The laughter from Jessie's lips sent a sensual shudder down Renee's spine. It was a deliciously knowing vampire laugh. She wished that there weren't so many possible eyes on the parking lot and they could really do some damage, but reined in those thoughts. Even with the assurance from the leader Eddie that the parking lot cameras were supposedly off, she wasn't sure yet. These carjacking clowns were too stupid to clue in, given their age and belief in their own immortality to fully appreciate how fucked they were. That was wickedly tasty. Their youth, coupled with their belief in their abilities to survive anything could be a taste treat for both of the vampires.
Why the boys didn't run when confronted by the vampires was just a sign of the times. Humans had forgotten how to be afraid of the dark. The age-old protective instincts had died out on a steady diet of bad movies, shoot-em-up games and a woefully wrong assumption of their own immortality. The kids felt their little knives coupled with the four-to-two odds were enough to let them walk away with Jessie's SUV. It was all Renee could do to not burst out laughing at their ignorance.
Catching Jessie's eyes, Renee tipped her head to the far left corner of the lot and the pinpoint small red light indicating an active camera trained on them. Jessie dipped her chin slightly, acknowledging Renee's unspoken warning. Despite the leader Eddie's false assumption that the cameras were all down he was mistaken. Besides, even if vampires had to play it safe, that didn't mean they couldn't still have fun. One of the other boys was bouncing up and down indicating an eagerness to interact with them.
"What the hell you laughing about, bitch? There's only the two of you, and me and my boys. This is our ride now." The punk used his knife to gesture towards the still unopened vehicle. Renee easily concluded that Eddie had spent way too much time watching bad TV. He was a skinny suburb-bred brat trying to sound tough. Not a gun shown, just the small knives. Renee stepped closer to Eddie. Eddie smiled, illustrating his lack of familiarity with basic dental hygiene.
"She's laughing at you, loser. What's the tattoo on your ass say, 'Momma's boy' or 'This side up'?" Renee pegged too close on that one, apparently, as Eddie turned beet red and good ol' Dickwit, the little sidekick with a big mouth and a small blade, snickered, saying, "How'd she see your momma tat?"
The others twittered nervously, further pushing up the anger bar on Eddie with their amusement. It was nice to see the human hyenas attack their own. The ringleader of the pack didn't much care for being the source of their joke. Renee saw Eddie try to pull it back under control. So did Jessie. Yet Jessie liked poking at small festering creatures. The blood wasn't drawn yet, but it was nearly to the surface and both of the vampires could smell the fear and anger, entwined like lovers in the night. Jessie wasn't willing to let it go, even with the various cameras in the corners of the rafters trained on them and recording their every movement and action.
"Shut up, Timmy." Revealing Dickwit's real name, Eddie snarled and glared, "She hasn't seen shit but our blades."
His tough talk was making Jessie still smirk. They were rough and pathetic youths who had messed with the wrong two females. Renee was still pissed off at spending three hours in the damn bridal shop at the mall with nothing to show for it but attitude and anger. And lest she forget, it a lavender business card stuck into the massive purse dangling uselessly on her shoulder. She liked to use her fangs and strength as they met the odds rather nicely for any chance difficulty, but with the cameras she was limited. The junior mint car-jackers weren't making her evening flow any smoother.
"Those little pokey things? You think that's a blade?" Her voice was mocking. The tattoo comment was still working Eddie's limited mental capacity and his friends were still nudging each other and raising eyebrows. The testosterone was thick and tasty.
Renee hoped Jessie wasn't going to do what most vampires did when they got in pissing matches with stupid humans. Either way she was well aware how many toys vampires tucked on their bodies. She had a few sharp and shiny objects strapped on various spots of her frame and a gun in her oversized purse. They didn't think that the mall trip was going to be dangerous but it was best to stay ahead of the curve. And Renee wasn't willing to try anything on from those bridal shops in public, so she didn't much worry about the hidden weaponry secreted on her body.
Her plan was to point to a random dress and let the fittings be done back at home under supervision of her Master. Having some human paw at her while tucking and pinning her inside the fabric didn't appeal to anything in her. Her Master usually had one of his human slaves make the clothing she wore. The shopping for a bridal dress was somethingon which he'd compromised in the negotiations for the wedding. The appearances of being a true couple was important in the alignment of the two fractions and for every inch they gave her Master, they took at least two back. The shopping trip was one such inch. From her view, her Master seemed to have lost on that round. She growled softly.
Looking up at Renee in a nearly submissive posture, Jessie asked, "Mistress, may I?"
Her voice was whisper soft and nearly inaudible. Jessie's eyes were glowing and hungry. She was strumming with need. Prey was easily found, but to have them offered so readily was making the younger vampire edgy. Renee understood because she felt her fangs itching at her gum line, but kept her composure.
Not that it mattered; Eddie was still fuming and muttering and missed the question from Jessie. He was bouncing slightly and gripping the handle of his knife tightly. His face was flush and his pulse was beating visibly in his neck and temple vein.
