Angels and Demons

[pinkroses]

The dark haired young man paused for a moment when he finally reached the front of the queue, debating whether or not he should really go instead, but as the bouncer waved him through again, looking a little impatient, he stepped forwards, through the doors of the club. The heat of the place hit him instantly and his dark eyes widened a little as he entered the main room, but that was the only hint of surprise that showed on his face.

Mackenzie had never been in a nightclub before, and the sight was a strange one, so many people crammed together, grinding up against each other, moving in time to the pounding music. He’d seen people going in and leaving, so he’d had an idea of how many people could be fitted into a place like this, but to actually see it was something else. Everyone looked like they had put so much effort into their appearance, even the ones who looked dishevelled, by the expression on their faces it was a look that much care had been taken over. So many people were here to impress, to find a mate for the night.

The busker had taken no such care, but he was wearing new clothes at least - the ones the angel had given him that morning before sending him on his way. She’d given him some money too, but Mac had no intention of spending that on alcohol. The jeans she’d dressed him in fitted well, more snugly than most of Mac’s clothes but she had insisted they looked good. Mac didn’t care much about that, but he wasn’t about to turn down the offer of free clothes. His t-shirt was new too, plain black and didn’t look too expensive, although Zoheret had simply chuckled quietly and told him not to think about it when he had asked the price before moving on to telling him how well it showed off the tattoo around his bicep. At least something of good quality should last a while - or so Mac was hoping.

The few dollars she’d slipped into his pocket were still there, but everything else Mac owned, including his beloved violin, were secure in the check in at the museum since he had no where else for them. His hair hadn\'t been brushed since Zoheret had run her hands through it that morning, but at least it was clean tonight, and he\'d managed to stop her from putting any product in it.

After last night, Mac’s curiosity had been sparked - he had no idea that the woman who had clothed him was an angel, but he’d known she wasn’t human. She surely hadn’t been a vampire either, because she hadn’t tried to drink from him and hadn’t been as cold as he remembered the vampire who had drunk from him had been. But Mac knew vampires came here, and so maybe one of them might have a clue as to what she had been. She’d been so rich, maybe someone would recognise her name.

But now he was here he had no idea how to go about finding out anything. Everyone looked so focused, they wouldn’t want someone bothering them asking them if they knew a name. Mac wouldn’t normally have cared what people thought, but vampires could be dangerous, he knew that much. He didn’t want to piss off a vampire by asking, but he doubted humans would have as much knowledge.  But the young man had no idea how to tell if someone was a vampire or human, so it would just be pot luck either way. Mac slipped his thumbs into his jeans pockets as he scanned the room, trying to decide what to do, trying to find someone who looked like they migth know a thing or two.

[Saiketsu]

With Sonya now back to her usual habit of taking up most of his time, it had been nearly two weeks since he had visited Risk for strictly business purposes. His lack of visitation for some odd reason hadn't bothered Nikolai in the least, now that he remained preoccupied by fucking Sonya again. In fact the length of time he had spent away from the club had only become noticeable now that his pocket cash had dropped below a thousand, something which had hardly ever happened since he began pushing. Still, when he counted up his pocket change on the same night that Sonya had dressed herself for the Masquerade and left with that idiot of an ancient Damien, he made the decision to go out as well, instead of waiting around like some god-damned housewife.

He had a nice selection of clothing left at Sonya's house from the last time he had up and left. He picked out a favorite dark grey shirt with white buttons and short sleeves and put it over a black tank that fit his lightly rippled body perfectly. The vampire looked at himself in the mirror and enjoyed unabashedly what he saw. He then finished his look with a basic pair of black boot-cut jeans over his naked body, socks and his nicest pair of leather shoes. His face, however, was done up a bit more extravagantly with his emerald eyes lined and lashed in black and a pale gray shadow on his lids. When his make-up was finished to utter perfection, he re-pierced his lip - which had remained untouched since Sonya had ripped out both rings in their passion play a few nights before. When he was ready for the night, after his hair was properly sorted into a straight left part, he hunted around for his cigarettes, phone, and his drugs and headed out for the night.

