A Gamer Girl with Bite

Mike was short of stature, standing a mere 5'2", and most everyone he knew thought he was too skinny. He'd let his hair grow down to his shoulders, his face was clean-shaven, and his personal hygiene great. He even flossed. His overriding passion were running and playing video games and he had developed an especial love for retro-gaming. When he wasn't out pounding the pavements he spent hours on SNES games after getting his Mom's old box full. He could beat every guy in his college dorm on the two players.

When a gaming convention with a large retro-focused component -- 'Classic Consoles!' 'Coin-Ops'! Prizes for Retro Cosplay!' -- he bought a ticket, figuring he could blow some of the money he got for his 20th birthday. After a decent morning run, he showered, put on a button up Pac-Man shirt, pants, and sneakers and drove down to the convention center. He wondered past another of stands set up by various indie developers. One of them, pushing a new 16-bit style game 'Demon Huntress Hunter' had a poster declaring there was to be a Street Fighter II tourney with the winner getting a physical copy of the game and various other benefits -- the second placed player just got a copy of the game.

"Should there be a forward slash between Huntress and Hunter?" he asked a young man on the stand.

"Nah, dude. In our game, you play a Hunter Demon who hunts Demon Huntresses. It looks like a SNES game but with..." he ran through the full sales pitch.

Mike politely nodded and decided to give the tourney a crack. He felt lucky to find that it hadn't been well enough advertised to bring in the proper e-athletes. He made his way all the way through to the final where his name was put on the bracket alongside the other finalist, a Hispanic woman called Lupa. She wore a Metroid-branded hooded sweatshirt and a Nintendo backpack. She had her hood down so he could see her hair was bound in a tight plaited tail. He figured her for about 18 or 19. She stood a couple inches taller than him and had a body he couldn't help but think of as beautifully curvy. When she looked him in the eyes, he thought his heart would skip a beat,

"You think you can take me?" she asked him.

Mike blushed hotly, and she laughed, telling him, "You're going down for me!" which only made Mike blush more as he stammered,

"I don't... I guess I got lucky beating those other guys."

"Thrash that spic bitch, shorty!" a guy in the crowd muttered, unintentionally loudly.

They both glared right at him.

"Hey, that's not right, man!" Mike said, with feeling, "you're making gamers look bad with that racist misogynistic stuff! That's not the Nintendo way."

Most of the rest of the crowd gathered to watch the competition's final seemingly agreed, and the speaker quickly found himself reviled and shoved forcefully away. A particularly angry woman in a convincing Gerudo cosplay got right in his face and left him looking ill, but Mike thought the guy had it coming. He turned back to Lupa,

"What a nasty dude. Hey, sorry for butting in - I'm sure you could stand up for yourself, right?"

"Fucking right. But thanks, and sorry for trying to psyche you out... I've got a friend who is a total pervert and I guess she rubbed off on Arrgh, no, that's worse."

Mike sat down, took up his controller, and lost in two rounds. Oh, he got some hits in, but everything he tried she reacted quickly and hit back hard. It was as bad as playing one of those old games that cheated and read your inputs. The final ended with Lupa victorious. He put his controller back down and reflected that at least it hadn't been a double 'PERFECT!'.

He stood and held out his hand for a shake,

"Good Game! You thrashed me! I'm Mike, by the way."

She didn't take it straight away, and he felt awkward, but then she reached out for a quick grasp, up and down, and released. She had a very cold hand; he was reminded of an aged aunt with poor circulation.

"Yeah, I know. I can fucking read."

An older redheaded woman approached. She was also taller than Mike, but he was used to that.

"I'm Janet," she said, with an accent Mike thought was Californian, "great final! I'm on the Demon Huntress Hunter team! Please come with me and I'll get your prizes for 1st and 2nd place, and if you'd do a little bit for our youtube channel?"

"Alright," Lupa replied.

"Uh, sure," Mike replied, "it's nice of me to get a prize too, but Lupa probably ought to get both prizes after that win!"

"You can't have a winner without a loser," Janet told him, oblivious to his wince, "so you did your bit as well Mike. You get a physical copy in prestige big-box format, while Lupa gets that and more!"

They followed her down a corridor and into a room with a large black couch, a computer desk, and also a tripod camera set up. There was a big logo for, "Demon Huntress Hunter!" with a large magic circle like something out of Diablo on the floor. Mike assumed it was part of the game promotion, and walked right onto it without thinking, but Lupa stopped dead and looked down at it,

"That's..."

