Dark City

48.

Hypatia lived in an historical building with marble stairs and gold paint on the baseboards. The mailbox was marked "Cayes." Little miss witch had a keeper. When Tom rang the bell, a woman he barely recognized practically ambushed him. Her hair was short and black and she wore a satin robe with a colorful scarf belt.

Hypatia giggled and pulled him inside the apartment. The little abode looked like the chamber of a sultan's harem. Her bed was a pillow-covered king-size foam pad, no mattress, no box spring, everything cloaked in a purple veil canopy. Lingerie lay scattered in a pile next to the windows.

Reclining on the red sofa was Jacob Serrell. He packed up a second-hand briefcase and headed for the door.

"I was just leaving," he said.

"Wait up." Tom blocked his path. "You guys know each other?"

Hypatia snickered. "Yeah. Bye now!" She pulled Tom out of Jacob's way. Jacob started to go but he halted at the threshold, leaned up against the doorframe, and beckoned Hypatia. She skipped toward him. "Hmm?"

He whispered something to her, brushing her hair behind one ear. This was a Jacob from another planet, a softer, gentler Jacob. Though Tom couldn't hear everything, he managed to decipher the last few words. "Remember who your friends are and who they aren't." She closed the door behind him.

"You're friends?" Tom asked.

"Yeah." She started loading up a tall glass bong streaked with serpents of red. "We used to play together when we were kids."

"Really?"

"I'd have never survived Neptune High without him."

"That's a rough school."

Hypatia nodded and parted the curtains of her love tent. She slipped inside and reclined against a mound of Persian silk pillows. "Yeah. I didn't stay there after Freshman year. I got a scholarship to go to private school."

"You must be smart."

"Must be."

She opened her kimono and slid it off. Through the scarlet veil, Tom could see the enticing shadows of her body as she lit the bowl and the bong started bubbling. He'd never known a girl who got naked to smoke in bed. It seemed a dangerous practice.

"I don't smoke," he said.

Hypatia giggled wickedly. "Good. I didn't want to share." Without another word, Tom ducked into the bed with her and started kissing down her throat.

He kissed the Seal of Solomon on the side of her neck. Her eucalyptus perfume got in his mouth.

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Music: Muse "I belong to you"