[ WP ] Tattoos give you power , but always take something away . You have just gotten your first one , and the results are ... surprising .

It was hour six, and my right arm had long ago become spongy and numb. Starling had given me something at the beginning, `` To deaden you ahm. We work all day, the tatau sap you strengt'.'' Her black braids swayed gently as she cocked her head, biting her lip as the needle bit my flesh. 
 
 `` You need anotha break, child?'' She asked. I shook my head. It had been an hour and forty three minutes since my last cigarette. An hour and forty three minutes of distraction. `` Keep going,'' I said, my voice flat. 
 
 Starling looked up at me with large, knowing eyes. `` You gon na tell da story'ow you came to Starling?'' I looked down at her, my jaw set. I clenched my fist as the needle hit scar tissue on my shoulder. 
 
 `` Someone told me you were the best,'' I exhaled slowly. 
 
 Starling chuckled. `` Who be dis someone who t'ink so'ighly of I?'' 
 
 `` Dahlia.'' 
 
 Starling paused for the slightest of moments to glance up at me. `` So you be dis Nikolaus she was so bubbly for. Lucky boy.'' 
 
 `` Yeah.'' I said. `` I... I thought the rat king was incredible.'' 
 
 `` My favorite tatau,'' Starling beamed. `` Dahlia was a bad bitch dat day, lucky boy.'' 
 
 `` Yeah.'' I closed my eyes. `` She was.'' 
 
 `` You burn inside, lucky boy. I feel it.'' The buzz of the needle filled the long silence. I opened my eyes and looked down at her. 
 
 `` Are we finished?'' 
 
 `` Almost, lucky boy.'' Starling said. `` You love her?'' 
 
 `` Yeah.'' 
 
 She set the tool on the table, and set about cleaning the blood and ink off my skin. Her hands were gentle and practiced as she applied the dermal bandages from my shoulder to the back of my hand. I climbed out of the chair and examined the work in the mirror. 
 
 `` My people believe the tatau has power.'' 
 
 At the shoulder, shaded black tendrils seemed to emerge from beneath the flesh, tightly coiled and ready to burst. 
 
 `` I see you burn, lucky boy, and I know why you come to I.'' 
 
 The tendrils exploded down my arm, barbed and cruel, made to look as if they tore into and gripped my flesh. 
 
 `` Your blood screamed when I put in the ink.'' 
 
 A single, unblinking eye on the back of the hand, watching. 
 
 I fished out my wallet and pulled free a wad of hundred dollar bills, pressing them into her hand. `` Thank you,'' I whispered, and turned away. I felt her eyes follow me through the door. 
 
 The city was bathed in a deep red sunset, and the heat was nearly tolerable. I lit a Camel and lost myself in thought as I walked. 
 
 My arm throbbed. My head swam. Bits came bubbling to the surface. Her perfect smile. The glittering stone in her Medusa stud. Her laughter. Her kiss. Evenings spent sharing secrets. The click of her clit ring against my tongue. The way her voice cracked when she forgave me. Blood. So much blood. 
 
 There was blood on my knuckles. Not mine. The dermal bandage was torn halfway off my arm. My head swam. He was on the floor, bleeding and beaten, conscious and coughing. Rage flowed through me. 
 
 I ripped the bandage off, and the ink started to bubble and shift. The tendrils solidified, slithering down my arm. I watched, horrified and hungry for more. `` What are you?'' He screamed. 
 
 The tendrils erupted forth, shooting from my arm and coiling around his neck, slamming him into the wall so hard it gave way in a shower of plaster and sheet rock. `` I am suffering'' I hissed. The tendrils tightened around his throat and lifted him off his feet. `` Dahlia. Do you remember her?'' 
 
 His eyes were full of terror. He remembered. I will never forget the fear. I fed on it in that moment. I could crush him. I could literally tear him apart. He deserved it. 
 
 *Forgiveness is the scent the lilac leaves on the heel of the boot that crushes it. * Her voice was the quietest whisper in my head, drowning out all those screaming for blood. 
 
 I retracted the coiled tendrils, and he hit the floor like a sack of flour, gasping for breath. `` Remember this,'' I growled, stepping over him. `` Remember her.''
