The Human Condition [Castalia]

[Cedric Costello]

Cedric felt a shiver roll down his spine; he answered Castalia only with a slow shake of his head. No, already this complex seemed far warmer than his own. he wouldn’t mind spending the night, especially if Castalia’s apartment had more furniture. If it wasn’t as cold and as barren as Cedric’s own - it probably didn’t have an imaginary old man haunting it, either.

“My family live on the other side of the world. I don’t get there often, either,” he said with a slow smile. It wasn’t a very good joke. Not much of a joke at all. Of course he didn’t - he’d left for good reason, and he doubted they’d want him to visit. It was too soon. Maybe it would always be too soon.

As soon as the elevator landed, Cedric stepped inside. He was not sure why Castalia was telling him to be careful, though he reasoned that he was quite drunk. As much as he tried not to act like it, he probably appeared it anyway. Maybe he’d tripped on the way home without noticing. Maybe he’d swayed a bit too much. As soon as he was in the elevator he leaned against the railing, watching Castalia carefully.

“Do you bring strays home often?” he asked, slowly. Making sure, now that he thought he might be drunker than he thought, to try not to slur his words.

[Castalia]

She hid the smile that threatened to grow on her lips as she saw him shiver, humming quietly to herself. One day, she would move apartments. Upon the time she’d been turned, Castalia had intentionally avoided it for weeks so that it would look barren. Once she could no longer smell Nolan there. Upon hearing the man’s joke, she chuckled quietly.

“My ex and my children are… better off, I think.” The words slipped out and she felt them hurt, but it was true. Rolling her shoulders, she took a deep breath in and inhaled his scent, her tongue tracing her teeth as she felt her fangs lowering slowly. “They will heal, even without knowing why.” A shrug was given and she stepped inside, automatically pressing the button to her floor.

The question made her curious as she set her hands on the railing at either side of him, the smirk still on her lips. “Strays… no, not really.” Leaning up, she brushed her mouth lightly against his neck over where the artery would be so that she could feel how strong his pulse was. “The lost and lonely, every now and then. At occasion, if they’re worth it.” Pressing a kiss to the spot, she straightened up and looked up to him.

“Do you go home with women, often, Cedric?” Castalia let the tips of her fangs show as she felt the elevator begin to rise to the floor, leaving the man with nowhere to run.

[Cedric Costello]

When he closed his eyes, the world spun. That’s what Cedric knew that he’d had a bit too much to drink; when the elevator started to feel like a fair ride, and he had to hold on to the railing to keep from spinning out of control.

Better off, she said. And she could have been talking about his own ex, his own child. They were better off. It didn’t matter how much love a man had to give, in the end. Sometimes, he was more animal than man. Sometimes, even love couldn’t keep him from doing the things that his instinct told him to. Sometimes, a man allowed his masculinity to get the better of him, and there was nothing that the women or the children could do about it.

When Cedric opened his eyes, he was confronted by Castalia. His fingers shifted upon the railings, his hands touching hers. Her fingers were cold, and her breath was sharp against his neck. Now, he had no doubt. The pulse she sought beneath his skin thrummed faster, heavier. The light caught her teeth, and Cedric was instantly intrigued. Instantly, he had let go of the railing. A thumb brushed over her top lip, wanting to push it up. To see better. He gave a sharp shake of his head.

“... Non,” he said. No. His tongue clucked against the top of his mouth. “Not for a long time,” he clarified. Not since before he was married. The teeth should have been a warning. He should have been more curious. But they were a mere curiosity. They were in an elevator, and she was close. So close. How could they not be going back to her place for a specific reason? His body swayed forward, his lips nearing hers; the elevator doors ‘dinged’. They swung open, and Cedric paused, blue eyes on hers. Waiting for the next move.

[Castalia]

What should she do? It was a question that echoed through her mind as she heard his pulse raise and she was pleased. There were countless reasons that she could think of to why it would, but she wouldn’t be able to pick her favorite one. She let her lips brush more against his skin, breathing in his scent and then set another kiss over his pulse. Normally, they didn’t make it this far, at least past the elevator, but there were also times where she was more irritated with the men.

