Challenge Accepted!

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel stood with his back to a counter and his fingers in a bowl of peanuts. He popped a few in his mouth and crunched them to smithereens.

The Cactus was an ordinary bar. Sports on the television, dart board in the back, cheap beer running from the tap. Nothing to write home about, but comfortable. Casually dressed men and women huddled around tables playing cards and telling jokes, or they nursed solitary beers at the long, polished bar. Daniel just wanted some dinner.

It was halfway to dumb, going for a neck at the Cactus. There weren’t any tourists in sight. But he was facing a major hurdle and the last thing he needed was to sweat over it in a high-class joint with mirrored walls and closed circuit televisions mounted in every corner.

Tonight was night one of operation Catch and Release. He just needed a victim.

[Thread: NPC written by Claire]

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[birthright_npc]

When the cards were on the table a heavy sigh came from raven haired girl, followed by a wry grin as she watched her money vanish behind two large hands that scooped up the winnings. That had been the third game she’d lost tonight, her poker face was never that good. “And that my friends is my cue to leave.” The chair squeaked as she pushed it back to stand up.

“Aw come on, one more game?”

The sound of dry laughter filled the air as she shrugged on her jacket and picked up her bag. “So you lot can fleece me again, I think not.” Red tipped finger nails plunged through dark hair and she grinned, “Just you wait until bowling, the contents of your wallets will be mine.” A wink was flashed in humor before she bent over to hug a brunette girl, obviously a close friend, then headed towards the door.

Outside she shook her head and stuck one hand into her purse for her car keys while she walked.

[daniel_stacy]

Bingo.

Daniel wiped his salty fingers on his jeans and stuffed a few bucks in the tip jar. “Later,” he muttered to the bartender and peeled away from the counter. He took his time getting to the door; no need to break his neck rushing outside if it would rouse the suspicion of the brunette’s friends. On the sidewalk, he looked up and down the street. He spotted the girl rooting through a purse. Maybe for keys, maybe for a canister of mace, a substance that burned vampires, too… a great quality that Daniel had discovered when one of his first victims unleashed the payload in his eyes.

So, how to play this? Ask a question and risk alarming her, or just run up and make a wild grab? Ehhh….

Daniel fished a five dollar bill out of his pocket and folded it in half.

“Uh... Ma’am? Lady? No, that makes you sound old.” He shook his head, all witless charm. “I think you dropped something.” He held it up.

[birthright_npc]

With a triumphant pull the dark haired girl brought her hand out, car keys jingled merrily from her index finger as she turned to the stranger calling out to her. Had she dropped it? Probably, it wouldn’t have been the first time. At least he was nice enough to offer it to her first before pocketing it himself. She rolled her eyes with a smile and took a step towards him. “Sometimes I think I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached.”

It didn’t register to her that nobody else wandered the street, that cars were parked neatly in rows, engines off. Nobody stirred so late at night unless they were falling out of a club drunk or tumbling into a taxi. She didn’t consider the risks of a friendly stranger, or how honest faces had a tendency to be worn by liars.

Another step brought her close enough to reach for the money, the sleeve of her jacket rolled down her wrist and a bracelet with a little red cross flashed briefly. “Thanks for that.”

[daniel_stacy]

“Yeah, no problem,” Daniel said. It struck him that he’d just paid the woman five bones to bite her neck. Huh.

The vampire struck out in the direction she’d been heading, and then stopped. “Sorry. I was— I was going this way, too. You know that uncomfortable moment when you say goodbye to somebody, but they end up walking the same way, and you don’t know if you’re supposed to keep talking or not?”

He chuckled with good nature. Oh, look at me, I’m just a harmless dude!

He wanted to kick himself in the balls.

Daniel rubbed his chin. He could hear her pulse. He tried not to stare at her neck.

[birthright_npc]

“Oh you mean like how I feel right now?” The girl cracked a smile as she glanced up at him, he reminded her of the football players at college. Big, a little awkward, but good naturedly cheeky. Fingers clutched her car keys against her palm as her gaze sought out her car. Nothing fancy, second hand, but it got her to school and out of town for concerts and that alone made up for the slight dent and rust near the trunk.

