, gazing at her flawless figure.
“Really?” she asked, blushing from the attention.
“It’s like a work of art. I almost don’t want to touch you, because I feel like I’ll ruin your untouched purity.”
“I want you to touch me. I want to know what it’s like to be loved, emotionally and physically.”
“Yes, my dear sweet Eleanor,” he said, brushing his fingertips against her smooth cheek, bringing down her soft throat, and resting it on her chest. Waves of heat were radiating from her heart, making her chest feel as warm as a hot bath.
“Body, mind, and soul. I give it all to you,” she cooed as she lied back down.
In reply, Carter kissed her on the lips, and they held that embrace for several seconds while he fully undressed. After almost a minute, their lips finally separated and Carter began to move down, kissing her cheeks over and over again, while she stretched her neck like a cat being rubbed under the chin. He continued his descent, running his lips down her soft neck, making Eleanor hum with each tender kiss. Her skin was so soft and smooth, but it also carried a sweet taste with it. It almost tasted like the absolutely perfect cup of tea, with the flawless combination of warmth, flavor, and sweetness. As his lips reached her chest, Eleanor began to shiver with excitement. He kissed her left breast, just a few inches from the erect nipple.
“Just like that, darling, touch me like that,” she groaned, chewing on her lower lip.
Carter eagerly obliged, switching between her breasts, wrapping his tongue around the full mounds and sucking on her nipples hungrily. Having never been touched this way, Eleanor was panting and gasping for air. She was blushing all over from arousal and was running her fingers through her hair, desperately wanting to touch herself. Carter was enjoying himself even more than Eleanor was. It had been so long since he was able to sample the taste of a woman, and the desire was becoming stronger and stronger the more it was appeased. He wasn’t just experiencing a mental and emotional euphoria, he was also more horny than he could even describe. He was completely erect, and so desperate to penetrate Eleanor’s virgin flower that his manhood was trembling.
Both Carter and Eleanor were disappointed when he finally moved down from her breasts, but their excitement quickly rose even higher as he kissed her flat belly. Eleanor tried not to laugh at the ticklish feeling of Carter’s lips brushing against her slender stomach over and over again. By the time he reached the lips of her slit, she was gasping for air from arousal and he was shaking from excitement.
Her smile was quickly replaced by a hum of arousal as Carter gently pressed down between the two lips with his thumb. Eleanor had never been touched this way, even by her own hand. She had no idea the sensation to be this intense.
Carter slowly leaned down and ran his tongue along the swollen lips of her wet pussy, sampling the faint taste of her essence. Eleanor gave a soft whine as he licked her again, this time sending his tongue up between the two sides and brushing it against the wet interior. Carter brought his whole body down with his head between her smooth thighs. The perfume-like smell of Eleanor’s virgin slit was driving him wild, and after those first few licks, he was hungry for more. He gently buried his face between her legs, kissing her pussy the same way he had kissed her lips, all the while sending his tongue as far up into her as possible.
Her vagina tasted so sweet, he was basically gorging himself on her soft wet insides. He actually had his face so deep in her that he had to hold his breath. Even being a virgin, Eleanor wasn’t so tight that he couldn’t work his tongue inside of her. In fact, with every lick, she seemed to become looser and looser, inviting his tongue farther and farther into her untouched body. Eleanor was squirming in ecstasy with each touch of Carter’s tongue. She was panting heavily, rolling her head from side to side, moaning shrilly, and squeezing the bed sheets for dear life as wave after wave of the incredible sensations surged through her body. Never in her life had she ever felt anything like this. She couldn’t believe it was possible to feel this good.
“Carter, I think I’m about to cum.”
At her whisper, Carter moved his hands from her smooth thighs and clutched her fingers, while increasing his efforts. He licked her even faster and more aggressively, completely driving her wild. She squeezed his hands tightly and gave a loud and shrill moan as she had her first orgasm. A fresh wave of pussy juice soaked the soft wet lips, and Carter hungrily licked it all up, savoring the taste.
