Chapter 2: Mock

Levi tossed and turned all night. His head was burning, his body began to ache and felt progressively weaker and weaker. In an attempt to shrug off the pain he decided to drag himself to the bathroom to throw some water on his face, and for the slightest moment, with the water dripping from the skin of his head, he could have sworn that his right eye had turned black.

"This can't be real….. I must be seeing this because of this fever. Yeah, I'm just hallucinating. No need to worry," he struggled to say to himself as he flipped the lights off and walked out of his now pitch black bathroom.

"That crazy old man didn't turn me into a ghoul. He couldn't have. It's impossible." Levi assured himself as he crawled into his sweat covered bed and attempted to sleep..

The pain in his body was relentless. His mind was racing, constantly shifting back and forth between reality and dreams. He began to see red, crimson red. This left him unsure as to whether or not this was reality or a dream. All he knew was that it felt so surreal, so vivid. So vivid that it felt completely real. He then saw somebody right in front of him being ripped to bits, ripped to the brink of death. This hardly living corpse gasped for breath as its face and upper torso were covered in blood that seeped from a massive horizontal gash in its chest that stretched from shoulder to shoulder. The gash became clear, and what appeared before Levi was everything that this human once had. It's clothes, it's skin, it's muscle, it's bone, all of it within that gash had been torn apart. "Please let me go, I didn't mean to cross you." The human painfully struggled to say as it tried to begin to crawl away with what life it had left.

Levi tried to muster out some sort of coherent response to prove that he was going to let the man go, but all he could do was begin to drool at the intoxicating aroma emitting from the now apparent man who was dying in front of him. He tried to take what he thought was a step towards him, but it didn't feel like he was walking, in fact it felt like he was almost flying. This now placed Levi directly above the man. His now uncontrollable drool landed on him and dripped down his face. Levi landed, and the man fell unconscious. The lion was now before the lamb, and all that was left was to eat..eat...eat….eat.

Jumping straight out of bed, Levi felt his heart race like heavy beats of a drum in his chest and his back aching worse than anywhere else. He moved his hands franticly all over his body, making sure his dream was in fact just a dream. Only to find that the only thing close to abnormal on him was the cold sweat that drenched his face. After calming down, he took a sip from his water bottle and returned back to his bed, hoping desperately for something better to dream about.

The following morning finally arrived and Levi still felt just as ill as the night before. Due to his sickness, he decided not to go class and just go through the PowerPoint he had missed on his own. Despite the fact that he knew that he had to rest, his inner workaholic and anxiety pushed harder. Thus compelling him to not only go through the powerpoint, but also review notes and get ahead on a few assignments. Giving into these urges he brought his laptop and books into his living room ready to get started.

Losing track of time, Levi had gotten lost in his work and realised that several hours had passed. He wasn't hungry, but he knew that he had to put something in his stomach. With that in mind he went to inspect his fridge for something that could give him a bit of a boost. Upon opening it he found that there wasn't a lot in there; just a few carry-out boxes, a pitcher of water and a Gatorade. He knew that he needed the electrolytes, so he elected to reach for the Gatorade and took a drink. To his surprise what hit his tongue was surely not Gatorade, but what tasted like rotten egg yolk and sewage excrement. He spat it out immediately and glanced at the expiration date, whilst trying to hold himself back from puking. The date printed on the top showed that it was still good. In his disbelief he reasoned to himself that it must be his body functioning differently due to his flu. Knowing that he needed the electrolytes, he took a deep breath, and drank the blue liquid. This time, it went down without any issue, so he dismissed what had just happened with a sigh of relief. "Yeah, it's gotta just be the sickness that's messing with me," Levi thought to himself in comfort.

Upon returning to his makeshift desk, his paranoia and anxiety flared up about what Atto said to him in regards to becoming a ghoul. Attempting to quell his mind and prove the man wrong, Levi decided to look up Ghoul systems and how their bodies functioned. The amount of search results he had found were astounding; everything from medical reports, to the mutterings of those who thought that the ghouls were zombies created by the government. Several search results in, Levi came upon a man named Hisashi Ogura, who is the "foremost expert" on Ghoul research. The amount of information Hisashi provided was remarkable. He explained in detail on just about everything that went into ghouls; the breakdown of their DNA, the different taste buds on their tongues, their unique hunting organs known as "Kagune." Scanning through the list of things that ghouls had and experienced on a biological level, Levi found that apart from a few common things he was in the clear. With his anxiety quelling, he figured that just to be safe it would be a good idea to get a blood test checking his RC levels.

