Nicodemus walked through the door of the inn, drawn by the large crowd that had gathered there that night. A caravan from the istan desert had led the weary desert men and women to the last stop on their journey, the city of Balefire, a city known well for it's dark patrons and history. Many creatures of th night lived here, and so lived in fear of attacks.

This fear was what drew him to the tavern, a bunch of newcomers, terrified by the sounds carrying over from the Gloomwood, where demons were as common as birds. In this town nearly anything was possible. Shadows could jump out and pull you in, never to be seen again.

Nicodemus walked in the door of the building, not paid any mind. The room was full of those unable to sleep, having drink after drink. Nicodemus paid them no mind in turn and walked upstairs, to the bedrooms.

Usually, Cordelia didn’t touch inns. She hated them, detested them, and despised them with every last fiber of her being. They weren’t a part of her hunting schedule and only went into one if it was completely necessary. Albeit it wasn’t completely necessary, she had found it necessary enough to come in and sneak up the stairs. She would never admit it, but there were times when she was simply too lazy to actually go out and hunt. It was so easy to pick people off while they were asleep, even if most of the fun was immediately cut out from that. She wasn’t above it, though; food was food as long as the person wasn’t drunk.

She had already killed, leaving the corpse of the woman on the floor of her room. Cordelia had been as quiet as possible, but apparently it hadn’t been enough. It wasn’t like it mattered now, anyway; the woman was dead and Cordelia was full. Blood stained her lips and there were splatters on her coat, although they didn’t really stand out on the fabric because of the already dark red color it was.

Once she left the room, she turned to look down the hall, her eyebrows rising when she saw an only slightly solid being walking. “And I thought by now I’d seen it all,” she said, loud enough for whatever it was to hear – if it could hear – but the statement was overall to herself. “You sure you should be here? You might fall through a bed if you try to lie down.” She folded her arms over her chest and stared at him, eyebrows still raised. It wasn’t the most creative thing she had ever said, but then again, she wasn’t really sure if that was intended to be an insult despite the fact that she had said it in her normal, obnoxious and rude tone.

Nicodemus looked at the woman stupidly, thinking over what she had said. He shook his head. “I'm doing... Same as you... Vampire.” Nicodemus reached out a hand, palm-outwards, and muttered a spell. A stream of pure floated from his palm, floating out towards her. He smiled at her and walked into the room next to him, spotting a sleeping man.

Nicodemus knelt down by the bed and placed one large hand on his chest. The man's eyes fluttered open and he spotted Nicodemus, still adjusting to the room. As his focus came to him, Nicodemus gave a toothy grin, baring pointed teeth.

The man frowned. 'what the...?' Nicodemus recast the spell he had used in the hallway on the vampire. The man's eyes shot open, darting around. His heart raced, hyperventilating. Nicodemus lowered his head and unhinged his jaws, clamping them around the man's mouth.

His eyes went out, leaving two great black pits, and he inhaled deeply, a rattling sound. The room grew colder and a white-gray aura around where the two connected. The man's eyes glazed and his skin paled as Nicodemus fed on his soul.

“I'm doing... Same as you... Vampire.”

“Good for you,” she said sarcastically. “Have fun. I’ll be leaving now.” That was a lie, of course. Cordelia didn’t plan on leaving; she planned on sticking around to see what he was going to do. He didn’t have a solid body, so how could he do the same thing that she did? She wasn’t even sure if he had organs to process whatever it was he needed. At that moment, he cast the spell on her and she bit the inside of her lip, an uneasy feeling coming into her stomach and spanning out through her limbs. She stayed in place, watching him walk into the room.

Even if there was that false feeling of fear, she couldn’t help but want to follow him. Cordelia always had to know what was going on, whether it concerned her or not and despite the fact that it probably wouldn’t be a smart decision. She slinked over to the doorway, making the conscious choice not to breathe as she stood there, watching.

Her eyes went wide when she saw what he was doing. Normally, such a thing wouldn’t really bother her, but with the fear instilled into her there wasn’t much she could do to try and act as usual. She turned out of the doorway and stayed in the hallway, laughing lowly. “You call that vampirism? How absolutely pathetic…” Her voice was forced, do to the fact she wasn’t breathing, and shook slightly because of the spell he had cast upon her.

