Vicious

by Olivia Rivard

  I turned around to face her, but I barely got a glimpse before she was right on me. She moved impossibly fast. It seemed that one second, she was at the door, and the next she was right in front of me with her hand around my throat. I sputtered and coughed as she shoved me effortlessly into the wall behind me. As soon as my back hit the wall, she was on me again, pinning my arms and shoulders against it. I struggled against her, but I couldn’t move. Why was she so strong?

  She looked into my eyes for a moment and a wide, sinister grin spread across her face. I watched as the black rims in her eyes bled easily into the amber until her entire iris was black and frightening. At the same time, she opened her mouth wide in an insane-looking smile as her canine teeth elongated into two sharp, pointed fangs.

  I screamed in terror. This couldn’t really be happening. Struggling to release myself, I fought against her, but it was like struggling against steel. I tried to put my hands up to block her, but she lunged to bite down on my neck hard. I yelped loudly, but no one heard. My body hurt, tingled, and instantly went numb in submission. I was helpless to move or pull her off of me. Even if I had tried, I knew she couldn’t be moved. I felt the blood start to drain from my body and was helpless to stop it.

  Somewhere in the distance, I could still hear the raucous din. It was faint but audible, and through the din of human noises, the sound of a band playing a contagious song broke through. I recognized it as everyone else did, and I heard everyone cheer and begin to dance to “When the Saints Go Marching In”. I listened to the song and the muted laughter as I felt the life slowly drain from my body with every pull she took.

  Chapter Eight

  Grant

  “Stop that now, Lea.”

  I heard the bell-like voice, but the reality of who owned that voice wasn’t clear until I felt the sudden relief from the numbing stab in my neck. Suddenly, I could move again, and I was alive, alert and being thrown off to the side.

  I hit the cobblestones on my side with a hard thud and instantly grabbed for my neck. Blood was still oozing from it, and the reality of the attack was made all the more clear when I looked up to see Anna with her tiny white hand gripped tightly around the dark girl’s neck. The girl kept grasping for Anna’s arms in an attempt to free herself, but Anna seemed to have the upper hand.

  I remembered how strong the girl had been when I had tried to struggle, and I was all the more confused to see Anna holding her own against her. She seemed so small, especially compared to the wildcat she was wrestling. The girl’s eyes were still that horrible black, and she bared her fangs and growled with the struggle at Anna. Much to my horror, Anna’s gorgeous blue eyes were now black as well, and when she parted her lips, I could see she had her own set of fangs that sparkled white beneath the red lipstick. It wasn’t until she emitted her own low growl in response that I truly got scared and inched backwards a little on the ground. Neither girl noticed me.

  “You know the rules. We agreed to them, Lea.”

  “What’s it to you if I drain this blood bag?”

  The strange thing was that even though Anna had a good grip on the Lea girl’s neck, she must not have been squeezing very hard because the wildcat seemed to be able to speak without choking or gasping for air.

  “You know the rules. We agreed, and this one has done nothing wrong.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. You don’t know his past. Or do you?”

  Lea broke free then and punched Anna in the face. She barely winced and retaliated with a hard kick to Lea’s stomach. They struggled again as Lea tried to make a break for it only to have Anna catch her hands and pin her against the wall with an impact that would have knocked the breath out of anyone else.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I figured he must be your little pet with how he fawned over you, looking all doe-eyed and lost.”

  “I just met him tonight, but he’s done nothing wrong.”

  “So why were you following me then, Anna? You were tailing me. I saw it, and then this lost puppy came searching for you, so I figured he belonged to you. What? You don’t want to share?”

  “You know it’s not like that.”

  They struggled again as Lea tried to break free and almost did, but Anna held her up against the wall. I could tell this was beginning to take a lot of effort to hold her in place, and the impossibly fast-paced struggles were becoming more and more frenzied to the point where their movements began to blur together.

  “Yeah, then why were you following me?”

  Anna paused for a moment, and I thought she might loosen her grip a little as she began to look thoughtfully at Lea. She seemed to be contemplating something unpleasant or difficult to express. I thought I saw her face soften, but lucky for me, Anna’s hold did not waver.

  “I need your help,” Anna said very slowly through clenched teeth. It was as if each word was a little painful for her to utter. I gasped at the thought of Anna siding with this monster for anything. What would become of me if she did?

  “What?” Lea seemed just as surprised as I did. Her black eyes looked shocked, and I thought I saw some of the amber start to return in them for a moment.

  “I need your help,” Anna repeated a little faster this time.

  Lea looked even more shocked the second time, but soon that shock changed into rage, and the black overtook her eyes completely again.

  “It’s a trick,” she yelped as she exploded out of Anna’s grip, and they began to struggle again so fast I could barely keep up.

  At one point, Anna had Lea by the throat. She threw her until Lea hit the wall hard, losing her sandals in the process. Lea got the upper hand a few times by getting in some punches to Anna’s face and stomach. One of these punches tossed Anna on her back against the dumpster.

