Darko Cernovsek
Soul Of Vengeance
INSIDE THE LOCAL SUPERMARKET... EARLY AFTERNOON
Rarely one to pick up groceries herself, preferring nighttime delivery for obvious reasons, especially this time of year, and preferring to avoid daywalking altogether if she could, last night's events conspired to make a daytime trip to the market, a necessity today, for Ixis. The delivery service was swamped all night long, plus suffering from a few vehicle malfunctions, if the dispatcher she contacted could be believed,, and come morning, the vampiress found herself lacking in a few... necessities. Coldpacks to line up the bathtub in her penthouse where she preferred to hibernate, since as much as the humans were suffering in this heat - vampires like her had it far worse - as well as couple of spare bottles of hi-UV retardant sunscreen. She was down to her last, and once out of that, she would be completely unable to go out during the day.
"And then there's the whining..." - the tall, statuesque buxom raven-haired beauty thought, annoyed, as, under a heavy layer of sunscreen, and shielding her eyes by a pair of extremely potent UV-retardant shades, she stepped through the sliding doors, and into the comparatively cooler interior of the store, no doubt kept that way by multiple AC units at full blast.
"Oh I'm sweating like a pig... oh I'm dying here... oh no this heat's going to be the death of me... oh my god I wish I was frozen... whining and complaining. Humans! If they had half a clue how bad this is for me, they'd thank their lucky stars they CAN sweat, and use something as mundane as water, to quench their thirst. Not nearly that simple, for me. Or maybe they need to step into a superheated cooking oven, for half an hour, under three layers of cooking oil. And marinate SLOWLY until their skin starts to flake off, and is about to catch fire. I swear, another 10 minutes out there, even under this much screen, and I'd be incinerating. Then they'll get a decent idea what I feel like, when I step outside these days in daylight! But do you hear me whining about it? Huh? No." - she thought, scowling, as she breezed past a couple of shoppers, relating to each other how hellish it was out there. A part of her was tempted to grant the wish of some of them,
Sure, her feeding intervals were cut almost in half, from a week, to a mere 4 days, given how high her energy expenditure was in this heat. Sure, even at night, the mean temperature was flirting with 30C, about 15C too high for her ideal taste. During the day... well. Enough said. Sure, she detested this time of year, preferring to spend much of it in Torpor. But hardship was part of everyone's existence. Living, or undead, like her. Sure, the whining around her required a serious exercise in self-control, for the vampire not to give in to her urges, and rip these meowling annoyances apart, draining them dry. The cynical part of Ixis considered it a win-win. They'd get to be spared anymore 'suffering' in this heat. And she'd get a seriously delectable, rejuvenating bloodbath. Not to mention quenching her thirst for the next few weeks, ideally, when combined with a period in Torpor.
But those were just idle thoughts. Most of the time, she rather enjoyed spending time with her circle of human friends and acquaintances. Even during this time of year, assuming she was not thirsty, for the time being. If she was, she tended to avoid human company, until sated. She had far too much self-discipline to give in to those thoughts and urges, as seasoned as she was. Yet it made her smirk, minutely, to herself, as she picked out the products she was after, filling up her shopping cart, slowly cruising the aisles.
As she rouded the corner, towards the cashier line, she came in sight of a... situation developing. Her smirk turned sarcastically brittle.
"And then of course, there's everyone's tempers fraying. Cattle..."
A large, burly, overweight early middle aged man, with a slight beer-belly and callused hands, was yelling at the cashier, a tall yet lanky late-teen of vaguely Asian descent, probably a student at his part-time job, who was just servicing a shortish woman with a pair of children, just ahead of him in the line.
"THE FUCK IS THIS?! FOUR BOTTLES OF WATER?! You're not gonna sell this bitch FOUR BOTTLES, you hear me? That's a whole god damn pack! I just looked at the water section and it's all empty! That's the last pack! GIVE IT HERE!" - the man bellowed, spittle flying out of his mouth, as he shoved the cashier aside, making the poor student hit the side of the counter hard enough to let out a yelp of pain. Then he roughly yanked at the woman's cart, reaching for the pack of water bottles. The woman screamed back at him angrily, yanking the water pack back, as her two children huddled behind her in fear. As tiny as she was, she was putting up a fight.
