HSO R2: Judgement
Jul. 5th, 2012 04:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
space_reindeerfish“You can’t just look at him once and approve him!” Vriska complains from the captain’s seat in Rose’s van. Eridan was the last of your group to be picked up and now Rose was driving out to the middle of somewhere for this dinner party. You couldn’t care less because you’re sitting in the back with Eridan and he’s dressed in a suit. You are too, of course, and so is John, but on Eridan it looks tailored to fit and thus, amazing.
“I can,” Rose replies smoothly to Vriska, “And I have. If you were to recall your own induction into our group, despite your connection to Kanaya, I gave you your own judgement as well.” She signals a right turn and moves the car down a nearly dark street.
“We’ve always been the dork brigade,” John says with a flashing grin. He glances at you from the corner of his eye and you smirk back. “Face it Vriska, you have to come to terms with your dorkiness.”
“I am not a dork!” she snapped back and Eridan starts laughing.
Before the conversation can turn worse, Kanaya cuts in with a dry, “We’re here.”
Here is a little run down house with faded yellow-to-greyish-brown paint and one of those wrap around porches. It was probably charming once, but now the paint is peeling and the ivy up the side looks like invading the wall. Rose parks the car at the middle of the gravel driveway and when Eridan asks why she simply says, “Just in case.”
You smirk at Eridan as he looks at you in confusion and you double check your Strife Deck. Carrying around your specibus was usually taboo, but you never went on one of these adventures with Rose without yours. Eridan’s eyebrows rise as he sees you checking but you just offer him a smirk and repeat Rose’s words, “Just in case.”
“What is that-” he begins but stops again when Rose casts a look over her shoulder that would silence the moaning dead.
Before Eridan can snap back at her in his confusion, you pat his shoulder and give it a friendly little squeeze. He goes quiet, and his scowl twitches into a little bit of a smile instead. With him at your side, you follow the other four up the driveway and then to the stairs of the house. Rose is the one who steps forward. You can hear her talking under her breath, and from the way Kanaya looks at the doorway and smiles, you know that Rose is critiquing the decor. As always.
She knocks on the large door and you begin counting under your breath. One, Eridan shifts on his feet. Two, Vriska sighs and leans against John. Three, John puts his arm around the middle of her back. Four, he glances back at you. You smirk.
Five, the door swings open to reveal a tall, unnaturally thin, pale woman. She’s beautiful with high cheekbones and a full lips. But when she smiles there’s an inhuman point to her teeth, and her eyes are dead black. Her long magenta dress sparkles as she steps back and gestures into her home. “Oh good, you all could make it! Darlings, why don’t you come in and have a seat? Dinner is just about ready.”
Her eyes sweep over all of you. Kanaya standing close to Rose, who leads the way fearlessly inside. Then Vriska and John arm in arm. You follow up quickly but Eridan hesitates. He looks at the woman, your new hostess, bites the corner of his lip before he decides to follow you in as well. For the first time during this whole escapade, you worry that choosing him for this might actually have been a bad idea. Sure he had a nice ass, but that didn’t make him the right companion for you.
Even you are startled and somewhat nauseated by the color clash inside the house. Rose is too polite to wrinkle her nose but Vriska leans over to John and whispers loudly that it looks like someone vomited on some cloth and laid it out as a rug. You have to agree with her.
Your hostess doesn’t show any acknowledgement as she leads you inside. From the entranceway, your group is taken to a sitting room. The chairs have ornate carvings in their wood and are cushioned with vibrant red. Taking the lead, Rose politely sits down in one chair with Kanaya close beside. Vriska flops down into her own seat, her skirt flipping up a bit to show leg. John grins and sits with her.
Before you can say anything to Eridan, the hostess slides up to his side and puts her hand on his arm. “Would you be a dear and come help me decide what wine you and your friends would like to drink while we wait?” her gaze not so subtly travels down his body and his cheeks turn red. You tighten your hands into fists but Eridan lifts his chin and replies with pride oozing from every word.
