I'm His Vessel

The Man In The Alley

KIAN'S POV:

Turns out, the brooch was worth a whole lot.

I found that out when I went to a reputable jeweler in the city the following week after the fundraising disaster.

The poor old jeweler in the jewelry store nearly fainted after he figured out the type of brooch it was.

He called it a rare blood diamond that was lost to time. No one knew the exact year it was made but all they knew was the name. The Crimson Thorn.

According to legends and mythology, it has appeared all round through most of them- Norse, Greek, Egyptian, you name them. There was even a record of the mythological god of tricks, Loki gifting it to Odin's enemies as it was a cursed item. The oldest tale of the brooch was that a bored Queen requested a special item that looked and felt alive. And the King, in all his mercies, found a mine and killed all the miners, using their blood to perform a ritual to turn the item alive. He would later kill the family of the jeweler and ordered that the brooch be soaked in their blood for 7 days.

The remaining story goes blank from there with crazy myths and folklore about anyone who owned the jewelry always ended up dying or falling ill from mysterious circumstances.

The jeweler even looked shocked and asked if I was okay but I didn't care about all of that. All I heard was money, money and more money.

I was lucky, he said. Regular blood diamonds go for $1-$2 million dollars per carat but this one was extra special.

That night was one of their auction nights and I accepted when they offered to auction it for me with a 10% fee.

Fast forward the next month, the newly made millionaire graduated with distinctions and is off to the university not before telling his Aunt Carrie to go f**k herself when she tried to get some money and called me ungrateful when I said no.

She tried to cause a spectacle but I told her to just get money from the $250,000 she stole from my mother's insurance and her shocked face was totally worth it. The only reason I refrained from confrontation before now was because I didn't want to be thrown out in the streets with nowhere to live by my dearest Aunt.

I was caught out of my thoughts by the crazy owl who flew in.

“Bloody hell-?!”

“In twilight's glow, a vessel waits,

Caelum, the key to shifting fates.

With every heart that dares to bind,

Ultimate power, the worlds aligned”

Like a broken clock, the owl repeats itself three times and flies out.

What the hell?

I ask Maya but she deflects by asking about the ring I forgot about, due to the craziness of today.

The ring looked exactly as I wanted it to be. Due to Zoe’s macabre nature, I got a black diamond instead of the traditional one and it was exquisite with thorns swirling round the black gold band.

The jewelers sighed in relief at my nod of acknowledgement.

It was perfect. I didn't have anything to say or add for the ring. Zoe would absolutely love it. After knowing that I was rich and not struggling, Zoe still insists on us sharing and thrifting most of our clothes and textbooks.

Finally, all was going as planned excluding the crazy owl.

“Are you certain you want to spend the rest of your life with Zoe?”

Call me crazy if you will, but I had no friends in college because I didn't feel like I needed any. I had Maya to talk to. Plus, I was known as the crazy student who talks to birds in the parking lot and in a few months, I probably won't see them again.

Stepping out of the jewelry shop, it was dark out and a rational person would probably not have an expensive ring in his back pocket but with Maya on my shoulder, I felt safe.

“What do you mean? It's Zoe. The love of my life”

I looked at Maya like she just mentioned that the sun rose from the west yesterday.

“I know you love her Kian. But are you in love with her? You know what I mean!” Maya added when I gave her a ‘what do you mean’ kind of look.

“Is there a difference?”

“Of course, there is! You love Zoe almost the same way you love me”

“I'm not interested in sleeping with you Maya” my face scrunched up in disgust.

“Oh, shut up Kian, you know what I mean”

“Well I do and I'm still not interested in you like that Maya. You're just not my type of bird, you know.” Ever since I found out Maya could talk, she wouldn’t stop.

“Ow! Ow! Ouch! Maya stop!” Maya started pecking and slapping my face with her wings when I wouldn't stop joking.

“Fine, fine! I'll stop Okay?” She jumped and landed on my shoulder, probably done trying to reason with me.

We both decided to ignore the crazy owl incident.

“Okay, I'll admit that our love isn't one with blinding passion and toxic misunderstandings, but isn't that good? We're both consenting adults, I like her and we'll definitely end up with the smartest babies.”

“That's rich coming from a virgin”

The nerve of this bird.

Maya jumped and flew up to avoid my hands. She knew I was unlucky with trying to have s*x and she always made sure to rub it in every now and then.

“Wow that's a low one, even for you Maya”

The last time I had wanted to try and see what it felt like, there was flooding in the motel where I and Zoe had lodged in.

Before that was when I was drunk and I tried with Tracie Goldberg, a fellow nerd like me.

We were naked when she slipped from the bed and broke her chin.

It was almost comical as I was frantically looking for our underwear and comforting the hysterical Tracie. She had to get wiring to help with the damage and as an apology, I paid for her flight to Miami and her surgery. Everyone’s look of shock when they realized I had gotten rich was a small pat in the back for me.

And once again, I got lost in my thoughts and ended up lost in real life.

A quick backtracking found me at the entrance of Eros. It was a club s***h bar where all of their servers and strippers were dressed up like demons. I went once because of curiosity and felt uncomfortable so I left immediately. It seems like I was allergic to the smoke machine they had.

Kudos to the owner though, it was rumored that their sales were booming through the roof and their props with wings and horns looked amazing. It was a must-see during Halloween for the troops of tourists who travelled just to experience one night in Eros.

I was passing through the final alleyway right before the bus stop when I heard someone shouting.

In hindsight, I've watched enough horror movies to know what to do and what not to do in this scenario.

Do, call attention to the problem, maybe calling 911 but also put distance between myself and the attacker.

Don't run headfirst into the situation with no means of protection, knowledge or means of defense especially since there was no security camera around.

But like a chicken to its own reflection, I charged headfirst without remembering or having common sense.

The image before me should not even be possible.

Two men were humping and going at it like rabbits on steroids and Viagra .The taller man had one large hand around the smaller one's throat with which he used to hoist the smaller man up and with the way he was thrusting deeper and deeper, I get why the smaller man was shouting and screaming. The smaller man whose legs were no longer touching the floor was in the air with his only anchor being the hand on his throat. He had tears and drool coming out his eyes and mouth. His shouts had become faint moaning and whimpering at this point. The taller man with horns was snarling and grunting only, but it was doing something to my insides that I wasn't sure of.

I looked to my left shoulder and my very own faithful sidekick, Maya, had once again disappeared like she always did when things got weird or awkward.

I slowly and silently tiptoe away from them.

‘Did I see just wings on the taller guy's back? He must be one of Eros’ servers I guess’

I wasn't sure. I was trying not to look (a lie) at the two of them going at it.

‘Is that what s*x looks like?’

I've never had s*x but I was pretty sure it was not as… as… primal and animalistic like that. It was almost unreal the way they were going at it.

I turn at a sharp bend and almost fall on the ground after bumping into a tall mountain.

Wait.

This was a person. How tall were they?

Rising from the floor I immediately turned away when I realized that it was a ‘him’ and he was very naked with his d**k angry red and throbbing.

'My word' I let out an inaudible gasp at the sight of it.

“My eyes are up here fledgling”

His voice sounded so warm. Like hot chocolate yet sinful like the extra bites of snacks you'd take after you swore you wouldn’t.

“Raise your head fledgling. Let me see the face of my peeper”

I looked up in shock and let out a little gasp after I identified the horn and wings he was wearing.

THIS WAS THE MAN IN THE ALLEYWAY!