"LET GO! MY KIDS ARE THIRSTY, and water's out at my place!"
"Your problem, bitch. I'm thirsty too. Now GIVE IT HERE!" - the burly man yelled back, backhanding her off her feet. The two children screamed, as their mother was sent flying to the floor, blood pouring out of the corner of her mouth, glaring balefully up at her attacker, who pulled the water pack out of the woman's cart.
"Sir, if you don't leave r-right now, I'll call the police!" - the cashier stuttered, finding his voice, as his hand reached into his pocket, no doubt to film this on the phone. The man shot him a venomous glare, reaching to grab him by the collar. The phone went flying from the cashier's hand, to clatter on the floor.
"You'll what? Go ahead, kid. Call 'em. Call the pigs and let's see what happens. CALL 'EM. CALL THEM!" - he growled, bitchslapping him once, for each 'call 'em' he uttered. The student was shaking like a leaf, cringing away from the slaps, a bruise forming below his right eye. Contemptuously, the big man shoved him back, this time fully off his feet, as he finished putting the water pack into his own cart.
To suddenly find a woman's hand, clamping onto his beefy forearm. It belonged to a tall, leather-clad bombshell knockout that just came up behind them. She was covered in sunscreen, giving her exposed skin an... oily... look, with a pair of thick shades on her eyes. With the kind of... cold... iron-hard grip that completely defied her size and build. He tensed, as the newcomer spoke, with a vague accent.
"We're all thirsty, mister. Now put the pack back."
"Really?! You gonna give me orders, you gussied-up cunt?" - he snarled, trying to yank his arm free, as his free hand went flying at the... strange... woman's face in another backhand.
"UNgggh...!" - he moaned, as the grip on his forearm suddenly amplified twofold, from merely iron-hard, to bone-creaking. Meanwhile, she easily ducked his backhand, now gripping his other forearm before he could retract. She twisted both his arms.
"AAAAGHH!" - he let out a scream, leaning forward out of reflex, to try and relieve the pressure, feeling his wrist and elbow tendons straining to... and slightly past the limit. His forearms felt like they were in a hydraulic press. Of course, Ixis could have easily ripped both his arms off, but this was just a warning.
"Yes. And I don't like repeating myself, tough guy. Put the pack back in the lady's cart, or you won't have arms left to put anything anywhere, ever again." - she hissed, suddenly releasing both his arms. Before he could blink, she slapped him twice, in a blur of motion too fast for his eyes to follow. Carefully measured in force, but enough to bleed his nose, and lips.
"And by the way, I'm thirsty, too. You don't wanna know, for what. Last chance." - she added, licking her upper lip slightly, at the sight of the trickling blood.
The burly man glared, rubbing his numbed arms. That HURT like all hell, and he could see blue-ish circles around his forearms, where this bitch gripped. Dull, shooting pain was spreading upward from them, all the way up to his shoulders.
"What the... F-fine. FINE! But... but people don't got no right to be hoardin' water, at times like this!" - he snarled, obeying, willing his trembling, numbed arms to put the water pack back into the woman's cart.
"So be the first to pick it up, next time, before it gets sold out. I told you. We're all thirsty. One way or another." - the statuesque woman replied evenly, but icily. He couldn't see anything beyond those thick shades she wore, but for some reason, that even, confident tone was unnerving. And that icy-cold vise-like grip. What the hell... ?
"Yeah, fine. Whatever..." - he muttered in his chin, turning his attention to his own shopping cart, still rubbing his arms insistently. They THROBBED. Hurriedly, he pushed his own cart out to the parking lot and his car.
Ixis ignored the woman's profound thanks, simply nodding in acknowledgement, as she put her own selection through to the cashier, who seemed to let out a breath he'd been holding the whole time. Wordlessly, just giving her a thankful smile, wiping off his face.
"Take care." - she added over her shoulder, as she left the market with her products, to her own car.
The sun continued to burn, and at the moment, the vampiress wished for nothing more, then to sink into the tub back home, and cover herself with coldpacks, as Torpor would take her. This INSANE heat! Her own thirst could be sated, or it could be delayed. And right now, 'delayed' was more efficient. Biting her lip softly at the... burning... feeling all over her skin, she drove off. Her sunscreen wouldn't last forever.