Levi grabbed his keys, his hospital ID and began to head to the hospital he interned at. Despite his research, anxiety overpowered him the more that he thought about it. The mere thought that he was in fact now a ghoul clawed from the back of his mind harder and harder. Due to his research he now knew that ghouls were active, despite what others may think. Looking back on it, he realized that he has dealt with several cases of homeless people who were attacked by ghouls, and wound up at the hospital. He couldn't become one of those monsters could he? The thought of himself eating another human, eating Shannon…...Eating Dexter….. It terrified him, it made him sick to his stomach.

His mind had now consumed him, and without even realizing it, the time spent in his head had placed him right at the foot of the hospital. Using his ID, he entered through the back and headed straight for the lab. Upon entering, he is put at ease with who is standing there before him. It was Shannon.. Her brunette ponytail twirls over her shoulder curiously as she turned her head to see who had entered. The warm smile that began to grow on her face quickly faded as she saw the apparent look of despair on her friends face. "Hey Levi, what's wrong?," Shannon said in a concerned tone towards her out of sorts friend.

"I've just been feeling a little under the weather today and I wanted to get a blood test done to calm my nerves," Levi responded as he awkwardly seemed to avoid what was really bothering him.

"Oh, sure thing Levi. I'll do whatever I can to help out," Shannon said in a warm comforting tone.

Levi's pocket buzzed. As he pulled it out to check what it was he noticed that it was a text from Dexter saying, Levi! My man! I'm picking you up and you can't stop me. See you in 5!

Levi texted back, Dexter, I'm sick today. Besides, I'm not even home right now.

"You're quite popular on a sick day," Shannon teased as she was prepping everything that was needed to draw Levi's blood.

"It's just Dexter. He want's to hang out, but I'm not exactly feeling it. Although I'm not quite sure I'm going to be able to get out of it, knowing him." Levi chuckled back while Shannon began to clean his arm where she was going to draw blood.

Levi's phone buzzed again. I know. I already tried you at your house but you weren't there. Therefore, through my deductive prowess I have concluded that you were tending to your ever growing harem with your babe at the hospital! ;)

Dexter i think you forgot the part that I'm slick.

Oh are you now?! I had no idea! That makes me all the more compelled to see your game in action you introverted player you!

Ugh…... sick* "Ow!" Levi said as he was caught off guard by the needle Shannon had placed into his skin.

"You wuss. I'm finding it hard to believe that a pimp such as yourself would even wince at the small pain a simple needle brings," Shannon teased once again.

"Auto-correct is the true evil of this world."

"Of course it is." Shannon joked while pulling the needle out as the tube had finished drawing enough of Levi's blood.

Shannon began to clean off Levi's arm once again and applied a bandage over the spot where the needle had previously been placed. "All done, now I'll have the guys analyse it and I should get back to you on it in a couple of hours."

"Alright, thanks Shannon, you've been a huge help."

"Not a problem Levi. Take care." Shannon said as the sound of the opening of the same door Levi had used to come in could be heard.

"Voila! I hath arrived to whisk you away Levi, my darling! Or of course witness for myself the slick master of the game in person!" Dexter exclaimed making his grand entrance.

Shannon quickly latched onto Levi's arm affectionately and said, "Oh poor Dexter, for you do not know. The level of his moves are beyond comprehension to the lowly likes of you."

"Oh your words wound me milady, and in turn I must depart with your love whom you have wrapped in your arms! For he must meet his quota of concubines for the month." Dexter retorts as he poses theatrically with one arm crossing his heart and the other on his face.

Levi's eyes bounced back between Shannon and Dexter, while Shannon griped his arm, pulling him in closer to her body. Levi's arm quickly disappeared into her chest, causing his face to turn bright red in his uncomfortability with awkward situations. Dexter, doing his best not to laugh, pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures at Levi's expense. Playing along Shannon popped a cute smile, as opposed to Levi's face which was now a tomato.

Having his fun, Dexter returned his phone to his pocket, chuckling while doing so. "Levi's let's split, I'm sure that this beautiful young lass needs to return to work."

