Say Argh
Katherine was meeting with marginal success in Key West. The one good thing which was going for it seemed to be the nightlife, in the hedonistic vampire's view. Unless contracted for something, the brunette tended to spend her time in almost petty constant attempts to prove herself. But getting drunk and simply having fun tearing up either the local town - or just the locals in it - was ideal. Every so often, Katherine spent her time going to literal war zones, immersing herself in killing mentality where nobody would question finding corpses. More to the point, they provided her with a challenge, but then came the other times... Times when she got bored of them, like playing a particularly violent computer game for too long.
It was like that now. The island provided her with a place to simply sit back and enjoy things. With a mentality like Katherine's, though, it was not long before the impulsive need to do something won out.
Lucky Hayden. For it was into his bar the brunette had wandered, already just drunk enough to feel free-spirited and, as the hour wore on, seeming to veer between giving out an uproar of laughter in joking conversation and, somehow, taking exception to what were perceived as offensive comments or looks directed at her. The smiles of before always vanishing as she growled out a demand for an apology.
"An' if there's one thing I can - hey! That song! Leave that fucker on!"
Pointing at the speaker system, Katherine proceeded to lever herself up on the bar, itself. Glass clasped between hands, as she launched herself into drowsy song.
"...on the Hudson river line... I'm in a New Yorrrrrk state of mind...!"
A freshly hired waitress stood transfixed, her fingers clutching a tray full of mixed drinks and shrimp cocktails, while her coworker, a more assertive girl who tended bar, put down the beer mug she'd been drying. The beginning of the karaoke routine only sparked an eye roll between them, until the woman's ass transitioned from bar stool to bar top, which sent a container of toothpicks flying into the sink.
"Okay, what the hell are you doing? Down… Get down, please, ma'am. You break it, you bought it!"
Tucked comfortably in his office chair, which was missing a wheel, Hayden stared at a budget worksheet. Or at least, the tiny corner of it that wasn't obscured by a virtual game of Tetris. "C'mon, c'mon." He feverishly clicked the down arrow and sent a long, skinny block into a chasm that had opened up while the system cranked out nothing but squares. Computer games weren't the best use of his time, but since his business partner called in sick with fake food poisoning, he wasn't in the mood to do the guy's work for him.
When the toothpick container broke, he paused the game. Normally he let his staff handle minor disruptions, but he could hear the singing and he was kind of curious. Wearing his polo shirt with the bar logo and a pair of jeans, he poked his head out the door. He gestured at the spectacle unfolding and asked his bartender, "What's going on?" It was pretty clear, though. The chick was wasted. A smile worked at the corner's of his mouth, which was inappropriate, so he covered it up with a scowl and folded his arms.
The bartender slammed the mug on the counter. "She needs to leave or there's gonna be a fight." She wiped at her temple and went to get a broom.
When another container, this one full of peanuts, almost flew off the counter, Hayden muttered, "Shit!" And lunged.
"Hey! I'm not that bad," she retorted, only to receive a heckling comment and yell back at them, in turn, her glass spilling its half-imbibed contents, in the process. Katherine used the same arm to gesture more than casual readiness to settle the matter with violence. "An' I ain't payin' for nothin'," she protested. "S'your fault for putting 'em out on a perfectly good walking surface."
Not that she was a horrid singer. It just so happened that alcoholic light-headedness was causing her to be out of sync with the music.
Then, attempting to give a sexily grinding turn as the music continued, Katherine succumbed to her own lack of attentiveness and slipped on the spilt alcohol, crunching down with a yowling, "MY ASS!!!"
There was a snort of laughter from his bartender and the new waitress made herself scarce.
If Hayden’s facial expression had a corresponding sound, it would’ve been ‘Eeeeh…’ He grimaced and rubbed the side of his nose, then went in for the interception. “Alright, that’s enough,” he said, keeping his voice low and even. He didn’t want to escalate the situation, and he knew that yelling or being rough with a drunk person would only make things worse. People were already staring. He walked around the bar and tapped a few shoulders. “Give me some room. I’ll replace your drinks.”
Once there was space to squeeze through, he approached the brunette and offered an arm. “Let me help you down, alright? We’ll get you a towel and some fresh air on the patio. C’mon.” He didn’t grab her, figuring she’d just yank her arm back and topple backwards over the counter. If she busted open her head, she’d probably sue him for slick surfaces or something.
