Night and Day

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"Funny, seems to me like games are what you excel at." Ebony replied thinly. She too was aching, but Frost's magic was already corrupting her feelings. Love had been twisted into nothing more than animal desire.

"You wouldn't be a danger if you drank a little each day." Glenda replied. "Take care of yourself, and there is no danger."

"I don't care." Marie replied, noting the icy reception she was getting from Julian. "No former hunter will ever be better than me." She added rather boastfully. "Unless the dog has lost his spark?" she added with a snort.

"So what's the plan? We go in and give these little boys a talking to?" Julian asked, he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. He put it between his lips and gestured to Alma. "You mind?" 
The demoness simply shrugged. It was one direction or another. It mattered little who it came from.

Marie snatched the cigarette from Julian's lips and tossed it on the ground before stomping on it with the heel of her boot. She didn't mind, but Julian was treading on her very last nerve. "If by talk, you mean shoot anyone who gets in my way, then yes."

Julian frowned at the cigarette but pulled out his guns and turned toward the house. "Sounds like a plan. I'll go in first." 
Alma held up her hand, a blaze igniting from it. Might as well burn them all. She felt like killing things. For once she had permission.

"Really? That's how you're going to do this?" Marie snapped. "Katie is as good as dead if she gets caught in the crossfire!" She hissed. "I said shoot anyone in the way, not shoot anything that moves!"

"Well that's not fun." Julian pouted. "Isn't your daughter a vampire? Doesn't that make her immortal? Will a bullet or two really hurt her?"
Alma secretly agreed but didn't say anything.

"As you said, she's my daughter. I am not a vampire, so she is at least partly human, can you say for a fact that a bullet wont kill her?" Marie replied, regretting bringing anyone along at all. This is a task she would much rather have completed alone.

"All right. Let Alma go first. Pretend to sell them books...makeup...whatever...they'll never believe a tiny thing like her is there to hurt them." Julian snorted. "Then when things get out of control we'll go in, guns blazing. Like old times. How does that sound?" He couldn't hide the grin. He was itching to kill someyhing. "You can't call me away from a perfectly good screw and not let me have a little fun."

Marie rolled her eyes in a manner just like her youngest daughter. "You think I care that you didn't get to stick it in the frigid bitch Frost?" She snorted. "Believe me, she's high on my list of things to kill."

"Uh-huh." Julian made it clear that he didn't believe a word of it. "Alma, get going. You're wasting night." He gestured toward the house with his gun. 
The demoness fixed him with a dark look but turned to the door. Once they were out of sight she knocked and waited, wondering what she was going to say.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Marie hissed once she and Julian were alone, shoving her hands roughly against his chest.
"Well what do we have here?" A man with blond hair snorted as he opened the door, lookign down at the much smaller creature with disdain.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Julian snapped. "You called me here on my night off and expect me not to be a little pissed off? Especially after the way you talked to me earlier. Not to mention using Brock's phone. That was below the belt, Red. Even for you." 

Alma offered the man a sweet smile a pink bag appearing in her hand. "My name is Alma Pierce and I'm selling makeup products. Is the lady of the house at home?" She asked, her tone sickly sweet.

Marie slapped Julian hard enough for the sound the echo in the still night. "It wasn't my choice. Believe me." She hissed, though she kept her voice low. "Malik assigned Alma to help me, and she wanted you."

"There ain't no lady here... But we could soon fix that." The man drawled, looking Alma up and down with a disgusting smile. "Why don't you come on in... Alma"

"Malik has possession of Alma now?" Julian growled, rubbing his cheek. "How did that happen?" He too kept his voice low though he did turn his back on the door. "Did he give you to her as a present? I can't believe you." 

"No lady?" Alma gave him an innocent blink and pointed to the pink jacket on the chair just inside the door. "Then I suppose that's yours?" She asked, ignoring the smile.

"What?" Marie hissed. "Nobody gives me to anyone!" She added, glaring at Julian. "Unlike you, I would never accept that kind of arrangement!"

"That?" The man glanced over his shoulder, then back to Alma with a grin. "Nah, that's my brother's. You got a thing against guys wearing pink, lovely?"

"Yeah. Right. You slept with Jack Saunders after all. Which is practically giving yourself to the devil, might I add." Julian snapped. "You're not fooling anyone. The vampire gave you Alma as a pet didn't he? You're such a slut, Red." 

"If he wears pink, then I'll bet your brother likes makeup." Alma said cheerfully. "Go and get him. I'll be happy to wait here." She held the bag close to her, offering him her brightest smile.

Marie stared at Julian with all the pain he had caused her when he ended their relationship when they were teenagers. "Of all the things I have done, sleeping with you was the only thing that ever made me a slut. Jack was my husband, and so was Cyrus. There was never anyone else."

"How about you come in and meet him?" The blond man asked, stepping aside and making a sweeping gesture with his arm. "He just loves the little ones..."

"Is that why you're sniffing around the vampire?" Julian hissed, "Because there's no one else?" He was so intent on trying to hurt her that he completely forgot about Alma. "Or is it because you are dying to be bitten again? It's no wonder you push Ebony away. She saw straight through you!" 

