Dark Temptations (pm for invite)

[Wolf Vixen]

Trinity walked the streets every night, this was her job not to mentioned she rather enjoyed the night air and quietness of the early morning hours. Every step she took the breeze would blow back her dark red hair while her bright blue eyes scanned over the area. She usually took the time to do more than scan with her eyes but she figured it would take them awhile to round up their troops after what she sent back to them.

There weren’t many vampires that worked together, some being loners, but she knew there was a group of them that even the newly turned was afraid of. They had sent a few vampires after her, trying to take her down like she was nothing but an ant to be stepped on. The first two found out it wasn’t as easy as they had hoped. Attacking her while she walked down a dark alley, thinking they would find themselves a sweet treat when in reality they found their bodies turning to dust where they stood.

Though the last one they sent touched a softer side to herself and when he tried to feed on her he found himself getting his greatest wish, at least a wish for some. He didn’t have the urge for human blood, he could eat normal food and even walk out in the sunlight again. Yes he was mortal again, she gave him his life back and what did he do to repay her? He ran back to them. She knew he had because she couldn’t find him anywhere.

This was her job, this is what she woke up for every sunset, what she craved every night while walking the streets. She was clearing the world of vampires using her own body to do it.

Turning the corner the lights on the street flickered. Trinity tilted her head to the side but never stopping her steps. Her senses flared out and she picked it up, the empty spot that always signaled a vampire. There was always a hum to the world around her, so when she came across an empty spot she knew exactly what she was facing.

Her soft sweet voice began to slither through the night, “Come my friend, come out and play with me.”

Her hips began to sway a bit more, letting her leather trench coat open in the breeze to show off the skin that showed around her mid-drift blue shirt. The same blue that brought out the sparkle in her eyes. Along with the mid-drift she had on jean shorts and knee high boots with straps that went down the outside of them.

She felt his eyes fixated on her as she slowed her walk down the street, looking innocent and inviting, tempting the vampire closer.

She felt his presence behind her, “Mmmm goodie, you wanted to play.” His voice deep with a hint of temptation in it, “You did call to me, besides I would hate to see a young beautiful woman such as yourself find herself in some kind of trouble walking down the dark streets alone.”

Trinity turned toward the vampire and smiled softly, lifting her chin so that her white skinned glowed in the moonlight along her neck. She saw his eyes move toward the throbbing pulse that lay under the skin. Taking a step toward him she beckoned him with her body, her eyes promising such pleasures.

She moved into the circle of his arms, acting as if she was pulled to him by some means that was unseen. Her hands found his chest and in her head she sighed, feeling another great chest that was going to be gone by dawn. She licked over her lips as he bent his head toward her neck; her head tilting to the side, almost coaxing him to take a taste.

She felt the sting of his teeth as they pierced her skin, feeling him begin to drink from her. It normally didn’t take long and she usually had it down to a science. He pulled back from her hissing as she smiled warmly to him, his anger lashing out at her in his voice, “You Bitch!”

That was the last thing she heard from his lips as he froze where he stood. She watched as he slowly began to disintegrate before her eyes, turning to a small pile of dust on the sidewalk. She circled her finger in the air beside her, the wind picking up for a brief moment, but enough time to scatter his remains.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the pinpricks in her neck heal without a trace. Turning she continued down the street as the lights flickered back on, pulling the edges of her trench coat around her, securing it with her belt. She smiled as there was one less vampire she had to deal with later.

 

[Veroe]

IC: John Montgomery

What the young people these days called music was blaring outside the house. John had heard all the way from the entrance of this subdivision. He pushed the button beside the door. The doorbell chimed announcing his presence to those inside. They came afterall they had ordered pizza and was waiting for their dinner to come to them. The door opened and a young teenage girl in denim cutoff shorts and a T-shirt that didn't even bother to hide her midriff or her blossoming busom.

She smiled at him and John could feel the power of her mind try and reach out for his, but once contact was made and realization came over her she recoiled from him.

"W-who the hell are you?"

"The name is John Montgomery, Ms. Eveline Howard," He told the girl and glanced over to the teenage boy dressed in jeans and an Eminem T-shirt. "And you must be Mr. Lawrence Johnson Jr." He stepped inside.

"You're not the pizza guy."

"No," He said crossing to the stereo and turning the noise down. "I paid the delivery man for his time and trouble and told him to return to his employer saying it was nothing but a prank call."

The girl crossed over to her boyfriend hugging him tight. "He's one of the old ones."

"Hardly," He chuckled but looking back at Evie and LJ he added, "But yes, compared to the week you've been vampires I am much much older and far more powerful than both of you combined."

"What do you want with us, man," LJ asked.

"The problem is that you two have been one of us for a week and have fed rather messily and randomly. The local authorities have noticed. Within the week you'd be cornered by the police and the secret of our existence would be known. The overseer of this territory cannot allow that. There is also the fact that the two of you were unsanctioned raisings-she didn't give whomever made you permission to make you two one of us. In fact the population for this territory is set." He sighed, "My job is to remove problems like you two."

"Remove," LJ asked.

"Exterminate," John clarified.

"You're gonna kill us," LJ exclaimed grabbing Evie's hand and rushing for the door, "Fuck tha-" He stopped in midsentence and mid-step as John's mind stretched out and sunk into theirs.

He crossed over back to the door and held it open. He fed them the compulsion to go with him their dearest friend from school on a car trip. They climbed into the back seat of his jeep screaming, "Yeah, Vegas, baby!"

On the car trip out to the farm he questioned them about the vampire that had turned them. It wasn't a whole lot. They didn't know his name and the description didn't fit any Vampire within this territory. That meant it could either be a rogue, a virtual impossibility, or an encroachment from a vampire of another territory. That last was more likely all the more ominous. John hadn't been alive as either vampire or human during the last territory war but tales of its carnage and destruction were commonly known and feared within the community of vampires he worked for. The cease-fire was one of the bedrocks of the modern vampires' societies.

Once at the farm he pulled his jeep onto a large pasture and led them out. There they played imaginary craps and blackjack. John made sure they won big in this delusion. By the time dawn approached he watched them rolling around in the grass believing it was their winnings making sweet passionate love. As the sun rose they held eachother in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Protected by the specially tinted glass of Jeep's windsheilds John watched the young couple burst into flames still contentedly holding eachother. In a matter of minutes they were nothing but a pile of ash scattering in the wind.

