The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.

I pulled up to the house and could see the lights on. Music thumped, and I could see people moving around inside. It looked like Murphy was having a party.

In the time of COVID, parties were to be avoided at all costs. And considering the neighborhood, we lived in…well, Murphy and Harry lived in…parties were a rarity.

I approached the open door with apprehension. I really didn't like parties. I wanted some private time with Murphy, release her from her compulsion, and talk about the last couple of days.

Young people of all sizes and flavors hung out on chairs, danced in the living room, and crowded the hallway. There was a keg in the kitchen, and a ping pong table had been set up out back.

"COVID QUARANTINE RELEASE!" was spelled in giant pink letters on a sign across the living room wall. Young people danced, smoked, drank, and ate all over the place.

"Murphy!" I yelled over the tumult and the music. I couldn't see her anywhere. There were so many people, and they were making so much noise, it was triggering my inner Demon. I felt myself sliding amongst them, looking for potential victims, wanting to take one into the guestroom and—

"Murphy!" I yelled again, searching through the small house.

I found her in the master bathroom. She was sitting on a chair while someone worked on her with some kind of humming implement.

"Lara!" Murphy said, and I could tell she was drunk, or stoned, or both. "You made it!"

"Yeah," I said. "Who are these people?"

The guy working on her didn't look up at me but continued what he was doing.

She was being tattooed. One of her breasts was exposed as the guy was inscribing something I couldn't see.

"They're my friendth." She said, and she giggled.

The narcotics in the air were starting to give me a headache. The buzzing sound intensified.

"Well, hello, beautiful," one of the guys said, putting an arm around me. I rolled my eyes and gave him a solid push. Maybe a bit too solid, his head connected with the wall, and he went down.

"Murph, I want to talk to you," I said.

"Okay!" She made no move to get up.

"Alone!"

She frowned at that. "But we're jutht thtarted to party!"

"Done," the guy said, standing up and shaking out his hand.

"Oooh!" Murphy said, getting up and running to the mirror.

I peered over her shoulder as she stared down at the pattern of a heart that dipped down into her cleavage.

"I love it!" she said. "Now, the other side."

"Murphy!" I said. "Let's shut it down!"

She rolled her eyes. "Okayyyy, godd!"

"Time to leave, everyone," I said, grabbing arms of people and shoving them out the door.

"Aww, this sucks!" several of the kids said.

"Yeah, I know, but you know, work tomorrow."

It took us a few minutes but eventually, everyone was out. I shut the front door.

Murphy was lying on the couch, putting an icepack over the ink on her breast. Her hair had grown again, going down to the back of her knees, but it at least still held its curl.

"I see you've been having fun," I said.

"Yeah! Until you came along…"

"You feel yourself relaxing, floating," I said softly, coming up behind her. "Falling into your trance with me…"

A few moments later, she held a hand to her head. "Jesus, Chritht. I feel like I got hit by a truck. What the fuck ith wrong with my tongue?"

She stuck it out. It had been pierced. A large stud glinted in the center.

"Pierced," I said. "You have a stud."

"Guh," she said. "I think there'th more."

I brought her into the light, and we went over her body.

She'd had work done. A lot. She had a sleeve now, tattoos of hearts and flowers flowed down her shoulder and onto the back of her right hand. Her breast had the heart tattoo, and she had another one right above the curve of her backside.

That wasn't all. Her ears had been pierced multiple times, along with the bridge of her nose and lip.

She had a bumblebee on her ankle, and an ivy vine crawled up from her left leg and over her stomach.

"Wow," she said.

"Yeah. That's going to be hard to get rid of."

She frowned a bit. "Why would I want to?"

"Umm, because professionalism?"

"Lara, I'm not that person anymore."

"I can tell."

"Look, I'm way to thtoned to fight. If you're going to be rude, jutht put me back and go away."

I sighed. "Can we just sit on the couch and snuggle? I've had a rough couple of days, and I want to hold you. Is that too much to ask?"

"No."

We sat on the couch. I peeled myself out of my jacket and set it carefully on the chair. She snuggled up to me, head on my shoulder.

I kissed the top of her head. So far, no burning.

"So, how have you been?"

She giggled. "Great, actually. I've been happier than I've been in a while."

"The Katie Melons part?"

"I know you hate it, but yeth."

"And?"

"And…whatever. I came back the other night after being at you fixed my hair, and I went out. I made a bunch of friendth. Some of them came back with me, and we…well."

"Had sex?"

She nodded. "And then yesterday I woke up around noon and thtarted again. Oh, and I got a job."

"Stripper or porn star?"

She turned a bit red. "Online stuff. I go to a Thtudio, and they take video of me, and well, guyth doing me."

"And you like it?"

She nodded. "I know, I'm horrible."

I sighed, holding her close and tight. "No, just…enjoying yourself."

"You're not mad?"

I shrugged. "How can I be? It's not like I have the equipment to do that myself."

"You know, I don't care about that."

I nodded.

"But as Murphy, I feel all this pain and guilt, and honethtly, I hate it now. Can you put me back?"

"Sure."

"If I had my way, I'd jutht be Katie alla time."

I sighed. "I can do that too if you'd like."

"Really?" she looked up into my eyes. "You'd do that for me?"

I looked down into the eyes of the person I loved most in the world. "Of course. But do you really want that? Never to be Karrin Murphy again?"

"Do I look like Karrin Murphy, Lara?"

"No."

"And, aside from summoning a demon which you can't do anymore. Do you think that's going to change anytime soon?"

"No."

"I'm tired of being Karrin. Karrin felt pain every day. Every Day. Pain of losing loved ones, Guilt from making mistakes, shame that I didn't do more to help. Karrin needs to die."

I nodded.

"Pleath." She took my hands in hers. "Make me Karrie. Forever."

