A/N: Thanks again to those who reviewed so far. You people rock for taking time to read and review!
Enjoy, ;)
Chapter Twelve
A dark haired woman walked through the street. Her sensual glide brought attention from the bystanders. Her emerald green eyes shone in the darkness of night, only emphasised by the street light of always bright New York. Her long alabaster arms moved with perfect synchronisation as she moved through the crowded street. Everything was so new, bright and shiny. And she just didn't know from where to start.
Her sharp eyes gazed at the man standing at the corner and watching her approaching in this direction. Simple, middle aged man with no prospect in his life. Perfect. She smiled sardonically and moved toward him slowing down and adding a sensual sway to her hips. She will feed tonight. His soul was hers.
Few streets away, two man sat high on the roof, watching the world move beneath them. One was dark-haired and had hazel green eyes, and the other had ebony black hair with calculus black eyes. Both of them wore black robes.
"Where is she?" the hazel eyed asked as he laid back on the edge. "She should have been back already."
"Shut up. She'll be back when she wants to. Besides we have all the time in the world." Black eyed one responded with an inhuman snarl.
"Fine. But you will deal with the Riders when they show up here, Belial." The hazel eyed snarled right back.
"We already defeated one of them. And it wasn't even that difficult." Belial responded with a sardonic laughter.
"Having fun, boys?" a female voice spoke from behind them.
They both turned around to see a dark-haired woman with snapping emerald eyes. Belial went to say something when his companion, known in the Underworld as Belphegor, interrupted him.
"I see you are happy. Can we move on with our plan now?" he spoke to her as she moved toward them.
"Oh, yes…" she replied licking her cherry red lips. "I am always ready for more fun!"
Sariel crept down the hallway of an abandoned building. It was abandoned for awhile and she doubted they will find something here. But, she went anyway. Why? Good question. She kept asking that herself too. It was because he was her father. Her father. It was weird for her to think of him as a father. It was not just the fact that he didn't seem like a father type, she also wasn't daughter type. What is what they should do?
"Sariel…" a sudden deep voice came from behind her and she almost jumped out of her skin.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she cursed her own exuberance. Her face slowly turned toward the face of her father, and she simply frowned. What was she suppose to do? She had three fallen on her hands, beaten group of superheroes in the hospital and soon and very pissed off Order breathing down her neck. Not to mention, her father's visit and unsuspected help.
"You should be vigilant all the time." He spoke in commanding tone and she snorted. "That's not very ladylike…"
The death glare she sent his way was enough to shut him up and get the message through. She didn't want to be told what to do.
"Who said I'm a lady?" she bit out and kept gazing in the darkness.
They were already at this for two days and she slowly kept loosing her cool. Not that she ever had all that cool when it came to her own father. Since her mother told her the identity of him, more because she was forced not willing to, she felt betrayed. Fine, he never knew about her either. He probably never even would if it wasn't for this little Hell Rider thingy. Sariel knew she was different from the rest, mostly because she knew her father must have been human, she was only a hybrid of some sort. With more vampiric attributes than human. She always pondered what would have happened if she was normal like the rest of her kind.
She greeted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. She had better things to do then lurk around for some fallen ones in the dark alleys and abandoned buildings. She didn't even heard anything from the Fantastic Four. Not even from dr. Salomon. Well, the latter person she didn't want to hear, because if he called it would mean trouble. So far so good.
Her black eyes moved to the other side and she glared at the man behind her. Just standing there in his leather biker jacket, being all cool and broody. She knew who he was to general public. She knew everything about him. It took her a year to learn everything about the stunt driving, the deal with Mephistopheles, the affair with her mother. She greeted her teeth again, this time even her jaw hurt little when she did it, so she relaxed it.
"Not with that kind of attitude." Suddenly he spoke again and she wanted to slam him into a wall and tell him to bloody shut up.
Sariel needed a drink. Yes. And probably needed to shoot something. The Rider in her was also bubbling with anger and rage. She was probably channelling some of it too. That would explain her need for conflicts even when Johnny Blaze didn't deserve it. The Rider was probably edgy in the presence of another Rider and she had hard time keeping him under control.
