Blackjack Benjamin

Blackjack Benjamin

Blackjack. The whisper tore through the room as Benjamin 'Blackjack' Runesmone strolled through the room, twirling a blade around his finger. Coolly he dropped it on the bar and took a seat, his leather boots making a unmistakable stomp on the wood of the tavern's floor. "SKYY and Red Bull." His voice was deep and drawled, like he'd smoked one too many, clipped with a true city accent that sounded as if every vowel personally offended him. The bartender flicked her cool gray-blue eyes over his dark tumbling hair still wet from the rain, down his lanky frame, and then back to his face. He watched in amusement as her eyes flatted as she shrank back, but even the eyes she peered into couldn't stop her from looking at him out the corners of her eyes as she prepared his drink.

You see, Benjamin wasn't normal at all. To most they saw his rippling muscles, dark hair and expensive leather jacket. What they didn't see was what this girl just had. His normally lapis lazuli colored eyes were ringed with a thin scarlet band around his pupils, as was the corners of his mouth. After a drink or two he might be able to relax a bit and the fangs that indented his bottom lip might retract.

The girl, a witch he expected from her whispering of 'Goddess' when she slid his drink to him, bristled around him. She felt the predator within him, felt it stirring within his eyes. Ben just smiled and knocked his drink back. Honestly, she didn't need to get those lacy panties of hers in a twist.

You see, Ben didn't hunt humans. He hunted rogue vampires. How else would he have so much power?

"Another, please - you never told me your name, sweet." He smiled at his empty glass and tilted it towards her, cocking an eyebrow. She trembled.

"Amile. My names Amilie." She stammered, snatching his glass from him. Pretty name. Witchy. He crossed his long legs under the bar and peered up at the dark cracked tiles of the ceiling.

"You're Blackjack. The vampire hunter." A man's voice seeped into Ben's mind. He sat up straight, purposely slow in turning to look the man up and down. Unimpressive.

"Yeah. And you are?" His voice sounded slightly annoyed, his city snarl making his pointedly cool words drop a few more degrees.

"Names Mikael. Say, you kill tonight? Another vampire?" The man sounded as if he didn't believe it.

Benjamin smiled to himself and felt that devilish flicker that gave him his nickname stir. You see, as a child Benjamin had threw awful tantrums. Truly awful ones. And as he got older it only worsened, as he powers grew stronger with each one. With each victim. Benjamin stretched on leg out and gave the man a lopsided grin. And then, shit got ugly.

Benjamin lunged with the knife, moving at such a staggering pace it was impossible to keep up. Before anyone had blinked Ben had the man lying on his back, pinned under a Italian boot as a knife kissed his throat. "That I did."

The man was pale. Pathetic. Benjamin released him and flounced back on his seat, knocking the glass back as Mikael stood slowly. Then lunged for Ben. In a move too fast to be legal Benjamin had grabbed the man's hair and slammed him face-first into the bar, then threw him back several feet. Without even turning around Ben took the last drag of his drink then pitched it over his shoulder. Mikael's cry from behind told him he hadn't missed.

Why? Why must people challenge him? Clearly he was the greater opponent, never had he been bested. Not since his first kill. "Beautiful, I'm sorry I broke your glass." He lifted his eyes up to hers and say awe and something like amazement.

"You're Blackjack? You?" She propped her arms up on the bar and leaned forward. Now he got to drink her in.

Her eyes were a shockingly pale green, like sharp slivers of jade. Her hair was coppery tangles, unraveling around her face and from the clips keeping it back. He followed it over her shoulders and down her back, where it stopped at her hips. His eyes trailed down. Short skirt, something metallic. Nice tan legs, the same shade of metallic on her above the knee boots. His eyes went back up. His eyes leveled with her belly button, right where her tight back tank rode up revealing a toned stomach and tiny diamond dangling. Up farther. Nice chest, cleavage barely peaking out of the spills of lace at the plunging neckline. Alright. His eyes were on her pale pink lip-glossed lips when he spoke.

"That's what the say. What about you darling, who you work for?" She tilted her head to the side and licked her lips.

"I don't work for anyone, broke from the Midnights." Ah. She was a witch. Each group of witches served another part of the Shadow Realm and their counterparts did the same. Midnights were the vampires'.

Benjamin smiled at her and leaned in towards her, almost until their lips touched. "That's just too bad. I'd have liked some company I could trust." He brushed his tongue across her bottom lip as he whispered the words then completely drew away, crossing his arms behind his head as if nothing had happened. "Know where Camille is?"