A Hunter, A Vampire, and A Scientist Walk In A Bar

[Deleted]

“Son of a bitch!” Sully got into her truck slamming the door shot. Her truck, Blue, shook and creaked, almost mewling at the abuse it was receiving from Sully’s hands. She didn’t stop there. She hit the steering wheel a few times for good measure. The horn blared into the silent night, almost as if her truck were screaming along with her.

Two over steroid induced, testosterone laden, werewolf wanna-be bouncers with no brains were standing off from where she’d just come from, staring at her. There was no judgment on their faces. Then again to have judgment she figured they’d have to have a working brain. Unfortunately they weren’t paid to think. They were paid to be bully’s and slaves to Gabe.

Gabe! That son of a bitch! She had paid him good money for information. Information he was supposed to deliver on tonight. Except when Sully had gotten there Gabe upped the ante. He didn’t just want money. He wanted Sully to sleep with him. Not that she had a problem with sex, but she wasn’t a whore. She didn’t offer herself up for trade. Besides she figured five thousand dollars was well worth the cost of a few bits of information. What the hell was Gabe playing at?

After going for his throat, Sully had been grabbed by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb standing in the distance and forcibly removed. Gabe had left her with a warning. If she came back she’d better be prepared to put out. Otherwise, Sully would be leaving the building in pieces. That set her blood on fire. That son of a bitch had been planning this all along. She’d seen the way he’d been leering at her the first time they met. She should have put a silver bullet through his heart then.

Gabe O’Malley did know how to get information though. Information Sully desperately needed. Or at the very least she desperately wanted. Gabe was an underground crime lord. He had his ways, Sully didn’t ask. She also didn’t kill him. Which apparently had been her first mistake. The son of a bitch had hit her to boot. The tang of blood still played on her tongue, even though he hit like a bitch. It was simply luck that the inside of her lipped snagged her tooth.

Pulling out of the deserted parking lot Sully whipped out her cell phone and made a call to an old contact. One that wasn’t particularly important but that usually knew the goings on around Albuquerque. If Sully good have avoided it, she never would have come back. Unfortunately it was the only place to start when it came to getting the information she wanted.

The contact gave Sully the name Harry Jensen. A witch that had been around, asking certain kinds of questions in all the right places. Apparently he could make ‘potions’ like no other. Sully was skeptical. However, according to the streets, the man was legit. He’d be able to help. Of course there would be a price, but when wasn’t there? The best place to find him, was a quiet Pub off of Main Street, called McGinley’s. Sully thanked her contact and hung up.

It was still early in the night. If this Harry was any kind of drinker he’d still be there. Sully pulled a u-turn and headed back towards town. One way or another she was going to get her answers. It didn’t take her long and she pulled around back to park at the pub. Sully hated places that had parking in back…it didn’t exactly make things safe for people. Not that she couldn’t take care of herself, but Sully knew better than most what lurks in the dark shadows.

Checking to make sure she had everything, Sully pulled on her brothers old army jacket and double checked the placement of her weapons before getting out of the truck. She walked down the alley between McGinley’s and an old thrift store, stopping in her tracks when she saw a man standing there, pressed up against the women, his teeth were sank deeply into her neck as he pulled blood from her body.

Seriously, can my night get any worse? Is it the fates? Are they bound and determined to piss me off with every step I take?

Sully pulled her gun, knowing they had no effect on vampires, but not having much of a choice. “Hey!” She yelled calling for his attention. “Fang face, you picked the wrong night to get a warm, skanky, whore meal down a dark alley.”

[n]

Nicholas, as a rule, didn’t feed on humans. Only if they were willing, and even then he felt the need to warn them that it did hurt. He wasn’t going to lie to them, or try to convince them to do him a favour. However, tonight, was one of those few times he got lucky. He had been sitting in one of the pubs, intending to have a quick beer before he went out hunting (that was, to find cattle of some sort), when she approached him.

“You here alone?”

Not much of a chat up line if that was her plan, but Nicholas gave a soft chuckle, nodding to the seat opposite him in reply. It wouldn’t hurt to have a bit of company he guessed, and she seemed friendly enough, if not perhaps a bit shy. She gave him a small smile, before sliding into the seat opposite him. He took another swig of beer, leaning forward to be able to talk to her over the music.

“Name’s Nicholas,” he told her, stretching out a hand.

She took it, offering her name in return, “Miranda, but, well, you can call me Mirrie.”

It went from there. Nicholas hardly remembered what they talked about, but she had a way of getting past his barriers. The beer fresh in his system relaxed him slightly. Still, beer was no substitute for blood, and there came a point when he needed to excuse himself. She asked why, and the truth slipped from him. She was sweet, he couldn’t lie to her. Maybe it was for her own good, this way she’d think he was crazy and leave him. Nicholas wasn’t the most safe of people. Despite the fact he was a vampire, he also had a lot of people after him that could hurt those he was close to.

What he hadn’t expected was for her to put forward a certain...proposal. She knew the supernatural existed, but was far from a hunter, from the look of it. She told him that she had a feeling he wasn’t human, and that was what had drawn her to him. Well, she was very odd then. You find out someone is a vampire, shouldn’t the first instinct be to run?