He sighed and pulled out his phone and calling the only number he ever used this thing for. A moment and it was answered. "It's done."

"Good my John, hurry back home, dear child, I have another job for you," The territory's overseer stated in her seductive soft french accent.

"Another job," He said quirking an eyebrow and feeling his anger at her rising, "You said you wouldn't need me for a week after these young ones were dealt with."

"Circumstances have changed." She continued unabated by his petulant tone, infact she seemed excited by it-the god damned bitch. "we have become aware of a serious problem. One that needs your special gift, for the three others we sent to take care of her two have disappeared and the one that returned to us...frankly has us scared"

"Scared," I said shocked she'd ever admit that to one of her underlings. It must be something quite urgent to make her slip up that much.

She sounded deeply annoyed by the unfamiliar emotion, "yes my John ..scared ..He came back...mortal" Spitting out the last word, "You know walk in the sun,eat food ..die of old age, disgustingly mortal."

Hope began to rise in me, "How?"

She ignored that continuing on, "I tried to turn him back ofcourse, and it didn't work. His blood turned black and he died. I still have the nasty taste in my mouth and was sick for days afterward..do you here ME! SICK!"

John started the Jeep's engine and pulled out of the pasture and back onto the dirtroad back to the highway. "I'm on my way now."

"You have to DEAL with this my John!," pleading as a small child would, "This abomination must die, slowly, and excruciatingly. We can not let her live and possibly reproduce some how..do you understand my John?"

I didn't answer my mind on the fact that whoever did this could fulfill my greatest most secret desire.

"But first come here," She added.

"What," I asked startled from my thoughts of regaining what this creature had taken from me, "Why do you want me to go back to the mansion?"

"We'll have all the information you'll need and will provide whatever supplies you need to eradicate this monstrosity."

"Just send it over the phone, there's no need to bother going back to the mansion and...I can get straight onto the job of exterminating this nuisance to you."

"No you have spent too long away from me, my John," She stated, "And I have not enjoyed the pleasure of your blood or your passion in all that time."

John's cock despite how much this woman had tormented and manipulated and how much he loathed her-began to rise to attention at the prospect of seeing his maker again-fucking traitor. But that wasn't really its fault. John both loved and hated her in equal often shifting and revolving measures. Ridiculous, confusing, contradictory, but there it was-the truth of things between them.

"I'll come back to you once I do the job, I swear."

"Mmm, bad boy to defy me like that," She said, "I shall make you pay for that, but go then deal with this abomination and return to me my John."

 

[Wolf Vixen]

Trinity didn't particularly love what she did, in fact she hated it. She hated knowing that vampires were real, hated that she had to come out here every night like some hooker to be able to defeat them one by one. But as her eyes glanced over the citizens, the young and the old she knew exactly why she did this. If she couldn't live a blissful life of ignorance then she was certain to make their lives worth living.

Her booted feet took her down the city streets, passing closed shops and open bars, searching for that one spot that was different from the hum of life. Trinity found it amusing that after living here so long, hunting for so long that now she was picking up on a new vampire every night. Usually it took her months to find one, but here, she was finding them quite easily. Maybe she was right when she considered grabbing the attention of the group, she was almost sure of it since she still had yet to come across the man she changed back to human.

Trinity wasn't sure what it was about her blood or even the little gifts she did have. She spent a small fortune trying to get her blood analyzed and yet it failed to issue any results which would satisfy her curiosity. It seemed as if whatever results happened from her blood was solely about the thought in her mind at the time of the feeding. Did she despise the predator feeding from her or did she take pity on him? That seemed to be the case with the one she turned, for he was the only one she took pity in. If it wasn't for him, she would have never guessed she even had that ability.

Glancing over her shoulder she took note of the quiet street before crossing over to the other side. Invisible fingers floating from her to 'test' the nearby area. It had become such second nature to her that she never realized she was doing it, not until a dead spot actually caught her attention. Her head lifted a bit as the breeze blew past her, her senses tingling as if something was near. She searched the area with those fingers as well as with her eyes, yet found nothing but her gut was telling her something was out there, watching her.

Heading further away from the life of the city she reached out again, searching, almost hoping for yet another predatory that would become the prey.

 

[Daydream_weaver]

Renee

It was quiet. So very, very quiet and still. All through the building no one moved, no one spoke, no one even thought…but she could feel them. The sharks, circling…smelling blood in the water. Her blood.

Renee sat behind her large antique desk, the picture of calm repose. Eyes closed, hands resting on the arms of her chair. Her black hair pulled back from her pale face, a statue carved in ebony and alabaster Yet her mind was a maelstrom. She knew what the others were thinking, what they were feeling. She hadn’t even needed to tune in to their thoughts to know. Not that she cared to listen to the twaddle they all considered so important on most days. There had been a change, however. Something new and totally unexpected. That’s why they were all being so very careful to try and not even think about what was really on all their minds. She had shown weakness.

It wasn’t her fault. This was something that she had never encountered before. Not in all her centuries of existence. She’d had the reports, some new hunter was in her town. Already they had lost several of their number, lower level members but still. They were hers and someone had taken them away. So she had done what was always done. She’d sent hunters after the hunter. It should have been easy, should have been routine, and yet…

She had sent out a current favorite of hers, had thought he would surely succeed where the other two had failed. She remembered the look on his face when he had returned to her. The awe, the hope, the shinning humanity. She could smell it on him, could hear his heart beating, pushing the blood through his veins. He came to her and he told her all about the angel, the creature who had returned to him all that she herself had taken away. He came to her in his excitement thinking that she would be happy, that she would come with him to seek out the source of this miracle and partake of it herself. They would make a life together…a normal, mortal life. He had insulted her very existence with his romantic twaddle.

Renee had taken him. She would not reward his disloyalty by allowing him to remain as he was. She would return him to the fold and then she would make him pay, over and over and over. The terror that flooded his mind as her rage engulfed him should have added sweetness to his blood. There should have been the rush and the pleasure of the feast as she drank deeply from the ruin she made of his throat and his chest. Instead there was vileness, there was heaving sickness, there was pain. It was unlike anything she had experienced before.

Still, that counted for nothing because she had been caught unaware, unprepared and now she would have to fight to gain back the hold she kept so firmly on her territory. Before someone tried to take it from her. Even now as they sought to not let her hear they plotted against her. She who had brought many of them into this better world, she who had kept them safe, she who had made this territory strong…like the predators they all were they would turn on her. In a way she was proud, but it could not be allowed.