Once he was done, he moved back up to Eleanor’s face and kissed her.
“That was amazing.”
“Good, I’m glad I was able to make you feel so good.”
“The night isn’t over yet,” she purred, coyer than ever in her life.
The two of them once again began kissing, and as their lips locked and separated over and over, they each moved their hands down each other’s bodies. Carter began working his fingers between her legs, further loosening her pussy, while Eleanor wrapped her hand around his erect cock, experimentally stroking it and trying to get accustomed to how large it was.
“Here, you made me feel good, now I’ll do the same to you,” she panted, sitting up and moving down to the foot of the bed. Carter rolled onto his back and took a deep breath while Eleanor straddled his lap.
“Anna used to always talk about doing this with the guys she dated, but I could never imagine doing it,” she said nervously as she crouched down.
Carter could feel her shaking with nervousness and even hear fear in her voice. He sat up and placed his hand on her cheek. “Eleanor, you don’t have to do anything you are uncomfortable with. If you feel nervous, then we’ll just do what will make you happy. You being happy and unpressured are all that matter to me.”
She smiled and clutched his hand. “All new things make me nervous, but this is something I want to do. I want to try this and I want to make you happy. The only thing that scares me is that I’m not quite sure how to do it, the act itself does not scare me at all, because I am doing it with the one I love.”
“It doesn’t matter how you do it, because everything you do makes me happy.”
Eleanor smiled and began stroking his erect cock, returning it to its full size. She then crouched down with the head just inches from her soft lips.
“Please, be patient with me.”
“I have all the patience in the world for you.”
Eleanor smiled and opened out her mouth. She held out her tongue, and with her whole body shaking, she traced the tip around the head of his dick. Carter nearly jerked form the incredible sensation, regardless of how miniscule it actually was, and Eleanor tried to process the nonphysical taste that was now on her tongue. She held out her tongue again, this time sweeping it around the entire head, getting used to the taste and feeling of it. She brought her face down and Carter’s eyes basically rolled back as she wrapped her lips around the head, sucking on it gingerly.
Neither of them could quite believe what was happening. Eleanor was trying to comprehend the fact that she was actually giving Carter a blowjob, while Carter tried to get used to the indescribable sensation. While he and Claire used to make love every night, neither of them was ever into any kind of kinky stuff, so this was his first time actually receiving oral sex. Becoming more courageous, Eleanor took half of Carter’s manhood in her mouth and began sucking on it with more enthusiasm, using her cheeks and tongue to massage the shaft was the head rubbed against the roof of her mouth. Carter was breathing deeply, trying to control his ejaculation reflex. He didn’t want to ruin everything now.
Finally used to what she was doing, Eleanor began bobbing her head up and down, stroking Carter’s dick with her hand whenever she brought her lips to the head.
“Eleanor, that’s enough.”
Eleanor raised her head. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked with fear in her voice.
“No, I’m sorry. I should have rephrased that. You were perfect, I just don’t want to spend my whole load that way,” Carter replied, making Eleanor laugh.
“I think I’m ready to be with you now, completely. I don’t care anymore about who I used to be. I don’t care about what scares me or what makes me uncomfortable. I want to put everything on the line and live my life fully,” she whispered with eyes full of love.
She then lied down beside Carter and he suspended himself over her.
“I’ll be gentle, just tell me to stop if you feel even the slightest discomfort.”
“Take me,” she hummed as he brushed his thumb against her lips.
Carter kissed her on the forehead and then grasped his cock, slowly guiding it to the lips of her waiting pussy. He pressed the head against the entrance and both he and Eleanor took a deep breath of anticipation. He wrapped his arms around her slender body and slowly pushed the head into her. Eleanor gasped and moaned as she felt Carter penetrate her, stretching her pussy as he slowly forced his dick deeper and deeper into her body. Just under an inch in, Carter could feel her hymen.
“Take a deep breath; this won’t feel very good,” he whispered in her ear.
