a bite to eat {marjani}

[Nishaa]

A crack of thunder rolled against the sky, as the clouds enclosed over Harper Rock. Nishaa wasn’t on her best form tonight – her competition had just ended and she had a few wounds from the Paladin’s down in the sewers, she knew one – just ONE had the blade she was after, why did she have to pick the most stupidest thing to acquire, and she was the one that picked it. She murmured as she limped her way through the streets, every now and again her eyes would cast upwards to look at the dark clouds as they thickened and formed what were soon to be storm clouds. She knew what they were, how they looked – they were the same clouds that had her bumping in Micah. Her first real proper one on one with him. She didn’t mind storms. Her hair, not so much. Though, she didn’t care about her appearance.

Tonight the woman wore pipe, black jeans and her raven coloured hair was tightly pushed back in a clip, silver. A few curls were astray on her face. They had refused to hide within it’s place. Her onyx orbs were looking around the streets curiously for a bite to eat, or as she liked to put it as food to go. Shan had taught her well on that one. The woman was always hungry, a dire need of blood always there, she never left the walls of the Eyrie for long – paranoia usually embraced her. Plus, her fangs never hid from the humans – so she came out to feed when the humans should be in bed, and there would maybe one or two on the streets – ripe for the picking.

Nishaa wore a plaid white blouse, it had a few buttons undone – she didn’t like to feel constricted it was a pet hate of hers. She pulled her phone from her pocket and began to text Micah, asking if there were any hunts tonight – to see if she needed to be back at the Eyrie at a decent time for the usual hunt gathering, so she waited – and as she waited she continued to walk, zig zagging through streets until she came to Wickbridge. She had always liked Wickbridge, it had mighty fine buildings, and that gate – that silver shiny gate that held the undead horde inside, it was always pleasant to smell the rotting flesh within.

So Nishaa turned, and headed into the Metronome Club. Perhaps she could catch a bite to eat within.

[Marjani (DELETED 5749)]

Tonight was her night off from the studio, so when her friends Trentyn, Nikki, Shawn and Maddie hit her up on a group text about going to the Metronomee, Marjani jumped at the chance to go out. It was rare that all of them managed to meet up; at best it was an every other month occurrence. First, dinner at some cafe for some much needed energy they'll need later on tonight, then hit the Met until they closed the place down. Pretty typical stuff for this group.

Most of the crowd had either been a student of hers (hence why Trentyn was even allowed in the group; Shawn because he fell in the next category and was dating Maddie), a student of one of her friends or currently enrolled in their final year of some dance program Mari graduated from two years ago. Maddie was in her final year of ballet and interpretive dancing, then she was moving on to some company in the states. Who knew when she would be back to visit? So the group went out as much as possible to make memories.

The semi-large group stood at the cafe, looking at the menu. Mari already knew what she wanted; the same thing she got almost every time and any other cafe. Chicken salad wrap with a bottle of Propel's Mountain Berry flavored water. Here it was the fourth item on the list, and you could grab the bottle you wanted in a small half fridge on your way up. Little to no talking required. Her friends ordered as they got to the counter, then it was her turn.

Mari grabbed the blue colored water, placed it on the counter and listened for the lady to ring it up. She did and when the lady asked her if she wanted anything else, Mari pointed to the sign above the woman's head and then flashed her four fingers. The woman stared at her, looked behind her, at the large menu, then looked at Mari in a confused sense. Again, Mari held up four fingers. It should have been obvious. At least she thought so. Still, the woman just looked at her. Mari started to get out a pad of post-it notes she carried on her to jot simple things down, when Nikki pushed past the group and her. Her hand thudded on the counter as she began one of her loud scenes. It always amused Mari, but all she ever did to show that amusement about one of her closest friends was simply smile and let her eyes light up. "*****, what the **** is wrong with you? She wants the number four. You can't be that dumb to be working here and not know what four fingers means."

This would bring an uncomfortable quietness in the cafe from others around them and from the woman behind the counter. Until she talked about getting her manager because Nikki couldn't talk to her like that. "I wish you would. He'll fire your *** after I tell him how stupid your *** is. Do it." Nikki stood there with her arms crossed as the woman's cheeks flushed bright red, she hit the number four and spat out their total. Everyone chipped in ten bucks, the bill was paid, they were given a number and then went to find a spot.

The quick dinner went on with no problems after that. There were a few jokes made, talk about how different things would be when Maddie went off to the states in the spring and how she had to promise to come back at least three times every year.

