Pause, Rewind and Play [James]

[Kimberly McQueen]

[Continuation of Commiserate the Criminal]

8 Hours Later

The smoldering hot water beat down against her skin as the steam rose out from behind the shower curtain. Each drop was pressing down mercilessly into her healing wounds which would have been a welcomed pain if she didn’t remember how it happened. Come to think of it, the last thing Kimberly had remembered was hitting the wet pavement hard after hearing a gunshot. When she woke up, there was diluted blood pooling around her body but there was only a small hole within her shoulder. That had been the third or fourth gunshot to her body in less than twenty-four hours and yet, here she was, standing in the human male’s shower.

After showering for at least a good hour, rinsing off the dried blood from her neck, shoulders and hands, she felt better from it. Kimberly reached down to the nozzles and turned them until the water cut off before she opened the curtain. Stepping out, she reached for one of the towels that had not been used for drying off the human male. She had also taken the liberty of stripping him down to his boxers and taking his damp clothes to hang them up. Wrapping the towel around her slender frame, she opened the door from the bathroom and entered into his small apartment.

It had not taken her long to explore the entire thing with the small toy-thing at her heels the entire time. Kimberly had closed the curtains to block out the intruding sun just as she knew it would bother him if it touched him. The infection had begun its process and it should have been complete by now, but she could not be certain. With a long sigh, Kimberly turned on her heel before shooing away the toy-thing from following her any longer. As she entered into the master bedroom, her eyes pierced through the darkness towards the bed were she bee lined to. Reaching down, she placed her hand on top of his forehead where she had brushed back his hair from his face.

At least the fever had broken, now he would probably wake up with a skull splitting headache. Sitting herself down on the side of the bed, she watched him for a moment sleeping off the affects of what she had done. Kimberly had not bothered to check the patched up wound she had inflicted on his shoulder. It would heal in due time on its own because she sensed that he was now more than a human. She had changed him, infected him with her venom and now…he was her responsibility.

“Well you deserved it…” She muttered, as she started to pull back to find some clothes that she could steal from him. "You tried to kill me..."

[james]

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
when we have shuffled off this mortal coil

James was not the kind to get ill frequently, so he did not compare the current discomfort with the symptoms of sickness; instead, he contrasted the weight upon his chest with having a fat person sitting on him. No matter how deep he inhaled, his lungs did not seem to fill up entirely, leaving him winded. Yawning as he inhaled, his head tilted to the side, where the sharp pain he felt not only cause him to groan, but started a chain of subsequent aches throughout his lithe frame. The muscle-deep damage to his neck took centre stage, but was followed closely behind by the dull ache in his forebrain. Flinching, he focused on the other parts of his body to evaluate the damage; luckily it was not as bad as he expected it to be.

James was far too skilful in his trade to be caught in a bad situation as he had been the previous evening, and had it not been for the physical evidence he may not have believed what had happened. Despite the corporeal ache, everything else felt relatively pleasant. Testing his limbs, he moved lifted his right leg off the mattress and pressed his heel into it, only to feel constricted by the material at his hips. Grimacing, he reached for his groin and rearranged himself, noticing he was covered by the upper bedding layer of his own bed.

What the fuck... he grunted, voice raspy. Peering with a single eye, he groaned once more as he reached for his head, covering his eyes as the headache magnified significantly. Yawning, he turned his head towards the noise and stared at the blurry figure that was standing not so far from him.

Who the fuck are you?

[Kimberly McQueen]

Just as she started pulling away in search of something more than a towel to wear, she heard him. She didn’t necessarily need to confirm that he was now coming to reality since the rustling of the sheets was evidence enough. Without paying much attention to him grumble cursory words, she tiptoed to the dresser. Kimberly took the liberty of shifting through a couple of T-shirts until she found a black one with some kind of band logo on it and a pair of oversized shorts. Well, at least she knew he had clothes to fit a giant but she wouldn’t outwardly complain since she needed these until her clothes dried.