“I’ll be fine, just don’t let go,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
In reply, Carter pushed his cock farther in, deflowering Eleanor and taking her virginity. The sound she made sent shivers down her spine, the call of her voice angelic in every sense of the word. There was pain in her call, but beauty within that pain, a kind of sensual elegance that went beyond the physical. The way she blushed, the way she breathed, the way her obsidian hair shimmered, it was as if a cascade of rose petals and angel feathers was going to rain down upon the two lovers.
“Shhh, it’s ok, my love. It’s ok,” he whispered in her ear, calming her down.
He continued his gentle push, slowly forcing his cock all the way in. When he could go no further, he stopped and looked down at her. Both Carter and Eleanor were panting heavily, with Carter trying to get accustomed to Eleanor’s tightness and Eleanor trying to get accustomed to Carter completely filling every corner of her former-virgin sleeve.
“So this is what it’s like to be with someone,” she said sleepily.
“How does it feel?” Carter asked, worried that she wasn’t happy.
Eleanor gave a small smile and kissed him. “It’s more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”
Carter smiled and slowly pulled out of her, making her wince from the soreness. He came to a stop once only the head was inside her, then gave one great big push, forcing his entire cock back into her. Eleanor released a deafening moan of surprise and jubilation from the deep driving sensation and dug her fingernails into Carter’s back. Carter pulled out a second time and again forced himself all the way inside of her, causing Eleanor to give another euphoric moan. Moving in the same way he used to move when he was with Claire, Carter retook a familiar rhythm, working his manhood in and out of Eleanor’s slender body with a steady rate.
With each penetrating thrust, Eleanor would moan at the top of her lungs and tighten her cold around Carter, and when he pulled out, she would relax her hold and gasp for air. With each thrust, her vagina was loosened further and further, eventually coming to the point where she felt only pleasure from the penetration and could relax her body, letting them kiss while he drove his cock in and out of her like a machine.
Eleanor’s pussy felt so amazing around Carter’s manhood, he couldn’t even put it into words. The tightness, the wetness, the softness, and every ridge and bump inside her body made her feel so welcoming, almost like she was trying to make her body his new home. He had to fight with every last drop of willpower to keep from shooting his load.
“Carter, I’m too hot. I’m overheating,” Eleanor gasped, burying her face into his chest.
Without saying anything, Carter rolled onto his back with Eleanor straddling his lap. Eleanor yelped in surprise, but quickly regained her balance. She leaned forward, squeezing Carter’s chest, while he kept his hands on her narrow hips. Panting heavily and gasping for air, Eleanor began bouncing up and down on Carter’s lap, now using her own movement to send Carter’s erect phallus as far up into her body as possible. Her actions were the complete opposite of her former personality; she was never this outgoing and energized in anything she did (not to mention she was never this sexually hungry). Her full breasts bounced and rolled as she rode Carter’s dick like a mechanical bull. She was completely letting hormones and physical desires take over.
Carter sat up, kissing her bouncing breasts as she rode him. Like Eleanor, he was now being driven purely by sexual desire. No matter how much he tasted her beautiful body, he could not get enough, and no matter how hard he fucked her, he wanted to go faster and deeper. He eventually changed his position, sitting in the soles of his feat, while he used his arms to lift her up and down on his cock. As she bounced up and down on his manhood, the two lovers kissed passionately, trying to nonverbally express their feelings for each other.
“Carter, I think I’m going to cum again,” Eleanor moaned with her cheek pressed against his forehead.
“Me too, baby. Just hold on.”
Eleanor wrapped her arms around Carter’s neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist, and both lovers began to shake more and more as he continued to thrust up into her. Finally, Eleanor cried out in ecstasy and Carter gave a loud grunt as they shared a mind-blowing orgasm. His dick was soaked in the flood of Eleanor’s climax, while he shot jet after jet of semen up into her, causing her to completely overflow. Completely exhausted, they both fell back onto the pillows, gasping for air. Once their bodies had calmed down cooled, Carter began kissing Eleanor, who gave a tired hum of bliss.