All hands.
The feeling of his thumb on her lip caused Castalia pause, her eyes lifting to his face. He intrigued her, really, the fact he wasn’t like the others, and she liked it. “How long has it been?” She asked, curious before she tried to push her fangs back. Lightly, one of her hands slid along his arm and then down to rest on his side, idly toying with the cloth there. She was a bit curious to know what sat under his clothes, but she continued to listen to his pulse, her throat burning with thirst.

Would it be a race between conflicting emotions?

Lust or gluttony?

As his lips grew near, she pressed a kiss to his thumb before leaning up and rested hers to his after the door slid open. Afterwards, she bit down on his bottom lip, a silent promise of pleasure and pain before she smirked and pulled her nails softly along the cloth down to the waistband of his pants. “This way,” She purred in a sultry tone, turning and stepping out of the elevator before heading towards her door. Consciously, she swung her hips just a little bit more, adding temptation.

They always tasted better, didn’t they, with hormones flooding their systems? Castalia wondered. She’d likely need to do a taste test at some point as her curious mind asked questions.

[Cedric Costello]

The only thing on Cedric’s mind was lust. There was nothing to lose. There was no one to judge him. There was no reason to go home; there were no strings, no chains, no box keeping him confined to a particular set of actions. He could stay up all night and sleep all day if he really felt like it; the job search could wait another day.

The question was not one that he wanted to answer. There were too many conflicting emotions; the dos and don’ts, the shoulds and shouldn’ts of marriage. How long since he had slept with his wife? Too long. How long since he had slept with someone else? It was still a long time. Four months. Five?

Not that he hadn’t tried, before he’d left the city. But it hadn’t worked. He’d been too distracted, too stressed. Now? The stress was a thing of the past; a past that he had started to let go of. The tethers that had tied him to it were slowly snapping. One by one. It was the way she bit his lip that finally did it. Blood rushed to all the right places.

There was a reason why he wouldn’t have been able to take the stairs. As he was expected to follow Castalia out of the elevator, he managed to stumble over the small lip. Balancing himself with one palm flat against the hallway wall, he appreciated the length of the woman in front of him, head to toe and back again.

As soon as she had the door open and the two of them were inside, Cedric didn’t waste any time admiring the place. He didn’t care what the inside of her apartment looked like. In that moment, the only thing he cared about was the pressure between his legs - one he hadn’t felt for months. He was preoccupied with the texture of her lips, the sharp teeth all but forgotten. He grasped at the woman’s upper arm; he wanted to pull her close, to press his body tight to hers - to ravish her lips with his own.

[Castalia]

The key slid into the lock easily, a soft click given as she turned it before she simply tossed the keys onto the nearby couch. She was about to remove her shoes until she felt Cedric’s hand, a grin playing across her lips. She didn’t bother resisting as she lifted her hand to rest against his neck, feeling his pulse again while she leaned up to taste his lips and biting down once more on his bottom lip.

Afterwards, she slid her hands to his hips, trailing a line of kisses from his lips to his neck once more. Searching. She slid her thumbs up, seeking the warmth of his skin as she leaned up onto the balls of her feet to brush her lips along the underside of his chin. Ultimately, Castalia decided on the spot she’d kissed earlier as her fangs slipped past her lips before allowing the tips to trace the skin only moments before she sank them in.

Her fingertips curled into the cloth of his pants to hold him there, a content hum being heard in her throat as she retracted her fangs next before beginning to drink. Her body pressing against him as her eyes fluttered close. There was something about drinking straight from the vein that she enjoyed, an intimacy that she couldn't describe. Paired with the alcohol that would be in his system, it was such a heavenly taste that only fueled the amount she had divulged in already.

His attractiveness aided in her enjoyment, too, the fact she knew he was as lonely as she was. A companion in misery. He understood what it was like, and it amused her as much as it bothered her. They had talked, it was something that she hadn’t had in awhile with someone other than Frank - whom she didn’t think actually listened, Keagan - whom she didn’t like to unload on as the man had his own types of woes, or Rhys - whom would never understand.

