Tom struggled to open his eyes, finding the floor beneath him far less accommodating than he had the night... day... before, despite its plush carpet covering. He peered along his own naked body, seeing the wall that his legs were crunched up against and (travellng up it) the garish six by four metre mural hanging on it. He appeared to have passed out in the lounge room. That also explained the leather sofa just behind him; he tilted his head and gave it a foul-tempered glare.
Wiping a weary hand over his face, he struggled into a sitting position, swivelling and using the wall to lean against. He drew one leg up and rested his elbow on the knee, the hand that was connected to it holding his head in a more or less upright position as he blinked at the expansive room now in front of him, and scratched his exposed balls.
Fuck. I think it\'s time to move on from this shit. Bitch is gonna\' kill me at this rate.
The bitch (which he\'d ended up calling her because her name was too complicated and the crude nickname made her horny, anyway) had been a fantastic idea for nearly two weeks now. She was tall, blonde and had a body that was far from the skeletal look that so many women worshipped these days; she had curves in all the right places and enough meat for him to hang onto when he was screwing her. She was also insanely rich and lonely. Her husband was much older than her and went away on business trips for weeks at a time, as frequently as it was called for. Tom had met her when he and Reed were exploring one of the more normal clubs in this weird-ass city (though he had developed more than a passing fondness for Risk, Reed had started balking at going there nightly) and a beautiful - well, convenient - relationship was born.
The trouble with Bitch though, was that she liked to drink. A lot. He\'d never seen her sober and doubted she had been for years - not since she was married, at any rate. What she did to herself normally wouldn\'t bother him, except the frequent drinking from her was beginning to take its toll; he would wind up a blood alcoholic if he continued in this way. Plus, the lethargic feeling of waking up achy each dawn... well, he was no fucking fan, to say the least. Since it was Bitch\'s house, she wouldn\'t go. He and Reed would have to.
Reed... Tom couldn\'t quite pin down the last time he\'d seen the mortal but he was pretty sure he would be nearby. He had a room somewhere in this fancy house, the vampire could recall (through the haze of thought that had invaded his brain)... he just had to find it. Lurching to his feet with none of his usual vampiric grace, Tom peered through the gloom to ascertain the exact direction the bedrooms lay. Bitch had kept the curtains permanently closed for him since moving in - it meant she could take full advantage of his persistent stamina in any room in the house - but he could tell the sun had only just set, because of the awkward quality to the light and his vision. That could also be the alcohol, he supposed.
Shaking his head to get rid of any remaining cobwebs, he began searching for his friend. They\'d been here in the city for about five weeks now, but since establishing the situation with Bitch, he couldn\'t recall all that many conversations with the man. Hopefully he was liking it better... had got laid a few times... something to improve his mood, because the last time they\'d talked, it\'d been more of an argument than a discussion.
Put simply, Reed didn\'t want to be here any more; Tom did. Tom told him he wasn\'t bound to him, he could fuck off any time he chose; Reed had said... the vampire wasn\'t sure, but Reed didn\'t want to go for some reason. He\'d turned the argument to how Tom was going to get them arrested by the mysterious Oligarchy (which the vampire had not yet managed to locate) because he\'d killed indiscriminately (only twice) and revealed himself as a vampire to Bitch (well... he hadn\'t had a lot of choice when he\'d wanted to feed from her, had he?). Nothing much had been resolved, anyway. Now seemed like a good time to make peace... he just had to locate Reed.