When Bad Luck Strikes [Maddison]

[Robin Little]

Robin rolled his eyes at Maddison’s dramatic outburst. The rebuttal was fresh on his tongue but she was walking away before he could say anything. They were vampires. As far as he had witnessed, they couldn’t be killed except for maybe a dozen wounds, a couple of serious ones, and in an inescapable place. There was that one place he’d once stumbled into by accident, a ‘raid’. Blood had pooled on the floor and he’d never seen so many inside on the outside in his life – not even on TV. But there was a kind of detachment when watching on TV, anyway. You knew it wasn’t real.

As soon as he’d stumbled out of that place again, he’d thrown up all over the nice clean grass. This was back when he was human, when he’d had something of substance in his gut to throw up. It was that place that mostly plagued his nightmares, regardless of how his life had changed since then.

As much as he hadn’t wanted there to be a fuss, when he looked down at his leg he knew that Maddison was, in part, right. He wouldn’t bleed to death, but if he let it go his leg might soon be coated and someone else might notice. Someone else might call an ambulance, or some such thing. And Robin would have to explain that he was a vampire, and it was fine. And who knew how that would go down?

So he found himself in the bathroom, mumbling incoherently as he dropped his pants and ignored the looks he got. He couldn’t avoid fuss. One punter first laughed at Robin’s bloody predicament before going pale in the face, stumbling out of the bathroom to go find Robin a first aid kit. The bartender even ended up in the bathroom with them, helping Robin to get the butterfly stitches securely in place over the wound, which was then properly covered with a sticky bandage, over which the cloth bandage was wrapped. Yeah, Robin knew he was forgetting something. ******* band aids.

When he returned to the pub proper, he didn’t know what he felt seeing Maddison dancing with some other guy. It was bound to happen eventually, right? He assumed, at first, that it was consensual. He was about to turn away and head back to the bar when he saw Maddison brush the hands away. The hint wasn’t taken.

Pushing his way through the crowd, Robin placed a hand on the other guy’s shoulder, offering a congenial smile as he tried to insert himself between Maddison and the intruder.

”Sorry I took so long…” he said to Maddison, making it clear that she was with him. Robin assumed that the other guy would get it, and would walk away. He dropped his hand from the guy’s shoulder, and stupidly turned his back on him.

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

The guy hadn't gotten the hint. Maddison rolled her head from side to side, getting ready to turn when Robin tried to maneuver his way into the situation. This couldn't end well. Could it? Either for the guy or Robin. She wasn't exactly sure. Robin was a vampire and well this guy didn't really seem to be one. Damn her and her good looks.

Robin then made the mistake of turning away from the guy. Dumb guy wasn't really taking the hint. Maybe he thought Maddison was interested or he thought Robin didn't have a chance. Either way dumb guy then made the mistake of swinging a fist at Robin. ****

Maddison jumped back to avoid the fist as she was closet to Robin when the fist went swinging. Clearly dumb guy was drunk. "Okay okay, no need for fist swinging. Let's all be adults here. You got a little handsy and I don't really appreciate that. So please just walk away before you make things worse." She said calmly, already needing another drink.

She wasn't exactly sure how Robin would take to being swung at but dumb guy didn't get the hint and he tried to grab at Maddison again. The blonde was taken off guard and stumbled a bit, bumping right into dumb guy who then tried to feel her up once more.

What an idiot.

[Robin Little]

The swing of the fist was narrowly missed and for a few seconds Robin could only be stunned. This felt like déjà vu, except this time he was in the middle of the action rather than in the sidelines, and the dumb drunkard involved didn’t walk away like he should have. He watched the way the drunk groped at Maddison, for a second or two he watched as if he were just an omniscient observer, unable to actually do anything about it.

Robin still had his height on his side; that, and he was a vampire. Though he might have looked lanky and awkward and useless sometimes, he had a strength that shouldn’t be underestimated. In fact, it was a strength that even Robin wasn’t entirely aware of.