Shannon let go of Levi's arm and kissed him once again on his check, just to annoy Dexter, who was by his own account is the next James Dean. With Levi's face returning to its normal peach complex, he regained his composure and was unsure as to why Shannon was so hands on with him. He thought perhaps that it was because she wanted to just tease Dexter like other girls had, or at the very least that's all he could come up with.

With Levi still lost in his own mind, rationalizing what just happened and coming back out of it, he stood there, almost frozen next to Shannon who looked like she was waiting for something. Attempting to snap his embarrassed friend out of it, Dexter cleared his throat rather loud, gaining both of their attention. "Levi sweetie, let's go! I'm sure Shannon has some work she has to do." Said Dexter.

Finally snapping out of his trans, Levi looked up at Shannon. "Right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you from your hospital duties."

Shannon chuckled, "No worries Levi, I'd certainly rather spend my time with you over the weird Doctors that work here."

A smile grew on Levi's face as he nodded in agreement. Whereas Dexter was done waiting and just pulled Levi's arm, dragging him out the lab. While walking down the hallway Dexter looked at Levi with a sinister grin stretching across his face, and said, "Be straight with me Levi, buddy, pal, you've never actually done anything with Shannon?"

A look of shock and annoyance now occupied Levi's face, with the tone in his voice reflecting the very same, "No, why does everyone ask that!?"

Dexter shrugged his shoulders and said, "No clue buddy, couldn't be that you can cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife." in a sarcastic tone while muttering the last part under his breath.

Levi was confused as to what Dexter had said, but ultimately decided to drop it, thinking it was one of Dexter's typical smart-ass remarks. The two then walked to the car in silence, with Levi still scared that the blood test would come back showing his worst fear had become a reality. That he might in fact now be a ghoul terrified him just as much as it had earlier, and even more so the more he thought about it.

The short walk to the car felt like it took hours, to Levi. "Now that you've successfully dragged me out here, what are we doing?" asked Levi.

"Going back to Yami's coffee, to see the sweet Kristi of course." Dexter confidently said with his signature smirk, while sliding his sunglasses back on to his face.

Levi face palmed himself at something so obvious and menial. "Really Dexter? I have coffee at home, and it's a hell of alot cheaper compared to your new favorite coffee shop."

Without missing a beat Dexter replied, "Well then Levi, there is one very special, particular quality that my new favorite coffee shop has, that your pitiful home brew coffee does not….. Ba….ri….stas….. Does your coffee at home come with them my dear Levi?"

Levi sat there in silence, unable to deny Dexter's ingenious reasoning, before ultimately admitting a defeated "no…"

"Precisely, my young Levi. I enjoy a good view with my coffee. For how am I to enjoy the lovely bitter taste such as coffee without the contrast of something sweet?" Dexter said in his normal theatrical self with elegance, confidence and gusto.

In response to Dexter's grand description of the, oh so euphoric way to enjoy coffee at its finest, Levi just as elegantly… face palmed.

About a half an hour later the duo entered through the closed glass doors of Yami's coffee, and much to Dexter's delight, his new favorite lady was behind the bar. He approached with the confidence of a general marching into a completely one sided battle that went completely unnoticed by Levi, who was still wrestling with the possibility of now

Dexter smacks his hand on the counter, to gain the attention of not only Kristi, but everyone in the shop. Hearing the noise Kristi dropped the Portafilter she was cleaning, "What the hell?' said Kristi looking in the direction of noise. Seeing that it was in her mind the weird theater kid and this slightly cute (in a lost child sort of way.) awkwardly sidekick.

As she walked towards the two of them, Dexter began to slick his hair back as if he was a greasier from the 1960's, as soon as that was finished he popped the collar on his leather jacket. "Hey, good looking one Iced-Vanilla Latte please."

As Kristi wrote down the order she muttered under her breathe "One common white girl."

Levi somehow heard this and let out a small chuckle, and then stepped forward to place his order. "One 16oz black coffee, and a turkey sandwich for me please."

"One wannabe hipster and an American bird." Kristi once again said with a smirk that grew even bigger on her face.

Levi let out another chuckle as a small blush built on his face. "Yes, because I'm clearly a hipster."

Sarcastically Kristi replied, "Oh, you heard that? Well either a hipster, or one of those ghoul things."

