Greetings, dear readers old and new. And welcome back to The Blonde at the Bar. Now, *insert one of my prior apologies for chapter lateness here* Apologies done, back to the story.
So, last time, it looks like Mike'll be hearing a story from Maryse soon, one that doesn't sound like a happy one at all. Just how will this all play out? Read on to find out, and I hope you all enjoy, my loves. =)
(But first things first. I know it's been a bit since news of this was first shared, but...*throws up confetti and does a goofy dance to celebrate Maryse's good health* ...*shakes the goofiness away* OK, now that that's done, onto the story!)
She wasn't too sure about this. While it was sounding pretty nice and generous on the human's behalf to hear her out, Maryse just wasn't sure. Could she really bring herself to talk about what was quite possibly the darkest night in both of her lives? Her grip slightly tightening again before loosening on her glass, the platinum blonde took a breath before letting it out. "I don't know, Mike. I just …what's bothering me, it's …it's just something that I've never been able to shake. And …I don't know if you'd want to hear it."
"Hey, it's like I just said. I'm all ears if you want to talk about what's on your mind. I'm not just a pretty face, you know?" Mike said with a slight smirk.
Feeling her cheeks a slight bit over hearing what the human said and seeing his smirk-'Wow, Mike is attractive. He'd better not be joking here and just saying what he thinks a pretty woman wants to hear,' the platinum blonde thought-Maryse shook her head before saying "OK, Mike. Since you asked, I suppose I could tell you about what's on my mind. But, I must warn you. It won't be a happy story."
"Well, Maryse, I just told you my not happy story. So, just go ahead and lay yours on me. Like I said, I'm all ears," the brunette said.
"OK then," the platinum blonde said. Taking a breath in before letting it out, the vampiress began her story. "OK, Mike. My story goes back 20 years. I-"
"Wait just a sec there!" Mike held up a hand, temporarily stopping the woman beside him. "'Goes back 20 years'? But, …OK, don't get me wrong, but you don't look too much like you're that old."
Not stopping the laugh that escaped her at the brunette's naiveté, Maryse then said "Oh, Mike, you're so cute when you're clueless. Non (No). You see, the reason I don't quite look my age is because-"
"Because of you being a vampire and all," Mike finished what the platinum blonde was going to say.
"Exactement (Exactly)," Maryse confirmed with a nod before she took a quick sip of what was still left in her glass. "But, before all of me being a vampire and all, I was human. Just a girl living her life, you know? Working, keeping in touch with family, hanging out with my friends. Typical stuff. Then …Then came the night where …everything changed for me."
"'Where everything changed'? How so exactly?" the brunette cautiously asked, even though he had an inkling of what the platinum blonde was about to tell him.
A bitter scoff of a laugh escaping her, Maryse then said "Why, Mike, silly boy, isn't it obvious? It was the night when I died."
…
Letting his head rest on the back of the couch in one of the private rooms he and Melina had gotten after their bit of dancing-something that actually went a bit better than he was expecting, save for a few times the brunette accidentally stepped on his feet and spun him around a bit too fast-a shaky breath escaped John as he felt where Melina was currently having her drink of the crimson liquid that flowed through his veins, his free hand moving to rest on top of the vampiric brunette's head. It was honestly something that still surprised him when he thought about it that out of all of the women in the world he could choose to date, it had to be a vampire of all types. But, after having worked to get past his still slightly latent fears he had that came with dating a member of the walking bloodsucking undead, he had come to find that Melina was just like any other woman. Smart, beautiful, kind, and with a good sense of humor, she was everything that he had always hoped to find in someone to date.
Savoring and enjoying the sweet taste of John's blood as she then felt a hand land on her head, Melina couldn't help but feel a light grin tug at the corners of her mouth. If she could be totally honest with herself, she had only really decided to date a human just so that they could be her blood source for whenever she wanted a drink, which wasn't all that hard, since it seemed like she had not much trouble in the dating field. So, it surprised her when she had first met John all those years ago, and it only seemed to take one goofy yet simple joke to slowly help her open up to the attractive human and see him as more than a walking blood bag with a pulse. 'I just hope maybe some day Maryse'll find someone to help heal her. After what she's been through, she deserves to have another shot at the happiness that bastard stole from her years ago,' the vampiress thought as she, after feeling as though she had her fill, managed to bring herself to stop drinking John's blood and slowly pulled out of the bite mark she left behind on the human's wrist, something that she then proceeded to lick, both as a way to clean away the blood and to help heal the wound she left. Moving to take a seat on the couch beside her beloved, the brunette vampire said "Thanks for the drink, John."
"No prob, Mel, any time. Anything for …for my girl," John said around a yawn as he laid his head on Melina's shoulder and closed his eyes, a wave of slight fatigue settling over him as he drifted off to sleep.
…
"'Where everything changed'? How so exactly?" the brunette cautiously asked, even though he had an inkling of what the platinum blonde was about to tell him.
A bitter scoff of a laugh escaping her, Maryse then said "Why, Mike, silly boy, isn't it obvious? It was the night when I died."
