Altered Beast II

"So you fought against some pale guy in 104 and 'accidentally' killed him?" Nixon asks, taking a bite of a salad he has in hand.

"Why did you put 'accidentally' in quotes?"

"Because I know you don't do things on accident."

"Well, I'll have you know, he attacked me first!"

"Did the pale guy have pitch-black eyes and long grey hair?"

"Yes."

"I'm pretty sure I've heard of someone like that once, but most likely that dude was a druggy who accidentally kept his door open. You know, bath salts and stuff?"

"Do bath salts make you capable of destroying walls and give you the muscle mass similar to that of a 300-pound wrestler in their prime?"

"Probably."

"I'm sure bath salts make you more like some, rabid homeless man cradling the face of some poor young worker boy down in the south."

"Why the south?"

"All the nutcases live there! I was raised in Texas after all."

"I've known you for a long time and your story is always inconsistent. Last week you said that you were raised in Mississippi - the only consistent thing about you is that you're Russian."

"Alright then." Seth starts heading out of the room again, Nixon stopping him before he could open the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I noticed that there were new people and I also noticed that there were some girls coming in from behind one of the two other guys who just got here."

"No..."

"Yes!"

Seth shoves Nixon's hand off of him and runs out, Nixon clicks his tongue, sitting onto one of the beds in the room. the instant Nixon sits down someone knocks on the door. He lets out a long sigh, getting back up from the bed and opening the door. Melissa is there, hiding something behind her back.

"Hello!"

"Ummm...? Are you one of the new neighbors?"

"Yes! Nice to meet you. My name is Melissa Ambrosia, you?" She puts the handout, waiting for a handshake.

"Nixon Driver." He shakes her hand.

"Nixon'... that's a nice name." She looks him up and down and gives him a grin. She takes out a wine bottle that she had hidden. "Want to drink?"

Nixon chuckles lightly. "Sure..."

***

Seth locks onto Svilanka who is currently lounging with one of the maids in the Lobby. Alina assisting one of the chefs in the kitchen and the man at the counter reading the same book as before.

Svilanka turns to the maid, "What's your name?"

"Call me Maid, just Maid."

"Why?"

"I don't like my real name."

Seth cuts in, "What are you two doing?"

Maid jumps up and points at Seth. "You're the guy who has his eyes on our Alina!"

"You're not wrong," Seth pauses. "But I also have my eyes on the both of you too."

Svilanka whistles and Maid starts laughing.

"Sorry! I'm a lesbian dude!"

"Oh shit, that means we have something in common."

"What're you guys doing?" Yua asks, coming into the lobby behind them. Svilanka gets up from one of the couches to look at Yua.

"This girly looking guy was about to try and flirt with me."

"Can you blame me?" Seth cuts in, turning to Maid.

"No, I cannot," Maid responds, getting up and running to the kitchen.

Seth goes to look at Yua as she continues: "Svilanka."

"What?'

"There's something in the room you need to do."

"Like what."

"Just go."

Svilanka shrugs, hopping over the couch and heading back to their room. Yua glares at Seth and leaves, following behind Svilanka. "Damn..."

***

"My roommate might come back soon..."

"You don't have to worry about him right? I'm sure he'll know when somethin' is happening here."

Legs wrapped around Nixon facing him on his lap.

"Let's have fun."

***

"Never would have thought that Nix would fuck..."

The man behind the counter drops his book in confusion as Seth sits in a chair pointed to a counter, idly contemplating. "What?"

"One of the chicks is having sex with my friend in our room."

"I saw you, all you did was walk over to the door and stop, then immediately came back, how do you know that?"

"...."

"Doesn't even matter."

"How did you know I didn't enter? How could you see me if you were sat down at the counter the whole time?"

"I wasn't, I went over to look. I like seeing what people do after coming from the lobby from time to time."

"You must be very good at sneaking up behind people."

"I used to be a pickpocket."

"What's your name?"

"Call me Caçador."

"Hmmm..."

"What?"

"So you go by a title as well?"

"What do you mean?"

"That one Brazilian girl in 102 also had a title. It was 'Hermit' in Portuguese and you're 'Hunter'."

"Yep."

"Are you guys Capoeiristas?"

"Hmmm!? What makes you think that?" Caçador chuckles.

"Capoeiristas that I've met only called themselves by their nicknames, especially the ones involved in a gang."

"Hmmm... you're insinuating a lot right now."

"Let me confirm something. I 100% believe that you two are Capoeiristas, the fact you two might be in a gang is in the 10% bracket."

"What makes it 10%?"

"I'm pretty sure you aren't in a gang, but I'm more suspicious of Eremita."

"Eremita?"

"The Brazilian Woman."

"Okay, would it be bad if we were in a gang though?"

"Nope, just as long as you didn't know who I was beforehand."

"That's suspicious." Caçador chuckles, Seth gives him a smile.

"What to do..."

***

"It was good while it lasted..."

Melissa stands over Nixon, half-naked, gun in hand. She gives out a sigh, redressing herself. Nixon is riddled with bullet holes. Two shots in his chest and one on the right side of his head. Blood spreads across the bedsheets.

"I guess 102 is next..."