The Palace of Illusions. Kim Addonizio

Читать онлайн.
Название The Palace of Illusions
Автор произведения Kim Addonizio
Жанр Мифы. Легенды. Эпос
Серия
Издательство Мифы. Легенды. Эпос
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781619024199



Скачать книгу

contritely, open it again. The images struck him with surprising clarity and immediacy. At night he lay in bed with his partner, filled with those images, painful reminders that in spite of his deep love for his wife, and his best intentions, he had failed to keep his promises to her; when his partner rolled over in sleep and moved against him, he turned away.

      Sometimes I like to take off from campus and go downtown to the fancy hotels, where they have piano music and the bartenders wear tuxes. I order a Lemon Drop and read Charlotte Brontë or Jane Austen in the muted bar light, wearing a tasteful black dress, my hair piled demurely on my head, little ringlets escaping down my neck. I wait for a man to come over, which never takes long. But when I get upstairs, into a room with him, I change completely. I order him to take his clothes off, to lie down on the bed and close his eyes. They always smile like crazy at that point, they can’t believe their luck. I tell him I’m going to make him feel good, and I can see he’s thinking about how he’ll tell the story the next day to his best friend at work, about meeting this girl in the hotel bar. I put my hand on him through his briefs or boxers and remind him to keep his eyes closed. I take out my lace handkerchief, and the chloroform, and before he knows what’s happening he’s passed out and I’m straddling him, my fangs in his neck, his blood pouring down my throat.

      The men I meet downtown are perfect: married, a little drunk, a little overweight. It’s bad if they’re thin, because by the time I have my fill they’re practically comatose. I don’t want to kill them, just feed on them enough to keep me going. If I were a full vampire it might be different, but I’m only half, on my dad’s side. My dad has to kill people to get enough. I understand, I guess, but I don’t like to think about it, and I’m happy I never killed anyone. Even the coma thing only happened once.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEBWQFZAAD/4gxYSUNDX1BST0ZJTEUAAQEAAAxITGlubwIQAABtbnRyUkdC IFhZWiAHzgACAAkABgAxAABhY3NwTVNGVAAAAABJRUMgc1JHQgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA9tYAAQAA AADTLUhQICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABFj cHJ0AAABUAAAADNkZXNjAAABhAAAAGx3dHB0AAAB8AAAABRia3B0AAACBAAAABRyWFlaAAACGAAA ABRnWFlaAAACLAAAABRiWFlaAAACQAAAABRkbW5kAAACVAAAAHBkbWRkAAACxAAAAIh2dWVkAAAD TAAAAIZ2aWV3AAAD1AAAACRsdW1pAAAD+AAAABRtZWFzAAAEDAAAACR0ZWNoAAAEMAAAAAxyVFJD AAAEPAAACAxnVFJDAAAEPAAACAxiVFJDAAAEPAAACAx0ZXh0AAAAAENvcHlyaWdodCAoYykgMTk5 OCBIZXdsZXR0LVBhY2thcmQgQ29tcGFueQAAZGVzYwAAAAAAAAASc1JHQiBJRUM2MTk2Ni0yLjEA AAAAAAAAAAAAABJzUkdCIElFQzYxOTY2LTIuMQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWFlaIAAAAAAAAPNRAAEAAAABFsxYWVogAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAFhZWiAAAAAAAABvogAAOPUAAAOQWFlaIAAAAAAAAGKZAAC3hQAAGNpYWVogAAAAAAAAJKAA AA+EAAC2z2Rlc2MAAAAAAAAAFklFQyBodHRwOi8vd3d3LmllYy5jaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFklFQyBo dHRwOi8vd3d3LmllYy5jaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAABkZXNjAAAAAAAAAC5JRUMgNjE5NjYtMi4xIERlZmF1bHQgUkdCIGNvbG91ciBzcGFjZSAt IHNSR0IAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC5JRUMgNjE5NjYtMi4xIERlZmF1bHQgUkdCIGNvbG91ciBzcGFjZSAt IHNSR0IAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZGVzYwAAAAAAAAAsUmVmZXJlbmNlIFZpZXdpbmcg Q29uZGl0aW9uIGluIElFQzYxOTY2LTIuMQAAAAAAAAAAAAAALFJlZmVyZW5jZSBWaWV3aW5nIENv bmRpdGlvbiBpbiBJRUM2MTk2Ni0yLjEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHZpZXcAAAAA ABOk/gAUXy4AEM8UAAPtzAAEEwsAA1yeAAAAAVhZWiAAAAAAAEwJVgBQAAAAVx/nbWVhcwAAAAAA AAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAo8AAAACc2lnIAAAAABDUlQgY3VydgAAAAAAAAQAAAAABQAK AA8AFAAZAB4AIwAoAC0AMgA3ADsAQABFAEoATwBUAFkAXgBjAGgAbQByAHcAfACBAIYAiwCQAJUA mgCfAKQAqQCuALIAtwC8AMEAxgDLANAA1QDbAOAA5QDrAPAA9gD7AQEBBwENARMBGQEfASUBKwEy ATgBPgFFAUwBUgFZAWABZwFuAXUBfAGDAYsBkgGaAaEBqQGxAbkBwQHJAdEB2QHhAekB8gH6AgMC DAIUAh0CJgIvAjgCQQJLAlQCXQ