The water's fine

[Lovely]

May 21, 2010
8pm


Ari spent her days making the townspeople and occasional tourists more attractive with hair cuts, perms and coloring, on busier days like today, she spent most of it on her feet. She was glad to be home and knew Lance would be there soon, he usually gave a few of the other guys a ride and sometimes stopped off for a quick beer. That was his way of unwinding, Ariane had her own. She started the tub filling with her favorite bubble bath, dimmed the lights, and put on some music. She brought her robe and one of her soothing herbal eye masks, into the bathroom and got undressed, slipping into warm water with a sigh. She put the mask over her eyes, adjusted the strap so it wouldn't slip and rested back, letting her foot prop on the edge of the tub. The day slowly eased away and she relaxed.

Lance pulled up in the drive and checked his breath against his palm. For good measure, he unpeeled in a mint from the roll in the console, hoping the beer wasn't too strong for her, not that it mattered much with the menthol wad he pulled from his cheek and packed into the empty can to replace with the candy. He looked in the console for his chew and didn't see it right away. He began digging around, sure it had fallen under the seat during the drive. He ducked down to reach under the seat, feeling around for it. He hadn't had the chance to look up to see what opened the door and pinned him before he heard his own neck snap.

"Easy peasy," Biff grinned, letting the heap fall out of the car onto the pavement. He dusted his hands as if he'd actually gotten them dirty and turned to speak to the figure on the other side of the car. "Clean that up. You get your turn on the next one, so I hope you're taking notes."

The younger man had watched how quickly Biff had simply killed the man without a glimmer of remorse or pity. He swallowed hard and looked a little pale.

"Jeremie, take care of it. He's not going to bite you," Biff laughed and shook his head, leaving the boy to figure out the rest. "My turn for the one inside. If I'm more than ten minutes, just drive on home. Got yourself a new car." He patted the hood of the still-warm vehicle and laughed, going off inside alone to find Ariane. He marveled that the woman was trusting enough to think only Lance would be the next one coming through her door. He followed the scent of the steam and perfume to find her toe-to-temple ready and waiting, but completely unaware. He waved his hand gently, silently, confirming she didn't see him around the eye mask. He tried not to laugh and instead cleared his throat softly.

She thought she'd heard noises but with the music playing, though quiet in the bathroom, it was loud enough to muffle other sounds outside the room. She didn't jump when she heard, what she assumed was Lance, clear his throat. Ari half sighed and pouted, not lifting her mask to check who was there. "Hi sweetie.. you want to join me?" She curled her leg up a little more, showing off her slick thigh above the edge of the tub to temp him into her 'girly' delight as he often called her bubble baths.

Join her? He looked back toward the door that was still cracked open and he moved off to close it, and wave Jeremie off if needed to, and send him on home ahead with what was left of Lance. He returned, slipping easily out of the shirt he wore and the jeans that he wore a little loose to start with. He didn't say a word but pressed his finger to her lips to not have her speak, either. He left her alone only a moment longer, pulling the prepared syringe from his pocket on the floor... a back-up plan if she decided on hysteria. He set it in reach and picked up the bath sponge, drenching it and shaking it lightly to splash her teasingly then stroke down her leg that rested on the tub's edge.

Beneath the mask her expression shifted, questioning as she was shushed but she smiled and stayed where she was, listening to him undress. Ari played with her lower lip, licking and biting at it in anticipation as she waited, she was disappointed for only a second when he didn't get into the tub. The bath sponge splashed her and she laughed, it ran over her leg and she relaxed to enjoy the attention.

[Lovely]

So far, so good, he saw no problems whatsoever with the plan. It was going even better than he'd expected. He kneeled closer to take in her scent as he moved the sponge over her with the slick bubbles. She might notice no beer on his breath or soured mint as he let out the breath by her shoulder and hovered close to her masked eyes. She saw nothing and her scent did not carry the anticipation of any of the fear she should have. A trusting and loyal woman was hard to find. He could certainly appreciate that. It would be a shame to damage her - why not keep her, he thought. He chuckled at little. She thought he was Lance and he did his best to make her keep thinking that until she moved the mask herself. He pushed the sponge beneath the water, following over her skin and teasing her lightly as he leaned over her with a kiss to taste and test her.