“I bet it feels like your skull is going to split in two…” Kimberly ignored his question as she dropped the towel. Slipping into the pair of shorts first, she tightened the drawstring as far as it would. Though they were still baggy around her slender hips, they remained there when she let go of the elastic. “I do hope it hurts…”

Kimberly followed the shorts with the shirt that had caught her interest. As she pulled the shirt over her head, she found a small comfortable chair that she settled into. Distance seemed to be the best remedy for him right now until he was coherent enough to have a civil discussion with her. There was also no point in being coddling towards him either given the present circumstances.

“Shut the hell up.” Kimberly tilted her head when she finished her demand from him. Getting up from the chair, she walked over to the bed and placed herself on the farthest side from him. Just in case he tried to attack her again, she would be able to react within seconds whether it be closing the gap between them or distancing herself again. More importantly, Kimberly breathed in deeply before rolling back her shoulders as she changed her tone. “Now that you are somewhat quiet, listen to what I have to say...it may save your life.”

Leaning one arm out, Kimberly shifted her weight upon it as she glanced at his face to his shoulder. The blood was soaked through the patchwork she had done earlier in the morning before her shower. With a grimace, she turned her attention away from his wound until she could finish explaining the basics. "Last night you tried to kill me but without thinking, I infected you with a virus--of sorts. You are not dead like a vampire, when in fact, you still have a heartbeat. You are a hybrid--or will become one soon. Now, here's the deal. I don't care if you hate me right now, because if you don't listen to me, you won't last long. Got it?"

[james]

It didn’t matter that she did not answer his question, he was merely coming to and any reply would have surely evaded him. Groaning, he tilted his head so that he was staring straight up at the ceiling again, his hand poking about at the source of the pain on his neck and shoulder. Without much thought, he ripped the makeshift—well, whatever it was meant to be he concluded as he lifted it up into his line of sight before tossing it onto the bed. Grimacing, he rolled slightly onto his right towards the edge of the bed so that he could gain leverage and sit up; once he did, James leaned heavily with his back to the wall. Flaring his nostrils as he blinked his vision into focused, he lowered his dazed gaze to his bare body, expecting to find it beaten and battered. Lo and behold, what he found wasn’t far from what he had expected.

Goddamn it... he muttered, leaning his head back against the wall and swallowing thickly. Sniffling, he peered down at her when she was done yapping away at him and sighed. Slouching into the wall, he glanced around at his surroundings before looking back at her groggily, Listen, whatever it is you are on about, I don't care...

James reached up to his face and smothered it as he attempted to wipe off the sleepiness from his eyes; he needed to collect himself. Furrowing his brow, he cleared his throat and reached back over his head to scratch between his shoulder blades as he prepared himself to get out of bed.

[Kimberly McQueen]

That was an absolute waste of time.

Taking advantage of the comfort she felt delved back into the chair, she indistinctively brought her knees to her chest. Tilting her head to one side, her long blonde hair also fell past her shoulders in the same direction. Kimberly watched him for a moment before turning her attention away to the window that was blocking the harsh sun. She would have left during the daylight hours wearing his clothes but she couldn’t leave. This was some kind of hideous mess that she had gotten herself into and now she was preparing to deal with it.

“Oh you will care.” Kimberly commented. Holding her hand out in front of her face, she critiqued her growing nails that had been trimmed to perfection as of last week. She made a face towards the back of her hand before her gaze focused back on the human male. Perking a slender eyebrow, she sighed and dropped her hand down to her lap. “Most importantly, I need to know your name.”

When he didn’t outright give her his name, she stood up from the chair and walked from the bedroom. Kimberly made her way towards the bathroom, flipped the light switch and then entered inside. Stopping in front of the mirror, she ran her hands through her still damp hair before letting her nails grow a few more inches. Using her makeshift claws, she straightened her hair out for a few minutes while he did what he needed. She had dropped a bomb on him right as he had waken up.