He had taken the Camaro to Stakes and Sticks to see what he could muster, but he had only found one customer willing to pay his prices. Unwilling to call it a night - what with the night so young - he drove over to Risk and cut his money, leaving half in the car. Nikolai stepped out of the car from a parking lot across the street and crossed with a stroll of such arrogance that he almost dared passing cars to hit him. Once at the queue of anxious guests, he slipped in between the two bouncers, Bowser and Bentley, both of whom knew Doxy on a 'professional' level. With a nod towards them and a few angry groans from the girls waiting in line, Nikolai walked through the club.

After the club had been shut down and the remodeling had taken place, it had only taken him only a night to become accustomed to the new layout. It was a great improvement over the first layout, to be sure, but he still expected to be into the old club. When he had entered the club, the familiar wall of sounds, smells, and sights struck him hard enough to make him want to stagger. It would take him a couple of minutes to get used to the sounds but his tongue was already watering from the blood in the air.

Upon entering there was a human standing, rather dumbly in his opinion, watching all of the action in the club. He found it strange and if he were in any other mood, he would have brushed right by the mortal without a second thought. Had the mortal been any less attractive, he may have missed him altogether. Nikolai smiled to himself and figured that he might as well get his fangs wet at the same time. Maybe he could get a two-for-one.

"This your first time at Risk or something?" Nikolai said out of the corner of his mouth, raising his voice so that the human could hear over the din of the music. He looked at the human and enjoyed the structure of his face very much. "You're a standing target at the moment."

[pinkroses]

As he was addressed Mac turned his head slightly towards the newcomer, raising an eyebrow slightly at the question. Was he really that obvious? At the moment he honestly had no clue why people would come here often - the music was too loud to really be enjoyed, there were too many people, how could you have a conversation or any privacy? And in this city it wasn’t like there was no where else to find a vampire if you craved the bite that much. But some of them did look like they were having fun, dancing out there in the middle of the floor, writhing and grinding together without a thought for the people around them. Mac had had too many bad experiences to be willing to block out the world around him too much. That was how you got taken advantage of, snuck up on, get things stolen.

“Yes, it is,” Mac said honestly, not caring at all about sounding like he wasn’t cool or into this scene so intimately. He wasn’t here to be drunk from, although he knew that to get information he might have to give something back - and even then he might not get anything.

“Isn’t that the point of coming here? Being an easy target?” he added as he dark eyes roamed over the face before him, clueless as to whether he was a human or a vampire, although he guessed he’d find out soon enough.

[Saiketsu]

"I'd make the argument that it was more about getting either fucked or chewed on." Nikolai cocked an eyebrow and looked at the human with a touch of amused disbelief. It was a bit weird to have this human admit so bluntly that not only was it his first time in a blood bar as notorious for being a blood bar as Risk, but to speak to him, a perfect stranger with a sort of melodramatic comment about being a target. Odd. "But I guess you could say that they were one in the same."

Nikolai stared blatantly at the human for a moment or so before saying anything else, that odd little smile lingering in his face. He couldn't smell much from the boy, not with all of the other bodily, human scents in the room, but he very quickly - perhaps through a sort of intuition - got the feeling that this kid wasn't here for a fix. Well, not the kind Nikolai was interested in selling anyway. Whether this guy was here for a blood fix or a fuck, Nikolai didn't particularly care - yet, anyway. "So besides 'being an easy target', what brings you to Risk?" He asked as nonchalantly as he could, hoping that the answer would peak his interest. He was after all, quite pleasant to look at if nothing else. "Or do you just like looking around aimlessly in a club full of creatures that could kill you in seconds?" His smile widened to include some of his teeth, with his enlarged canines peaking over his pale lips.

