A smile pranced wickedly across Lisette’s dark features as she noticed Mila’s eyes unwillingly trail down her body. She suppressed the urge to make a sarcastic comment, and instead made a noise of encouragement. “Come on now, you could at least [i]try[/i] to control yourself.” So obviously her attempts to keep her sharp tongue at bay were futile. She shivered slightly as Mila’s hand closed around her hip while the other caught hold of the dress zipper. 

[i]“Hold still then,”[/i]

Lisette did as she was told, standing still as marble as Mila pulled her just slightly closer. Her grin didn’t faltered as the zipper was slowly pulled downwards with a quiet noise. There was just a moment, with Mila hesitating behind her, that Lisette wondered if she should be fearful, or at least a little cautious. She was the impulsive one, yet she had also pushed Mila pretty far that night and she couldn’t be sure how much longer she’d keep her cool. She let out an inaudible sigh of relief when the older woman pulled away leaving her to slip out of the dress. 

[i]“You can pick something,”[/i]

She let her dress drop to the ground, the action taking Lissette just long enough to miss Mila’s inconspicuous display with the scarf, but not to notice the obvious change in demeanor from her companion. She gave her a curious look as she walked towards the closet and began sorting through the clothes, almost like she were browsing through a shop. She didn’t exactly rush to pick out something to wear that would cover her almost completely naked body, and instead took her time to asses each article before dismissing it and moving on. “My, you have quite the collection here.” She murmured casually, thinking about her measly few clothes back at the house. She usually just “borrowed” what she needed and disregarded it after she finished. 

[i]“You’re a little smaller than I am, aren’t you. Hopefully you can find something that works.”[/i]

Lisette made a mumbling noise, only half listening to Mila. 

[i]“Be a doll and toss me something too while you’re at it,”[/i]

Her head bobbed slightly as she pulled out a random pair of jeans and a plain shirt, thrusting the objects towards the woman without much care. “There you go, darling.” She studied Mila for just a second longer then she needed to, suspicion written in her gaze as she watched her shift uncomfortably in her perch. “I’m sure that will do...” 

[i]“I’ll be right back..”[/i]

A curious furrow in Lisette’s brow made the otherwise smooth skin crease. “Don’t be too long!” Her voice was mocking, despite the uncertain look on her face. “I’d miss you.” Bitterly laughing, she turned back to the closet and pulled out a second pair of dark jeans and a navy t-shirt. She quickly pulled the clothing on over her under garments. Mila had been right, the jeans fit snuggly around her waist yet ran long lengthwise, sitting on the bed she cuffed the bottoms. Despite the casualness of the outfit, Lisette still looked stunningly dangerous and callous as she gazed towards the bathroom where Mila had disappeared. 

[i]What the hell would she need in there?[/i] It wasn’t like either of them had much need for personal hygiene, unnatural cleanliness was a trademark of their curse. “Not hiding anymore pets in there are you, love?” She called, not very loud, she knew that Mila would hear her. “My! Wouldn’t Charlie be jealous.” She laughed, thinking about how pathetically ignorant the human was. There hadn’t been much exchange of talk between the two, but she could see it in her body language. The girl didn’t know what the hell she had gotten herself into. Lisette could understand that, human emotion got in the way of thinking clearly. Yet another reason why she did not miss humanity at all. 

“Remember that pet you kept in the ‘50s? Wasn’t she a looker!” Lisette was casual running her hand along the ugly quilt, it was rough against her palm. Not that she noticed much, her mind was in an entirely different era. “And so tasty, oh my! Remember her?” Lisette’s eyes snapped towards the closed bathroom door, they burned darkly with the compulsive need to know just what Mila was doing. “But she was just so [i]needy[/i]. You really shouldn’t indulge them so much, Mi. I mean if you’re going to keep pets, at least teach them the proper way to act towards their master.” She loathed disrespectful humans like a school teacher did children. 

“I bet Booker will help you out with that one.” Her voice was malicious as she said it, imagining the small, blonde girl who had been cowering behind Mila, compliant to Booker’s whim. It was an amusing thought, and as much as she hated the thought of keeping pets, she couldn’t say that she wouldn’t highly enjoy seeing Mila’s human so enthralled by another. “Tell me, though, what’s the attraction? Wouldn’t you much rather take it all and then not have to deal with such trivial things like their [i]needs[/i]?” Eating, sleeping, relieving themselves. Humans really [i]weren’t[/i] much different from children in that regard. 

Sitting on the bed, Lisette went silent for a moment. She resisted the ever growing need to get up and walk into the bathroom. Obviously she was hiding something, and that controlling, domineering creature inside of Lisette ached to know just exactly [i]what[/i] that was. She wet her lips and narrowed her eyes towards the door. “Would you hurry it up in there! My, you’re acting ever so mysterious.” Her gut clenched with her compulsion as she balled the fabric in her vice-like fist. “I would think that you were hiding something, if I didn’t know you.” 

---

[i]“Can you speak up a little, darling? Did I just hear you say you do want it…?”[/i]

Her face was ashen as she stared past him and realized how big of a mistake she had just made. “Wait... No! I-I didn’t mean.. Don’t!” But it was too late and, like always, she had been instrumental in her own destruction. “Please!” Her gasping plea went unheard, she’d made her choice and he wasn’t going to just [i]un-hear[/i] it. “Booker...” His name tasted like acid on her tongue, which had once again betrayed her. The feeling of his sharp teeth against her earlobe, however, distracted her from what she had been going to say as his voice came, low and sultry, in her ear.