Ari was basking in the attention, as Lance wasn't normally into sharing such indulgences with her. She hummed softly but didn't speak yet, she didn't want to break the spell. He leaned close and his breath lacked the offensive odors that sometimes turned her away from his kiss, there was no chew or beer and Ari smiled sweetly. Perhaps that's why he was acting so differently, no matter why - she liked it. Even his laugh sounded different, maybe this was the start of something even better between them than what they already had. At first she was totally into the kiss, leaning up into it and the stroke of his hand with the sponge against her. Unfortunately, it was the kiss that told her this was not Lance at all, it tasted and felt much different than any kiss they had shared before. The flavor she might have been able to write off as the lack of beer and chew but his lips felt different and when she lifted her hand to his cheek she knew it wasn't Lance. She froze with the realization, the shock, anger, fear, and disappointment cursed through her as she tried to push the man away and reached with her other hand to pull her mask from her eyes. "Who the hell are you.. and what hell are you doing in here?" She demanded, now trying to find someway to cover herself, her blush deep at what she'd been letting him do and how she'd been enjoying it.

He laughed as she floundered and yelled. "Well, I'm sure as hell not Lance," he said, not moving far from where he hovered, keeping her in the bath and the syringe in reach. "He has a message for you, by the way. Goodbye."

"Well no shit, you're not Lance! Why do you think I'm so upset?" She pointed out, not really yelling though her voice rose above the quiet tone she usually spoke in. Her cheeks remained flushed and she crossed her arms over her chest since he didn't seem too eager to move away at the moment. "So.. now that you got your cheap thrill, you want to tell me who you are and why you're giving me a message from Lance? Where is he? Why is he telling me goodbye?"

He lifted his finger to his own lip this time, trying to tell her to be quiet and calm. Of course she wasn't and had no reason to listen to him. His hand went over the syringe where it stayed hidden under his palm. He sighed and shook his head, "He's not coming back, that's all I know. Some shit went down and he had to leave, Ari."

Her fingers gripped at her own skin, her jaw clenched in a moment of anger though she had stayed quiet long enough for him to answer her questions or at least some of them. He still hadn't told her who he was which made it even more uncomfortable that he was the one delivering this message to her. "So.. what, you figured he's gone and you'd just slip right into his place? Or just 'console' me for night?" She was angry at this guy but more so at Lance - if it was true that he'd just taken off and left her. "Would you at least back off and let me get my robe on.." She glanced over him and almost laughed but bit her lower lip instead. "Mmm and you know put your own clothes back on.." He was all naked and apparently ready to jump in the bath with her!

"Sorry, can't do that," he grinned, the light catching a hint of red in his eyes. The grin fell flat and he leaned closer. "I was going to slip right in his place and kill you, too, but I've changed my mind," he admitted

[Lovely]

Her eyes widened and she pressed herself back against the wall, as if trying to get further away from him, like the inch or so made any difference. Her mouth opened but she didn't have any harsh or witty comeback for what he told her. Ari was scared, a number of terrifying and awful alternatives to being killed ran through her mind as she stared up at this man leaning over her. "Why can't I put on my robe?" Her voice came out in a whisper, she assumed she knew the answer and her face was no longer flushed but pale.

"Because it will get in my way," he said simply enough, bringing the syringe and its light tranquilizer in view. It wasn't enough to make her completely unconscious, but it would certainly keep her calm and numb. He'd wanted her to be aware of everything he did instead of ending her night as quickly as he'd done to Lance.

What little hope she'd had that she was wrong about what he was going to do, evaporated when he revealed the syringe. She felt her eyes burn with tears which she tried to blink away, she whispered a soft, "Oh god." that was hardly more than a breath. What chance did she have against this man and what ever drug he intended to give her? He had the advantage of being out of the tub while she was in it and slick from the bubbles.. She was a strong girl and still in decent shape though she'd given up dancing a few years ago, she had to try to fight. She curled her toes around the chain attached to the drain plug beneath the water, pulling it up to let the water start flowing out. She'd never reacted well to pain killers or sedatives, her goal was to keep the needle away or break it. In the next breath she tried for a blow with the flat part of her hand coming up from beneath his nose as her other hand went to try to break the end off the syringe.

