Alexandreta knew something was wrong the moment Be took her wrist. He was a jerk, and mean to her often, but he had never once actually touched her. Hit the locker above her shoulder yes, but even brush against a lock of her hair? No. She had actually caught sight of him slamming one of his friends into a cement wall after an event where she had been snatched by her waist and yanked back out of the classroom to be playfully - as the friend claimed - harassed into giving up her homework for copies.
He was a bully, but something was just so wrong about this entire situation of him practically dragging her into the dark gap between the gym and the main school building.
"U-uhm," she stammered, "B.. Baldwin?"
"Your boyfriend's just down here," he replied, but his hand was shaking even in its tight grip. "Said he needed you."
"Karate? But-"
"Look," Be said, shaking his head furiously, "he's my cousin so I do stuff for him."
Alexandreta felt the heel of her boot catch on crack in the pavement, and she fell forward and down, punctuated by a startled yelp. Be's arm wrapped under her stomach, his hand splayed against her back to keep her from having an unpleasant meeting with the cement. His entire arm was trembling from the tension his muscles were in, and his fingers began to dig into her back uncomfortably. She heard him let out a deep breath before he hefted her up, ignoring the shriek she gave, and pinned her to the brick wall of the gym.
"Bal-" Alexdreta's screech was quickly muffled under his hand. She closed her eyes tight, pushing her fists into his shoulders as hard as she could even though he didn't budge. She kicked, but he had her legs pinned apart, and one hand curled under her knee to lift it higher.
Alexandreta's brain ceased to function properly, it only broadcast to every nerve in her body to commence fight-flight reflexes. When her struggle failed to work, instead it activated a panic attack, seizing her breath and making her head ache. Her muscles tensed and shook as she felt Be place his head against her neck, his lips hovering just over the soft skin of her neck. His breath felt painfully hot.
"You fucking bastard!"
Alexandreta's ass hit the ground as all of her senses reeled back into alignment, her chest heaving as she forced away the tears and shock. That had been Karate's voice, and now she saw him holding Be's shirt clenched tightly in his hand, the other balled into a fist.
Be said nothing.
"Huh? What did you say!" Karate bellowed, throwing his fist forward and landing a solid right hook on Be's cheekbone.
Be crumbled back against the wall and blocked the next punch, barely, before kneeing Karate in the ribs and then kicking him away.
Alexandreta jumped to her feet in a rush of adrenaline and waving her hands.
"Stop it!" she yelled, trying to push Karate away from Be and shoo Be away.
Karate shoved her to the ground and sent an upper cut right into Be's jaw, knocking him back into the wall where he sank down against it, his head bowed.
"Alexi, are you okay?" Karate asked, in a tender voice that made Alexandreta flinch. It wasn't right, it was... razor edged. "Come on let's get you some place safe." He grabbed her wrist and yanked her to her feet, then surrounded her waist with his arm and pushed her toward the exit of the alley.
Alexandreta felt her stomach trying to rebel against the natural flow of digestion, wanting to evacuate her lunch in the fastest method possible. There was a hollow sensation in her throat that she dreaded, and a burning sensation in her eyes that spoke of tears and shame. Although -
She whipped her head back to look over her shoulder at Be, who was still seated at the base of the wall where he fell. His hand was cradling his face, his nose buried in his palm and finger tips tracing his hairline. A splatter of blood hit his hand when he coughed, slipping between fingers and over the side of his hand. He was still shaking.
"You're so lucky I got to you in time," Karate was saying, squeezing her closer. "What were you thinking--"
"Be!" Alexandreta jerked away from Karate, and was only half startled when she broke away with ease. He must not have been expecting her to resist, and she raced back to the fallen bully, her heels scraping against the ground and she almost tripped on the same crack again. Instead she fell into a kneeling position and lifted both her hands, touching either side of Be's square jaw with just the edges of her index fingers. "Be... I don't understand..."
He jumped visibly, pulling his hand away to show trails of blood at the corners of his lips, and his eye was already swelling viciously. He stared at her, his amber eyes wide, and he looked lost. Alexandreta felt her chest tighten at that expression on his face, it scared her more than his glare.
"Alexa..." he coughed behind another spill of blood. He reached up but pain slowed his arm, and he was too late to intercept the hand that fell on Alexandreta's shoulder and wrenched her back, slamming her into the opposite wall. "Bastard!"
