Bored at Night

James listened to Irene's reply, but was a lot calmer after he had heard her say her reasoning. It didn't seem like she wanted to kill him, just wanted to 'capture' him. He did put up a good fight, but he did think he was going to die the way she was talking. He looked at her, hand still clenched around his throat. "Well, now that you have caught me, how about letting me go?" He asked her, already knowing the answer although he was lenient about running if she had let him go. Hearing her reasoning somehow made him want to stay, but he wasn't sure.

Irene could let him go, but she wasn't sure if she should. She had worked very hard to get him, and letting him go felt like letting go of an expensive prize. However, she wasn't sure how she should proceed if she didn't let him go. She could make him sit down and keep on talking, but she knew it wouldn't be the same thing. But what could she do with her new prize? She wasn't going to feed of him, she wasn't going to kill him, she couldn't compel him... For the first time she could remember, she had no idea what to do.

"Not really, no... Still not sure as to what I'm going to do with you. Any ideas?" She asked, smirking.

He looked down at her as his throat was still grasped by the vampire's hand, and didn't know what she was going to do to him. Turning him wouldn't solve anything, except for a realllly mad witch with a vendetta, and he wouldn't enjoy being a vampire. As she began talking, and came out with a complete blank on what to do, he started thinking of a few things that he could say to get him out of the predicament of getting his throat torn out. "Well. No, not at the moment. But, how about letting me go so we can discuss the matter of my life with my throat still intact."

"Matter of your life?" Irene asked, truly puzzled by his reply. She didn't plan on killing him, it had never been her intention, not even when she first started their fight. It would get her nothing, not even a little bit of fun. Dealing with the results of a kill was not fun at all.

"And don't worry, I don't plan on doing anything to your throat." She explained, wondering how he had ever gotten that impression. If she wanted to kill him or hurt him, she would have done so a long time ago.

He looked at her, rather relieved by her reply. He wasn't sure what would have happened to him before she said that. "Well that is rather kind of you." He said, in between breathes as she continued to have her hand on his throat. "Well then how about releasing me so we can talk?" James didn't know what she wanted, even though she said she never knew, he didn't really believe her.

Irene was starting to get a bit annoyed by his requests that she let him go, but she was thankful that he wasn't screaming or anything like that. She hated it when they struggled, it made everything much harder and messier than what they needed to be. So for that she was thankful.

She then realized that he seemed to be having a bit of difficulty talking. She was being very careful not to interfere on his breathing, but as it had been a long time since she had had to worry about things like that, she supposed that should check. "Am making it hard for you to breathe?" She asked, her voice changing to a slightly more caring one.

As his throat was released, he began rubbing it with his right hand, the one that had the vial in it before, attempting to make it a little less sore. It wasn't that it really hurt, moreso that she was squeezing it a little hard, making his voice a tad scratchy. "No, not especially." He told her, replying to her caring comment from a vampire. He stood up and took a glance around to the nearby humans. "Why come in here when you were bored? There must be night clubs located around the town"

With a small sigh, Irene looked around to see if anyone had gotten suspicious, but saw only the bartender who she had forgotten to release from compulsion. "Go back to work." She compelled him, her voice once again cold and slightly annoyed.

"I wasn't in the mood for anything else. And I was having fun until you decided to leave." She told him, giving a special irritated emphasis on the last sentence.

He continued to rub his throat for several seconds after she had glanced around before he stopped and looked at her, as she turned her attention back to him. "Well, you didn't really give me much of a choice. Either stay here and continue talking about blood, or to leave. Apparently I had chosen the wrong answer, and the chase ensued." He said back to her as he glanced to the bartender going back to work, "Why don't you just release him of the compulsion, instead of layering it on thick?"

Irene took a second to ponder about James' question. Compelling people was so automatic to her that she didn't even realize all the times she was doing it. Sometimes she just wanted something from a human, like a drink, and instead of asking she compelled the person, even though she didn't always mean to.

"Compelling is easier. It can be a bit... problematic, though." Irene told him, having to hide a small laugh as she remembered all the kinds of trouble, most of them funny from her point of view, that compulsion could cause, mostly if it was used sloppily or carelessly.

James brought his arms down to his side once his throat had halted the pain. He slid one into his pocket, letting the other one hang at his side as Irene began replying to his compulsion question. He did not know why they had to compel for the fun of it, just being bored. He would be able to find atleast something to do if he had been a vampire. "Well yeah. If used too much it could probably cause brain damage of some kind, seeing as how it is affecting the brain and the memories of the person most of the time."

Irene's eyes followed the movement of James' hand, suspiciously. She had been sloppy before, she wasn't going to do it again. But she knew she couldn't be completely paranoid, otherwise she would be able to get out of her house or do anything else, so she just decided to relax a bit and turn her attention back to their conversation, which seemed to be taking an interesting path once again.

"I was actually thinking about other problems, but I suppose there could be some brain damage." Irene replied. "I was thinking about the never ending thing. For example, if a vampire compelled a human to play videogames, they'd play videogames until they died."

"Oh yea, those problems..." He said, voice trailing off at the end as she looked at him with her forest green eyes that actually seemed quite mystical, ironic that she is a vampire. He proceeded to take a glance at the clock that was hanging in the Grill and knew that he had to be going, but he didn't really want to in case it turned into another somewhat blood bath, for the vampire.

