Chapter 16: Get on the Dance Floor
Author's Note: Hi again everyone! MooNTeARZ is back with another chappie of Ties that Bind and I'm servin' it up extra special…with some hot sauce! LOL! Anyway, not much new is going on with me…but lets get some shout outs going!
Karisan: Hey…yeah, trouble does go looking for Jamie…all about being the Nephilim I suppose…anway, great job with your story and I promise that I won't keep you waiting long!
Thunderxtw: Hey…yeah, I guess your right, my chappie was a little short last time and I tried to remember not to rush…but for some reason, I guess I thought that I had written enough…on my laptop I had written about five pages…but I guess when it shows up on the actual website it doesn't look so long…it was kind of a hard chapter to write (don't ask me why…for some reason it just was) but I think I have a pretty clear idea where this chapter is going.
JunKing: Hey! Long time no see! What's up? Thanks for liking my stuff and I'm glad you enjoyed it…yeah I know, creepy and seemingly obscure riddles but hey, in the end it'll all work itself out!
Thee Slushee: Hey! Sorry that you don't have those stores in your neck of the woods…basically, Grey's kind of goth/emo, Jamie's skater/surfer, and Mina's is like hip hop dancer/ whatever's trendy at the moment!
DevilBilly: Hey again, yes pop your collar is my favorite def jam move…mainly because I like the title more then anything else…I'm trying to think, my fave characters are Sean Paul and Lil' Kim…I also like Flava Flav (he was really hard to beat) and Ludacris. Snoop Dog's character is pretty awesome too. I beat the story mode, but I rented it, so I didn't get all of the hidden characters.
Okay, now on with the story!
"See that girl over there?" Christie Monteiro asked the others as they sat at a table in the dance club.
The gang had danced for the past hour and a half and had decided to take a breather. Throbbing techno and haunting trance music echoed through the club as countless people danced.
The booths and tables were upstairs in a loft area so that the others could look down at the people below. Drinks were served all around, Jamie felt somewhat childish that he was drinking soda (orange Fanta to be precise) but that's when he realized that Mina, Kyo and Kaori were doing the same.
"What girl?" Xiao asked.
"Down there." Christie said, pointing to the center of the dance floor.
A girl was dancing with Forrest Law and several other equally admiring suitors. Her hair was as light as Jamie's own and hung in cascades of spun gold down her back. Her porcelain smooth skin and clear blue eyes glittered with excitement as she danced gracefully with the people around her.
She wore a rather form fitting white blouse and frilly, short skirt. Her dancing was smooth, elegant and perfectly in tune with the beats. She laughed happily as one of the guys whispered something in her ear.
"Who's she?" Xiaoyu asked.
"She's a new girl I think…I saw her come in yesterday." Julia replied.
"Yeah," Asuka snorted. "She brought about fifteen bags with her…the bellhops were about to kill her."
"They were Louis Vitton bags…the kind Jessica Simpson has." Mina said poignantly
"Her name's Lili I think." Steve said taking a sip of his vodka.
Christie whirled around and gave Steve her patented go to hell look.
"And how would you know that Steve?" She asked angrily.
"She asked me to help her with her bags and I did." Steve began, the color starting to drain from his face.
"Yo Steve! Don't back peddle!" Hwoarang exclaimed with a laugh.
"Hey mate, you helped her too!" Steve shouted.
"WHAT!" Julia asked, her anger flaring.
"Nice going asshole!" Hwoarang screamed.
"Hey…c'mon guys let's not fight!" Kaori said with a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah…you wanna dance? Let's all go dancing!" Mina suggested quickly.
"Sounds awesome…c'mon guys." Kyosuke said helping Kaori up from the table.
"No…that's quite alright…I think after this latest revelation I think that Christie and I deserve a trip to the bar." Julia responded flatly.
"Right…let's go…and if that bitch so much as even looks at me I will smack some fashion sense into her ass!" Christie said angrily as she stood.
"This is better then any reality tv show." Billy snorted.
