Somewhere in the long hours of walking, the goofy grin fades from my face. Perhaps it's how foot-sore I'm getting after miles of nothing but thick heat, thorny bushes, and treacherous drops to pools (some of which were so muddy they looked no different from solid ground). But maybe, I've gotten too far from the afterglow of our sex to feel the same level of giddiness I did when we woke. But there's another possibility that's giving me pause. What if all the puppy-dog-love I was feeling came from the newness of a beating heart. The rejuvenated blood in my veins is like an unfamiliar drug, and there's no denying everything has felt more real and more intense since it started pumping. Or to put it another way, while my body was cold, so were my emotions. Now that it's hot, my feelings have gained a potency I'm neither used to or able to control.

It isn't that I've lost interest in Marie. Watching the sway of her ass in that tight, thin white slip still makes me want to jump her and lose myself in her soft flesh. But I'm beginning to realize I know almost nothing about her. Things in the world of the dead are bound to work differently, but while I was alive I never would have fallen head-over-heels for someone just because they fucked me.

Well, not since I was sixteen, anyway.

Okay, so in all honesty it's probably more like not after the age of twenty-two. Because there was someone.

Her name had been Dominique, and I had never met a more elf like girl. Not an inch over five-feet, skin the color of cream, bright eyes, and a sharp upturned nose. We were in a drama course together and had skipped class one autumn afternoon. Back at her apartment, a crumby third floor walk-up with stinky radiator heat and severely slanted floors, we made love. Lying on her bed by an open balcony door, the chilled air dried the sweat from our bodies. She straddled me, her nymph legs clenched against my hips. Her belly was speckled with birthmarks, and her perky breasts jiggles like jelly. She supported herself with a hand on one of my tits.

No, wait. That's not right.

It was on my chest. My flat—scrawny even—slightly hairy chest. And she didn't grind my pussy, but rode my roughly average-sized, crooked penis. I'd been so embarrassed about her seeing it, but I became overjoyed when she took it inside of her and owned it. Her pussy was the hottest thing it had ever known, like being inside liquid fire, and the only reason I didn't explode immediately was the stunned awe I felt looking at her delicate body, smooth skin smooth that was hairless except for the dark arrowhead pointing at my groin. I want her with all my being. And in that moment, I wanted to be her.

I'd never been with a woman so determined to claim her own pleasure. She wanted to cum and she was going to make sure she did. Her wet lips slid up and down my shaft, up and down, like we were two machines in perfect sync. She made a little "uh-uh" sound with each rise and fall, but it grew into an animal keening as her excitement grew. Her gentle rocking built to a manic pistoning, her body lunging now forward, now back as she drove down onto me. Her face was so pink, it nearly glowed. It no longer felt as though she was riding me, so much as swallow me, Hoover me in and taking it all away.

In my feverish, hallucinatory orgasm, I wondered if she'd leave me as flat and smooth as she was. My mind reeled and my testicles emptied.

When we were done, I wanted to hold her tight, but Dominique pushed away from me and flopped down with her head toward the bottom of the bed. She lay in the patch of sun from the door like a napping cat. I told her I never wanted to leave. She kicked my thigh playfully with her perfect tiny foot and joked that if I never left, my clothes would wear-out and I'd have to use hers. She said, "And I don't think you'd like being my dress-up doll, would you?" I shook my head and laughed even though it sounded like heaven. Then, my mood turned dark with disappointment because I hadn't agreed, because she'd only been kidding, and because her clothes were too small to fit me even if she hadn't been. 

I shake my head to clear it of the confusing mixed up memory. What the fuck was that? I could still remember how deeply I'd wanted her to dress me up and how much I wanted to be a small girl just like her. And holy fuck! I actually was one now.

I'd been so happy when my old life started coming back to me, but now I wonder if I was losing my mind.

I was about to ask Marie if being in a different body messed with your memories, but got embarrassed at the thought of her asking for examples. I instead said, "So, with being a witch and all, do you do magic?"

