WHO: Landon and Kalous WHEN: Late evening -- around ten pm WHERE: The painted Ally in downtown Ann Arbor WHAT: Vampire Atttttttttttttttttttttaaaaaaaaaack
Landon ducked into the painted ally on his way to Backroom Pizza. Sometimes Loren was more demanding than a pregnant woman in terms of his appetite. The red head was humming quietly, glancing around at the poorly lit walls, admiring the scrawled spray-paint and murals. "Joey sucks cocks!" One artist had proclaimed, and directly beneath that a helpful add on "I suck Joey!" Landon snorted quietly, shaking his head. These people were sometimes brilliant and sometimes moronic, but always interesting. It was part of why he liked Ann Arbor.
Kalous had again left his and Lacy's home for the third time in a matter of days, an unusual occurence for him and something that wasn't terribly in his nature. He had felt the urge, the drive to explore, to see what there was out there beyond what his life had turned into. He thought about Lacy the entire time he was out, though, wondering about her, worrying about her. The world was a dangerous place for somebody so innocent, and he always feared that each day he shared with her would be the last. It was with these irrational thoughts that Kalous stalked Landon down the alley, eyes sharp even as the other man's figure became more obscure. He didn't need to feed... he simply wanted to.
Landon's thoughts were being kept to himself and he risked running his fingers along the grimy ally walls, still admiring them. He didn't hear anyone behind him -- his mind was elsewhere; thinking of Loren, with hair the color of summer sun. Thinking of Rose, her dark and friendly eyes and wondering what one would think of the other when they met. His smile was firmly in place, his green blue gaze in the distance as he headed towards Liberty street, out of the ally and towards Loren's restaurant of choice.
After very little thought considering his approach, Kalous made his move, lurching forward to catch the younger man before he could escape him, to trap him and take whatever he could from him. He had no momentary connection with what he was doing, no sympathy or concern for the life he was about to take. Nobody mattered but Lacy anymore; that had been made as clear as possible throughout his life. Strong hands grasped Landon's shoulders, bringing him back to slam him against the bricks of the walls. He could only trust her. Only Lacy. He snarled, fangs bared as he closed the distance between them.
"Ah~!" The noise, half shout, half cry of surprise and Landon began to struggle. "Get-- get offa' me. Don't hurt me ah only got a couple'a dollars!" He wasn't sure what was happening but... His mind reached out, grasping at the other man's and he struggled. "Let me go, please, ah got someone at home who... who cares about me. Ah.... please don't..."
Kalous snarled and got close, his lips brushing past Landon's jaw. The taller man was no match for him physically but there was something, a confusing tug at his mind and an urge to stop what he was doing... He growled low in his throat, pausing, squeezing his eyes closed. "Stop it," he demanded, "Stop whatever it is you're doing before I tear your throat out."
"Ah-- Ah can't! Ah have little control over it! You-- let go'a me. It's a defense mechanisim!" Landon cried, and his mind pushed harder, telling Kalous that he wanted to let him go, Telling Kalous that he had to, that it was all he wanted to do. Let this man go. Landon caught a glimpse of someone-- a small girl. Blonde... that was all he saw but it was enough."Ah-- ah have someone who needs me at home. Please-- don't you have someone who depends on you?" He pushed hard. "Someone who needs you?"
The push, the mental images, the words coming out of the redhead's mouth... Kalous stumbled back, away from the taller man, his hands releasing the other figure and turning to his head. He gripped his wild curls, the tangles catching on his nails, wrapping around them, snagging. "She is none of your business!" he shouted, trying to fight off the way the other man effected his mind. "What on Earth are you?! Leave me alone! Get out of my head!"
Landon gasped for air as he was released. "Ah-- ah could ask y'the same. What're you that y'so damn strong an' half mah size?" Landon returned, though his hands had dropped to his sides and he regarded the curly haired man with confused eyes. "An' why the hell y'on me like ah'm some cheap hooker? Ah'll give you answers if you give me some."
As soon as Landon's grasp on his mind ended, Kalous was moving forward again, mouth open so that it may close around the pale throat of the taller man. His fangs tore into the flesh immediately and he slammed all of his weight into his prey, trying to keep him in place, to completely dominate him, take everything from him. He didn't think about what he was doing, simply acting on instinct alone.
