Surprises Don't Surpise Me Anymore ... They Piss Me Off

I sat on the bar counter, looking on as hours passed by. I stood up finally at around nine o' clock and yelled, "Okay fucktards, time to clear out of my bar ... now!" I said, quirking an eyebrow. I noticed Katherine and walked over to her and said, "Of course you can stay though," I said to Katherine. I had gotten over the fact that he looks exactly like Elena. They aren't the only Dopplegangers in the world. "Would you like a drink on the house?" I asked her with a smile.

Katherine had taken a liking to Fangs and Games since the first time she'd gone in. It was a pleasant place, she thought, but not pleasant in the way most people would describe pleasantry. Katherine didn't like those bars where they played pop music and didn't serve anything stronger than a beer. No, she liked places more like Fangs and Games, and she was realizing that they were getting harder and harder to find.

"What do you think?" She replied, smirking. She hardly ever said no to a drink, much less a drink on the house.

I smirked at Katherine and said, "I'll go stir us up some Magaritas," I said, using my speed to get behind the counter. I continued to use my speed to shake the Alcohol and the Mixers together. It got the job done quicker, and plus it makes it look flashy and badass. I sped back right in front of Katherine and said, "One Magarita on the house." Pam said, smiling at Katherine and said, "I got one of my Sheriffs a new worker. His name is Scott McCall. He became a Hybrid a few days ago,"

Scott McCall? Why did that name sound so familiar? Then it hit her. That was the hybrid she was supposed to recruit for Royce. But if he was working for the Authority, it was going to be much harder to get to him. They could be rather convincing. While Katherine's mind was filled with concern and a tinge of fear for her life - she was pretty sure she could be killed for not doing her job properly, which was one of the few things that discouraged her from taking it - she forced herself to remain calm and take a sip from her Margarita. "You sure know how to make Margaritas." Katherine raised an eyebrow, honestly impressed.

"Hybrids can be very unreliable. Because of the whole sire bond thing, you know?" She needed to discourage Pam from letting the hybrid continue to work if she wanted to be able to recruit him.

I smiled at Katherine and said, "Well, when you worked at a Brothel in the 1900s, you tend to pick stuff," I said, laughing. I groaned and said, "Tell me about it. It's so fucking annoying. The "I'm loyal to person who made me," bullshit gets so annoying, but trust me when I say this. This Hybrid is not Sired to his Maker. He doesn't even know who i the hell turned him, and doesn't rant on about the Sire bullshit like other Hybrids do," I said, rolling my eyes, while taking a drink of my Magarita. "Ugh, fucking slobs! Next time I see the person who spilled their drink, I'm gonna have so much fun down in the torture chamber," I groaned, gesturing to the spill on the floor. It was of course, it was Tru Blood. I avoid the stuff as much as possible and tend to my donors and blood bags downstairs in the torture chamber. This place reminded me so much like Fangtasia, but this place was so much better, sadly. The Torture chamber has been, as Humans say, "Pimped out".

A hybrid that wasn't sired to its maker? That was something Katherine had never heard of and which came at a rather inconvenient time. What else could be said about hybrids that was bad? Nothing. They were enhanced vampires in almost every way, so what could Katherine possibly say? Only that she had a very strong feeling that she was screwed. She needed Scott to join Russel or her life could very well be in danger. She'd come up with a plan, Katherine promised herself.

"I thought all hybrids were sired." Katherine commented absentmindedly. "Maybe he just doesn't know about it yet."

"You have a torture chamber?" That was something Katherine hadn't seen in years - not a real torture chamber, anyway. She'd seen plenty of adapted ones. She'd love to see one of those again, and that showed clearly in her voice. "I thought they didn't make them anymore. Something about it being unethical or some other bullshit."

I chuckled at Katherine and said, "I thought so to, but obviously this Hybrid is defected or something like that," I said, taking a drink of my luscious Margarita. I smirked at Katherine and said, "They did, but call me old fashioned. If someone fucks with me, they get struck by their privates and get beaten to death," I said seductively. "Well, politics and I don't mix, so they can shove it where the sun don't shine, 'cause I don't really give a rat's ass," I said, laughing. "I may not be a Sanguilist, but I do have my quirks," I said, taking a drink of my alcohol again.