He still felt like he was watching from above, a witness to the scene even as he reached forward and grabbed the guy by the scruff of the neck. Brute force was executed, and Robin wrenched the guy away from Maddison, the heels of his palms slamming into the guy’s chest to push him back. Robin surged forward, not missing a beat even as the drunk stumbled backward.

”No means no, you ******* twat,” he shouted. He was seeing a haze of red.

Rage outlines the features of the drunk’s face, his lips curled back in a growl. Now his masculinity was being challenged, and he wasn’t going to back down. Even Robin was aware of what was happening – testosterone fuelled most violence. It was built into their DNA.

The bouncer was onto the potential brawl like white on rice, surging through the crowd to break it up, to have the men quit it or take it outside. But he didn’t get there before the guy sucker punched Robin, his head snapping back at the jolt of the impact. Robin might have been stronger but he still was no fighter, and not exactly prepared. But he wasn’t spooked, no. That haze of red only grew brighter, and as soon as the bouncer suggested they take it outside he was whole heartedly agreeing.

How exactly they got out there Robin wasn’t aware. All he knew was that when the fresh air filled his lungs he lunged at his foe, throwing all his force into the punch that sent the guy reeling, cursing, and shouting due to a cracked cheekbone.

And Robin was far from done.

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

She was sure all the guy had to do was walk away and Robin would have calmed. Robin didn't seem the fighting type. More a lover than a fighter. Within a few seconds the whole demeanor of the night had changed. The guy was hauled off her and pushed back only to have Robin advance on him again. She wasn't exactly sure what was happening. It was like whiplash. One minute Robin was calm, the next he was like a big growly bear.

She was caught in the middle of a bar fight.

The bouncer started to approach and a string of curse words left her lips. She couldn't even have one stupid night. But before the bouncer could be on the scene, drunk guy had swung again at Robin and this time it connected. She wasn't exactly sure how considering Robin was a vampire and drunk guy was well...drunk, but it had and it only fueled the fire.

Idiot.

When the bouncer arrived, he told the two to take it outside and seemed like Robin obliged. How kind of him. With the two gone, Maddison stood there, with eyes on her, frozen in her spot. It was a surreal experience. She wasn't exactly sure why Robin had gotten so heated. It was a side she had never seen.

It was kind of hot.

She finally became de-rooted and headed straight for the bar. One last drink was ordered and drowned before she headed outside to assess the situation. When she stepped out into the fresh air, goosepimples slid along her skin, she saw Robin throwing a nasty punch at the guy. "****"

Maddison stepped further into the alley. "Robin!" She yelled over the sounds of the night. It wasn't worth it and he needed to let it go before he further hurt the man. So Maddison slowly walked upon the situation, placing her hand out to grab Robin's arm. "Just let it go!"

[Robin Little]

Letting it go just did not seem like a great option to Robin.

What would have happened if he weren’t there? Maddison probably would have been able to take care of herself, but the thought didn’t occur to Robin. Some men, they liked to believe they could be heroes. Though right now, Robin wasn’t doing any of this because he wanted to be seen as a hero. He was doing it because he was angry. Had he known that he was this protective of Maddison before?

And what if he hadn’t been there? What if Maddison were still human, and this guy were smarter? What if he’d thought to ply her drink with a roofie? What if he already had, without knowing that she was a vampire and thus immune to the drug? What if that’s why he’d been so bold? The questions only made Robin angrier, and the hand on his arm did nothing to slow his roll. The drunk tried to tackle Robin but he was less coordinated than Robin, regardless of Robin’s clumsiness. Although they both fell to the grimy floor of the alley between buildings, Robin had manipulated the situation so that he was the one with the upper hand.

He could have left it there. With one more well placed knuckle sandwich, he could have shown who was boss. He and Maddison could have walked away and everything would have been fine. Except, somehow a broken bottle had made it into Robin’s hand. It had been laying nearby, and Robin had a hold of the thick neck of the bottle, the glass jagged at the other end.