  I began to back away slowly by scooting with my hands across the floor. I tried desperately not to make any noise that might arouse their attention. I could not count on anyone to save me but me right now. My left hand was still over my neck, and I used my right hand to help move me. Pretty soon, morbid curiosity overtook me.

  It must have been poor judgment due to loss of blood, but I did it all the same. I had had my hand against my neck since Lea released me, and I could feel the hot liquid begin to pool inside of it. I don’t know why I did it, but I took my hand away from my neck and looked down to see the damage. I held my hand out and saw it was covered with my own blood. The sight was terrifying and surreal, like a horror film.

  Instantly, I heard two gasps come from the struggling girls, and I looked up to see two set of black, hungry eyes locked upon my bloody hand. Lea made a move for me, and I was sure that I was done for. Thoughts swirled in my head of shark-attack footage where just a few drops of blood sent hungry sharks into a feeding frenzy. Well, there was a gaping wound in my neck and a swimming pool of blood in my hand to drive the animals wild. I braced myself against the attack, but none came.

  I opened my eyes to see two black knee-high boots standing in front of me. The sight came as a quite a surprise. I looked up to see Anna facing away from me, her white hands set firmly on her hips. She was in between me and Lea, who was crouching on the ground like a cornered tiger about to lunge at some prey. Lea looked at me hungrily and snarled viciously at Anna.

  “He has seen us. He knows what we are. You have to kill him anyway,” Lea snarled, practically spitting between her words.

  Anna just stared at her, motionless.

  “Protecting your pet again?”

  Anna was protecting me and wouldn’t be moved. “I need your help, Lea.” She said the words one more time with more pain in her voice than the first time.

  Lea growled and hissed violently at her. Anna didn’t react at all, but I could see her muscles tense, ready for whatever was next. Suddenly, Lea stood up and ran away from us towards the nearest wall. Before we could do or say anything, she crouched really low and sprang into the air. The height that she was able to achieve in that jump was insane, and I kept
waiting for her to come back down.

  I managed to stand up and look around, afraid she would end up behind me, but she never made it back to earth. Anna looked up, and I followed her gaze to watch a shadowy figure run and leap over the rooftops above us. Lea had managed to jump from a still position to the top of the roof in one leap. She was now successfully making her escape while Mardi Gras raged on below her.

  Anna sighed and let her shoulders slump as she relaxed her muscles. She turned around to me, and I saw the black in her eyes retreat instantly, leaving only the blue and purple that I had known before. She reached for my neck, and I flinched in response.

  “Oh, please. If I wanted you dead, I would have let her do it.”

  She said this so matter-of-factly that it played the tune of a normal sentence. I looked for her fangs as she spoke to see if they were still there, but I saw no trace of them. I relaxed as she examined my neck. She put her hand to my forehead like a doctor, and I staggered a little from the pressure. For the first time, I realized how tired and dizzy I was. She examined my face.

  “What is happening?” I asked.

  Delirium was settling into my spinning head.

  “You mean with us? What does it look like?”

  There was that nonchalant tone again. I staggered a little, caught her shoulder and tried to talk again.

  “What are you? What is she? What’s going on?”

  I started to fall backwards, but she caught me effortlessly and pulled me back to my feet. She began to drag me towards the back door of the bar as though I weighed the same as a small child.

  “Easy there. She took more from you than I thought. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  “What?”

  My head was starting to spin again, and by the time we reached the door, she was practically carrying me. She unlocked the door, opened it and carried me inside after she had checked to make sure that no bar staff was in sight.

  We found a decent-sized employee bathroom just down the dark hallway, and she plopped me down on the dirty floor. With a quick click, I heard her lock the door behind us. Even the terrible fluorescent lights couldn’t take anything away from her beauty, and I stared at her, dizzy and confused as she examined a few red spots on her face where Lea’s fist had made contact.

  “Does it hurt?” I muttered.

  “Not really, and these will be gone by the time we leave here. A little make up will cover it for now, but you, dear Grant, need some help.”

  My gaze wandered up to meet hers as I held my hand to my neck. It seemed like my mouth might be hanging open, but I couldn’t be sure. I was certain I would pass out at any moment.

  “No, no, no. Come on now, I need you to stay awake for me a little longer.”

  She squatted down in front of me and propped me up against the bathroom wall. She took some wetted paper towels and held them against my neck. They felt cool, and the sensation woke me up a little. I looked at her as she used some more wet paper towels to clean the blood off of my hands and neck.

  “Are you feeling a little better now?”

  “Yes. Are you going to kill me?”

  Anna stopped what she was doing to look me in the eyes. I was woozy, and I knew the question sounded strange, but it was a strange evening. I figured I was allowed a few crazy questions.

  “I’m not going to kill you.”

  “Who was that?”

  “That was Lea.”

  “What is happening? Why did she attack me?”

  “That is my fault and just bad timing on your part. I was following her because I needed to talk to her, but I knew that I couldn’t confront her in a crowd. I was watching her from afar, trying to think how I could get her alone, when you came up to me. I tried to leave when you turned around so that she might not see you, but it was too late. She saw you, and I knew what she planned to do, so I followed you two outside. I just wish I had gotten there sooner.”