He hadn’t tasted human blood in a long while, and since she was offering, pain or otherwise, he took her up on it. As they left, he put a tip on the bar for whichever bartender came to pick it up. Nicholas was really hungry, but they couldn’t make a scene in the bar. They needed to find somewhere mostly private. So the alleyway they stumbled across seemed perfect. Backing her up against the wall, Nicholas let his fangs drop...lengthening canines, as opposed to a second set of teeth.

She shivered slightly, looking a bit uncertain now, but all the same she held still and tilted her neck to allow him access to her throat. Nicholas didn’t waste time, his hands enclosing around her wrists and pinning her to the wall. If she flinched, it could be dangerous from her. Nick was aware just how easy it was to puncture the vein wrong, or for his fangs to slice into the windpipe. He had killed someone that way a long time ago, before he knew how to control himself.

She gave a groan of surprise when his fangs slid in, tensing, a pained look on her face. In the back of his mind Nicholas wondered why she would do it to herself. If she told him to stop, he would, otherwise, he didn’t intend to take too much blood anyway.

“Fang face, you picked the wrong night to get a warm, skanky, whore meal down a dark alley.”

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, taking his time as his fangs slid out, licking the residual blood from them and turning to face the newcomer. The woman clung to him, before turning to face the stranger too, and glaring at her. Before Nicholas could say anything himself, she was speaking for him.

“I am not a whore,” she growled bitterly, “And I offered him my blood, so why don’t you put that gun away.”

Nicholas switched their positions, pushing the woman forward towards the other end of the alleyway, “It’s ok, let me handle this. Go get yourself a drink inside, and I’ll join you in a few. The marks will heal.”

The fang marks on her throat were no longer even bleeding. The woman eyed the newcomer, but then nodded to Nicholas and left. Now it was Nicholas who turned, not caring about the gun at all. It wouldn’t kill him. If this woman was a hunter, she should have known better.

“She wasn’t lying,” Nicholas informed the stranger casually, before nodding to the gun, “And that? Will do little good. I don’t want to hurt you, and you know I’m more than capable of doing so.”

He had his own gun holstered, but he didn’t need that. Letting his fangs slide back and become normal again, he started walking closer to her, his eyes never leaving her. The blood that was pumping fast through his veins helped him feel a power surge. Hypnotism. He hadn’t used it for a while, but he didn’t want to get rusty. This was perfect practice, and allowed a non-violent way out of this situation.

“You will put that gun down,” his voice became huskier, more enchanting, as he didn’t break gaze, “Walk away. Just walk away. Nothing ever happened here. Remember that.”

He wasn’t sure if it’d work. There were those people, few and far between, that were simply too resistant to the power. But Nicholas managed it with most people, and even those that were supernatural. He felt the power start to drain his energy supply. He really should have taken more blood to be able to deal with this fully. Or, drank from someone that was supernatural or had powers of some sort.

[henryjekyll]

It had been a long day for him. A long day indeed. He was considering getting out of this moth-bitten hole of a town some time soon, Maybe even move back to the south again. He had liked the south, there were darker things the deeper you went into places like Louisiana. He fitted there, or at least more than the rest of the world he'd found. He hadn't been to Sweet-home-Louisiana in many years now, never staying in one place long enough. His name, and his hair colour were well known by all the wrong people across this area and although you might think hair colour was an odd thing to recall, it was very distinctive on him: The pale, Flame haired witch who looked about as at-home in America as a black man at a KKK meeting. But he had things here he had not yet taken care of, and another month to go before he could up-route from the flat he was living in. The rent was paid until then, So it was sheer luck and good timing that Sully had decided to seek him now.

Today had been a bad day due to a run in earlier that he hadn't quite been prepared for. He'd been chasing whatever-it-had-been for days across the landscape, and it had been one step ahead of him every step of the way. When he finally found it earlier today it hadn't been what he had expected. What he had thought to be a wendigo had turned out to be an Abassy. A lesser form of Demon with Iron teeth. That had been very unpleasant. Thankfully 152 years of life had given him the time to be book learned enough to know what it was and how to deal with it. It had been quite a fight, leaving Henry with multiple savage bite marks and a few bruises, but the Abssay was who came out the worst. He had been very surprised at the time in fact, Since Abassy's usually travelled in packs of 7, at all times, so however this one had ended up alone and wandering the backwoods he had no idea. He thanked his lucky stars though, because no way did he carry enough ammunition to deal with 7 of them.

Once that had been dealt with he figured he'd earned himself a drink or 13, and had driven directly to this particular bar. He always came here, it was quiet and better still it housed the unusual. No one knew what he was in there true but it was not your usual little pub, the locals usually purposefully avoided it. He could sit in the corner, alone, and no one would join him, and he could subtly bandage his wounds without drunken ass-holes wandering up to him to see what he was doing. No one here did that. He pulled his sleek black jaguar up into the side drive and parked, taking a moment to wipe any visable blood off his face and arms. Most of the bites had been on his arms and he had since managed to change his black jacket for a spare to cover the damage.