Landon screamed when teeth sunk into his neck and he had time for one frantic thought -- Vampire!!!! -- before his first lifted. He brought his arm back, swinging it in a wide and strong arc, landing it on the side of the brunette's face. "Get off'a me!" It was choking, strained, and he lifted his knee, bringing it to Kalous' crotch and simultaneously shoving the strong man away.
Kalous was stunned by the attack, releasing Landon a second time. Blood pooled at the corners of his mouth, a feral look in his eyes. He had tasted the redhead, the heated blood of his prey in his mouth, on his tongue. He licked his lips, curls tumbling down over his eyes. "You have courage," he hissed, circling Landon. "Or perhaps you are just too stupid to know when you're finished..."
*Ah told you you didn't want me.* Landon returned, delving into the Vampire's mind with such vigor that he almost swooned. He was swarmed by visions of this man's life -- his daughter, Lacy, his previous lovers and-- pulling out marginally, Landon stumbled a little. "Ent that right Kalous? You don't want me. Y'don't want mah blood." He pushed again, as hard as he could, and his nose began to bleed a little.
Kalous wavered, his body trembling, his unstable mind taking the brunt of Landon's abilities, and not doing so gracefully. He finally backed himself into a wall, palms pressed against the bricks as he stared across the dark alley. "What are you?!" he hissed a second time, staring at him, Landon's blood still staining his lips. He could smell the wound, his chest tensing as he struggled to ignore it.
"Ah'm a human-- a psychic. An' you're a vampire that's tryin' to tear mah throat out. So usin' mah powahs makes us even ah think." he returned. His neck was throbbing painfully, his heart slamming over and over in his chest and he brought one hand up, covering his neck. "What the hell'er you doin, tryin' t'feed off me in plain sight?" He growled. Landon rarely grew angry, but right now he was running on panic and pain. "Are y'crazy? What if you got caught, huh? That daughter a'yours would be without."
"And you think any mortal fool could take me down?" he spat, defensive and and put off by this mortal's abilities. So the Light of May had not simply been all a load of lies. There were some truths yet to discover, it seemed... "You are nothing to me," he continued, "nothing but food for me and my daughter."
"Oh whatevah!" Landon shouted, anger filling his vision. "How can y'so willingly just kill someone? What if AH had a daughter? Pretty little blonde one like yours? What if-- christ! How can you be so detached?" His heart was pounding harder and Landon had to clamp his hand tighter over his wound as blood spilled. "Weren't you once a man? Wasn't y'daughter once human? How can you attack someone who might be a nice guy? Ah've got someone at home that I want---" someone that he wanted to tell he loved before he died. Someone who's defenses he had to get through so they could know how important, how irreplaceable they were. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Kalous watched the redhead as he screamed, going on and on and Kalous found himself laughing. He did it not because the other man was being funny, but because he had nothing else to say, wasn't even sure how to respond. He just laughed, a hand over his forehead, eyes staring downward into the pavement. "I don't know," he finally answered.
"Well what the fuck then." Landon finally answered, bewildered and frustrated. "Mah neck fuckin--- fuckin' hurts. Can y'do somethin' about that fer me? Got healin' blood or spit or tears or anythin?" His tone was sarcastic, but he found himself coming back to his original upset. "Really. What th'fuck. Why don't y'kill muggers, 'r rapists? Th' fuckin' goth kids jus' down the road who sell fake LSD and cocaine t'middle schoolers? Ah'm a fuckin'... ah'm a college student. A good guy!" He couldn't get beyond it. He didn't deserve to be vampire food.
"You were here," he answered simply enough. "You were the first person I came across..." And at the time, it had seemed good enough. "Most men your age don't deserve the lives they lead... what makes you so different?" He started to relax, holding a conversation with someone that wasn't his daughter for the first time in a long time.
Landon sighed, slipping down to sit on the ally floor, feeling a little dizzy and a lot in pain. "Ah dunno. Not much ah guess. Ah volunteer at the red cross sometimes. Ah'm in love with my room-mate an' he'll never know it. Ah'm damn good at pickin' up women, though ah never do. Those are the things that make me... me. Ah play guitar at Mott's hospital for the sick kids twice a month -- that's more than most people do... so why not kill the rapists an' murderers?"