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Ally-bunny?" asked Karate, his voice having lost all pretense of affection.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Ballroom Blitz
Lucia wasn't sure exactly when the party went from pretty classical music and couples swirling around the dance floor to a no-holds-barred fight that apparently had several teams - though she couldn't make the distinction between who was team fangs, who was team blood, and who was team bats. She shuffled toward a wall as quickly as possible, her heavy, ballroom skirts rippling around her legs and making it a bit difficult to move efficiently. As she gripped her camera close to her stomach, trying to protect it from the same fate as her last, she couldn't help but wonder why she let Arianne bring her to a ball full of vampyres.
The pay was good, but she wasn't sure if it could cover medical expenses if she got pulled into the brawl. Her head was starting to ache and somehow the lights, though still on and at full brightness, didn't seem to be able to penetrate shadows that were leaking into the grand hall from all angles.
An icey hand snatched her forearm.
"Where do you think you're going, lovely," growled a low, female voice. "Come join the fun." With that, he twisted his hand and pulled with what seemed like no effort on her part.
SNAP. Lucia's eyes widened frantically as searing pain shot through her arm, into her shoulder, and tickled her instant response. She screamed, high and shrill, and continued to scream even as the vampyre who snapped her forearm in two let go and drew back as if she had been burned. Tears flooded her eyes as the pain became so acute that she couldn't even feel it anymore. She sank into her skirts, gripping her arm at the elbow and trying to protect the horrible damaged bone against her stomach.
"She's human!" she heard the vampyre gasp, and barely noticed that the entire ballroom had gone silent and still. Not a single vampyre was fighting anymore.
"You insufferable tart!" Arianne snapped, her sharp voice sounding like a roar. She dart out from the crowd, shadows surrounding her entire arm into a massive, razor-edged gauntlet as she went for the other vampyre's throat.
Lucia felt herself swaying back and forth, woozy and delirious from pain. It started to leak away and all she felt was a chill in her arm, and then she realized someone was supporting her in a sitting position. She looked once she had the ability to control her motor functions.
"Hektor?"
He smiled faintly, holding gingerly onto her tender wrist. One of his fangs slipped over his lip.
"Who knew such a soft speaker could siren screech?" he asked, bemused as he focused on whatever he was doing to ease the pain in her arm.
"Arianne, cease!" commanded a deep voice that rattled the floor under Lucia's ass. She shivered and felt her muscles, except for those in her left arm, lock up. She was paralyzed.
A vampyre, taller than Arianne by at least a foot, or so it seemed, had caught her by her gauntlet and was holding her arm up in the air to keep her halted. Even Lucia could feel the pressure of that vampyre's aura. His features were angular, cut sharp, though his eyes seemed to belie the sharpness in their look.
"You are the one who brought the human to this ball," he said, pushing Arianne back. "You are the one who put that make-up on her that masks her scent and heartbeat from us. You are as much to blame as Yvonne for not feeling the pulse in her arm the instant contact was made, or ignoring it."
Arianne scrunched up her nose, but turned her head away and huffed. Lucia could tell she wanted to argue, but was too smart to do such a thing against this vampyre.
"I will find," the male vampyre continued, "and I will punish the one who started this little ballroom blitz."
Lucia couldn't stifle her giggle. The pain was gone, or Hektor had done something else, and the very scene of that scary, very powerful vampyre singing "Ballroom Blitz" had forcefully invaded her mind. In the next moment, Hektor gave her a confused look before he let out a laughing snort, and after that the laughing had permeated through most of the great hall. The male vampyre just smiled calmly, folding his arms over his chest as he stepped over to investigate the little human girl.
The pay was good, but she wasn't sure if it could cover medical expenses if she got pulled into the brawl. Her head was starting to ache and somehow the lights, though still on and at full brightness, didn't seem to be able to penetrate shadows that were leaking into the grand hall from all angles.
An icey hand snatched her forearm.
"Where do you think you're going, lovely," growled a low, female voice. "Come join the fun." With that, he twisted his hand and pulled with what seemed like no effort on her part.
SNAP. Lucia's eyes widened frantically as searing pain shot through her arm, into her shoulder, and tickled her instant response. She screamed, high and shrill, and continued to scream even as the vampyre who snapped her forearm in two let go and drew back as if she had been burned. Tears flooded her eyes as the pain became so acute that she couldn't even feel it anymore. She sank into her skirts, gripping her arm at the elbow and trying to protect the horrible damaged bone against her stomach.
"She's human!" she heard the vampyre gasp, and barely noticed that the entire ballroom had gone silent and still. Not a single vampyre was fighting anymore.
