The feeling of Mila’s cold hand inside her own, reassuring despite the fact that Charlie knew exactly what those hands were capable of, was the only thing that kept her from turning and running in the opposite direction. Of course the looming presence of Booker behind them did aid in stopping her, as she half walked-half stumbled alongside Mila. Her insides felt like mush and she had a hard time believing that what was happening was reality, even when the smell of blood filled the sharp, night air and recognition sparked deep inside of her. Lisette nudged the lackadaisical man towards them and Charlie had to stop herself, once again from running. Only this time she wouldn’t have been running backwards but forwards, towards Mitch whose limp body was now held in Mila’s arms. 

Charlie tried not to notice, she tried to remain oblivious to the way Mila’s teeth sharpened, how her body went rigid as her eyes grew darker and more dangerous. But she couldn’t help but gape at the feral stance the other woman had taken over the body. Hunched over with her jaw slack, so totally focused on the man’s bleeding neck that it seemed like she was in an entirely different world. [i]Is this what it was like with me?[/i] The thought only proved to make Charlie feel even more nauseous than before. [i]“Watch,”[/i] Booker’s sultry voice in her ear didn’t have to tell her to observe the gruesome display. Charlie wasn’t sure if she would be able to look away now, she was so sickly transfixed as hysteria bubbled through her body causing her to cry out quietly. [i]“Relax,”[/i] She suppressed another tremor as his icy hands began to slightly massage her shoulder muscles. Tears sparkled in her eyes as she watched Mila lean closer and closer into her prey until Char could barely take the anxiety of the moment and she exhaled Mitch’s name loudly. 

It seemed to work, Mila wrenched her head away from his neck with a noise that chilled Charlie to the bone. Despite that, she still felt the blanket of fear that had wrapped itself around her heart loosen just a bit at the sound of Mila’s thick voice, distant and confused. 

[i]“You know him?”[/i] 

Charlie’s head bobbed furiously as she struggled to find words. “Yes, I know him! Please, Mila, don’t hurt him...” Charlie couldn’t look at the slack face of her off and on employer and once lover so she focused solely on Mila’s torn features. 

[i]“He’s your... your...”[/i]

“Friend!” Charlie exhaled, a sound that was completely exasperated as her disheveled features tried to propel forward as Mila dragged Mitch’s body towards a dark doorway and propped him gently against the wall; she was held back by the firm hands on her shoulders. “He’s my friend...” She tried hard to keep the emotion out of her voice and not show that once she had held deep feelings for this man, that she would have done anything for him. “You can’t hurt Mitch, just let him go.” She wasn’t sure if any of them actually cared, she was certain that Lisette and Booker didn’t but she couldn’t quite read the complicated look of hunger and conflict that had grown on Mila’s face.

[i]“A friend of yours? It’s alright, he feels good right now. He loves it even. You like it too, deep down.”[/i]

She stood, frozen in spot as the lurid voice tickled her ear tenderly. He wasn’t lying. “You’re wrong...” But she was. Despite the fear and confusion and hurt, she could remember the euphoric sense that Mila’s bite had given her. She could recall in startling detail how willing she had been to die right then and there, because it had felt [i]so[/i] rapturous. Her lips parted as she searched for the words to deny something that she knew so well to be true. “I-I don’t like it at all.” She was so focused on trying not to be discovered in her lie, that Charlie didn’t notice Mila’s dark shape rocketing towards them. 

With a terrified shriek the human jump back, away from Booker as Mila shoved him violently, and closer to the third vampire who stood like a stone statue in the darkness. Lisette, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole encounter, giggled sinisterly. “Mila!” Her voice was mockingly like that of a disappointed parent. “How rude of you!” She completely ignored the small whimper that came from Charlie as she backed away slowly. She had no interest in the human, not alive at least, and was much more concerned with the scuffle between her two ‘friends’. “Uh, oh Bookie! You might want to be careful, Mila looks like she might eat [i]you[/i]!” She clucked her tongue as she watched Booker slowly pull himself up from the ground where he had landed. 