She waved a hand to signal up the street, “Don’t worry, I’ll be gone in a minute, you don’t have to worry about making small talk.” The girl spun the keys around her finger and shrugged, “I don’t mind either way, you did me a favor.” The kindness of strangers was often the nicest, for no other reason than how surprising it could be.

Dark hair spilled into her vision and she shook her head to get rid of it, “If we ever meet again, remind me to never leave the house without a couple of hair clips.” Brown eyes turned to focus on him for a split second, “I’m kidding, but thanks again.” She turned her back to him then with a smile and the intent to unlock her car door.

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel winced.

He checked to make sure the coast was clear. No headlights approaching, no doors opening to emit friends onto the street. Now, now, now...

“Yeah, the thing is… you spoke too soon.” Coming up behind her, he slapped a hand over her mouth and snaked an arm around her waist. With a vampire’s strength he lifted her and started moving, fast. His mouth went to her ear as he speed-walked and ordered, “Stay calm, you’re not gonna die... I just need to borrow some blood.” The scent of her neck flooded his nostrils and he felt his face crumple.

‘I’m doing this wrong...’

Daniel hauled her up higher on his torso and veered into the nearest alley. Once they were hidden in shadow, he bent his head to the task of biting her, but there was silky, black hair everywhere... on her shoulder, stuck to his beard growth. He puffed out his cheeks and blew it off the spot he wanted to bite. "You do need hair clips."

He widened his mouth and sank sharp, jagged fangs into her neck.

The blood intoxicated him. Flavor made better by the potent scent of terror that spurred on predatory needs. The death-grip that hunger regularly exerted on his insides began to ease as he swallowed and savored.

'Easy, Stacy, listen to her pulse. Don't forget her pulse.'

It thumped, thumped... thumped...

But all he wanted was to drain her drop by drop. "Mmph." He squeezed her closer, arms locking tight as a python securing its meal. It wasn't terrible if he killed this one, he thought. There was always tomorrow night, or the next.

'Look at your hand.'

Daniel let go of the girl's waist and peered at it over her shoulder. In blue ink pen, just one word: Holly.

He tore his mouth away and groaned. It actually hurt to stop.

[birthright_npc]

Fear tensed her body as his hand clamped over her mouth, car keys dropped along with her purse as her hands went to the one around her waist, a futile attempt to get free. My blood? A muffled scream of panic was spewed into his palm and she tried to bite it. He possessed strength she’d never known was possible and as he carried her off like a rag doll she felt her lungs begin to struggle, her throat begin to restrict.

I’m going to die.

She felt it as his teeth pierced through soft flesh and sank into her veins, the pain made her go rigid. Life didn’t flash before her eyes, his face did. Skin began to itch and tingle, if it wasn’t for his tight grip she would have fallen, she felt dizzy enough. Though it wasn’t from the blood loss. When he finally released her neck she used both hands to push him away, staggered a few steps, and reached for the wall.

“You…” She felt her tongue swelling, restricting airflow as she pressed one hand to her throat, it came away sticky. Purple splotches began to appear on her face and her vision began to blur.

“Nuths?” She groaned, reached for her bracelet and threw it as hard as she could at him. “Aff ‘ole!”

Next to the red cross was a tag that had a picture of a peanut. The word ‘allergy’ was carved below.

Shit, she was going to die, because she’d dropped her purse in the struggle. Loud, gasping wheezes filled the air surrounding them as the girl took a wobbly step forward and crashed to her knees.

“I ‘ee’ muh effih peh, oo ‘ick!”

[daniel_stacy]

When she spun around and pushed him, Daniel raised his hands in the air, intent on showing the girl that he wasn’t going to grab her again, that she was free to get the hell out of dodge, like that was cause for celebration. Then he squinted in the darkness. What the…

What the hell was wrong with her face? It was blotchy and swollen, blossoming into a bouquet of red and purple welts before his eyes. Damn, he hadn’t squeezed it that hard. He caught the bracelet against his chest and held it up to the light.

“Peanuts?” Daniel frowned. He flashed back to the bowl at the bar, his idle chewing of them to pass the time and assuage his oral fixation, his palm weighed down with them as he watched a football game on TV. As the light bulb flickered to life above his head, Daniel looked up with eyes as wide as golf balls.