Irene's eyes followed James' as he glanced at the clock. She knew what that meant, and she didn't like it. At all. If he went away, then she'd be alone and bored again. Irene wouldn't let that happen, not after all what she had gone through to avoid being alone and bored.

"Don't even think about it!" Irene hissed.

he began smirking as she commented on his glance to the clock. He needed to get home, but it didn't appear like Irene wanted to let him walk out. But what he didn't seem to get is why she needed someone to talk to to have fun with. There were a few clubs around the town and he was sure she had a few 'friends' she could talk to besides him, a human. "Yea, I know. I try to run again and you catch me, lived through it before."

"Then you know better than trying." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Irene didn't want to leave any room for arguing or interpretation. She didn't want him to leave, and she wasn't going to let him leave.

A small part of her brain was telling her that she shouldn't be doing that, but she shoved that little voice back to the corner of her mind. That was the part of her that controlled her when she wasn't on hunter mode, but it never lasted long. In less than a year she snapped back into full-blown vampire/hunter mode, acting on instinct and killing with no hesitation or regret. And those phases lasted decades, sometimes almost a century. Getting her back on the right track was no easy task, and one on which no one had ever fully succeeded.

He sighed at her statement. It was true, he knew better then to try the same thing twice, especially on a vampire who was god knows how old, and much stronger then him. He took a second glance at the clock before walking back over to the bar and ordering yet another glass of scotch.. No, whiskey. It was about time for the hard stuff. As the bartender was pouring it, and Irene was distracted, James took a small piece of vervain out of his necklace and then slid it into his drink as it was served to him, and he proceeded to take a sip, being sure to stay away from the area that had the vervain.

Irene was getting a bit frustrated. When she had started the whole chase, she had imagined herself with James, who, though terrified, was having fun with her. That had been her goal the whole time, to have fun, and she wasn't managing to do so. The truth was that she was out of ideas. None of her usual after-hunt activities were an option, leaving her at a loss as to what she should do.

"I'm still waiting for ideas, you know." Irene said, maybe louder than she had intended to.

James soon turned to her, taking another slight sip of his whiskey that had been poured a few minutes before, finally replying to Irene's statement. "Well I am sure you will figure something out, I'm not one for vampire fetishes or anything like that" Followed by a smirk, and another drink. The vervain was still floating in the glass as the liquid made rather small waves as it moved around. He watched as she sat there, and then brought his drink up and splashed it in her direction, vervain continuing to stay within the confines of the liquid.

Irene couldn't remember the last time she had gone from frustrated to enraged so fast. To angry, yes, almost everyday, but to enraged, that was a completely different matter. The only thing that was keeping her from just snapping his neck was the respect she had for him. But she didn't know for how long that would keep her in line. One more attack, maybe, or ten. It would all depend on her mood.

She managed to dodge most of the vervain, but not all of it. Some drops still fell on Irene's skin, and that was enough to make her reach out for James' neck once again.

James knew that there would be another grasp for his already weakened neck, it was only a matter of time, and it seemed that time was then. The vervain that he had put into the drink was continued to stay on his hand as a sort of residue, which he then used to reach and grab her wrist before it could reach him. Since he had only one wrist still in commission, that was all he could do. James then flung her wrist down to the bar counter top before turning around and heading for the door.

There was no way he was going to get away. That was all Irene could think about as she watched herself be defeated - again - by a human. The only explanation she could come up with was that she was being too nice. She should have wounded him the first chance she got, but she was trying to play nice Irene. However, there was little left of nice Irene in her now. She was very angry, and that was not something pretty to be seen.

She ran after James, her fangs starting to show. The only thing that was keeping her from letting them completely out was the awareness that there were uncompelled people in the Grill. She didn't want to make a giant scene, not yet, at least.

This time, she went for his elbows, wanting to immobilize him as she pinned him against the wall. Fourth or fifth time was sure to be a charm, or so she hoped.

James continued running, even when he noticed Irene out of the corner of his eye. If anything, he picked up the pace when her fangs elongated, he knew that if he did not continue then he probably wouldn't make it out alive after that last stunt that he pulled with the vervain. But, she had soon pinned him against the wall that was a few feet from the swinging doors of the Grill. He thought he would have been able to get away, but apparently not. His gaze was now forced to the wall, and he didn't dare move it in case the Vampire would decapitate him right there. He was able, however, to look to the corner of his eyes at some of the people in the grill who seemed to be watching their 'rough play' almost in the center of the room. "C'mon now, Irene. How about we pick this up at a later date?"

Irene couldn't put it off. She could feel people's gaze on them, but she just couldn't make herself let James go. She was so angry and her instincts were so active that she just couldn't take control of herself enough to let go of him and spare herself a lot of compelling. She just couldn't.

But she wouldn't bite him, not there at the Grill, at least. The thing was, she didn't want to bite him. It didn't matter how angry she got, she just didn't feel the usual urge to tear out his aorta. Irene would never admit that anyone, though. The mere thought that she might be becoming more human creeped her out.

"No. Now." Irene hissed, allowing her fangs to show a little bit more.

The pressure continued to be pressed against his arms and back as she kept him pinned to the wall of the Grill. James was able to maneuver his head around as he saw Irene's face out of the corner of his eye. The reasons were lost to him as why she wasn't killing him at that moment. He had tortured her with vervain and tried to get away multiple times without success.

"So why not kill me, then? I thought you would have by now." He asked her as his head went back to facing the wall so he would not be able to see whether or not what the Vampire was thinking, or planning on doing.