Locking his car behind him, Henry wandered across the dimly lit car park that was all-but-near empty and checked his inner jacket pocket where he kept various thin Vials in a pocket, sealed of course. They were shatter proof glass for a reason- which he had had to learn the hard way before he started using it. He then moved his hand to his belt like and checked his discrete silver knife was still in his place. Lastly he checked he had his wallet on him. As he approached the door, a fairly pretty lady rushed past him heading inside, covering her neck as he looked at her. He noticed the bite marks before she was able to hide them and frowned. He knew Vampire bites when he saw them. Trailing from the front step he cautiously made his way around the side of the building and peered down the alleyway at the scene.

His fingers side to the knife at his belt, sliding it into his hand. The Smooth engraving of Holy Latin and decorative crucifix's graced his fingers as he gripped it tightly and began down the narrow pathway behind Nicholas, silent, blending well with the surrounding dark. He surveyed Lane Sullivan's face for a second, before he heard Nicholas speak, watched him in his mannerism which were all enough for Henry to come to the conclusion as to which of them was the blood sucker.

"Nothing ever happened here. Remember that."

His hand gripping the Knife fell on Nicholas's shoulder, with the silver blade held up to his throat but not yet touching him, Henry Standing directly behind him. He narrowed his blue eyes a little.

"I strongly suggest you do not use that tone of voice in this vicinity, Nosferatu. It is not an appreciated one."

He waited, expecting retaliation. All the vampires he had ever run into were not friendly, had not been pleasant, and were nothing like Edward Cullen. What a load of Romantic bollocks that was! He'd dusted a fair amount of them in his time, he'd been bitten too, very much unwillingly so he knew what these 'creatures' were capable of. He knew how quickly this Vampire could move if he wanted too, so he was not taking his guard off any time soon. His hand gripped a little tighter on the grip of his knife, tense for another fight.

Sure, He didn't want another fight, and especially not with a blood sucker. He was still weak and injured from The Abassy run-in, and he was sure the Vampire could smell that on the air, was probably tempting for him too. It was a pity these creatures were such savages, they were fascinating and had been the subject of much research to Henry, but for all his knowledge from books he knew from personal experience that they were usually all batting for evil, and complete hooligans.

[Deleted]

The vamps gaze set on her own and Sully felt funny. Compulsion hit her in the gut, and for a moment she wanted to agree with him. Seriously what had she been thinking? Nothing happened. There was nothing to see. Sully wanted to put her gun down. Something in the back of her mind told her that wasn’t right. This wasn’t right.

Something had happened. What was it? Why did she not want to remember? It couldn’t have been anything horrible. Sully was standing, whole, and in one piece. It was as if a fog had settled into her mind and she couldn’t quite remember what she was supposed to be doing. There was something she was supposed to know. It was right there at the front of her brain. All she had to do was grasp it.

That’s when she noticed the other man come up behind the vampire and stick a knife to his throat. Light glinted off the knife and realization suddenly hit Sully like a slap in the face. She staggered back a step, the fog lifting from her mind, only to be replaced by a rush of anger. Ohhhh she wanted her machete. It was in the truck.

And who the hell was this stranger? Sully was not a damsel in distress that needed rescuing. She would have broken the hold from the vamps gaze on her own. At least she thought she would have. Okay so maybe the guy had perfect timing, but Sully wasn’t going to admit that to him. Or herself. Or anyone else. Nope, Sully had the situation under control from beginning to end. This new guy just came in and stuck her toes.

“That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” She muttered to herself quietly enough that they couldn’t hear. Even if they did they’d have no idea what she was talking about. They’d probably right her off as crazy. Holstering her gun, Sully walked over to the two men and threw her fist into the vampires gut.

“You tried to hypnotize me,” She seethed into his ear. “That was the wrong move pal.” She struck him in the gut again and then looked past him to the red haired man with an accent who was stealing her thunder. “Who the hell are you?”

[n]

Of course Nicholas sensed someone behind him in the alley. He could hear them easily enough, with how attuned he was. He simply didn’t think to turn and acknowledge them, and his brain was going fuzzy with using his power. It was taking his strength to focus fully on that. As the knife fell near his throat however, his fangs lowered again, gaze darkening. What was it with people and threatening him? He had done nothing wrong, and the only thing Nicholas wanted was to be human again. He didn’t enjoy what he was, but he lived with it, was that a crime?

"I strongly suggest you do not use that tone of voice in this vicinity, Nosferatu. It is not an appreciated one."

“I strongly suggest you remove that knife before I hurt you,” Nicholas replied, mimicking the stranger’s words, as he caught scent of his blood on the air, “You’re injured, old man, and I don’t wish you anymore harm. Walk away now.”

He tensed, considering moving to snap the stranger’s wrist, or twist it away, but he didn’t. The difference was, Nicholas wasn’t the average vampire. He could hurt both of these people so easily, even shoot them with the gun he had in his pocket, but he didn’t. What did that show? Surely it was enough to prove that at least he wasn’t the same as other vampire savages. However, if it came to it, he would protect himself. Nicholas just hoped the guy behind him had the sense not to try and use the knife.

His hypnotism seemed to break on the woman, and he was too drained to pick it back up again. If he tried more, it would only result in leaving himself weaker. As it was, he had two potential threats facing him, and he’d rather keep his strength. As the woman walked near him, he kept her eye contact, the hypnotism no longer in his gaze. What he hadn’t expected was for her to hit him. He winced slightly, given that she was a good shot, but the emotion barely showed.

“You tried to hypnotize me.”