[pinkroses]

Mac cocked an eyebrow as Nikolai verbally mulled over his words, letting his companion come to the conclusion which Mac thought was obvious - that he’d just said the same thing simply using different words. He stayed quiet as the newcomer stared, his own gaze wandering over the young looking man before him, wondering whether he was human or vampire, or something else. Whether he was about the age he looked or hundreds more. Whether he knew anything about the woman who had picked him up the night before.

Probably not on that last count Mac guessed. He didn’t exactly look like he stood in the same circles at that beauty, but then again… she’d picked up a busker from the streets. Who knew?

His brown eyes settled on Nikolai’s as the vampire spoke again, flickering downwards to his lips for a second as the fangs were displayed, sending a little shiver of fear through the human. He’d been fed from a couple of times, but not by choice. They had been an attack when he’d been sleeping, packing up his stuff on an empty street and that night he’d sheltered from the rain in the subway. It hadn’t been unpleasant - after the initial struggle - but they hadn’t been experiences which had made him want to go seeking out the thrill again.

So being an ‘easy target’ tonight wasn’t high on his list of priorities, unless it got him the information he wanted. And he was still doubtful that this creature would be able to help.

“Could, but won’t,” Mac pointed out in response the flat threat that he could be dead in seconds, not letting the tiny bit of fear which he’d felt at seeing the fansg show on his expression in the slightest. He didn’t know about the Oligarchy and its rules - but he knew there had to be something which stopped all these vampires from running riot and killing all the humans they drank from. Maybe it was just good sense.

“I met someone, and I wanted to find out what she was. She wasn’t vampire, or human. I thought I might find someone here who had some ideas, or who was like her,” Mac explained after a few more seconds with the music throbbing around them.

[Saiketsu]

Ballsy, Nikolai thought to himself. He liked that in a human. Maybe it was due to his oddly agreeable mood, or maybe it was his pure curiousity, but whatever it was made the smirk linger on Nikolai's lips for another long moment as he actually listened to the human. No human should have been able to toss back so blatant a threat as this one did. It made Nikolai's mental companion slightly uncomfortable, something which Nikolai found rather amusing. But of course the human noticed none of this through the carefully placed grin that he wore as he spoke to the human.

"Well, what would you gain from knowing what she is?" It was a rhetorical question, one that was meant to make the boy think about what he was asking some random vampire whom he had only just met. "Lucky for you," Nikolai continued without missing a beat, "I might just be of service. For a price." A hint of dark humor hung on his expression.

If there was anyone in this city that could find anyone or anything in this city, it was Nikolai. He had had his fingers on every vein that ran this city. He had eyes that constantly watched the movements of the human police, ears that tapped into the phones of several government officials who ran the human population, and mouths that could suck up information from even the most informal appearanced blowjobs. It was one of the many things he did well and a major part of the reason that he continued to exist within this city. He was a ghost in the system and he knew the system just as well - if not better - than any Luminary ever had. It was one of his small prides in his immortal existence.

"C'mon," he commanded. The vampire turned walked deeper into Risk. Whether or not the human followed, well, that was his own damn decision. He certainly wouldn't find anyone better suited to hunting people than Nikolai was.

[pinkroses]

Mac pressed his lips together slightly at the question, recognising he wasn’t supposed to give a response and not trying to as the vampire carried on. What would he gain? Nothing. Absolutely nothing apart from his own settled curiosity. There was another creature in this city which Mac thought he knew - well enough to survive anyway - and it unnerved him knowing that he’d been so close to something and had no idea even what species she was.

At the command Mac paused for a second, debating with himself whether or not to follow. This guy probably knew nothing, no more than anyone else in this club. But then again he might actually be able to give a hand to the street rat and seemed willing to offer… well, something. And if he was just manipulating the lost human, well Mac had dealt with that kind of thing before too and he had nothing to lose.

