YES!

She let herself grin with satisfaction as the bouncer looked at the fake ID and waved her in without a second glance. It wasn't like it was a good one either. But maybe she looked close enough to eighteen to count... Sure she wouldn't be able to buy alcohol, but that wasn't why she was here.

I can't believe I did it!!

Addy was still nearly bouncing about with glee.

Here she'd be able to meet other vampires. Ones that would probably be willing to turn her even if Dmitri wasn't. Her grey eyes darted about expectantly. She'd never been in a club before, let alone a vampire one. What did you do? Just stand about until someone asked you to dance? Did you just go out on to the floor and just dance without caring who watched you?

Well, with the way some of the people on the floor were dancing, she'd be safer here, out on the outskirts of the floor, near the bar but not at it.

Hmmm... Now what?

Edmund backed out of the little side room, grinning a little at the sounds of shrieking before they were cut off by the door swinging shut and the suond of heavy, booming music. Watching, he decided, was more interesting than he'd given it credit for. You could still learn new tricks at the ripe old age of... whatevr the hell his age was now.

He made his way to the bar, ordering a shot of whiskey--the kind that a human wouldn't drink out of fear that it would burn out the better part of their stomach lining. Pussies. Tossing it back and feeling it sizzle, his cold, nearly as cold as the outside air temperature, blue eyes scanned the crowd. There were plenty of humans to choose from if he wanted to try out some of his new tricks.

His face curled into a slight smile. Outcasts and other pathetic types tended to gravitate towards bars that gave off an eerie feel. Trying to show the world their pain or something, he supoosed. They'd show him their pain, anyway.

A presence near the edge of the dance floor happened to catch his eye. She was as good as any, he supposed. Making his way through the crowd that always seemed to throng the dance floor of the Puppet, he came up behind her. "The Sinister Puppet's not the place to be shy, luv," he told her, his boken-glass on gravel voice rumbling beneath the music.

She was so absorbed just looking around the club, looking up at the mannequins they had dangling from the ceilings, all the people dancing, the bloody color of the light.... This was defienitely a vampire place, though she seemed to notice a lot of gothy type people she could only assume were human.

As a matter of fact in her blue jeans and black lace top she didn't really fit in. She wore no make-up, and she wasn't wearing enough black

Addy nearly jumped as she heard a rough voice behind her, but held her fear in check because she didn't want Dmitri finding her here. She knew he'd be royally pissed if he found her here... He'd all but banned her from this place, saying that if she were smart she'd never come.

Well her curiosity had won out so she was just going to have fun now that she was here.

"Oh. Hello there. I... I'm not shy." She said, smiling nervously. "Just uncoordinated."

Vampire? Human? She wasn't sure. He seemed powerful... Old... But that could just be because she was so young still. But that wasn't going to throw her off. "What about you? I don't see you out there dancing."

Let's face it, Edmund "Hammer" Mallet was six feet tall and a foot thick, with a big, ugly scar on his face and eyes that threatened to outdo Canadian weather for sheer ice. Seeing as such, it really wasn't very surprising that he didn't even attempt to charm the girl with a smile, whcih only would have looked odd or threatning, or some joke, as he didn't have much in the way of a sense of humor. Besides a fairly macabre one, in any case.

He simply took one of her hands in his and tugged her out onto the dance floor. "You and ninety-percent of the blokes in the place, chickie," he informed her. It was amazing that he could be heard, considering the volume of the melodramatic music the emo-humans tended to like. It was almost as if his bass voice cruised underneath the music, even the skin, and was felt more than heard.

Weird.

Edmund didn't dance much, but he didn't do so bad. In a place like the Puppet, his move of lowering his hands to her hips as they were bumped and jostled by the crowd was downright tame, in any case.

He took her hand, his grip firm, but not hard. Probably vampire "Um... I don't know if this is really a good idea..." She said hesitantly, not pulling away because she didn't want to get hurt. She managed to keep her little purse on her shoulder as he tugged her out to the floor.

Addy moved closer as his hands went to her hips, thrilled as the fact that someone had actually picked her out of this crowd. She wasn't pretty, rather boring really, and she didn't even think that someone would ask her, let alone demand that she dance with them.

Biting her lip hesitantly she moved like he did, staying close to him.

"So... Only about ten percent here are really.... you know." Her voice was almost lost in the noise now, but if he was a vampire like she suspected, he should be able to hear her no problem, right?

As she waffled, Hammer raised an eyebrow slightly, the one with the scar. "Coming to the Puppet's not a good idea in the first place," he said, amused. "As long as you're making one unwise decision, you might as well go full-bore."

