I can't remember myself before the Fall. I hardly remember anything. I don't even know how long ago I started forgetting. Alistair took my memory and taught me to lie, but in return he awakened my fire. I am as grateful to him as a child can be to the father who brought him into the world. I am ready to beg, just so he will do it again. And I don't let myself beg for pleasure easily, I'm used to taking it without effort. But I have never met anyone I want more than him, my father in hell.

  He brought me to Saint Ferno, the city of lust vampires, and taught me everything. I also know I am his best disciple and the only Fallen among his lovers. Others are not worth his passion. Only in me do the cold steel of heaven and the hot fire of hell melt together. That makes the Fallen the best among incubuses and the most dangerous in this lust-obsessed clan. Even for Alistair, I am a threat.

  I think that's why he fell in love with me, and that’s why he wanted to capture me. But he knows my power is no less than his. And we hate each other, but that hatred is far from purity. It only tempts us to fight trough. In the sweet agony of an unstoppable fall. I love losing to him, and I am greedy. That's why I'm here. But I better start at the beginning, so I don't miss any of the intoxicating moments of our fight....

  What was I before I fell? I don't remember. I do know I was cold and bored. Maybe there was something there that I lived for. Maybe it was better there, but I don't remember. My life, as it is now, began with the road.

  It was a long black strip damp from dense fog with barely visible white lines in the middle. Where did it lead? I don't know. All I knew was that this was what had sealed my fate.

  It was early morning. Or was it more of an evening? I was not sure. Because in the thick haze that had descended on the world I lived in then, both times looked the same. I walked along the edge, shivering from the cold and my own recklessness. I knew I was not supposed to come here. But where were those who tried to forbid it?

  I had a jacket on, but I still shivered from the dampness around me. My hair kept coming out from under the hairband, and I had to constantly wipe it away. I remember it was blonde. And my fingers were as slender as willow branches slipping away with the current of the river. They are still like that now, because time has no power to devour my youth. But now they know pleasure and their curves are not so indifferent.

  Silver rings embossed and dark nail polish…

  But then they were free of those marks of depravity. And too naked to resist. I balled them into fists and stuffed them into my pockets to keep them warm. I wanted to leave, but it was as if I was waiting for something. I knew nothing would happen. I had been here more than once before. But I always regretted going back, and this time I wanted to walk further.

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  The wind rustled menacingly through the bare trees, and the ribbon of the road became increasingly blurred in my tired thoughtless staring eyes. I was about to stop, but suddenly a new sound caught my attention.

  It was soft and tender. It came closer and closer. I froze and looked intensely into the fog. I saw a car. Its shiny body emerged from the greyness and sped towards me. I wouldn't say I got scared. Surprised, that's true. No one had ever driven on this road. The last thing I expected was to see this mysterious silhouette.

  I always liked cars.

  The feeling that someone was inside them, that there was a life inside, invisible for me. I couldn't leave. Like an enchanted man, I watched it. The engine was barely to hear, the tyres gliding unobtrusively over the damp road surface. He approached quickly and drove past me. I looked back, wondering where it came from and who was driving it. I even wanted to shout something. But I didn't get a chance to do so. It stopped. It braked hard, fifty paces away from me.

  It was a temptation. My first real temptation. And I couldn't stand it. Slowly, very slowly and carefully, I started to move closer. I felt like the car was waiting for me. Waiting to laugh and drive away, as soon as I think I can solve the mystery. Everything around me froze, and the silence became deafening.

  The car was black.

  I had never seen a car like that before. I walked towards it, expecting it to drive away, leaving me disappointed in this grey fog, but it didn't happen. I stopped in front of the door and looked through the window. The windows were as black as the polished sides and there was nothing to see. The car stubbornly held its secret, instead I saw myself. My reflection in the shiny dark glass. I know I saw myself for the first time then. And I was amazed. I know now that I am beautiful. But it didn't occur to me then. I stared at myself dazed and tried to remember.

  The light skin, the delicate, flawless features, the youthful lips, slightly open from the sudden shock, the deep, dark eyes framed by a curved bundle of lashes. The dusk between my collarbones, where a frightened shadow lurked. I am long used to it now, but then, back then, I was different.

  And I could not break away from beholding myself, hastily trying to understand. I stared into my wide-open eyes. At the same time I felt someone inside the car studying me just as intently. I felt that, through my eyes, I caught the gaze of the other person, hidden from me by the blackness. I leaned against the door and pressed myself against the pane. My lips felt coldness…

  At that moment, I heard a slight click. I jumped anxiously to the side of the road. The car door swung open, and I saw the red interior and heard the light singing of unfamiliar music. I was being waited for...

  I don't know why I got into that car. Perhaps curiosity, or a sense of impunity. Or something else, something much more overpowering. I don't know. But I wanted to do it, I knew I wouldn't get another chance.

  Without further thinking I got into this car. Slamming the door behind me. The fog and the road remained outside, safely shielded by the warmth of the cabin, and for the first time I saw Alistair…