He took a few longer strides to catch up with Nikolai, weaving easily through the crowds for the most part although the writhing bodies were not the bustling commuters and shoppers he was used to and then didn’t move away as easily as those on the streets who had their own places to go. No, here it was like trying to move through mud at times, with bodies pressing in, trying to trap him, and then clearing away again just as suddenly.

“I don’t have any money,” Mac said bluntly, knowing the vampire would be able to hear him as he followed. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that money had been on the creature’s mind, but thought he should get it out there - and by staying in the vampire’s wake making it clear that if the price was something other than money he would be willing to accept it. Sex, he’d done that for money when he’d been offered it, although he hadn’t sought it out. Blood? Well, he’d been drunk from before although not willingly. But he’d survived and how different was this from donating at the Red Cross for a few dollars? Just a little more risky, despite his previous brave sounding response.

[Saiketsu]

The human's comment about money made Nikolai's eyebrows slant upwards. Did this kid honestly think that he wanted money from some stranger in a blood bar? That was a laugh. Nikolai figured that most people would have guessed that a vampire would have wanted blood in a blood bar. Go figure. The coke was for selling, not his information - that came in exchange for some other form of payment, one that Nikolai hadn't decided upon as of yet.

Like a good little pet, the human followed him through Risk. Nikolai didn't stop until he had found a nice little room for the two of them to share for a time, somewhere away from ears, eyes, and supernatural senses that could have otherwise understood or eavesdropped on what he was saying. After all, he never really liked anyone overhearing anything that he told his clients or vice versa - to let such a thing happen was toeing a suicidal line. So while he entered the room that had been labelled the Queen of Hearts room, he made sure that the door was closed behind the young man if he had been smart enough to enter. What must have seemed like a less-than-subtle attempt at privacy was nothing more - at least for the time being - than securing the conversation between the two of them. However the boy read it was all on him and Nikolai couldn't care one way or another, though the idea of an encounter with the human wasn't very far from his mind.

"So," he turned and sat on the edge of the couch, staring at the boy. Whatever he decided to do with himself - whether it be stand there stupidly or take a seat somewhere in the room - Nikolai eyed him with caution. With the music of the club much duller now, Nikolai could now let his senses fully focus on the human - his heartbeat, his lungs pulling in air, his scent, and anything else remarkable about him. He studied the boy's posture, expression, clothing, and anything else he could gather for future reference. Just in case he ever needed to recall him. Nikolai never forgot a face. "You got a name? Or do you want me to find that out for you, too?"

[pinkroses]

Mac was finding the club a little overwhelming, with so many people crammed into such a small place so despite his reservations about following the vampire blindly he was pleased to find somewhere a little quieter. He couldn’t help recalling the vague memories he had of shady bedrooms in the brothel his mother had worked in when he’d been a toddler as they found the corridor lined with rooms with exotic sounding names. Luckily those memories were just shades though, otherwise Mac may have been more reluctant about the door shutting behind them.

He slipped a thumb into his jeans pocket and lifted his other hand to gently fiddle with a button of his new shirt as he strolled around the room, taking in the peculiar décor with a small frown. Of course, who was he to say what was peculiar? He rarely spent the night under cover, let alone being able to decorate a house.

He felt uncomfortable in this outfit – although it was one of the first outfits he’d had which fitted him perfectly and wasn’t second hand. It wasn’t him, but it made him look good as he had learnt when Zoheret had been gushing over the way the shirt was tight enough to show off his strong arms and how the jeans only did good things for his ass. As he felt the vampire’s eyes on him and saw his companion had sat on the sofa Mac realised he should maybe sit too. So the human perched on the edge of the bed, pressing his palms downwards onto the soft sheets, facing the vampire who looked to be about the same age himself, but who could very well have a great number of years longer in this world.