"Nothing about that sounded inappropriate." Alma said, though she remained cheerful. "Sure. I'll come in and meet him." She marched past the blonde man, sure the two on the outside had seen her go in.

"Apparently she saw straight through you, too, you coward!" Marie shot back, also missing the sight of Alma disappearing inside. "Why do you even care if I want to be bitten again? It is so wrong of me to want to feel something since my life went to shit?!"

The blond smiled thinly, checking the was no one else with Alma before closing the door. He was still smiling as he took Alma to his brother. The elder man sat in the living room of the house like he was king of the world. It was clear the rest of the men who were there feared him.

"Vampires are shit. We spent years learning that!" Julian growled. "One even killed your father while we watched! I can't belie  you want to bed another one!" 

Alma's green eyes swept over their leader, her nostrils flaring. This man radiated power but she couldn't put a finger on why. "The jacket for one your arms?" She asked, trying to keep her cheery tone.

"If anything, it only taught me people are shit!" Marie hissed. "I have seen a lot more evil from creatures that weren't vampires, believe me!"

The dark haired man smiled, though it wasn't giving away evil intention like his brother's had. In fact, it revealed nothing. "You think you can save the girl?"

"Witches like your mother and daughter?" Julian snapped. "Why are you so cruel to Ebony? You ever think that all this could be because of how you treated her? Maybe Katie deserves this fate to bring you off your high horse!"

Alma looked the man over, showing that she wasn't intimidated in the least. There was something about him. His large frame seemed oddly familiar. Those massive shoulders, arms, and hands...
"I was told there were no ladies here." She said calmly, her grip tightening on the pink bag. "I'm just trying to sell makeup. What's with the production, sir?" She asked, smirking at her own urge to call him highness.

"This has nothing to do with Ebony!" Marie hissed, shoving Julian again. "You're the one being cruel! Chasing her like a lovesick fool, then turning tail to flee back to your precious Frost when she dares feel something for you!"

"You're trying to sell make up, and yet despite being told there were no ladies here you insisted upon coming in anyway?" The dark haired man asked with a smirk. "That would indicate you knew what was inside here all along."

"At least I'm not alone, you bitch!" Julian shouted. That's right, he thought, dig the knife in deep. Someone else needed to hurt as badly as he did. It might as well be Red. "At least Frost wont die the moment someone else comes in. Everyone you seem to screw is weak and worthless. And you know it." 

"Your brother told me the pink jacket on the porch was yours. I was sure it meant you wore at least a little eyeliner." Alma said without missing a beat. "Are you saying there's something here then, sir?" She asked, her thin fingers tightening on the pink bag.

"You would know!" Marie sneered hatefully. This wasn't the man she had once loved, who she had still loved if only in a different sense.

The man simply looked at Alma. It would have been easy to assume it merely seemed like minutes had passed, but in truth they actually had. "I'm saying the hunters waiting outside were foolish to send you here."

Deep inside Julian knew he wasn't himself but he also knew there was nothing he could do about it. Angrily he shoved her, yanking out his gun and aiming it at her forehead. "You're so weak, Red. It's no wonder you're ashamed of Ebony. She's just like you." 

"Why? Because I'm so small?" Alma couldn't help but smile at this. "I hardly think you're boys will give me much trouble." Her eyes flashed yellow, the only warning this man would get before she became the monster she had once tried so hard to fight against.

Marie didn't try to back away, instead her desolate green eyes simply stared up at Julian. "Go on. Do it." She told him simply. "Clearly I'm not fit to be a mother, or to mean anything to anyone!"

The dark haired man still didn't move, though he was smiling again. "Wonderful." He breathed. "I thought it would take a little longer, but I'm impressed nevertheless."

Something was happening. They weren't the only ones fighting. Not far away there were people on the street that were practically rolling on the ground like animals. A man had a handful of a woman's hair and was slamming her head into the ground. "Ebony...This is rage...like when Ebony was angry with me...but her's...this isn't as bad as her's. This is effecting me too." He ground out. His hand shaking as he fought to keep from shooting Red in the forehead. 

"I haven't done anything yet." Alma said, closing her eyes. It took her a moment to steady her breathing before she opened them again. When she fixed them on the dark haired man they were once again they bright green. "So. Do you want to see what I have in the bag?" She asked, her tone cheerful again. "I have eyeliners that would make those dull eyes of yours sparkle."

"Ebony is always angry. It's all she has ever been." Marie replied. "Just do it! Shoot me like you want to! Or are you too much of a goddamn pussy to do it?!" She too seemed to be suffering the effects, but hadn't experienced Ebony's magical rage in the way Julian had.

The man leaned forward now with his elbows resting on his knees as he again watched Alma. "Why are we playing this game, creature?"

"I don't want to! Damn it, Red!" Julian aimed the gun at something on the ground beside her and fired. "Despite what a total bitch you are to me, I still...I still...I hate you." But he didn't mean hate. Frustrated he kicked her in the shin, hoping this would be enough to quell his rage. 

"Because the eyeliners are sharp enough to dig your eyes out of your fucking head, human." Alma hissed, her fingers tightening on the bag. Even she was surprised at how quickly her tone was changed. She took a step back, shaking her head.