[Cedric Costello]

Cedric’s larger hands found Castalia’s hips and curled into the fabric of her clothing. He wanted her as undressed as she seemed to want him. He indulged in her roaming kiss, using the break to open his eyes, to seek a break in her clothing, to finally take stock of their surroundings. Where would he take her? The bed? The couch? The floor…? Against the wall…

...yes, he had decided the wall, except he was suddenly seeing stars. A gurgled half groan half shout bubbled from his throat, his fingers now clutching at her clothes not to remove them, but to scrabble at the woman clamped onto his neck. For all his intention to push Castalia against the wall, it was instead him who stumbled backwards. A wave of nauseating dizziness pushed against the edges of his consciousness.

What the hell was going on? She had seemed so sane. Back at the bar, they had had a connection. What did it say about him, that he had a connection with someone so… she was clearly insane, wasn’t she? She had her teeth in his neck!

”...what are you doing?!” he managed to gasp, his fingers now hooked around Castalia’s neck, grasping at her shoulder. He wanted to push her away, tried to push her away but it was as if he were drugged. It clouded his mind and numbed his limbs. And yet… and yet, he couldn’t believe that she meant to kill him. She didn’t want to kill him. Murder wasn’t on the agenda. This was some kind of fetish, some kind of kink. Had to be. And he could play along, right? Or was he delirious?

It didn’t matter if he was delirious or not. He laughed, before he held onto Castalia’s clothes once more - this time for balance, to keep him upright. The dizziness was due to the shock, and it would soon pass. It would soon pass, and they could get to the good bit.

[Castalia]

“Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.”

In any other moment, Castalia likely would have laughed at how fitting the saying was. It had been a joke between Rhys and Frank that she was similar to being a black widow, but she had never really considered it until she continued pressing her lips to Cedric’s throat. Searching. Wanting. Needing. She had every intention to sleep with him, but it seemed that her need to feed had won out.

She removed her fangs, feeling them retract with a soft click against her gums before a smirk danced across her blood stained lips. Her fingertips reached forward so that he wouldn't fall or hurt himself. She supposed, too, that it helped in the fact she didn’t want him getting away. The noise that he had given went ignored as Castalia leaned up and traced her tongue against the wounded spot.

“Mm, feeding.” She responded softly, her eyes flashing with amusement in the lighting of her apartment. Her head inclined and she took in his appearance as her hand curled into his clothes to keep him close with a tug. “You are kucb better...tasting than I thought.” A hum escaped past her lips before she leaned up to bite him once more, repeating her previous actions as she let out a pleased sound.

The need to remain clean subsided, it was an unconscious effort for the most part due to her vanity. She felt his blood trickle down her chin, sliding down her own neck and stain the white collar of her shirt. Whether it was haste or just the desire to not waste time, Castalia sank her fangs deeper to get a better blood flow.

“Mindful. Don’t want to kill him, yet.” She told herself.

[Cedric Costello]

Cedric didn’t know whether it was a wall or a door that he stumbled up against – or even whether it was chair, or a floor. His whole body was numb and all he knew was that he couldn’t hold himself upright without help. As big a man as he was, he’d never been that good at giving blood. It was something in his genes, maybe. Some quirk within the make-up of his body. The faster the blood left him, the dizzier and more nauseated he became. It wasn’t that he hated needles, or that he couldn’t stand the sight of blood. Maybe he wasn’t hydrated enough. Maybe he was anemic, though surely they’d have told him if such were the case.

Instinct told him to fight back. The sharp incisions in his neck, the pain that jolted from that spot, alerted him to injury; he knew that a punctured vein could mean death, and if she really were breaking the skin – and he knew that she was. That she had. Because he feel the hotness of his own blood as it trickled over his collarbone. He was bleeding. And it couldn’t end well. He’d been looking forward to the next bit, but he suddenly realised it might not come. This woman and her fetish could kill him.

Was this what she had meant by something new? Death? Did she believe in reincarnation or the afterlife, and by killing him did she think she was somehow giving him a chance at something different? A do-over? Was she actually an insane fanatic?

And yet, he hadn’t the strength to fight back. In his dazed state of mind he concluded that he must have been drugged somewhere along the way. She’d bought him drinks, hadn’t she? The drugs had just been slow to take effect. He still managed to clutch at Castalia’s clothing to try to pull her off – to push at her hip, at her chest, anywhere. But in the end the dizziness won over. He felt himself beginning to fall. Backwards, down – the world spun. He was dazed, completely confused. He no longer even felt the pain – just a weird kind oblivion.