Rarely one to pick up groceries herself, preferring nighttime delivery for obvious reasons, especially this time of year, and preferring to avoid daywalking altogether if she could, last night's events conspired to make a daytime trip to the market, a necessity today, for Ixis. The delivery service was swamped all night long, plus suffering from a few vehicle malfunctions, if the dispatcher she contacted could be believed,, and come morning, the vampiress found herself lacking in a few... necessities. Coldpacks to line up the bathtub in her penthouse where she preferred to hibernate, since as much as the humans were suffering in this heat - vampires like her had it far worse - as well as couple of spare bottles of hi-UV retardant sunscreen. She was down to her last, and once out of that, she would be completely unable to go out during the day.
"And then there's the whining..." - the tall, statuesque buxom raven-haired beauty thought, annoyed, as, under a heavy layer of sunscreen, and shielding her eyes by a pair of extremely potent UV-retardant shades, she stepped through the sliding doors, and into the comparatively cooler interior of the store, no doubt kept that way by multiple AC units at full blast.
"Oh I'm sweating like a pig... oh I'm dying here... oh no this heat's going to be the death of me... oh my god I wish I was frozen... whining and complaining. Humans! If they had half a clue how bad this is for me, they'd thank their lucky stars they CAN sweat, and use something as mundane as water, to quench their thirst. Not nearly that simple, for me. Or maybe they need to step into a superheated cooking oven, for half an hour, under three layers of cooking oil. And marinate SLOWLY until their skin starts to flake off, and is about to catch fire. I swear, another 10 minutes out there, even under this much screen, and I'd be incinerating. Then they'll get a decent idea what I feel like, when I step outside these days in daylight! But do you hear me whining about it? Huh? No." - she thought, scowling, as she breezed past a couple of shoppers, relating to each other how hellish it was out there. A part of her was tempted to grant the wish of some of them,
Sure, her feeding intervals were cut almost in half, from a week, to a mere 4 days, given how high her energy expenditure was in this heat. Sure, even at night, the mean temperature was flirting with 30C, about 15C too high for her ideal taste. During the day... well. Enough said. Sure, she detested this time of year, preferring to spend much of it in Torpor. But hardship was part of everyone's existence. Living, or undead, like her. Sure, the whining around her required a serious exercise in self-control, for the vampire not to give in to her urges, and rip these meowling annoyances apart, draining them dry. The cynical part of Ixis considered it a win-win. They'd get to be spared anymore 'suffering' in this heat. And she'd get a seriously delectable, rejuvenating bloodbath. Not to mention quenching her thirst for the next few weeks, ideally, when combined with a period in Torpor.
But those were just idle thoughts. Most of the time, she rather enjoyed spending time with her circle of human friends and acquaintances. Even during this time of year, assuming she was not thirsty, for the time being. If she was, she tended to avoid human company, until sated. She had far too much self-discipline to give in to those thoughts and urges, as seasoned as she was. Yet it made her smirk, minutely, to herself, as she picked out the products she was after, filling up her shopping cart, slowly cruising the aisles.
As she rouded the corner, towards the cashier line, she came in sight of a... situation developing. Her smirk turned sarcastically brittle.
"And then of course, there's everyone's tempers fraying. Cattle..."
A large, burly, overweight early middle aged man, with a slight beer-belly and callused hands, was yelling at the cashier, a tall yet lanky late-teen of vaguely Asian descent, probably a student at his part-time job, who was just servicing a shortish woman with a pair of children, just ahead of him in the line.
"THE FUCK IS THIS?! FOUR BOTTLES OF WATER?! You're not gonna sell this bitch FOUR BOTTLES, you hear me? That's a whole god damn pack! I just looked at the water section and it's all empty! That's the last pack! GIVE IT HERE!" - the man bellowed, spittle flying out of his mouth, as he shoved the cashier aside, making the poor student hit the side of the counter hard enough to let out a yelp of pain. Then he roughly yanked at the woman's cart, reaching for the pack of water bottles. The woman screamed back at him angrily, yanking the water pack back, as her two children huddled behind her in fear. As tiny as she was, she was putting up a fight.