  “So…I was your…bait?”

  “You were my unintentional bait. I didn’t mean for this to happen. She saw you talking to me and just couldn’t stand it.”

  “Why?”

  “That’s a story for another time. Right now, we need to get you somewhere safe and away from here. I assume you are here with those guys?”

  “Guys?”

  “The dumb drunk ones with the tall leader?”

  The thought of Eric and the guys flashed into my brain for the first time since I had followed Lea out into the alley. They were probably wondering what had happened to me. I suddenly hoped they were too drunk to remember they had a friend named Grant at all.

  “Uh, yes. What do I do about them?”

  “That’s easy. Hand me your phone and bring up one of their phone numbers.”

  I did as I was told, too weak to do otherwise, and she began writing a text to Eric on my behalf.

  Don’t wait up. Going back with blond to her hotel room. Tell you all about it tomorrow.

  It was full proof. I had to give her that. No way would the guys try to interfere after reading that message. A man never denied another man a night with a hot girl. She pressed the send button, and I wondered if that text had just sealed my doom.

  “Okay, hold still while I get some more paper towels.”

  I sat there while she pressed new paper towels against my neck delicately as I flinched. Next, she unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and wound it carefully around mine, which both held the towels on my wound and masked the injury. She stood me up and positioned me in front of the mirror, and I held onto the sink for some much needed stability and balance.

  When I looked into the mirror, I saw a ghost of myself. My dark hair was all disheveled, my green eyes looked almost yellow, and my skin was almost as pale as Anna’s. I was shocked but said nothing to her as she ordered me to wash my hands and face with cold water.

  I did as I was told groggily while she applied some powder to the red spots that were slowly disappearing on her face. This was all so surreal and strange. What was happening? Why was I obeying her? Suddenly, I recalled what Lea had said about how she would have to kill me anyway since I had seen what they were. Seen what? What were they? I got the feeling I should run out of this bathroom and back to my friends immediately, but I was too weak, and my feet refused to move. I gazed at her in the mirror, terrified.

  “All right. I think that will do it.”

  She put her hands on my arms and turned me to face her. I looked into her beautiful face as she inspected my appearance. I loosened a little as I remembered the scene only moments ago where she’d stood in between me and certain death. If she wanted to kill me, she would have let Lea do it.

  “Now listen to me, Grant. I know you are hurt and very weak right now, but we have to get you out of here and to a safe place.”

  I groaned at the thought of the hoard of people outside.

  “I know, but I have a way. Just think drunk. Okay? Not hurt, just drunk. Act drunk for me. Stumble if you must, but remember that you are drunk. You are just another drunk guy going home with a girl after drinking too much. Do you understand?”

  She spoke to me like a child, but I did understand, and it might just work. My stumbling and rolling eyes could easily be interpreted as drunk. I nodded my head.

  “Good. Now remember, smile, laugh and act drunk. Come on.”

  She pulled me out of the bathroom, and the music got louder and louder as we made our way toward the main bar area. We reached the bar and I was both blinded by the lights and overwhelmed by the amount of people. The bar had swelled to maximum capacity in the time we’d been gone, and it seemed almost wet and alive with the humidity of so many bodies. Anna began laughing a silly, tinkling laugh as she pulled me through the crowd, and I tried to stumble along with her smiling goofily whenever she did. She moved so fast and was so agile she had maneuvered us in and out of the bar’s crowd quicker than I had expected possible. Maybe this would be quick.

  As she practically carried me out the door and into t
he street, I managed to spot my friends leaning again the stone wall of the bar. They saw me when I saw them, and part of me wanted to call out to them for help, but Anna quickly grabbed my face and locked her lips on mine. I was distracted to say the least, and I felt suddenly euphoric kissing this strange girl who may or may not kill me tonight.

  The lack of blood made me loopy, and I kissed her back with little thought. Anna pulled away with a large grin on her face and trotted forward a few feet holding the tail of her scarf in her hands. She tugged on it a little in a flirty way like I was a dog on a leash, and I stumbled after her like a good drunk dog should with a big smile stretching from ear to ear. I caught a glimpse of the guys before we ducked into the street crowd, and I saw Eric waving a phone at me with a sly grin on his face while Reggie vomited just a foot away from Kyle’s feet. Obviously, Eric had gotten my text. My fate was sealed, one way or another.

  She continued to pull me through crowds, practically carrying me at times, and I tried to help whenever I could. My strength was waning fast. I was very grateful for how fast and strong she was. We weaved through the crowd and dodged the cops whenever we saw them, all the while trying to keep our drunken personas. I could tell her patience with it was wearing just as thin as mine. She smelled like roses and blood.

  Finally, we broke out of the last of the mobs and ventured down one of the side streets of the French Quarter. She kept cutting across alleys and through side streets until we were the only people out and it was dark and quiet. The buildings changed from bars and restaurants to homes and local grocers.

  “How much farther?”

  “Not much. The hotel is just around this corner.”

  “What about a hospital?”

  “Hospitals ask questions that I can’t answer.”

  “You think they won’t be booked up for Mardi Gras?”