Turning back around she went towards the opening of the door and leaned against the frame. Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned her head out slightly to see if he had followed her. “I’m sure you don’t exactly remember what happened last night. I’ll tell you starting with how you shot me three or four times…”

[james]

Whoever this bitch was, she was gravely overstepping the line; not only by being here uninvited, but also being so damned patronizing. James was not a child, he had not been for a long time, and to have a stranger, let alone a woman, tell him what he should care about was not the finest manner to garner his interest. Making his way to his open closet, he glanced over his shoulder to look at the clothes she was wearing, then muttered a string of curses under his breath.

He reached into various nooks as he looked for something to cover himself up. Unravelling a black wife beater from the top drawer, he pulled it over his head and shot a glance her way as she walked passed him and into the bathroom. He was a man who valued his privacy, which was exactly why he never brought any girls home; he hated the way they imposed themselves after a few rolls in between the sheets. James had no interest in her business there, and thus preoccupied himself with finding a pants.

“I remember what happened last night, but it seems you forgot to start your little story off with how you went Hannibal on me after stalking me home,” he replied curtly, gaze fixed upon his hands as he buttoned up and zipped the pair of sandblasted jeans at his hips. Clearing his throat, he momentarily turned to face the bathroom door, reaching to his hair to scratch as he continued to speak regardless on whether she was going to reply.

“Oh, and before you continue with your little fairytale...” he dropped his arm and motioned with his hands, complimenting his insulting tone with jazz hands which conveyed his opinion on the whole thing. This was crazy talk, utter bullshit, and he was being subjected to it in his own home. Fuck yeah he had shot her, but clearly it hadn't worked. As much as he recalled doing so, he didn’t understand why she was still here... In fact, the bitch should have been dead, face-down in the street.

Fuck, he needed a goddamned smoke.

“...why don’t you tell me how, despite my efforts, you aren’t rotting away in silence, hm?” This time his tone was patronizing and mocking, as if he was talking to a child or a lunatic, questioning the flawed logic of their unfounded notions. Scoffing mutedly, James made his way towards the dresser that sat along the wall opposite his bed, between the two windows.

Reaching into the second drawer, he took out a pack of cigarettes and lighter as reached for the venetian blinds with his free hand. Pulling on the string to open them, he groaned as the bright light rays cut through the partial darkness. The sun was still up in the sky, but it was sufficiently low that he recognized it was late afternoon. Licking the corner of his lip, he popped open the window and leaned against the sill, then manoeuvred a cigarette to his lips and lit up.

Tobacco; it was not as good as Mary Jane, but he’d be damned if he was to roll the finest blend with her around. No, all James could hope for was for the female to make her way without causing him any more grief. Nevertheless, women were a constant source of misery, so he braced himself for the worse, taking a deep breath of fresh air as the golden, afternoon rays shone onto his covered back.

[Kimberly McQueen]

Kimberly remained leaned against the wooden frame of the bathroom door with her arms crossed over her chest. Her gaze studied the floorboards and each straight line that followed down to the base of the wall. Dealing with this human was starting to bother her enough where she could feel a tension headache forming. As much as she enjoyed being immortal, there were some things from humans that she could never rid of. Though she could handle more than the average human, this situation at hand was starting to take its toll on her sanity.

Looking upwards from the floor boards, her gaze steadied on him when he was searching for a pack of cigarettes. Kimberly scoffed when she noticed another human vice that haunted around this twisted individual. Guns, cigarettes and alcohol seemed to control the city that she had to stay in until her assignment was over. With a long disappointed sigh, she remained where she was standing to avoid the mid-afternoon heat of the sun. She would have hissed but that would have given it away that the afternoon was the worst time of day for her.

“For the same reason you aren’t face down as well.” Kimberly replied. “But you don’t seem to care either way, so why does it matter if I’m dead or not?”

There was no point trying to explain something to him if he wasn’t willing to accept any of what she said. Perking her eyebrows, she dropped her arms from her chest and pushed up from the frame. She walked a little farther out of the bathroom but remained out of the way of the window. As powerful as she was, there was always something that would hurt her. “I can’t leave until my clothes are dry and after that, I’ll be gone.” She muttered, as she watched him from a distance.

