5 - The Night (Part I)

    Do not fear me.  I am the wing-ed angel that comes into your
nightmare to slay the beast.  Do not underestimate me for if the moment
calls I am the beast that will not die. - JMFB

    The phone rang quietly as I pulled the thin black sweater over my
head.  Black.  It was my power color.  Tonight was a night for the
angels to rest while the machine ran wild, grinding and hammering away,
it's only limitations were the limitations of the physical body it
inhabited.
    She was crying.  He had left her alone to go drink and blow lines
with his friends.  A few days had come and gone and she felt her
life was perfect.  I knew because the phone had remained silent.  I was
in no mood to play the emotional tampon tonight.  Tonight was the night
of the beast.
    The machine needed to be satisfied.  I thought of how beautiful the
day had been.  The sun crawled through the sky as though it were on a
mission to right the wrongs of the overlong winter.  I enjoyed it's
warmth, soaked in it's energy, and bled the poison of selfish cold out
of my system.
    A new void was created.  The machine hammered away as it ran out
of memories to slow its grinding.  I craved something to halt it's
relentless advance.
    The music pulsated in the five story club.  Everywhere I looked
there were bodies dancing almost trance like to the monotonous thumping
of the electronic bass drum.  The lyrics of the songs were unimportant.
They all said the same thing, "Take away the pain, lose yourself in my
all consuming groove.  I will create a rhythm that you are lacking in
life."
    The sensory overload was exactly what I needed.  If I were to flood
my system with alcohol or the ever present ecstasy the dull haze
would have taken me from my single purpose; to get lost in an
artificial world that I was totally in control of.
    As I lit my fourth cigarette the bartender set a drink in front of
me.
    "Woman at the end of the bar," he said motioning with a with wipe
cloth, "She was really checking you out, brotha."  I looked and saw a
five girls that were no older than twenty-one.  They were all pretty but
none of them were looking in my direction.
    "Which one, man?"  I asked trying to figure if it was worth the trip
through the crowd.
    "She's not there now.  Pretty little redbone, I think.  Either that
or she's Spanish.  I don't know."
    "She fine?" I asked loudly blowing the smoke on the bar.
    I felt a tap on my shoulder.  The machine ground to a halt.  Her
eyes danced with the light.  Pulsating just behind the music I saw the
life force dancing wildly.
    "My name is Tina.  I hope you like Kamikazes."

    Do not fear me.  I am the beast.  Tonight the angels sleep for their
rest is well deserved.  Tonight is mine for the taking and I will be
served.