“I would be glad to help you. I actually know a thing or two about different wines,” he looks smug, but the glance he gives is something more than that. Vriska snorts in laughter.
“Good! Run off alone with her!” she taunts, “I’m sick of looking at you anyway.”
He gives her an icy glare that your hostess disperses with a chuckle and a politely placed hand over her mouth. Her nails are long and red.
The low light of the room reflects off them like it would a blade. You suck in a breath to offer to come along but she’s sweeping him out of the room and out of sight before you can let it out.
So instead you step over to the wall and lean against it.
“He’ll be fine,” John says, ignoring the way Vriska is tugging on his arm. He swats at her and she play growls and pushes at him. “Don’t worry about it!”
“I’m not worried.” You reply. Vriska laughs again.
“Now I didn’t know Condie had invited a harpie over tonight!” You all turn to the opposite door than the one your hostess had left through. A tall man shaped creature comes shuffling through the entrance. He lifts one large hand to brush dreadlocks out of his eye and empty eye-socket and grinned with a mouthful of rotten teeth. “Look at this motherfucking delicious group. One, two, fuck, there are quite a few of you little fuckers, isn’t there?” He laughs, a wet, sickly sound.
“Please, sir, mind your lewd language around the humans,” this one looks far different from the first. Besides the obvious stitching across his exposed skin, he looks like any other man dressed up for a fine dinner party. If you ignore the way that a third of his face is comprised of skin a dark chocolate color and the other two some varying shades of tan and white. He sighs and bows politely as he enters, “Welcome mortals, how pleasing it is to be in the presence of such youth.”
He smiles, his teeth too straight and too perfect and the light flashing across his glasses. He reaches up with one hand to brush back his long black ponytail, perhaps the only part of him that came from one body.
Rose is the one who replies with a careful little smile and the response, “You flatter us, sir. We are mere guests here tonight as well. It is our honor to be welcomed into such a fine home.” She keeps a straight face, but Vriska’s grin is too broad.
As she snickers, a white figure comes through the wall above her and John on the couch. “Is something amusing, little human?” She twists around in the air, floating as if held up by invisible wings, and grins broadly down, “Why not tell us the joke! Grand loves a good laugh, don’t you?”
On cue, the zombied man laughs, holding his distended belly with both hands. You’re almost certain you see something fling itself from his mouth with the force of his laughter. “Yes, yes! Let us whet our appetites on a few fine jokes!”
You cringe inwardly as you see John’s whole face transform at the sound of that. Thankfully, before he can begin, Condie returns, carrying a dark bottle with a tray of glasses floating in the air behind her. “Hold on there a moment my dearies, I think more than a few of us will be needing something to drink if we start indulging you in your amusing little hobby!”
Immediately you notice that Eridan isn’t with her. You glance to Rose, arching an eyebrow. She nods her head slightly and you clear your throat to get Condie’s attention. Pouring the wine with the ease of someone who has poured many glasses and expects to pour many more, Condie smiles at you. “Yes hon?”
“May I use the restroom?”
“Of course!” She laughs. “It’s down the hall, past the kitchen and on your left! Spinneret, would you mind taking-” But you shake your head before she can finish.
“I’m sure I’ll find it no problem. If not, then I’ve only got myself to blame.” You give a casual shrug and then head out of the room before she can dispute it.
Once in the hall, you give out a heavy sigh. Goddamn those two undead men smelled awful. Then you hurry down, keeping your footfalls as quiet and as quick as you can. Instead of bypassing the kitchen, you head into it. The place is still and so clean it looks sterile. In contrast with the rest of the decor, nearly everything is stainless steel. It’s all sharp corners and straight lines, completely modern from head to toe. Rose, for all her show of politeness in this vampire’s house would have sneered in disgust. This, she would have said with a heavy tone, is not how the undead were supposed to behave.