One more thing to be pissed at Johnny Blaze for. He seemed calm and without any sense of wanting to clubber anyone. She bristled and shook her head. He had better control over his demonic self. Well, of course, you stupid girl. He's older, the original and much more experienced Rider. And now she was going insane because her conscience was addressing to her.
"This is going nowhere. The Riders don't sense anything. They are probably hiding. We should go back to the Baxter Building and check the fantastic gang." She snarled and moved away from the wall.
"You're right. Lets go." he strolled behind her without a worry in the world.
And now he agreed with her. She growled and shook her head while moving toward her bike. She mounted it with vigour and the bike roared to life. Not that Hell life, but it was fast.
"You can either go with me or stay here wait for Godot to reappear." She hissed and droved away.
To say that Johnny Blaze was perplexed was an understatement. Sariel was bitchy as always, courtesy of hurt feelings and the Rider within her who didn't like competition. Neither did the Ghost Rider, but the two of the learned how to coexist long time ago. He managed to drag the Ghost Rider under control and he finally felt like he was winning in this damn game. Until he found out he has a kid who inherited his powers.
But then again, what did he expect? A warm embrace and a peck on the cheek from his only child? Yeah, right. Fat chance of that, Johnny boy.
So he followed her back to the Baxter Building. The moment he stepped into the foyer of the building, he felt powerful protections forcing him to flinch and turn around. But that wasn't an option. As he watched her profile next to him, he saw that she wasn't affected by the protection spells surrounding the building. Sure, it was odd, but then again, she was odd.
He watched her go up the elevator and he shook his head. He spent two full days with her and the only thing he got from her were snappy remarks, snarling and a lot of controlled conflicts. He had to give her the credit of control. Johnny Blaze really wasn't in the mood to see whose Rider is stronger and who would walk away from that fight.
Sariel elegantly strolled into the living room and they immediately saw Johnny Storm lying on the couch watching TV. Sariel greeted him and he lazily through his head in the air.
"Sue was worried." He said and Sariel shook her.
Johnny felt like an intruder somehow, but he welcomed the new point of view on his daughter. To meet her friends and co-workers. Though at the moment Johnny Storm seemed to be neither.
"How're you feeling?" she asked and moved toward the couch.
Johnny raised one eyebrow and stared at the sudden gentleness emanating from his daughter. Okay, it wasn't gentleness per se, but it was some kind of worry.
"Since I met you, I got almost killed three times. First, you almost chocked me, then I got shot in my ass and now I ended up in a building. Literary." Johnny Strom hissed from the couch still not indulging them with him turning around.
"The emphasis on the almost." Sariel sneered and Johnny Storm stood up to yell.
But then blue eyes glued on the newcomer standing next to Sariel. Storm's eyes widened and he was speechless.
"Oh my God!!" he suddenly yelled and smiled from ear to ear. "Johnny Blaze. The best motorcycle driver of all time is in my living room."
The transformation of Johnny Storm from pissed off at Sariel to a Johnny Blaze fan was shocking. Even Sariel was shocked for a second or two.
"Just amazing… I love to watch your shows, Mr. Blaze. Always amazing and downright insane!!" the kid was in his full blown appreciation and he raced toward him, effectively pushing Sariel out of his way.
"Nice to meet you too…" Johnny spoke to the kid and looked at Sariel.
He was never a real fan of the attention he was getting. He did half of those stunts just to prove that he isn't marked by the Devil. Lot of good that did to him.
"How do you know him?" the kid turned toward Sariel and she grinned at him.
"He's my father." She said in a simple voice, but not because she was proud of it.
Johnny noticed the tension between the two and now doubt it had to do with the fact that the Human Torch and Hell Rider crossed paths. She almost chocked him? Well, he obviously didn't listen to the warning. And indeed the emphasis on the almost.
"What?" the stupid expression on the kid's face was funny to Johnny.