"Yeah, too bad the camera's don't record this kind of stuff." Jin said.
"Jin," Xiao began. "This is a fighting tournament! Not the Real World!"
"The Real World is so fake." Asuka said.
"And I'm glad that we don't have to go in that confessional…I'd run out of things to say." Kyo added.
"Yeah…when all those big dramatic fights happen I'd probably be in my room reading a book or something!" Jamie replied with a chuckle.
"Yeah," Mina chuckled. "It'd be all like," She faked a preppy voice. "Oh my God Kaori! I'm sooo pissed at you! I can't believe you ate my power bar!"
It got plenty of laughs and broke the tension a bit.
"And besides," Kaori began.
Suddenly, a crash broke through the club and the music was immediately cut short. Jamie heard telltale snarls of a creature that he knew all to well. Screams erupted in the club.
"What are they?"
"Some kind of gang and-"
"Jamie!" Mina whirled around.
"Let's go!" Jamie called.
He, Jin, Kyo and Billy, jumped down to the first floor, while Xiaoyu, Asuka, Mina and Kaori ran down the stairs.
Quickly, Jamie surveyed the surroundings…five vampires in the club…a freaked out crowd…and…
"Grey!" Jamie called.
"Hey Angel boy…come here often?" He asked with a wink.
He was standing behind the bar…that new girl, Lili stared at him…a shocked expression on her face.
"Hey sweetie…wanna party?" Grey asked.
And without further adieu, he grabbed Lili and ran out of the bar…leaving Jamie and the others to face the five snarling blood suckers…and that's when it hit him…Kunimitsu's riddle…the cats coming after the spilled milk…Jamie didn't have anymore time to think before the closest vampire ran at him.
(New Scene)
"What's the matter dumbass? Can't get up?" The vampire gloated.
The Nephilim's opponent was a huge vampire, who must have been a body builder in a previous life. One of the fleeing crowd members had accidentally been shoved into Jamie…the Nephilim hadn't had sufficient time to regain his balance before he was greeted to a full on punch in the face by his latest opponent. His hands were about the size of Jamie's head…and they looked like they could crush televisions.
Talk about Iron Fist…
Jamie found himself thinking. He had landed behind the bar, knocking over liquor bottles and glasses. Quickly, Jamie leapt up with the only weapon he could find…a broken bottle…
"I'd rather be a dumbass then a fatass!" Jamie retorted as he leapt over the bar and lunged at the vampire.
The creature was stunned at the Nephilim's sudden advance…and fell to the floor as Jamie slit it's throat with the makeshift weapon. It disintegrated into blue flame as soon as Jamie leapt off him.
"Jin! Hwoarang!" Jamie called.
A vampire brandishing a particularly nasty sword ran at Hwoarang…Hwoarang ran away and the creature gave immediate chase…Hwoarang ran to a wall, leapt off it, spun, and landed a punishing axe kick to the top of the vampire's skull…it cracked open like a walnut revealing it's brain mass…the creature's eyes rolled up and it blew away on holy flames.
"That was so…so…disgusting…and yet so cool at the same time." He said with a prideful grin.
The vampire near Jin didn't stand a chance against him…as he had been transformed from creature of the night, into resident punching bag. The creature exploded into azure flames once Jin punched through its chest cavity.
"Oh you drooled on my blouse…NOW YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!" Christie said with gritted teeth.
She unleashed a lightning fast spin kick and the demon spiraled backwards and into Julia's patented palm explosion attack. The creature screamed as it died
"Got one!" Christie crowed in triumph.
"I guess being angry can save lives!" Julia said as she adjusted her glasses.
"OOF." Mina grunted as she was kicked in the stomach.
"Mina!" Jamie called, he rushed towards her.
"No it's okay," She grunted…as she recoiled from the attack.
Quickly, she leapt into the air with a jumping snap kick…mostly to gain some distance…but she did manage to clock the vampire chick in the jaw with her tastefully stylish black heels. When she landed, she pulled out a vial of holy water from the pocket of her billowy, black Gaucho pants. She spun, and gracefully uncorked the vial and splashed the water on the creatures face…she screamed as she died.
