Dark Nights and Darker Hearts
Category: Stories

The night club was dim lit yet colorful. The neon lights waxing and waning with the beat. Beltane nursed the kamikaze shot in her hand as she scanned the dance area from the bar. She tapped her long black nails against the countertop as she looked for someone suitable, someone who deserved it. Her eyes latched onto such a person. 


The person was male, tall and bulky looking, and he was attempting to manhandle someone in front of him, also male but was more lithe and smaller in appearance. He looked to be trying to push the broader man away. His body language clearly showed that he was not at all interested and the one doing tha manhandling; she could already see how dark the aura around his heart was from here. Bingo! She knocked back her shot and stood up, following the pair with her eyes. She watched the ruffian as he seemed to get into a heated argument with the smaller man before him and proceeded to grab his reluctant partner roughly by the arm, pulling him out through the side door. She followed quickly behind, her hand already reaching for the machete charm hooked to her waist; a handy hiding spell for her weapon gifted to her by Alastor.


She opened the door and peeked around the frame just in time to see the black hearted man slam his intended victim up against the wall of the alleyway behind the club. He looked terrified as he scrambled against his assailant's arm that was holding him off the ground. Beltane’s eyes narrowed and she fully came through the door, letting it slam closed behind her, drawing both figures' attention.


"Tsk, tsk, now I'm all for that kinky sh*t, I don't judge…but tell me if I'm wrong, aren't both of you supposed to be into it?" Beltane asked, leaning lazily against the brick wall beside her, her nails tapping rhythmically against her charm, feeling it slowly grow to size until she was able to curl her hand firmly around the microphone shaped handle.


"F*** off, this doesn't concern you!" The a**hole spat at her. He looked her up and down then and a sick grin graced his lips. "I mean, unless you plan on joining us, dollface," he licked his teeth as he spoke, his gaze hungry and threatening. The man against the wall whimpered pitifully and began struggling again. He was quickly slammed against the wall again. "Shut the f*** up, you goddamn tease!" He leaned forward. "You ain't going nowhere till I've had my fun," he growled. The sound of a nail clicking against metal met his ears and his eyes flickered back to Beltane who was no longer leaning against the wall, but stood pointedly in the middle of the alley with her machete drawn and pointed downward in front of her.


"Awww, I was about to say the same thing to you," She purred before running forward and aiming to strike.


"SH*T!" Big man lost his grip on his victim, who took the opportunity to scurry away and hide around some dumpsters. The villain dodged her blade, his arm shooting out and grabbing her by the throat as she sailed past. He turned quickly and trapped her against the bricks, the hand around her neck sliding down to the center of her chest as he pressed her firmly into the wall.


"Hah, pathetic!" He laughed at her, knocking away the machete. Beltane just smiled at him as he held her there. "What the f*** you smiling about, bitch? I won!" He snarled in her face. He pressed himself up against her with a twisted grin, leaning forward to nuzzle his cheek against the side of her face and reached down to fiddle with the buckle of his pants. Beltane looked down at the motion and then turned her face until her lips were just a hair away from his ear, her smile never wavering.


"But did you? You know, you should never get too close to strangers...you never know who, or what you're getting into!" Her grin widened as her glamor melted away, revealing sallow green skin, curled satyr horns, and very sharp teeth. She took a split second to revel in the look of shock crossing the man's face as he stared into her flaming red eyes before she launched herself forward and buried her teeth into the crook of his neck. The smell of copper filled her nostrils as blood filled her mouth, spilling through the seal of her lips and drenching both of them in blood. The man screamed bloody murder and tried to pull away but Beltane wrapped her legs around his waist, keeping him close to her. 


His grip on her chest disappeared as he fell backwards, desperately shoving at her shoulders to get her off of him. They both tumbled to the ground with Beltane on top, she finally released him and pulled away, admiring the wound she left as it continued to push out blood. Her heart beat seemed to slow at the sight, her breathing deep and guttural. The man, her prey, blinked up at the sky, weakened by the blood loss and possibly concussed by the way the back of his slammed into the concrete after they fell. He tried to gain his bearings but could not will his arms to move.


Beltane reached for her machete that was beside them on the ground. She positioned it with the blade facing down and over his gut. She heard a scuffle to her right and turned to see big man's original intended victim standing there with wide horrified eyes. His eyes then flickered to hers, and she could see the glimmer of gratitude in them...as well as fear, though she could hardly blame him for that.


"Th..thank you, miss!" He said timidly. Beltane scoffed, she could feel the blood that covered the bottom half of her face beginning to dry and cake up and turned away from him.


"I didn't do it for you," she said truthfully. She eyed him from her peripheral one more time. "Now leave….or I may gut you too," she growled lowly. She hears his breath as it hitches and turns back to her prey as she listens to quickly retreating footsteps. She leaned her chin on the hilt of her blade, staring down at the one under her. He was wheezing and struggling for breath, it was lovely.


"Why…why me?" He finally asked her. Her smile was slow and cruel.


"Because your heart is as black as the void meaning you're one of the worst of the worst…and because I want to!" She said with a laugh before slowly sinking her blade down into him. He grunted and jerked as she did so, a bit of blood splattering into the air as he coughed it up. She felt bits of it hitting her face like a sprinkle of rain and grinned as she watched the life drain from his eyes and the black aura around his heart fading with it. She let out a shuddering breath and felt a shiver of relief and peace move through her body. The ache was gone…for now.