The Complex 14

The option of fleeing was not something that Jerry Cooper bothered to share with the approaching humans. If they weren't smart enough to get out of the horrible storm it was their own damned fault. The two men were completely unaware of what the vampires were thinking, Jerry knew without peering into their minds. They had a different assessment of the situation. Antoine nudged Ted and said, "Those idiots think hiding in the doorway will make them safe? This is a damn crime."

Ted snickered and said, "Hell, yeah and we are just the perpetrators to do the offense."

Jerry gathered that both of them had more than likely spent more than a bit of time in courts hearing those terms. Julia whistled softly as she noticed the men grinning. "No egos there huh?" she said softly while her fangs dropped. Jerry shook a finger at her and said, "My Child, not fair. Remember we are letting them throw the first punch."

"Yes, Sire." Her fangs disappeared and she dipped her head again. He found her immediate response to be impressive. He'd had fledglings in the past that hadn't learned to obey for months. Much to their torment, as he did turn them over to others to be properly educated, since there truly could be only one Master; and when minions and fledglings forgot, they needed punishment. Jerry thought of it like training a pet. Firm commands were important, as were immediate responses to the commands. In a combat scenario, it would mean the difference between winning and losing. In a vampire world, it meant the difference between life and true death.

The one called Ted had the prerequisite extremely dark tan of one of the locals. He also sported a stringy, long brown-and-gray pony tail that ran half way down his back. The former t-shirt was now more like a tank top as the sleeves had been ripped off to expose all of his tattoos and muscles. The tattered shorts he wore covered him like a glove leaving little to anyone's imagination but matched brilliantly with the t-shirt and of course, worn flip-flops. All part of the look of a scruffy, somewhat useless denizen of from the underbelly of the world, Ted wore it proudly and had apparently used it to push around the upstanding local folks. A sneer covered his features as he closed the distance between the vampires and humans. He usually wore sunglasses, Jerry figured from the indentations on either side of his face of lighter skin and the white rings around his squinting eyes. The descending night along with the lack of street lights didn't allow the thug to wear his sunglasses when molesting people without running the risk of slamming into walls, trees and parked cars.

Antoine, on the other hand, obviously fancied himself a well-dressed man by comparison to his friend. He wore long dark-colored slacks with dark brown, boat shoes -- sans socks of course -- and a short-sleeved button down shirt. The shirt was patterned with a vague tropical imprint and had been freshly ironed at one time earlier in the day. Unfortunately the winds and rain had thrown that look out the door but the man still held himself tall. His dark hair was slicked back as best as could be with the gusts of wind. Ted had a bit of a grubby beard but Antoine looked like he'd just finished shaving moments before they'd found the vamps. His skin was equally tanned, but he appeared more polished than his companion. Hazel eyes met Julia's as he got near and he stuck his tongue out and waggled it at her while lifting his eyebrows. The gesture was meant to be disturbing and possibly frightening, but Julia had seen more than her share of craziness in the past twenty-four hours and she couldn't resist giggling.

"No, thanks. I prefer something longer." She took a soft jab. From the widening of Antoine's eyes it obviously hit its mark.

"I'll show you longer, bitch." He snarled still approaching with a menacing glare. Had they been humans the glare may have caused them some concern but they weren't human.

"How? You like going to whip out old Ted's tool? You probably have before." She taunted unable to resist. Jerry had to hand it to his fledgling, she certainly knew how to kick a man verbally. Too bad she'd forgotten how to do that during her time spent with her ex-boyfriend William. From everything he'd gleaned about good old William he was a bit of a tool in his own right and the damage he'd done to Julia wasn't going to go unrewarded, Jerry'd decided. Even if Julia didn't survive the next few hours he'd figure out a way to make William pay. His fledgling deserved it for all the pain the human had inflicted upon her.

Both men automatically shifted away from each other as Julia's words sunk through their thick skulls.

Ted growled, "You can have her. She probably bites."

Julia laughed loudly and said, "And how."

They had been calling out to each other as the two men drew closer and Jerry hadn't offered anything other than his softly spoken comments to Julia. He was watching both of the men and how they moved and held themselves. The wind had died back slightly and they were now less than three feet from the vamps. Nobody in any of the buildings or houses that lined the street had stuck their heads out to see what the shouting was about, but then Jerry didn't blame them. These two moved like they'd been preying on the elder residents and younger women in the area for a very long time. They weren't afraid that anyone watching would call the cops on them; they were more than likely to come back once they got out of prison and beat the crap out of anyone who'd 'squealed' -- if they even got charged.

"I'll teach you to disrespect Antoine!" The man said causing Julia to nearly fall to the ground she was laughing so hard.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! You talk about yourself in the third person? You aren't exactly famous, well maybe except for in your own deluded mind!" Jerry watched both men puff up, as they were now right in front of the archway effectively blocking the sidewalk no more than two arms length from the vampires. The vampire remembered that Tony, the forger, also thought of himself in the third person and he had to admit it was pretty irritating.