They hit the Met around nine. Being the middle of the week, it wasn't that busy, but busy enough to let them know the choice of club had been a good one. Usually they stayed by the slummy side of town because the cover charges were cheaper as was the booze, but Shawn wanted to try something different. So he planned the night and here they were. The cover fee was paid, they stepped in and looked around.

"Come on." Trentyn waved a hand to a less populated part of the club, where he grabbed a small table for the group. The larger booths were taken, so they had no choice really. With coats, wraps, scarves and sweaters on the table, along with purses hidden under the mountain of clothes, the group was set. Mari looked around at the dance floor and then tugged her two female friends on the floor by grabbing each one of their arms.

[Nishaa]

Nishaa hadn’t been in the club long. She had been to the bar and ordered a blood drink a vampire owned the bar, she knew this – she knew the owner briefly too, had seen her out and about. So she knew there would be blood on the side, for the vampire customers which happened to be a few, some she recognised from a glance and some, she didn’t know – and couldn’t be bothered to go out of her way to know. Nishaa wasn’t the most social of butterflies. (Unless you were Andras, or Tytonidae.) Which were too far, and between. Nishaa hated socialising with people who were outside her circle of peeps, unless that person happened to be her meal for the night – which is what she was on the prowl for now.

With a drink in her hand she meandered her way through the crowd on her meandering she did notice a table of what looked like minors, but they were in here – so they couldn’t have been, they had their bags and other things on a table, all piled on top of each other like a leaning tower of pizza of some kind. She shook her head before turning her head to the crowd of people on the dance floor, but before she turned her head – she did catch a glimpse of a woman, a very pretty woman making her way to the dance floor with her friends at her hips – coming from the exact table she had gawking at previously.

She watched them, with her curious onyx orbs. They way their bodies moved when Ellie Goulding – Burn came on. People screamed out of enjoyment. You could practically smell the sweat coming from the floor, but there Nishaa was propped against the wall of Metro, with her drink in her hands and a green straw propped in the thick liquid, if anyone were to ask her what she was drinking she’d tell them straight what it was. Bloody Mary A human wouldn’t bat an eyelid at that, why would they?

They’d be too drunk to care.

[Marjani (DELETED 5749)]

The song changed to something a little softer, but could still be danced to. However, it wasn't really Mari's top songs or a song she even really got down to. She gave Maddie and Nikki a wave with a hand, indicating she was done dancing, but wasn't quite allowed to. Maddie shook her head and spoke "Ooooh no you don't." She laughed and grabbed Mari's arm and made her stay out there with them.

Arms reached to the ceiling, hips swayed back and forth, left to right, while the girls tried to dominate the dance floor by working as much space as they could. Even though this wasn't one of her top tracks, Mari was still having fun. Her friends had that pull on the woman.

Shawn came to the dance floor with three drinks in his hand; one for Maddie, one for Nikki and then one for himself. Not long after, Trentyn came after, with two in his hand; offering one to Mari and claiming the other as his by taking a large gulp out of the greenish tinted liquor. It smelled apply, whatever it was; while Mari's smelled like watermelon. She gave him an appreciative smile, danced her way around him, and then found her way back to her girly friends. The song ended and another song came on; Counting Stars, by One Republic. Mari showed off her drink to her friends, then pointed to their table. Nikki tried to grab her, but Mari weaved away, using Trentyn as a shield even to get out of her clutches. Nikki laughed and called after her, "You got two minutes, *****." Mari just smiled, and went to claim one of the chairs to finish her drink and take a break.

Trentyn came after her about two minutes later and set down his empty glass. "Going for a smoke. Want to come?" He offered, pulling out a lighter and flicking it a few times. Mari looked around the club, eyed her two friends, then popped up with a bounce. She was feeling good. It was either the group, the club or the alcohol in her veins.

He led her through the club, and to a back patio area. The metal door clanged shut behind them, making Mari instinctively grab for the knob to make sure they could get back in. When the door pulled open with ease, she let go of it and it clanged shut once again. "You hav'n fun?" Her attention moved from the door to Trentyn as he pulled out a decent sized blunt. She hadn't expected that, but Trentyn always had been the wild card out of the bunch. She watched him light it, then nodded her head at the question. "Want to hit this ****?" He asked after a minute or two. Mari frowned at first, then looked around. What was one hit? She nodded her head, he passed it and she inhaled it in.