It was only when the warm spray of blood splattered Robin’s face in a neat, gory line that he began to understand the gravity of his fury. All those nightmares that had visited him, that violence that had plagued his sleeping hours – it wasn’t something he was running away from. It was something that resided within him, dormant, waiting for the right moment to strike.

And that moment was here, now. The jagged edge of the bottle had slashed the drunk’s neck and his body was now twitching beneath Robin, his eyes wide and fingers reaching for a wound that could not be fixed. One that would be fatal, given a few minutes. The bottle slipped from Robin’s grasp and further shattered as it fell to the ground, the taller vampire’s body falling backward and scrambling away from the near-corpse he had just created.

Would it be better to pretend that he’d meant it?

Didn’t matter. His own voice betrayed him.

”Oooohmygod,” he said, the words slipping together in one prolonged, guttural moan of terror. What the **** had he just done?!

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

Her hand had done nothing. Now what?

Maddison was frozen in her stance. It didn't really look like she was going to be able to stop Robin. Robin had some experience on her. There was no way she could out match him in strength. Plus lets face it, he was a guy so naturally he was just a little bit stronger than her. Maddison never focused on becoming strong. She had focused on becoming lean. To be a model, you had to be lean and some what toned. She was that.

It was like a bad horror movie.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Robin had a bottle in his hand and she lunged to stop him but her feet wouldn't move. Did this guy really deserve this? He had just been handsy. The battle slashing his neck didn't cause her to jump, only when it fell and shattered across the ground. She jumped and let out a sound. Not a scream, just a sound.

Emerald hues followed his back tracking. She had thought he meant it, but his next words confirmed that he indeed hadn't realized what he had done until it had already been done. There was no saving the drunk, his blood was pouring out. So gross. She looked away and up at the stars. This hadn't been the night she thought it would be. What the **** had Robin just done?

"What the **** did you just do!?"

It was out before she could stop it.

[Robin Little]

Robin might have thought the words had come out of his own mouth, were it not for the use of ‘you’ and the fact that it was feminine. Indeed, what had he done? All he could smell was blood; it slid into the cracks of his lips so that when his tongue touched them, it was all he could taste. Would it be bad form to crouch over the victim again, this time to keep the blood from spilling to the pavement?

No, no. That would be going a little bit too far, and was a little too twisted for Robin’s liking. This was not who he was. Those vampires painted in the media as monsters, as slayers of the innocent, he was not one of those. He was just a regular guy into regular things who just so happened to have had thing happen to him. When he fed it was only on the willing; he was even dubious about blood bags, and where they might have come from. He always made sure to buy the type that was most prominent, so that there was a lesser chance that he’d be depriving some poor soul of the blood that could save their life.

Robin’s first urge was to run.

No, that was a lie. His first urge was to throw up – but he swallowed the bile before it could make its escape.

The second – or third – urge was to call an ambulance. Say the guy had tripped and fallen on the bottle. That was plausible, wasn’t it? Scrambling to his feet, he wanted to reach for his phone but his hand was covered in blood. He didn’t know where to wipe it. He could have wiped it on his denim shirt, as it was already dirty. But he wasn’t really thinking straight.

”We should go. We should just go,” he said, reaching for Maddison’s hand with his clean one, wanting to lead her away from this scene. Away from this pub. Away from any association with the dead man. It was a bad idea. The police would come. Witnesses would be questioned. They’d know the dead man had gone outside to brawl with that other guy – the tall one with the eyes. But he could lay low for a while, couldn’t he? Wasn’t that a possibility…?

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

She stood there staring at the scene. It was awful. She hadn't experienced anything like this before. Here she thought Robin was some tame lamb, but in honestly there was a beast waiting to be unleashed and this seemed liked only the tip of an iceberg. She rubbed over her face, letting a string of curses leave her sweet lips. Maddison didn't curse often, but she sure was tonight.

They were a bunch of colorful words.