Janet shoved her into the circle. Off balance, she stumbled yet managed to spin back towards Janet -- but too late, she was in the circle with Mike. Janet spoke a word of command in a language Mike didn't know as soon as Lupa was over the circle's edge, and she walked straight into a barrier that glowed red. The impact bounced her back into Mike's arms. He felt the coolness of her body through her clothing, though he certainly wasn't trying for a sleazy feel.

"Ahh fuck! FUCK!" she yelled, "Just for ONE DAY I wanted to avoid this horseshit. Is that too much to ask? I just wanted to be normal again. Play some games, talk to other fans, maybe even flirt a little with someone..."

"What the heck was that?" asked Mike, as he helped Lupa stand, "It looked like a movie special effect or a concert light show maybe. Is this a promotion for the game, because it looked like it really hurt Lupa! That's not cool!"

Janet pulled a leather-bound book from the desk, "I won't bother with the details because you won't be alive to care. Let's just say you're going to wish you had a Demon Huntress to hand."

"It's magic, Mike," Lupa told him, wearily, and then made a face as she considered the phrasing.

"Oooh, sorry dear, "Janet said, "No time for a gnome strip show."

Mike was so used to cracks about his height he didn't respond. He reached out to the red barrier. Pain like he'd never known shot up his arm. His vision blurred out, and when his eyes cleared he was on his knees. Lupa had stopped him from knocking his head on the floor with one of her cold hands on the back of his neck. At least he hadn't wet himself, he thought. Outside the circle, Janet was chanting in the same unknown language. Lupa was tapping at her cell phone with the thumb on her other hand. She had one of the old models without a touch screen; he wondered if that was because she had such cold hands.

"I think the barrier burnt it out," she muttered, dropping it back into her backpack, "half-assed warding, I knew Shaz was too busy to do a good job on this one."

Mike couldn't really follow. The floor beneath his knees started shimmering a reddish-purple color that spread across the circle. He jumped to his feet, but couldn't get away from it thanks to the barrier. Janet's chanting stopped suddenly, but the last word echoed around, seeming to bounce around the circle. Lupa continued rooting inside her backpack, but she stopped as still as Mike when they suddenly found themselves no longer alone inside the circle.

A snake's body, red and black and yellow banded, curled all around the circumference, thicker than either of them. The tip of the tail nestled beneath the rest, which rose up off the floor into a muscular male upper-body with pierced nipples. The monster had a cruelly imperious face below a smooth skull, slightly pointed ears, and snake's eyes. A repulsive smell, enough to make Mike gag, hung in the air, slowly fading. He spoke with a hissing voice that put Mike in mind of gas chambers.

"Victor. Vanquished. Standards have fallen. Once I was offered gladiators, philosophers, even chess players now... you two," he turned his head towards Janet, outside the circle, "and you compound this insult by offering me this... nugget. He's practically a dwarf, more bones than meat, stringy muscle like an underfed message carrier. Worse, the other's a blood drinker. Their kind takes ages to digest."

Janet scowled, "How was I to know what she was? Do vampires regularly enter Street Fighter II competitions? This was the best I could do at short notice. If I hadn't already arranged that competition to promote the game, you'd be chowing down on the dipsomaniac winner and loser of a 'who can piss highest up the wall' competition a sports bar. Just eat them and then we can discuss terms of your employment. You don't scare me - I fucked the demon Eparlegna's tentacled form once."

Mikes knees trembled. He knew he was awake -- the pain from the barrier was better than any arm pinch -- but it was hard to process what he'd seen and heard. He was definitely trapped with a giant naga, and apparently also with a vampire. That explained Lupa's cold body, at least. She seemed to notice his discomfort and spoke softly,

"This is a demon. They can mess with their appearance," Lupa said, reaching back into her backpack, "there's even supposed to be one of these clowns walking around with a bird's head."

She pulled a large sheathed knife out and dropped the sheath back inside. The blade seemed ordinarily enough but, it didn't reflect the light quite right. Mike found he couldn't look at it without feeling a little ill.