The ringing phone brought her from her reverie and she snatched it up, already knowing whose voice she would hear.

"It's done."

He sounded weary. He sounded torn. A slow smile curved her full lips.

"Good my John, hurry back home, dear child, I have another job for you,"

"Another job. You said you wouldn't need me for a week after these young ones were dealt with."

"Circumstances have changed. We have become aware of a serious problem. One that needs your special gift, for the three others we sent to take care of her two have disappeared and the one that returned to us...frankly has us scared"

"Scared,"

For a moment Renee hated herself for once again showing weakness. For letting someone else know that she might not be as powerful and in control as she seemed. But this was John, he was hers. As much as he may hate that fact he couldn’t deny it. He was hers and he would do anything for her. She had made sure of that a very long time ago. He would take care of this for her. She felt her control slip just a bit more.

"Yes my John ..scared ..He came back...mortal. You know walk in the sun,eat food ..die of old age, disgustingly mortal."

"How?"

"I tried to turn him back, of course, and it didn't work. His blood turned black and he died. I still have the nasty taste in my mouth and was sick for days afterward...do you here ME! SICK!"

"I'm on my way now."

Of course he was. He was her strong right hand, her dark knight. She didn’t trust him for a second, but she knew he was hers.

"You have to DEAL with this my John! This abomination must die, slowly, and excruciatingly. We can not let her live and possibly reproduce some how..do you understand my John?" But had there been something in his voice? A hesitation? Perhaps it was time to remind him who she was, who he was. “But first come here,"

"What? Why do you want me to go back to the mansion?"

"We'll have all the information you'll need and will provide whatever supplies you need to eradicate this monstrosity." There is was again, that reluctance. Yes, it was beyond time to renew their special relationship. Renee’s tiny pink tongue wet her bottom lip, she could almost taste him now.

"Just send it over the phone, there's no need to bother going back to the mansion and...I can get straight onto the job of exterminating this nuisance to you."

"No you have spent too long away from me, my John. And I have not enjoyed the pleasure of your blood or your passion in all that time." John was exactly what she needed to regain her composure. To wash the taste of that filth from her body and mind. He would come to her and he would love her and he would hate her and he would...Renee felt her excitement building.

"I'll come back to you once I do the job, I swear."

"Mmm, bad boy to defy me like that," John had never denied her this blatantly before. As much as he hated it he always came when she called. Reluctantly at times, even at times seething with resentment, but he couldn’t resist. He needed it and that made it all the more pleasurable for her. "I shall make you pay for that, but go then deal with this abomination and return to me my John."

Renee replaced the phone in its cradle and drummed her fingertips on the desktop. Yes, John would deal with this for her and then he would return. Perhaps she would keep him at her side for a time. Make him her little lap dog. She knew he hated it when she treated him like a pet, a plaything. That would be his punishment for his little show of defiance. She would take him and break him once more to her will, bind him to her tighter than ever...in her own unique way.

But first she needed to stop pouting like a child and show those skulking in the shadows who was still in charge here.

 

[Veroe]

IC: John Montgomery

John had returned to the city and reviewed everything Renee had sent him over his phone, which was very little, only a name-Trinity, the places where she was seen, the places her victims were when they came across her, and a general description. There wasn't much more than that. So John was working with alot of unknowns regarding this dangerous girl. It was too many unknown factors to risk a direct confrontation with her this minute.

So when he came across her walking down a street containing most of the downtown nightspots where she hunted he shadowed her keeping his presence tightly concealed from her abnormally developed senses.

Whoever she was, whatever she was, she had the paranormal mental capacities that rivaled a vampire several decades old. She crossed the street casting powerful tendrils of her consciousness out shifting between those she passed, not enough to penetrate the layers of thought of those passersby like he or any vampire would. She was seeking something specific, a hunter prowling for a certain kind of prey. One mental tendril reached out towards him and he had to duck inside an alley when she glanced behind her.

She began walking down the street again heading for a danceclub named Verve. It was one of Renee's fronts. A place where humans could gather in numbers and loosen their inhibitions and lower their gaurds enough to be easily singled out and fed from or outright culled quietly in the dark corners and basement of the club. If this Trinity went in there she would encounter not one but several vampires.

This put him in somewhat of a quandry. John could warn the vampires inside Trinity was coming but it would certainly announce to her he was following her. Or he could do nothing and observe how she did the fantastical things it was claimed she could do. Eventually he decided on the latter. Renee would be very upset with him if she knew he had allowed one of her more lucrative and convenient fronts to be disrupted but he needed to see more of this Trinity before confronting her. Besides he despised places like this.

 

[Wolf Vixen]

Trinity couldn't shake the feeling of being watched and yet the closer she got to one spot the more she picked up on those spots she was looking for. Tilting her head slightly she took note of a few people hanging around outside of the club, their eyes wandering over the streets and herself. Maybe it was them that was giving her that funny feeling. Her eyes moved up to the sign to make a mental note of the place. Verve. She would have to visit this place again with the amount of dead spots compared to hum.

She debated on walking into what one could consider the lion's den, but then she didn't believe that anyone really knew who she was...at least not yet. Smiling at one of the doormen as he opened the door for her, she stepped inside and quickly shedding her coat. Draping it over her arm she headed for the bar, letting her hips sway a bit more suggestively.

Upon reaching the bar she found an empty stool and tossed her coat over the seat before climbing up onto it. Her jean skirt rising higher while her back arched and she called over the bartender. Normally she didn't drink on the hunt, but she figured one beer wouldn't hurt. After placing her order, Trinity turned herself toward the crowd, crossing her legs while letting her eyes rake over the patrons of the club. The music was loud, the place was packed and yet she could still feel that awkward feeling that someone was watching her.

When the beer arrived, she reached back for it, taking a sip as she turned to find a few eyes upon her. She smiled at the group of men, almost praying that they didn't know who she was. Trinity never tried to take on more than one vampire at a time and she really didn't know how that would work out for her. Then again she was a risk taker, after all she was out at night, scantily clothed just to entice these blood suckers to her. Her eyes moved over each of them even as her 'fingers' moved around around the room. She could tell there were many vampires in the club, but the number still eluded her. Trinity was actually still learning all of her gifts and at the moment she only knew how to pinpoint a dead spot, not filter out how many were in one location.

