Strangely Beautiful

She was all blonde hair and blue eyes. Against the pallor of her skin it was all you could see. Unless you looked closer, past the mass of blonde hair and the wide blue eyes captivating her face, you saw the small button nose, rosy cheeks, and two plump little pink lips. A crucifix fell against her collar bone and just above that sat her jugular, the vein pumping ever ready blood throughout her frail, doll-like, body. A heart beating at a distinct pace, neither slowing or speeding as she sat at the bar, phone pressed against her ear.

A pout was set into her face, an empty glass gripped in her palm, save for the four melting ice cubes. An inaudible sigh escaped those pink lips, she swung her hair back, the crucifix bouncing against her chest, and ordered another drink as she closed the phone. This wasn’t her. But this was his opportunity. Without so much as a second thought, he was sitting a barstool away from her, ordering his own drink as the bartender slid her a new glass.

The glass was in her palm again, the liquid was dark and smelled of sugar and alcohol. Rum and coke. A little stronger than what he would have thought she would drink, but it wasn’t the first time he had been wrong about her. He watched as she took a sip and her nose wrinkled up. It brought a smirk to his face; he was more often right than he was wrong. The bartender placed his glass in front of him and he took a sip, feeling the ever so small vibration of her phone through the wood of the bar.

“What?” She growled into the receiver.

He feigned interest in a football game that all the men at the bar were cheering about. Taking another sip of his drink he listened absentmindedly to the one sided conversation. Why should football have interested him? It had become a pansy sport, with all the rules against un-sportsmen like conduct.

“No,” she spoke sternly, “because I don’t want to,” She rolled her eyes, her next words coming out so harshly the bartender looked at her with surprise. “If you want to play someone, at least when you decide to hurt them, do it physically.” Grinding her teeth, she slammed the phone onto the bar and took a gulp of her drink.

“Bad break up?” He asked.

“Psycho ex,” she replied without a second thought.

“Ah.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She glared at him.

“’Ah’? It’s a form of understanding, I suppose.”

“How would you understand a psycho ex boyfriend?”

“It’s not that I understand that exactly, but that I understand you.”

He shrugged, finished off his drink and dropped some money on the bar, calling to the bartender to put the girl on his tab as he walked out. It was all part of the act, a way of seducing prey. He had done it many a time, though this was a completely different tactic than most. But he had no doubt it would work, it was a hit and run per say. The one you hit would more often than not try to find you, whether it happened or not. He was going to let her find him though; it was all part of the game.

As he called a cab to the curb she came running out of the bar, a wool jacket clenched tightly between her fists as the wind whipped every loose piece of clothing and hair around her. Her black heels clicked against the sidewalk as she ran to the cab to slide in next to him.

“What do you mean by ‘I understand you’?” She asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

“You ask a lot of questions darling, maybe you should just keep to normal small talk.”

The hunt was going far better than he’d thought it would, he wasn’t too quick to take credit for the plan though, for it also might’ve just been the girl. Either way, it was working.

“I’m not much for small talk,” She brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face. “Now explain.”

“Is it every day you get in a cab with a strange man?”

“Stop avoiding my questions!”

“It doesn’t seem very safe…” He mused.

Her face began to grow red from irritation but it only made his smirk grow. He was amused by her. She was odd and beautiful all at the same time. Someday humans would be the death of him. Figuratively of course. There were just far too many beautiful human women. Sure, there were other women, more stable, more understanding, but there was just something so amusing about human emotions. It made them all strangely beautiful. But this one, she had to be the best yet.

“To hell with safety! Just answer the question!”

“Why should I? We talked for a few seconds in a bar, is that supposed to amount to something?” He raised his eyebrows in question.

“Exactly! So how would you be able to understand me?”

She was confusing. Even as the cab stopped in front of the warehouse, he found himself bemused and at a loss for words. He handed the cabby some cash and then handed some to her.

“Go home, get the alcohol out of your system,” he shook his head and closed the door, almost simultaneously hearing her door open.

“Tell me,” she demanded, following him into the warehouse.

“I really fear for your safety.”

“Huh?”

“Now you’re following a strange man into a warehouse.”

Her hand went to the crucifix around her neck as she shrugged, a passive look crossing her face. He heaved the door open and began up the stairs. It was surprising she was actually following her. It must’ve been the woman; she had to have been different. No sane human woman would follow a man into an empty warehouse. It was like a death wish or sorts.

“I just want to know how you understand me, and then I’ll leave you alone.”

They were going up the fifth flight of stairs now, the last one, and she was still tailing him, the black kitten heels clicking against the cement stairs. When they reached the top he grabbed her arms and spun them so she was between him and the wall.

“You do realize that I have the advantage right now and could do something horrible to you,” he breathed into her ear, felt the goose bumps rise along her arms.

It was then that she saw her mistake, even if he had been informing her of it repeatedly. She had just been so captivated by him; she had to find some way to continue their conversation, it was this invisible tug, relentlessly pulling her towards him. And now she was pressed up right against him, chest to chest, his cold breath blowing strands of her hair away from her neck. The tug was now pulling her harder; she needed to get closer to him in some way. Even as cool lips were placed against her neck, up to her jaw line, back down to her neck.

“Do you know what I could do to you?” He asked, “I could give you exactly what you’ve been wanting, show you the reason you followed me.”

Again she shivered and he smirked against her warm skin. He could feel the steady pulse of her blood, warm and velvety. A delectable substance, in which was the only thing with the ability to satisfy him.

“U-uh, could you, maybe, back up a little…?” She gulped.

“Why would I want to do that?”

She was uncomfortable and he was enjoying it. Though even as uncomfortable as she was, she didn’t want him to move; even as he dipped his lips down to the curve of her neck again. She was tense against him, he was dangerous, and she could feel it, it was seeping from him like a dark mist. Then he brushed his lips against hers for a mere second and all her defenses fell, giving him free access.

He twisted the door knob and pushed the door open; they were at the top floor of the warehouse. It wasn’t as empty as she would have expected though. He lived here, in a renovated floor of an abandoned warehouse. At any other time, she would have been fascinated. It was like a penthouse, only larger. As she admired their surroundings, he knew he was in a good place. They were easier to get to when comfortable and relaxed. He was surprised by how easily she had given in though, it normally took more persuading.

He pressed his lips against her neck again, feeling the promise of warm blood beneath the skin. She pressed against him, large blue eyes closed in contentment. She had completely forgotten where she was, who he was, who she was. The world around her had completely melted away and was now just a blurred image of what was going on. She was a pawn in his chess game, about to be removed completely.

“Do you know what I am? Have you figured it out?”

She gulped, nausea rushing to the pit of her stomach, “No…”

His teeth skimmed her neck, digging in shallowly. His fingertips gripped her hips as he sunk his teeth into the thin skin of her neck. She gasped at the pain of feeling the life literally drain from her body for mere seconds until the endorphins flooded her nervous system. An oddly wonderful drink, a pleasant mistake, a strangely beautiful scene.