Peanuts…

“Holy shit, are you serious?! Oh my god.” He raised his arms, belly showing beneath his t-shirt as he balled his fists behind his head. “I’m a fuck-up at not killing, too. Where’s your epi-pen? In your purse? Car?” He started after the girl, prepared to grab her shoulders and try to read her lips. She collapsed and he leapfrogged over her head to keep from mowing her to the pavement. “Hang on, I’ll be right back!” he yelled, slamming into a trash can as he rounded the street corner.

The purse was in the gutter. He dumped its contents on the sidewalk. Nail polish, tampon, condom, giant plastic tube the size of a flashlight. That had to be it. Daniel grabbed it and beat tracks back to the alley. He skidded onto his knees in front of the girl.

“Okay, how do I do this, where do I stick it? In your face?”

He looked up and to the side.

Bad memory.

[birthright_npc]

The girl slumped forward with a disgruntled sound that would have been sarcastic had she not been gasping for air like a fish out of water. She had enough sense to land on her side to try and keep what little of her airways open, and watched his blurred figure vanish into the night with the promise of coming back. If he didn’t she was gone and if she could she’d haunt the fucker, but if he did, well, she wanted to slap the teeth out of his mouth for a start.

She tried to keep her eyes open, if she slipped into unconsciousness she might never wake up. Things were going dark around the edges but… There he was, rushing towards her. How many victims felt relief when their attacker returned? What a mind fuck. She tried to reach for him as he landed on his knees. Brown eyes would have widened had they not been slits and she slapped his thigh weakly.

“Woh’ ef ‘ong wiff oo?” She tried to ask incredulously, horrified about the prospect of being stabbed in the face with a needle wielded by a psychopath. “No’ en fae!”

Jesus, she didn’t have the energy for this. She rolled onto her back, panic caused her muscles to convulse as she tried to breathe and failed. With what little strength she had left she brought both hands up to the neck of her shirt and tried to claw it open.

Please She thought, please don’t let me die because you can’t work the goddamn pen.

Technically, her only one, since the spare one was in the glove box and she couldn’t talk since her tongue was on it’s way to becoming a balloon. Much like her face.

[daniel_stacy]

“My thigh?” He looked down. “No, your thigh.” Daniel opened the case and bit the cap on the epi-pen to pop it off. It came off far easier than he expected and his head snapped back. “Thhfft.” He spit the cap out and positioned the pen over her leg.

Jab.

He held the needle in place as the medicine released into her leg.

“C’mon, c’mon.” Daniel’s eyes flickered to her face. He was reminded of the time he knocked over his mother’s treasured china doll, which rested precariously on a stand in the formal living room where he was not allowed to play, eat, or breathe. Those seconds when his young fingers held the face together while he hoped the glue would set, hoped his mother wouldn’t notice the hairline fracture in the doll’s porcelain cheek. He took his fingers away…

“Try to breathe.”

[birthright_npc]

Ten seconds. That’s all it took for her muscles to absorb the epinephrine and diffuse it into her bloodstream. The drug worked quickly and she managed to suck in a partial breath before coughing and spluttering for more. She was alive. She was alive. Euphoria twisted to rage as she tried to get up onto her knees. She stumbled forward on shaky legs and cracked her head against his with a grunt of pain then sank to the ground with a muffled cry.

She wanted to hit him, scream at him, get the hell away from him. Immediately. If only she could walk in straight line.

Tongue fought to spit out one word as she used the wall for balance to get to her feet. “Hospital.”

If this wasn’t part of a sick game where he wanted her dead then he wouldn’t object to her trying to get away either. Small fumbled steps got her barely nowhere before she stopped again, though she didn’t turn to face him as she whispered, “Keys?”

Did he have them or were they just sitting there on the street waiting for someone to find them? How the hell was she going to drive in such a state? Just get to the car.

[daniel_stacy]

His relief over her not dying quickly became exasperation as she asked him for the keys. “Are you kidding, you can’t drive! You might kill som— ” Daniel swallowed the end of the sentence. “I’ll drive you.” He got up and coiled the girl’s arm around his neck, and then scooped up her legs before she could launch an argument and fail miserably. “Just turn your face,” he muttered as he ran. “It’s freaking me out.”