There are a few doors in the kitchen, but after quick inspection you come to discover the first is pantry full of jars of things, the second is a freezer and is locked up tightly and the third and final door is the one you’re looking for. You slip past it and are suddenly surrounded by darkness. “Fuck,” you breathe out. Why didn’t you bring a flashlight?
Groping around in the blackness, you find a switch and flip it. Nothing happens. With an annoyed sigh you feel for the railing and cautiously ease your way down the stairs. It turns out the switch was good for something, after all, because about halfway down, the lights flicker on. The bulbs are bare yellow and shielded on one side- the side facing the wooden shelves for the wine bottles- and the unshielded side is pointed towards a cage. Thick metal bars section off a small area, going from ceiling to ceiling and with Eridan inside.
You rush over and grip the door. There’s a heavy padlock on the gate. “Hey! Hey, look at me!”
He lifts his head, slowly, his eyes wide and his skin deathly pale. The bottom of your stomach drops at his expression and all you can think is, oh fuck no. Your eyes flick down to his neck but you can’t see any marks that look like bites. That’s one less thing you have to worry about. “Dude, are you alright?”
His mouth opens slightly and he lets out a strangled sound.
“What was that?”
“A vampire!” He shouts, “She’s a vampire!”
Ah, he finally caught on. “Yeah.”
He stares at you, eyes wide and mouth dropped open. “You knew?”
Before you can answer, the light flickers and you’re glancing over your shoulder to see the hostess standing tall and beautiful behind you. She smiles and takes a step forward. “Darling, did you get lost on your way to the bathroom?”
“Nah,” you reply, turning your back on Eridan to face her.
“Surely, you have,” she is smiling more broadly now. Her lashes start fluttering as she holds out her hand, “Come with me, dear, and I’ll bring you back to your friends.”
“That’s the look,” Eridan whispers behind you, “she gave me when she told me that I was a sacrifice so the rest of you could leave without any harm.”
Her black eyes glance over your shoulder at him and you can see the fury coiling in them. It’s the first sign of any emotion you’ve yet seen in her. “Leave him here and I’ll spare your life. I only need one little fleshling tonight.”
Tilting your head to the side, just a little, you look as though you’re going to consider it. The vampire lets out a soft chuckle. But then you shake your head and say, “Fuck it. I’m going to leave with all of my friends, and yes, he is included.” You jerk a thumb in Eridan’s direction.
In a second you’re turning around and you have your sword in hand. “Give me a sec and I’ll have you out of there.”
Eridan’s on his feet now, with a wide gaze full of confusion. “What the fuck is going on here!?”
You give a half smile as you wedge the end of your sword between the padlock’s curved handle. “It’s a test, of sorts.” You make sure the sword is in tight and add, “Stand back.”
When you motion him back with a hand, he finally complies. As he does so, you hurry over and grab a heavy wine bottle. With one hand on the hilt and the other on the bottle, you slam the bottom of it onto the top of the hilt. You make the steel cut through the thinner, older metal. After a minute of working on it, the lock falls to pieces on the ground. “There we go. C’mon now, you hear that?”
“What?”
“Listen.” You open the door for you and he steps out, looking around curiously. With perfect timing, there’s a loud thump from upstairs and you grin to him. “So maybe we were misleading about the eating part of the dinner party.”
He follows you up the stairs again and through the kitchen. There’s a loud, wet sound, like something hard and metal hitting flesh and Eridan winces. You put your free hand on his arm and squeeze, in an effort to calm him.
The moment the two of you round the corner and into the entranceway, you’re greeted with the sight of John standing over the back of the zombie. There is blood on his nice suit. He hefts his hammer and asked, “Hey Dave, you finish off our hostess?”