"Careful," was Renee's only caution.
With the reluctant permission granted, Jessie met Eddie's anticipated move with lightning reactions. Eddie swept his knife hand outwards and aimed for the middle of Jessie's stomach. Had she been human he probably would have sliced open her belly and her intestines would have been spilling out. Not being human and knowing what was in Eddie's head just served to whet Jessie's appetite. With the cameras trained on the parking lot she had to be vigilant not to overstep the humans speed too much or detectibly use any of her vampiric skills. That appealed to the younger vampire far more than Renee. The art of playing with one's food grew old after the first decade or three. Renee would rather play with vampires, which was how she got stuck in her current mess. She shook her head and watched the game.
Jessie countered Eddie's slice with a move of her own. She'd flicked her wrists outwards and unsheathed her knives -- one curved blade and one jagged. She liked to reference the two wrist knives as her 'twisted sisters'. What one didn't get the other did and never was there a man left standing. Renee could attest to that having witnessed her in a room with prey on more than one occasion.
Eddie found himself faced with the sharp and nasty blades and his eyes opened wider than Renee thought humanly possible. So much for his tough guy persona with the half shut eyes and car-jacking thug attitude. It didn't appear he'd ever been met with resistance. One of the unnamed kids let out a very non-masculine shriek and ran, leaving Eddie, Timmy and a quivering third wanna-be gangster.
"Wow, my two blades beat your one and a half, and now there are only three of you." Jessie was flicking her tips towards the shaking pale kid on the end. And then he screamed and spun, leaving just Eddie and Timmy. Timmy tried to keep his knife up and wasn't having much luck since Jessie had one less distraction. It was all Renee could do to not laugh aloud. Mocking the leader and his sidekick wouldn't help the situation.
"Oops, guess I spoke too soon." Jessie smiled, barely keeping her fangs inside.
Renee coughed and said, "Be careful."
Sighing Jessie said, "Fine. Okay Eddie and Timmy, drop the knives and I'll let you keep your fingers." The clank of metal raced the word "fingers" to the pavement. They were ripe for the picking. Fear was rolling off them now as Jessie edged closer and said, "Wallets."
"No way!" Timmy snapped.
"Way. Toss them to my friend here. I need to know where you both live." Jessie laughed.
Renee knew she wasn't kidding. And these two punks would be waking up with either very good dreams or wicked blood-soaked nightmares. Either way, it wouldn't happen in the parking lot with the cameras running; so Renee was relieved. Vampires did have a skill set vastly underestimated by most. She thought Jessie was clever, and she took pride that her vampire companion hadn't succumbed to her baser nature.
She caught the leather wallet that came off a chain strapped to Eddie's jeans and Timmy's plastic fake leather one that bore a condom circle and little in the way of money. Both had driver's licenses and singles. Eddie also had a five -- that must have been why he was the leader. She rattled off their full names and addresses and then tossed the wallets next to the knives. She and Jessie looked at the two pathetic kids and Renee said, "Now walk over to the trashcans, drop your pants all the way down around your ankles and put both of your hands flat on top. Once we've left you can come over and pick these up and head on your way."
Both boys looked extremely shocked by the suggestion -- but the knives were convincing. Jessie grinned at the notion of the two little arrogant thieves dropping trow. Renee knew the humiliation and awkwardness of pants around their ankles would keep them locked in place while they left. The trashcans were a good fifty yards away and they wouldn't be able to yank their pants back up and make it back to the SUV in time to do any real damage. Add in that Renee could hear the sounds of a crappy car heading towards them that had all the earmarks of mall security. Over the years she'd learned to hear trouble. Mall security was more trouble than it was worth.
"Game time over, come on, Jessie, let's go." Renee said and Jessie clicked her car alarm while pulling the slim-jim from the driver's side window.
Jessie tossed the slip of metal on the ground next to the teens' wallets and knives. Her own nasty knives were jammed back into their sheaths and with a snap of her wrists concealed again. The boys shuffled slowly over to the overflowing trashcans while the vampires got inside their SUV. Throwing them angry glances they unbuttoned, and their jeans pooled around their ankles.
"Wow, little Timmy's brave, wearing lime green boxers!" Jessie smiled while Eddie's more dignified plaids looked tattered, not nearly as bright and shiny. Jessie didn't linger and as they rolled out of the lot they passed a dark brown sedan security car with yellow flashing running lights driving directly to where the boys were standing with their hands flat on the cans. They wouldn't be out stealing cars anytime soon. The security cameras would back up any charges the mall wanted to make and the SUV had special license plate covers that would make identification of the plates nearly impossible. Renee was happy to realize they wouldn't be coming back to the mall anytime soon. There was no way the Master would allow the possible exposure to the legal system. A grin ran across Renee's lips as she mentally gloated.
To be continued ...
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