She downed half of the beer as she sat there surveying the club and the patrons in it. She barely even noticed as the man stepped up to her until he blocked her view. Trinity cursed herself, allowing someone to get that close to her and her not picking up on it, especially when she looked up and caught the signs of vampire standing before her. She slipped a smile into place as he placed a hand on the bar and leaned into her, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered over the music that was pumping through the place, "I haven't seen you here before, first time?"

He didn't even move back as she nodded her head, even allowing her heart to pick up an extra beat as if she was growing excited, which in a way she was, but for different reasons. His voice continued to vibrate into her ear, "I'm Matthew, would you care to dance?" She nodded again and he began to pull back. Her eyes stayed on him as she finished off her beer and slipped from the stool. His hand moving quicker than most humans, as it grabbed up her coat and tossed it to the bartender with a nod. Apparently he knew the bartender, probably from visiting this club often. Trinity made a mental note to come back as often as she could, until she was found out at least. It seemed this club was a hang out for such creatures and would be an easy playground for her.

Matthew's hand rested along her lower back as he led the way to the dance floor. Trinity had to admit that he was probably a very handsome man when he was alive, his dark hair cropped close to his head, his bright green eyes hinting at naughty thoughts. Yes, he should have been a looker when alive and now with all the added traits of a vampire she was sure he was irresistible to many humans. He leaned down as they drew closer to the press of bodies on the dance floor, "What's your name little one?" Trinity had to bite back a laugh at his 'little one', certain that it made some women gush with wetness at the little term of endearment from him, "Trinity."

"Beautiful, as you are," he replied as they stepped onto the dance floor and his hand moved from the lower part of her back to her opposite hip, essentially wrapping his arm around her and pulling her up against his strong, well built body. Trinity's hands moved to catch herself against his chest as she looked up at him under her lashes. Smiling her body took his lead as they moved to the music being played, a lot closer than most couples on the dance floor but Trinity didn't mind it so much, after all it was part of her job. "I take it you come here often Matthew?" He gave a short nod of the head as his hand moved back to her lower back, his fingers resting on the top of her ass.

Trinity's smile grew as her hands slowly moved up his expansive chest to his shoulders, pushing her body closer to his. She watched as his eyes grew wider but only for a moment before his arms wrapped more tightly around her. Matthew leaned down to her once again, her head tilting just slightly, enticing him even though she knew better than to do the deed here in public. She felt his lips once more brushing over her ear, "Maybe..." his voice trailed off as she felt his lips brushing over her neck. Trinity's breath caught, but only because she didn't want him to bite her here. How could she possibly explain his unexplained change to ash in the middle of a club full of vampires?

Matthew must have taken her breath catching as a good sign because she felt the hint of his fangs brushing another line along her neck. She let out the breath she was holding when his voice returned to her ear, "We need some privacy." Trinity nodded and Matthew stood straighter. Trinity slipped her arms from him intending to step back when she simply turned her where she stood and guided her toward one of the back rooms.

 

[Veroe]

IC: John Montgomery

John followed Trinity into the nightclub: Verve without her noticing. It wasn't hard the place was packed with gyrating, dancing humans. The music-or what this generation mistakenly considered music-was loud and asaulting to his ears, a constant distraction. So John kept behind her as she walked over to the bar.

John watched through the swirling mass of bodies as she ordered a drink and surveyed the night's hunting ground. This was a woman who was quite fetching and not just physically. John was gifted when he was turned with a rare focus and accuity of a vampire's mental powers. This Triniy's aura shimmered and vibrated in a fashion that was both unique and alluring to those with prowess to notice such things like vampires. Her just walking in to the building and sitting down for a drink was an unrelenting siren's song to all of them here.

Her whole being just seemed to scream out loud: "Come on, take a nibble, you know you want to."

Inevitably it was one of the younger vampires here that came to her first. Matthew, John had seen him before though they had never spoken. He stood watching as Matthew and Trinity spoke reliving his quandry. Despite his curiosity to see how Trinity's powers worked, he couldn't justify to himself just standing back as Matthew was executed for just being the predator all vampires were naturally.

Matthew followed the rules, well Renee's rules. He always was fastidious in whom he fed from and in cleaning up after his kills. By all measurements he was a model vampire. That wasn't saying much since by virtue of being a vampire he naturally had the redeeming qualities of a great white shark.

He stepped in front of the private "storage"/feeding rooms in the back of the club, barring thier passage.

Matthew looked up at him. "Who are you?"

"The name's John," He told him, "John Montgomery." He nodded to Trinity. "Give us a moment, ma'am."

Matthew's eyes widened. "You...You're Renee's little-"

John nodded a little ruefully interrupting him, "That's right, I'm Renee's little-"

"Do your own hunting," Matthew glared baring his fangs.

"I'm trying to save your life, Matthew," John said reaching out and resting his hand on his shoulder. He used that hand to turn him back towards the full dancefloor. "There's plenty of other pretty young things here for you. Leave this one to me."

"But...why," He looked back to Trinity.

"That's need to know, and you don't need to know," John pushed him towards the mass of writhing gyrating bodies. "Now go on."

Matthew left, grumbling, but left them.

John turned to Trinity and offered his hand to her, "Sorry to disrupt your evening, Trinity." He gestured to a nearby empty table, "But we really need to sit down and talk."

Once seated he continued using a finger to pull back his top lip to reveal a fang to her. "You probably already figured this out but I'm just a little not-human." Reaching for the cigarette ashtray in the center of the table. "I've been following you and I couldn't allow you to turn anyone else of...my kind...into...well this." He raised and turned the ashtray so the ashes fell onto the table and between them.

"Among my kind," He gestured to Matthew talking up a pretty and drunk redhead. "My job is to solve problems, and you and what you do are a bit of a problem. In fact my...boss wants me to kill you."

"So the question is," He said looking into her eyes, "Now that we know who and what eachother does, where do we go from here?"

 

[Wolf Vixen]

One moment the pathway to the back rooms were clear and the next a tall, handsome man stood in front of the door. Matthew stepped forward, but even as he did Trinity knew this was no ordinary man. While she could see he was very well a vampire, it didn't take away from his looks. Her senses flared and yet she couldn't be certain that she was picking up on anything in his direction.