“For your own good,” Nicholas replied in a low growl, “Why can’t you people just leave us alone? For 400 years I haven’t killed a single human, or harmed anyone that didn’t offer. You think its easy getting by on animal blood?”

As she hit him again, his fist curled, mentally telling himself it was wrong to hit a woman back. He sure felt like it right now. Instead, he kept his calm, talking again, “I didn’t want to hurt you. You know as well as I do that instead of hypnotising you, I could have simply snapped your neck.”

He was really struggling to hold back, but he wouldn’t change his nature now. He wasn’t going to give in and become like all the other vampires. That would just prove all hunters right, that vampires should be killed, and couldn’t resist urges. Still forcing a calm, he kept his focus on both of them at once. He wasn’t sure how to get through to them without hypnotism, and he didn’t want to resort to violence, but if they left him no choice he would go down that path.

“I’m telling the truth. Not all vampires are alike. That woman...Mirrie...is alive, I can control myself.”

[henryjekyll]

*His blue eyes scanned Lane with a look of disgust but he had not meant it, he merely was not impressed with how she was talking to him, considering he was doing her a favour here and dealing with the vampire. He raised a brow as she beat on the blood sucker and took his knife away, stepping back and watching the unusual scene. Normally when He'd come across a woman and a vampire the woman had been in distress, usually the meal of the vampire but this did not seem to be the case. How odd.

He frowned as she addressed him like he'd just interrupted her honeymoon and tilted his head slightly, before the Vampire spoke to him. Which he did not approve of. not just because of his words, or because he addressed him as 'old man' but also because he knew the vampire knew he was injured, and could smell the open wounds on him, fresh and still glittering with un-dried blood. This made him uncomfortable, and not just because of how sore the wounds were. He didn't like that this creature could smell him, could probably taste his blood on the air. That made him feel sick for a moment. He kept his blade tightly in his grasp as he watched the vampire take hits, Wondering why he was taking it in the first place. He then looked to Sully Once she was done beating on him.

"Harry Jensen, Is who I am."

He then turned his head toward the vampire as he heard his last claim and laughed at it. All Vampires were the same, blood thirsty animalistic creeps. He'd dusted enough of them to understand that. None of them had had any redeeming features worthy of his mercy. He'd not even faltered for a second before he'd sent them packing for the afterlife. Why would this one be any different?

"Holding off or not, You're still the same blood sucking bastard all the others are! Now I suggest you run along..."

No matter what Sully thought, he had seen the effect it had taken over her, and knew that if he just left her here this Vampire might have a hold. And he assumed he wanted too as well, assumed he was as bad as the rest because he'd never been given a demonstration of anything other than Evil vampires. Any move from this one would result in hi knife in it's gut, or throat, or heart...Assuming he was fast and good enough not to be pinned.

For a second he ponded if this woman even knew what he was dealing with, because if she did she might not be hitting him like she was. What did punches do to a vampire? Near nothing! It hurt them like pinches hurt humans, annoying and painful but nothing incapacitating. Fair - he might have tried his glamour on her but that was no reason to antagonise a vampire any further.

[Deleted]

Sully looked back and forth between the two. A vampire with a hypnotic gaze and guy who was supposed to be able to help her with her little problem. Well now wasn’t this convenient. Normally Sully wouldn’t dream of teaming up with a vampire. Okay even as the thought was forming in her head, she knew it was a bad idea.

Eyeing the red haired man Sully raised a brow. Harry Jensen, the man who was supposed to be able to help her with her little problem. Except what if he couldn’t? What if the word on the street was wrong, or not exactly accurate? She looked back to Nick, the gears in her mind spinning and turning. It was giving her a headache. The whole damn situation was giving her a headache.

“Rock and hard place,” She muttered to herself before looking at the vampire. It was true. He could have snapped her neck. Sully had walked down an alley completely unprepared. She hadn’t been on a hunt. She’d just been looking for information and low and behold, vamptastically surprised.

Putting her gun away, Sully looked at the both of them. Normally Sully would just kick both their asses and be on her way. Sully had a pocket knife. If she had to resort to cutting slowly and painfully through his neck she could have done it. She wasn’t naïve. Not for one minute did she buy him not being like other vampires, but it was because of that knowledge she could be prepared.

“Gentlemen,” She said cordially, letting a small smile tug at her lips. “Obviously there’s been some sort of misunderstanding. Why don’t let me buy the both of you a drink. I think we may have a few things to talk about.”

Without waiting to see if they followed, Sully made her exit out of the alley. She figured Harry would come. He seemed like someone who was intrigued by the unknown. The vampire, well she wasn’t sure about him. If he didn’t follow there wasn’t much she could do except for find him later and hunt his ass down. At the moment though she needed answers, and short of selling her soul, there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do to get it.

When Sully reached the corner of the building she peeked back around the corner at them. “Well boys, are you coming? Or are you going to let a girl drink alone?”

[n]

"Holding off or not, You're still the same blood sucking bastard all the others are! Now I suggest you run along..."

“And I suggest you see to those wounds before they get infected...wouldn’t want that, would we?” the sarcasm layered his voice with a hint of anger, as he moved suddenly, in seconds putting distance between himself and the other two.

