H.A.T.E.S (On Hold)

1

"Oh, don't give me that look, Nixen, you knew I had to do it. "

The chocolate eyes narrowed, without a hint of amusement.

"No, you really didn't"

"Yes, I really did. "

Nixen scoffed, rolling said eyes.

"You never have to kill someone."

Eve's eyes trailed from the brunette's face, down through the shaggy carpet that shed little puffs into the air, turning the musty metal room into what looked like an indoor snow storm, down to the slowly-growing puddle of rusty brown-red liquid, crawling towards her like a scorpion, ready to stain anything that stood in its path. The smell of rust, metal, salt that forced itself into her nose churned her stomach violently, and had she kept her sight on the blood any longer, she would have added another less-favorable concoction to the already-revolting liquid. suddenly, she could taste that morning grilled cheese all over again, with a hint of vile. clenching her jaw with revulsion, she forced her eyes away, and back to the teenager, who knelt over a dull-gray trash bin, pouring in a clear odorless liquid from a glass jar. For a moment, she didn't notice Eve looking on her work, or so she thought.

"I can feel you staring at me; didn't anyone ever teach you manners?" She asked dully, without pausing her task or looking away.

"Really?" Crossing her arms, the ivory-haired girl rolled her eyes back, shifting her weight to one foot. Nixen didn't seem to notice her mistake for a moment, and stared with a confused gaze. Then, it hit her like a shot to the head, and the liquid stopped pouring as she seemed to tense, and look away.

"O-oh...sorry..."

"Just shut up." She obeyed, like a naïve little puppy, and continued with her work. The room fell silent for a moment. Then, as if they were one, both pairs of ears perked up. Eve froze, listening to the silence, searching for that one thing that had triggered that reaction.

"There's another one, isn't there?" A twinge of annoyance shot through her spine, and she grunted.

"Yep. You got this?"

"Totally. Since when do I 'not have something'?" Smirking slightly, her uncrossed arms fell out into clenched fists on her sides.

"Fine, just don't get carried away."

"When have I gotten carried away?"

"Well, there was that one time..."

"Shut up." Her mind clicked on something, and, holding her breath, she began to walk stiffly towards the door. So close, almost there....

"Ponytail, remember?' Eyes narrowing, she quickly snatched the rubber band thrown at her from behind.

"F*** you."

"Love you too." The door slammed behind there, and she was alone. Groaning, she pulled her hair back into a mid-ponytail, exposing only a small fraction of her insecurities. Just feeling the hair lift off her back, exposing her neck to the cold of the night; it made her scowl. Alone in the void of the night, filled with the echoes of water drips and the soft chittering of rats and other unseen creatures of the night. But there was something else, something that just didn't feel right, a pinch in the side that wouldn't leave her alone. She knew, any mistake in the hunter's actions couldn't be spared.

She smirked. He had just made a mistake.

"You know, they told me you'd be a challenge." The smirk in his voice was unmistakable.

"Huh, you seem disappointed." A sudden light caught the corner of her eye. Under a spotlight in the corner, mounted on a throne of crates, sat a man, with blond gelled hair flowed down to his shoulders, and black eyes that disappeared into nothing. His expression lit up the second his glare landed on her, and he smirked wider.

"Well well, when they told me I'd be fighting a 'ruthless machine', why, I was expecting a challenge. Not a....full course meal." He practically drooled, his black eyes staring over her body, and began to stalk over to her. She stood her ground. "Well, its official now. Now, I'm hungry."

"Oh, really?"

"Maybe, I should satisfy myself before I kill you..." His mumble just wasn't silent enough.

"Excuse me?" She snapped. He was now only a few feet away. Her eyes couldn't help but scan his body.

"Not bad..." His shirt was tight enough to bring out his bulging muscles, and his shorts were ripped so she could see much more than was desirable. She smirked again, feeling a tense squeeze deep below. It had been so long since... her thoughts trailed off. "I wouldn't mind."

~!~

It wasn't long before he was pushing her backwards, and pinning her to the soft bed of hay in the corner. Roughly, his hand crawled to those areas that everyone knows you should never touch without permission. Without the smallest amount of gentleness, he grasped her gray tee shirt and tore it off of her head, yanking her ponytail out with it. And as you can probably guess, he did things that I wouldn't even dare describe, for the young ones who have broken the rules and decided to read this book (you know who you are).  Once he was done there, he sat up tall, displaying himself like it was something to be proud of. She stared, unamused as he prepared to put the train in the junction.

"This'll be fun...." He sneered, cooing gently as if preparing her for what was to come. Her smile disappeared for half a second, then returned. In a flash, her leg moved from over his shoulder, and her foot was pressed against his chest.

"Sorry." She sneered through his shocked gasp. "Surprisingly enough, I'm still a virgin, and I'm not quite ready to loose that tonight, not with an idiot like you." Gasping rapidly, he stared as, with a low whirring sound, armor seemed to grow from her back, spreading like ants, covering all her areas, but still leaving much to be covered.

~!~

"W-wh..."

"Sorry, you're not really my type anyways."

She kicked.

~~~

Nixen was waiting, as usual, when she returned. Her eyes spotted Eve's fashion choice, which now had a new hue of red splattered onto it, and she gave her a disappointed look.

"Lemme guess...he tried."

"...yep."

"And you let him."

"Naturally."

She scoffed. "I just don't understand why you gotta toy with them like this..."

"Look." Eve snapped. "I don't feel complete, you know this! I'm missing a piece, something to fill me in, I'm lonely. Nothing seems to fill that in, and for some reason, doing that does. Besides...." She smirked. "Its fun to let men let their own guard down, and get them when they're most excited. It crushes them, like a date. They think of us women as a game, a prize, prey. I let them have some hint of glory, before they lose everything. Besides...I'm still a virgin."

Nixen stared for a moment, then smirked. "So, how far did you let him go?"

"Oh, not far at all. He wasn't that good."

"Girl, we have got to get you a man!"

"Hey!" She shoved her playfully. "You know it ain't easy being H.A.T.E.S."

"But we gotta do what we gotta do." Nixen frowned. "I hate the word. H.A.T.E.S." She hissed the word. "Makes us sound horrible."

"Humane Apparitions To-be Exterminated Soon. You ask me, it should be H.A.T.B.E.S"

"Makes sense, but you know them; it's GOTTA be a word." She frowned again, wiping some blood off the metal armor. "Did you hafta kill 'im?"

Eve's jolly expression was gone in a blink. "You know we have to. It's the only way we can live through this. Besides...I never kill someone...."

"Unless they try to kill me first."