“I love you so much, you gave me a reason to live again. I can’t remember the last time I was so devoid of pain, both physically and psychologically. You saved my life,” Carter said once they ended their kiss.
“I have never felt more at home and more cared for than today. You’ve become the family I’ve always wanted. Thanks to you, I don’t have to spend my life alone and miserable anymore. You’ve become my entire world,” she cooed, pressing herself tightly against him.
“I love you,” they both murmured in the darkness.
Then with Carter’s arms wrapped around her slender frame and Eleanor’s face buried in his chest, the two lovers fell into the deepest sleep in their lives.

“Good morning,” Carter said as he kissed Eleanor’s neck.
“Good morning,” she purred with a yawn and a stretch.
“How did you sleep?”
Before answering, Eleanor rolled over and kissed him. “Like a baby.”
“So what do you want to do today?”
Eleanor looked out the window while she tried to come up with a decision. “How about we go for a walk and look for a nice diner, have breakfast, come back, make love, and just lounge for the afternoon?”
“That sounds perfect.”

With how warm it was outside, Carter and Eleanor left their coats in the motel room, deciding that they did not need them for their walk. While the motel wasn’t exactly built near a park, the two lovers were more than content with just walking along the side of the road. As they walked, Carter had his arm wrapped around Eleanor, and Eleanor was leaning her head on Carter’s shoulder.
“Carter, we need to talk,” Eleanor said, with the most nonthreatening tone she had.
Carter instantly knew what she wanted to talk about. “I know,” he sighed.
“I need to know: are you going to kill any more people?”
Carter gave another sigh and Eleanor led him into the woods, where passing cars wouldn’t interrupt them.
“Please, Carter, tell me that your days of killing are over. I know what happened to Claire was terrible and I know that you want vengeance, but please, you have to move on.”
Carter turned away from her, clenching his fists. “I know I do. I know I need to let go. But no matter how hard I try, there is still so much anger and pain in my heart.”
Eleanor walked over to him and placed her hand on his chest. “But that should not be the only thing in your heart, your love for me should be in there as well. You began your path of vengeance because of your love for Claire and your hatred of those who tormented her. Carter, you’ve achieved your vengeance, you killed all those that have hurt her and more. Your debt to her has been paid, now it’s time for you to live your life with a clean slate. It’s time for you to live your life with me in your heart, and you don’t need to avenge me or punish others.”
Carter tried to avoid her gaze, but she placed her hand on his cheek and forced him to look into her eyes. “Claire loved you, and wherever she is, I know she still loves you. I don’t know why I look just like her, I don’t know if you and I meeting had some purpose that involved her. Maybe I’m a part of her that was left in this world to help you, I don’t know. I wish I could have met her, because maybe it would have helped me understand who I am.
All I know is that I would have forgiven you if I was her, and I know she did. Claire forgave you Carter, now it’s time for you to forgive yourself and everyone else in this world. It’s time for you to forgive and bury the past. Clair is dead, your vengeance has been achieved, and it is time for you to move forward. Abandon your old life of hatred and vengeance, and start anew with a life of peace and happiness with me.”
Carter’s clenched fists finally opened and he took a shuddering breath, shaking as emotional weights were finally dropped. “Alright, for you. As long as I have you, my heart will hold no anger. My desire for vengeance is gone.”
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Eleanor, holding her as close as possible. “Nothing will keep me separated from you, neither my dementia nor my disease. I will fight it all to stay with you.”
“And if your life should end, then I shall take my own life to be with you.”
They both stared into each other’s eyes and kissed. “I love you,” they murmured at the same time.

After a tall pancake breakfast in a near small-town diner, Carter and Eleanor walked back to the motel, full and happy. They had decided that they would take a nice shower together and then spend the afternoon in bed, surfing the TV channels. But as they stepped into the motel room, Carter’s heart instantly sank. His jacket was out on the bed with his sword was on the floor. The cleaning lady had found his sword. He was exposed. The second Eleanor closed the door, the sounds of police sirens could be heard outside from the police ambush.