“What’s your name?” Kimberly questioned again. She really didn’t know why she cared to ask since she would not be bothering him much longer. Instead, she would watch him from a distance and intervene when it was needed.

[james]

James merely huffed at her retort, not willing to let his composure falter before her very eyes. Now that he thought about it though, he didn’t remember coming back up here, let alone cleaning himself up. Alright so he was running his mouth without taking much into consideration, but who could blame him? Was he not just fulfilling the stereotypical expectations of men anyways? Shrugging lightly at her then, he pulled the cigarette away from his mouth and played with the smoke for a few seconds before inhaling it into his lungs. One day he’d die a gruesome, bloody death that involved hacking up his lungs; he was betting his Jacks and his Queens on it.

Releasing the smoke into the heavy afternoon air, he squinted one eye and glanced out the window, straight into the sun. He revelled in its warmth as he glanced down at the passing cars below; the pavements and buildings were still dark from the rainfall. Lifting his cigarette back to his lips as she inquired about his name, he pushed himself off the sill as Chapie meandered into the room whining. Had she been out yet? What time was it? Groaning as he reached down for the dog’s underside, James set the cigarette into the ashtray.

“What does it matter what my name is? You’re leaving once your clothes are dry, aren’t you?”

Lowering his face to the squirming little dog pressed to his chest, James puckered up, “Oh yes, she is leaving, isn’t she? Isn’t she, Chapie? Oh, who’s a good doggie? Who’s a good doggie? Yes you are, you are good doggie. Want to go for a walk? Want to go walkies? ”

Reaching for his cigarette before leaning forward to set the dog down, James glanced up at her.

“I’m taking her down. You better be ready to leave by the time I’m back, or already gone...”

Making his way around the side of his bed to salvage a pair of leather flip flops from under the mattress, he reached for his wallet off the dresser

“If you are so curious about me, you should have just checked the wallet, darling.”

And with that, he made his way out of the room, cigarette in hand, flip flops dragging noisily against the ground as the dog yipped at his feet. A few sounds could be heard from the other room as he reached for the keys and the leash. Ruffling through the plastic bag from the previous night, he pulled out a few sticks of beef jerky out of the packet as he held onto the leash with his free hand and set his cigarette between his lips. And then he was gone, the heavy door shutting heavily behind him.

[Kimberly McQueen]

“I doubt it’s the last you’ll be seeing of me.” Kimberly retorted.

From where she stood, she watched her newest child for a moment trying to figure out what she was going to do about this. On one hand, she could make the whole situation disappear in a moment by snapping his neck or she could wait until Viktor came. If she killed him right now, she could at least attempt to make it look like a robbery but living with the fact she killed a human would haunt her. Frowning, Kimberly found herself spacing out as he started talking to the toy-dog thing that he named “Chapie.” It was very apparent that this wasn’t going to be a smooth ride until Viktor could assess the situation.

When she heard him talking to her, she looked towards him with an amused stare when he told her she had to be gone. What was he going to do? Put another bullet in her? Kimberly almost laughed when she thought about the irony of that thought. She wondered how long it would take him to figure out that she wasn’t dying anytime soon and he would need her help sooner or later. It would probably be by the next full moon. He was a new fledging werewolf, there would be no way he could control the change.

“I don’t need your wallet to tell me who you are.”

As soon as she heard the door shut, Kimberly turned her attention towards the open curtain. As she maneuvered towards it without hurting herself, she closed the curtains to shield from the sun. It would only be a matter of time before she could walk outside tonight and she would go about her merry way. Since he was going to be difficult on giving her information about himself, she would just have to find it. Before she could do that, she would need to get her clothes. Within a matter of minutes, Kimberly dressed herself in yesterday’s clothing which still were a little damp.

After looking for about ten minutes, she found a piece of paper and pen. Scrawling down the words she needed to leave him with, she set down the pen next to it and then walked towards the door. Without looking back, she closed the door behind her with a loud thud before walking down the staircase she had spent most of her night fighting on into the busy streets.

It’s not the last you’ll be hearing from me. Oh, and have a great full moon!