Before she could analyze it he excused them both. Trinity gave them both a smile and took a few steps away from the two men. Even thought she feigned attention elsewhere, she kept an eye as well as an ear out on both of them. While Matthew appeared handsome, this new man, John from what Matthew had said, was in fact handsome. Trinity had yet to figure it out, she knew by gut instinct that this man was a vampire as well and yet he showed no signs as all the others do. With the amount of vampires in the club, Trinity wasn't even able to pick up on him using her gifts.

She watched Matthew walk away, though no happy about it. As John turned his attention back to her, Trinity's eyes moved to him, already having a feeling that he knew more than most in this place. The sound of her name confirmed her fears.

Her eyes glanced to his offered hand before her eyes moved back up to him, noticing his motion to the nearest table. She stepped past him, determined not to let on her concern that he could very well make this evening very violent if not deadly for her. She took a seat and listened to him, his concerns as well as enlightening her about his orders. From time to time her eyes actually rose to meet his. He had beautiful eyes, which she was certain were just as beautiful when he lived. She wondered briefly what it was about him that made him different from any other vampire she had met. If she didn't know what to look for she would have never known he was one, but something...it was possibly how he handled himself, as if packed with knowledge most don't show. Whatever the reason was, she now knew what he was through his own actions and he obviously knew who she was. This was not good. She was hoping for more time before having someone sent for her.

Glancing down at the pile of ashes on the table she contemplated what to say or even do. He could easily kill her, it wasn't like she was indestructible or anything.

Her hand slid over the table top toward the ashes. Her finger brushing the edge of the pile, "You don't wish anymore of your kind," her eyes rose to meet his, "like this, but what about my kind? I don't see anyone taking the offensive, much less the defensive for them. Although, their deaths are a bit on the messy side where your kind is taken care of with a gust of wind." She flicked her finger toward the back wall sending ashes flying into the air. "And not every one of your kind has been turned into this, but I suppose the alternative isn't something that you care for either."

Trinity moved her hand back, clasping it with the other in her lap as she sat back and crossed her legs, "Since you know who I am and what I do, then I guess this means you are here to kill me. So why haven't you John? What do you wait for?" Trinity knew she was poking at the lion, but she couldn't think of any other way to handle this. This man was sent to kill her because she was doing to them what they do to humans. She had only one skill, that she knew of, and that was enticing them into biting her and either turning them to ash or back to human. Even she wondered how that was decided. She had her guesses, but facts and guesses were not the same.

Her eyes turned toward the crowd for a moment, "Tell me something John, who gave you the right to end life?" Trinity's blue eyes sparked with fire for a moment as she turned back to him. She really wanted to know what was so different from what she did to what he did.

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

Lucille LaGrange~An Introduction

The night was just like any other night. Too many people doing too many things and causing too many problems to be safely left alone. The city was a mad house. The people who walked these streets were all border line maniacs and she seemed to be the only sensible person to be found.

It was odd. Disheartening. Worrisome.

Small, booted feet led her from place to place, her natural tracking abilities lending extra stealth to her movements. She didn't need to hunt. Her own great age meant that feeding from humans wasn't needful very often and she had a select group of friends who would donate when she required it.

BUT~something was amiss.

There had been whispers from the shadows of a huntress who lured the dark ones in, one on one. Those of the dark, who were smart enough, were beginning to change their hunting patterns, their chosen prey. She could read the changes in the wind, feel them against her skin like a whispered wind, a thunderstorm.

She wondered, not for the first time, just how the supposed Princess (in her ivory tower) would handle it. She wondered, not for the first time, whether or not her acquaintance~he whose name should not even be THOUGHT on while she wandered~ would have to hunt the huntress down for the princess.

And while she wondered, she wandered. Up one side street and down another, dispensing her own brand of justice to those she caught breaking the fragile peace of the city's night.

A beaten vampire here, a broken mugger there. Human, demon? She didn't care. She didn't attempt to moderate her sense of duty, nor did she see herself as the interloper. NO. It was these others~from distant lands and far away climes that did not belong here, in her home land.

She was just doing as she had always done. Punishing the guilty. protecting the weak. She had been born to this, made for this.

Eventually, she found herself across the street from one of THEIR businesses. A night club of sorts. One meant to lure the unwary, the fool hardy, the daring. She caught a passing thought, a fading scent.

He was here? Why? He had told her that he absolutely loathed these set ups. Unless? Unless he had found cause to expect that a huntress could be found inside. Soundless footsteps carried her to the door. A quick grin got her through the door, even though she was not dressed for a night on the town.

She wouldn't even know HOW to dress for a night on the town. What good would make up and short dresses do for her? Instead, she found herself a bit under dressed as she entered the main area and allowed her dark eyes to take in the pulsing lights, the swirling figures, the gyrating bodies.

She gave a philosophical shrug. Jeans, a black tee, a leather jacket, cowboy boots.
It was good enough two hundred years ago, it was good enough now. With no further dilly dallying, she started to pick her way across the dance floor, allowing the various scents to guide her away from demons and toward the place where her acquaintance could be found.

She found him.

And one other.

She melted back, into the crowd, blending seamlessly with the bodies that surrounded her.

She would just watch, for now.

 

[Veroe]

IC: John Montgomery

"So the question is," He said looking into her eyes, "Now that we know who and what eachother does, where do we go from here?"

Her hand slid over the table top toward the ashes. Her finger brushing the edge of the pile, "You don't wish anymore of your kind," her eyes rose to meet his, "like this, but what about my kind? I don't see anyone taking the offensive, much less the defensive for them. Although, their deaths are a bit on the messy side where your kind is taken care of with a gust of wind." She flicked her finger toward the back wall sending ashes flying into the air. "And not every one of your kind has been turned into this, but I suppose the alternative isn't something that you care for either."

His eyes brightened as she mentioned what had happened to the one she had returned his humanity, and John burned to learn more about it, but instead he kept to his duty and answered, "The wolf has to hunt and eat. So does the shark. And so do we. We may look human, we may have been human once, but we are predators now like the wolf and the shark. Like them we have the instincts to stalk and to lure our prey and to pounce upon them and consume them so we may survive." He leaned forward and peered into Trinity's eyes. "Don't get me wrong now, alot of us are so removed from humanity that we take more pleasure from the hunt and feeding than is ultimately necessary. So it is justifiable for you to turn us into ashes in the wind." He flicked his finger in the pile of ashes back at her. "But equally it is justifiable for me to protect my species by stopping you."