“Damn it, the cleaning lady found my sword and alerted the police. They knew it was me the second the weapon was mentioned. They must have set themselves up in hiding while we were gone,” Carter swore as he spun around wildly, trying to think of a way to escape.
Eleanor was shaking with fear as she glanced under the window shades and saw all the cops. They had shone up and gotten into position so quickly that it was as if they had teleported.
“Release the hostage!” the police chief shouted on a bullhorn. Carter quickly grabbed his sword and locked the door.
“What do we do?” Eleanor asked as they crouched down beneath the window.
“I don’t know, there aren’t any windows in the bathroom. I can’t think of a way out.”
Eleanor yelped as a teargas canister broke through the window above them, quickly filling the room with burning smoke. Eleanor clutched Carter’s hands with tears streaming from her eyes, but he wasn’t sure it was from the gas. “Carter, I don’t want to lose you. If you’re locked up, then I’ll die without you. I can’t survive without you in my life.”
Carter wrapped his arm around her, holding her as tightly as possible. “I know, I don’t want to lose you either. I’ve finally found something to live for, something that will give me a reason to exist beyond just punishing everyone around me and myself.”
They were suddenly shaken from their conversation by a loud crash that shook the door. The police were trying to break it down with a battering ram.
“There is a way out, come on,” Eleanor said, rushing through the smoke to the bathroom. Carter followed her and locked the door behind him. This would only buy them a minute at least.
“What is your plan?” he asked, turning to the woman he loved. Eleanor was leaning over the sink, crying in fear.
“Eleanor…” he said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder.
The second he touched her, she turned around with hollow determination in her eyes. “There is only one way to escape being separated, but we will not escape with our lives.”
Carter looked away, having known what she was going to suggest but hoping that it wouldn’t come to that. Eleanor stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Take both of our lives, do it now,” she whispered in his ear.
“I can’t. How can you possibly ask me to do something like that?! How can you ask me to hurt you?!”
“There is no escape for us now, the only way we can be together is in the next world. Please, let me die in your arms.”
Outside, the door of the motel room was broken down and cops were streaming inside.
“Ok…” Carter finally said.
“Open the bathroom door now, we have you surrounded!” one of the officers demanded.
“My name is Carter Locke. I am the one that has killed all the people at those college parties,” he replied with a shaky voice. He slowly held out his sword behind Eleanor, with the tip just barely touching her back.
“Release the hostage!” the cop demanded.
“My name Is Eleanor Rose, and I am not an accomplice or a hostage. I love Carter, and I am with him by my own consent!” she shouted with tears running down her face.
“Open the door, we can talk this through!” the cop said with a much gentler tone, but still as a command.
“When you bury us, make sure we are together,” Carter said as he took a deep breath and gripped the handle of his sword with both hands, gathering his strength for the plunge.
There was a loud crash as the police slammed the battering ram against the bathroom door. Huge cracks riddled the door, and it was obvious it would break with just one more impact.
“Set us free,” Eleanor tearfully whispered
“I love you,” Carter replied.
The police slammed the door again, breaking it off its hinges. At the same time, Carter plunged his sword into Eleanor’s back, piercing her through and then stabbing himself in the chest. With the sword having pierced them both, the two lovers coughed up blood and feel to their knees, holding each other as tightly as possible with their dying strength. EMT responders were called in while the police tried to remove the blade and separate the two star-crossed lovers, but with all of the strength in their dying bodies, they held onto each other and refused to be separated.
At last, they shared one last kiss, and each whispered, “I love you.”
With those last words spoken, they ended their kiss, closed their eyes, and passed on, leaving the world behind and choosing instead to spend eternity together, where nothing could hurt them and their love.

Please comment! Tell me your thoughts!

---