“M’ name’s Mac,” he said simply, his dark eyes staying fixed on the vampire and it was a couple of seconds before he realised he should maybe add to that. “What’s yours? And how would you have found out mine?” Mac added, his head tilting to one side slightly. He had only really encountered a vampire once before and that hadn’t been a chatting time. He’d been drunk from and then left, without being given the chance to ask any questions. Even if he had been given the chance to ask he’d been quite stunned and doubted he would have been able to think of anything really coherent. So he had no clue what vampires were capable of. And didn’t even really had much pop culture rumour to go off.

[Saiketsu]

Nikolai raised an eyebrow at the human. Did it not understand sarcasm? How funny! With a smirk and a condescending glance that was clearly intended to offend the mortal Nikolai quickly began wondering if he was dealing with an idiot. He said nothing at first, savoring the human's reaction to his previous comment. Instead of responding to him as was typically polite to do in this sort of situation, Nikolai kept his mouth shut for a few moments. He debated what he would tell the human - after all this wasn't about Nikolai's name, but about the potential information that this Mac (if that was his real name) was looking for. He had existed as long as he had in the city because of his many fake names and aliases, and he only gave up his usual names for a price, once he had gained something in return for his information.

His name was a valuable thing, so very few people ever actually knew his actual name. Well, the one that he took as his actual name. Only some of the Disciples, Sonya, her cunt of a girlfriend Nadia, that faggot Damien, and of course Pierre...

"You can call me Jude for now," he finally decided, otherwise ignoring his other ridiculous question. "What are you expecting to find out about this woman and what kind of information do you already have about her?"

[pinkroses]

Mac gazed blankly at Nikolai, not quite sure of the reasoning behind the look. He tried mainly to avoid dealing with people and those he did have to deal with were usually blunt and honest without the attempts at humour such as sarcasm. So as far as he knew the vampire was simply refusing to answer. Funny, Zoheret had had that trait a surprising amount as well. Luckily it took Mac a while to get annoyed by such things so he simply met the vampire’s eyes, not looking offended or even bothered that Nikolai wasn’t answering him. People rarely bothered being polite to people like him.

He gave a small nod as the vampire finally gave a name, not caring if it was real or not and not even considering whether it was. He followed it up with a shrug at the question, leaning forwards slightly and weaving his fingers together as he hands dangled between the gap between his legs.

“I just want to know what she is. I know she’s not human, but beyond that… Her name is Zoheret, she works in politics with… minorities? And she lives at that bit building, the one which used to be the Crest hotel but now it’s some kind of offices,” Mac said, unsure of how much of that information would be useful, but hoping Jude would know the right questions to ask if he needed more.

[Saiketsu]

Nikolai hadn’t been expecting much from the human. He usually found himself bored with the tasks that humans gave him – can you find my brother, my sister, my little lost sheep? He never had any interest in doing free digging and usually mortals couldn’t pay him enough to have him find their lost people. So usually he never dealt with the problems of humans. He was glad to have a change of situation for once, because Nikolai knew exactly who the human was talking about. He gave the boy a low, brief chuckle of laughter as a response to his information. At least something fun had come out of this night.

So this human was fucking an Oligarch, huh? That was funny. Zoheret had sort of made her name known to the immortal population in the city. When she had arrived in her place in the Oligarchy a few years ago, it was as if God himself had made everyone aware that she was now a ruler. The papers were bribed with gratuitous amounts of cash to mention her name as much as possible. Each local news station did a special upon her entrance as a new ruler of Dark Angels. Even the human channels featured her as a wingless billionaire philanthropist donating money to making sure that the city saw betterment – whatever vague plan she had inferred was lost upon Nikolai as he flicked annoyed through the channels. The only thing the city didn’t see was the flourish of trumpets that he expected she received in whatever heaven she had come from.