Mari wasn't much of a smoker, so while she inhaled in, something went wrong and more air filled her lungs than she intended, or what she was smoking was a lot stronger than she anticipated. She coughed, quite loudly, which was probably the most noise she had made in the last three months. Trentyn laughed, came over by her and put a hand on her back, attempting to help her work it out of her system. He did, but with that came tonight's dinner on the ground at her feet. Booze and drugs didn't mix with Mari it seemed.

[Nishaa]

Nishaa was watching. She could see it all happening the guy that was hovering by the woman she was looking at – he was a little close to comfort, she followed him. Meandering her way through the crowd until he was at the bar, and she was close by within ear shot. He asked for two drinks, but what he did next she didn’t expect from a friend he slipped something into one of the glasses, a powdery substance and then made his way back to the group. She followed him again, until he gave the drink to the woman. She drank it. She was still within earshot to hear them talking about going outside. Nishaa, who never got involved in human affairs scoffed.

When a woman was involved, she did. Well – this woman was beautiful. There was NO way in hell this guy was gonna’ drug her and get away with it. So after they exited the nightclub. Nishaa followed them outside. Sticking to the shadows. She saw him spark up a cigarette inhaled the smoke and handed it to the woman, then moments later she was convulsing and chucking up the contents onto the concrete floor. Nishaa wrinkled her nose, quite happy that being a vampire you didn’t chuck up your guts. She shook her head before making herself known.

Using what strength she had – she dropped her glass to the ground that contained her blood beverage, the glass shattered, and pooled. You could smell it, if you had been in close contact with blood before – she moved to the man. Trentyn, and placed the palms of her hands against his head, squeezed lightly and twisted, his head cracked, his neck cracked. She dropped her hands then letting the limp body fall from her grasp. Dusting them off.

“Never trust a man.”

She told the woman.

“Even if they proclaim to be a friend or anything closer.”

She moved to the woman, plucked the smoking stick from fingers and threw it away, not caring that there was smoke still coming from the damn thing. She wiped her hands again and grabbed the woman. To look at her in the eyes, her fangs quivered wanting blood, she thought about drinking from her and decided it wouldn’t be kosher – she just killed in front of her, so she turned her head away and walked back into the club, leaving the woman alone to do something, anything. If she was hungry – she knew who to eat now, to keep the Masquerade safe. Who would believe a stoned, drunken girl that a vampire killed her friend? No One.

[Marjani (DELETED 5749)]

He was so close to her space. Everything inside Mari's head was screaming. It was high pitched and it made the pit of her stomach churn as he rubbed her back as she stood there, hunched over, gasping for air as she spewed out the last of her dinner. Then, Mari felt nothing. No rubbing. No pressure from the weight of his hand on her back. It was all gone.

Her eyes looked up as Mari worked out the last of her dinner, seeing Trentyn's legs and then another set. No one she knew. The others weren't wearing those pants. Amber irises continued searching upright to see a woman behind Trentyn. Holding him. No, she wasn't holding him. She was killing him. Mari's body flung upright at the sight of that before she stepped back and watched.

Most people would probably be horrified. Not Mari. She had seen death too many times. Watched the life of someone fleet away on the whim of the other. The woman dropped him, her words far from falling on deaf ears. Mari knew she had fucked up. Let her guard down. And she knew the woman was right. Mari had known that since she was around the age of twelve.

The woman was in her face without any warning. The blunt was ripped away from her lips before dark eyes bore into her own set. And Mari just stared back at those eyes. No words were said. There was no groveling for the woman to leave her alone. No pleas to not kill her like she had Trentyn. Mari just stared and as she stared, the woman vanished to a time just like this one. When she was twelve and the man who had looked her in the eyes just like this peered into her childish, lighthearted soul, delved into her innocence and stole both from her in the span of ten minutes tops. She waited for the woman to take something from her, but she didn't. The woman let Mari go, turned on her heels and went back inside.

Mari didn't follow. Not at first. She just stood there, staring at the closed door before her eyes moved to the body of Trentyn. She knew how this could end. How badly this could of went down. Bitter, angry tears collected in her eyes before they rolled over. A hand ran through her hair and collected the bulk of it as she stood there and collected herself. She cried for two minutes tops before Mari released the strands of hair, put both palms to the wall and pushed off it. Her steps took her to Trentyn where she mustered up a wad of spit and spat on his chest. Then, Mari started kicking at the male's left side until she felt no satisfaction from that and hunched over the body. Knees on ground as she punched him in the face. His nose popped and blood came from it, but still that wasn't good enough. Hands wrapped around his skull before she lifted it and conked it against the cement. Once, twice and a third time before Mari felt some shred of satisfaction. And not a single sound was made, outside the sound of Trentyn's already dead body being desecrated in a grotesque act of vengeance and personal satisfaction.