Nicholas couldn’t be blamed for the comment...not really. What sort of attitude do you expect him to display towards a guy who had pulled a knife on him before? This guy was just lucky Nicholas didn’t take a swing at him, since every instinct told him to. His fist was curled, but by moving away he figured he was stopping himself from doing something he would regret. His anger would only lead to more aggression, and that road never ended well. Fury had a tendency to spur on his blood lust too.

Noticing the woman look between them both, Nicholas frowned at her, and it was perhaps the only reason he didn’t turn and leave. What was she thinking? It was almost like she was planning, or working something out in her head.

“Rock and hard place.”

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, “Someone let you out of the lunatic asylum a bit too early, hmm? You know talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, right?”

He watched as she put her gun away, and addressed them both, but her next words confused him more. Maybe she was mentally unstable. Normal people also (talking to oneself aside) don’t hit someone then offer them a drink, do they? All he knew was that he wouldn’t pass up on a free drink and, hell, he deserved it. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Well boys, are you coming? Or are you going to let a girl drink alone?”

Nicholas made a split second decision, moving with the same eerie speed, and arriving beside the woman in a second. He made sure not to stay too close, content to stay with her walking pace. However, he wasn’t going to leave her alone. Don’t accept drinks from strangers, and all that. He just wanted to be sure she didn’t try what hunter’s had tried in the past – slipping dead man’s blood into drinks wasn’t fun. Then again, he wasn’t even sure she was a hunter.

“Lead the way.”

[henryjekyll]

He growled a little to the vampires comment about his wounds, tempting to stab him in the throat there and then and have done with it. Fuck him, he was nothing but a walking dead man anyway to Henry. He flinched as Nicholas drew away from him with that same vampiric speed that had caused him so much injury in the past and glared at him down the alleyway.

Then he heard the offer of a drink from the woman, and raised an eyebrow. A drink? This night was getting more and more unexpected as it went on. First Abassy's, well one, and now Vampires and some woman offering him a drink whom, from the looks of her, he was assuming to be a hunter. She knew that Vampires really existed. She had to be. He'd never seen her before in her life and as far as he'd been aware no other hunters were operating in this Area, so she must have been here specifically for a reason.

He watched her go inside, and the comment made about letting a lady drink alone. Of course he would not allow that to happen, it was not in his upbringing. You never disappoint a lady if you classed yourself as any sort of Gentleman. Which Henry did. He sighed, sheathing his blade back in the belt line where it belonged and moved after Nicholas.

He did not like this vampire, not a single bit. Because of what he was, sure, Henry was a little prejudiced but with a sordid history like Henry's it was not a surprise, and nor could you really blame him. He had had a time with the Nazi's, which made him very judgemental over majorities, and then he was a hunter, and had dusted a fair few Vampires. Enough to know he didn't like them.

None the less it seemed he was stuck in a situation that included socialising with this one, when frankly he might liked to have stabbed it. He grimaced to the idea that he currently had human blood circulating his body. That disgusted him. He stepped up into the pub, HIS pub he might add. the one he always went too and was now being hounded by a Vamp and a Mad lady! Madder than him if she was inviting a Vampire to drink with her. Them.

He moved with them but ignored them and ordered his usual drink at the bar, which was fine scotch whiskey. He always drank it, because it burnt and he liked the taste. He didn't talk or look at the two he was supposedly with but he kept himself between the Vampire and Sully, occasionally getting the urge for his knife when he heard the Vampire speak his order.

He turned to the girl once his drink was in his hand and tilted his head. She was much prettier in the light, even though it was still dimly lit in here. One of those old country road pubs you didn't often get in the USA. It didn't detracted from the fact he thought she was mad though. This light made his red hair shimmer a fiery orange, contrasting so much from his steel blue eyes.

He wanted to tell her to leave, that she had no place being here and nor did the vampire, because this pub was very much a small town pub and no place for visitors. He wanted to tell the Vampire than that he did her. He didn't want to get mixed up with other hunters but more than that he didn't want to get friendly with the very things that he usually hunted.

"Remind me why we're in here drinking together, aside from common manners?"

[Deleted]

“Lead the way.”

Sully tensed with the vampire first appeared beside her. The first instinct was to force dead man’s blood down his throat and then cut his head off. It really was the simplest solution, especially after catching him sucking blood from that girl. Sully didn’t really care if she was a willing donor or not. She was probably some naïve little twit that had daddy issues and was looking for attention and affection from anything that was male and walking on two legs.

They walked into the pub and Sully headed straight for the bar. Sully wasn’t exactly sexy, but really men were easy when it came to a woman with long legs and breasts. Well provided they were straight or at least bi. Sully never put stupidity past people, supernatural or not. It was as if the brain spans of every living creature were slowly dwindling. Still, right now Sully needed something and one, if not both of these men could potentially help her.

The bartender quickly complied with her order of a Jack and Coke, and Sully turned to face the people, resting her back against the wood of the bar, elbows resting on the surface as she idly sipped her drink, formulating how she was going to do this and how what the hell she had to offer either of these men.

"Remind me why we're in here drinking together, aside from common manners?"

Well no time like the present to be shoved into the situation she supposed. Bringing the small glass to her lips again, Sully took another sip of her drink, buying time. What she was doing was really stupid. Beyond stupid. Possibly insanely stupid. Bargaining with a vampire and a witch. Good times. Really.