"I got it!" She said with a smile.
Suddenly, three more vampires leapt through the crashed windows and snarled happily. By this time, Kyo, Kaori, Billy, Xiao, and Asuka had finished unlocking the exit doors…by this time, the crowd and staff had left the danger zone, leaving the other fighters with the rest of the demons.
"Hey kid," One of them with shaved head, tattoos, and leather pants asked Billy menacingly. "Whatcha lookin' at?"
"Don't call me a kid!" Billy snarled.
And suddenly, another battle began. Xiao and Asuka quickly went to work pummeling a vampire while Kyo and Billy did the same. The first two vampires were the standard breed…leather pants, sun glasses, strangely dyed hair…but the third looked somewhat different. He appeared stronger then other vampires…he had gray skin and his eyes were glazed over and shining…he smelled like a rotted corpse and didn't say anything.
In his experience, Jamie knew that the ones who never said anything were usually the most dangerous…instead; the creature roared and began charging. Kaori was about to run to her boyfriend's aid when she realized that she was in the horrible, mutant vampire's way!
"KAORI!" Kyo called.
No one could have gotten to her in time…for as Kyo said this, he was treated to a jumping spin kick in the face. Everyone stood in stunned silence…except for Jamie. Instead he ran towards his friend…who stared at her enemy like a mouse does when a cat is about to pounce.
Jamie pumped his legs as fast as he could…he was so driven in his goal that he screamed as he dove through the air…everything seemed to go in slow motion as he shoved Kaori out of the way…just in time to get body slammed by the monster.
"WWWAAAAAARRRGGGGGHHHH!" Jamie Parker screamed as he flew through the air and landed against the wall.
The vampire was strong…so strong in fact that Jamie felt as if he had been hit by a Mack truck. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as he landed against the brick wall with a resounding smack. He felt an intense, burning pain in his right shoulder and arm.
"Damn…" He wheezed. "That bastard dislocated it…"
He staggered to his feet and blew several blonde tendrils of hair out of his face. The vampire began to advance on Mina, Kyo, and Kaori…they had run to Kaori's aide…Kyo might be able to survive a full on body slam…but the girl's wouldn't. Jamie clutched his shoulder…no time to fix it now.
"Hey," He called.
The vampire turned and stared at Jamie with it's creepy, glowing eyes.
"Yeah," Jamie breathed. "That's right, you wanna taste? Grade-A all American College boy…come and get it!" He finished with a cough.
Jamie wasn't sure if this vampire had any trace of humanity left within him…but he did pay enough attention in 9th grade biology to know that predators tended to separate the weak from the rest of the herd. Well, Jin and the others were tied up with the other vampires…and although the girls were weakened, Jamie had shattered the whole right side of his upper body…could barely stand, and had blood pouring out his nose and mouth.
The creature took the bait…which was good he supposed…now if only Jamie could find a place to run…quickly, he half limped, half stumbled near the dj booth…and the vampire came lumbering after him.
"JAMIE! THE BASEMENT!" Jin called as he snapped the neck of one of the vampire's.
Jamie nodded quickly and hobbled through the door…the stairs were creaky and wooden…and while Jamie had a good couple of feet on the vampire…it wouldn't take long for the homicidal monster to catch up.
"Heal dammit…HEAL!" He muttered as he hobbled down the stairs.
With every step, a fresh, shooting pain ran up his side…he clutched his wounded torso in an effort to staunch the pain, and keep his broken ribs from falling out of place…he breathed heavily, but couldn't seem to get enough air in…a sure sign that one of his lungs had ruptured.
It'll heal though…it's gotta heal…just hold on a few minutes more…
He was almost to the bottom of the stairs…it was a spiral stair case, with wooden bases for every couple of stairs…he was at the last base…one more and he'd…
Suddenly, his image of salvation was replaced with his pursuer standing directly in front of him! He had jumped down several landings!