Nicodemus fed faster, taking more and more. He continued even when the man started to shake, nose and eyes bleeding, rolling back into his head. The man's scarred fingers dug into the bed. Nicodemus slowed and stood up, eyes flickering back to life. His cloak dropped to reveal the tall, skinny form, noose and all.

Nicodemus grinned, lip-less. It looked like someone had simply stretched skin over a skull and cut out a mouth. The man lay on the bed, near-dead. His skin was pale, near-translucent. His hair was white. The man breathed shallowly, in quick bursts. Nicodemus looked on the man with pity and pulled back his newly-solidified hand. He rammed it down, crunching his nose, shoving bone back into his brain. The man relaxed, head turning.

Nicodemus walked from the room, licking the blood from his hand. He chuckled at the vampire. His tongue ran over his lips at her fear. Even if it was magically stimulated, it was equally real. He walked up to her, eyes burning. Overfeeding could have some harm, but it made him stronger.

“Your...turn...”

“Your...turn...”

Cordelia stared at him, eyes widening. It took her a moment to realize what he meant, but once she did there was no way she could allow that. The fear began to crawl around her insides, beneath her skin and causing the hair on the back of her neck to rise. Fear meant either fight or flight to her, and in desperate times she ran, but right now she wasn’t going to sacrifice any of her dignity and act like a coward. With every step he took in her direction, Cordelia took two long strides back, having no difficulty with it because of how tall she was. “That’s where you’re mistaken,” she said lowly, her voice shaking a little bit but not as much as before. “See, only certain people are allowed in my personal bubble, and you’re not one of them. Maybe no one else has fought back, what with how cheap that was… but oh well, too bad for you I suppose.”

She shrugged and finally stopped inching back, putting her shaking hands together so that they weren’t touching but so that there was space between her palms. She muttered an incantation and a sickening, dark green globe began to form in the space. Once it was ready the acidic bolt flew in his direction. Cordelia wasn’t sure how much damage it could do, considering he was ugly enough already, but as long as it did something then she had no problems with it.

Nicodemus watched her fight on the inside, loving every moment. He licked his lips again, getting ready to feed. He wasn't expecting what she told him. His head turned sideways as she spoke. “Cannot...Force...” He said, meaning he didn't know how to really force people to do what he wanted. Usually he fed on the weak, those who were easily intimidated.

Nicodemus watched her casting and recognized the gesture. The part of his face that would have been his eyebrows rose in surprise and he tried to turn away from the acid bolt.

The green ball hit him in the chest, sending him to the ground. An agonized hiss escaped his mouth as he writhed and clawed at the floor on his back. Where the bolt had struck was melting away, showing bone. His back arched and he settled down, laying on his back, breathing heavily.

He tried to speak, but pain kept his words from being recognizable. The demon gasped for air, a shudder racking his body. As the demon equivalent of a child, he was highly sensitive to pain and was somewhat slow-minded.

Cordelia grinned in satisfaction when the acid hit him and sent him back to the ground. That had been far too easy, really. She sighed, almost wishing he could have given more of a fight. For someone who thought he could eat others, he certainly wasn’t powerful at all. A high pitched laugh came from her throat as she stared at him, writhing and clawing at the ground. She walked over to him, each step slow, methodical, and malicious.

She stared down at him, shaking her head and tapping her chin lightly with her index finger. The bones weren’t very attractive; had no one ever told him being thin to such a degree wasn’t healthy? That fear still lingered, fake as it was considering she would never genuinely fear someone so weak, but that would be dealt with in but a moment. “Now, let’s get things straight,” she said slowly. “You’re going to undo that spell. When you do, I’ll heal you. If you don’t, I’ll just step over your pathetic little self and be on my way, leaving you here in this worthless state. I think that’s reasonable, don't you? You should really learn to recognize your betters.” She continued to look down at him, hands falling to rest at her hips as she waited for his decision.

Nicodemus lay there, staring at Cordelia with dim eyes. He was getting stronger, perhaps to the point he could defeat her soon. Soon, but not yet. Nick sighed and lifted a weary, shaky hand and canceled out the spell. He let his hand drop back to the floor and continued his wheezing breaths.

Nicodemus showed no emotion on his face whatsoever. The wound was slowly healing, it had cut off the acid. It was already taking from what he had just fed off of. He was growing paler, more transluscent.