Johnny could simply see the wheels turning in the kid's head. And after the kid puzzled everything out, he moved away from both of them.
"No wonder you survived all those stunts." The kid replied with a frown, but Johnny knew this was a problem between them.
"So I see you made friends with Sariel…." Johnny spoke with a slight hint of humour in his voice.
The look on both of their faces was funny to watch and he suppressed a grin. Not the first time someone had issues with his daughter. Though, he only knew that from stories he heard about her.
Her eyebrows raised and suddenly she greeted Reed.
"How's Sue?" she asked and both the kid and Johnny turned to see Reed walking in with a surprise on his face.
"How did you…?" he went to ask, but he just nodded his head.
"Well, nothing can ran past you unnoticed…" the kid replied in sarcasm and moved back to the couch.
"Very good. She's almost finished with recuperating. What did you two find out?" Reed asked and Johnny eyed the scientist.
"Nothing, they're hiding. But doesn't mean they wont crawl out soon."
Sariel gazed at him and shrugged. He noticed that she calmed down a bit. Well, beside her ever-present sense of snarkiness.
"Which means they can again attack at any time and caught us unguarded." Reed replied, but Sariel shook her head.
"Not this time. We have protection on the building and now the Riders are aware of who is outside."
Reed nodded and went back where he came from.
Next three days were silent and peaceful. Nothing on the demon radar or nothing out of the ordinary. But that didn't mean, Sariel wasn't ready. She was still pissed they caught her off guard. It was stupidly reckless and she swore she'll never do it again.
So when she heard noise in her own living room, she slowly stepped out from the steamy shower and grabbed the clean pair of black underwear. She also grabbed the knife and moved out of the bathroom. Her nose picked up familiar scent and she sighed. Him again. Shaking her head she strolled toward the living room where she found Johnny Storm rummaging through her bookshelf.
"Tell me one good reason not to stab you with this knife…" she snarled from the other side and he slowly turned to probably say something utterly stupid when he gaped.
His mouth opened, but there were no words coming out. Sariel gazed at him and thought of a stupid looking fish, but said nothing. Just crossed her arms across her chest and waited for a reason. All the while his eyes racked over her barely clad form. She was a soldier, raised among armies and duty so lack of clothes weren't really issues with her in public. Joined shower rooms and changing room kinda kicked that shy and prude sense out of you.
"Anytime soon?" she spoke again and his eyes popped up to her face.
"Huh?" ever the smart one.
She sighed and grabbed a T-shit that lay on the couch and put her on. The crimson read Harvard T-shirt, one of her favourites.
"I said, what are you doing here?"
No, that the distraction was out of the way, he returned to semi-conscious responses.
"Um… Reed sent me here to give you something… Em… I have… it… right here…" he mumbled out and she shook her head.
"What, Johnny? I may be immortal, but please… Get on with it." she said and noticed the yellow envelope sitting on her table.
The moment she saw it she moved to get it. As she passed him, she caught a faint scent of something musky and male in air. She stopped midwalk and gazed at him. that scent was vaguely familiar to her. She was always aware of what kind of a effect she had on men. Mostly due to her vampiric nature. All children of the night were alluring and seductive by nature. His response to her was no surprise, but still. He was annoyed by her and he also slightly feared her. Then an evil thought crossed her mind.
"Are you…?" she spoke in awe.
"What?" he asked, slightly bemused.
She cocked her head to the side like a curious dog would and moved toward him. The slight movement made him jump back toward the bookshelf as he retreated from her.
"Now, now… Johnny…" she replied in the sultry voice and saw him wet his lips. "I must be mistaken, but it seems to be you're a bit turned on right now."
There it goes. His mouth opened in a futile attempt to form something smart and witty, ut the only thing was a yell and a NO.
She laughed at him and moved at bit closer. Close enough to invade his personal space, but far enough to not touch him.
"Oh, yes, you are… Very interesting." Now she licked her lips and his eyes went immediately toward her lips to follow the movement which made his pupils dilate.
Sariel needed a lot of controlling not to burst out laughing immediately 'cause she wanted to torture him more. And self controlling was no issue to her. She had to control the Rider every day of her life, so this was nothing.
