Hot-Blooded:

Simone’s Notes:

The past can come back to haunt us. We can choose to ignore it. Or, we can face it with full force. The past will keep following us around. Sometimes our past is a pure nightmare. Some can be a dream. It depends on what is in our past. But if we don’t deal with it soon, it will consume our very being.

The past for the deities began to come to the light. The virus was the under-lying cause. Some of the past was warm and gentle. Others were cold and brutal. Yasmine, Shane, and Syd found that their pasts were cold and harsh. Yasmine’s past came back this morning. She and her husband, Steven, were making love in the morning. This was their little ritual. The col. was lightly licking along her sweet pale back. Yasmine had her eyes shut in bliss moaning. “Oh!” she thought happily. “He’s so good!” The deity moaned again in bliss. Steven was at the tip of her spine when something caught his eye. There was some sort of writing on his wife’s back. He tried to ignore it, but it wouldn’t leave him be. Steven to tried play along with the foreplay to keep her from getting suspicious. But then, he really saw it. There seemed to be some words with the writing. Even though, the skin-deep red was faint, the words were still clear and easy to read. The col. kept trying to ignore it, sadly it held his attention. He tried to make out what it said. “Caleb Sun” was what it read. But that wasn’t the only name on her back. Most of the names were of different men. Steven just couldn’t stand it any longer. He just had to ask. The man swallowed hard.

“Darling,” the col. asked aloud. “What is with the tattoos on your back?” Yasmine opened her eyes nervously. The romantic mood was now gone. She instantly went pale. Her dark past had finally caught up with her. There was no way to hide it now. There was no way to avoid it now. The deity had to tell her husband the truth now. She sighed sadly.

“Will you still love me if I tell you?” the deity asked him.

“Yes!” Steven said quickly. Yasmine swallowed hard. Well, here it comes.

“Those are the names of all of the people I have killed!” she replied. That really shocked her man. He quickly leapt off of her, covered himself with a sheet, ran into the bathroom, and locked the door. Yasmine hurried over to the door. She leaned her ear to the door. Her husband was puking in the toilet. Yas felt herself getting sick to her stomach. “Oh no!” she thought. “I knew this would’ve happened!” But she knew that she had no choice now. Yas had to keep going.

“I had to kill them,” she explained. “It was my only way to survive! After Trent tried to kill me, Syd took me in and trained me to fight back. In return for his services, I had to kill for Syd to survive. Years ago, I had killed once before out defense. The council didn’t see it that way. So they put an ink curse on me. So now, every time I killed someone, their name is written painfully deep into my skin. It burns like crazy. I am forced to feel the pain as it is being written. But over the years it has lessened. I sleep peacefully now. And thanks to me killing Jez and Trent, the names have all softened to be faded now. The names have stopped being written on my flesh. The names occasionally appear once and again.” Yasmine listened in close to the bathroom door. There was silence on the other side. Yasmine feared the worst.

“Come on, babe!” she yelled out. “Say something!” The door finally opened wide. Yas looked up and saw Steven standing before her. Her eyes were big with shock and hope. Steven had no emotion on his face. Yasmine waited for his reply. Steven lightly sank down to her and lightly ran his finger through her dark hair.

“Oh my angel!” he breathed out. Yasmine still felt insecure.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner!” she wailed out. “I didn’t want to scare you away. You ran into the bathroom like that and worried me. I just didn’t…” Steven stopped her by kissing her on the lips. Yas was really taken-aback. She wasn’t expecting this at all. The hunter just didn’t get it. Steven finally broke off the kiss. The couple stared at each other for a long time. Yas was still confused.

“I don’t get it,” she said at last. Steven kept looking at her. Yasmine’s lips trembled.

“You fled into the bathroom and threw up,” she summarized. “Now you’re kissing on me?” Her husband still didn’t speak. Yasmine was trying to piece together what was happening.

“So what does this mean?” she asked. “Are you going to stay with me and my tattoos?” Steven grabbed her by her cheeks with his tender hand.

“Yes!” he admitted. “I want to stay with you no matter what!” Yasmine suddenly felt relived.

“Oh Steven, you have no idea how much I love you now!” she wailed out.

“Oh, but I do!” he replied. Then he kissed her on the lips passionately. His wife kissed back. The col. lightly pushed her back on the floor and kept kissing on her. He made love to her on the bedroom floor there. There love proved to be stronger than a few tattoos.

Later that afternoon, Steven came by Molly’s apartment. He knocked on the door.

“Coming!” the girl called from the other side. Steven paced a bit while he waited. He and Yasmine decided to do this today.

“It’ll be a testimony to everyone!” Yasmine said. “We’ll put it all out for the world. That way we have no secrets from each other anymore.” Steven was uneasy at first. But then, he agreed. Not, it was time to get it all out in the open. The col. only happened that this was a good idea. The door finally opened. Steven stood up straight. Molly stood in the doorway in her light blue summer dress and a pencil tucked behind her ear. She looked at the man slightly confused.

“Col. Walker!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Why are you looking so wound up for?” Walker stood up even tighter.