She leaned back in her chair regarding him quietly at that, "Since you know who I am and what I do, then I guess this means you are here to kill me. So why haven't you John? What do you wait for?"

He looked away. Matthew and the redhead were dancing on the dancefloor. He turned her facing away from him up close against him. John could feel his mind stretch its fingers into her distracted and slightly innebriated brain. Under his mental persuasion the redhead's hips began to gyrate to the beat of the music her backside pressing and grinding. Matthew was a predator that liked to play with his food. No doubt he'd get the girl to have sex with him before he fed from her.

"It's not something I take pleasure in doing, Trinity," He replied, "But if you really want to know it's my job. I solve problems, and you're existence is definitely a problem. So yes I will have to kill you."

"Tell me something John, who gave you the right to end life?"

"At times I've wondered that myself," He told her sadly, "I was a soldier once back when I was human. I lived and fought and died in war. Even then I killed my fellow man for a flag, for a man that said it was worth it, for a patch of dirt and a measely creek. I did it willingly for I believed I had to in order to protect my people and their way of life. And now here I am a monster, but I still kill to protect a different people and their way of life." He shrugged. "To answer your question: No one gave me the right to end life, no one has that right, but that has never stopped a murder in all of history either from human or vampire. A hundred and fifty years experience of being a killer human and vampire both has taught me one thing. Rights have nothing to do with it. All that matters is that when I do decide to kill you you won't be able to stop me, Trinity."

He paused as he realized the freudian slip he had admitted to her. ...When I do decide to kill you.. The truth was he hadn't decided to kill her at all. Despite Renee's orders, he really did not want to kill her. He found he was liking her already. Ofcourse he recognized the danger Trinity posed to vampires, and the danger if any children she would someday have inherited her abilities and they passed on those abilities to their children. He knew all that intellectually but his heart was not in killing her. If he was pushed to he wouldn't be able to do it...yet.

 

[Wolf Vixen]

Trinity regarded his words carefully. Here was certainly a predator and one that has been put on her trail. He was sent with one purpose and one purpose only and that was to end what she was doing to their kind. Her eyes trailed over Mathew and the new woman he had picked out of the crowd. She watched them for a moment, their sensual dance that would leave most women in a puddle at the man’s feet or the other way around.

“You were taught to be a killer John, but has it ever bothered you before?” Trinity turned her attention back to him, meeting his eyes for a moment, “I’m sure you know right from wrong, even have an inner voice that tells you this, but it seems like in your past you chose to ignore it, do you still do that now?” Trinity was rather curious about this man, though she knew him to be the predator and her, his targeted prey. She still felt something different about him; almost like he wasn’t that much of a willing participant.

“I can only guess that there are ways that you could live as you do now without ending the life of another. While you protect your kind from people like me, I protect my kind from people like you. I only hunt your kind because of the death they cause. If they are redeemable they do not die but are given a second chance.”

Trinity wasn’t positive about that last statement, but she had to believe it to be true. She felt that John would know if she doubted it in the least. Her eyes met his once more though concerned of being lost to his eyes rattled her, she was unsure if it was an ability the vampire held or if it was something John himself held. Seeing those beautiful eyes once more had her pausing just a moment longer than she would have liked, “Can you honestly sit there and tell me that everything you had ever done felt right to you John?”

Uncrossing her legs, Trinity slipped closer to the table while slipping her clasped hands on the table top, “There are times I question my actions, but the answer lies within the torn body I find around the next corner. I would have no problem with your kind and would even leave you in peace to live your lives if I did not find those kinds of things.”

Her eyes moved from his once more out into the crowd while her senses flared out naturally. As she scanned the room slowly she couldn’t help but notice one paying particular attention to the two of them. Trinity made a mental note to keep an eye out for that one before turning her attention to her laced hands on the table top while reeling in her senses only to wrap them around John in hopes of learning more about him by other means.

 

[Veroe]

IC: John Montgomery

"To answer your question: No one gave me the right to end life, no one has that right, but that has never stopped a murder in all of history either from human or vampire. A hundred and fifty years experience of being a killer human and vampire both has taught me one thing. Rights have nothing to do with it. All that matters is that when I do decide to kill you you won't be able to stop me, Trinity."

“You were taught to be a killer John, but has it ever bothered you before?” Trinity turned her attention back to him, meeting his eyes for a moment, “I’m sure you know right from wrong, even have an inner voice that tells you this, but it seems like in your past you chose to ignore it, do you still do that now?”

She was fishing now. Trinity knew John had the advantage in knowledge here, and she was pressing to equalize the landscape between them. It was his own fault for opening up to her and showing his moral ambivalence...his questions...towards his own species. John was an outsider to other vampires. It didn't help that he was the one who'd deal with them if Renee decided they needed dealt with permanently, but it was more his an outsider by choice as well. John was not like other vampires like Matthew there.

He needed to regain the high ground here. To Trinity's question he replied, "This is not about me."

But she pressed on. “I can only guess that there are ways that you could live as you do now without ending the life of another."

"Yes and no," He said deciding some of the hard truth wouldn't hurt any further, "We are predators, Trinity, and humans are our prey. Yes we can drink the blood of animals, but not without getting sicker and sicker as we do it. Human blood is the only thing we can truly thrive on, it's a simple fact of our altered biology. Yes we can take just enough leaving the human alive, but that is very hard to do at just the correct point, and alot more complicated than just taking it all." He leaned in close to only a few inches seperated them from face to face contact, "Why? Again we are predators and humans are our prey. My kind will never view yours in a way that would make you comfortable with us."

"While you protect your kind from people like me, I protect my kind from people like you. I only hunt your kind because of the death they cause."

"When I feed I never take all my victim's blood. I let them live." He directed her towards Matthew on the dance floor as the redhead peered into his eyes and straddled his leg and ground herself over his denim covered thigh to relieve some of the arousal Matthew's power of suggestion was causing in her. "Matthew always takes it all. To you that makes him a monster, but outside here he works at a lab, granted he was placed there by our boss to track diseases that may cross over to our species, but he's also developing new treatments for cancer for yours. Can you truly condemn him now."

"If they are redeemable they do not die but are given a second chance,” She defended, though she did not look as secure in that statement as she could have been.

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, "And you are the one who decides if they are redeemable?"

She asked in return, “Can you honestly sit there and tell me that everything you had ever done felt right to you John?”

