The footsteps fell heavy on the tarmac, like the boots that made them, standard issue working boots, if she wasn't mistaken, make and model, didn't matter, though she was quite intrigued to see the man that filled them. Out of sight before he even approached, she cocked her head to the side, waiting. Watching as he towered over the whimpering girl, helping her to her feet, telling her everything would be okay, the girl rather haphazardly throwing her arms around him, and he stiffened. Darla didn't miss the wave of nausea rolling through him as he blinked. He had no need or want for her gratitude. He didn't deserve it, or at least he didn't think so. The mere thought of it repulsed him, and he pulled her arms away as gently as he could stomach before telling her to run.

He took a few tentative steps, the light, filtering through from a vent tucked up in a corner, licked at his face, brushing over high cheekbones and a strong jaw, set tight, his eyes sweeping over the room, taking in every detail. His brain never once forgetting what it was trained for, his gaze settling just inches from where she was hidden. But if he knew she was there, he didn't let on. And that was how the game began.

o_O~Two Days Before the Penn Incident~O_o

"Where do you think you're going?" arching her brow, the other vampire froze in his tracks, and she waited as he slowly turned back round.

"Uh-...to find the boss?"

"I don't think it takes two to deliver a message," scrunching her nose in distaste as she gave him a once over, shaking her head on a sigh, "Then again your abuse of the English language really doesn't inspire much confidence, but I'm afraid you'll have to do."

"Do what?"

"You're staying right here."

"But he'll kill me."

His eyes growing wide in fear, darting to the body that lay crumpled on the ground, and back to the blonde before him, who wore a smirk, "That's the general idea."

o_O~Ten Days Later~O_o

She paused, but barely long enough for a human to pick up on, not unless they were looking for it. A smirk played across her lips, tongue flicking out over the bottom one, biting down a little to stop the laughter which threatened to spill. She could feel his eyes on her back, just as she'd felt them back at the church. There had been a young man seeking solace, and he'd gotten a lot more than he bargained for, and so had she. It wasn't every day a hunter sat back while an innocent cried for help. But he hadn't moved so much as an inch.

Unlike now. She glanced sideways and she felt the change in the air as he ducked behind a mausoleum, though he disturbed nothing else, he knew how to move just so without making a single sound. Heartbeat steady, strong. He was in his element, and yet he'd never been so far out of water, his boundaries stretched thin. And she wondered just how far she could pull him before they would all come crumbling down.

o_O~Two Hours Prior To Present~O_o

Staring down at her freshly manicured nails with admiration, she smirked to herself, they were most aesthetically pleasing. "Perhaps I should try some colour, maybe a red, what do you think?" She rolled her eyes as a muffled whimpering came from the girl who had done them. Clasping her hands on her lap, she tilted her head to the right, leaning forward ever so slightly; she had opted for a pedicure.

Uncrossing her legs she pushed the pad of her foot forward, allowing it to sink against the girl's chest with just enough force to send her sprawling onto her backside. Tears streaming down the girl's cheeks, her eyes rested on her former colleague whose head lay at an awkward angle, nearly clean off her shoulders. The girl shuddered. The resonance of her scream still lingering in the air, Darla closing her eyes as the wondrous event played over once more, her spine tingling.

Opening her eyes she got to her feet, graceful as always, even in her most destructive of moments, her movement precise. Feline. Sliding her hand down and into the young girl's hair, pulling her up off the floor as if she were nothing more than a rag doll, and she wrenched her head back tightly. The girl winced. Darla brushing the girl's cheek lightly with the back of her free hand.

"Let me go…please…I won't tell…I won't tell…please…"

Darla smiled. Sickly sweet. Letting her fingers trail down the girl's slender throat, "Shh…" Flesh pulsing beneath her touch. She always found it rather mildly amusing that no matter how pathetically dull a life a mortal led they would still beg for the life that they were so eager to throw away. "It'll all be over soon."

"Please…"

She chuckled, slipping behind her and pulling her close, Darla's lips brushing against her ear.

"Oh honey, please?" chuckling once more before whispering, "Don't embarrass yourself," her fangs sinking into the silky skin, the girl's scream piercing the air, Darla's grip tightening as her heart rate began to slow, her human visage returning as she let the woman hit the ground with an unceremonious thud. Running her tongue across her lower lip she smirked. She had a prior engagement.

o_O~Now~O_o

She let her fingers map the delicate features of his face, so soft and yet so strong, rolling onto her side she propped herself up on her elbow, following the curve of that pouty lip, back and forth before moving her hand to his chest which had risen and fallen its last over half an hour ago, the last traces of warmth still lingering on the surface. A gasp leaving her as he grabbed her wrist.