“Molly!” he said aloud. “I want to be added to the map!” The young journalist’s eyes lit up in joy.

“Great!” she said aloud. “Come with me!” Then, she led him down the hall. Steven followed behind close nervously. Molly had a huge smile on her face. She was finally happy to have someone to add to her map. They came out to the relationship map on the bulletin board. Steven saw Molly, Amy, Bev, Al, and Carrie’s names on the board. The young journalist took her pen and wrote down Steven’s name on the left of her connections’ names. She turned to him smiling.

“Okay,” Molly chirped. “Who were or are you with now?” Steven stood up straighter.

“I was married to a woman named Lindsey Walker,” he answered. “And now I am married to Yasmine Walker.” Molly wrote down Lindsey’s name above Steven’s and then she wrote Yasmine’s name below his name. She drew two lines to Steven’s name to connect them together. She turned to him again.

“Has the two lines been with people before you?” the young journalist asked. Steven thought about that for a moment.

“Yasmine had an abusive boyfriend named Trent,” he replied. Molly wrote down Trent’s name under Yasmine’s name. She paused for a moment.

“Does Trent have a last name?” she asked.

“No,” Steven answered. “Not that I know of.”

“Okay…” Molly said uneasily. Then she drew a line between Trent and Yasmine’s names. “And what about Lindsey?” the young journalist asked the col. He thought about that for a moment.

“She had an affair with her secretary before we got a divorce,” he replied.

“Does the secretary have a name?” Molly asked. Steven shrugged.

“She never told me his names,” he replied.

“Okay…” Molly said trailing off. “Is that all?”

“Yes,” the col. replied. Molly capped her marker pen. She stepped back from her map, pulled out her cell phone, and took a picture of the map. Steven looked at her lost.

“Why are you taking the picture?” he asked. Molly turned to him smiling.

“To help me remember to add to my copy in my apartment,” she replied. Steven stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights.

“A copy?” he asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Molly admitted. “It is in case this one gets lost or destroyed.”

“And if that copy is destroyed?” the col. asked.

“I have the connections in a notebook!” Molly chirped. *Sweat drop on Steven’s head* “Damn, this girl is prepared, isn’t she?” he thought. Molly smiled at him again.

“Well then,” she said. “That’s that!” Then she headed back to her apartment. Steven kept staring at the map. There it was. His relationships with Lindsey and Yasmine for the world to see. There was nothing to say now. This was the beginning of a truthful relationship.

Yasmine wasn’t the only one with a dark past coming to the light. Syd was getting the mail from his box when his past hit him right in the face. You see, reasons behind Ivy’s suicide came back to haunt him. He kept thinking about that note that they found in the living room of her old house. He had kept that note for many years. Until now, he couldn’t investigate it at all. So last month, Syd hired a spirit detective to investigate the cold case. There was nothing at first, but now results were here at last. Syd looked around at first to see if Ella was in sight. When it was clear, Syd opened the letter up quickly. The results were just as he remembered. Here was what the letter said:

I have found your blackmailer. The handwriting and paper are of Jo Wyatt’s. I trailed Ms. Wyatt all the way to a 24 Degas street in the outside of the city. She lives alone now. Ever since the end of the council, Jo has been trying to collect money to pay off her old debts. That was all I could get from this investigation.

Syd paused in anger. It was all coming back to him. His meeting of Ivy, sleeping with her, finding out about Shane, dealing with the Syd-Ivy-Shane triangle, that night, and Ivy’s suicide. The fiery rage came to him in a rush. Jo Wyatt. That greedy bitch had all of the motive in the world. Ivy was a rich free woman. Jo was struggling with all of her debts. Syd was full of real hate now. “I’m going to kill that bitch now!” he thought in full wrath. But first, there was one little thing that he had to do.

Aizen Myo-o Academy was busy as usual. Syd just didn’t care. It just had to get out before he could kill Jo. The deity knocked through many students all the way to the love lab. The man knew his way around the place too well. He pounded on the doors in rage. One girl tried to stop him.

“Please sir,” she pleaded in vain. “You can’t go in there. They are working on a cure for the virus right now.” Syd glared at her crossly.

“Piss off, would ya?” he hissed at her. Then, the deity violently pushed the girl out of his way. She fell straight down to the floor. Syd forced open the doors of the lab and walked inside. The lab girls were all working hard when they looked up and noticed him. Syd looked around with brutal death in his eyes.

“Where’s Shane?!?” he barked aloud. The girls all remained quietly nervous. No one wanted to talk at all. Syd looked at all of them in growing anger.

“Well come on!” he yelled. “I need to see Shane now! This information dealing with Ivy!” The girls were all confused now. Who was Ivy, they all wondered. Then, the store room door opened wide. Everyone looked up to see Shane standing in the doorway. She had a worried look on her face. She even looked as if she would cry. Syd stepped forward to her.

“I would like to talk to you outside, if you will,” he said trying to sound calm. Shane nodded and followed him out in the hall. He told her in detail about his discovery. He left out who it was. That would come after the revenge was paid. Syd waited while his anger slowly built up. Shane looked at him in anger.