He looked away then mouth tightening. "No," He admitted after a moment, "I can't. But then I have always been the outsider human or vampire, nothing either species does feels right to me."

She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward the highground suddenly shifted to her now, “There are times I question my actions, but the answer lies within the torn body I find around the next corner. I would have no problem with your kind and would even leave you in peace to live your lives if I did not find those kinds of things.”

She paused taking a moment to scan across the crowd. Lucy was there hidden behind a screen of writhing, dancing people but a vampire of her presence was hard to miss. John was a little surprised to see her here. She hated meat markets like these more than John did. Not to mention how she came within fifty feet of him without him noticing. He looked back to Trinity. Being around her with that alluring aura she posessed seemed to mesmerize your senses-even a vampire with the accuity to his mental senses he posessed was affected by it. She was indeed dangerous.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere less public." He reached out and placed his hand over hers. He was unprepared for the wallop that came next over his mind. He was suddenly aware of her as a woman. She was beautiful before but now....he watched captivated by the subtle shifting of color in her eyes the elegant column of her neck to the deep neckline of her tank top, the rise of pale flesh of her breasts just under it. The beating of her heart pounded in his ears. He could see the throb of her pulse in the side of her neck. It seemed to call out to him: Bite me, bite me, bite me....

Without realizing it he had raised up on his feet bent over the table and running his lips over that beating pulse. His fang touched it. One more second and he'd give it it's wish.

 

[Wolf Vixen]

Trinity was a bit surprised to learn of Matthew’s position, but then again keeping their species alive would be good move on their part seeing as they kill so many already. She suspected their species did nothing that didn’t benefit them in the end, much like a human. Humans were just as cruel but she vowed to protect those that needed it. She really did wish she knew who was the deciding factor in her abilities; was it her or did nature itself decide if the vampire was worth saving?

Trinity was so lost in her own thoughts about the conversation with John she barley heard him mention moving the conversation. At the feel of his hand upon her laced ones her eyes began to rise only to find that in an instant John had rose and was leaning over her like the predator he was. Trinity had no time to react before she felt John’s lips brushing over her pulse. While normally this was what she wanted when it came to a vampire, the jolt that came with it was something that took her completely off guard. Her breath caught in her throat and her pulse sped up a few extra beats, all for real this time. Her body reacted as if she was a mere human, under the spell of vampire looming over her.

Trinity found her eyes drifting close, her head tilting just slightly as a very womanly moan began to travel up her throat. The scrape of his fang against her pulse added to the jolts that traveled through her body calling to her to give in and enjoy. But then she realized where they were and who this was that loomed over her. John was not the kind to attempt anything in public; that much she gathered from their conversation. She felt the slightest tightening in his body above her making her own pulse pick up another notch.

Quickly pushing with her booted feet the chair moved back with her in it, but the momentum was too much for the chair to stay upright and it began to lean back. Years of training for worse moments Trinity was able to quickly stand, letting the chair topple over with what would have amounted to a loud bang in a more quite place. Here though she doubted anyone would notice the sound. Her eyes having widened with the realization of the fact that it was John looming over her now looked to him with curiosity. Trinity knew it in her bones that he could kill her should he choose to, but the feel of his lips brushing over her skin was not something she had expected. She still felt the remnants of the effects of that contact and it still shook her as she tried to collect her thoughts, much less make an intelligent sentence.

Having broken the contact with John, Trinity couldn’t see any reason why in his eyes nor his stance that he had meant to kill her there much less tempt his own fate by biting her. She took a step closer to the table but still out of arms reach, not like a vampire couldn’t have her wrapped up in his arms in a blink no matter the distance between them. “What just happened?” Trinity was completely at a loss for words, looking to John for answers while her body began to weep from the loss of contact with the man before her.

 

[Veroe]

IC: John Montgomery

Without realizing it he had raised up on his feet bent over the table and running his lips over that beating pulse. His fang touched it. One more second and he'd give it it's wish. She tilted her head to give him the room he would need to do it. He hadn't fed in a long time...maybe he'd drink her all this time...

...No!

John pulled back as she kicked the chair back away from the table toppling it but she managed to stay on her feet. He looked at her breathing heavy, shaken from what he had almost done to her.

She took a step forward. “What just happened?”

"My control slipped when I touched you," He answered straightening his clothes, "You are dangerous, Trinity."

He glanced over to Lucy. She would have more than a few words to say about this...slip, no doubt.

"Come let us talk this over outside where it is quieter," He said heading for the door with Trinity in tow through a sidedoor to the alley outside. "This will do."

He turned to face her saying, "I do not wish to kill you Trinity, but if you stay I will have to." He pointed out down the alley. "Go, leave this city. Live long and happy."

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

Lucille~a Watcher in the dark

The human, was she human?

Lucille had no trouble hiding from prying eyes, it had been a gift given long ago~the ability to blend seamlessly into any group and become not there. A sort of "Don't look here..." and yet, the human who held all of HIS attention had spotted her.

It should not be possible.

Maybe the woman had extra senses? An ability like that would be deadly to those who walk the night. Absolutely deadly. The aura that clung to the young woman beckoned, enthralled, called to those night hunters. Even Lucille herself felt it...and she had no need nor want to go a hunting.

Watching the conversation between him and the female was entertaining but it didn't answer the questions she could feel circling in her mind like buzzards. WHY was he here? Who was this female who smelled like the most delectable banquet ever and moved with deadly efficiency? Why hadn't he moved to end her? Was he here because of the white queen who lounged in her home far from the streets? Did this deadly little female scare them? Would she be worth knowing?

Another interlude~John doing something completely unexpected. The woman, a scent like fear and lust, moving with innate speed to remove herself from the temptation of HIS mouth, his fangs, his need.

Definitely a bit more than human.

Once the two rose and left? Lucille retreated. She moved through the mass of writhing bodies, flowing from spot to spot like water, barely causing a ripple in the crowd. Soon enough she was at the door, through the exit and gone.

She had a city to patrol and long thoughts to think.

Though she wondered~ If HE had been sent to rid the town of that bit of tempting flesh? Why wasn't the woman dead, yet?

 

[Wolf Vixen]

His control slipped? How was that possible? John did not come off as a new vampire that had no control over his actions, nor one with only a few hundred years under his belt that seemed to let their control slip from time to time. Trinity knew by what little conversation they had had, plus the impact he had on Matthew that John was an old soul, one that certainly had his control...well under control at all times.