“Operation this will most likely end badly is a go,” She muttered to herself again before shaking her head and taking another sip of her drink.

“Well since I’ve opted not to kill either of you at the moment, I figure we might be able to do a little bit of business.” She watched both of them out of the corner of her eyes. Even as she was saying the words Sully couldn’t believe they were coming out of her mouth. “Well of course that is if you gentlemen are interested.”

A slow, dark smile spread across her lips as she watched for any change in body language between the two. For all she knew the whole thing in the alley could have been a set up. The vamp could be the witches dog so to speak. Word travels fast on the street and if people knew that Sully was looking for Harry, well it was possibly that Harry knew Sully was looking for him. This whole thing could have been a ruse to sniff her out.

“Of course if you prefer we could go back into the alley and finish what we started,” She told them both nonchalantly. “I can guarantee you I’ll be the only one walking away from that though. At least this way, maybe we all walk away a live and then we never have to see each other again.”

[n]

Nicholas didn’t speak a word either, taking a seat at the bar, after noticing the other man had placed himself between them both. A smirk played on his features, as he considered it. Wouldn’t do much good. With the speed Nicholas could move at, he could quite easily be beside the woman before the other man could go for his knife. Still, Nicholas glanced at the bartender, giving his order of gin and tonic, and stopped short. A look of recognition crossed his face, and he gave a relaxed grin.

“Well, I had no idea you worked here."

The man returned his gaze, and gave a small laugh, “Oh, James, right? I owe you man, drinks are on me. You and your friends don’t need to pay.”

“My friends?” Nicholas glanced at the two that smirk still in place, “Oh, I’m not that sure they are. They can pay.”

The other man laughed again, “Still the joker, right? I’ll go get your drinks.”

Nicholas blinked – how had that been a joke? He had been deadly serious. The guy didn’t know him that well, hence the fact of the name ‘James’; one of his many fake ones. Speaking of names, he remembered the male introducing himself as Harry, but he had no idea about the identity of the female. Was it the place to inquire or not? They were in more than an odd situation right now.

"Remind me why we're in here drinking together, aside from common manners?"

Nicholas directed his gaze back towards the woman, since she was the one with that answer. He sensed she had a reason for inviting them here. She was plotting something, so he assumed. Why else would she be acting so strange? Unless his first guess was right, and she had been let out of the mental asylum too early. That idea amused him, and part of him hoped it was true. Most of the people he knew were fairly crazy anyway, so she wouldn’t make an exception. Then again, apart from the label imposed by society, there was no clear cut definition of normal. Nicholas remembered arguments in the past, where it actually classed as a mental illness for a ‘slave to have the “irrational” desire to escape from his/her master.’ Go figure. Mental illness being used as a means of social control.

When their drinks arrived, he took a gulp, feeling the taste contrast with the blood from earlier.

“Well since I’ve opted not to kill either of you at the moment, I figure we might be able to do a little bit of business.”

Nicholas couldn’t help it, he laughed. He didn’t even need words, his expression said enough. This woman, as far as he was concerned, was full of it. He highly doubted, from her previous actions, she would be able to kill him. She had drawn a gun, then hit him. Neither would kill. Did she even know how to kill vampires? He studied her curiously as the laughter subsided, taking another sip of his drink, and swigging it back. This should be interesting.

“Depends what the nature of the business is, and what I can get out of it,” he replied, simply. He would usually not consider charging – he had everything he needed – but this woman hadn’t been too friendly to him before.

“I can guarantee you I’ll be the only one walking away from that though. At least this way, maybe we all walk away a live and then we never have to see each other again.”

“You really must be mental to say that,” he raised an eyebrow.

[henryjekyll]

He frowned, hearing Nicholas' words as to not being his friend and paying. It wasn't the paying that mattered to him, his wealth was impressive enough to afford him near anything, but it was the obvious and brash display of rudeness and aggression that those words gave. He narrowed blue eyes at him over his shoulder. 'James'...Yeah right, if he knew anything he knew this: Any man that walked into this pub did not use his real first name. Ever, especially not to the staff. People came in here looking for people, looking for word, so anyone who gave their real name in here was a bloody damned fool.

He watched the bar tender laugh off his comment, and knew then that the man had no idea who or what the thing sitting on the chair was. If he did, he might not have assumed him to be a funny man. He'd not seen Nicholas in here before, which either meant the vampire was not a usual customer, or chose his nights wisely to come in here. This was a hunters place, so he was foolish in Henry's books to be in here.

He watched Nicholas drink with some distaste in his eyes, obviously feeling it was being wasted on him. What right was a vampire drinking good liquor, in his pub? He was a blood sucker, and that was it. Until this moment though he had not really given Nicholas a proper look over, he took a second while Sully was talking to scan him, note everything about him and categorise it in his thoughts. He'd seen a lot of Vampires in his time, they were a relatively common pest in the states, much akin to rats, but never had he seen one quite as - well - attractive.

A flash of attraction passed his blue eyes but only for a second before his stony steel blue returned to its usual frozen emotional gaze. Even if he did find the vampire attractive, he was still disgusted by him. He assured himself that the attraction was to the looks of the man as he might have been when he was a human, instead of a blood sucker, and turned back to Sully as she finished her sentence.