“Nah. Bosslady up and absconded with a creepy light flicker.” You reply, stepping into the room. Beyond John and his bloody victory, is Kanaya standing with her axe in one hand and re-applying her lipstick in the other. Rose is straightening up, flicking her needles to get rid of the blood on them and standing over the body of the other undead. You can’t remember if that’s a ghoul or some sort of Igor thing, but fuck if you really care. “You got them all already? Even the ghost?”
“Ghost?” Eridan repeats behind you.
“Yeah she was easy as pie,” Vriska flips a magic eight ball from one hand to the other. “A little manipulation and she came right along nicely, didn’t you babydoll?” She shakes the ball and looks down. Whatever is on the triangle makes her laugh.
“What the fuck is going on here!” Eridan shouts.
“That is what I would like to know.” Behind Eridan appears the vampire woman again. Her good looks are gone now, her eyes all black and her fangs out. Eridan skitters away from her but she’s coming after you. “Who are you little bastards?”
You laugh and swing your sword, sliding into a fighting stance. “Rose, what’s the verdict?”
“If it isn’t going to be a proper undead creature, it doesn’t deserve to keep throwing its tacky lifestyle onto humanity,” her voice is calm and sure. You nod to show you’ve heard and burst into action.
Fast as you are, skilled as you are, somehow the bitch manages to grab your sword hand in one of hers and put her other hand around your throat. She laughs as she lifts you up, fangs bared and face contorted disgustingly. “Well would you look at yourself now you little fleshbag? Nothing more than dead weight, I’m afraid. Though I’ll be happy to take about five litres of that out of you.”
“Bitch,” you gasp out.
She begins to laugh and then is suddenly cut short as something small, round and apple colored slams into her face. She screams in anger and drops you. You fall to your knees, sucking in a pained breath. While your head is down, you hear wood splintering and then John shouting.
When you look up, the bitch is turning to ash and John is giving Eridan a broad grin and a pat on the shoulder. His shirt front is scratched, but he’s smiling back. He looks down at you and blushes just a little. He holds an apple in his free hand to match the one on the floor next to the ashes. Rose is the one who helps you to your feet, and as she does she murmurs, “Good choice, Dave, very good choice.”
“I can,” Rose replies smoothly to Vriska, “And I have. If you were to recall your own induction into our group, despite your connection to Kanaya, I gave you your own judgement as well.” She signals a right turn and moves the car down a nearly dark street.
Vriska sits back in her chair with a huff, “I’m starting to think this is just the dork brigade all over again.”
“We’ve always been the dork brigade,” John says with a flashing grin. He glances at you from the corner of his eye and you smirk back. “Face it Vriska, you have to come to terms with your dorkiness.”
“I am not a dork!” she snapped back and Eridan starts laughing.
Before the conversation can turn worse, Kanaya cuts in with a dry, “We’re here.”
Here is a little run down house with faded yellow-to-greyish-brown paint and one of those wrap around porches. It was probably charming once, but now the paint is peeling and the ivy up the side looks like invading the wall. Rose parks the car at the middle of the gravel driveway and when Eridan asks why she simply says, “Just in case.”
You smirk at Eridan as he looks at you in confusion and you double check your Strife Deck. Carrying around your specibus was usually taboo, but you never went on one of these adventures with Rose without yours. Eridan’s eyebrows rise as he sees you checking but you just offer him a smirk and repeat Rose’s words, “Just in case.”
“What is that-” he begins but stops again when Rose casts a look over her shoulder that would silence the moaning dead.
“Boys, if you would please shut up,” she said with a smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “Thank you.”
Before Eridan can snap back at her in his confusion, you pat his shoulder and give it a friendly little squeeze. He goes quiet, and his scowl twitches into a little bit of a smile instead. With him at your side, you follow the other four up the driveway and then to the stairs of the house. Rose is the one who steps forward. You can hear her talking under her breath, and from the way Kanaya looks at the doorway and smiles, you know that Rose is critiquing the decor. As always.