A nervous laughter left Levi's mouth as Dexter cuts in, "How did you know Levi was a ghoul?! Levi we've been had!"

"Oh, well, I guess that mean's I'm obligated to report you to the CCG then," Kristi joked as she sported a playful wink.

Levi remained silent as he took the nearest seat. A few moments passed before their orders were brought out to them, along with Dexter shooting another attempt to woo his new queen. Upon another overlooked failure, Dexter leaned over to Levi and said "Hey man….. You're cramping my style. Your shy child look is driving all babes away, and quite frankly I'm not digging it," followed by once again popping his collar.

"Why are you always in character?," Levi said with a sigh.

Flabbergasted, Dexter returns with a "Always in character?! Sir! I will have you know that in all my life I have NEVER heard of such a blasphemous insult! This is simply me, in all my glory."

"Whatever you say Dexter," Levi said with yet again another sigh as he began to bite into his sandwich.

Instantly, as his tongue touched what looked like the sandwich, a terrible sensation came over his taste buds. The taste of old dry clay, along with what seemed to be moss-covered rubber drenched his mouth. With such a foul taste occupying his mouth, he instantly spat it out and ran to the bathroom for the nearest toilet. After a moment's notice everything that had previously been in his stomach was now inside the toilet. Shortly after, knocking cold be heard coming from the door with Dexter saying "Hey man you gonna be alright?," with concern in his voice.

With Levi's gagging coming to an end he responded, "Yeah…. Perfectly fine. I told you that I wasn't feeling well after all."

"Yeah, sorry we can get going then if you want," Dexter apologized.

After about a minute Levi made his way out of the bathroom and found both Kristi and Dexter waiting for him outside the door, both with concerned expressions on their faces. "Are you okay?," Kristi said.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, was a just a bit si-," Levi said as he was stopped by the scent of an aroma unlike anything he has ever smelled before.

It was the smell of a fine cuisine, but yet somehow indescribable. "Do you guys smell that? Something smells amazing," Levi said almost in an intoxicated trans.

Dexter and Kristi paused confusedly. "I think it's coming from you Kristi, what did you have to eat? You have to tell me!," Levi continued, falling deeper into his trans.

Kristi backed away with a nervous look building on her face, "Just some pulled pork from leftovers I had…"

"Okay man, seriously, we need to get you out of here, this sickness is getting to you. Go on and head outside," Dexter said as he motioned Levi out.

Levi snapped out of it with Dexter's intrusion, "Yeah… sorry about that. I'll make my way out."

As he left, the last thing he could see out the corner of his eye was Kristi glaring daggers at him. "Smooth Levi, smooth," he said to himself shamefully as he walked out the door.

During the drive back to Levi's apartment, Dexter continued to chastise Levi over his interaction with Kristi, and quote ruining his chances with her, because a man never asks what a woman eats. While Dexter's seemly never ending tirade, Levi's phone buzzed. Looking for an escape, he saw that it was the phone call he had be dreading, it was Shannon. He answered hesitantly and said, "Hey, Shannon I'm guessing the test came back."

"Hey, Levi, yes the test came back," Shannon said in a completely nonchalant tone.

With those words reaching his ear, Levi's heart was racing, anticipating the worst. "Everything's a-okay, I mean your RC count is a little high, at 527 but that's nothing to worry about."

Levi let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks Shannon it takes a load off my mind."

"No problem sweetie, I'm glad to be of any help. I'll see you tomorrow?," she said with the slight hint of a chuckle in her voice.

"Yeah, I'll be back then."

"Okay, see you then. Love you, bye"

"What?' as the called ended leaving Levi confused but at the same time feeling better that his results came back saying that he wasn't a ghoul.

Finally free of the day's troubles and worries, Levi exits Dexter's car to continue his venture back home to his little apartment, until he begins to feel his pocket buzzing again. He pulls out his phone to see who is calling him and sees that it is a number not known to him. "Huh, I wonder what this could be. Hopefully nothing of worry, I've had enough excitement for today."

"Hello?"

"Hey this is Levi right?," a familiar feminine voice says on the other side.

"Ummm, yeah who is this?," Levi confusedly asks back.

"It's Kristi, from the coffee shop. Are you doing any better?"