"You have a demon-made weapon? It will do you no good. Do you really think your strength and speed will aid you in striking me, blood drinker? I learned to fight before time began. Strike for my tail and I'll have you against the barrier from behind, strike for my body and I'll pull your arms off. You can watch while I eat them." the snake demon hadn't bothered bringing a weapon.

Lupa showed fangs that left her nature in no doubt,

"The way I hear it is being in this type of circle makes you a lot weaker. I'll take my chances."

"Hey!" Janet sounded angry, "How did you get that blade past security?"

Lupa smirked, "I won't bother with the details, puta."

Mike didn't have a weapon, and he didn't know how to fight, and the barrier prevented him from running away. At least Lupa looked like she was ready to kick the demon's tail. Even so, he was afraid, and... and...

Suddenly he was horny. He had an awkward steel hard erection tenting his pants like a mole had gone camping. He reached awkwardly to adjust it. He pressed the crown up under his belt and t-shirt. Janet's appreciative whistle warmed his cheeks back to crimson. Lupa's naturally darker skin had also deepened a few shades. He couldn't tell if she was embarrassed for him or feeling the same lust. She adjusted her stance awkwardly and slid her backpack back fast. She swiped the blade through the air and then made an obscene gesture at the snake demon with her free hand.

"He's projecting lust. Trying to get us to give in and fuck rather than fight back. Try and ignore it," she followed with something that sounded like it was probably Spanish cursing.

The snake demon laughed, "Though you were clever, little leech. Didn't realize I was an Incubus, did you? Give in to it. Lay down with the human. I can swallow you both together. You'll know ultimate pleasure as you slowly digest."

"Eww, vore fetish," Mike said.

"I'll fuck you with my knife!" Lupa spat at the snake demon.

He lunged at Lupa. She was fast, so very fast. In his lust fuelled mental state, Mike found it sexy as hell to watch her dodge and try darting attacks that the demon blocked. He realized he was no longer just 'adjusting' his junk, and pulled his hand away with it glistening under the room's strip light.

"Aw," Janet told him, from just outside the circle "I was enjoying watching you fumble with yourself. It looks like you're packing a lot of meat for a short guy. Not as much as my son, Drew, though."

Mike's face was the color of a fire truck. He tried to concentrate on the fight. The snake demon seemed entirely capable of keeping Lupa from doing any damage to her Something he couldn't follow happened in a blur, and then the blade bounded to his feet. The snake demon was bent low over the felled girl, and her blood was spilling around the hand that had torn into in her stomach. She snarled defiance at him and threw punches against his torso that he simply ignored.

Mike reached down, picked up the blade. He ran at the snake demon. It moved easily to block his own strike with the hand that wasn't tugging at Lupa's guts, but Mike didn't even try to land it. After the feint, he threw it desperately back to Lupa, who caught it and took advantage of the demon's open guard. She drove the knife up through his jaw, until only the hilt was sticking out under his chin, then pulled out both of his nipple piercings and threw them in his face.

"Go back to hell!" she told him, followed by another stream of Spanish.

The snake demon's body shuddered, and Mike had a horrible feeling that they were going to be pulped in the coil, but then it was gone; disappeared as quickly as it manifested. Lupa dropped her knife again and pressed her hands into the belly wound that was soaking her torn clothing. Mike had always found spilled blood revolting, and he turned, stumbled and dry retched. It was only as he finished he realized he free from the circle. He looked over to see Janet backing towards the door and then stopping. Her arms went slack, and the book dropped from her hands. She walked jerkily back towards where Lupa had flopped onto her belly and then dropped to her knees before the wounded vampire.

"That," Lupa said, "that is how I got a weapon past security."

She roughly pulled Janet's arm to her mouth and bit into it. There was a wet suckling sound, followed by a distinct gulping. Janet simply knelt there glassy-eyed and let Lupa feed on her. The dirtiest part of Mike's mind told him how hot that was, while the self-preservation part said 'hey, runner, let's get running'. The casting vote went to whatever part of his brain that insisted Lupa had saved his life, and was wounded, and might need proper help. Plus, he knew it would be difficult to run with his erection still showing no signs of shrinking. Janet moaned as she was fed on, but it wasn't a moan of pain and that just made Mike harder. After a few more gentle gulps, Lupa pulled her mouth off Janet's arm and dabbed her tongue at the bite until it closed. Whatever she'd done to bring the redhead to her seemed to have worn off.

"You bit me!" Janet complained.