The room suddenly got warmer ans he could feel the heat burning from him. She wasn't evil, just bored and downright sadistic. This was wrong, stop torturing the poor man. Her conscience had something to say, but she wasn't about to listen.
Then something behind his blue eyes flashed and he grinned.
"Prove it." he growled in her face.
She raised an eyebrow. You see, my dear conscience. The poor man wants to play. She recognised a challenge when she saw one. And by no mistake, Johnny Storm was an alluring man and really gorgeous, but he still didn't leave an impression on her. She saw male perfection in all its glory. Little pretty face isn't something that could rock the world under her feet.
"And kill the mystery?" she mocked and raised herself on her tip toes to reach his eye level. "It would kill all the fun."
There was no mistake he was on to her now. It seems that he wasn't all that stupid after all. So she backed away and moved with a shrug of her shoulders. Now, where did I left that knife? She turn to gaze around the room when Johnny snorted.
"I knew you'll back away." He snorted again and smirked at her.
"As oppose to what? Jumping and ravaging you against the bookshelf?" she replied in cold voice and went looking for her knife.
She did however caught a glimpse of his face expression and saw how thickly swallowed.
"Boy, you're easy…" she laughed at him.
Then he glared. And retrieved some of his snarkiness.
"Please… Like I've never seen a woman in her underwear." He waved his hand toward her. "That… Isn't impressive."
Sariel stood as she reached the knife she put on the table next to the envelope. Raising both of her eyebrows, she gazed at him. Impressive? This was low. Even for him, but she figured he finally decided to play dirty. She just smiled and played with the knife in her hand. Then she saw a flash of fear cross his features. Not a good way to tell a woman she's not impressive while she has a sharp object in her hands…
"You are stupid…" she replied and he huffed, insulted. "I have a knife…"
"So… I like feisty and kinky…" he smirked again.
"Good to know." She grinned.
"Interested?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not really." She replied and the knife flew through air toward Johnny's head.
Who would have guessed all hell was about to break loose?
Johnny hated Reed. Who cares that his sister loves him? He hated him. This was probably Ben's idea when he thinks about it. for some odd reason, he was actually doing it. breaking into her apartment and getting her the papers Reed sent.
What exactly made him go through the window and not through the door, will never be answered. Mostly because he probably isn't walking out of here.
He noticed nobody was home and he went to rampage through her stuff. So he was curious. Who can blame him? Not every day you meet a vampire and a flaming creature from Hell. So his curiosity got the best of him. Until she showed up. With the promise of the knife. He kinda expected that. he turned around to deliver a very clever remark when his brain literary flew out of the window. Every single coherent thought flew out of his mind as he stared at her. Her, Sariel, vampire and a gigantic pain in his ass. She was wearing nothing but her black underwear. She was probably in the shower, hence the droplets of water that fell of her body and hair.
His eyes followed flew trails of those damn droplets as they made their journey across her skin. He wanted to follow the same path, but with his lips and hands. He stared and stared. Her alabaster skin looked perfectly smooth and unblemished. Just the black of the underwear destroyed the vision of the perfectly unblemished skin. Her hair was wet and slick and combed backwards, but strands of it flew around her.
Her curves were also another form of perfection. Feminine yet muscular and powerful just for the soldier she was. She did say that she was one. He remembered how that same curves felt under his fingers and shivered.
She must have asked a question cause in a matter of seconds she moved and attained another position. He still stared cause that body moved and the muscles rippled under the skin. Not really caring how it looked like.
She broke the spell, but still he couldn't find his brain. Upstairs brain, Johnny, upstairs!! He mumbled out something he wasn't even sure how it sounded. Then she moved and covered herself with a big T-shirt, but it was no use to him. he will have that picture of her imbedded in his mind till he dies. And still, he could those smooth leg of hers. She wasn't tall, in fact she was quite petite, yet those legs were long and smooth and… He tore himself away and watched her move toward the envelope.
