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The young woman with skunk-striped hair groaned and started to roll over.
"Hang on," A man's voice whispered.
Something in her moved.
"Okay..."
She raised her head and was rewarded with a killing pain.
"Holy shit," She whispered, bringing her hands to her temple.
"It huhts…so much…"
The man moaned in agreement.
"Stop…yellin'…" He said in a sandpapery undertone.
The woman dropped her head back on his developed chest.
"Sorrahy…"
She opened her eyes suddenly.
"Who th' hell ahre yah?" She asked, scrambling up quickly.
The man blinked.
"Dunno."
He looked at her for a moment, trying to focus.
"Who're you?"
The girl looked insulted.
"Yah spent th' whole naight fucking meh and y' don't know who ah even am?!"
She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Shhh. Headache. Sides, y' asked me first."
The young woman blushed.
"Sorrahy," She said, a tad embarrassed at her outburst.
The man grinned.
"S okay. What'd y' say yer name was? I'd sure like t' know it…"
Blushing even more, the woman scraped her memory.
"It's…ah dunno!"
The man sat up.
"Shit…" He said hoarsely, searching his empty memory.
Nothing.
"I can't remember anythin'!"
The young woman looked distraught.
"Neithah can ah," She whispered.
Frowning, the man got up and went to a chair covered in clothes.
"There's gotta be somethin' here," He said, pawing through them quickly.
He suddenly became aware that the woman was staring at him.
"What're yeh lookin' at?" He growled, turning around.
"Nothing," The young woman said with another blush.
"A-ah just don't remembah evah seeing a man naked befoah."
She turned away.
With a shrug, the man resumed his search of their clothes, finally going through the last sock with a scowl.
"Nothin'.
The girl let out a sob.
"Aww, don' cry," He said, getting back on the bed and hugging her back softly.
"Let's jus' get our clothes on an go see th' manager. This is a hotel---they'd hafta know our names since we logged in, right?"
The girl sniffled.
"A-ah guess."
Reaching for her clothes, the man handed them to her and watched as she slowly started to pull them on.
"Shugah…help me with th' back?"
He nodded and reached for the two sides, suddenly wishing he was removing rather than fastening it.
"Thank yah."
They finished dressing and stood up a bit unsteadily.
"Gawd…" The girl said, clutching her head with a moan.
"Ah really hope they know who we ahre…ah've already had enough bad thangs fer one day."
The man frowned but made no comment as they exited through the door, never noticing the shattered window in the room behind them.
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"Hey…mister…"
The clerk looked up to see a rather gruff looking man accompanied by a beautiful young woman.
"May I help you?" He asked in an English accentuated voice.
The gruff man nodded.
"Yeah, y' could, bub. Listen, this might seem a lil odd, but did we check in here last night?"
The clerk shook his head instantly.
I'd remember characters like these, He thought, looking at the odd muttonchops cut of the gruff man's hair and the white streak in the woman's.
"I'm sorry, sir," He said with raised eyebrows.
"I have no memory of any such occurrence. Would you like to book a room for the night?"
The man shook his head.
"Bub, could y' put a lil more effort into it than that? Look at the security tapes or somethin', fer gawd's sake!"
The clerk raised his hands.
"Now, now, take it easy," He said, turning to his computer and typing in a command to list the last 24 hours of security tapes.
"No," He said, quickly going through the list for close-ups.
"I don't see any record of you having logged in here."
The woman and the man exchanged glances.
"Then how th' hell did we wake up in one of yer rooms?" The man asked, pounding a fist onto the counter.
The clerk stood up and reached under the desk discreetly for the security button.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you did not log in here."
The woman cleared her throat.
"What about meh?" She asked, speaking for the first time in this discussion.
The clerk shook his head.
"There is nothing on the records indicating that either one of you came anywhere within twenty feet of the door…and just in case you were wondering, there are no other entries in the building."
The man growled.
"Did I jus' hear y' bein' sarcastic t' my girl here?" He asked, pointing a threatening finger at the clerk.
The clerk sneered confidently, seeing the security approaching.
"I believe you did, sir."
His eyes widened as three long, bone-colored claws emerged from between the man's knuckles.
"No one whose sarcastic t' my girl lives t' tell!" He snarled, sticking his fist straight through the clerk's chest.
The clerk made a gurgling sound and dropped to the floor, dead.
"Holy shit!" The young woman yelled, putting her hands to her mouth.
"Y'…killed him!"
The man stood stock still, somehow getting the feeling that he had done things like this before.
"Freeze!" A voice yelled behind them.
The couple turned slowly, the clerk's blood still dripping from the man's claws.
"Don't move!" The security guard shouted, his gun pointed straight for the killer's heart.
Acting on pure instinct, the gruff man crouched and sprang for the guard, claws extended.
Swipe.
The girl vomited as the guard's head fell to the ground in a splash of blood, his eyes still open.
"C'mon, darlin'," The gruff man said gently, retracting his claws and running to her aid.
"Let's get outta here."
The girl moaned and swayed towards him, losing consciousness.
With a frown, he wrapped his arms around her shapely waist and, hefting her over his shoulder, exited the hotel through its stately wooden doors.
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The man watched his friend with concern for the next few minutes.
Her face stayed pale, cool and unresponsive as her mind and body tried to recuperate from the shock of seeing the brutal slaughter.
Eventually her eyelids flickered and she moaned loudly.
"Shhh," The man said, putting his finger to her full lips.
The young woman opened her eyes slightly.
"W-wheah am ah?" She asked.
The man shrugged.
"Who ahre you?"
He shrugged again.
"Don'cha 'member?"
The girl's eyes opened wide and she put a hand to her mouth.
"Ah think ah'm going t' be sick!" She shrilled, leaning over the edge of the bench and spilling out the contents of her stomach.
The man patted her back.
"Easy there."
She sat back up and wiped her mouth.
"Whaih did yah do it?" She asked, her tone hushed.
The man shrugged.
"I did what I had t' do."
The girl shuddered.
"Couldn't yah have jus' walked away from it?"
Her companion snarled.
"An live knowin' I was too lilly-livered t' stick up fer yeh? No way!"
The girl smiled grimly.
"Awww, that's kindah sweet ahv yah, in a sick, messed-up way."
The man hung his head.
"Sorry," He whispered.
Silence reigned for a moment.
"So what am ah gonna call yah, shugah?"
The man shrugged.
"Whatever y' feel like. Sick freak or Fuckin' mutie will do jus' fine."
The girl shook her head.
"Ah think yah look laike ah James."
The man raised his eyebrows.
"A James?" He asked incredulously.
She nodded with a small smile.
"That's what ah'm gonna call yah. James."
The man she had named James grinned halfheartedly.
"What should I call y' then, darlin'?"
The girl pursed her lips in thought.
"Alicia?" She suggested.
James snorted.
"What's wrong with Alicia?" She asked, mildly insulted.
He grinned.
"Yer no Alice what-ever-th'-hell. Yer more---"
He struggled to harness in words his feelings for her.
"A…Rose, maybe… Or a Rachel. Not an Alice. "
The girl smiled.
"Ah laike th' name Rachel. Ah think that'll be mah name."
James shrugged.
"Fine then, Rach. Wanna get some grub?"
Rachel grinned.
"Lead th' way, 'James'," She said jokingly as she stood up.
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