How magnificently and deliciously dark the room was, making no distractions of the sorounding furniture, books or anything else from the elegant background that was part of this room. His friend's voice was down to a deep whisper, yet it spoke as clearly as it was inviting. Kris was presented with this strange choice that before he met Ferr did not even know was there, lost and swallowed by the killer light of every day life. The dark fire was at its peak, consuming, demanding its tribute from this young ... man. Could one truly go back to what was before this without giving it a second thought ever again? Could that really be a choice? His lips arched into a small strange smile as he lowered his head in the ultimate understanding of what burning path he was walking on, an arm stretched from this guide of his. Indeed, he would definetly not go back to the ordinary for he was not ordinary. He would not be able to turn not even his gaze from the path that layed now open before him. Before, he had been desperate in that life, now he was presented with a different one... and the lure was irresistable. His hunger insatiable. Possibilities endless. Focusing his entire being on himself he was eager to observe what he would mold into, ready to discard the him he had known, the Kris everyone had known.

His slender fingers immediately found the buttons of his shirt where Ferr's fingers had left off, his eyes deeply fixed into his friend's. Slowly and with a sure hand he finished the job unbuttoning the shirt that had concealed his upper body exposing his skin, and he felt the subtle disappearance of yet another constraint that had bound him to the old self. The shirt slid down soundlessly to the floor. It was not enough. His hands turned to Ferr's open shirt and made that slide down next to the other as well... Skin. The soft perfection that molded to his and this being's form... yet he truly felt like the form was nothing without the essence and the essence was a devouring black flame. With the corners of his eyes he watched Ferr's hands turn with their palms up ...

"Good. The dark shall have its way. The deep shall have its tribute. But you must tell me, my friend, first... what is your name."

Immediately the young man knew what was ordered of him. What the depth of this demand really was. Inside, something stirred with a violence he had not known and the reverberations of something that resembled a menacing growl escalating upwards to his throat, but before reaching it collapsing back into the darkness of his core. Clenching his teeth and curling his fingers into tight fists, he closed his eyes let himself fall into the depths towards the growl, towards the hunger, towards what it was that had laid dormant for so long. Plunging into himself, he left his carnal form behind and he could feel he was still there, tensed to infinity, yet he was reaching for the thing he sought, he realized, his entire mortal existence. At long last, the young man was finally ready to discard himself as what he had been, as Kris, and be what he was. The molding of his inner being was taking shape and so did his carnal body in accordance to the acception of the merge between past and present knowledge of self. The power infusion felt like small electric shocks throughout every fiber, every cell. His hands unclenched, a creeping running all the way to the tips of his fingers... what were before his fingernails, in their place were now extremely sharp claws. He opened his eyes and stared directly into Ferr's eyes. The transformation there was remarcable as well... for where brown eyes had been, now they we black... even the white of the eyes was black and the only element lighting them up with surging life force were golden specks scattered all around the pupil where the previous iris had been.

"Your name..."

... Ferr's deep silent order came again with sharp clarity. The young man raised his right arm, pointing the claw of his index finger towards his demanding friend. He let go the last part of him that was still keeping him back from this. He let go and let himself be filled with this new dark delicious energy.

"Everything... had a price. You made the demand, now you shall have it fulfilled and I shall have mine."

... The young man's voice was stronger, deeper than he had known and authority and power was seeping from every sound. Ferr's head tilted forward slowly, his palms still in an inviting gesture, thus sealing the pact with an agreement. The price would be payed.

The outstretched claw touched the skin of Ferr's chest on the right side and dug into it until blood was drawn and sliding down to the abdomen in a small rivulet. An almost insane smile engulfed the young man's face as he dragged the claw slowly over the skin, making a line... then another... The thrill of this act, the young man realized, sated a small part of his devouring hunger. He was writing on Ferr's skin...

Finally finishing, he withdrew the claw positioning his arm alongside his body and letting a drop of blood fall to the floor. Fixing his gaze upon Ferr, he spoke...

"My name... Now the price."

The young man took a step closer to the bleeding bare chest of his friend and knelt until his eyes were at the exact same level as his blood written name. Ferr took a deep breath and nodded, his voice still a whisper.

"It is what you have always asked for, even before you knew it. Now, for the first time, you shall have it. Let it fill you and help you define what you have so beautifully started.

...feed."

The devious smile on his face turned into a grin at the words of his strange friend, hunger fighting to take over him. Before pressing his lips to the rivulets of flowing life, he hissed...

"You are marked."

...and licked the small streams of blood starting down and moving slowly upwards to the wounds that were the source. It truly tasted like power in its purest form, containing part of Ferr's core, his personality and his limitless wisdom. The merging was so luring that he thought he may even get lost in the sheer pleasure of the feeding, delighting himself on the being of his friend... He had never felt more fulfilled in his entire existence.

"I always have been, Aym ... drink..."