"Call me curious, red. Why all that hassle for an Incubus? Running the gaming competition and that sacrificial 'Victor' and 'Vanquished' shit? Way I heard it, the sex demons are very eager to come when called."

Janet looked reluctant, so Lupa gave her arm a squeeze. She answered,

"He wasn't always an Incubus. He was a Knight of Hell once, but he was beaten by some Duchess and forced into her service. My lady wanted to make him a better offer, to use his old skills working for her. You should have let him eat you, it would have been quick. Now though, now you've become my lady's enemy, vampire. You'll beg for death when she is through with you."

Lupa didn't seem to be impressed by the threat, but she released Janet's arm, and Mike saw from the white finger imprints how tightly she'd been gripping. He was impressed that the redhead had shown no pain.

"Fuck off out of here before l 'forget' I don't like killing people."

Janet fled the room without a backward glance. Lupa was still moving gingerly. Mike watched as she twisted onto her side and examined her stomach wound.

"You're still hurt! I thought-"

"Yeah, you try getting your guts pulled out, amigo. I drank as much blood as I dared from her, okay? I'll be fine with time and rest. Fucking shame my mesmerism's not great for getting accurate detailed answers out of people," she sighed, "but now I've fed on her I can find her for a day or so. My friends can interrogate her properly later."

If Lupa hadn't squared up to the monster, Mike assumed he'd have been getting digested by that point. He made an offer before self-preservation submitted a counter-argument.

"Take my blood, if I can help you heal faster. You saved my life... Also, thank you!."

He realized too late that he'd held out the junk-adjusting sticky hand as he spoke. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he noted that, yes, he was still hard. Why the hell hadn't that demon inspired lust gone away with the actual demon? He offered his other arm instead,

"Please," he said, "draining some blood might make my um, thing, behave... I never thought I'd say that to a girl."

She laughed at that, took his arm gently, and bit into it. Mike felt a tingling sensation rather than the sharp, piercing pain he expected, but he could see the last of Lupa's stomach wound closing up, leaving smooth skin and a belly button beneath the shredded, bloody, clothing. He also realized with a start that her hands felt much warmer than they had earlier; he assumed that was down to the feeding. When she stopped drinking he wished she'd continued. She licked the punctures in his arm, and they stopped bleeding.

"I think I just worked out why the Twilight movies were so popular," he managed.

"I never saw those, but one of my friends used to have a Team Jacob t-shirt," Lupa replied, climbing to her feet and examining her ruined clothing. "Fuck, I liked this top."

She and Mike supported each over to the big couch and sat down on it. He noted her fangs were no longer visible and she just looked like a normal girl again, despite her blood-drenched clothing. His earlier nausea at the gore seemed to have faded under continual exposure. He had actually donated blood before, and expected to feel a little dizzy but, awkwardly, his erection hadn't subsided. He could almost hear the snake demon laughing all the way from Hell. He needed something to take his mind of it, and found,

"Vampires are real? And Demons?"

Lupa's teeth came out again, then she put them away and shrugged,

"Demon is as good a term as any for those assholes. I guess I'm starting to believe in that stuff again, but they could be something else. Aliens or some shit."

Mike started to consider the metaphysical implications when something far more important popped into his mind.

"Hey! You were cheating at Street Fighter II!"

"No, I wasn't! I played to the best of my abilities just like you did."

"Those would be your vampire abilities?"

"I fucking played a lot. Ain't no rules says a vampire can't play Street Fighter II!"

"That's from-"

"Compare me to a dog and I'll bite you again," Lupa warned.

Mike wouldn't have minded if she did. There was a tugging sensation where she'd fed on him, and he could smell a light perfume from her, as well as his own sweat, and the spilled blood from the fight, and something else, that lingering lust. What the snake demon had done was worse than farting and leaving the room. He put his hands to his face and recalled those inhuman eyes, burning with an appetite that had nothing to do with sex. His whole body shuddered,

"Oh, god, thank you again, seriously, thank you. I said it already, but you saved my life. I don't know any way I can repay that."

"I can think of a way."

Lupa moved, half standing and flipping her leg up, until she was sitting across his knees. There was no way she couldn't feel the hardness pressed up against his stomach. She pulled her ruined Metroid sweatshirt up over her head. She was only wearing a bra underneath. Mike managed, through heroic effort, to keep his eyes on her face. She spoke again,