Demimonde

Carter sighed, running his hand through his hair, "Look, man, I'm sorry. I've had a bad week. I haven't gotten much...uh...food..." He bit his lip, looking at Alex. He actually wasn't bad looking. He had seen better looking men, that was for sure. But for a wolf, he wasn't bad looking. And there was something to him, something primal...

"Once every ten years? And this happened to be the 'once every fucking ten years' moment? What the hell kind of bullshit excuse is that." Hunter glowered, grabbing Karen's wrist and pulling her hand off him. He glanced at the fleeing demon, and growled in annoyance.
"Dammit. You made me lose a dinner and a good fuck." He snarled in Karen's face. "What are you gonna do about - ack!" Hunter felt himself yanked away from the vampiress and turned, fangs bared, only to see Mark glaring down at him. The large redhead hissed furiously in his ear.
"For god's sake Hunter, stop talking."

The vampire turned his scowl on Mark, but before he could retort, the big texan was pushing him away.
Seeing Hunter's petulant look, Mark sighed and whispered. "Night's still young. I'm sure you'll find someone else more willing to get fucked or eaten. For now, you still have those drinks I ordered earlier. Go, it's on me."

Hunter grumbled, but with one last glare at Karen for ruining his potential dinner, turned around and stalked back to his place at the bar, sitting in front of his neglected drink.

Mark sighed, facepalmed, and turned to Karen.

"Sorry about my... friend," he said with a slight grimace. "He didn't know any better. Erm... look. I'm a bit rusty on how vampires and demons deal with this kind of things, but if we could settle this without fighting, bloodshed or headaches... I'd be grateful. So how about I buy you, and your friend if he feels like coming back, a drink to make you forget about Hunter's idiocy. Alright?"

Shawn nodded. "Woo yeah. I love stayin' outside. Often times that's where I gotta sleep, ya know? No cash. I guess I'm probably a bum." He laughed a little bit and shook his head. "Jus' a hot bum." He grinned and sat back in the chair.

"Oh heck yeah I want somethin' to eat! I'd kill for a burger." His mouth watered at the thought. His kind didn't have to eat as regularly as most kinds of people in order for them to hide, or even go into a sort of hibernation until the threat of danger had past. But Shawn had grown way too comfortable with the influx of food. "With cheese. French fries. Do they do those here? Fries?" Shawn asked leaning on his elbows in excitement.

-

Jeff relaxed on the roof- the scent of everyone now gone from his memory. His haze lifted. Slowly he felt better. Better enough to go get a heat suppressant. He was on his way to go get one, but he miscalculated and his heat came on like a wave- prompting his trip to the bar with Karen. He stretched out his wings with a happy sigh and took off toward the nearest pharmacy. He bought a bottle of it, knowing if he was going to properly collect Karen, he was going to need the whole thing. The bar was a buffet of all sorts of sexy beings- werewolves, vampires, and some creatures he had never encountered before. He chugged the bottle, throwing the empty container away. It wouldn't last long, but it would be long enough to do what he had to do. He took off toward the bar again- landing outside the door.

-

Karen growled at Hunter, her upper lip twitching. "That DINNER and your FUCK is MY friend. And you're not getting either out of him you big nosed arrogant prick! You want to challenge me then let's go!" She seethed, barring her teeth at him. Her anger refused to settle- even at Mark's offer.

She sniffed the air once and scowled. "Morta-"

Before she could continue, Jeff re entered. The scent of his heat was gone. She raised an eyebrow at him as he swaggered over to them. "Gents. My apologies. I wasn't myself. For the trouble- bartender, by everyone in here a round, on yours truly, big daddeh Jeff Jarrett." He looked over to Hunter. "Even for my would be molester over here. No hard feelings my good friend." He stuck out his hand for Hunter to shake.

Josh blinks, quite certain that Jay is addressing the wrong person. He knows what handsome means and he would never have expected anyone to refer to himself as such. "I was supposed to meet a coworker. I believe she wanted a shake up," Josh shrugs, unaware that he's gotten his analogies wrong once again.

He falls into that eerie silence again, not out of discomfort, simply because he's not used to talking much.

--

"Hell yeah they got some fries, best ones in the city," Heath grins. There was something kind of weird about Shawn, some sense of danger that he provoked in the pit of Heath's gut, but he can't quite place it. In fact, he doesn't mind it too much at all. "Well, I mean, if you're looking for a place to stay in town, there's a decent motel.." He shrugs, not wanting to seem too forward. "And, well, I gotta couch if you're really hurting for cash. It's not much, but it's a place to lay your head down."

He flashes him a smile, then orders two burgers with a side of fries.

Hunter was about to snarl back a less than nice retort at the angry vampiress, when Jeff Jarrett interrupted. Hunter stared, then shook the offered hand, a puzzled expression on his face. The intoxicating scent that had drawn him to the demon was gone. Gone was the squirming and the sweating and the nice flush that had been gracing the handsome features. How disappointing.

"No hard feelings indeed..." Hunter shrugged. "But if you're willing to buy me a drink, who am I to refuse."

He let go of Jeff's hand, keeping an eye on Karen in case she still had belligerent feelings, and sipped the drink the bartender handed to him.

--

Mark tensed at the hostility from Karen's tone, checking his pocket to make sure he still had that holy water, just in case. Thankfully, her demon friend returned before any biting.
Mark frowned. A succubus' heat couldn't disappear just like that. The blonde demon couldn't possibly have found someone to mate with in such a short amount of time. He shook his head, and approached Jeff.

"I don't know what you did to get rid of your heat, but thanks for calming the situation. For a dead guy, Hunter can be very hot headed."

He patted Jeff's shoulder in thanks, nodded politely at Karen, grabbed his drink and went outside for some fresh air, wondering if he should just go home or wait for the next blow up.

Heath has just flagged the waitress down when a cold wind whips through the room, snuffing out a few of the candles had had been lit for ambiance. The lights flicker and die and the chill becomes so intense that Heath can see his breath. He hunches in, rubbing his arms. "T-the hell?"

The power dies and the room suddenly plunges into blackness.

The generator puts up a fight, but it soon dies.

Soon the only source of light in the room is Heath. His entire body gives a faint glow, like a match lit in the darkness. The redhead winces a little, glancing around in confusion, trying to figure out what's going on.

-

The room fills with an unearthly shriek and the ghostly figure appears between the tables, hissing and slashing at empty air, knocking over bottles.

Josh stands up and cocks his head. "You're dead." He says simply. "You should not be here." In the dimness, no one can see Josh's hair flicker from light brown to jet black. Josh moves oddly, as if being pulled towards the dangerous specter.

The ghost is screaming and shrieking, writhing about wildly, but seemingly unable to move. Glasses and light fixtures rattle wildly. The cold wind becomes stronger, knocking over empty chairs.

Under normal circumstances, no living being would touch one of the dead. They didn't to hate it and the being doing the touching usually winds up in the same state as the ghost. Josh holds out his hand without fear, inching closer and closer to the spirit.

The moment his hand makes contact with the ethereal form, it vanishes. The explosion is violent, but without light or sound. The wind disappears as suddenly as it arrived and the silence that ensues is nearly as shocking as the raucous noise.

And the room remains pitch dark, save for Heath.