[i]“You’re too easy to get to, Mila.”[/i]

Lisette raised her eyebrows as Mila circled Booker predatorily. She looked as if she were ready to go in for the kill and Lisette didn’t doubt that she would. It made her stand straighter and become more aware of every single move, no matter how minimal, the other woman made. She knew what Mila was capable of, and she [i]was[/i] very hungry. Lisette was prepared for anything as Booker lazily made a gesture of surrender. [i]“You really do get cranky when you’re hungry,”[/i] He was testing her, seeing how far she could be pressed until the final thread snapped. [i]Not too much farther...[/i] Lisette thought snidely as she watched Mila throw herself at Booker. Lisette’s mouth was set in a grim line. She moved to intervene then, this couldn’t go anywhere good and she would prefer not to have a dead vampire on their hands, when Booker’s voice interrupted her. 

[i]“Lisette,”[/i]

She made a noise of inquiry as she stopped in her tracks, keeping herself fully aware of the entire situation. “What?” 

[i]“Mila doesn’t take very good care of her pets does she?”[/i]

A grin spread over her face, then, and she laughed ferally, more like the sound of a rabid dog than anything truly human. “No, you’re right she doesn’t.” She glanced over towards Charlie who had resulted to cowering against a wall and watching with those pathetic bambi eyes. She looked completely perplexed. “How irresponsible of her.” Lisette’s absent comment was lost as Booker reacted quickly, rushing towards the human girl before Mila could do anything about it. 

[i]“Why don’t you let me have her?”[/i]

The grip on her arm made Charlie cry out in pain. “Stop!” She breathed as she tried pulling away, to no avail. Yet she still continued to thrash in his grip, hoping that maybe it would make a difference and knowing that it really wouldn’t. [i]“I’ll be at the usual place.”[/i] Charlie’s blood ran cold when he still didn’t let go and slowly it dawned on her that he was planning on taking her to wherever this ‘usual place’ was. 

[i]“You two play nice for awhile, I know we will.”[/i]

Lisette answered with a lazy salute as Booker hoisted the girl, who really couldn’t have weighed all that much not that he would have noticed anyways, and disappeared down the road at an abnormal rate. “Oh we will...” Lisette snarled viciously, yet she was talking to Booker at all when she said it. She was looking at Mila who had started off Booker and Charlie. “No you don’t!” Her voice was a strained growl as she bounded forward and grabbed hold of Mila’s arm, pulling the woman to a halting stop and shoving her back against the alley wall. The violent actions would have nearly killed a normal person, but it just left both women looking a little disheveled. “That isn’t a good idea, love.” Lisette’s face was dangerously close to Mila’s and a sultry grin was spreading across her face. “Let them have their alone time,” she murmured, not taking her eyes off of Mila’s porcelain features. “Don’t worry... he’ll play gently.” 

She tucked a piece of Mila’s hair behind her ear. “You do look so starved, darling, and so [i]weak[/i]. It’s... tantalizing. Almost human.” She slowly ran her tongue over her sharp incisors. “Maybe you should do something about that...”

Charlie clamped down her mouth to keep from screaming as the world became a blur around her. Never in her life had she experience such a rush of adrenaline as that moment, rocketing down the road, through alleyways, the streets becoming a maze as she tried to keep track of where she was. But that was futile, and soon enough she realized it and resorted to closing her eyes and burying her face into Booker’s soft shirt. Although she couldn’t see it, her body was still painfully aware of how fast she was going, it made her feel light headed and weak. Charlie couldn’t tell how long they’d been travelling but it had felt like an eternity before her body was shocked by a sudden halt. 

“Where the hell are we...” Her voice was dazed as she slowly let her eyes pry open to take in her surroundings. It was a house, nothing fancy. Just a small place squished between several other small houses that all has darkened windows and vacant porches. She’d never been in this part of the city before, but from what she could tell it was for, the most part, deserted. There was no sound, not even the distant noise of a stray animal or drunken people finally stumbling home after a night on the town. Just her shallow breathing and the quiet whistle of the wind. “P-please... put me down.” Her trembling voice pleaded. “I want to go home. Let me go home...”