She stood, wobbly, with blood stained hands. Either she didn't care, or she just didn't feel the blood on them. She opened the door, propped herself against the door frame and searched for her friends. When she found them, Mari trudged to the group of them, smashing against people she didn't know, tumbling over her own feet and leaving bloody stains on everything she touched. Finally, someone noticed her. Well, the track she was leaving. "Oh my god. There's blood of my shoes. I JUST got these last night. Oh my god, blood!" A young woman screamed as a silent Mari approached her friends, the woman using her hands to wipe at the water stains on her cheeks before any of her friends saw her.

[Nishaa]

Nishaa was already back inside the club, and was pressed against the counter of the bar. There were a swarm of human bodies around her – pushing against her, trying to get to the bar, and around her sometimes. Bastards wanted to get served before her. They’d have to walk over her dead body before that would happen, sometimes she would shove at a person who got too close, with a death stare, that usually made them wander off. Nishaa wasn’t a force to be reckoned with when she was a pissy mood, and right now she was in a pissy mood probably because of that Trentyn guy too. She couldn’t believe what he was trying to do. The tall man, came to her then his breath stank of alcohol, obviously getting customers to buy him a drink. She knew that tactic once.

• “BLOODY MARY, EXTRA ON THE BLOOD.”

She threw this guy a wink, he knew what she was after and he went off to prepare the drink. One guy asked what that was and she smiled sweetly at him telling him it was tomato juice with vodka, put the guy right off. That was what she wanted. Who the **** in their right mind would even try that ****? She sure as hell wouldn’t. She needed blood, especially since she caught a whiff of it from outside, as the guy gave her, her drink and she handed him a green paper she turned from the bar and headed for an empty table. Where she sat down to look at the crowd of people.

What she didn’t fail to notice was the woman she had saved was coming back in she looked decent, not even shaken up – then she heard the shouts of blood, from a random bystander. Some other people shouted too, because that was what cattle did – they followed the herd. She snickered and brought the glass to her lips and took a sip – the metallic taste was refreshing.

She caught the woman’s eye – the one she had saved, and threw her a wink, and held her drink up to the woman, in a silent toast. That had to make her interested surely. She smiled then, this time showing off her fangs that she had managed to hide so well.

[Marjani (DELETED 5749)]

The woman was winking at her. Mari saw it as people came to help her, others moved away from her in a panic ridden state. The woman was ******* winking at her. Mari veered away from her friends, not wanting to give them away to the woman who just sat at the bar, acting as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't killed someone just right outside of the club. The woman had to be insane, so there was no way, Mari was going to help get more people killed. Not those she actually knew, liked and trusted. The amount of people she trusted in her proximity could be counted on one single hand. Of course, none of those were men, at least not with their counter parts; but after tonight? The list had probably dwindled to two or three women she liked and trusted to be around.

Crazy *****. Mari thought as she moved around the club. Where was the door? She heard her name being called, by Krystal, but it went ignored. Mari didn't even look in the woman's direction, even though she wanted to. To let her know she was alright. To let her know that it wasn't her blood. That she wasn't hurt, but she had to leave. To let them all know that there was a woman in here that had just killed somebody. He didn't even have a name anymore. There was a killer in the club and none of them even knew!

Mari weaved and bobbed through the crowd, pushing past people, leaving a bloody palm print or an occasional bloody finger print on clothing or fixtures in the club. Chairs, tables, walls, the bar as she moved past it and to the door. She couldn't breathe. Panic ensued inside of her; the thought of her real, only friends dying. The fact there was a woman in there who got her jollies off by killing people and then acted like it never happened and then the actual factor that one of her friend's boyfriends just tried to get their jollies off by drugging her up. What the **** was wrong with people?

The night air slapped her hard as Marjani left the club. It was cold and wet out. Her hands wrapped around her arms, trying to offer her some added warmth, but maybe it was a subconscious thing. Like a hug to herself. She managed to survive the gripes of a killer, and a night out that could have ended bad, so very bad for her. Mari just stood outside the door and laughed. A laugh of relief. Of bitterness, even. Her friends would be fine. She was still alive and even though it was still raining, she honestly couldn't feel it. Outside the laughing, the woman had gone numb from the situation. Knowing that she survived two horrible situations rekindled something within her. Something familiar to when she wasn't a teen yet. When she had survived a situation that almost mirrored this one, only the story ended just a little differently.