"LET GO! MY KIDS ARE THIRSTY, and water's out at my place!"
"Your problem, bitch. I'm thirsty too. Now GIVE IT HERE!" - the burly man yelled back, backhanding her off her feet. The two children screamed, as their mother was sent flying to the floor, blood pouring out of the corner of her mouth, glaring balefully up at her attacker, who pulled the water pack out of the woman's cart.
"Sir, if you don't leave r-right now, I'll call the police!" - the cashier stuttered, finding his voice, as his hand reached into his pocket, no doubt to film this on the phone. The man shot him a venomous glare, reaching to grab him by the collar. The phone went flying from the cashier's hand, to clatter on the floor.
"You'll what? Go ahead, kid. Call 'em. Call the pigs and let's see what happens. CALL 'EM. CALL THEM!" - he growled, bitchslapping him once, for each 'call 'em' he uttered. The student was shaking like a leaf, cringing away from the slaps, a bruise forming below his right eye. Contemptuously, the big man shoved him back, this time fully off his feet, as he finished putting the water pack into his own cart.
To suddenly find a woman's hand, clamping onto his beefy forearm. It belonged to a tall, leather-clad bombshell knockout that just came up behind them. She was covered in sunscreen, giving her exposed skin an... oily... look, with a pair of thick shades on her eyes. With the kind of... cold... iron-hard grip that completely defied her size and build. He tensed, as the newcomer spoke, with a vague accent.
"We're all thirsty, mister. Now put the pack back."
"Really?! You gonna give me orders, you gussied-up cunt?" - he snarled, trying to yank his arm free, as his free hand went flying at the... strange... woman's face in another backhand.
"UNgggh...!" - he moaned, as the grip on his forearm suddenly amplified twofold, from merely iron-hard, to bone-creaking. Meanwhile, she easily ducked his backhand, now gripping his other forearm before he could retract. She twisted both his arms.
"AAAAGHH!" - he let out a scream, leaning forward out of reflex, to try and relieve the pressure, feeling his wrist and elbow tendons straining to... and slightly past the limit. His forearms felt like they were in a hydraulic press. Of course, Ixis could have easily ripped both his arms off, but this was just a warning.
"Yes. And I don't like repeating myself, tough guy. Put the pack back in the lady's cart, or you won't have arms left to put anything anywhere, ever again." - she hissed, suddenly releasing both his arms. Before he could blink, she slapped him twice, in a blur of motion too fast for his eyes to follow. Carefully measured in force, but enough to bleed his nose, and lips.
"And by the way, I'm thirsty, too. You don't wanna know, for what. Last chance." - she added, licking her upper lip slightly, at the sight of the trickling blood.
The burly man glared, rubbing his numbed arms. That HURT like all hell, and he could see blue-ish circles around his forearms, where this bitch gripped. Dull, shooting pain was spreading upward from them, all the way up to his shoulders.
"What the... F-fine. FINE! But... but people don't got no right to be hoardin' water, at times like this!" - he snarled, obeying, willing his trembling, numbed arms to put the water pack back into the woman's cart.
"So be the first to pick it up, next time, before it gets sold out. I told you. We're all thirsty. One way or another." - the statuesque woman replied evenly, but icily. He couldn't see anything beyond those thick shades she wore, but for some reason, that even, confident tone was unnerving. And that icy-cold vise-like grip. What the hell... ?
"Yeah, fine. Whatever..." - he muttered in his chin, turning his attention to his own shopping cart, still rubbing his arms insistently. They THROBBED. Hurriedly, he pushed his own cart out to the parking lot and his car.
Ixis ignored the woman's profound thanks, simply nodding in acknowledgement, as she put her own selection through to the cashier, who seemed to let out a breath he'd been holding the whole time. Wordlessly, just giving her a thankful smile, wiping off his face.
"Take care." - she added over her shoulder, as she left the market with her products, to her own car.
The sun continued to burn, and at the moment, the vampiress wished for nothing more, then to sink into the tub back home, and cover herself with coldpacks, as Torpor would take her. This INSANE heat! Her own thirst could be sated, or it could be delayed. And right now, 'delayed' was more efficient. Biting her lip softly at the... burning... feeling all over her skin, she drove off. Her sunscreen wouldn't last forever.