"It worked out well in the end for you." Katherine had to control herself not to mutter the words. She couldn't have Pam be suspicious of her, especially not when it came to the hybrid. If word got out that he was being sought out by people working against the Authority, Katherine wouldn't stand a chance to get the boy, and so she wouldn't stand a chance to save her life.

"I couldn't agree more. People these days are so soft and forgiving." Katherine rolled her eyes. "Someone tries to kill them and next thing you know they're both having a drink together. They're getting more stupid. Besides, what's not to like in a torture chamber?" Katherine let a small smirk form on her face.

I am like Katherine more and more with her presence being in the room, I thought to myself, giving her a smirk. "I just realized how much we have in common. Would you like to go in my torture chamber, and indulge ourselves by torturing Virgins?" I asked somewhat eager. I needed someone to torture, especially after the shit that happened here today.

Katherine nodded, a small, cruel smile starting to form on her lips. It'd been quite a while since she'd last tortured anyone, and she missed it. The last few years had been spent with her manipulating people to get what she needed and wanted, but as she thought about it, she couldn't remember torturing anyone meanwhile. She really needed to catch up with her torturing.

"What are modern torture chambers like?" She asked as she got up from her seat, quickly finishing her Margarita.

I laughed and said, "Oh trust me, This Torture chamber is more modern than anything," I said, kicking the door open to the basement. I made it all Panic Room like to make the Humans actually panic and go insane and it actually worked. My eight inch stiletto heels clanked against the metal flooring. I turned on the lights showing a rather marvelous sight. Five Humans who were all male, were strung up by their junk, with blood all over their battered bodies. "Katherine, I'd like you to meet Gary, Jimmy, Phil, Marcus, and Greg." I said nonchalantly with a smirk. "Gary has mouth, so don't take offense to what he says. Phil is rather shy, so be gentle, and when mean by gentle, I mean rough - really rough, and as for the other three they're traumatized, so they scream all the time, like their doing now," I said, grabbing my whip, and slinging it. I flexed it again the sound it makes. "Goddamn, I love that sound. It profounds me," I said, lashing the whip at Gary multiple times to show Katherine what I'm capable of. To add a bonus to the torturing, I added razors to my whip, to tear their flesh apart. After I was done whipping Gary, I turned to face Katherine, holding out the whip to her. "Your turn. I'll go get the salt to add more pain onto their wounds," I said smirking, dashing back upstairs to get the salt. "Don't be afraid to contract your fangs while you whip them. I always do it to strike fear in them."

All those men hanging like that was definitely quite a sight. Katherine let that and the sweet scent of their blood dawn in before letting her smile grow a bit bigger a lot more cruel. That, she reminded herself, was living. She'd taken quite a liking for torture after she'd turned, and she'd never meant for that to change. Contrary to some vampires, she thought morals were overrated. Besides, they changed so often that they weren't really worth following. In the next fifty years, people could think that torture was the best way to solve everything. Why change when times may adapt to you likings?

Katherine took the whip when Pam handed it over to her, admiring the razors it sported. It was quite a piece. She turned it over in her hands for a second, familiarizing herself with it, before turning her eyes to the men to choose her victim. The three traumatized ones wouldn't be much fun - they were already broken, and she liked to break them. So that left Gary and Phil. Deciding to give Gary a break, she turned to Phil and swished the whip at him, loving the sight of blood dripping from his wounds and the sound of his screams. She wasn't holding back, and she wouldn't either. She'd really missed that. And when the salt comes, she thought, it's going to be even more fun.