Her hand against his face pushed him back only so far, but didn't break his grip on the tub or the syringe. She pushed his other hand against the tub, but he'd turned it to keep the silvery threat intact. Still according to plan - he'd have been disappointed if she didn't have a little fight in her. "A girl, just like the girl that dear ol' dad bit," he sang lightly, letting go of the tub to grasp at her throat and show her more of what she fought against. The ridge of his spine curled and deformed, his body stretching and folding over her as he altered his appearance half-way to its wolfen guise. He glared at her from the corner of his eye and couldn't help the slight drool that dripped into her bath. "Time to say goodnight, sweetheart. It's time to go."

The blow should have broken his nose, his grip, and made him howl in pain and she was shocked to find it hardly even moved him, but of course she didn't yet know what he was. He moved the syringe and she shifted her fingers to grasp around the end, still intent on snapping it even as he grasped her throat. Her eyes widened again as he transformed partially and she let out a piercing scream, her hand let go of the syringe. It was probably better to black out or maybe she'd get lucky and it would kill her before he had a chance to rip her to shreds.

"That hurts my ears," he hissed, making use of the syringe and the gentle tap from his overly strong fingers to force the liquid into her arm. He tossed the used vial back into his clothes on the floor and held her steady. "Careful or you'll drown," he warned, concerned the tranq could be too strong and she'd slump into the water on her own.

He might find it strange how she weakly smiled when he warned her to be careful or she'd drown. Whatever was in the syringe acted quickly and it's effect on her was clear as her eyes seemed to glaze over, her head lolling back with a thump against the wall, and her body going limp. If he hadn't held her, she would have simply slipped down into the tub. A person who reacted 'normally' to sedatives and the like may not have had such a severe reaction to the tranq but Ari had never even been able to take an over the counter sleeping aide without seriously regretting it once she -finally- woke up.

He pressed his fingers against her throat. She still had a pulse but it had weakened considerably from the shot, not from his grip. She was limp and glazed as if in shock. If it killed her, so be it, but he had to try. He could give her the strength to fight it and fight him, too. He pulled her upright and sunk his teeth into the nape of her neck, tearing deeply into the tissue where the toxic sting of his bite could course quickly into her mind and her heart, beginning the transformation that would change her forever. He held her in his teeth long enough for the draining water in the tub to cloud with pink, then a deeper red as he let the wound flow. He let go only to replug the tub with enough water to bathe her once he'd resealed the wound which took several minutes. Confident that the mark would not burst, he bathed the stains away, then drained the tub to continue swabbing her his way. She was his now and he wanted her marked clearly. He left her to lounge briefly in the drained tub as he gathered some of her things into a bag and came back quickly, wondering how long it might be before she woke. He lifted her out of the tub and began to put his shirt over her. He slipped a pair of her sweats onto her lean legs next, something to keep her covered, shamefully so he sighed, but he didn't want her cut or scraped worse on the way back. The bite had to heal first. He tied the bag so it would loop around her like a messenger's satchel, then he moved her over his own shoulder to carry out. The music was left to play but lights and everything else were cleaned and shut off as if he'd never been there. Into the waiting darkness, he slipped into the safety of shadows with her.

Ariane never woke while he bit, healed, bathed, and redressed her though when he lifted her she made a slight noise which let him know she was still alive and perhaps slowly creeping back toward consciousness. Otherwise she didn't stir and she made no further noise, she was breathing as if in a deep sleep his toxic bite flowing through her to change her and the sedative keeping her from waking or feeling what could be a painful transformation. She was left unaware of what was happening or where they were, for now.

[Lovely]

He was charged with worry since her bath. His mind had tumbled and changed many times, deciding one minute that letting her die would be best, then fighting the next with every ounce of breath to ensure she was comfortable and healing well, ready to take on the world by his side. It was several miles on foot, but he carried her without delays once his mind was again made that he would help her to survive.

Once he arrived at the cave with her, the unusual spectacle of alarm from Mitch was clear as he rose and uttered a barking order to clear the man's path, leaving him a wide enough berth to bring the torn and scratched woman beside the fire inside the mouth of their den. Her hair was damp and tangled and at first he thought it was from blood, but other than the few scratches from the brambles and the very clear mark on her throat, she smelled altogether clean and altogether like Biff. Mitch gave him a sideways glance. Biff was also torn, it seemed, and the chaos welled from him. "Best just set her down there and back away if you can't make up your mind, son," he said, the cool and stout warning accompanied by pulling the half-wolf back slowly from her sleeping form before he opted to simply devour her.