“Well since I’ve opted not to kill either of you at the moment, I figure we might be able to do a little bit of business.”

His eyebrow arched at her as he heard that statement. Had he been less of a man he might have laughed in her face like the vampire had done, but he held it in and kept his face near-blank save for his frown. His jaw clenched a little. He doubted She was a match for him, let alone his worst half. Hyde would rape, enjoy the screaming, and then slaughter her like an animal. He knew he would because he recalled every time Hyde had done it to others in the past. That was his curse - he always remembered, like seeing himself possessed.

The Vampire shouldn't be laughing either, Hyde would probably do the same thing to him as well. He kept quiet for the moment, listening to the vampire speak...

“Depends what the nature of the business is, and what I can get out of it,”

Certainly won't be blood, you fiend, passed his mind. He didn't like the tone the Vampire was striking up either. Cocky, much alike the woman's. These monsters and hunters seemed to be getting larger and larger ego's these days. He didn't feel it necessary to interject his own 'Yeah right, I'd floor the both of you' comment, but he thought it. He'd killed Vampires before, he knew they were speedy but he was well trained and more importantly well equipped, and as for a female hunter - well.

She was nothing to him. He'd killed an Abassy tonight: A steel-toothed demon of the nasty variety, so a little girl thinking she was Xenia wasn't going to be much of a problem. However he had no intention of hurting her. His alliance was to good. He'd done too much evil in his life not to stay on that path...else he damned his soul further.

“I can guarantee you I’ll be the only one walking away from that though. At least this way, maybe we all walk away a live and then we never have to see each other again.”

“You really must be mental to say that,”

"I'm not staying here for a bitch-off between a blood sucker and a little girl who thinks she's warrior barbie. I do not have time to indulge people in their little life fantasies."

This 'my guns bigger than your gun' fight was grating on him, and he was quickly getting tired of it. In all honesty he was not that interested in doing business, Money was not an issue for him and he doubted she had anything else he wanted. Plus, he was not willing to work with a vampire. He did not know too much about vampires besides how to kill them, and despite the fact he was deeply interested in studying one he had never met a willing, or even civil enough blood sucker to lay on his table and be studied.

However, he had heard on the vine that a woman would be looking for him some time soon, but that was all he knew. This might not be her and he was not about to announce what he was to her in case she wasn't. If She was, she could tell him he was a witch...then he might listen. Until then, He assumed she was not. He took his drink, raising it in fair-well salute to her before turning, half glaring in warning at the vampire and wandered over to his still-unoccupied and relatively private corner cubical and sat down. This had been an irritating start to an evening he had hoped to be peaceful after that fucking Abassy!

[Deleted]

The grin still played on Sully’s face. This was working out exactly the way she wanted to so far. Sully was boasting about herself for the simple fact she knew that it would make both men take her less seriously. The more harmless or crazy they thought she was the better. It meant that if things did go wrong, they would most likely underestimate her, giving Sully the edge she would need to survive this catastrophic situation she was creating for herself.

When Nicholas accused her of being mental, Sully simply widened her grin and shrugged, not answering either way, but rather letting Nicholas decide for himself. It was easier to let them make their own conclusions rather than decide for them. It left a bit wiggle room.

"I'm not staying here for a bitch-off between a blood sucker and a little girl who thinks she's warrior barbie. I do not have time to indulge people in their little life fantasies."

Sully raised a brow and watched him wander over to his table. Well, well, well, someone had an attitudinal problem. Harry seemed to have a short fuse. If they didn’t get to the heart of the problem with a quickness he seemed to storm off like a petulant child. That was definitely good to know. Her contact hadn’t mentioned temper tantrums.

Ladies and gentlemen to my left an over confident vampire who things I’m insane and to my right, a moody little witchy bitch who may or may not be able to help me with my little problem. Don’t I have all the luck?

The table wasn’t that far off and the bar itself wasn’t very crowded. Sully felt dirty as hell dealing with two people that she’d should have killed on a site. She was a hunter, but she was stooping low to get the information she needed. Sully had no doubt that the world would be better off without these two characters, but unfortunately she needed them. Gabe had a lot of muscle and if she went in guns blazing she was likely to get killed.

Sully’s smile turned impish. “Really? The word on the street was that someone with your…” She trailed a moment looking for the right words. She didn’t think outing him as a witch in the middle of the pub would be the smartest thing to do, though it was likely that most if not all of the people already knew he was some kind of dealer, even if they didn’t know what his poison was. “Unique abilities would be able to help me.” She sipped her drink casually and shrugged. “Apparently that information was faulty, though, huh Harry? A man like you wouldn’t be able to deal with wolves if your life depended on it huh?”

The atmosphere in the bar seemed to immediately change as everything went hushed. Sully figured one of two things were about to happen. Harry was either going to throw another tantrum and possibly show Sully a bit of what he had in his arsenal by taking it out on her, or…well she wasn’t really sure about the or.

Sully leaned back against the bar casually and looked at Nicholas.
“Looks like I had some luck running into you then.” She went on acting as though nothing had changed. “And I can definitely make it worth your time.” She held out her hand to the vampire. “Names Jenna Morgan.”