Which was a good reminder to get his facial features in check before he barged into an emergency room. The smell of iron was high on the air. Daniel knew that she contended with blood loss, as well, which strengthened his resolve to see this through. ‘No way I’m telling Holly I crashed and burned on the first attempt.’

At the car, he swooped down, balancing the girl on his thighs, and picked up the keys and her purse. He unlocked the door and settled her in place. He drew the seat belt over her chest and buckled it. “Hang on.”

A moment later he climbed in the driver’s seat. The steering wheel rested on his crotch. “This is a clown car!” he complained as he searched for the seat lever. “And it’s a standard. Great.” He started the car and ground the gears in search of reverse.

[birthright_npc]

“I might kill someone?!” The words were still slurred but not nearly as much as they had been. Then he was scooping her up like some kind of hero and carting her off to the car like he’d not just guzzled down her blood. “I don’t want you to dri…” She faltered for a second when his next words registered and she shouted, “My face, look at yours!”

She felt light headed, still a little dizzy but her vision was getting better, she wouldn’t be forgetting the yellow of his eyes anytime soon. He’d buckled her in before she even realised it and turned to watch the door slam. She didn’t have the energy to fight, so slumped back into the seat and watched him get in the other side just to complain. “Oh my god, you’re insane.” Then she laughed through the first real sob that tried to break free and began to roll down her window.

The car jerked forward and collided with the one parked in front. The force sent her to the side and her head smacked off the door, the glove box opened and an array of cassette tapes, pill bottles and papers spilled out. “Son of a…” The girl let out a strangled roar of frustration and turned to look at him. “You are the worst thing I have ever met. You can’t even drive!”

It was getting to that point where hysteria battled to take over shock. Raven hair stuck to the side of her throat, matted with slowly coagulating crimson. Chest heaved with each rushed breath and she wound the window down some more. She could feel her stomach contents rising up the back of her throat.

[daniel_stacy]

“I can drive!” he shouted, slapping his hands on the wheel. The horn bleeped. “I’m just panicked.” He engaged the clutch and turned the key again. The gears growled, but he found reverse.

…rrrrRRRRR…

He backed up and slammed on the brake and clutch, reconfigured the shifter, and took off into the street. Daniel fumbled at the console and turned on both the wipers and the left blinker before he figured out how to operate the headlights. The memory of ‘stick shift day’ in driver’s ed was a faint one, but as the basics came back to him, Daniel improved. The car only stalled once at the stop sign. He calmed down and schooled his face into its human features.

“Look, I’m not insane,” he said, accelerating into traffic. Daniel put on the signal and changed lanes. “I’m a vampire. I was trying not to kill you. I didn’t know you were allergic to fucking peanuts. Yeah. Let’s talk about that.” He screwed up his face and glanced at her. “You were in a bar full of peanuts! Peanut dust just… wafting on the open air! Who does that? Can’t you find someplace that gives out pretzels? Shit!”

He returned his attention to the road and slammed on brakes, barely missing the pick-up truck coming into his lane. If neither blood loss nor peanut allergy killed her, he might accomplish it with her car.

[birthright_npc]

“You’re panicked, how the hell do you think I feel you lunatic?” She shouted back over the blast of the horn then stuck her head out the window to heave loudly. Some drunk staggered into the road and let out a yell when he got the brunt of the vomit in the drive by splash.

The impulse to laugh took hold as she sat back and the wipers screeched across the dry window. Brown eyes followed them before she turned to look at him and motioned,“Oh yeah, so much safer with you on the road instead of me! Where’d you get your license, was it free in a box of cereal?”

Vampire.

The girl touched her neck and winced. So he was… He was dead, and she was halfway there herself because of him. Weren’t supernatural creatures meant to be smarter than the average jock? “Fuck it, you are an asshole!” She spat back in anger, “I go to that bar all the time because my uncle owns it. What, you think just because I have an allergy that I’m going to sit at home in some sort of bubble while vampires like you get to go out and fuck up normal people’s lives for no reason!”

