the outside air was getting cooler.

i could feel it in my lungs, as i inhaled, but i was not cold.

i lit another cigarette and started walking away from the restaurant.

"jackie!!!"

i could feel her, like she was all around me, in me, a part of me.

i could see a hand, holding what i assumed was a bloodied heart.

she was in my fucking head again.

"you want some, don't you jackie?"

i could taste blood. metallic.

then a taste that i can only describe as what, i assume, raw liver would taste like.

"you like, jackie?"

"get the fuck out of my head, bitch."

"ah, jackie. but i know you have been looking for me. you want me jackie."

"i want to rip your fucking heart out."

i could hear her laugh.

loud. shrill. echoing.

"jackie has the fever. you have killed, jackie and you like it. soon you will be like me."

i could see the bodies of two women on the ground in front of her.

like all the rest, they had gaping holes in their chests.

"just for you, jackie. and there are many more to come."

i could see a sign on a building.

fucking walmart.

i knew where she was.

again the laughter.

"i will be long gone, by the time you get here, jackie."

i could taste heart again.

blood again.

i licked my lips.

my stomach grumbled.

"you are hungry, jack kincaid. but not for that shit that you have been putting into your body. remember jackie, what you eat, i eat. what i eat, you eat."

she held up the half eaten heart.

"you want this jackie. you want what your soul craves."

i could taste it.

she was right, i did want it.

but i was still human.

again the bitch laughed.

"you are changing jackie. soon you will be like me. if i let you live that long."

"i will live long enough to rip you apart, bitch."

her voice went low.

"join me, jackie. join me and together we can rule this world."

i could now see her belly.

it looked bigger.

a bloodied hand rubbed it.

"join us, jackie. me and your daughter."

daughter?

"yes, jackie. you are going to be a daddy."

i had flashes of magissa and i having sex.

"yes, jackie. our baby was conceived then. don't you want to join me and our baby girl?"

i had wanted to be a father once, but not with satan's spawn.

i could still see the bloodied belly.

"i will tear that abomination out of you."

suddenly i could see magissa's face.

she was in front of me.

"you had your chance, jack kincaid. i offered you eternal life and great power.

but you have chosen to pass it by."

i felt her hand around my throat.

i could hear my windpipe cracking.

"thirty days, jack kincaid. that is all i need. and then my baby girl will be born and there will be no more need for you.

she will be hungry and your heart will be the first she will feast on. so do not put any more of that white shit into our bodies. i do not want our baby to be a crack baby."

i felt myself being thrown hard to the ground.

she was standing over me.

"until then jack kincaid, i will let you live. but the day of my daughter's birth, i will find you. and i will rip out your heart and keep you alive, so you can watch your daughter eat it.

then you will go to hell, knowing that you were the cause of the destruction of this pathetic place."

she was now on top of me.

i could feel her weight. feel her belly, her breasts, her breath on my face.

she kissed me, long and passionate.

i could taste the blood.

she stood up.

"goodbye, jack kincaid. until i come again. and i promise you, this time, i will kill you."

and she was gone.

"what the fuck was that?"

i got up quickly.

the freak whore was standing a few feet from me.

"what was that?" she repeated.

"i know i am not dreaming."

i started walking away.

i had to get to walmart.

"where the fuck are you going?"

i turned quickly and headed back to her.

"look. if you know what is good for you; you will get away from me as quickly as you can."

i pushed her to the ground.

"and stay away."

"fuck you, jackie."

i licked my lips.

she called me jackie.

she had seen it all.

she laughed.

"you gonna tear me apart, jack kincaid?"

i have to be honest.

i wanted to.

my stomach was telling me to.

instead i turned away from her and started walking.

"i can help you."

i turned again.

"how can you help me? no one can help me."

"i have a car. i have money. i know people. strange, deranged people.

people who might be able to help you with ... whatever she was."

i lit another cigarette.

the freak whore just might be right.

to fight insanity, you need insane.

"i need smokes."

i helped her off the ground.

"my car is back in the apartment building's parking lot."

i walked by her.

"i need smokes first."

she was at my side.

"i will get you smokes. you want a coat. you must be freezing?"

i shook my head.

"just smokes. and whiskey."

she nodded and ran ahead of me.

she was actually a pretty attractive woman.

nice ass. perky tits.

red hair. i liked red hair.

i had no idea what i was going to do to stop magissa, but i had to try.

i could feel the human inside of me slowly fading.

i knew i would eventually become what magissa was.

unless i could stop her.

and the only way i could stop her was to kill her.

and the only way to kill her, was to become like her.

i was fucked, either way.

i could almost hear her shrill, irritating laughter echoing in my head.

"you will never stop me."

"like fuck i won't."

"what?"

the freak whore was back.

"i bought a carton of smokes and a couple bottles of whiskey."

she passed me a bottle. i opened it and drank heavy. it tasted good.

i hoped magissa hated it.

she held up a wad of cash.

"the girl at the gas station bought the cocaine for 5 grand. i think she stole it from the safe."

she laughed.

"she took off out of there in a second."

i didn't give a fuck about the girl at the gas station.

"did you keep any of the coke?"

she held up a bag.

i took it.

"what the fuck man?"

"i need you straight," i said, as i put it in my pocket.

"i am fucked up enough for the two of us."

"fuck," she spit.

"your car?"

"across the street. the juke."

i started walking across the street.

"you own a mini suv?"

"i like it, okay."

a couple minutes later we were sitting in the juke.

it was a nice little car.

"where to?"

"walmart."

she stared at me.

"you do know that it is closed, right?"

"just drive."

she put the juke in drive.

"my name is amanda, in case you are interested."

i wasn't.