She moved awkwardly, apparently having told the truth when she'd said she was uncoordinated. Hammer was hardly Mr. Twinkle-Toes, himself, but he moved with a surprising finese for a man built like a large Rottweiler. Even so, he didn't seem like the kind of man who was particularly fond of the dance floor.

"I don't know, luv, I've never exactly counted," he murmured in her ear, subtly shifting her until her back was pressed tight against his barrel chest. "There are... enough." And Hammer was far from the baddest of the bunch. It was one of the reasons he preffered to hunt alone--the feel of so many as strong or much stronger than he rubbed against his skin like hot sandpaper.

Addy tensed and shivered as he pulled her closer. Even in the heat, his body was cold... Cold like Dmitri's... but... but something about his words made her feel even colder. It wasn't how he said that this wasn't a good idea. It wasn't how he said she wasn't being too smart... It was just something that made her want to run away screaming.

But of course she couldn't lose her head. That never really helped anyone.

There was something though that made her want to stay with him, here just like this. He was holding her just the way she'd wanted Dmitri to hold her. Someone who actually wanted her around. Someone who would appreciate her, change her from a clumsy little girl to a graceful woman...

No! Not him... She... She wanted Dmitri to be there for her. Not whoever this guy was. She didn't even know who he was!

She pulled out of his grasp, or rather tried. But he was holding her far too tight.

"Um... I... I think I should go. I don't want to keep my friends waiting." She lied. Well... That wasn't exactly a lie. She could probably call Dmitri here, and he would bring Chi if he knew where she was. Well... Maybe.

He said it would be her own fault if she got hurt... Or died here... Did that mean he wouldn't come?

Edmund didn't tighten his grip as the girl tried to pull away, but neither did he loosen it, giving her about as much hope of outwrestling him as bending iron. "Go?" he asked quietly, his voice the same ton as it had been all night. "But it's a party, luv, and a party at the Puppet goes on all night." Nobody gave them a second look as he edged his way towards the circular stairs that led to the floors above--the floors where the real parties took place. They were packed with writhing bodies, some were vampires feasting on the prey that oh-so-happily walked into the place, others were simply humans overcome from alcohol and party packs of whatever the flavor of the night was. Edmund snatched one as they walked by, leading to a human opening his mouth to object before snapping it shut agin as he got a better look.

He pushed a door open with one hand, the other locked firmly around the girl. The room was empty and dark--and dank. Even a human nose would have been able to pick up the faint, rotting scent of old blood. Too much of it had soaked into the walls, the cracks in the floor to be completely cleaned, despite the fact that most srufaces were easy to wipe down. The little room was dominated by the bed and little else. Edmund shoved the girl forward, hard, onto the bed. "See, what most humans--like you--don't understand is, wen you walk into the Sinsiter Puppet, nibbles, unless you've got a good, strong protector hanging off your arm, you're free game." His accent was thick, and more obvious now that they were away from the music, the dull sound of which mingled with the muffled sounds of screaming from the other rooms. Coul d have ben screams of pleasure, but it wasn't altoehr likely.

"I... I have to be home though. B-before Dmitri realizes I'm gone." She tried to hold the whimper back from her voice. But as they moved her heart began to pound faster. "No... I... I have to go! Let me go!" She said the last louder, trying to scream above the noise, but no one was paying attention.

She was trying to push back the fear, the panic that was welling up inside her. She had to think clearly. She couldn't let him do.... Whatever he was planning. something, he began to pull her away from the crowd. Fighting would only make things worse... She had to keep from hurting herself any more than necessary.

The smell of blood overwhelmed her. She'd smelt it so often she knew what it was. She couldn't hold back the cry of fear that was torn out as he shoved her to the bed. She crawled away as far as she could from him.

"Dmitri!!" She begged in her mind, pulling her knees to her chest. "Please come Dmitri I'm sorry!" Well, he said he couldn't hear her... But maybe he could feel her regret, her fear...

"He'll come! He knows where I am! Dmitri's not gonna be happy with you if you hurt me!" She challenged, trying to keep her voice strong.

OOC: He didn't grab a dude, he grabbed one of the 'party packs' of drugs. Sorry, that was a little unclear.


Edmund caught her by the ankles, dragging her back to the center of the bed. "Ooh, big, bad, Dmitre," he said sarcastically. "I'm so very scared." Casually backhanding her, he began flicking the buttons of his shirt open with one hand. "Why isn't the big bad wit you now, girly-girl? If he's all protective-like of you, one'd think 'e wouln' let you outta his sight--specially to come to a place like the Puppet."

