§𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 | 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐬

07.

§tain | chapter seven ~ "I ain't super, birdboy"

Balanced on a silver fork, her teeth sinks all but slowly into the ever so juicy, tender piece of chicken. She wore a neutral face, braids casually falling over one shoulder while she bent over her plate. The perfect picture of innocence. Poised and delicate-like grace. Except for the sauce dribbling onto her bottom lip, her tongue tantalizingly ran over its seam and licked it away, breaking the entire image. Jade was a demon now, all tricks, and cursed with a wicked heart. However, his eyes never left her. A dangerous fascination still lingered there. Curiosity peaked, wrapped in many burning questions.

Dabbing the corners of her mouth with a domino's napkin, Jade finished after two bites. An unlikely human gesture, before pushing her meal towards Rachel - which became the teen's third helping of the night. Dick didn't mind her greediness so much than what the ex-hero killer did next. He found her dull hazel eyes, dull as two copper pennies, glinting in the dim lighting of the room. Jade sent him a wink, dark lashes kissing her pale brown cheek and tilted her head back to drain the rest of the chardonnay sitting in her wineglass. She offered him and Rachel some earlier, but he had politely declined for the both of them. Because for one: Rachel was underage; and two: He antagonized this new veritable attitude she wore like a second skin.

If Jade thought she he's easily fooled, she has lost her touch. She was in the kitchen now, in front of a beat up kitchen hovering before the contents inside. Dick couldn't see much of it since she turned to the counter, he glimpsed her holding a tightly sealed bag. Again, Jade turned where he could not follow what she was doing. But he still heard plastic being torn and liquid filling the glass. Eventually, she swiveled around, crushing the now empty bag. Rivulets of red trickled down and stained her skin.

Memories flooded his overflowing mind. Whereupon an abhorring image formed. Images of Jade and the blood of her victims on her skin after having slain them mercilessly. They sent shivers down his spine. Though Jade didn't seem to care. He recalled how she'd suck on her fingers after they'd fallen dead; as if she were glaring finishing the most delicious meal she ever had. She even did that now, tongue sopping the dark red trails of liquid off her hand like she couldn't wait. Fear settled in him just as it had when she slaughtered. He'd see the look she was wearing, and the cold fire in her eyes. A walking epitome of a monster among society set to kill just for the hell of it. Jade paused long enough to sip from her glass as she was coming to rejoin them at the table. Once she did, a heady scent cut through the air and filled Dick's nose. It wrinkled upon its familiarity, impending his brain like a predator's insatiable hunger.

Blood. She was drinking blood.

With that, it startled him at the horrible realization. His stomach roiled with disgust, but his face betrayed any emotion of a sort. Nothing ever gets past Jade. She flashed him a razor-sharp smile, teeth hideously bloody red. "That wine rarely ever does me any favors, but this-" she held the glass up to the light almost like it were a silent cheers to sating her glaring desire for human flesh and blood.

It fell deathly quiet after that, other than the only sound being the gentle scrapes of their silver forks against the fine china. Jade had long muted the television, however, no one braved to make light conversation. They stuffed their faces instead. Using that mostly as an excuse to remain encompassed by the heavy silence. Except for Gotham's ex-hero-killer. She swirled the contents in her glass and then drank from it rather than enjoy the very meal she must have spent hours preparing. She drank and drank, each sip becoming greedier than the last. It was inhuman, the sight. But the worst of it, though, was how oblivious Rachel seemed to it all. The purple-haired-teen enjoyed her dinner in humble quietude. His gaze flicked to Jade who wore a sly smirk behind her drink.