The demon simply stared at her wordlessly, observing everything about her.

Upon feeling the magic drain from her and take the fear along with it, Cordelia nodded in approval. He had made a good choice, even if he hadn’t made it verbally. Then she noticed that the wound where the acid had hit was already beginning to heal itself, and she wondered if she even needed to bother with her part of the deal because of that. She had no problems with just leaving him there and not doing it, considering he had been the one to attack her first and she had no obligation, but she supposed it wouldn’t matter. Mercy wasn’t really her thing, but she had made a deal and it was her turn to uphold her end.

Again she cast the magic, this time using the heal spell on him. Not willing to touch him, she simply pointed her palm down at him to help the rest of the way. “Now I hope you learned something here tonight, whatever your name is… if you even have one.” Her eyebrows lifted at the remembrance of his wispy form and the fact that it was happening once again. “You need to learn respect and you’d better learn it fast, because there are a lot of people much less kind than I. There’s a lot more I can do to you than just that… you're very lucky I opted for the simplest way to end this.” Her blue eyes narrowed, taking on a serious, hateful look.

“Now, where’s my apology, hmm? I think I deserve one.” She took a step away from him and folded her arms over her chest, continuing to stare down at him.

Nicodemus felt the wound heal over and he lay for another moment before standing. He coughed, spewing out the fumes that had taken residence in his lungs. A venomous cloud escaped his lips, but he waved it away. Standing up to his full height, nearly seven feet. “Took...by surprise... You talk... Much.” He smiled at her and swept his cloak around himself. The wound was scarred, a little bit of bone poking out, but it was fine.

“No...apology... Vampire.” He smiled at her. The demon looked at the ground where there was a pile of melted flesh. It was flaking away, blown away by an invisible wind.

“Nicodemus.” He said simply, referring to her earlier comment about a name. “Name... You have?” He said slowly. Had he not been visibly slow, it may have been taken as an insult, how slowly he spoke.

Nicodemus watched the vampire for any further movement, wondering if she would lash out again. He was prepared this time. Under the cloak, his hand moved to seize the dagger strapped underneath.

“Took...by surprise... You talk... Much.”

Her nose wrinkled when he coughed like that. She watched as he stood up, nearly a full foot taller than herself. She huffed lightly at that fact and stared up at him, a defiant look in her eyes when she heard him say that. “Is that a problem? Because if it is, you can just go have yourself a cry in whatever dark corner you live in and then get over it.” she asked. If she talked too much, then that was just too bad for him. Cordelia wasn’t going to keep her mouth shut when she had something to say just so he could spare his precious ears.

“No...apology... Vampire.”

At that, her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth were pulled downward. What was he smiling for? Had he not learned his place? He was beneath her and should have been begging for her forgiveness. She might have forgiven him, considering no harm was done, but now he was slowly losing hope for getting on her good side. “Why not?” she growled, clenching her jaw angrily. How dare he deny her the apology she deserved!

“Name... You have?”

Considering he hadn’t apologized to her, she didn’t see why she should give him her name. He didn’t deserve it. He might have given his, but she didn’t have to give hers. Maybe it was a rule of manners, or whatever it applied to because she wasn’t really sure, but Cordelia often broke the rules and made them more suited to fit her. After a few moments of silence, she decided that it couldn’t hurt to tell him. He certainly didn’t deserve to know, but she could always just rub it in his face that her name was prettier than his was. “Cordelia,” she stated simply. “You didn’t really deserve to know it, but whatever. Maybe you’ll learn.” He did seem slow, after all, so she could at least be a little bit understanding. She thought nothing of it when he reached under his cloak, not going to nitpick about every single thing he did even though that would have been completely characteristic for her to do.

Nick smiled wider at her demanding tone and failed put-downs. He did not have enough experience in this world to recognize any popular sayings yet, and nothing she could have said then would have killed his mood.

He had made her lose her temper a number of times tonight, and had come out of it unharmed and in a pleasant mood. In his eyes, he was the most stable and beter of the two. Even as a creature of such instability, that relied upon the fear of others to survive, he was the saner, more sound of mind of them. That alone should have made him think.

“Nice... meeting you... Cordelia...” He nodded at her pleasantly, chuckling slightly at her words. She was trying to put herself above him, trying to establish a higher rank. In his world, there were predators and prey, food and feeders. He lived by nature and common sense, she lived by dominance and stubbornness.