He tossed his shirt aside, then peeled out of the wifebeater beneath it. Though he looked, and was, enormous, none of it was fat. Even as a human, he could have twisted someone's head off like a bottlecap if he'd felt like it. He pulled the party pack out of his pocket, sniffed it, and appeared pleased. Heroin. And look, how conscientous, a needle as well. Smacking her again to daze her, he quickly prepped the durg and loaded about 20 milligrams into the syringe and grabbed her arm again. He winked. "Going for a ride, luv," he told her, one hand circling her thin arm like a tourniquet as he emptied the drugs into her veins.

It wouldn't take more than thirty seconds to hit.

He turned his head as the door opened, and a woman peered inside. Rather than being perturbed by her presence, Edmund smiled. "Nora. Have you come to watch or join me?" he asked, holding out a hand to her. She was very short, and appeared the same age or perhaps a few years older than Hammer was, but was in fact, much, much older. She was one of the Tarepha, the vampires that ran the palce and the coven he got along with th best. He and Nora got on exceptionally well--so long as Edmund remembered she could crush him into dust if she so chose.

"You're making a bit of a ruckus, naughty Edmund," she informed him, running a finger lightly ove his bare chest. "She's screaming so loud in my mind. I couldn't concentrate on my nibble for the din," Nora continued, dragging a pale young girl with striking (and dyed) black hair into the room. THere were small, almost dainty bite marks on the girl's arm and a glazed look in her eyes. But unlike Hammer, Nora didn't need drugs to mellow her "nibbles". The vampire tossed the girl onto the bed next to Addy, where she shook her head as she began to come out of her fog. Nora smiled, "I know how big your appitite is, you naughty boy. Why don't we share them?" She reached down, catching Addy's chin and tuning her face this way and that. "She's not very pretty," Nora pouted.

Edmund merely smled. "Then we'll just put her on her belly."

((Heh heh sorry bout that. I probably just read over it too quick :-P))


The fear took over as he grabbed her ankles. "NO! NO!! DMITRI!!" She screamed loudly, her mind filled with nothing but fear. But it stopped as he backhanded her, making her dazed. She didn't hear a word he said. She'd never be able to apologize... Her fears from the week ago when she'd met the other... They would come true tonight. She would die somewhere... And Dmitri would never know. He'd never find out what happened to her.

And she'd never get to tell him how sorry she was... How she shouldn't have ever tried to disobey him.

Just as she was coming to, the sight of the needle making her eyes open wide. "No! Please! Don't!" She begged. She was going to tell him about her condition, but it was probably a good thing that she hadn't. He probably would just use it against her anyway.

Her heart was pounding hard next she felt. The small needle prick on her arm was still streaming blood slowly, causing a small trickle down her pale skin. "No... No... Don't..." She kept murmuring.

Dark bruises were already forming on her face where he'd struck her, the erratic pounding of her head making the blood flow to the wounds faster. But... But it didn't hurt... It... It felt strange... Not like... "Dmitri..." She whimpered. "Dmitri please..." She opened her eyes, but everything was a blur. She tried to move, but there was something, someone next to her. But she tried again, feeling someone still over top of her now.

The dizziness took over and she fell back against the bed, her eyes open and glazed over. her body was beginning to tremble, her heart beating even faster. She was scared... She knew she was. But it was too much trouble to move. Lifting an arm, even turning her head was too difficult.

Chi stormed into the Sinister Puppet, her eyes flicking in the room while her mind tried to sense where Addy was. Dmitri stood by her side, the vampire in him wanted out, wanted to tear anyone that had hurt Addy to shreds, yet with Chi next to him, he reigned it in. She wouldn't appreciate it and it was more important that they find Addy, before it was too late.

Chi's eyes flicked to a staircase and as one the flew up it, yet no one seemed to notice and they stormed into the room. Dmitri slammed the man into the wall, his face had shifted to accommodate the double row of fangs. He let out a growl the reverberated down his arm to the throat of the man that he was holding. Chi had rushed to Addy and her eyes narrowed as she felt the drug in the girl. She could see the blood too and the bruises. She took stock quickly and healed the prick where blood was still leaking and once that was done, she swept her power through the girl erasing all mentions of the drug. Chi sat back down and shook her head. Addy's bruises would have to wait.

She stood up and went to the man, her dark eyes indifferent. "You should have headed her warning, she has very powerful friends. Dmitri here is very annoyed with you, Addy is a very dear friend of his and you went too far. Perhaps I should let him deal with you. He is a Tarepha as well after all, but if you rather deal with me, we could arrange that as well." Chi was perhaps small and looked almost innocent. Any vampire would take her for much younger that she actually was. She had found a way to camouflage her power so any that looked would think her to be a vampire that hadn't even reached her first century.

