She shut off the car but left it in gear, letting it coast with it's lights off. She checked the slip of paper with the address, looking around at the street signs and house numbers as the car slowed to a standstill. She stuffed the paper back in her pocket, nodding to herself as she identified the house she sought, the only one on the street with lights on at this hour. Slipping out of the car, she crossed the street at a fast trot, disappearing into the shadows cast across the front lawn by the tall, unkempt trees that lined the lot. She paused at the foot of the porch stairs and smirked at the sloppily painted Greek letters scrawled across the front door with the university football banner stapled below them.
Jocks.
She shrugged out of her jacket, laying it beside the porch steps, pulling her gun and knife out of the pockets as she laid it down. She tucked the gun in the back of her belt and slipped the knife into the pocket of her leather pants. She smirked as she straightened her lace bra and adjusted her gloves, knowing the effect her appearance would have, almost pitying their stupidity if it worked.
She paused for another moment, concentrating as she called upon the power of her blood, feeling strength and speed flow into her limbs. A few quick steps and she was in front of the door, bringing her booted foot up squarely in the center of that football banner. She didn't kick hard enough to break the door, it only shuddered heavily from the blow. She cracked her knuckles and waited as the sounds of movement erupted inside in response to her 'knock'.
The door flew open, accompanied by a curse from the young, heavily muscled man that opened it. His eyes hardly took in her face before going straight to her barely covered chest and she almost laughed as she lifted her foot and drove it down into his knee with all her strength. The joint exploded backward with a ripping crunch and the young jock screamed, collapsing in the doorway and clutching at his grotesquely maimed limb.
She could hear the others moving in the house - one on this floor, one above - as she stepped over the redhead she had just maimed, turning and crouching beside him with a wicked smile curving her burgundy lips. "Oh… I bet that hurts, don't it, hun? Well stay tuned, 'cause this party's just gettin' started."
She heard the lumbering tread on the stairs behind her, and had to smile at the threats spouted by the huge blonde linebacker that was thundering down them towards her. She spun as she stood, seeing him rushing forward the last few steps, a sawed-off pool cue raised over his head like a club. He seemed to be in slow motion to her accelerated senses, and she caught him easily, absorbing his momentum and wrenching the pool cue from his fingers. With a flex of her legs and arms, she pushed him backwards onto the stairs, bringing the makeshift club down across his chest in a bone-shattering blow. He curled into a choking ball instantly, his breath gone and many of his ribs cracked or broken by the single strike. She patted his hair gently, smiling down at him as she heard the third jock enter the hallway and pause, struck by the sight of his two friends down and hurt so quickly. "Stay put, hun."
Turning to the third man, she gestured with both hands, wiggling her fingers in a 'come here' gesture, an evil smile playing at her lips beneath her wild amber eyes. "Bring it on, hun… let's play."
He hesitated, his slightly bloodshot eyes flicking from his friend in the doorway, to the one on the stairs, and back to her. He bounced on his toes as he thought it over, disbelief, fear, and ego fighting a war in his marginally evolved mind. She cocked a hip and shifted her grip on the pool cue, pulling her shoulders back and accentuating her scantily clad chest. She saw disbelief and ego win the fight in his eyes, and he rushed her with a nearly inarticulate growl.
She didn't bother trying to avoid the charge, instead bracing herself with her free hand on the man's face, letting his momentum carry them backwards as she drove the pool cue like a blade straight into his shoulder joint with all her strength. His growl became a shocked bleat as he felt the joint separate and smash, the pool cue exploding out his back through his shattered scapula. She rolled onto her back and took his weight on her knees, kicking hard and throwing him off of her.
Rolling to her feet, she grabbed the redhead by the collar of his football practice jersey and dragged him out of the doorway. His whimpering made her sneer as she dropped him and stepped over him to close the front door quietly. Turning around, she put her hands on her hips and smiled at the three sprawled in front of her. "Time t' kick it up a notch, guys."
A few moments later she stood back from the three of them, smirking at the cute pile they made, huddled on their living room floor. She had closed the blinds on the windows and pushed all the furniture back out of the way, dragging each of them from the hall to the center of the room. She crouched and lifted the head of the huge blonde by a grip in his hair, slapping him lightly and shocking him back to awareness. "No passin' out on me, big guy. We're not done yet."
She turned her head at the pained muttering of the brunette with the pool cue in his shoulder, tilting her head and grinning at his slurred question and cursing at her. "Yup, I'm a bitch, hun. Why? Why am I doin' this? I'm glad y' asked that." Straightening up, she stepped away from them and turned, looking at the trophies and pictures on the walls and shelves, adopting an almost congenial tone as she turned back to them. Spreading her hands, she tilted her head and began talking. "I have a friend that talks a lot about fish. Little fish, big fish, all kinds." She flicked a strand of hair out of her face and tilted her head, almost seeming to be gently explaining a lesson to children. "But the strange thing about fish is, almost all of them are predators, no matter what size they are. Shut up and listen, hun. Little fish get eaten by bigger fish, and they get eaten by bigger fish, and they get eaten by sharks, and so on." She paused and smiled, shaking her finger at them as if about to reveal the punchline of a great joke. "Now see, that's where you guys made your mistake. You went and got delusional 'bout thinkin' you were sharks, and you bit a friend of mine thinking she was a little fish. Kat Quinn, do y' even know th' name? You and a friend had a real party all over her a few nights ago, fuckin' near killed her. You don't know her? Too bad, 'cause then yer never gonna understand." She raked her fingers back through her hair, tucking it behind her ears as she crouched again, adopting an intimate and gentle tone. "But see… you aren't sharks at all, guys… you're just medium-sized fish. An' that little fish y' thought y' bit… well, that's really a baby shark. In time she's gonna be able to swallow fuckheads like you boys whole an' not even burp. Me? Who am I? What've I got t' do with all this?"
She stood up and smiled, extending her fangs as she showed her teeth in a wide grin. "Why hun, I expected even morons like you t' guess. I'm a shark… an' it's feedin' time."
She left the house a few hours later, collecting her jacket from beside the porch and glancing up at the deep blue sky and fading stars. Putting her gun and knife back in their usual places, she pulled the heavy bottle from inside the jacket and twisted off the cap, wrinkling her nose at the gasoline smell from the open mouth. Raising the bottle to the stars in a toast, she whispered, "For you, Kat." and turned, hurling the bottle against the front door, jumping back slightly as broken glass and gasoline sprayed across the porch. Shrugging into her jacket, she stepped back another pace and fished a cheap zippo from her pocket, bought just for this occasion. Flicking the wheel, she lifted the lighter and stared at the flame for a moment, feeling herself cringe even at that small tongue of fire as it lapped at the air. She whispered to the flame, feeling her conscience struggling against the weight of reality and truth. "It was the best of times… it was the worst of times…"
Tossing the lighter, she turned her back and ran for the car as the front of the house erupted into flame. |
