Like Loving the Dead - Peter Steele

Kill You Tonight

Lizzy felt her heart thundering in her throat as she and Peter crossed the all too familiar George Washington Bridge in her car. Light pollution muted the stars from their view; it was one of the few things Lizzy hadn't missed about living in the boroughs of New York City. Otherwise, bittersweet memories she had blocked off threatened to come roaring back like a tidal wave through a damaged dam. She could feel echoes of the memories trickling out, like tiny beads of water down the back of her neck. Hints of her past life were threatening to to haunt her...memories she had managed to forget briefly.

She licked her lip as she gazed out the window at the black, inky river. So many memories she had tried to let go. She made the decision to move on and to be with Peter and if part of that meant being okay with being back in Brooklyn then she'd learn to manage somehow. She just couldn't let Peter know how hard it would be for her. He'd grow concerned and ask questions. Questions he wasn't ready to answer. Questions she may never be ready to answer. And the answers would probably be ones Peter wouldn't want to hear.

She felt as he rested his hand on her thigh and she closed her eyes, focusing her senses on his touch. She had driven for the majority of their trip. They left her apartment as soon as she came home from work. She had packed her bags that morning and was ready to go for the long weekend. True to his word he had her car's oil changed for her, along with her tires rotated, and all around tune-up.

He always took such good care of her.

As they neared New York they traded places. She knew the way to the city but she wasn't sure exactly where in Brooklyn Peter lived and they decided it would be easier for him to take over driving. Sounds from Black Sabbath were roaring from her car stereo as she felt her car creep to a halt. She opened her eyes and gazed out the window to see a tall brick building before her. She felt her heart leap for a moment. It was so similar to the building she had lived in with her roommates years ago right there in Brooklyn. For a moment she thought she was looking at her old building.

Lizzy forced herself to swallow as her pulse slowed and she felt Peter lean towards her. His breath cascaded along the skin of her neck as he brushed her ginger hair from her shoulder as he whispered, "We're here, Angel."

Lizzy glanced at him and nodded as she bit her lip as she reached and opened her car door and slid out. She heard the driver's side door close as she looked up at the building, once again feeling the barbs of nostalgia gripping her heart, like a wire tightening in her chest. She struggled to inhale once again as she felt his looming, yet comforting presence next to her.

"Angel?" Peter murmured as she felt him once again comb his fingers through tendrils of her hair.

Lizzy took a breath before she responded, "Sorry, I just...never thought I'd be back here in New York...in Brooklyn. I thought the last time I left would be the last time ever, you know?" Lizzy turned and looked up into Peter's jade gaze, filled with concern and something else. Another emotion Lizzy couldn't quite place. Lizzy offered him a smile and said, "I'm glad I'm back here with you, Behemoth." She looked back up at the building.

"Basement, Angel," Peter's voice rumbled.

Lizzy's brows furrowed and looked up at him again, "What was that?"

"I'm in the basement apartment," Peter responded before he turned and opened the trunk of her car. He hauled out his large rolling suitcase out of the trunk along with her luggage bag. He closed her trunk and locked it before hauling her bag over his shoulder and steering his rolling suitcase along the sidewalk to some steps that lead down to the basement of the building.

Lizzy bit her lip as she was about to take a step down into the shadowy staircase when she halted at Peter's voice, "Wait." Lizzy paused and turned to him curiously, when he abandoned their luggage and scooped her up into his arms bridal style with a smirk on his face, "Let's do this right."