He grins and I take a swipe at him. He moves easily and Chase grabs my hands, murmuring disapprovingly. Dimitri appears beside her. "New blood, your room is ready, 113." he hands me a room key and smiles briefly at Chase, his fangs glinting in the relatively dim light. "So do we get any cool powers?" "Powers?" "Y'know, something unique?" "Hunters are reborn with mind reading capabilities. There's Brewers who make various potions that were given to them by the Gate Guard. And there's a special dentist for the ones with fangs. And once and awhile, a manufactured one can become ethereal, but that's terribly rare." "...I see." I mutter, as Darren leads the way to room 113. The hotel is a maze. After about ten minutes of seemingly aimless wanderings in the dimly lit and poorly explored hallways of the area, we've reached room 113. "I will never be able to find this place again." I murmur. "I'm in room 119, if you need help." Chase reassures me. My past rage at the girl has all but left me. I find that she's a very pleasant conversationalist, and though she's not as disarming as Darren, she has a certain eloquence surrounding her, which I find very welcoming. "Maybe I can be a dentist." I mutter once I'm finally alone. Darren's absence unsettles me; I'd become accustomed to his constant presence, and now I feel somewhat alone as I stare sullenly at the rug I'm standing on. The room is cozy, surprisingly so. I feel around in my pockets for my cell phone, forgetting that Darren had taken it from me after he'd kidnapped me. I still taste the blood from the unsettling regurgitation of such liquid as Darren murdered me. I shudder; my murderer, my lover, my first time. I touch the dry blood spatter on my shirt. I groan. I must find 119. Darren had gone off to his special Hunter suite, 271, and seeking him out at this point terrified me ever so slightly. I exit the room to run straight into a copper haired girl, who looked a tad harried as she exclaimed apologies. She rushed past, her body slowly becoming less visible as she became simply a foggy smudge in my vision. "Yep, definitely going to be a dentist." I grumble as I stomp off.
"Come in." Chase is sitting at the desk, pensive, glasses perched on her face. It had taken me awhile, but I found her eventually. "I need to borrow some clothes." I mutter sheepishly, as she whirls around in her spinning chair. "So you do." she murmurs, looking me up and down. "Come." she flicks her wrist at me, and gets up Her room is much larger than mine, and much more modern. I follow her to the obscenely large closet filled with extremely expensive clothing. I nearly swallow my own tongue. "Uh..." "Old, rich families." She mutters as she picks out the most simple of her extensive clothing, a relatively blank t-shirt, only holding the logo of the brand, and shorts. "They're notoriously good businessmen, the Purebloods. The fact that they use that old mind trick on people helps too." "These are not the droids you are looking for."* I mutter. "What?" Chase looks at me blankly. "Nothing!" I say meekly, thanking her quickly and scurrying out. Half an hour later, I'm back at 113. I collapse with relief on the bed, completely drained. After a few minutes I struggle off the overly welcoming comforter and dive into the shower. After about ten minutes of singing renditions of "Don't worry, be happy", and "Let it be" a person calls out, "Fae?" Darren, oh lord. "Give me five minutes." "Too long of a wait." He barges into my bathroom. "GET OUT!" I scream at him, thankful for the curtain separating us. "Oh I've seen it already, no need to be shy. Don't flatter yourself either, I don't care." He says, sounding bored. My face burns as I rinse out the last of the soap and step out of the shower, still covering myself. "You are an ass." I grumble, face still pink. "I just thought you might want to go home to collect your things." "I would, thank you very much." I say stiffly as I point for him to leave. "By the way..." he takes out a pair of purple underwear. My underwear. "I thought you might need this." he uses it as a slingshot and hits me in the stomach. He strolls out as I gape at him. "You stole my underwear." "Not stole, borrowed." "But..." I hear the door close and I shake my head, terribly confused. Five minutes later, I'm dressed. Darren is lounging in the hall, girls passing him, blushing furiously. My face is still red. "I hate you." "No you don't." he grins devilishly, and takes off in the other direction. What an ass! My brain adds an afterthought as I follow him, an inappropriate one, as he stops suddenly, looking back at me. He smirks and shimmies his hips, then resumes walking in a calmer fashion. I catch up with him, wanting so badly to hit him in the face. "I remember you as a gentleman." I grumble, "The Love Elixir makes me what you want me to be. I remain my gorgeous self." "I cannot believe..." "You gave yourself to me? It surprised me too." he sounds almost appreciative. I shake my head in dismay. "You were going to be a doctor too. Poor, poor college girl." He murmurs, grabbing my hand, and putting it to his chest. His chest is warm, his heartbeat steady. "And you gave it up for this." I blink. This guy is bipolar. The moment is gone as he lets my hand drop. "I remember." I whisper. I had. I'd dropped out for him. He told me...he told me we were going to get married. I look at him bitterly. Made me quit my job too. I understand now. He didn't want suspicion to arise because of that. Made me move in with him, basically erased all connections with my friends and family. He worked on me for months. "I remember you ruined my life so you could take it." I mutter bitterly. Darren looks at me, pain apparent in his face.
"I know." He states quietly. We've been moving all this time, and we're standing before a sort of decent car, it runs, at the very least. "My own, I got if for my sixteenth birthday. My dad's old jalopy." "That's nice." I murmur distractedly as I examine the car. "No, it's not safe, but YOLT." "YOLT?" "You only live twice." He grins as we climb in, my stomach plummeting. This isn't a smart idea. "You aren't known for your decision making." he kisses my hand before pulling out of the parking lot of the building. I shake my head, "You're hard to figure out." "I know." He smiles as if he's given me a great favor. I snort and look out the window. The sun is higher now. The hotel is not in the nicest part of town, the entire street is filled with dilapidated buildings, from which people emerge, probably to start their daily commute to their jobs. I watch as they pass by, their lives filled with their own sets of problems, their own lives and their own little plots on the Earth that they stake claim to. Most of these people would move on. Most of these people will disappear to the Other. And some...some I will be forced to eat. I shudder. "My first time, I didn't want to either." Darren murmurs, "It horrified me. I didn't do it for months, till the point where I nearly died. Please don't die again, I feel bad for killing you." That was probably the most sentimental thing he'd ever actually said to me. "Being a hunter scared me to—I had no idea how to control it. The Master took me under his wing personally to train. Told me I was his best students. I've been considered his favorite because of that. I think it's because he can recognize a monster." He spits out the last word. A monster? "Yes. I prey on the innocent, the young, and the stupid." He gives me a sideways glance. "Which am I?" "Young and innocent." he grumbles, "I was your first time, no?" I grunt in response, remembering that night.