She gifted me with her laugh, "Some. But only since coming here. When I was alive I just had the Sight and a knowledge of herbs. And that isn't of much use anymore."

"Why not?"

"There's no illness or infections here."

"Wait, what?" Had I been going around fearing ghouls and monsters for nothing? It kind of made sense that you couldn't die twice, but why hadn't anyone told me sooner? "Are you saying that because we're already dead, nothing can hurt us?"

She giggles and slows her pace until we're side by side, then gives me a solid wack on the ass. "See that, you can still feel pain," she says, bursting out laughing.

I rub my cheek and scowl, even though the jolt has made me a little wet and I'm more turned-on than annoyed. 

She goes on, "And your body can get damaged, so don't go jumping off cliffs or something stupid to test it. If your body is damaged enough, you'll lose it and become ephemeral. There's just no viruses or bacteria here. Or if they are around, they don't affect the dead. It's a bit of a different story with the creatures who are born here, but I'm no expert on them."

"Oh." That sucked. I'd have to continue to be careful, since I really didn't want to be bodiless with the mind of a Mayfly again. "And what's this Sight thing? You mentioned it once before."

"Some would call it clairvoyance. I sometimes get visions of the future, but mostly I just have a strong sense of what's happening inside of the people I'm around."

"Like reading minds?" Shit. I didn't want her knowing what was going on in that crazy head of mine.

"Not exactly. It's more like getting a feel of their emotions no matter what the person chooses to show. And if something is really bothering someone, it can pop into my mind. That part's very useful with fortunetelling. Something else there's not much call for down here, not that I miss it. I only did that to pay the bills."

"The reason I asked about magic," I say, hesitating in case I came off as a fool again. "Is because I learned a spell."

"Really? What one?" She's interested but not shocked, like I'd mentioned I'd gone to the movies and not that I knew sorcery.

I show her, sending a ball of light out into the swamp where it bobs and dodges around the plants and over the pools.

"That's a good one. But try this, it's a lot more useful." She stops and demonstrates, running a finger in three circles over her left palm while reciting an incantation. A blue-white light emanates from her hand and fades to bio-luminescent green at the edges. "I use this a lot when I don't have a lamp or a candle. You try." Marie closes her fist and the light vanishes in a burst as though she squeezed it out of existence.

It takes a few tries before I get the hang of it. The light tickles a little, like a warm feather brushing against my skin. Then, she teaches me a levitation spell, and I'm able to float a small rock in the air for a few seconds.

"If I get better at it," I ask. "Will I be able to lift bigger objects for longer?"

"Not longer, but bigger. Well, bigger than that pebble, anyway. Magic is pretty easy to do in the Underworld and everyone knows a few spells, but none of them are very powerful. It's nothing like what the demons can do. So, don't expect to be throwing lightning or creating inter-dimensional doorways." She suddenly slaps her thigh remembering something, and says, "Oh, here's one you need to know. It's a fix-it spell. You can use it to repair rips in your clothes or minor wounds. It even has some cosmetic uses, like sorting out your hair." She gestures to my head, and I self-consciously run my fingers through it. Without shampoo or a comb, it's started to get a bit matted.

The fix-it spell is the most complex of the bunch, and I practice as we keep along the route, Marie giving pointers when I screw up or forget the words. Eventually, it works and I seal a tear in the lace of my sleeve. I now have a whole four spells to my repertoire. Admittedly, shooting lightning and the other stuff she mentioned sounds amazing but doing magic at all is still pretty cool.

I'm bugging her to show me more, when Marie stops and looks around, glancing at our surroundings with an eager squint.

I ask, "What is it?"

Her voice is full of excitement and she sounds ten years younger. "We're almost there. Bianca's is just around that next bend. Come on."

And she's off, running ahead of me.

DemonRose

Hey there, my lovelies!

I hope I made you curious about Sabina's faulty memories (if they are faulty). And those spells might not seem like much, but eventually they'll all save her cute little butt at some point. Up next is Bianca's, I have been sooo anxious to get there. It's going to be so much fun!

Kisses!