“Who could’ve found out?” she asked. Syd just shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But I have a pretty good idea who.” Shane looked at him in surprise.

“Who?” she asked. Syd looked at her grinning evilly.

“You’ll see by morning,” he replied. The female deity didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked. Syd just turned to leave.

“Oh,” he replied. “You’ll see by morning!” Then, the deity left for Ametris. Shane watched nervously. She didn’t like whatever Syd was planning. Never had and never will. This time was no exception to the rule. “Just don’t do anything stupid, Syd!” she thought.

Meanwhile, Molly was just returning from lunch in the mess hall when she saw Ella at her board. She seemed to be writing something down. Curious, Molly watched from a distance for a moment. When Ella was down, she walked away in a huff. The young journalist came over to the map to look at what had happened. Ella had added her name connected to Syd. Then, Syd was connected to Ivy’s name. At the end of Ivy’s name was Shane’s name. Molly smiled brightly. She quickly took out her cell phone and took a picture of the map. “I’m getting bigger!” she thought. Then, the young journalist headed back to her apartment happy.

Night fell fast and hard. Syd had been stalking Jo all night. He had his revenge plan perfect in his head. Right now, he saw Jo walking into her house with groceries in her arms. Syd smiled to himself wickedly. He had his opportunity now. The deity headed over to the greedy woman.

“Good evening, Jo!” a voice called to the woman. She looked up quickly and Sydney staring right at her. Fear quickly filled the woman. Syd kept his serious face on. Jo was just as he remembered. Long dry dusty brown hair, deep coal black eyes, slender, and all dressed in black. She had more wrinkled and crow’s feet on her face than the last time they met. Jo also looked very tired. Syd didn’t really care. She was going to be pulling up daisies really soon. Syd stepped forward.

“May I help with those?” he asked. Jo was really scared now.

“No thanks,” she trembled out. “I’m fine!” Syd stepped forward again.

“Oh no,” he said. “I insist! Let me help you with those!” Before she could speak again, Syd took one of the heavy bags out of her hands. Jo was deep fear now. She knew what Syd was capable of. She had no idea what he was plotting tonight. He looked to be in one of his violent moods. Syd began to smile at her coldly as he held her bag in his arms.

“Well,” he said. “Unlock the door. I want to talk.” Jo nodded nervously.

“Right,” she replied. Then, she reached into her coat pocket and drew out her key. She unlocked the door and opened it. Syd nudged his head towards the door.

“After you!” he insisted. Jo went inside reluctantly. Syd followed behind closely. He closed and locked the door behind them. She was now going to be a prisoner in her house.

They came into the kitchen and set down the grocery bags on the counter. Syd leaned against the counter as well. Jo looked at him worried. She had no clue what he wanted.

“You know,” Syd spoke up. “Ivy was such a gentle woman. One when she and I were having a nice afternoon together, a mouse had ran into the room. Ivy was terrified of mice, but I got up to kill the little beast. But when I came to do the act, Ivy begged me not to kill it. She said she didn’t want to see any blood shed of God’s creatures. That was how harmless Ivy was.” He turned his gaze upon Jo. “What I don’t understand,” he went on. “Is why someone would want to blackmail her and drive to commit suicide.” Jo looked at him slightly confused.

“What are you getting at?” she asked. Syd’s tone change drastically.

“Why did you blackmail Ivy?!?” he snapped. Jo’s tone changed as well. She didn’t bother to try and deny it. Syd knew the truth already. The woman could see it in his soul. She drew out one of her old cigarettes from black night coat, put it in her mouth, and snapped her old bony fingers. A little flame appeared at the tips of them. She used the flame to light the cigarette. Syd just smirked at Jo as she did so. “Still using your old magic, huh?” he quietly to himself.

“Because,” she said in a snotty way. “I figured I’d make more money off a bad person than a good person!” That really set Syd off.

“Ivy was a good person!” he barked. Jo tossed her head laughing.

“Oh please!” she barked. “A good person wouldn’t have done what she did that night! She got what was coming to her! And besides, all of her money inheritance should’ve gone to the council in the first place!” The old witch deity laughed aloud wickedly. That proved to be a *huge* mistake on her part! Syd’s anger was really out of control now! He grabbed the glass blender on the kitchen counter and raised high above his head.

“YOU BITCH!!!” he screamed out. Then, the deity stuck Jo right on the head hard. The old woman screamed out in pain and terror. Then, Syd carried on top of her while she down and strangled her hand with his bare hands. Jo tried to plead for her pathetic life, but it was to no avail. Syd was too blind and deaf to mercy. He just kept on strangling her hard.

After a few moments, Jo was dead. Syd finally let go of the woman and checked to see if he killed her right. Jo was truly dead. Syd smirked to himself in cold blood. “Part one down!” he thought proudly to himself. “Now to finish this shite!” Then, the deity cleaned up the blood from the counter where Jo hit her head after he whacked her hard. He cleaned well over three times just to be certain. He breathed out hard from his work. The deity smiled at the cleaned up evidence. “Perfect!” Syd thought. “Well, almost!” Then, he picked up the body and dragged it out the door.