"I'll show you deluded, you think that your smart mouth is going to save your pretty little ass?" He was spitting as he talked. Antoine was definitely losing cool points with his buddy Ted. Julia decided to notch it up a level and said, "Don't worry yourself about my ass. Besides I thought you were going to pull out Ted's dick so I could see something longer?"

Both men turned bright red. Jerry was nearly laughing himself at how her words were tearing into the two humans so effectively. Ted broke free of embarrassment first, and reached out for Jerry's neck with a ham-sized fist. Antoine wasn't more than a beat behind his partner, trying to grab Julia with his much softer looking hands. Jerry figured that the man moisturized heavily given how smooth he looked from head to toe. The comments Julia had made about Antoine's possible erotic interest in good old Ted seemed to be more than just a jab given both their reactions.

Looking to Jerry she said, "Now?"

"Yes," he said allowing his fangs to slip down. She smiled back flashing fangs and a delighted twinkle in her light brown eyes.

"Oh, look I have something long for you," she hissed through her fangs into Antoine's face. Antoine immediately lost his nicely tanned complexion and fainted to the concrete with a rather solid thump. Ted growled as if that would change what his eyes were seeing. His fingers were still around Jerry's throat and Jerry casually backhanded him across the face. Blood flew from where the man's front tooth bit through his lower lip and his ponytail whipped towards Jerry as his head went sideways. Ted's hand was no longer on Jerry's neck and he let out a small sound of pain.

It was too good of an opportunity to skip, so Jerry yanked the nicely presented thick rope of bound hair down hard while pushing his free hand into the middle of the man's back, exposing his throat as he was lifted up nearly on his tip toes. Ted was unable to find any purchase on the damp cement, and the awkwardness of how Jerry had him off balance wasn't helping. Giving Julia a glance he said, "Help yourself, my Child. You've earned it."

Julia didn't need any more of an open invitation. Quickly she pounced on the man Jerry presented her like a gift. She took his collapsing body from Jerry with vampiric strength, easily supporting the larger man's weight with an arm beneath his spine, and her other hand tilting his bleeding face away from her while she pushed roughly into his jugular with her razor sharp fangs. She was making loud smacking noises as she greedily drank from the now-crying man. He didn't scream to Jerry's surprise, then he heard the mental push she was giving the human. She was feeding him night terrors and causing him to react like a small child. The sobs coming from him weren't those of an adult, but a small child. His fears were deep seated and she was drinking them in just as quickly as she was pulling from him his very own life's blood.

The other man groaned and muttered from the ground, "Fuck me, Ted. I just had the weirdest dream."

When his eyes opened, Antoine had an immediate reaction and he was far more vocal than his buddy Ted. He let out a scream that was at least two octaves higher than his normal speaking voice as he saw Julia slurping down Ted. He tried to crawl backwards on his hands and feet like a crab shuffling under a rock ledge. He didn't get very far.

Jerry simply snatched up the fleeing human and by the throat pulled him bodily off the ground and directly into his face while smiling the whole time. Naturally Antoine passed out seeing another set of fangs inches from his face.

"This human is pathetic. And they thought they were going to be hurting us?" Jerry laughed and slipped his teeth into the man's neck. He drank enough to push the man nearly to a coma. By the time he dropped the man, he saw Julia licking Ted's neck.

Jerry admired his fledgling's thoughtfulness. By licking the wound it sealed up, leaving Ted very dead from blood loss. While also being pretty much completely empty of blood. The lack of wounds would be offering quite the mystery for a medical examiner -- except for the loss of blood -- there wouldn't appear to be any apparent reason for the death. The confused medical personnel would more than likely attribute the death to heart failure, as lack of blood would definitely cause the man's heart to stop. But it didn't matter what they determined, because she'd drained him so completely dry. He wasn't going to turn into a vampire the following evening, because Jerry definitely wasn't going to open up a vein any time soon to create another vampire. He was a tad more selective in his kin.

"Here, my Child. Why don't you try something a bit different?" Her eyes were half-shut as she finished savoring Ted's blood running through her body and soul. He could taste Ted's blood through his fledgling and already knew how different Antoine tasted. She was in for a treat. Antoine had fainted for a damned good reason. He'd been fed off more than once in his life.

"Of course, Master." She sounded somewhat blood drunk, but Jerry was okay with it, because he'd slipped into her thoughts and saw she was compartmentalizing the emotions she'd garnered from drinking of Ted. It was often necessary when feeding to push the feelings and emotions found in the victim so their lives wouldn't overwhelm the vampire. That Julia naturally did it made Jerry very happy.