Seth gripped the side of the bathroom sink and stared at himself in the mirror. His face was bloody, bruised, and despite some random kid they called ‘doc’ helping reset his broken nose, he'd have black eyes for sure tomorrow. But he felt alive. This was more than he felt after a tournament. This was real. This was raw. There hadn't been any rules, not of any kind that mattered. His knuckles turned white and the smallest grin played at the edge of his lips.

This was the best he’d felt since he broke up with Madeline, except maybe the time he had spent with Emma over last weekend. But even that had been tainted by the less than a day old emotional injury of learning that his girlfriend had been cheating on him for months. Emma was good, but he was still numb. The fight with his father had forced all the emotions buried deep inside him out to the forefront of his mind. No more numbness. Even if bloodthirst was what replaced it, that was better. That was something.

The door pushed open and Seth turned to see Nicole standing there. She was wearing a black silk robe that terminated quite a bit above the knee, barely held together by the tied belt, and Seth could tell she wasn’t wearing anything at all underneath. She stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"You look like hell."

Seth shrugged, his traps sore from absorbing the whiplash of the blows to his head.

"Looks a bit like you've never fought before."

"I have."

"Hm." Nicole stepped forward and reached up to his face. "There's still blood."

She wiped his right cheek with a finger, then stared at the crimson smear before looking back to him. She put the finger in her mouth and sucked it clean. Seth's eyebrows shot up. "What the hell?"

"I like the taste of blood."

"That's not even remotely sanitary. You don't even know which of us that blood belongs to!"

She half-smiled. "I've always liked the taste. When I was a little kid, I'd never tell my parents when I got a paper cut because I would just suck on it until it closed."

Seth nodded slowly. "Yeah. That's a bit weird."

She shrugged. "Everyone has something weird about them." She stepped back towards the door. "Now quit moping in here and come join the party.” She raised an eyebrow. “I'll be waiting for you." She left and closed the door behind her.

Seth locked the door and undressed before turning the water on. Ice cold. Freezing water always felt best after a fight. Seth stepped in and let the water wash away any emotions plaguing him. He felt better. Awake.

Seth stayed in the cold for a few more minutes, his mind empty, the void satisfied. With a small bit of reluctance, after a few minutes, he turned off the water.

BANG!

Seth froze with one foot out of the shower. That was a gunshot.