Nicodemus let his hand slide from his dagger and he began walking by her calmly.

“Nice... meeting you... Cordelia...”

Cordelia whirled around when he began to walk past her. What was wrong with him?! “I didn’t give you permission to leave!” she shrieked. Usually, she wouldn’t have cared whether he stayed or left, but he thought he was better than her! He thought he was better than her and that he didn’t have to speak to her. Oh, no, but it was the other way around. She was the one that was better than him. After all, wouldn’t the better one of the two have won that short little fight? If he thought he was so high and mighty, he should have been able to dodge that acid and he should have been able to at least fight back. She had been generous, after all. “Who do you think you are?” He was no one, absolutely no one, and she was about to knock that ego of his down a few notches. It didn’t matter if she was right or wrong in her assumption, but she didn’t think it was possible for her to be wrong.

“I was talking to you! You didn’t answer my questions and you still didn’t give me the apology I want. A thank you would be nice too. Someone as weak and pathetic as yourself should really be paying attention to who not to make angry.” Cordelia merely stayed in place, not going to make any movement to catch up to him. She shouldn’t have to do that, especially when she hadn’t done anything wrong. People like this always annoyed her, even though they weren’t worth her time. Still, someone had to break them and teach them how to behave properly, and since no one else had ever taken the time to do so it all wound up being up to Cordelia.

Nicodemus stopped where he stood and turned around, murder in his eyes. The woman was bold, yes. But she was quite a rude one. She saw herself above everyone else. But everyone had their flaws. Nicodemus spun around, cloak dropping once more. He raised one arm and started to rapidly cast his spells.

The first was the emotion spell once more, fear again. The second spell, however, was haunting tide. As he casted, a grayish aura enveloped his right arm, getting bigger and bigger as he went. His eyes dimmed and he thrust his arm outwards.

The long-dead souls of his many victims poured from his palm, filling the hallway and rushing out to grasp at Cordelia, to fill her with their horrible memories, memories of pain and hurt, hopelessness and guilt. Nicodemus pulled out his dagger and pointed it at her, letting loose his third spell, ignite. The wastebasket next to her burst into flames, slowly incinerating it.

Nicodemus sneered.

Cordelia began to grind her teeth when he turned to look at her like that. He had no reason to be angry – not when he had been the one to misbehave. She had done nothing wrong; she had been the one to act appropriately, accordingly, or however else one wanted to put it. Someone needed to teach him a lesson and she had no problem doing it.

He was a defiant one, though. She growled when he cast fear upon her once again, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rising because of it. She wasn’t expecting the next spell, though, and her eyes went wide as the fear began to become real. It was unlike her to feel guilt or hopelessness, but those souls were achieving their goal of making her feel something foreign. She cursed softly, then louder again when she saw that fire.

That fear wasn’t fake anymore.

Grunting, she stepped backward, eyes narrowed and chest heaving. Her blue eyes were fixated on the fire, afraid to look away from it if it spread. She didn’t need this! She didn’t need this again! She bit the inside of her lip, scrambling in her mind for the right spells. She muttered the incantation for ‘weaken’ as well as the one for ‘inflict minor wounds’, deciding to safe enervation and gaseous form for when and if she would need them later. “You’re messing with the wrong person,” she warned, voice trembling despite the fact she was being incredibly serious.

She took a few more steps backward, just to stay out of the way of the fire and smoke, as well as to put more distance between them.

Nicodemus hissed as she threw the spells at him, feeling himself tire out. The small wounds opened on his chest, where the second spell had hit him. The hallway was a dead end, the only way for her to escape was through him. Nicodemus drew on the power he had sucked up over the last couple months and pulled a dresser into the hallway, between Cordelia and the exit. He threw another ignite spell on it, creating a wall of fire. Nick threw a minor wounds spell at her and sneered.

“If you want to escape, you'll have to face your fear, vampire.” Nicodemus grinned evilly, eyes aglow. He hadn't said it slowly, hadn't struggled to speak at all. He was there. Nick snapped his wrist and said a word, extending a tendril of solid fire, a whip. He snapped it at one of the men coming up the stairs, clearing up the way out.

Nicodemus exited the hallway, leaving Cordelia and the men to deal with the fire.