I grabbed the huge jar of salt on the bar counter and dashed back into the futuristic Torture Chamber. I smirked wildly when I saw Katherine playing with her new toy. "Well, color me pretty, you sure as hell know how to lash that whip," I smirked, extremely amused. I walked over to Gary and open the jar. "Now, the best part about the salt is that you don't just apply it to their new wounds. You apply them to your infected ones as well, but save those for later, those are the most painful spots," I grinned wildly, contracting my fangs. I took a handful of salt from the jar and pressed it roughly on spot on Gary's chest, where newly formed gashes bled wonderfully, dripping blood onto the floor. "ARGH! YOU FUCKING VAMPIRE HOOKER!!!!!!!!" Gary lashed out at me with such lovely words. "I am not a Hooker. That was a long, long time ago," I said, quirking an eyebrow, and smacked salt on his infected wounds. He yelled at me again. "Aw, I'll take that as a compliment," I said nonchalantly. I walked over to the side where the three traumatized men were. I scoffed in disgust, and ripped their hearts out literally. I bit into the juicy organ and handed Katherine one. "Go ahead. It taste like chicken." I mused with a grin and laughed.

Katherine turned to look at Pam, a wicked smile still on her face. Torture, it was just something she loved so much that she didn't know how she could have lived without it. She'd missed it, a lot, but she hadn't even realized it. If Pam let her have access to that chamber more times... Katherine would even return the favor, and coming from her, that was something quite impressive. But she wouldn't ask, not just yet, at least. She'd rather play with her new toys for a while longer. She stopped whipping Phil and took a minute to listen to his labored breathing and his slight groans of pain. They were music to her ears.

With an even larger wicked grin, Katherine took a handful of salt from the jar. "That's something I'd never thought of... Quite clever." Coming from Katherine, that was a high praise. She pressed the salt against the newly formed wounds on Phil's body, smirking at his screams and pressing even harder. She knew that the salt itself would cause the same amount of pain no matter how hard she shoved it into the wounds, but the pressure itself? That was a whole other deal.

When Pam talked to her, it was like she was snapped out of a trance. Katherine looked around, confused but doing her best not to let it show, before the dead bodies caught her eye. Good riddance, she thought. They were nothing but useless anyway. "Disposing of broken toys?" She asked as she made her way to Pam and caught the heart that was being handed to her. "I know, I've tried them before." She smiled wickedly one last time before taking a bite out of the heart.

I smiled at Katherine and said, "Why thank you! I try really hard to please my virgin playthings, but they have no consideration at all," I said, smiling seductively. I took a rather ravenous bite from the heart I held in my hand, and let the red liquid linger in my mouth. It was intoxicating! I loved the taste of the blood, and it was even tastier, since it came from the direct source. "Yeah. I loved those three the best before they became broken. I've had these toys down here for a while. I've had them for five years," I stated proudly. "So, tell me more about yourself." I said, smiling at Katherine. I only knew that she was new to Crystal Waters, and that she was rather good to be around.

It was really nice to meet someone who appreciated how pleasing torture could be. For once, Katherine was really having fun with someone else, the kind of fun that was had between friends. She took another bite out of the heart, loving the taste it had. It was a strange combination of blood and something else Katherine never managed to figure out what it was. All she knew was that it was delicious.

"Five years? Mine never lasted more than two. Aside from that one that I managed to keep for three, but he wasn't nearly as fun on the third year." Katherine thought back to the times when she had her fun that way, torturing people. She always seemed to break them soon, and it frustrated her. She liked it when it lasted long, she liked to get to know how they reacted to the different things she did to them, and she liked to try and make them react how she wanted them to. Some were more lenient and less stubborn, but there were some that were quite challenging. Katherine liked challenges.

"Well, as you might have noticed, this is one of my favorite hobbies." She gestured to the to two men who were watching them with pain, fear and disgust clear in their faces. Katherine merely smirked, revealing a pair of bloodied fangs. "I've lost my practice this last few years. I was a bit busy taking care of a problem that can't seem to go away."

I laughed and said, "Honey, we're Vampires. We only bring trouble to Humans. Why do you think I have five of them chained up?" I asked happily. I took some more salt from the jar and slapped it across Gary's face, and laughed as the breath was taken away from him. "See? Point taken," I smirked at Katherine. "Is there anyone in particular you work for? Hopefully it's not that podunk King, Bill Compton. That bitch owes me a favor and four thousand bucks for blowing up my old bar in Louisiana," I growled, taking a huge bite out of the heart in my hand.