Edmund snarled as he was slammed against the wall, and he struggled briefly. "Fucker," he spat in the newcomers general direction. He grinned a little as the short one lectured him. "Oooh, look at you. Here's a novel idea, you meddlesome cunt, why don't you make sure your precious little girl isn't fucking stupid enough to sojourn to places like the Sinister Puppet in the first place?" he asked viciously, making an unkind hand gesture towards them.

Nora tsk-ed him, waving a finger in his face. "Be more polite, Edmund. That one," she indicated Dmitri, "could rip your head off, you know. And I'm rather fond of it where it is." She turned, her pale eyes studying Chi. "And you... Why you're much to confident to be what you pretend to be, young girl" she told the other, an emphasis on the last two words. "No real fleding would have your stones." She pushed at her hair, her other hand reaching out towards Hammer. "This," she told him lightly, "is going to hurt."

Her eyes glowed as she took his hand in hers. Then both vanished--like smoke--with only a low, lingering groan from Edmund as they disappeared.

No...

Addy gave a groan of pain.

No... Why was it coming back? Things had just started feeling good. No pain... No where. Even the weight of the body on her had felt good, made her feel something strange.

But the body had moved quickly, she heard shouts dulled out to her mind.

And then the pain... It was starting to come back.

"No..." She moaned. Why was it coming back? Her muscles ached now... her face was throbbing her arm was sore. "No... Make it stop..." She whimpered. Everything had felt so good before... She'd felt good... Safe... comfortable for those few minutes and now the pain was coming back. Worse than it had been before even. It so hard to move.

"Stop it... Stop the pain..." She whimpered. But she was feeling weak, faint, and as she opened her eyes her head swam.

Chi hissed as they vanished. Young girl was she? Oh she teach them the mistake, both of them, Edmund and Nora, oh yes. Names were perhaps the easiest thing to pluck from one's mind, now she would have to find them. She had more than simple power at her fingertips, she had a web of contacts and she was the spider in the middle that spun the web and those two had stepped in it and now she was going to find them.

Dmitri roared as his prey vanished and he turned his eyes towards Chi demanding an explanation. "I will find them Dmitri, I swear to you. One Tarepha shouldn't be hard to find and two even less." She strode towards the door and glanced at Addy. "Take care of her and remind her of this. I will not heal her bruises tonight, you had warned her and she disregarded your warning." She then went through the door back into the club.

Dmitri looked at Addy and could hear her coming back, hear the pain that laced her voice. He was tempted to call Chi back, but he knew that she wouldn't do anything. Addy had to learn and if she had to learn through pain so be it. He knelt next to bed that she was laying on. "Addy open your eyes. You're safe."

"No... No... go away..." She whimpered. Why... Why did he make her have this pain? Why would he want her to hurt like this? She tried to open her eyes, but the bruises hurt too much to let her do even that.

She wanted the pain to stop, wanted it to go away and never come back. Why was Dmirti letting this...

It... it was him... He was here. His voice. She wasn't dreaming, but she wished she had been. Then the pain would be gone at least. She never felt pain in her dreams... "Make it go away Dmitri.." She pleaded with him. She didn't want to open her eyes, she wouldn't open her eyes.

She knew she shouldn't have come... He hadn't been the type to tolerate humans. But he hadn't wanted her in pain it seemed. "Please Dmitri... I... I'm sorry... Just stop it." her voice was barely above a pained whisper, as every movement of her face hurt her even more.

Dmitri watched her and agony filled his eyes. He didn't want to let her feel pain, but she had to learn. He had warned her and told her not to go to the Sinister Puppet. Frankly he would have preferred the casino, they weren't as rough and tended to prefer the mortal company.

Dmitri shook his head. "I'm sorry, little one, but this is the only way that you'll learn. Chi eradicated the drug from your system, so it wouldn't do any lasting damage on the inside. She also made sure that the bleeding stopped, but she wanted you to keep the bruises to remember that sometimes it's better to listen." He watched her and he really wanted to brush all the pain away. "It's the only way that you'll remember. I'm sorry."

Keep the bruises? She couldn't see how bad they were, but... But at this point it could cause a lot more damage than the drugs could. She'd have to go to the hospital... hours of surgery to remove clottings... Weeks of recovery after that... And how would she explain it to her parents? They'd never let her out of the house again! They might even demand to home school her again!

"Please... Please Dmitri... You have to help... You have to."

The swelling wasn't getting worse, but the blood would just sit, taking more time to sit there, soak into her muscles causing pain.

"I'm sorry... I... I won't do it again... I won't." She whimpered. "Please... Just make it stop..."