I kissed her, one last time, feeling the scorch on my lips. Then I pulled away.

"Close your eyes, and listen to my words…" I said softly and deepened her trance.

"In front of you, you see yourself. Your Karrin Murphy self. Can you see her?"

"Yeth."

In a moment, I'm going to count down from five. We're going to go deep into your mind. As deep as you've ever been. Do you understand?"

"Yeth."

"Five," I said, whispering in her ear.

"Four. You feel yourself sinking, lower and lower."

"Three," I said. "Your mind is slowing, crawling to a stop."

"Two," I breathed. "Almost there."

"And One."

I paused a moment. She sat, perfectly still, not moving a muscle, not batting an eyelash. I could feel her mind, her presence in front of me. I could see the little girl, called Karrie by her father. I could see the disappointment, the fear, the worry he had for her. It all poured onto his little girl.

I created a chest in her mind. A treasure chest. It was bound with sides of steel. It had a large padlock on it. I took all of those memories, and set them into the chest.

Moving forward, I took other memories. The betrayal of her ex-husband, into the chest. The pain of her sister, into the chest. The pain of all the little and big things I'd done to her, into the chest. I sorted through all those memories, those little things, the everyday wounds. They all went into the chest.

Then I found the sensuality inside her. The way she moved when she made love. The way men looked at her. I enhanced that. I found her submissive and dominant sides. She was so dominant as Karrin, able to command everyone, take charge, the center of attention. I packaged that all up, and put it into the chest.

"You adore when people ask you to do things. You love serving others. You can feel yourself growing more and more submissive. Serving others. Doing things for others. It becomes so important for you. You enjoy doing those things."

I found where Lara had crafted the Karrie personality. I added to it, strengthened it. Gave her meaning, a backstory, a history. Karrie Melons took shape. Lovely, loving, submissive, perpetually horny. Bi-sexual. Able to exist in multiple relationships with multiple people. I unleashed it, strengthened it, breathed fire into it.

"You don't need to be smart for these things. Simple words, simple phrases. Your vocabulary isn't needed, just the basics."

Slowly I found all the things that made her Karrin and replaced them with Karrie. Each time I put a memory into the box, I replaced it with a different one. Karrie loved sex. Karrie was submissive. Karrie desired to be wanted, adored, to please above all else. Karrie was happy.

I filled the chest. It took hours, but it filled. And then I was done.

"The chest slowly closes, closing all the was Karrin, leaving only that which was Karrie. Do you understand?"

"Yeth."

"I take out a shining key and turn the lock. Then, I take all the memories into my own mind, away from you. All that is Karrin Murphy has gone. Leaving only Karrie Melons, in it's place."

"Yeth."

"I will count to ten. When you awaken, you will be refreshed and happy."

"Yeth."

"Who are you?"

"Karrie Melonth."

"Perfect. And who is Karrin Murphy?"

Her face screwed up in a cute frown, almost like Maggie's. "I don't know."

"Karrin is gone."

"Yeth."

"One, your mind begins to stir."

I led her through the end of the exercise, carefully taking the chest into my own mind, and storing away the key. I didn't want to permanently erase Karrin, in case she ever changed her mind.

"Nine," I said. "Almost awake."

"And ten."

"Mmmm, I feel yummy," Karrie said, as she opened her eyes.

"I bet, darling," I kissed her lips softly. They parted, her studded tongue finding mine, dancing.

"I love the way you smell," she said, nuzzling into me. The tongue stud made all her S sounds into th sounds.

Her mouth was inches from my ear. "Let's go to bed."

I took her hand, leading her into the bedroom, switching off the lights.

She was naked when I got back, her body glistening in the moonlight, her full breasts turgid and hard.

"Look what I found," she said, pulling out an enormous black dildo.

"Mmmm, lovely," I said.

"Would you like me to use thith on you?"

"Perhaps," I said.

I slid out of my clothes, my Demon making me breathe deeply.

From past experience, I knew how to take without injury, how to drink without draining. It would happen slowly, over time, and I would only take what could be replenished.

She slid down the covers and unzipped my skirt. I kicked off my shoes, and she giggled, pulling off my hose and lifting my top over my head.

She licked my nipples, and I felt that lovely stud clamp down. I gave a soft gasp as she licked my belly, sliding down between my legs to part my labial folds.

Already wet, I felt her tongue flicker over my clitoris and I moaned, loudly, unable to stop myself from taking in a bit of her Essence, but just a bit, a sip. She flickered her tongue softly over my clit, then plunged in deep and I moaned as she sucked my box into her mouth, her marvelous tongue slipping in and out, the stud working on my clit both cold and hard at the same time.

Moaning, I let her lick me for awhile, my hips gyrating in time with that wonderful tongue with its delightful stud, taking a sip every so often.

We switched places, and I licked her, finding her pierced down there as well, along with her nipples. I licked her clitoris, making her back arch, her enormous breasts arching in the moonlight as my hand reached up, twisting the barbell set into her nipples, turning and pulling as she screamed, then moaned.

We scissored then, our boxes pressed together, our clitoris' gyrating against each other moaning loudly as we both rose in response. It was so strange, I felt split, the desire to penetrate, and be penetrated at the same time, and we came together, shuddering and trembling as orgasm flooded through us.

She giggled, as our sexes flooded with moisture and she went back down to lick and slurp all the juices from me.

"Give me that thing," I said, reaching for the phallus. Buckling it around me, I found one side slipped into me, and I could slide the other end into her. It felt so alien, yet so right, so wonderful to be penetrated. We gyrated against each other, each of us licking, kissing, sucking the other as we climaxed again, and again, and again.

Sleep claimed us then—in a tangle of arms, legs, breasts, and buttocks.

Oblivion intruded.