[i]“Is this how she did it too?”[/i]

Charlie’s lips gaped slightly as his hand crept up her side to cup her cheek. She wanted to pull away, but there was something in the way that his canines glistened and her stomach throbbed that kept her locked firmly in place, tears trickling down her cheeks. “You don’t know any-”

[i]“She had you on your back, whimpering pathetically, craving release?”[/i]

Her eyes shut tightly and she shook her head just a bit, hardly noticeable as his fingers brushed gently against her cheek, the touch almost promising and kind. If it hadn’t of been for his grating teeth against the thin flesh on her ear, Charlie could have almost believed that. “Stop,” but they could both tell that she really didn’t mean that. [i]“You can imagine her if you like, I don’t mind. Say her name even. I’m sure she would love that if she could see us now.”[/i] Charlie’s eyes blinked open and she gazed at the ceiling with a complicated expression. “Stop talking about her.” This time there was no hesitation in her voice, no conflict or covert meaning. 

Charlie’s hard eyes softened a bit as Booker pulled away, her eyebrows furrowed as if to ask what he was doing. [i]“You know I’m still a little full from earlier, now that I really think about it.”[/i] She didn’t enjoy the feeling of disappointment in her chest, she almost hated herself for it actually. “Oh...” Her lips turned down in a frown as another shiver of pain through her body made her jerk. There wasn’t any kind of pain medication that would really help her now, not anything a doctor could prescribe at least. She watched his tongue run along his teeth almost sensuously, the action was inviting. “B-but...” There she was, doing it again. She clamped her mouth shut, biting down on her lip until she could taste metallic blood in her mouth. 

His hand pressed against her stomach, sending a vibration of agony through her body. She cried out softly, not a full cry of pain but a whimper that was cut off when his teeth pressed into her soft skin. Her eyes widened in shock, her lips parted in a squeak and then she relaxed. Melting into his touch unconsciously as the warm sensation numbed her toes and she moaned in response. Despite the fact that she could still feel his hands against the bruises on her midsection, Charlie didn’t feel any pain. It was blissful, even when he pulled away. She could move slightly, enough to get herself in a sitting position and look him in the eyes. 

For A few moments, Char couldn’t find the words to say what she wanted to and instead sat there like an idiot, staring at him. “I-I... That... it can’t happen again.” She sounded more assertive than before, yet still apprehensive, as if she unconsciously knew the words were a lie. 

[i]“I’ll come back again later.”[/i]

She grimaced and didn’t respond, feeling the bed sink a little as he moved swiftly towards the door, closing it with an audible click. She was all alone, sitting on the rickety old bed in the middle of the city, bruised and feeling the euphoric aftermath of a vampire bite. She laughed aloud manically, it was like one of those tragic teen love stories that were all the rage now. Her life, which had always been precariously on the edge of spinning out of control, really had spun off a cliff. To the point where she almost didn’t believe it anymore, maybe she was suffering from some kind of weird trip, or perhaps she was dead and this was her hell. 

It was just all so trivial. The mundane actions that seemed so worthwhile at the time, were absolutely pointless when it came right down to it. She saw her life, then, as it had been. Safe, causal, disappointing, and then compared this life to the bold, adventurous one she should have lived. A life where she didn’t settle for a minimum wage job and shitty gigs at a run down bar. A life where she [i]thrived[/i], instead of barely getting by in a world that seemed to completely overlook her. Once, Charlie had heard it said that the definition of hell was the person you had become meeting the person you could have been and now she could see just how accurate that actually was. So maybe she wasn’t dead, and she wasn’t actually in hell, but this had to be close enough. 

And it wasn’t like she was going to sit here and let the devil have her. Charlie pursed her lips, tugging down her t-shirt that was still uncovering her mess of bruises, and slowly set her feet on the ground. She had lost her shoes and some point and now just wore her bare feet, which felt cool against the old wooden panels. It took her a moment to get her footing enough so that she was able to shuffle along, holding the wall for support. It didn’t hurt, necessarily, her head was still reeling, but the dull ache in her body, threatening to be even worse later on, did make it harder for her to reach the door and slowly pull it open. For such an old house, the door hinges were well oiled, it was easy enough for her to slip out of the room and into the long upstairs hallway without much hassle. 

Assessing the situation, Charlie pursed her lips. She couldn’t run, she was in no shape to do that, but she could sneak away and hope that no one would see her. Pray that “Soon” meant at least an hour so that she could get a good heads start.

[i]Or you could stay here.[/i]

She flinched. Yes, she could do that too. But how long until she became just as bad as any of the other humans here. It had only been twice, and already she could feel a need in her bones that was almost inexplicable. Like a part of her was missing. She slowly let out a breath and leaned against the shut door. What could she possibly be thinking, she couldn’t stay here. No, she had to go home and leave all of this a memory, like some bad dream that eventually she would forget. Yet despite the fact that she knew this is what she wanted to do, she couldn’t bring herself to walk any further than the top of the stairs and gaze down at the front door. She could tell that soon enough her stomach would be in knots again and she might not get another opportunity, but something inside of her refused to take it. She hesitated, biting her lip and wondering what in the hell she should do next.