Murmuring something in response, it was likely that Katherine had received plenty of broken bones over the years. Still, a spine was fairly important and she had no desire to end up in temporary paralysis. As it was, the vampiress was unable to tell if that numb feeling was due to damaging it or just because of how much she had consumed. Checking herself over, an attempt to move brought with it a hissed curse and, offered or not, she grabbed for the man's arm and used it to lever herself onto unsteady feet, like he was a concrete post.
And now that she was up and about, once more...
Eyes squinted a little, giving him a visual once over. A predatory smile briefly showed as the crude brunette tilted head, trying to get a look at Hayden's backside. "Yeah, alright," she agreed, moving in close enough to drunkenly place arms around his neck. "Towel sounds fun... Good for drying things off."
Uh-oh. The scent of liquor and a woman’s breath wafted across his face. What was it about girls that made them so damned flirtatious when they were wasted? He had fended off plenty of them at college fraternity parties. But they always rallied enough awareness to be royally pissed when it was politely suggested they sober up before taking off their tops.
Turning a mild shade of pink, Hayden laughed. “Ah… It’s over there.” Pointing at the side door, which opened onto a covered patio, he shifted her around, so that it looked more like he was assisting a wounded soldier than letting a barfly drape herself against him. No telling what people would think he was up to.
He caught a towel thrown by his bartender. “Thanks.” Then he hauled the brunette into his side and shouldered them through the patrons and the door. Outside, a salty breeze ruffled the canvas roof. “Here’s good.” He stopped at a wooden deck lounger, which would keep her upright if she passed out. Christ, he was going to have to call the cops if she passed out. Nothing killed the night’s till like the sudden appearance of uniforms. “Ready to go down?”
"You say that to all the girls?" But Katherine wasted no time in doing just that. An aggressive motion, yanking Hayden in by a hold on collar, as she fell back down upon the construct with an odd cross between giggle and... Growl? As soon as she felt herself contact against it, out whipped legs, trying to hook themselves around the sides of the man's hips and draw him, rather indelicately, in. "C'mere... I'm hungry."
“Whoa!” Falling over, Hayden caught himself on the arms of the lounger, which surged a few inches across the pavement. However, he couldn’t seem to extricate himself from the scissor-lock of the woman’s legs. “Okay… Heh… You need to let go.” Awkwardly propping himself up, he reached back and tried to unwind her legs without copping a feel. Ah man, it probably looked like he was dry-humping her right there on the patio. How could she be that drunk and still hang on so tight?
“Your legs are… Really strong.” He turned red with the exertion of trying to pry them open, managing only to take her shoe off. The whole thing put him in mind of that James Bond movie, the one with Xenia Onatopp. Any minute now, she was going to have an orgasm while she squeezed him to death. Not a bad way to go out, but… No.
He looked around, in embarrassment and hope, but there was nobody else on the patio or the marina.
"Mmm, just how I like my alcohol," murmered Katherine, clawing one hand through his hair with all the gentle attitude of a vulture's talons. "All we need now's a little bite..."
With that, she made a pull of thighs, aiming for a locking behind of ankles. Sex and death could practically be synonymous for this unkempt wildcat and, once either secure or, at least, believing him to be so, what had been the face of a woman, unchanged from 1902, made a sudden and dramatic metamorphasis of bone and muscle. Something viper-like and predatory. Not... Unsexy, but definitely inhuman.
"Say 'argh'..." And fangs descended to neck with an embrace of arms.
When Hayden got an eyeful of that face from close range, he might’ve had a different opinion of how ‘sexy’ it looked. “Jesus!”
Shoving back, he found that he could partially lift himself and the woman out of the seat, but not shake her off; her limbs had wrapped around him like a python hanging onto prey. Then she was biting him. He stumbled sideways and crashed into a glass-topped table, which shattered when it tipped over. Down they went amongst the broken bits. She wasn’t just biting… She was drinking. He could feel the suction of her mouth.
“Get off me!” He wanted to pry her head away, but the pull of her fangs felt like it would rip his throat out. Instead, he wrapped his hands around her throat and strangled, unaware that she didn’t require air. Of course, it would be hard to swallow any blood with the grip he put on her. No match for a vampire’s strength, Hayden was still a muscular guy, capable of doing a lot of damage if he needed to. That preservation of blood was the only thing keeping him conscious.
His legs kicked out wildly. Cutting his eyes sideways, he saw a piece of glass and debated whether to let go long enough to stab her with it.
It was superhuman strength versus aimless inebriation. Under any other circumstances, a vampire of Katherine's instincts would have been much less sloppy than this, but she was... 'Having fun'. Like a great white shark on crack, tossing seal pups around in the air.
