Exotic Import

[Arabella Balfour]

The sheltered girl she'd once been, bristled at the display, but was once more drowned out by the ghoul she had become. The passenger door opened and another ghoul spilled out, but did not run. Apparently he thought he could take her without difficulty.

Arabella delicately stepped one foot after the other out of her high heels. She stepped backward, barefoot onto the pavement, watching.. waiting. When he moved to tackle her, she hooked her toe into one discarded shoe and flipped it upward with a savage kick, the heel sticking into his shoulder. She smiled sweetly..

"First blood, mon sucrée.."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: The lead ghoul summoned up courage, realizing he wasn't going to outrun Fiona, and turned to throw a punch at her. She parried with her left hand, and turned it into a grab as she hit him in the nose with a straight lead punch. Behind her, two more ghouls hopped out of the sedan ::

[Arabella Balfour]

From the look of fury on his face, Arabella would wager the money she'd spent on those heels was well worth it. The enraged, but wounded ghoul advanced on her. She tip-toed gracefully backward up on to the sidewalk, always watching. He called her a filthy name and swung a backhanded strike at her, which she ducked under at the last minute, almost pittying him the sound of his bare knuckles ripping across brick.

She stepped under his arm, kicking once more at his chest, sending the heel of her shoe, which he had yet to remove, deeper into his body. She felt it hit bone as he screamed.

Two more ghouls had emerged from the car. They ignored her and went directly after Fiona. Arabella removed the lid of a metal trash can, drew it back to shoulder level sighting the skull of one of the pair. She let it fly, smiling as it hit and the ghoul went down facefirst.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona was distracted by the metallic clang as one of the two ghouls behind her fell. She caught a right hook in the jaw, and the one behind her gave her a nasty dose of pepper spray ::

[Arabella Balfour]

She cursed.. They were not all as stupid as the one still howling behind her. Fiona was temporarily blinded and in pain, two ghouls against her. Still, before Arabella could help her friend, she had to deal with 'Ugly.' One of his shoulders had been rendered useless, and his opposite hand was dripping thick red blood onto the dirty slush of the sidewalk, but he was still coming..

She managed to avoid several more quicker hits from the ghoul, before his bloody hand closed around her throat, yanking her off her feet to him.. He slammed her onto her back on the hood of their car. She was hurt, and weakening quickly, the cold was making her symptoms worse.. Arabella wheezed..

As she lay there, apparently helpless, she turned her face to the side, looking up at her tormentor. Her brown eyes becoming, beseeching.. beguiling.. Her body going soft and pliant.. All the fight leaving her.

"Please...", she whispered softly..

He stopped long enough to take a good long look at the pretty piece of flesh he was about to kill.

It was all she needed, Arabella snapped upright, grabbing the back of his neck and slamming his face into the windsheild repeatedly. He didn't move again..

She did. Gaining her feet she climbed up onto the hood of the car.

"Hey!", she yelled at the two ghouls kicking and hitting Fiona.

They stopped and looked at her and she dove off the roof of the car taking one down onto the slush covered street.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona felt for the other, still blind with pain. Feeling a leg, she tackled the ghoul. The air filled with a shrill rasp of profanity as she bit, clawed, and pounded the stuffing out of him in a red haze ::

[Arabella Balfour]

Despite her best attempt at grace, 'Bella hit the pavement on her knees, the heavy, patterned wool stockings not entirely saving her skin from road burn. Without waiting, she slammed her forehead into the bridge of the stunned ghouls nose, breaking it in a spurt of blood. She rolled off him onto her back, reaching out blindly with her hand, patting around for the can of pepper spray she had just seen go rolling.

She was really getting filthy..

It was despairly cold...

The ghoul was getting up, wiping his face and coming straight for her..

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona's state of grace had disappeared first, and a final smack against the pavement finished off the cause of it. She yelled at the last ghoul, and kicked him in the mouth as he turned ::

[Arabella Balfour]

Her hand moved more frantically looking for the can, and as an accident, it the side, rolling it further away. She dug her bare heels into the pavement and shoved backward, her fingertips reaching, grasping the can at last.

Just as the ghoul crawled over her reaching for her throat, 'Bella brought the can of pepper spray straight up. She discharged the contents at close range into his eyes and at the same time shoved him up. Kicking hard, she caught him in the exposed throat, while he clawed at his face. She had knocked the wind from his trachea and probably crushed part of it, the way he went down after that.

Rising up to her hands and knees, she looked to Fiona.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: They were both disheveled and slush covered, and Fiona walked over to help Bella to her feet ::

[Arabella Balfour]

'Bella accepted the hand up, wincing as her split knee began to feel sensation.

"The hospitality of this place leaves much to be desired.."

She hugged her friend around the neck, filthy as they were. "Eyes ok..?"

[Fiona Devlin]

"They hurt."

:: She walked a bit shakily ::

"I need a bath." she groaned.

[Arabella Balfour]

Tucking her friend's arm around her shoulder, and favoring her own injured leg a bit, they made their way toward Fiona's still shiny and unsullied vehicle.

"Well.. at least we trashed their car." 'Bella's kicked one of the felled bodies to emphasize the fact that she was not pleased at being attacked not twenty minutes after landing..

Filthy, wet and cold, she stopped just short of the car, leaning her head against Fiona's. "I'd be sending the detailing bill to your friend at the airport. Short of us stripping, I see no way of avoiding a mess..."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona pouted, and began to strip ::

(BACK HOME)

:: The two stood in the doorway, and Fiona tried to look inscrutable as Michele greeted them ::

[Arabella Balfour]

Oh this was going to be grand..

It was snowing again.

'Bella was in a slip, carrying her dress. Her shoes were gone. She had blood smeared across her throat, not her own. A sticky thick trail of it had started to drip out from the thick wool stockings, so she had just removed them, and tied them around the cut. She was also wet and smeared gray from street slush. Not exactly the normal standard for the ghoulish beauty..

"Michele is not going to let us in.", she sighed, forlorn...

"I wouldn't..."

[Michele Hawkins]

I hear a knock at the door and I gleefully dart off the couch. I've been worrying about my girls since I got that phone call. A bit of a jam could mean traffic or someone trying to kill them. Ya never know with Fiona.

So I quickly unlock the door and swing it open to find ... Well, um. How to describe it. Two people, who I think I knew, were standing outside like ragged wet animals that got into a cat fight. They were also half naked.

"Ok, I have but one question." I say this with the utmost serious voice I can muster. "Who started the fight?"

Leave it to me to make a funny!

[Fiona Devlin]

"Tyler's goons were following us. I got mad." she sniffed.

:: She scampered inside, hurrying straight to the master bath ::

[Arabella Balfour]

'Bella just stood there, weary and slightly dazed echoing Fiona.

"She.. got mad..", confirming the story.

Letting out a sigh and the remainder of the adrenaline, Arabella finally shook off the attack and tried for some normal behavior.

"The good news is, that they look much worse."

[Michele Hawkins]

"Well, that's good to hear." I step aside and escort Arabella inside. I grab a coat and wrap it around her. "While Fi goes and drowns herself, you can get cleaned up in the other bathroom."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona showered off first, then sank into a hot bubble bath to relax ::