She knocks on the large door and you begin counting under your breath. One, Eridan shifts on his feet. Two, Vriska sighs and leans against John. Three, John puts his arm around the middle of her back. Four, he glances back at you. You smirk.
Five, the door swings open to reveal a tall, unnaturally thin, pale woman. She’s beautiful with high cheekbones and a full lips. But when she smiles there’s an inhuman point to her teeth, and her eyes are dead black. Her long magenta dress sparkles as she steps back and gestures into her home. “Oh good, you all could make it! Darlings, why don’t you come in and have a seat? Dinner is just about ready.”
Her eyes sweep over all of you. Kanaya standing close to Rose, who leads the way fearlessly inside. Then Vriska and John arm in arm. You follow up quickly but Eridan hesitates. He looks at the woman, your new hostess, bites the corner of his lip before he decides to follow you in as well. For the first time during this whole escapade, you worry that choosing him for this might actually have been a bad idea. Sure he had a nice ass, but that didn’t make him the right companion for you.
Even you are startled and somewhat nauseated by the color clash inside the house. Rose is too polite to wrinkle her nose but Vriska leans over to John and whispers loudly that it looks like someone vomited on some cloth and laid it out as a rug. You have to agree with her.
Your hostess doesn’t show any acknowledgement as she leads you inside. From the entranceway, your group is taken to a sitting room. The chairs have ornate carvings in their wood and are cushioned with vibrant red. Taking the lead, Rose politely sits down in one chair with Kanaya close beside. Vriska flops down into her own seat, her skirt flipping up a bit to show leg. John grins and sits with her.
Before you can say anything to Eridan, the hostess slides up to his side and puts her hand on his arm. “Would you be a dear and come help me decide what wine you and your friends would like to drink while we wait?” her gaze not so subtly travels down his body and his cheeks turn red. You tighten your hands into fists but Eridan lifts his chin and replies with pride oozing from every word.
“I would be glad to help you. I actually know a thing or two about different wines,” he looks smug, but the glance he gives is something more than that. Vriska snorts in laughter.
“Good! Run off alone with her!” she taunts, “I’m sick of looking at you anyway.”
He gives her an icy glare that your hostess disperses with a chuckle and a politely placed hand over her mouth. Her nails are long and red.
The low light of the room reflects off them like it would a blade. You suck in a breath to offer to come along but she’s sweeping him out of the room and out of sight before you can let it out.
So instead you step over to the wall and lean against it.
“He’ll be fine,” John says, ignoring the way Vriska is tugging on his arm. He swats at her and she play growls and pushes at him. “Don’t worry about it!”
“I’m not worried.” You reply. Vriska laughs again.
“Now I didn’t know Condie had invited a harpie over tonight!” You all turn to the opposite door than the one your hostess had left through. A tall man shaped creature comes shuffling through the entrance. He lifts one large hand to brush dreadlocks out of his eye and empty eye-socket and grinned with a mouthful of rotten teeth. “Look at this motherfucking delicious group. One, two, fuck, there are quite a few of you little fuckers, isn’t there?” He laughs, a wet, sickly sound.
“Please, sir, mind your lewd language around the humans,” this one looks far different from the first. Besides the obvious stitching across his exposed skin, he looks like any other man dressed up for a fine dinner party. If you ignore the way that a third of his face is comprised of skin a dark chocolate color and the other two some varying shades of tan and white. He sighs and bows politely as he enters, “Welcome mortals, how pleasing it is to be in the presence of such youth.”
He smiles, his teeth too straight and too perfect and the light flashing across his glasses. He reaches up with one hand to brush back his long black ponytail, perhaps the only part of him that came from one body.
Rose is the one who replies with a careful little smile and the response, “You flatter us, sir. We are mere guests here tonight as well. It is our honor to be welcomed into such a fine home.” She keeps a straight face, but Vriska’s grin is too broad.
As she snickers, a white figure comes through the wall above her and John on the couch. “Is something amusing, little human?” She twists around in the air, floating as if held up by invisible wings, and grins broadly down, “Why not tell us the joke! Grand loves a good laugh, don’t you?”