Levi's gut sank as well as his face returning to the tomato it had previously been at the hospital, the moment that he heard it was Kristi. "Oh! Umm hi Kristi, yeah, I'm doing a lot better actually, thanks for asking. Also, by the way how did you get my number?... Not that I'm upset about it or anything!," Levi struggles to say as his evident nerves were getting to him.

"Your friend gave it to me and said something along the lines of If you're looking for a good time my smooth friend there is both single and ready to mingle, and then he shot me a wink as he tried to moonwalk his way out," Kristi said as a small chuckle could be heard at the end.

"Ugh, dammit Dexter. I'm sorry, he does this sort of thing A LOT. I had no idea, and quite frankly I'm surprised that you're taking the time to call," Levi said as he began to calm down in his apologetic tone that he always portrayed to people after Dexter's shenanigans.

"Oh no, don't apologize. I think it's sort of funny and it gave me a giggle. Besides, I thought it'd be a good idea to check in with you to make sure you're okay after earlier."

"Well that's relieving to hear, and of course! I feel great now! It must have just been a random gag reflex or something."

"Fantastic, well, actually, it may be a bit presumptuous of me, but if you really are feeling good then did you maybe want to hang out later tonight?," Kristi said with a slight nervous tone that Levi had not yet heard.

Immediately, every ounce of Levi's nerves had returned, and left him speechless for a couple of seconds. All of his blood had seemingly collected in his face and his heart pounded almost as fast as it had been when he had his dream the night before, and with every bit of willpower Levi could gather, he replied, "Yes!... I feel great!... What do you want to do?!"

Kristi began to laugh at Levi's nervousness playfully. "It's okay, you don't have to be that scared of me. I'm not that terrifying. How does tonight at the rock house, let's say 8pm sound for you?"

"Sounds great!... See you there!" Levi mutters out, seemingly on the verge of a panic attack.

Kristi, still giggling at Levi's expense, "Okay, I'll see you there. Try not to die before you get here. Bye"

"No promises, bye," Levi managed to say as he hung up.

In a nervous wreck, it took Levi a few seconds to comprehend everything that had just happened and come back into reality. "So…. Let me get this straight…. She called me….. Because Dexter gave her my number…. And asked ME out… and I reacted like that….. This is definitely a trap….."

His phone began buzzing once again. Still being in shock Levi almost dropped it, but accidentally answered it as he tried to catch it, and reluctantly put it to his ear, to say in a very unenthusiastic tone, "Hello…. This is Levi."

"Yoooooooo Leviiiiiiii! My maaaaaaaaan. Word on the street is you got that hottie with the coffee to ask you out. Is it true?!" said the antagonizing voice of Dexter.

In complete and utter disdain Levi responded with a short and simple, "I hate you…. So much."

"What?! Holy crap it actually worked?! Oh my sweet Levi! Come quickly we have to get you ready for the ball!"

"Wait… how do you know it's so so-," Levi half got out as Dexter hung up.

"Forget about autocorrect being the true evil of this world. Dexter is darkness incarnate."

Without much of a choice Levi made his way to Dexter's house, which wasn't too far from where he was. After a short walk, Levi found himself at the door of Dexter's dorm room within the same college he attended. Upon inspecting the door before he knocked, Levi noticed that it was cracked a bit open, waiting for him to enter. "Oh no…. What horrors await me past this door? Is this where I die?," Levi muttered to himself as he pushed the door open, finding a dimly lit room with outfits prepared and hung all throughout the room as Dexter stood in the center with a sinister grin wrapped across his face.

"Yup…. I'm definitely going to die."

"Now now, Levi, no need for such cruel words. Especially when I have prepared a gallery of top line attire for you," Dexter pompously exclaimed as he turned the lights all the way on, revealing mainly costumes he's had for his theatre performances.

"So, you want me to go dressed in shakespearean garb?," Levi said with complacency.

"No, I'm just messing with you. These were lying around so I thought it would be funny. What I actually have for you is this masterpiece that I personally handcrafted for just such an occasion," Dexter playfully retorts as he picks up a folded set of clothes and hands them to Levi.

"Don't ask. Don't look. Just go put them on and come out. Only then can you give me a critique," Dexter says, cutting Levi off before he can say anything.

Levi grumbles, "Fine," as he heads towards the bathroom to get changed into what he has just been handed.