Which, really, gave him the edge.
"Stop iiit - I'm feedin'!" She whined, releasing what might otherwise have been a powerful grip of jaws and pawing at him like an aggravated wolf cub. Voice constricted, but aside from that, showing only mild annoyance by literally being strangled. Her weight ensuring that she was either about to unlock feet and flop to the ground or bring him down with her in a weirdly murderous burst of giggles. "C'mon..." The vampiress complained, trying to reach again for his neck. "Lemme' just... Just a... I need a..."
Straining away, Hayden grunted, “No, fuck you!”
Her intoxicated whining provided just enough of a window. He let go of her throat and slammed the heel of his hand into her nose. It would’ve broken the delicate bones of a regular person’s, but the ridged one she wore seemed resistant to it. When her legs came loose, he scrambled backwards and bumped into the wall. Blood ran into his shirt collar. He covered the bite marks as best he could. “Stay the hell away from me!”
Overturned table, chair, bits of glass - he groped one-handed for everything he thought could make a weapon, but none of it seemed good enough. He scooted a little closer to the door, until his back was pushed up against the glass. Torn between the urge to run inside to safety and block it so she couldn’t get in, he sat there trying to catch his breath. Above his head, somebody knocked on the glass. The words were muffled.
“What the hell’s wrong with you? Do you have rabies or something?” Hayden checked his hand for blood.
Feeling somehow slighted by the now blatant refusal, Katherine grumbled to herself and pulled up to standing height. "Oh, I get it," she asserted with a point of finger. "You get what you wanted and now the girl wants her fun, it's all, 'Not me!' God, all I wanna' do is suck it!"
Clearly, Katherine felt herself under no obligation to answer his question. Just mentally dismissed it as being obvious - even if vampires from popular culture never changed their entire faces, instead, bringing a hand up to mouth, smearing away what remained of his life's essence on her mouth and gaining a taste of it with quick swipe of tongue. "I mean, what the hell, man?! Are you gay? You're gay, aren't you...? I fucking knew it!"
“What? No!” Hayden staggered to his feet, his back squeaking on the glass door. “I’m not.” A fact that he knew was completely beside the point, but it was easier to clarify his sexual orientation than deal with the fact that a woman just tried to drink his blood and then accused him of being gay because he didn’t want to give it up. Like a horny straight guy should’ve been game.
“And I’d like to know what exactly you think I got out of that,” he said, pointing at the overturned furniture. “You tried to kill me. And you look like a Ferengi or something!” A fist banged on the door again. He held it shut and gestured wildly at the marina. “Get out of here!”
"Ahh, you totally got off on that! And I... Wait a second." One vigorous shake of head later and Katherine returned her countenance to normality. "God, you're so racist!"
Belch.
Guh... With hand to stomach and a displeased look, Katherine figured that physical activity probably wasn't such a great idea after that much to drink and, for a moment, her surroundings began to sway. "Ugh, I think that Mexican's repeating on me..."
Mexican what? Food? Tequila? Person? The fact that he wasn't sure, coupled with the tipsy state of his attacker, knocked some sense into Hayden. He fumbled for the door handle and slipped back into the bar, as quick as he could. His bartender was waiting, demanding to know what the hell was going on. "Lock the doors! All of them!" he yelled, turning the lock and looking for a table to shove in front of it. "Everybody stay inside!"
Backing off, he checked his neck for bleeding again. "I need somebody's cell phone." Yeah, he was going to call the cops, even if he sounded like an idiot reporting some chick biting his neck.
Somewhere outside, a genuine vampire was heaving, trying her best not to empty stomach contents over the ground. Steadying herself with a hand against nearest vertical surface, Katherine looked up, wincing eyes. then banged a fist on the door and leaned against it. Damn it, since when did she let the pretty ones get away? Old age, thy name is Katherine...
"Hey... Hey! Get your bitch ass back out here! You'd better make an honest woman outta' me! You coulda' made me, like... Pregnant or somethin'..."
But feeling like shit in an apparent stalemate was not the best combination. A healthy, clear-headed Katherine? Plenty of options available. This one? Not so much. She just wanted to go and lay down somewhere. That or do some more singing. Or both and neither, all at the same time.
With a muttering 'fuck my unlife' attitude, the vampiress launched herself away from the door with mixed success, staying upright and wandered in the direction of... Nah, not the pretty lights. Television. Yeah. Television sounded good, right about now.