Trinity caught him glancing behind her before turning for the door. She could very well feel what was behind her, the same kind of feeling some get when they are being watched. Trinity suspected it was the woman she saw earlier, but it seemed as if John knew her very well and what just happened wasn't something he wanted to put on display again.

She moved to the door with him and out into the night air. Trinity only realized then, as the breeze blew over her skin, that her coat was still inside. She shrugged it off as something she could easily replace and it quickly became a secondary thought. When John turned toward her she could see his walls, for a better term, were firmly in place. His stare almost cold but not quite there yet as hints of something showed, but Trinity couldn't put her finger on it. His words would probably put fear into most but not Trinity. If she got scared at every vampire that threatened her she wouldn't be living the life that she was. She did, however, notice his reluctance to carry out what seemed to be a command. She looked at him curiously again, still feeling the memory of his touch while remembering the conversation they had had thus far.

Something was off to her, "If you were sent to kill me John, why not just do it and get it over with? Why hold back? I may leave this alley but I will not leave my home. So if you must kill me because I won't leave, then I suggest you do so now." Trinity wasn't sure why she was pushing this with him. He certainly was the kind that could kill her, in fact she felt it to her bones and yet he wasn't doing anything that caused her any alarm. The only time her heart had raced was the feel of his lips running along her pulse.

Just the mere thought of it had her heart racing once more, her body responding to that touch and he was a distance from her. She ground her teeth together, "I will go home....but only for tonight. I will be back on the streets tomorrow doing what I always do. If you can't accept that then just kill me now. I will even make it easy on you." With that Trinity turned her back to John, something she never did with a vampire. She paused for what seemed like forever but was only a minute or two before she started to slowly walk down the alley.

 

[Veroe]

IC: John Montgomery

He turned to face her saying, "I do not wish to kill you Trinity, but if you stay I will have to." He pointed out down the alley. "Go, leave this city. Live long and happy."

"If you were sent to kill me John, why not just do it and get it over with? Why hold back?"

"I'm giving you this one chance to live," He told her slowly so he knows the deadly seriousness of her situation, "I can tell my boss I didn't find you before you left her territory, but I won't be able to lie to her for long."

"I may leave this alley but I will not leave my home," She said with a stubborn gleam in her eye. She looked most distracting when she was being mulish and John had to reminf himself not to be drawn in by her looks, spirit, or her strange powers once more. "So if you must kill me because I won't leave, then I suggest you do so now."

"Trinity," He pleaded, "Don't push me. Go. Take the mercy I am showing you. Leave town, please."

"I will go home....but only for tonight," She said maintaining her stubornness, "I will be back on the streets tomorrow doing what I always do. If you can't accept that then just kill me now. I will even make it easy on you. With that she turned around showing her back to and began to walk towards the end of the alley.

If this was poker she would calling his bluff, and damn it...damn it...damn it all, it was a bluff. John did not want to kill her...why? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was because she was the first person since his turning that John had felt an attraction to instantly, at least an attraction that was not blended with a bitter hatred like he experienced with Renee. Trinity was a feast without contamination to a starving man.

He lashed out at a nearby dumpster with a growl his fist making a dent in the metal side of it.

"Wait," He called after her, "I know someplace, someone, who can shelter you, someplace Renee will never find you even as you make this city your home."

----------------------------------------X

IC: Alejandro

He sat in her kitchen table's chair, waiting for her. His long coat and wide-brimmed hat hung over the back of the chair. Now he only wore his cowboy boots and tight slacks and pristine white button up dress shirt the cuffs rolled so the holster of his stilletto knife was plain to see on his wrist. His cane leaned against the table at his side.

He sat and waited for her return. It made sense that she would prowl the city at night. So he and two of his many minions broke into her dwelling and waited for her return.

Hours passed and morning began to threaten. He could tell, all Vampires had evolved an internal alarm clock set to the phases of the night. It was a survival mechanism.

Soon she came home turning the locks on the door his people had reset after their forced entry. She knew they were there ofcourse, perhaps even recognized his presence.

"Buenos Nocce, Lucille. First I never thanked you for helping me after Renee exiled me." He said gesturing at the chair opposite him. "Please sit, let us have a good long talk between friends who have not seen eachother in years."

One of his minions pulled the chair out for her the other, Sem-Ho, the big burly Samoan came up behind her crossing his arms and glaring at the slight woman. In truth Sem-Ho wouldn't last more than five seconds against a vampire as old and as strong and as fast as Lucille despite his impressive size.

But Alejandro knew she would sit down without a fight. She owed him that if nothing else...and if nothing else she'd want to avoid the bloodstains in her kitchen.

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

Lucille~

She wandered and wondered, all through the long, long night. Between the presence of those who hadn't learned that there were much worse things in the night than themselves AND the thoughts of HIM and that mortal female? Well her brain was all a tizzy.

Eventually, she allowed herself to head for home, about an hour before sunrise. Not more than a few blocks away, something clicked. If he hadn't killed her? It was because he didn't want to. If he didn't WANT to? Then there was nothing the poor little princess in her ivory tower could say or do to make him. If he didn't kill her? It meant that there was something worth knowing, protecting, nurturing~there.

An inner alarm started to scream at her, less than a block from her haven. Someone was there. Lucille stopped, cold, her head tilted slightly to the left. She drew in breath, something that she always forgot to do when she was hunting, and allowed the different scents to tickle her nose, the back of her throat, her memory.

HIM. Alejandro. Other scents beckoned...but she ignored them. He was in her house, in her haven. Knowing him? He had brought along some sort of protection...as if anyone could contain her at home. He didn't do it because he worried about his welcome. He KNEW she would not readily welcome him. He did it because he could.

"Merde! Comment ose-t-il?"

There was just a hint of growl beneath her words, just a bit of rising beast that could not, would not, be contained. Nevertheless, she focused and took herself home.

"Bonsoir, Alejandro. Why are you in my home?"

Softly shod feet moved soundlessly across the floor leading toward her kitchen table. Eyes gazed at his two lackeys, dismissing them as threats. She settled herself at the table and allowed herself to take him in. He looked as dapper, as lethal, as ever. She wanted to rip his throat out. Instead she placed her hands on the table and stared at him.

"I am not in the mood for one of your conversations. Just state your business and get you gone from my place."