Drink 'til You Drop [Lucifer]

[Penelope (DELETED 7534)]

Penelope wondered, idly, whether she’d ever have been considered a ball and chain. It almost made her laugh when she remembered the only long-term relationship she’d had. She’d been accused of being more male than the man. She wasn’t clingy, not in the least. She went out more than he did, hung out with male friends enough to make him jealous, but he could never do anything about it because if he did, if he ever embarassed her or tried to cow her into doing as he said, she’d beat the **** out of him. Well, it wasn’t that bad but he may have been kicked in the gonads at least once. Once was enough to teach him never to do it again.

Why had she even been in that relationship? She’d felt something, but had it been love? Maybe, but love was never enough to keep two people together. They were just too different. He wanted to settle down, but she’d just discovered vampires and the fact that their blood was near ******* addictive. It was addictive. Then she remembered that he left in the end not because she wasn’t the typical girlfriend, but because she slept all day and went out all night. She cheated on him, realising that seduction was the best way to get what she wanted. Those days were over. A vampire for good, now, she had no need to lure more powerful men to bed.

Maybe best not to tell Lucy that story. Not just yet. Not when he’d just dropped a bomb on her lap. Or was it? Vampires were real and this guy used to torture people for a living. Was it any different to drinking people’s blood to survive? Yes, yes it was.

”Well that’s… how exactly does a person get into that line of work…?” she asked. It should have been horrifying. If she were an ordinary girl in an ordinary world she might have made some excuse, gone to powder her nose only to go find some other person whose attention she could steal. Instead, she was intrigued -- and maybe a little aroused. Her brow arched at her own reaction, tongue flicking to wet her lips.

”... you said bad people. People who you thought deserved to die. What rates as something that deserves torture and death?” she asked. The answer he gave would help her to decide whether he was a nutjob, or a Batman wannabe.

[Lucifer]

From a very early age Ryan had served with an Italian family, they taught him life skills and in return he kept people from encroaching on their turf. Ryan himself hailed from a British background originally but his family had moved around in his youth, eventually settling at New York where he met his new family. Even in this day and age, mobs and gangs existed with the very real issue of turf wars. Each one trying to own a slice of their city, a corner or even city block for their whores, another for their drug runners and eventually a larger surrounding area that served as the front line, a warning point not to encroach further. In everyday life most people didn’t seem to notice this happening around them, under their noses but they didn’t realize about vampires either until recently.

Growing up as a lieutenant for a wealthy and powerful mob had opened many doors in his life, most of which he had kept a wedge in lest he need to return there at another time for assistance. Time had passed from joining them to becoming a man in their eyes, at which point he was given a more enforcer like name, Lucifer. It perfectly matched his way to kill rivals and everyday people whom had pushed the limits for the last time. Knife in hand, Ryan had always taken a twisted pleasure as skin peeled back, exposing the crimson blood underneath. Over days he would cut and peel flesh from the body, eventually when boredom had set in or he had gathered the information he needed, he explained that they would be sending a message for him. The message was simple. Death. Fire engulfing their bodies, living or dead, it didn’t matter because when the fire finished, they would be dead.

Once during a really bad hang over, with his head pounding, Lucifer had decided to take a walk. The pounding was as violent as a whore’s heartbeat on a busy night, constant, frustrating. Rubbing his skull as he walked, two men had tried to jump him from a neighbouring mob but failed. Even in his hungover state, Lucifer had a family that had taught him to pay attention to his surroundings no matter what, which is how he managed to swiftly move out of their grasp. All this had ultimately lead to their death and further impressed his mob family. But like all good things, it came to an end when he decided to move away from New York in search of something more. He wasn’t sure what but life awaited.

Lucifer contemplated an answer to her question, it was a fair question. How did one get into this kind of work and how did they decide whom was worthy of death. For Lucifer much of the world was Black and White, simple, easy to read. He cleared his throat before casually responding to the woman he likely thought he was insane.

“Long very detailed story, which I would have to kill you if you knew… All jokes aside though, simple. I joined a family. A mob family; taught me all I needed to know. And who would you kill if given the chance to do it and be paid for it? For me it was molesters, abusers, men and women ones and rapists. I do dabble with murders too but only if their trials fall through and they get released into the world.”

[Penelope (DELETED 7534)]

”Fun, handcuffing one’s partner to the bed isn’t exactly torture,” Penelope scoffed, a comment muttered under her breath as the rest of the revelation sunk in. Some people were like this. Some people kept all their cards close to their chest, eking out information bit by bit as they learn to trust people, to get to know them. Others love to give all their information in one fell swoop. Penelope wondered what it meant. It had to have something to do with confidence; those who played their cards close were vulnerable, and those who were open had nothing to worry about.

There was something about this Lucifer, however, that had Penelope wondering if he really was that open, whether despite giving away so much about himself and his past, he had something else to hide.

Penelope had an open mind. She wasn’t so much into the violence and torture that seemed to come along with being a vampire – she was more playful with her heightened senses, more like a catten. Part cat, part kitten, able to be serious and graceful when she wanted to be, sensuous and lithe, but pretty happy to play with a piece of string, too, or chase a mundane toilet roll around just for the entertainment it provided. In any case, it was strange to hear someone tell her about their very violent past.

”I feel like I could ask you anything and you’d give me an honest answer. Can’t say I’ve ever tortured anyone myself, nor do I think I’d actually enjoy watching anyone burn alive. No matter how bad they are,” she said, though she’d never know if she was never in that situation. Maybe she’d like it more than she thought.

The bartender replaced Lucifer’s drink and raised a questioning brow at Penelope, her shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. She’d had enough to drink. Besides, she was now too fascinated by her company.

”And what about now? You still that old Lucifer? You a hired hitman or are you a vigilante? Do you have cool gadgets like Batman?” Again, with the questions. But she could not help herself.