Richard sighed. It was no use trying to get the beautiful Korean woman to open up. When she asked him his question he considered giving her an honest answer. It was difficult.<br/><strong><br/>"Do you believe in the human soul, Mi. The life force? It is a very powerful thing. There are.. things. Things that exist in a realm <i>parallel</i> to our own. They feed off such life force."</strong><br/><br/>He frowned, knowing that he wasn't explaining it correctly.<br/><br/><strong>"Whilst such life force can be taken away, it can also be given, surrendered. But only to a suitably compatible recipient. I gave you some of my blood that night, but I also gave you much more. You took a part of my soul."<br/></strong><br/>He waited for the information to sink in.<br/><br/><strong>"I have only done the blood ritual three times. The first time was with a girl I went to college with. She had twisted her ankle. I healed that ankle. It drained me. I slept for weeks. The second time, I gave it to Marge. She had suffered spinal injury. She wasn't dying but she was paralysed from the waist down. After I healed her I was in a coma for two months. She was sixteen at the time."</strong><br/><br/>He waited for the last sentence to sink in. He had given away much more about himself to Mi than he'd hoped to.<br/><br/><strong>"The last time was with you. I fully expected the experience to fail. You were dying. I shouldn't have been able to save you. Yet here you are. What's even more interesting is that I was fine again after only a full night's sleep."</strong><br/><br/>There was much more to what Richard was saying. Mi could feel it, but she also felt his reluctance to share it with her.<br/><br/>He was lost in thought, wondering what to say next when Mi asked if she could go.<br/><br/><strong>"Wait!"</strong>he said and then the<i>other</i>took over. It was only a momentary lack of control but enough. A set of invisible psychic tendrils snaked their way towards Mi. She was suddenly hit by an electrifying sensation. A supercharge of energy that set all of her nerve endings on fire. It was ecstatic, arousing, highly addictive...<br/><br/>As soon as it was felt it was gone. Richard had brought the<i>other</i>back under control but too late! He turned away.<br/><strong><br/>"I'll call you a cab right away"</strong>, he said. Mi could see that he was shaking.