"No way…no way…" He said in a panicked tone.
Instinctively, Jamie began to limp backwards…there was no way out…he stared in those cold, glazed over eyes and realized that they would be the last thing that he ever saw…when suddenly, his gaze averted to the bottom of the stairs…there was just a bit of an opening…if he could just dodge this last attack then maybe…
No time.
The mutant vampire lunged…using the last of his energy, Jamie dodged the attack and vaulted off the landing…he hit two of the stairs on the way down before falling roughly onto the hard concrete floor. Instead of grabbing the Nephilim, the creature had body slammed into the main support beam of the stairs…they gave a final tremble before crashing down…three flights of wood and plaster landed on the creature…who gave a muffled cry before dying.
"Watch that last step…" Jamie began as he slowly eased himself up. "It's a humdinger!" Carefully, he began to walk towards the exit…and out into the alley beyond.
He was already starting to heal when he found himself in the back…the smell of rotting garbage permeated the area…his friends all stood in the alley.
"Jamie!" Hwoarang began.
"We waited for you to come…where's that psycho vampire?" Xiao asked.
"Dead…" Jamie wheezed. "He didn't watch his step."
"Are you alright? You look seriously injured." Julia began…ever the caring physician.
"Man, I could've taken that sucka' on!" Billy retorted.
"Are you okay to fight Jamie…please, rest for a bit…we can go after Grey and you can meet us later." Mina said, concern apparent in her voice.
"You know I can't do that Mina…I'll be fine and wait…what?" Jamie immediately perked up. "Where's Grey…and Lili right?"
"Do we really have to save that slut bag?" Christie asked.
"That slut bag comes from a very important family Christie," Asuka wisely began. "If Grey kills her then there's no telling how much unwanted attention we'll all get."
"Yeah, and don't forget…I can't let her die 'cuz it's my calling and all." Jamie said.
"So…where do you think Grey took her?" Kyo asked.
Jamie looked around. "Well…no trail of breadcrumbs…but I'm guessing that Grey and his blood buddies went to the graveyard." Jamie said…the rush of adrenaline seemed to help him heal a bit.
"Right…then that's where were going." Jin said with resolve. "I'm going to call father…and tell him that's where to meet us."
"So we're splitting up then?" Steve asked.
"No…no this time we're going to stick together." Jamie said.
"Right…so graveyard it is then…hoo-ray…I mean, we haven't been there in a whole two days." Hwoarang said sarcastically as they walked.
Jamie, stayed behind everyone else…so he could heal a bit…ten minutes later he was well enough to walk normally…in another five minutes he felt bruised…but not broken.
"Jamie…are you okay?" Kaori asked, concern in her voice. "I'm so sorry…I should've been more careful and-"
"No," Jamie turned and smiled. "Are you okay?"
"Yes…I mean…yeah…I'm fine."
"Jamie, thanks for your help…I'm sorry I couldn't do anything…if anything happened to Kaori…" Kyo didn't finish.
"I know…and you did enough…you took out those other vamps for me…and besides, you're a great friend…y'know? And friends help each other." He finished with a smile.
"Y'know…it's kind of funny…this tournament is all about pain and suffering and misery and stuff…and I come here and I find…family…friends…adventure…true love…" He gestured towards Kaori, who had taken to chatting with Mina and Asuka.
"You always find friends in the last place you look." Jamie said wisely. "Miserable things tend to happen in life…but if you're lucky enough to find people to share that misery with…then those feelings of unhappiness turn into true happiness."
Kyo cocked his head. "That's deep…did you think that up all by yourself?"
"Some of it," Jamie grinned. "The other half I got from a fortune cookie…basically, we've got this old American saying…Misery loves company…y'know? But with you guys backing me…it doesn't seem so lonely…" He finished on a serious note.
Author's Note: Okay, sorry to just end this but I didn't know how else to do that and I'm exhausted…it's 1 in the morning here and I have a class at nine…but anyway, I tried to take my time but this was actually a tough chappie to write! Anyway, hope you enjoyed and PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!