How many people had seen them start the fight in the bar? How many people knew that they had come out into the alleyway? Would the cops come? Or would it be another story that flashed the newspapers for a day and then was forgotten about. She wasn't exactly sure. Could they really just leave his body here?

"You can't heal him!? We can't just leave him here!" She freaked out, swatting at the hand that was grabbing for hers. Her eyes fell to the bloody hand and then landed up on his face that was half stained with blood. She fought her urges and the wanting to lick the blood right off. That was too much, wasn't it?

What was wrong with her? There were so many emotions running through her system at this moment. Fear, anger, confusion, lust. That one got her. Her lady parts were doing something she didn't appreciate. Finally, Maddison stepped out of her spot and towards Robin. "I'll do whatever it is you think we should do." She let the offer hang out in the air.

[Robin Little]

Of course she would ask that question. Her hand was snatched back and Robin was forced to stop and turn, to face again the scene that he had created. He had to swallow the lump in his throat. He had to swallow several times before he could vehemently shake his head and answer.

”No. No, to heal him I’d have to feed him my blood and it would turn him, and I’m not ready for that yet. I can’t. Not like this. Not… not him,” Robin said. The guy was the worst kind of person. He was the kind of person who couldn’t take no for an answer. The kind of self-entitled man who treated women as a commodity. Worse, he treated them as things that could just be taken and used. And yet, Robin knew that if it had been any other woman, it never would have gone this far. He’d probably have been punched and would have allowed the bouncers to drag the other guy out. He’d be sitting somewhere with ice on his cheek.

For a moment he was terrified. He should not have reached for Maddison’s hand. Of course she would not want to take it. He had just murdered someone. Why would she want to go with him? He would lose her, now. She would be disgusted. He was disgusted. It was another trauma to add to the scars on his psyche.

But then she stepped closer. Calmer, she said she would do as he thought they should do. As if he were all wise, and his choice would be the right choice. He shook his head. He couldn’t stop shaking his head. He couldn’t stay there. He couldn’t face the cops. They’d know just by looking at him that he was guilty.

”I think we should leave. We can find a payphone. We’ll… call in an anonymous tip or something,” he said, voice quavering. He lifted a hand to rub at his face. He’d forgotten about the blood. His face fell; he didn’t try to take Maddison’s hand again. He just turned and started to walk away, fingers stretched so he didn’t have to feel the blood as it started to coagulate.

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

"Why not him?" She knew he didn't want to turn him, but why not even try to heal him? There had to be some other way than just giving the man his blood. She definitely didn't think this male deserved to be a vampire. Being able to live the rest of time as a creep. No thank you. But did he really deserve to die? It looked so.

"Okay then we will leave and find a payphone. Then we should probably go home so that you can get cleaned up..." She caught his face again and once more fought her urges to lick it clean. She always so hungry. Not hungry. Thirsty as Robin had put it. That side of her she was getting used to.

Maddison followed behind him, stopping a few blocks over at a payphone. She was the one in charge of leaving the tip. She didn't want that to be on Robin. The blonde spoke calmly, giving details but not too many. Soon enough sirens could be heard. She took Robin's free hand, the one not covered in blood and started to drag him towards her their home.

It wasn't long before the pair came upon the condo. She ushered him inside and towards the bathroom. She was babying him again, but he kind of seemed out of it so she was sure he wouldn't really mind, right? The front door was shut behind her and locked. The blonde kept pushing him towards the bathroom until he was in it. She softly pushed him onto the toilet seat, the lid was obviously down.

Maddison disappeared for a moment, grabbing some cloths from the linen closet. She came back in and ran the warm water through the first cloth. It was intended for his hand. Delicate fingers picked up his larger ones and she had intended to wipe the blood clean with the cloth but her body had other ideas. The cloth hit the floor as it dropped from her hand along with some words dropping from her lips. "**** it."

Very quietly and slowly, she lifted his fingers up to her lips where she wrapped lips around two of the fingers, sucking the blood from them. She continued with the other three before dropping his hand and stepping back. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" The blonde flushed and fell back a step or two against the bathroom door.