How in the God's name the next few minutes started, he wil never know. Somehow she knew. Well, fine, he was staring openly at her, there was no subtle about it, but still.
And the way she came closer. He almost drop dead at the site. Those vibrant black eyes with that mischievous spark. The smell of her, fresh from the show with some vanilla and exotic shampoo made him dizzy. And he just wanted a taste. One little taste into the fruit that was before him. Don't do anything stupid, remember upstairs brain. You dated models, actresses… The hottest women in this world.
So his male pride made him act stupidly. The moment he heard himself say those two words, the entire world flipped upside down. And after she moved away he actually thought she would. Even the room started getting warmer, no doubt from him. And that tingly sensation he had all over his body had nothing to do with her electric gaze.
So he fought back. The only way he knew. Be a jerk. Piss her off and get back on the familiar territory. The thing he said to her, that he wasn't impressed by her, was a lie. Even he knew it. Just play it out and everything will be okay. He knew what she was doing. Stupid of him, he didn't realise that before. She's just playing. Toying with him so she can humiliate him. Great.
So when that knife ended up near his head, he almost screamed in horror.
"What the hell is your problem??"
She told him he was stupid. And his anger and frustration grew. He just wanted to wipe that smug smile of her face. He growled and lunged at her before he actually rethink his own situation. He knew she will blur and probably toward the bookshelf so he used that adrenaline boost. Or it were hormones, he wasn't sure.
She moved as he figured she will and he managed to grab her around the waist. This was playful, so she didn't use all of her powerful vampire strength. She huffed as he raised her body and slammed her against the bookshelf. She made a noise of protest, but at the moment it wasn't important because he had the tactical advantage. She was surprised.
"I'm not stupid. I know what your game is. You think it's okay to manipulate people and play with their heads. It isn't." he hissed right in her face.
He was sick of her and her stupid behaviour and her I'm-better-than-you attitude and the fact that he finds her hot and alluring and wants to bang his head on a wall.
"What can I do? It's so easy…" she snarled back.
"You're gonna get burned." He growled.
"Like that could harm me…" the arrogance in her voice was mind numbing.
And probably the reason why he did what he did. One of those stupid mistakes Sue always yells at him for.
He slammed his lips against her and heard her sharp intake of breathe. Damn it, he was right, she was soft and smooth. It was passionate, hot and wrong. But the consequences will be dealt with later. Because he never received a hit or her pushing him away. She responded after the initial shock wore off.
He was loosing himself in her. Her lips started moving against his and soon there was nothing separating them. Johnny moved his body closer to hers, pinning her against the shelf and kissing her lips and slightly biting her lover lip. She suddenly gasped and her lips parted. He finally got the chance to taste her. He groaned at the sweet taste of her as it made his head spin.
He felt her move into him and grasp his neck to drag him closer. Soon, he was out of breath and he broke the kiss to nibble on her lower lip which only made her gasp again. Her entire body vibrated under his touch. His lips moved toward her neck and he started nibbling there. Then he heard it. the unmistakable moan followed with a low growl. He smirked against her neck and suddenly came back to his senses.
His head shot up and he stared in the luminous blue eyes. He watched her watching him. Both thrown away by what just happened. Then those lips parted and revealed a set of perfectly white and sharp fangs. It made him let her go and retreat.
"I'm sorry… I… I crossed the line…" he said as he lowered his head to the ground and went with a shaky hand through his hear.
He stared back into those eyes and remembered. She isn't human. She was just playing with you and you went with it. One blink of her eyes and they were back to those ebony black shade, but this time they held nothing.
"I'm not impressive?" she smirked. "Beg to difference…"
He wasn't in the mood. He shook his head and went toward the door.
"Read what Reed gave you. We have a meeting tomorrow. All info are inside." He spoke on his way out.
He really needed to get the hell out of here. A faint voice followed him out.
Thank Reed for the update. He left her apartment without looking back.
A/N: Hih… a bit evil… hope you liked it. Tell me if you did, didn't… Come on I dare you to push that little button ;)
Thanks for reading.