Roughly two minutes pass, until Levi exits Dexter's bathroom with grace on par with that of a man hungover. "It's… even more perfect than I imagined!" Dexter says with his voice full of glee.

Levi wore a pair of cream khakis, an almost fully buttoned up white dress shirt, with a blue and grey striped loose tie that hung down near his collarbone and a pair of brown dress shoes. Finally, accompanied by a fitted brown blazer. "I call it… the lazy professor!," Dexter yelped in an excitement that he simply could not contain.

"Dexter, I look like an idiot…"

"You look beautiful!"

"I look like I'm trying really hard to not try hard."

"Don't you understand anything about modern fashion?! That's the point! Have you not seen people lately? They all try hard to look like they're not trying hard!"

"This is stupid."

"And people like stupid! Exhibit A!," Dexter says as he motions his hands over Levi.

"I don't know why I keep you around."

"Because you need me."

"Ugh, whatever. I'll go with this, but in turn you can't pull this again. Okay?" Levi says with a sigh.

"Don't worry, with this piece not even you could screw up. She won't be able to resist you. In fact, I'm willing to wager that you'll be together until death due you part!"

"I still hate you," Levi chuckles.

"Okay kid. Where am I taking you?"

"The rock house at eight."

"You got it."

Eight o'clock strikes as Dexter pulls up to the Rock House to drop Levi off. The red neon lights of the Rock House's sign were nearly blinding to the already nervous Levi, as live rock and roll can be heard from the inside. Groups of people could be seen piling into the building by the second, making it obvious that the night life within the city was still very much alive, but just outside the door Kristi could be seen waiting. Her outfit was different from what Levi was used to seeing when she was working. She had black leggings under a pair of dark jean shorts with a black shirt whose wide collar hung to her right, revealing her shoulder. All of the black that she wore heavily expressed the blue highlights in her black hair that made her stand out from all of the other people. "Damn man…. All joking aside, I'm actually pretty jealous. For a punk girl she's gorgeous. If you screw this up I may actually have to kill you," Dexter joked.

"You're telling me man, I don't know how I'm going to do this. Oh… also I believe that the correct term is actually scene," Levi nervously joked back to his friend.

"Well look at you Levi. Correcting me on genres. There may be hope for you yet! Now…. get out there and kill it for me boss," Dexter warmly said with a smile as he kicked Levi out of his car.

"I'll do my best," Levi said as he got out of the car.

In an attempt to look cool, Dexter shot Levi a wink as he then peeled out off into the distance. Walking up to Kristi made Levi's heart pound harder and harder the closer he got to her. All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind; how is this going to work, don't screw up, be cool, be calm, what if I freeze, what if I can't make it through what i- "Peeling out huh? I know people here are edgy but damn," Kristi chuckled sarcastically.

Unlike making a fool of himself over the phone, Levi was now able to keep himself as composed as he could. Despite the butterflies that occupied his stomach, he could talk and interact relatively normally. "Well, you've seen how the guy acts on a normal basis. Now with an audience it'll only get worse," Levi joked.

A small laugh came from Kristi, "I can only imagine. So, what's up with that outfit? You look like you went out of your way to not look like you did. Almost like some professor that wants to be hip with the kids."

"Yeah, I know. This outfit was suggested by a certain someone, whom I found out to be the guru of modern fashion," Levi said smiling with a sigh.

"Yup, that makes sense. Anywho let's head on in. I'm a bit hungry and I have to show you the delicious food you're craving so badly, "Kristi teased as she began to head towards the door.

"Yeah, craving. Right," Levi sighed in agreement.

Walking through the door, Levi was immersed in a world he had never seen before. The muffled rock that could be heard outside was now blaring, as the live band played on the opposite side of the room. Everybody looked the same, yet so outlandish to Levi. He could feel the angst radiating from all of the tight black clothes people wore, and immediately felt as if he was strangely misunderstood. Ambient red lights illuminated the room to give off an almost blood colored scenery, which oddly enough made Levi began to feel hungry.

Leading the way, Kristi took Levi to a table and waved down a waiter, as she looked into one of the menus laying before them. Levi began to pick one of the menus up to look at, but was swatted away by Kristi. "Nope, you get to be surprised," Kristi said to Levi with a devious grin on her face.

