Requiem Run

Chapter 5

I had thought Killian was going to be the worst Runner. I definitely thought that his perverted nature and whole "being a sexy vampire" thing was going to be the worst part of meeting all of these men.

"Hey girl, listen up!"

I was wrong.

"Hey, meat, I'm talking to you!" the man with wolf ears yelled as loudly as he could, as though we weren't two feet away from each other. Normally, I had respect for people that were loud and proud, but this jackass was just getting on my nerves.

"HEY, MEAT!"

He poked me when he said that as well,

"Use my damn name," I said, "I don't know if you're talking to me or have a ham in your pants or something."

"Huh?" Xelsa seemed confused by what I was saying, "What's that... eh, never mind.You know what I am, right?"

"Not in the slightest," I said. Watching the bluster come right out of the man was always a pleasure, especially when I managed to pull it off twice. This time it was only for a second before Xelsa managed to shake it off and kept yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Well, I'm a wolfman!" said Xelsa, "You know what that is?!"

"A - "

"I'll tell ya, anyway!" Xelsa yelled, cutting me off and causing me to flinch back, "I'm a wolfman! That's what happens when a werewolf and a human have a baby!"

"Oh, really?" I said, checking my nails and not looking at him at all, "Interesting."

In truth, it was a little fascinating that there was a difference between the two, and I wondered what they were. Of course, there was no chance I was gonna bother asking this guy about it. As it turned out, I didn't have to.

"Yeah, so I don't have a wolf form," said Xelsa, "But that means I have all the strength and power of a normal werewolf! I could rip you in half with my bare hands!"

"I'd like to see you try, bitch..." I said that as quietly as I could so he wouldn't hear, but his sudden snapping to attention like I had slapped him was clear indication that I had failed in that regard.

"What did you just call me?!" Xelsa said, getting in my face, "Do I look like a girl to you?!"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" I said as I rolled my eyes. Xelsa's face slowly getting redder was going to be my happy place for the rest of the day.

"I oughta slash your throat right now for the disrespect alone, maiden!" said Xelsa, "I'm gonna look forward to ripping you to pieces during the Requiem Run! I'm usually the winner!"

"Usually? Who else wins?" I asked, "Killian?"

Xelsa's face scrunched up and I immediately realized that I had struck a nerve. Still though, Xelsa started shouting again, which was still hurting my ears, which was bad.

"Screw that vampire!" said Xelsa, "He always likes stealing my kills, but I'm not gonna let him get you! You're all mine, you hear me?!"

"I think people in my universe can hear you from how loud you're being!" I said, "Can you please take it down a notch?!"

Xelsa seemed to be shocked that I was talking to him like that. I had a pretty good feeling he hadn't talked to Katie yet, and since the other girls couldn't speak English, he could yell at them to his heart's content.

"Whatever," said Xelsa, "So, according to the rules, I need to take you somewhere, so... you hungry?"

My stomach rumbled in response, despite my attempt to quiet it down and play it off. Xelsa smirked when he heard it - not as smug as Killian's, but only slightly more tolerable.