On cue, the zombied man laughs, holding his distended belly with both hands. You’re almost certain you see something fling itself from his mouth with the force of his laughter. “Yes, yes! Let us whet our appetites on a few fine jokes!”
You cringe inwardly as you see John’s whole face transform at the sound of that. Thankfully, before he can begin, Condie returns, carrying a dark bottle with a tray of glasses floating in the air behind her. “Hold on there a moment my dearies, I think more than a few of us will be needing something to drink if we start indulging you in your amusing little hobby!”
Immediately you notice that Eridan isn’t with her. You glance to Rose, arching an eyebrow. She nods her head slightly and you clear your throat to get Condie’s attention. Pouring the wine with the ease of someone who has poured many glasses and expects to pour many more, Condie smiles at you. “Yes hon?”
“May I use the restroom?”
“Of course!” She laughs. “It’s down the hall, past the kitchen and on your left! Spinneret, would you mind taking-” But you shake your head before she can finish.
“I’m sure I’ll find it no problem. If not, then I’ve only got myself to blame.” You give a casual shrug and then head out of the room before she can dispute it.
Once in the hall, you give out a heavy sigh. Goddamn those two undead men smelled awful. Then you hurry down, keeping your footfalls as quiet and as quick as you can. Instead of bypassing the kitchen, you head into it. The place is still and so clean it looks sterile. In contrast with the rest of the decor, nearly everything is stainless steel. It’s all sharp corners and straight lines, completely modern from head to toe. Rose, for all her show of politeness in this vampire’s house would have sneered in disgust. This, she would have said with a heavy tone, is not how the undead were supposed to behave.
There are a few doors in the kitchen, but after quick inspection you come to discover the first is pantry full of jars of things, the second is a freezer and is locked up tightly and the third and final door is the one you’re looking for. You slip past it and are suddenly surrounded by darkness. “Fuck,” you breathe out. Why didn’t you bring a flashlight?
Groping around in the blackness, you find a switch and flip it. Nothing happens. With an annoyed sigh you feel for the railing and cautiously ease your way down the stairs. It turns out the switch was good for something, after all, because about halfway down, the lights flicker on. The bulbs are bare yellow and shielded on one side- the side facing the wooden shelves for the wine bottles- and the unshielded side is pointed towards a cage. Thick metal bars section off a small area, going from ceiling to ceiling and with Eridan inside.
You rush over and grip the door. There’s a heavy padlock on the gate. “Hey! Hey, look at me!”
He lifts his head, slowly, his eyes wide and his skin deathly pale. The bottom of your stomach drops at his expression and all you can think is, oh fuck no. Your eyes flick down to his neck but you can’t see any marks that look like bites. That’s one less thing you have to worry about. “Dude, are you alright?”
His mouth opens slightly and he lets out a strangled sound.
“What was that?”
“A vampire!” He shouts, “She’s a vampire!”
Ah, he finally caught on. “Yeah.”
He stares at you, eyes wide and mouth dropped open. “You knew?”
Before you can answer, the light flickers and you’re glancing over your shoulder to see the hostess standing tall and beautiful behind you. She smiles and takes a step forward. “Darling, did you get lost on your way to the bathroom?”
“Nah,” you reply, turning your back on Eridan to face her.
“Surely, you have,” she is smiling more broadly now. Her lashes start fluttering as she holds out her hand, “Come with me, dear, and I’ll bring you back to your friends.”
“That’s the look,” Eridan whispers behind you, “she gave me when she told me that I was a sacrifice so the rest of you could leave without any harm.”
Her black eyes glance over your shoulder at him and you can see the fury coiling in them. It’s the first sign of any emotion you’ve yet seen in her. “Leave him here and I’ll spare your life. I only need one little fleshling tonight.”