Reluctant to make a bad move Levi simply complied out of his growing anxiety, "Okay then. Can I at least get a hint as to what I'm eating then?"

"It'll be a surprise, don't you trust me?" Kristi said with the same grin still being worn on her face.

Levi caught on to himself being far too passive. Kristi wouldn't like a guy who just bends at her every whim would she? No, he had to play something cool, so he dug deep to think of something cool to say, and without a moment's notice he said, "Yeah, whatever you say," as he slid back into his seat.

Kristi began to laugh at his obvious blunder in trying to play cool. "Oh yes. Acting edgy is the way to win the ladies. Keep it up it's totally working," she said with a wink and a thumbs up to Levi.

Fortunately for Levi, he was saved from having to save himself as one of the waiters approached their table. "What the hell do you want Kristi?"

The waiter couldn't have been more than a year or two older than Levi. His long shaggy black hair that draped down to his mid-torso only to be met with the little notepad that he was carrying covered up his black band shirt. Glancing from Kristi to Levi the waiter began to say in a voice slightly deeper than what he had just expressed to Kristi, "What's up kid. Names Thrash."

With an even bigger laugh, "Oh shut up Travis, who do you think that works on?" Kristi mocked.

Immediately breaking his tough guy persona, his voice cracked into what sounded his normal voice, "What the hell Kristi?! I told you my name is Thrash now! Ugh. Just give me your order."

Kristi's devious grin had now changed into a blank smile as she disregarded anything that Travis had just said. "Two of the usual, if you will, my kind prince of darkness."

Despite the joke, Travis' face turned dead serious as he shifted his glance over to Levi again. "You sure about that? My kind insect."

With the same unchanging face Kristi responded, "Positive."

"I'll be back with your food in a bit," Travis said as he turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Not knowing whether to be scared or confused, Levi muttered, "So….. what exactly was that?"

Nonchalantly Kristi said, "Oh that's just Travis. No need to worry about him. He's harmless," as she was half listening to him and the band.

"You two seem pretty chummy. Is there some history between you two?," Levi inquired to try and make some conversation.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it I suppose," Kristi said, still half listening as her grin began to return.

"Oh okay… Well, are there any particular details to be added?," Levi said, knowing that she was dodging the question to mess with him.

Looking back to Levi with her eyes blank and her smile wide, she continued the charade "No, nothing out of the ordinary between us."

Excepting his defeat, Levi returned to his sigh, "I'm not going to win am I?"

"Now you're catching on!" Kristi said, finally breaking her blank face to turn it into a laugh.

Travis made his way back to the table with two dishes that held what appeared to be a slab of raw pork. "Here you go shitster. Don't enjoy yourself too much with your new toy," Travis said with clear irritation to Kristi.

The same irritation Travis that has, now had afflicted Kristi, "Dammit Travis! I told you not to talk about that around people!"

As the two began to banter back and forth in a childlike fashion, it began to dawn on Levi what their relationship was. "Oh, you two are brother and sister?"

"PISS OFF!" both of the two siblings yelled in sync towards Levi.

Levi realized his place in this debacle and decided to just tend to the food in front of him. It looked like a slab of raw pork, but perhaps it was something else. The aroma that wafted from it had caressed Levi's nose, there was no mistaking it. It was what he had smelled coming from Kristi earlier that day. The same trans came over Levi as the pork rested on the plate. Waiting for him, taunting him, calling for him. Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat, and before he knew it, Levi had devoured the meat. He needed more. His hand slowly made it's way over to the other piece that rested opposite him, but was immediately grabbed by Travis, followed by a confused "What the hell?"

"Kristi, get him out… now," Travis said to Kristi with dead seriousness as he motioned to the exit door that was just beside them.

Kristi grabbed Levi with superhuman strength and dragged him out back while Travis held the door open for her, only to close it and go back inside. In his trans, Levi was bloodthirsty for more of that meat. "More! More! Give it to me! I need it! I need mo-!"

With her free hand, Kristi muffled Levi's mouth as she dragged him farther back and into an alleyway, unseen by anyone else. She slammed him against the wall with enough force to leave a couple of cracks and bring Levi back into reality.

Levi awoke to being suspended against a wall, with a pair glowing red eyes angrily peering into his soul. "Who the hell are you…. One-eye?"