Pain is a Demon Magnet

[rhiannon_lee]

Tragedies left fingerprints on people and places. Death, pain, and sorrow all built up a psychic energy that outlasted any attempts at therapeutic intervention, any renovations made to physical structures. You could paint over smoke damage, tear up bloodied carpet, knock down an entire building and the atmosphere wouldn’t change. The ground itself pulsated with what came before. Such was definitely the case with the MGM Grand. No matter how many millions developers channeled into the hotel or what its new owners called it, the building remained the home of the worst disaster in Nevada history. Fire, smoke, and heights had pooled their resources to kill 85 people. The psychic juice was enough to bait the dead into spending quality time on the premises.

As Rhiannon sipped a drink in the lounge on the ground floor, she contemplated what she felt: A buzz in the top of her spine, a knowledge of otherness in the room, maybe a remnant of hell flexing its muscles, five years later.

And if the fuzzy police reports were to be believed, it was vampire central.

Just like them, she thought, to clamor over the echoes of tortured screams.

The outfit was a new purchase. Nothing in her duffel bag was up to the task. If you were going to hang out in a prime piece of Las Vegas real estate, you needed the right gear. She compromised on a tight pair of black trousers with a wide belt, a black top with lace overlay, a flared jacket, and heeled boots. An assortment of silver necklaces jangled when she stretched her neck.

Whistler thought he had whiplash?

You’re damn right, you’re paying the bill, she had grumbled upon finding the hospital costs covered.

Her elbow still felt like murder. Rhiannon hissed when she forgot and rested her weight on the bar.

[Thread: Open to Valerie]

Comments

[rhiannon_lee]

“No way.”

But there was no mistaking it. A weapon could mean a freelance demon hunter, but only a slayer could toss a vampire like a rag doll. The demon crashed into the mirror and splintered it before landing hard on the countertop. He snarled and scrambled to get his legs under him and leap from the balls of his feet to Valerie’s back. If he couldn’t have the man for a meal, he wanted the blonde.

“I don’t think so!” grunted Rhiannon as she threw herself into its body. The pair of them landed on the glossy floor and slid in a tangle of limbs, stake, and fangs. Their momentum was stopped by the wall. Both struggled to be the first to get up and gain the upper hand. The slayer’s boots slipped and squeaked in a puddle of water that had leaded from under the sink. She elbowed the vampire in the face to distract him. They tumbled and she climbed on his back and latched herself around him.

“This was a bad idea,” she groaned as the demon stood up, looking like a spider with his four limbs plus Rhiannon’s jutting out from his sides. He rammed himself backwards into the wall and let the slayer’s head absorb the impact with a hand dryer. Her stake clattered under the plumbing. “Ow!” But she clung to his head and got her hand into position around his jaw with the idea that she might be able to snap his neck.

“Valerie!”

[valerie_vause]

The struggle that broke out behind her while she got the man out of the facilities had been heard, but it was the call to her that signaled things had taken a turn for the worst. Valerie burled to see the vampire, even with Rhiannon wrapped around his back, he loomed above the blonde. The snarling snap of his teeth as the brunette’s hand tried to grab under his chin to break his neck bounced off the walls. “Fraggle!” She hissed, as the vampire tried to dislodge the woman viciously.

There was no two ways about it, he was a big guy, and anyone normal would have been knocked out by now. Valerie ran the short distance, an adrenaline fueled, “I’m on it!” Left her lips as she raised her hand to plunge the stake into his chest. The problem with big guys though, were how long their legs were, and the vampire used one of his to kick her straight in the gut. The noise that escaped her on impact was muffled by the thump when she landed hard after sailing through the air like a little blonde pinata. Oh, she’d be feeling that later.

Quick as she went down, Valerie got back up faster and offered a snarl of her own through frustration. When he kicked out again she was ready for it. The blonde brought her foot down across his shin with inhuman speed, the strength of it broke bone and he let out a strangled cry of agony. That split second was all she needed to ram the stake home and he crumbled away to nothing. Through the dust Valerie tried to grab Rhiannon’s arm, an attempt to steady the brunette as she landed.

“Are you alright?” The question was asked through a cough. She waved her hand through the dust to clear the air, the stake still firmly clutched against her palm.

[rhiannon_lee]

Rhiannon watched over the demon’s shoulder as the stake drive home. She unclamped her limbs just before the vampire turned to dust. Bent knees absorbed the impact and she righted herself against the wall. Coarse grains of dust clung to her lashes and lipstick. She fluttered her eyelids. “Yeah. Pppbttt. Pppbttt. God, that tastes bad.” Her sleeve served as a makeshift handkerchief before she recognized the flaw in her logic: her clothes were just as dusty and they were in a bathroom full of tap water.

“You okay?” She went to the sink and washed her hands under the cold faucet. A cupped palm scooped water into her waiting mouth. Rhiannon swished and spit. She moistened a paper towel to take care of the rest of her face.

‘There is a vampire slayer in the bathroom with me. I’ve met exactly one of my kind and that one’s dead.’

There was a delay in her eye contact with Valerie because it crossed the brunette’s mind – briefly and egocentrically – that she might be a plant sent by the Council.

‘Don’t be stupid. You saw her face. She didn’t know, either.’

Rhiannon shut off the faucet and bathroom fell into the same eerie quiet of before.

