(no subject)

[blackirish]

It was a slow night in McKenna's and Mike had let the bartender and most of the waitstaff go early. There was no point in keeping them standing around when there wasn't any demand for them and they wouldn't make any tip money. He knew the business as well as anyone and he hadn't scheduled himself to work the Dive that night, so he put himself behind the bar instead.

Not that there was much to do there either, there were only three customers in the bar area and he had one waitress left to cover the tables. The prep work was all done and at this point unless there was a sudden flood of people all they'd need to do is put things away for the night. He looked up from his newspaper as the bell over the door rang, jostled by said door's movement as someone stepped in from the street.

[open thread]

Comments

[daniel_stacy]

‘Stepped’ was putting it lightly.

Daniel’s shoes skidded on the clean floor. Just as suddenly as he entered the pub, he reversed direction and threw his weight against the door, his fingers blurring in a mad scramble to turn the locks. From the sidewalk came the ferocious sound of barking and nails scratching on the wood.

“Holy shit!”

Daniel peered out a pane of glass.

[blackirish]

"What the hell?" Mike reached for the pistol he kept hidden under the bar and tucked it under his shirt as he came around to look at the cause of the disturbance. Whoever heard of wild dogs in urban Las Vegas? And attacking people at that!

"You all right kid?" The last thing he needed was someone bleeding all over his hardwood floors.

[daniel_stacy]

“Yeah, I’m fine I think.” Daniel put his back to the door. He wasn’t quite ready to step away from it yet, lest the guy get the bright idea to investigate. “Listen, you do not want to open this door.” He swiped his palms in the air. “Trust me.” The vampire looked down at his pant leg, where one of the dogs had torn the cuff.

In truth, those weren’t regular dogs. Daniel was no expert, but he would’ve put money on them being hell hounds: massive heads, scales instead of fur, bony protrusions that he mistook for spiked collars on first glance.

He stood up and straightened his shirt.

[blackirish]

Mike stared at the torn pant leg for a minute then shook his head. "This is nuts. What'd you do to get them after you? Tie a steak to your leg or something?" He started back toward the bar to use the phone. "I'll call the cops and have them deal with this."

[daniel_stacy]

“Ahhh.” Daniel rubbed his face. “You might not want to do that. They’re...,” he swallowed, “Big.” Actually, he was better equipped to deal with hell hounds than the cops, if only because they’d have to behead a vampire to do any real damage. Some guy in a badge could unload a clip in one and still get shredded. He probably shouldn’t care so much, as long as it wasn’t him getting mauled.

He peeked out the window again.

“Oh look, I think they’re leav—”

Rargh! Snap! Rargh!

Daniel jerked.

"Look, I'm gonna level with you, that's not your everyday canine."

[blackirish]

"No?" Mike turned and gave the younger man his full attention. "Then what is it?"

Mongrels at McKennas

[ghargreaves]

Gerald walked back into the bar from the restrooms, the calamitous racket at the door drawing his attention in the direction of the new arrival, the bar tender's body language telling him things were not as they were. The noise at the door confirmed it, and his brow creased at the sounds, a small hint of recognition on his face.

"I'd listen to him if I were you, Mike," he said to the man, staying back from the door until the man, one who was familiar to him, answered. "Go ahead, tell him what it is."

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel looked flustered. This was the part where the guy told him he was nuts, maybe shot him on principle. “Well, it’s a breed of hound,” he said. “From hell.” Satisfied that the solid wood door would hold, he moved into the pub with a little head nod at Gerald, whom he remembered from New Year’s eve. “What’s happening?”

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[blackirish]

Mike nodded in understanding at the professor and returned his attention to the younger man. He listened to the explanation a bit skeptically but he was familiar enough with the supernatural to know that not everything always made sense.

"All right. Hell hounds." He stared at Daniel, then the door, then back at Daniel. "Why are they after you?" And why did you pick my pub to hide in?

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[ghargreaves]

Gerald nodded his acknowledgement of Daniel's recognition, and once he was assured that Mike wasn't going to do something particularly silly, such as open the door to check on Daniel's claim, Gerald moved back to the chair he'd previously been sitting at, the scotch Mike had poured sitting in front of it on the bar.

He was also curious; firstly as to why the hellhound had been released, and secondly why it had taken such an intense interest in the 'young man'. He had his suspicions, and was intrigued as to whether his summation of the situation was accurate.

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[daniel_stacy]

"I was leaving the butcher shop. I guess they sniffed out the bag I was carrying." Daniel scrubbed his hands through his hair and made a royal mess of it. "I dropped it but they kept on coming." What did hell hounds want, anyway? If they were hungry, there were tastier morsels on the buffet than a skinny dead guy.

Outside, a woman screamed and a set of tires squealed as a car took off.

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[blackirish]

"Dammit." Mike ran a hand through his hair and stared at the door. There had to be something he could do to get this problem away from his business.

"So how do we get rid of the damn thing? It may be a slow night but I don't need customers turned into dog chow."

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[ghargreaves]

Gerald took a sip from his scotch and considered Mike's predicament. It was indeed a slow evening, and although he hadn't had much of a chance to chat with him, he ran an establishment that Gerald did feel was more his 'comfort level' than many of the establishments around the city.

"Well, it depends on which beast it is, really. Do either of you happen to have a crossbow handy?"

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[daniel_stacy]

“Dude, are you serious?” Daniel gave him an incredulous look. Back home in England, did people just walk around with crossbows or something? Maybe they did. Maybe he should.

“Nah,” he shook his head, “I don’t have anything like that, and what I do have, I don’t think will help in this situation.” He looked at the bartender. “By the way, it’s hounds. Two of ‘em.”

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[blackirish]

Mike muttered a few choice words in Vietnamese and scowled at Daniel. "Give me a good reason I shouldn't just toss you out to them? You've got to have something they want or they wouldn't be keeping after you."

He glanced between the two men. "I've got to check on my other customers and the staff. Figure something out or I'll figure it out for you."

Re: Mongrels at McKennas

[ghargreaves]

Watching the expression on Mike's face told Gerald the man meant what he said, and he looked at Daniel as the bar owner stalked off to see to the others.

"Well, this does leave us in a fine predicament," Gerald said, coming to stand beside the young man. "What did you do to draw their attention?" he asked, glancing at Daniel a little more closely than on New Year's eve. "Whatever it is, it's certainly raised their ire, as well as their hackles."