Biff had set her down on a woven mat beside the fire when he felt Mitch's hand tugging him back from her. He shrugged his shoulder back from the man's grip and turned with a growl, unable to respond in any fashion otherwise. What did he want? He paused. His eyes narrowed on his Alpha and he dared to bare a tooth of his own warning. "Don't touch her," he snarled, keeping between Mitch and Ariane, still half-wolf in form on sturdy haunches.

Ariane remembered nothing of the trip to the cave, the last thing she recalled clearly was getting into her bath, the rest was sort of hazy. She began to slowly make her way through the thick fog of the sedative, with the help of the toxin from Biff's bite. A small sound parted her lips, her fingers twitched as if she was trying to grasp something, her eyes moving beneath her lids. She felt so strange, as intensely and quickly as she reacted to the drug, she was reacting to his bite. The change coursed through her as she was held by the sedatives and she was far into it as she fianally began to break free and work her way back to waking.

He heard the small sound and turned, sniffing her for signs of discomfort or fear. He smelled neither and felt she was still sleeping though she seemed near enough to waking he turned back toward Mitch and growled again. He would handle this and told him in that one guttoral sound to back off.

Mitch scratched his head at the behavior of his usual warrior wolf who would take a deer down in a single leap without a second thought. He held every bit the same stance right now and Mitch was in no mood for a fight. "Suit yourself, but don't think I won't throw you in the fire myself if you get into with the others. Your loyalty is to them first," he reminded his brother.

Ari's fingers twitched again, her eyes moving more rapidly and her lids starting to flutter in response to the voices and noises around her. Something smelled funny to her but she didn't know what it was, she wasn't awake enough to analyze it yet. Her legs curled up and then slid back down again as she groaned quietly, trying to roll to her side.

[Lovely]

Mitch's words made him pause again. Loyalty..? Wasn't he the one who told them it was time? The thoughts ran deeper and began to make sense again. He glared at his brother for tricking him into rational thought, though it had worked somehow. He lifted a paw at Mitch like a rude gesture or simply waving him off to ignore him now as he turned to kneel by Ari's side. She was shifting uncomfortably.

Mitch snickered as Biff flipped his dismissive paw at him. "Don't think I wouldn't do it just because you're an ass," he laughed softly and left Biff to manage the girl. He went off to get them some water and brought back a bowl full for them to start with. "Might want to change back unless you want to explain yourself stupid when she wakes up," he reminded him.

Her body arched and her fingers clawed at the mat and stone beneath her, her jaw clenching and muffling the sound which was close to a growl. Ari held the pose, frozen in a twisting contortion for a few moments before she simply dropped back down and lay still for another couple of minutes. Her eyes snapped open and it only took a few seconds for them to focus on what knelt beside her. She let out a shrieking scream of terror, the creature was like something straight out of a horror movie, only she could feel it's hot breath.

Biff had heard Mitch's warning only the moment before she arched herself to fill her lungs with the air that flowed out in a less-than-pleasant howl of fear. He shifted before her eyes and she would see that he was the same man who'd entered her bath. No less frightening as he was still a stranger, but he was certain with the change in her blood, a recognition would begin to build and build rapidly if she was already responding to the transformation. "Great. That's just great babe. How do you feel?" He asked her as if he'd known her ages although the sound of his own voice was muffled to him for the moment, his ears still ringing from her scream. He'd expected as much.

The creature transformed and that was no less scary to watch, though the visage of man before her was better to look at for now. Her lips tembled with the fear as he spoke to her like he knew her and they were close, calling her babe. "H-how do I feel?" The recognition was in her eyes now and her scent might give him his answer a second before she lashed out to slap his face in a sudden burst of anger. "I feel fantastic! How do you think I feel? You could have killed me!" It occurred to her then that she was very much alive and not nearly as out of it as she normally would be.