Mari began to walk as both the situations; from tonight and the one from years ago ran simultaneously through her head. Her eyes blank, the woman in a zombie like trance as she headed down the street, to her apartment. Or so she believed, but Marjani wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings. She was, as best to describe it, on auto pilot. A survivor of something horrific that hadn't yet quite come to terms with the past and the present.

[Nishaa]

The woman Nishaa had been watching now seemed to be making her way through the crowd – frantic to find the way out of the club. The heat from the cluster of people on the dancefloor, smelt glorious, sweat and adrenaline mixed together but now, Nishaa had eyes for only one. She was simply divine, and she had to be Nishaa’s. She drained the glass of its contents and placed the empty glass at the edge of the table as she began to weave her own way through the crowd following in the steps that the woman had gone – the scent of blood strong as finally she reached a door. The door handle itself had a bloody handprint on it – to anyone who was looking at It under the influence would think an old Halloween decoration, that had been forgotten.

She could hear the laughed – the patter of rain dropped on her skin as she moved a little forward. The scent of blood filled her nostrils. Nishaa had come to the end of her hunt – and after all that, well it wasn’t all that interesting. Though she could tell the human wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around her – the woman had witnessed a murder, who would be paying attention? Nishaa snickered then.

• ”Why aren’t you running?”

She asked the woman, as she slipped around the woman, so she was now face to face with the woman.

• ”Or phoning the police – or even screaming?”

She scoffed. Nishaa leaned in closer so her lips were mere inches from her ear.

• ”It’s because you like it..”

She lifted her head then revealing the canine’s of her teeth and plunged her head down into her neck and began to drink deeply, the blood absorbed itself into Nishaa’s being, sustaining her – nourishing her, quenching her thirst as she began to drink and drink and drink. She didn’t want to see this woman die – she’d usually drink, and then let them walk away, all dazed and confused.

Nishaa smiled as she removed her fangs and looked at this woman. She knew exactly what she wanted to do then. Without much hesitation she lifted her wrist up, bit into it – so dark blood oozed free, and pushed her wrist against Marjani’s lips forcing her to the drink the vampire blood, to die – and then to come back a vampire.

[Marjani (DELETED 5749)]

The woman didn't even know the crazy ***** was following her until it was too late. Why wasn't she running? Any other person would have. Any other normal person would. Any other normal person would have been doing the other things too. Phoning the police, screaming their head off about some crazy ***** that was going around killing people like it was no big deal.

When the dark haired woman said Mari liked it, the woman came to an abrupt stop. Did she? Maybe it was true. Maybe she did like it. Was she sad the guy died? Not even an ounce. Did she like kicking his dead corpse? Maybe. Yes. He deserved it, Mari believed, even if he wouldn't ever know she did that because the woman in front of her had killed him before Mari got a shrivel of real revenge.

She liked it. She wanted it. Mari wanted him dead. Maybe even something more.

Those brief thoughts were shoved away when the woman bit her. Flat out ******* bit her with her fangs. FANGS? Who the **** had fangs? Oh, right. This crazy killing ***** in front of her. The same ***** that was biting her and drinking her blood? This woman was a whole bunch of crazy that Mari couldn't even comprehend.

She was frozen with fear. Mari wanted to push the woman off her, kick her and maybe even tell her to get off, but she didn't do any of those things. Part of her figured she deserved this. Living on borrowed time anyways for the last decade and a half. A 'good' thing finally coming to an end. Karma was like that her momma told her. It'd catch up to ya and bite ya like the ***** she was. And here was a ***** biting her in her neck.

But it didn't stop there. The woman pulled away with Mari's blood gushing out of her neck and bit her own wrist. Crazy ***** who was a vampire fanatic. Mari really knew how to draw in the crazies, didn't she? Mari turned her head away. She fought against the woman with every ounce of willpower she had. Not because Mari believed she would turn into a vampire, but because it was blood. On her lips and in her mouth. And the woman was crazy. She was probably crazy because she probably had something wrong with her blood, brain or immune system. Mari was fighting to not only live, but to not get whatever crazy *** disease the woman had before her. A hand moved to the woman's shoulder and dug into it, then pushed away as she thrashed her head left and right before Mari decided the only way she was going to get away was to bite the ***** on her wrist. The realization was she already had the woman's blood on her lips and in her mouth, so take her by surprise and get away with her life intact. However long that would be.