Interlude

Backing the story up a little...

Somewhere between day and night, in a dim, gloomy room, a girl lay on her side, without a stitch of clothing on her.

She wasn't moving.

The Manticore stood next to her.

The room was silent.

Slowly, elegantly, it stooped over the fallen girl.

It brushed aside the girl's hair, and kissed her on the forehead.

It moved down to her nose, then her chin, neck, chest, stomach, abdomen, licking each of them, leaving a thin blue trail. Everywhere its saliva touched changed color.

When it had licked the girl all over, the Manticore moved its mouth away.

The girl's body began to change.

All over the surface of her skin, *snap*, *snap*, thin cracks tore open.

"..."

The Manticore watched in silence.

At last, the girl's body crumbled inwards, like a mud sculpture left in the sun.

A purple smoke rose into the air.

The Manticore sucked the smoke into its mouth.

The smoke rose and rose, but the Manticore never stopped breathing it in, like a fish tank with the plug removed, sucking it all away. Its throat moved, swallowing it down.

When it had swallowed the last puff, the Manticore ran its tongue over its beautiful, lipstick red lips.

A drop of liquid slipped from the corner of its mouth and rolled off its chin. The drop of liquefied smoke was the color of blood and flesh.

There was no other trace of the girl, or of the smoke.

"Oh ho ho!

Oh ho ho!

Oh ho ho ho ho ho...!"

In the darkness, the Manticore laughed.

Her name was ancient Persian, and it meant 'Man-Eater.'

That delicate laugh bloomed like a morning rose, triumphantly extolling its evil.