He had been in the middle of taking a sip of his rum and Coke, so to hear Maryse flat out say something about 'the night when she died', it was almost enough to make him spit out his drink. Instead, what happened was he swallowed a bit too fast and almost choked on his drink, something that immediately caught the attention of both his companion and a nearby bartender.
"Whoa, dude. You okay there?" the bartender, a man who looked to be about in his near 30s or so with long dark brown hair, asked, feeling concerned for the patron.
"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine," Mike managed to get out around his coughs. "J-Just drank a bi-bit too fast there."
Feeling that this may have been somewhat caused by what she had just told him, Maryse said "Oh God. Mike, are you okay? Oh, merde (shit)! Was it something I said? If so, I'm so sorry" as she patted the brunette's back in a bid to help him cough up what he still seemed to be choking on.
At the moment, the brunette wanted to say something, anything, to let Maryse know that he was okay. But he just couldn't seem to get anything out, as it seemed like his coughing spell wasn't yet close to letting up.
Turning to look at the bartender, Maryse asked "Damian, can you get my friend here a glass of water? Just water. He's not like a number of us here are."
"Just water. On it, Maryse," the bartender, Damian, said with a nod as he went about grabbing a clean glass from the back wall and proceeded to fill it with cool water. "Glass of just water for your friend here."
"Merci (Thank you)," the platinum blonde nodded her thanks to the other man. Hearing what sounded like the seated human's coughing fit slowly come to an end, Maryse then asked "Are you feeling any better now, Mike?"
"Yeah, I-I think I am. Just wasn't expecting you to just come out with it and drop a bomb on me like you did," the brunette said as he patted his chest and worked to get his breathing under control.
"Well, you said you were willing enough to hear me out when I tell you my own shitty story, so I just decided to open up with it. I didn't think me saying that would make you almost choke and possibly cough up a lung," Maryse said in defense of herself.
A slightly nervous laugh escaping him, Mike said "Yeah, well, I guess that's just something that can happen when someone outright tells you something like 'Oh yeah, come over and get comfy because I'm about to tell you about when I died'. That's not exactly a normal topic of conversation, you know?"
Laughing a bit herself, the platinum blonde said "OK, point taken, Mike. But, honestly, I just felt it would be best to start to get it off of my chest. Because, like I said, it's a pretty shitty story I have in store for you. Which, I must ask, are you sure you still want to hear it?"
"Well," Mike began before grabbing the glass filled with cold water and taking a sip of and swallowing the cool liquid. "Well, Maryse, the way I see it, I'm already starting my own trip down the vampire rabbit hole after having met you and Melina. So, lay it on me. Whatever'll come with your story, I'm all ears for it."
Like with last time, this sounded genuine coming from the brunette human. And the look on his face seemed to mirror what he said. Maryse almost wanted to say something to question Mike when a voice to her right cut into her thoughts.
"Ooh, a vampire origin story. Mind if I listen in?"
Laughing at the source of the curious voice, Maryse said "Honestly, Damian, you're not even supposed to be in tonight. I thought your shift here was over hours ago."
"Well, my dear Maryse, I just decided to hang around for a bit. Got lucky and got tomorrow off of work, so I figured why not just hang out at one of my favorite places? Besides, Adam doesn't mind that I'm just chilling here for the evening," the bartender responded with a cheeky grin.
Another laugh escaping her, the platinum blonde could only shake her head at her chat with the bartender. "OK then. But, first, can me and Mike here get refills on our drinks?"
"No problem, madame," Damian said with a grin as he went about preparing the same drinks for the pair on the other side of the bar as he did before.
Turning to look at her human companion for the evening, Maryse said "Well, since I've had the chance to get you ready for it, …here it comes, Mike. Here's the story of the night when I died."
So, *laughs a bit* looks like Maryse'll be having another member of her little audience for her story in Club Plasma bartender Damian (Priest, I'll explain about why I decided to include him in a bit). And moving to John and Melina (don't think I forgot about them...couldn't just leave Johnny Lotsa Names and Melina the splits master hanging), looks like John had a good time dancing with his vampire girlfriend and Melina got to have a drink from her beloved (oddly cute). Maybe what Melina hopes for when it comes to Maryse will come to pass. But, will Mike want to stay with the platinum blonde mademoiselle after he hears her story? We shall find out...next time (which hopefully won't take me too long to have finished). Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(Now, in regards to why I decided to include Damian Priest in the story, I have some reasons why: 1) I remember in his Ring of Honor days when he was wrestling under the ring name of Punishment Martinez, he had a gimmick that seemed kinda vampirey when I think about it. 2) I thought he'd be a good character to include who would be a great listening ear in regards to talk about the world of vampires. And 3) ...C'mon, it's Damian Priest we're talking about here. How could you not want to include someone like him in your story?)
(I also didn't mention above, but the Adam I used here was Adam Copeland (better known as the Rated R Superstar, EEEEEEEEEEDGE!). I had just weirdly got the idea to include him, as his days as a member of The Brood (stable of wrestling vampires from years ago (everything about their entrance was a BANGER)) just flew through my thoughts. So, just consider Adam to be a pretty chill vampire who owns a club who's also pretty chill with humans.)
(Stay safe and healthy out there, lovelies, and enjoy the spring weather. *sends much love and many positive vibes out to you all*)