Katherine chuckled. That was very much true, vampires only brought trouble to humans. It was one of her favorite things, to make humans' lives miserable. Somehow, she found it fun to watch as they suffered, even when she wasn't the one inflicting the pain.

"The King?" The mere idea of working for the king made Katherine have to repress a laugh. She'd never work for a king, no matter what offer was made. The Authority wasn't her favorite organization, and she had the feeling she wasn't their favorite vampire. "No, I'd never work for the king. I work for Russel." When she words left her lips and she realized she hadn't just thought that, that she'd actually said it out loud, she knew she was screwed. Even if she got out of there with no trouble, if Russel or any of his other minions learned that she'd been so sloppy, she'd be dead.

I lost my smirk when Katherine said that she worked for Russell. I let out Mechanical sarcastic laugh and said, "You know what's funny about surprises? They don't surprise me anymore ... They piss me off," The last part was said dryly. I used my speed before Katherine could react, and hung her upside down in my new Torturing Device. I call it "The Ripper". Sure it's a very bland old fashioned name, but I prefer old fashion shit. I could see smoke from where the Silver was burning her wrists and torso, along with her ankles. "Now let me tell you about this little gizmo. You see, it's called The Ripper, and why it's called that is because Every time the Silver makes your muscles tense up from the pain, The gears on both sides automatically turn every time you tense up, and there's this one point where when the gears turn the Silver chains too much, you tear open like a greedy fat child wanting to open up a bag of chips. It can also be applied manually with my app on my Iphone, so you are going to answer every fucking question about Russell Edgington to me, or I start up The Ripper. Take your pick." I said in an angry tone, quirking my eyebrow at her face upside-down. Too Bad ... I actually like this bitch. If she tells me what I need to know, then I'll send her to Elijah, and then have the pleasure of torturing her ... again, I thought to myself.

Katherine couldn't believe how much things had changed in a matter of seconds. Why did she have to go and open her mouth? It'd been one of the most stupid mistake of her life, and she'd had a very long life. She just didn't count on it continuing for much longer, and in a way she hoped it wouldn't. She wasn't getting out of that mess alive, and the longer she was in it, the more painful it would be. Pam, Russel, Royce, the Authority, it didn't matter in whose hands she wound up, they would all torture her, she was sure of it. They were all sadistic, and she couldn't blame them. She herself loved the art of torture.

"Go ahead, torture me. I'm not telling you anything, and you know why? I'm dead either way. If I don't answer your questions, you'll kill me, if I do, you'll either let me go, in which case Russel will kill me, or you'll hand me over to the Authority, and then they will kill me. It's a lose-lose for me."

I scoffed and said, "Yes, that is true," I said, quirking an eyebrow with complete satisfaction on my face as I saw the Silver start to burn her skin. Black three-degree burns were already forming around her wrists and ankles. Then when I was about to start The Ripper, I had gotten a better idea. I used my speed to unwrap her from the chains and then dashed upstairs with her in hand. It was night out, so having my daylight ring off didn't affect me.

I threw her to the ground and said, "If you must know why I'm releasing you is because you're right - you'll die either way you slice it. So, I'll have the pleasure of hunting you down, and I promise you this ... I'll gut you open and rip you to confetti," I said sneered, slamming the door in her face. I walked back to the counter, hearing the screams from the other prisoners in the secret compartment in the basement. "SHUT THE HELL UP!!" I shouted in anger, and immediately, the noise died down. I went into my office to begin planning Katherine's death.

The last thing Katherine expected to happen at that moment was exactly what happened. Pam freed her and dragged her outside. Shocked, she sat up, gazing up at Pam. She hated the way it made her feel - powerless, completely incapable of stopping something bad from happening to her. Slowly, she raised herself to her feet, a defiant look forming on her face. She wasn't going to let herself be powerless, she wasn't going to let anyone control her.

"And that's why I'm not running." Katherine wasn't going to give anyone the pleasure of chasing her. She'd come to Crystal Waters because she was tired of running, because she wanted to build a life for herself, and that was exactly what she was going to do. No more running, no matter what the consequences, she decided.