"You insufferable tart!" Arianne snapped, her sharp voice sounding like a roar. She dart out from the crowd, shadows surrounding her entire arm into a massive, razor-edged gauntlet as she went for the other vampyre's throat.
Lucia felt herself swaying back and forth, woozy and delirious from pain. It started to leak away and all she felt was a chill in her arm, and then she realized someone was supporting her in a sitting position. She looked once she had the ability to control her motor functions.
"Hektor?"
He smiled faintly, holding gingerly onto her tender wrist. One of his fangs slipped over his lip.
"Who knew such a soft speaker could siren screech?" he asked, bemused as he focused on whatever he was doing to ease the pain in her arm.
"Arianne, cease!" commanded a deep voice that rattled the floor under Lucia's ass. She shivered and felt her muscles, except for those in her left arm, lock up. She was paralyzed.
A vampyre, taller than Arianne by at least a foot, or so it seemed, had caught her by her gauntlet and was holding her arm up in the air to keep her halted. Even Lucia could feel the pressure of that vampyre's aura. His features were angular, cut sharp, though his eyes seemed to belie the sharpness in their look.
"You are the one who brought the human to this ball," he said, pushing Arianne back. "You are the one who put that make-up on her that masks her scent and heartbeat from us. You are as much to blame as Yvonne for not feeling the pulse in her arm the instant contact was made, or ignoring it."
Arianne scrunched up her nose, but turned her head away and huffed. Lucia could tell she wanted to argue, but was too smart to do such a thing against this vampyre.
"I will find," the male vampyre continued, "and I will punish the one who started this little ballroom blitz."
Lucia couldn't stifle her giggle. The pain was gone, or Hektor had done something else, and the very scene of that scary, very powerful vampyre singing "Ballroom Blitz" had forcefully invaded her mind. In the next moment, Hektor gave her a confused look before he let out a laughing snort, and after that the laughing had permeated through most of the great hall. The male vampyre just smiled calmly, folding his arms over his chest as he stepped over to investigate the little human girl.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Lucia and Hektor
"As horrible as your crying makes me feel," Hektor said, "I know there is nothing I can say that will make it any better."
"But I just saw him!" Lucia cried into the phone, gripping the back of her kitchen chair with her free hand. Her knees were giving out on her, and she couldn't feel most of her body. "I saw him, he just left and he was fine. He was smiling and hugged me and was fine."
"This isn't a discussion we should be having on the phone..."
"This can't be right. He wouldn't do that!"
"As far as we can tell, he did."
"No," Lucia insisted, gripping the phone so tightly she heard the plastic casing crack in protest. "No he didn't."
"Lucia, you're going to give yourself a heart attack, please calm down and listen--"
"I'm not going to listen. I don't believe you!" Lucia hung up the phone and threw it against the wall. It broke in half before falling to pieces on the floor. She sank to her knees, propping herself up with her hands as her voice shifted from words to meaningless sobs and wails.
A heavy blanket landed around her shoulders, before the edges were pulled tight around her front. Lucia lifted her head to look at the worried expression of Meredith, who soundlessly wrapped her in an incorporeal hug and smoothed her hair. The next moment, Lucia felt herself rocking, then falling, surrounded by a fading lullaby that came from a distance she couldn't locate.
It still didn't make sense, but when did suicide ever?
"But I just saw him!" Lucia cried into the phone, gripping the back of her kitchen chair with her free hand. Her knees were giving out on her, and she couldn't feel most of her body. "I saw him, he just left and he was fine. He was smiling and hugged me and was fine."
"This isn't a discussion we should be having on the phone..."
"This can't be right. He wouldn't do that!"
"As far as we can tell, he did."
"No," Lucia insisted, gripping the phone so tightly she heard the plastic casing crack in protest. "No he didn't."
"Lucia, you're going to give yourself a heart attack, please calm down and listen--"
"I'm not going to listen. I don't believe you!" Lucia hung up the phone and threw it against the wall. It broke in half before falling to pieces on the floor. She sank to her knees, propping herself up with her hands as her voice shifted from words to meaningless sobs and wails.
A heavy blanket landed around her shoulders, before the edges were pulled tight around her front. Lucia lifted her head to look at the worried expression of Meredith, who soundlessly wrapped her in an incorporeal hug and smoothed her hair. The next moment, Lucia felt herself rocking, then falling, surrounded by a fading lullaby that came from a distance she couldn't locate.
It still didn't make sense, but when did suicide ever?
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