Word on the street also said she was a bitch in heat, too, plucking mortals from the street to bed them as if they were pets. A woman after his own heart. Apparently she went after humans with big bright eyes, fat dicks, and a habit of letting a woman walk all over them. When he had first heard this from one of his sewer rats that had liked to suck his cock too much, Nikolai had laughed, figuring that she would fit right in with the rest of the Oligarchy. It was so fitting, after all.

Now Nikolai had a human sitting in front of him wanting to know more about this bitch. There was no mistaking her – who the fuck else could possibly have a name like Zoheret in this city (let alone live in the Oligarch building)? From the way he spoke, it didn’t sound as if she had kept him around very long, which Nikolai found very interesting. A fresh young mortal like this? There must have been something wrong with him. Maybe his dick was too small. Either way Nikolai couldn’t help but show a little bit too much of his surprise when he immediately recognized the details he was being told.

“Minorities. Hah, yeah I guess you could say that much. Mac, what is it that you do for a living?” He asked abruptly, not really caring if the human was confused or not. His lack of knowledge about one of the most powerful women in this entire city – probably the entire country – was too amusing to end so soon. Nikolai needed another laugh.

[pinkroses]

Mac raised an eyebrow slightly as Jude made it obvious he knew exactly who Mac was talking about, and then so abruptly changed the subject. It was a little frustrating, but Mac was used to people not really caring what it was he wanted, it was all about them. And this was the same, even though Jude was asking about the human.

“Tell me what she is and I’ll tell you,” he said simply, his voice matter of fact and his face calm. That was all he wanted to know. He didn’t want to try to see her again, he didn’t want her to keep up any of the promises she’d purred to try to keep him sweet – when all he’d been after was a warm place to sleep and a hot shower. He'd known all along all of that was lies, he'd been picked up enough times to be aware of that. He didn’t even care about finding out what it was she actually did, but she wasn’t human and Mac wanted to know what else there was out in the city he felt he should know about other than vampires.

[Saiketsu]

Mac's reaction came a bit unexpected -  most humans didn't challenge a vampire so easily, but then again, Mac had no idea who he was dealing with. Nikolai licked the backs of his teeth behind tight, closed lips that were turned up into an odd smirk. He stared unblinking at the human, knowing how easy and tempting it would have been to force himself into the human's head. Just to make him feel as though he were surrounded by the vampire. Lucky for Mac, Nikolai didn't want to deal with the inevitable headache that would accompany any sort of mental communication or penetration.

"Well, you found yourself one hell of a woman," Nikolai said laughing. Whether his humor found the human or not, he hardly cared. "Zoheret isn't some political social worker, watching over the government's buget or some shit. She's an Oligarch, one of the oldest and most powerful creatures in this entire city - probably in the world." He side-stepped his real question purpoosely, holding onto the best information until he could get something out of the human that would be a bit more binding than simply a name, a fuck, or a drink.

"Now you tell me," he continued with the utmost seriousness, "what is it that you do that you're looking for an Oligarch?"

[pinkroses]

An Oligarch? Mac had no idea what that meant, but he didn’t think it sounded like her species. Jude had to be talking about her job, with the way he’d gone from talking about politics to that abrupt announcement.

So she was powerful. To tell the truth, Mac wasn’t wowed by that. Everyone liked to think they were important, that they mattered. Most of them didn’t. If they disappeared it might affect a few people, but not change the world.

He blinked in surprise as Jude’s tone suddenly changed to a more serious note and he straightened up slightly, giving a small smile. If he’d been more of a playful character, or someone who liked to tease people he might have come up with a lie now, something imaginative, something to make Jude sit up and stare, or laugh. But Mac wasn’t imaginative or playful. So he told the truth.

“Nothing. And I’m not looking for her. I just want to know what she is. And not her job title. Her species. She’s not one of you, and she’s definitely not human,” Mac said, wondering if he’d ever be able to get a straight answer out of this vampire who only seemed to want to play games with him. But at least he knew a bit more. She was an Oligarch. An old and powerful creature, and his companion seemed to have some respect for her, whatever she was.