[n]

The woman did seem mental. In fact, his statement just made her grin. Apparently it wasn’t an insult to be called insane, these days. It appeared that the other guy, Harry, hadn’t said much up until now, although from what Nicholas grasped by studying him...he also thought the woman was a bit out of her league. Actually, the guy was different, and it bothered Nicholas. He wasn’t sure in what way, but he had the sense Harry wasn’t fully human. He caught perhaps a difference in blood. Maybe he was just making things up.

"I'm not staying here for a bitch-off between a blood sucker and a little girl who thinks she's warrior barbie. I do not have time to indulge people in their little life fantasies."

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, far from insulted by that comment. He had heard worse names for his kind before. He got used to living with the fact that people, or certain people, were against him, or would take a disliking to what he was. As the guy turned away from them towards the booth, glaring at Nicholas, Nicholas raised his own glass with a cheerful smirk in return. It was almost taunting. Still, a part of him dwelled on the fact the guy was injured. He wasn’t evil. He did feel some concern for the other man.

“Names Jenna Morgan.”

As she stated she could ‘make it worth [his] time’, Nicholas took her hand and shook it, offering his own fake name, “James Joyce, pleasure to meet you.” It went smoothly. It was clearly a load of bollocks, but he was a good liar. Years of practice and all. He settled back, nodding to her, in suggestion that she should continue and tell him what she had to offer, and what she wanted. He could do with some spare cash, although he was open to negotiation. Plus, he wanted to know what the job was, or the business she referred to. Then, he held up a hand, suddenly changing his mind.

“One second.”

Moving over to Harry, Nicholas folded his arms over his chest, staring at the other man, “I think you should listen to what the lady has to say, its good manners. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. For what it’s worth, you should really let a doctor take a look at your wounds.”

There, he was being civil. To both of them. That was his good guy act for the day. If they didn’t return the favour, he’d just give up, and let it all be business. Deep down Nicholas was a good guy – or so he thought. Moving back to Jenna, he waited for her to continue now, not interrupting again.


(sorry it's so bad, and short - but I want to update my posts before Uni so I'm not holding you guys up! I'll try and make my next post a lot better, or edit this one if you want. Let me know if this doesn't work.)

[henryjekyll]

"...Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. For what it’s worth, you should really let a doctor take a look at your wounds.”

He tensed the moment Nicholas approached him, his body visually becoming more stiff as blue eyes locked on him. He noted how handsome he was a second time and swallowed, now unable to deny it was just the 'if he were mortal' factor. He'd had a brief meeting once with a man he later had found to be a Vampire...an old one, and the only other one he had tolerated. But that had been a good 30-40 years a go now and all other encounters had been unpleasant, so he judged on the majority. He listened to him speak and frowned to the genuine sound of worry on the man's voice. his hand went to one of his arms as he swallowed and looked down into his drink. The Abassy bites were nasty, he knew, but he had had enough cure on him to settle their vemon.

Then he heard the Woman address him...

“Really? The word on the street was that someone with your…”

He frowned, waiting for her choice of words. Maybe she was the woman he was expecting, and if so what a chance meeting they'd had in the alley. sure she would have come looking for him while he drank, but he found their encounter much more alarmingly fateful. If she followed her sentence with the correct wording then he was re-join them, he would listen to her proposition, because unless she knew he was a witch, or an alchemist, then he was not about to pay her any attention.

“Unique abilities would be able to help me.”

Alright, so she knew something, but in all honesty she could also be bluffing after those words. they were not specific. On the other hand if she was smart she wouldn't go throwing the word 'witch' around this place, because he was a hunter, most in here were, and 'witch' was still a bad word in these parts.

“Apparently that information was faulty, though, huh Harry? A man like you wouldn’t be able to deal with wolves if your life depended on it huh?”

Okay, werewolves, she knew her stuff. End of. As the pub went quiet he he narrowed his eyes a little at her. Who was she to tell him what he was capable of? He wanted to rain down fire and brimstone just to prove he could do it, but that would not get him anywhere. Instead he smirked a little, raising his hand and clicking his fingers. Fire flared up a moment between his fingers, a mild and weak demonstration that he was who she was looking for: The Witch.

He picked up his drink and grudgingly trailed back to them to the bar, looking stiff faced and a little irritated. He passed Nic first and gave him a second look, only this time disgust and warning was vacant from it. He gave him a look of acceptance this time, civility in his eyes as he turned them on Sully and tilted his head, speaking low so only the pair could hear him.

"My name is Doctor Henry Jekyll, you are not called Jenna, and you..."

He turned to Nicholas.

"...Are not called James."

He looked between the pair, flame red hair still vibrant in the low light of the pub. It gave him a streak of fever, although his pale skin and neon eyes were enough to make him stand out.

"So if we're going to do business, I suggest we get our real names out on the table and start talking..."

He smiled briefly between the two, His gaze resting a moment on the vampire he'd previously taken a strong dislike too, and was now considering allying with. He'd sounded genuine in his concern, and vampire or not he appreciated the effort to be civil and friendly. He was slowly starting to see and accept that this one was not like the others he'd met. and dusted. Sully too, maybe. Her choice of words had been smart and she seemed much more capable of smarts than he'd originally granted her. Nicholas, although still putting a wooden splint up Henry's spine, was become less of an issue for him. His display of humanity earlier had been enough to ease Henry's opinion.