[valerie_vause]

The Council didn’t even enter Valerie’s thoughts. She hadn’t heard from them in almost a year. What did though was how strange it felt to come face to face with someone like her. The blonde had never met another one like her, and as far as first impressions go, Rhiannon appeared to be nice. Which in a way eased the shock of it, but not by much. “Yeah I’m fine.” She mumbled, thinking about lightning and how rare it struck the same place twice as she pushed the stake back into her boot and fixed her pant leg.

If she were a gambler, Valerie would have thought she’d win the lottery long before she met another of her kind. The odds, at least, had seemed that way.

Valerie brushed off the dust that clung to her shirt, all too aware of the silence that happened once the tap was turned off. The blonde rolled her shoulders, stretched just a little, then let out a half laughed sigh. “Well, I think we found out what happened in the stairwell. On the bright side, we still have both of our hands.”

[rhiannon_lee]

“Our hands?”

Rhiannon frowned in confusion. “Oh. Yeah, the door knob. Sorry. I’m just a little— I’m a little thrown.” At a loss for words, she gestured vaguely around the room in an all-encompassing way, as if to say ‘you, me, vampire, men’s room’. But why was it so strange? True that their kind was rare and growing more so every day on an increasingly populated planet, but she got a feeling that the fact of one wasn’t nearly so jarring as the sight of one. It felt like looking in a mirror at an alternate version of herself.

She put her back to the countertop and curled her fingers around the ledge. Rhiannon let herself examine the other woman—blonde to her brunette, green eyes to her brown, about four inches shorter but otherwise similar in stature. Neither of them looked like a shit-kicker. But that was the physical and what Rhiannon found herself searching for was some trace of familiarity in the look in her eyes or the way she held herself. A droplet of water rolled off her chin and she wiped it away.

“Let’s try this again. I’m Rhiannon and I’m a vampire slayer.”

[valerie_vause]

“That makes two of us.”

The phrase itself seemed funny now to her own ears. Valerie shrugged lightly, her remark about hands had been the only one she could think of to break the deafening silence. Though, maybe silence was preferable to being studied. The blonde shifted slightly, pushed a few strands of blonde hair behind an ear and cleared her throat. Naturally she was curious, several questions ran through her head.

What age are you? When did you get called? Do you live here?

None of them got vocalised though, as she eyed the brunette back cautiously. Belatedly her mind went to the odd feeling she’d gotten when she first met the woman. Perhaps the source of her power had responded to another being so close. Perhaps, subconsciously, she’d merely recognised something within herself. Whatever it had been Valerie didn’t mind.

The blonde might have felt awkward in that moment but she kept her head up, back straight and arms by her sides. Not defensive, but confident in her own body. Though when Rhiannon spoke next, a short almost huff of breath escaped as a quiet laugh. Okay, there it was, out in the open. Valerie had to admire the straightforward way she’d delivered the information. She replied in kind with a gentle, “Hi Rhiannon, I’m Valerie, and so am I.”

[rhiannon_lee]

Rhiannon chewed on her lip. The conversation that had flown so freely at the bar had slowed to a trickle, but only because of the shock of finding another person that had lived through the single most important aspect of Rhiannon’s life. She wanted to know everything: how was her relationship with the Council? did she ever question her place in this bizarre calling they both shared? did she like it? The pipe under the sink dripped and added to the puddle on the tile.

Plink… plink… plink…

Rhiannon opted for something a little less pressured.

“There should be a handshake.” A smile tugged at her hips. “Or another signal. We’re a secret society, so why not?”

[valerie_vause]

Secret they were, but society? She wasn’t so sure. The Council liked to keep them apart, spread out and alone. Valerie quite enjoyed the idea of them being one though. Which could explain the way she smiled back with a slight wave of hand, “We could always make our own.” Though as she surveyed the damage the smile changed to perplexed. “Just not right here in the middle of a leaking men’s room.”

They couldn’t stand there any longer. Sooner or later someone would want in and see the destruction. What if the guy they’d saved ran straight to management? With all the questions filling her mind the blonde would rather be somewhere else to talk to the woman. “How about we sneak out before his friends come to find us? I think I could go another drink after all, and hey, we can work on that secret signal.”

Valerie gave herself another quick dust down before she unlatched the door and pushed it open. Life was full of surprises, and for the second time in hers, Valerie felt a little overwhelmed. Though, optimistic all the same.

[rhiannon_lee]

“Good idea. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Rhiannon uncrossed her feet and followed Valerie out of the men’s room. Although the contents of her previous drink still sloshed in her stomach, she could use another one now, and a change of venue was requisite if the victim called the cops or management was notified. She wasn’t into police questioning. Her hands actually trembled as potential consequences of meeting another slayer – good and bad – flitted through her brain. It could be great for a slayer to have her back during big fights. It would make slow patrols a hell of a lot less boring. On the other hand, what if Valerie was in thick with the Council?

One way or another, it was going to be a big deal.

[valerie_vause]

They did, but the statement sent a slight chill through Valerie. More from the unknown than the tone of it. What kind of relationship did the brunette have with the Council? Did she trust them unconditionally or did she question the methods and means? The blonde questioned a lot of things, she realised quickly though that those kind of questions never truly got answered and she suspected the Council kept tabs on the things she had asked. Valerie had learned quite quickly to keep them to herself, most of the time. Once out of the bathroom Valerie turned, rather than walking back through the lounge she found the fire escape and eased it open. Unsurprisingly there was no alarm, and she shook her head and stepped out into the warm night.

“So have you been in this area long?” She asked casually, adding, “I’ve been here maybe a month, give or take a week.”