dance for the devil, don't be shy » OPEN

[Xhevahire Gonzales]

Making sure she had a good grip on the end of the heavy, black trash bag, Xhevahire slung it over her shoulder, dragging the other one behind her as she made her way out the doorway. The night air that engulfed her once she stepped outside was warm and humid, though nice compared to the musky scent and all the body heat that surrounded her in the bar. She could barely see in the dark light, but with the help of the dim street light above her and a few months of doing this routinely, it was easy to find the dumpster. She swung the lid open, throwing the bags inside and dusting off her hands on her jeans afterwards. Folding her arms across her chest as she walked over to the back entrance, she froze, narrowing her eyes slowly.

"Xhevahire."

The voice was recognizable almost anywhere. She looked up from her feet, shaking her head slowly as Alec's tall, almost indimitating figure came into view. He was leaning against the brick wall, the smell of smoke reaching her nostrils after he took another drag of his cigarette. "Stay the fuck away from me, Alec," she hissed, not bothering to ask hm what he wanted. She already knew; it was always her pain, it was all he ever needed. She tried to squeeze past him through the doorway, though as expected, his hand reached out to grab her neck, pulling her closer with force. He slammed her - well, not necessarily 'slammed'. It was much more gentle than he could have done - against the wall, trapping her there with one of his hands while the other rested on her waist. "You're not going anywhere," he whispered into her ear, his breath hot on her neck.

[Archer Costa]

This town was too damn big.

Archer had been searching for God knows how long, and still couldn't find the idiota known as Zane Latoya. He knew Zane was here--Veronica had confirmed that. He shuddered. He hated dealing with the woman, she scared him.

His index and middle finger reached up, parting for a moment before coming together again around his cigarette. Cancer-sticks, as Zane used to call them. Softly, he snorted. He could smoke as many cancer-sticks as he wanted, thanks to that lovely little thing called immortality. At least, he was pretty sure it wouldn't hurt him. A shrug lifted Archer's shoulders, and he thought, I should ask someone about that some time.

The man found himself wandering in the dark. He was starving; he hadn't fed nor eaten anything (like "human food", as he called it now) in weeks. He was hoping to stumble upon some poor homeless fellow or something. He doubted that, though; the air was hot and sticky here, no sensible person--even with no place to go--would want to be out here for long. Or at least, in his opinion. Having come from a humid but cool area of Italy, he had been used more comfortable weather. The United States seemed to lack his favorite climate zone--especially here in Florida.

The scarf that was around his neck was seeing to it that sweat sprang to life from each and every pore. He pulled at it, wishing he'd left it at home. Why had he worn it in the first place--

He stopped dead in his tracks and pressed himself against a wall. A human girl. His eyes followed her, scanning her curiously. She obviously wasn't homeless--since she'd just walked out of that bar with a garbage bag, he was guessing she worked there. He raised his hand again, taking the cigarette from his mouth this time and flicking it. Smoke curled ominously away from his barely parted lips. Archer was frozen there long enough to hear the beginning of the confrontation. Curiously, he tilted his head to one side. However he didn't make a move yet; no. He just watched.

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[Xhevahire Gonzales]

"I don't have time for this," Xhevahire muttered, trying to push past him but stopping as he pressed his hand against her chest. 'I don't have time for this' - what the heck was that? She didn't have time to get raped or something? She shivered at the thought, knowing Alec would never do something like that. He might beat her and do worse to her, but the thought of it had never occured to her before. Hopefully that was because the idea was so out there, so impossible.... she shook her head, focusing back on reality.

She squirmed a bit, although she knew she had no chance of escaping. She let out a deep breath, knowing he couldn't do more damage to her right now than he had ever done. She froze, though, as his lips pressed against her neck, his fangs barely grazing the bruised skin. He had threatened to drink from her before many times, but she had always knew - or thought - that he could never be that crue;. It's always possible that she was wrong.

[Archer Costa]

Archer watched for a moment, his brow furrowed in confusion. So what was happening to this girl? Was this man just teasing her by being so close? He could tell that the other male was a vampire. Possibly stronger than him, possibly weaker. He wasn't sure from this distance. But the confrontation seemed to be unnerving the girl, and this sent a slight shiver down his own spine. Whether or not the woman (was she old enough to be called a woman? he wondered) was truly in danger or not, this whole scene was giving him the creeps.

Although he lived a life of violence every day, and had for the past--what was it now? Nineteen? Twenty?--er, many, years, he was still quite easily disturbed when it came to watching other people's violence unfold.

So out of the queasiness of his stomach, he stepped forward. Since he was standing in a more shadowed area, all one would be able to see was the gentle red glow of his cigarette, maybe the smoke, if it drifted into the light. His body, however, was just another black splotch against a tar-covered canvas.

"Lovely night, hmm?" he asked, his words directed at both human and vampire. "Beautiful, in fact. In Italian, you call it 'bella notte.' Now, I don't think you two would want to ruin this bella notte with something quite, well, not beautiful, eh?" His lilting tone carried only a slight Italian accent. "'Kay, no more small talk. Leave the girl alone, she seems innocent enough."

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