The sudden slam of brakes sent her into the dashboard, her forehead just missed it by millimeters but her knees gave it a good rattle. She grit her teeth and turned to him. “Instead of blaming the girl you attacked for an allergy why don’t you ask yourself why a goddamn vampire would be eating nuts in the first place! If you’re that fucking hungry order a rare steak! At least that has blood in it, genius.”

When she turned her gaze to the road she let out a cry and pointed, “Car!” He narrowly missed it as the oncoming driver blasted his horn and flipped her off as he passed. The girl drew in a slow breath and sucked on her teeth as she turned her attention back to him. “I hate you.”

[daniel_stacy]

"I eat peanuts to blend in. Guess what? It works! And if I wanted to fuck up your life, I would have broken your neck and taken my five bucks back!"

Daniel rubbed his mouth. She was a real piece of work. Maybe he should just pull over, jump out, and let her take her chances with traffic and the rapidly weakening epinephrine in her bloodstream.

He looked at her seatbelt, reached across and tugged on it. "How do you even hit the dashboard with this on? Is it defective? Maybe you should ask your uncle for a loan to buy a better car."

He executed a wide, tire-squalling turn and bumped into the hospital driveway.

[birthright_npc]

Right, because abducting and biting people wasn’t fucking up their lives. She fought the urge to argue, since there was literally no point considering human logic wouldn’t be on the same level as dead vampire and shut her eyes. If he did crash she didn’t want to see it coming. On the other hand if he went with her it wouldn’t be so bad.

The tug to her seat belt caused a sigh and she opened her eyes to slap at his hand, “I had to loosen it to stick my head out the window, or you’d be complaining right now about the smell of vomit.” The thought had crossed her mind to turn her head in his direction but she hadn’t wanted her car to stink.

Well, what was left of it.

[daniel_stacy]

He parked the car and the motor shuddered to a stop. There. He hadn't wrecked it. Daniel got out and walked around to her side. He opened the car door and knelt by her. "Alright, listen. I'm going to help you get inside and tell them what happened. Well... Loosely." He scowled. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. Just don't tell them I'm a vampire, unless you want to end up in the mental ward for observation. What's your name?" He reached for her arm to sling it across his shoulders.

[birthright_npc]

Raven hair stuck to her features, she’d broken out in a cold sweat and the fight she’d felt before had lessened to an internal numbness. “It doesn’t matter.” She repeated his words when he asked her name. Whatever his reasons for attempting to be a saviour despite being the attacker, it certainly wasn’t for her benefit. Less than a minute ago he’d casually stated breaking her neck was an option if he so desired. Carefully she got out of the car.

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel rolled his eyes in frustration as he hefted her into his arms. He wanted to tell her not to be an idiot, to just let him handle it, since he caused the problem to start with. But it was useless. Maybe this was why more vampires didn't try the no-kill policy. It left a string of angry, emotionally damaged witnesses behind.

"Have it your way," he muttered. He walked her up the driveway and into the automatic doors.

"I need some help," he told the receptionist. "An animal bit her and I made it worse. I had peanut oil on my hand. She's allergic."

In a way, he thought, it was true. Pathetic and true.

He transferred the girl into a wheelchair that was rolled around the counter for her and lingered where he knelt for just a second. Daniel gulped. There was a feeling in his chest, like an ache. He hadn't felt it for a long time. It seemed a lot like guilt. But he didn't even know if that was possible for him. Maybe it was psychosomatic.

"I um. I'm really fucking sorry," he muttered and swiped a hand over his mouth. His palm tapped the arm of the wheelchair and then he was up and gone.

[birthright_npc]

The excuse given to the receptionist was at least honest and she sighed, “I didn’t get a good look at it.” She was alive, she was at the hospital, she was not going to run around screaming vampires because he was right. They’d lock her up. Why make matters worse for herself?

When he wheeled her around she didn’t expect him to get on his knees. In the harsh fluorescent light his features were that of the man she’d glimpsed at before. The friendly stranger with very normal eyes. No longer smiling though. The girl couldn’t be sure what emotion he felt just that he did. It conflicted with everything she felt but her hand went over his to still it on the arm of the chair. “I know.” She said quietly, then took her hand back. “I appreciate you taking me here.” It was the closest she could bring herself to saying well hey, thanks for not killing me. For some reason as he got up and walked off she had the feeling that both their lives would never quite be the same ever again.