Tilting your head to the side, just a little, you look as though you’re going to consider it. The vampire lets out a soft chuckle. But then you shake your head and say, “Fuck it. I’m going to leave with all of my friends, and yes, he is included.” You jerk a thumb in Eridan’s direction.
She hisses at you and takes several steps back. “As you wish, boy. You and all your friends will be food for me and my companions!” She laughed, the light flickering with her voice and in one dark moment she vanished.
In a second you’re turning around and you have your sword in hand. “Give me a sec and I’ll have you out of there.”
Eridan’s on his feet now, with a wide gaze full of confusion. “What the fuck is going on here!?”
You give a half smile as you wedge the end of your sword between the padlock’s curved handle. “It’s a test, of sorts.” You make sure the sword is in tight and add, “Stand back.”
When you motion him back with a hand, he finally complies. As he does so, you hurry over and grab a heavy wine bottle. With one hand on the hilt and the other on the bottle, you slam the bottom of it onto the top of the hilt. You make the steel cut through the thinner, older metal. After a minute of working on it, the lock falls to pieces on the ground. “There we go. C’mon now, you hear that?”
“What?”
“Listen.” You open the door for you and he steps out, looking around curiously. With perfect timing, there’s a loud thump from upstairs and you grin to him. “So maybe we were misleading about the eating part of the dinner party.”
He follows you up the stairs again and through the kitchen. There’s a loud, wet sound, like something hard and metal hitting flesh and Eridan winces. You put your free hand on his arm and squeeze, in an effort to calm him.
The moment the two of you round the corner and into the entranceway, you’re greeted with the sight of John standing over the back of the zombie. There is blood on his nice suit. He hefts his hammer and asked, “Hey Dave, you finish off our hostess?”
“Nah. Bosslady up and absconded with a creepy light flicker.” You reply, stepping into the room. Beyond John and his bloody victory, is Kanaya standing with her axe in one hand and re-applying her lipstick in the other. Rose is straightening up, flicking her needles to get rid of the blood on them and standing over the body of the other undead. You can’t remember if that’s a ghoul or some sort of Igor thing, but fuck if you really care. “You got them all already? Even the ghost?”
“Ghost?” Eridan repeats behind you.
“Yeah she was easy as pie,” Vriska flips a magic eight ball from one hand to the other. “A little manipulation and she came right along nicely, didn’t you babydoll?” She shakes the ball and looks down. Whatever is on the triangle makes her laugh.
“What the fuck is going on here!” Eridan shouts.
“That is what I would like to know.” Behind Eridan appears the vampire woman again. Her good looks are gone now, her eyes all black and her fangs out. Eridan skitters away from her but she’s coming after you. “Who are you little bastards?”
You laugh and swing your sword, sliding into a fighting stance. “Rose, what’s the verdict?”
“If it isn’t going to be a proper undead creature, it doesn’t deserve to keep throwing its tacky lifestyle onto humanity,” her voice is calm and sure. You nod to show you’ve heard and burst into action.
Fast as you are, skilled as you are, somehow the bitch manages to grab your sword hand in one of hers and put her other hand around your throat. She laughs as she lifts you up, fangs bared and face contorted disgustingly. “Well would you look at yourself now you little fleshbag? Nothing more than dead weight, I’m afraid. Though I’ll be happy to take about five litres of that out of you.”
“Bitch,” you gasp out.
She begins to laugh and then is suddenly cut short as something small, round and apple colored slams into her face. She screams in anger and drops you. You fall to your knees, sucking in a pained breath. While your head is down, you hear wood splintering and then John shouting.
When you look up, the bitch is turning to ash and John is giving Eridan a broad grin and a pat on the shoulder. His shirt front is scratched, but he’s smiling back. He looks down at you and blushes just a little. He holds an apple in his free hand to match the one on the floor next to the ashes. Rose is the one who helps you to your feet, and as she does she murmurs, “Good choice, Dave, very good choice.”
