Post by Nathan Saniti on Feb 26, 2017 10:02:23 GMT -5
The Star of Babylon - Lust - Chapter 04
The Harvesters had settled into Nathan's hat-vertible, he and Kelli enjoying the front seat view while Neville, Naomi, and Rasputin filled the rear seat. The desert night wind was remarkably cool and refreshing coursing through their hair. The extreme lack of any sign of civilization made the Milky Way quite visible. Kelli stretched herself out, her hands behind her head, as she marveled silently at the sheer amount of stars. They all rode in silence for several miles before Kelli broke the silence.
"You know," quipped Kelli, "for a hat, this is a pretty sick ride."
Nathan got a look of alarmed concern on his face. "Do you need me to pull over, my dearest?"
Kelli puzzled at her beau. "What for?"
"You said the ride was making you sick."
Kelli laughed incredulously. "No. No. What I meant was that this car is very cool and comfy."
Nathan smiled, shaking his head. "Sometimes your vernacular perplexes me." Nathan took a good, long whiff of the fresh air. And choked. Mixed with the air was the warm, sweet smell of a particular herb he'd not experienced in a very long time. He peered into the side view mirror. Behind him, Rasputin had fired up a short, white cylindrical object. "Colitas? Here?"
Kelli smelled it too, and it certainly got her attention. She looked at her Great-Uncle blazing up like a skater at a park. She grew wide-eyed with disbelief at first as he tauntingly pulled on the spliff. "What... What is Colitas?"
Rasputin held his breath, slowly closing his eyes and enjoying the sensation, before exhaling the contents in a thick puff of light green smoke. He smacked his lips, offering the joint to Naomi before answering the question. "Colitas, zaichik, is a special blend of marijuana that has been watered solely with absinthe. It's made especially for us demi-mortals. It's the absinthe that gets us high, not the dope."
"Where, precisely, did you get that, might I inquire?" scolded Nathan, watching with a sour expression as his sister pulled her lungs full.
"I bought it from Samedi before we came here." He took the drug from Naomi after she'd had her turn and offered it to Nathan, already sure of his response. "Would you like some? It might make you less of a stick-in-the-mud." He snorted at his own joke, joined by a polite giggle from Naomi.
"Certainly not!" chided Nathan indignantly. "And most certainly not while I'm driving."
Kelli observed her lover's reaction with silent disappointment. Rasputin sat back, the drug apparently hypnotizing both Kelli and Neville, enticing them. "You should take page out of your opponent Whitey Ford's book. Relax and indulge once in a while."
Nathan yanked the car to the side of the road, throwing all of his passengers to their left unexpectedly with protesting cries of surprise. He brought it to a full stop before turning around with an almost parental look of disapproval.
"Are we there yet?" Naomi asked through her haze before chortling uncontrollably.
Nathan scowled at her, unamused, prior to returning his attention to Rasputin. "You DO realize that we are after a Sin, correct?" Rasputin shot an innocent look while choking back his own laughter. "This Sin in particular specializes in indulgence. Mr. Ford would lose himself to this world, just as we shall if caution isn't practiced. Mr. Ford has never had the ability to control his indulgent urges in life, much less in that ring!"
"Not true," chimed Kelli. "Here lately, it seems as if he's trying to turn over a new leaf." Now it was Kelli's turn to get indignant towards Nathan. "Besides, who are YOU to judge? You've see-sawed back and forth from a rule breaker yourself. You're not pure. You're not Andy D."
Nathan scanned his love over her accusatory feelings. After a few moments, his eyes softened, and he lowered his stern gaze. He took a deep breath, letting it out with a deep sigh. "I'm aware that I am capable of breaking rules." He paused, nodding slightly. "You're correct. I'm not as pristine as Andy D. I do what I must to win, to keep the Balance. Mr. Andy D. isn't quite like that. He's an admirable opponent, and both men are quite capable in spite of their differing outlooks."
He spun back to facing forward, collapsing to the pressure his beloved gave him. "Fine. Just don't overindulge. We have yet to find Gomorrah. The closer we get, the more powerful his influence may be, and you could get lost." Nathan looked the other way as the joint was passed around the car, all four of his passengers partaking of the herb, enjoying its effects.
He slowly turned his attention to the horizon. The heat from the day's desert sun escaped the pavement, causing the horizon to shimmer like ripples in a pond reflection. An obviously man-made light glowed in the effect, entrancing and beckoning him. His eyes grew as big as saucers. "PUT THAT OUT! NOW!" Rasputin and Naomi halted their necking in the back seat, much to Neville's unspoken relief.
"What?" Kelli snuffed the cherry of the half-gone ganja with guilty haste, as if they had been caught by the local authorities. "Why?" She coughed out the pull she just took. She started to discard the item, but Nathan stopped her.
"No. Save it. We may need it." Kelli looked at her beloved as if he had two heads, which may very well have been exactly what she was experiencing. "I believe we may have found our quarry." Nathan pointed to the glow on the horizon.
"It looks like whipped cream on a road pie," joked Naomi.
"A deserted desert dessert?" quipped Neville with a guffaw.
"How far away is it?" inquired Kelli with squinted eyes.
"I'm not sure." Nathan studied the distance for several seconds, concern etched on his face.
"Can we go?" asked Naomi. "I love whipped cream, and I have the munchies."
Rasputin nudged into her neck with passion. "I can think of a lot more uses for whipped cream." Naomi giggled like a school girl, playfully shoving away his advances.
Nathan sighed, mumbling to himself. "This is why I dislike these sorts of things. I need your wits about all of you." He slowly re-entered the highway in the direction of the glow. "I pray that we'll have time for you all to sober up a bit before we reach Gomorrah."
The continued down the road for what felt like miles and hours. Fatigue began to settle into Nathan, something he'd not felt in a long while. As they approached the source of the light, his head grew heavier, his sight more dim. Looking around, he noticed that his companions seemed to be suffering the same symptoms. He knew that whatever this was, was beginning to have an effect upon him. He would have to stop soon, perhaps for the night.
