Immortal

The Healer (Chapter 6)

Before I even realized it, I had spent all evening at the Blackhound. It was already quite late at night and the bar was packed. I was enjoying a glass of good wine for which I didn't pay and, by then, I couldn't see straight. Feeling numb and giddy meant I'd thankfully forgotten all about the day's events.

"You're good," the beautiful black girl sitting in front of me chirped, grinning. "But I'm sorry to say I've got ya beat this time." With that, she smugly showed me her cards, smacking them against the table. It took me some effort to focus my eyes on the cards displayed in front of me, but eventually I registered that she'd won indeed.

"Lady luck kissed you this time." I smiled. "Quite a promiscuous gal and I like that about her. Wouldn't be fun if she always went f'me." I got up from the booth and headed towards the counter, feeling lightheaded and almost stumbling in the process. "What's it gonna be, princess?"

"A margarita," she replied with a smile.

I'd tagged along with the group of girls from earlier. I had misjudged some of them. The remaining three could hold their liquor pretty well and they were surprisingly good poker players. I had been low key flirting with Dahlia, the one who had just won against me. She was a lean, tall, black haired woman who couldn't be much older than me. She was wearing a beige dress that went beautifully with her dark skin and a black leather vest that I wish I could snatch for myself. Her smile could make me drunkenly swoon over her shallow dimples and those perfect teeth.

"Here you go." I turned around to hand her the drink, but she wasn't there anymore. The other girls shrugged at me when I shot them an inquisitive look.

Straining myself to scan the bar for her gave me a light headache. I finally managed to find her pinned against the wall by no one other than the blond man who'd hit on me earlier. It seemed I had competition. I headed towards him with my head held high and a challenging stare. Now that I was drunk, his smug demeanor ticked me off even more.

"Hey." He turned to look at me, already annoyed by my the interruption. "That's my girl." I shot him a confident and threatening smile, even though he was probably twice my weight.

His annoyed face contorted into an angered expression. "Seriously, this bitch," he muttered. "Don't you have a fucking burger to eat all night? Piss off, blyat!" Yeah, he's definitely Russian.

It was obvious that Dahlia was enjoying the attention from both of us. She was smirking when I glanced over at her. Hell, I didn't expect her to take me so seriously when I said I enjoyed women not always choosing me. I was just dropping hints to make sure she knew I didn't want a relationship. I chuckled internally.

I took the opportunity to grab her by the arm and pull her in for a sloppy kiss, into which she melted like butter. At this point the booze had made me way too open for my own good. Also, in a state like this, I tended to acquire some serious self-destructive tendencies. I never worried about that, though. My pain tolerance was pretty good as long as my adrenaline and alcohol levels were high. Any long term complication, my sober self would gladly accept as some well deserved karma for the now ghostly sins of my remote, hazy past... It was all good because I'd always manage be just careful enough not to get mutilated, blinded or killed.

I could have sworn I saw steam come out of the guy's ears. I braced myself for what I knew was coming. However, instead of feeling his fist against my face, I saw him yank Dahlia back by her vest. I saw him slam her against the wall before turning to look at me again. "Should've known you were a cunt cuz you don't swing my way."

Without thinking, I charged ahead at full speed, elbowing him square in the chest. I got him to stumble back two steps, mostly in surprise.

I felt two arms sneak up under my own but I didn't have time to react before they restrained me. Looking behind, I caught a glimpse of one of of his friends.