"Several times, and believe me I thought about it, but you know what? I didn't, alright?" He snapped back, amazed that she'd actually slapped him. The last one who'd slapped him had been Cady for teasing her too much. He rubbed his jaw that was still adjusting to the human features again. His eyes flared red, reflecting the fire's light. "Oh, you mean the tranq? Geez, it's not like I'm a doctor, okay? I just didn't want you freaking out... like now."

"No.. it's not okay! It's not okay to come into someone's home.. into the room while they're in the bath.. and touch them or drug them.. or take them out of their home while their unconscious! If you didn't want me to freak out.. you should have left me alone!" She seethed at him but didn't strike again, laying against the mat glaring up at him and his red eyes. He could have killed her but hadn't and that scared her - what would he do with her? Where had he brought her to? She thought it was some kind of cave from what she could see, hear, and smell.

[Lovely]

"Well now, see, I couldn't do that, either," he shook his head now, the slap forgotten, but not Mitch's warnings or the realization of what she'd seen already. "You were already dying, but you're not now. I won't let that happen," he explained, a little shakily at best.

"I was dying because you stabbed me with a needle and pumped me full of drugs that I can't take!" She snapped at him again, folding her arms and glaring at him a little. Her glare kept her gaze on him and she noticed more about him and how he was looking at her. "How did you stop my reaction to the tranqs?" She asked him more softly.

"Because I didn't know, alright?!" He snapped at first then slumped into a softer pose, pacing a little. She was awake and talking again at least. "It rushed things, rushed me into doing things I wasn't ready to do yet. It wasn't supposed to go this way," he said.

Mitch returned and brought the water for her then took a seat not far away. "You don't suppose telling her in plain talk would be a good idea, do you?" He looked over at the girl and grinned as he relit his cigar. "Thing about William is don't get him flustered or you'll never get a thing you can understand from him. What's your name, hon?"

What did it rush and why didn't he tell her how he stopped the reaction? She wondered this until the other man explained at least something and she nodded slightly. "How do you get him unflustered?" She asked softly, there was something about the man with the cigar that was comforting. "My name is Ariane.. what's yours?"

"His brother, Mitch. Welcome to our little camp," he grinned. "The best way not to fluster him is to not be a pretty girl. Since there's no way to change that, maybe I should help you with those answers. You should be feeling better now, right? Those drugs you can't take? Sorry... sound travels around here sometimes."

"I can tell her fine, just give me a minute, would ya?" Biff turned with a snarl. "She's fine, now back off. Go... smoke over there... or something," he said, trying to shoo his brother further away.

"It's nice to..." She trailed off as Biff snarled and she flinched back a little, watching him warily for a moment. ".. to meet you." She whispered the rest to Mitch and reached for Biff's arm as he tried to shoo his brother away. "Why don't you sit here?" She invited him softly, looking up at him with a shy smile and patted the floor next to her.

Biff took a deep breath and glared at his brother again as he took the seat where Ari patted.

"Helps that he likes your perfume, too," Mitch winked as he took the hint to leave them alone. He left the water for her and went off to sit out in front to keep watch.

"Are you... doing better? The stuff, is it wearing off?" It wasn't like him to worry or second guess since he did a poor job of it when he did. He looked at the mark on her neck as well and seemed relieved that it was there, healing, but not ugly and ragged. It would eventually fade, but for now, there was no mistaking it.

Ari smiled to Mitch as he got up to leave and then turned her attention to Biff, smiling gently as he looked her over. She was scared still but her anger had kind of done away with alot of that and she sighed quietly. "I'm alright I guess.. I feel a little weird but not like I usually do with anything like that. I get deathly sick from them."

Biff nodded. "You were deathly sick, but now you've got something else that will keep that from happening to you again," he said, looking a little distant. "You'll be damned near impervious now, kinda like me. A lot like me. Heh, guess they call it a little hair of the dog or something like that, like what cures hangovers, right?"

She was silent for a few moments as she absorbed what he said and thought about what she'd seen. "That might be more comforting if I hadn't seen you transform from a huge dog a few minutes ago. How much like you?" She asked, biting at her lower lip and studying him.

He scratched his head a little, trying to find the words he wanted and not sound flustered as Mitch had put it. This wasn't like him at all. "Wolf...actually," he said quietly. "As much like a wolf as what you saw - like me." He expected her to slap him again and he would rightly deserve it.