7 Attempt Number Two

Katherine slowly made her way to the door as quietly as she can, feeling that the one behind the door wasn't the one she expected.

"Hello? Did you die in there?"

When she heard that familiar voice, she immediately grabbed onto a needle that was hidden in a secret compartment of her fur coat.

"Sorry, just a sec."

Katherine's voice sounded apologetic but her face held a hidden ruthlessness as she slowly opened the bathroom door.

When she was about to stab him with a needle, his hand suddenly moved so quickly that her eyes weren't able to follow.

"Hey, sorry, I need to hide."

Arius suddenly walked past her and into the sinks where the mirrors were. Then, he began looking at himself and fixing his hair through the mirror while talking.

"Sorry, just lock the door for me, will you?"

Katherine was confused by the sudden development, but she certainly wasn't complaining!

She locked the door of the bathroom before facing Arius. At the same time, she discreetly discarded her needle inside one of the pockets of her fur coat in order not to raise suspicion.

"What's going on?" Katherine asked. The concern reflected in her voice sounded real.

Arius stopped fixing his hair mid-way to turn his head and answer her with a slightly smug tone.

"So, the thing is, that birthday bitch Sandra invited some women into the poker table and much as I want to enjoy the company of these women that she rudely entered into our game, some of those women started fighting over the rights on who gets to sit beside me. It was starting to get annoying so I figured to just hide somewhere until they get the message and leave."

Katherine furrowed her brows as she looked at the proud man before her.

"If you're avoiding those girls, why hide in the girl's bathroom then?"

Arius looked at her like she was stupid before shaking his head in disappointment.

"It's better to hide in plain sight. Seriously, if you were those girls, where would you think a handsome guy would hide in order not to offend the ladies?"

Katherine looked at him from top to bottom before answering with complete spite.

"Certainly not here."

Arius just raised an eyebrow at her sudden animosity but he brushed it off as he continued on straightening up his tie.

"To answer my question, it would be in the men's room. Now, those girls are so shameless that they'd even fight in public so do you really think that i'm stupid enough to believe that they're not shameless enough to barge into the men's bathroom?"

Then, after Arius finally found himself presentable again, he finally faced Katherine fully.

And oh boy, does he regret not facing her earlier.

She looked absolutely stunning that he almost wanted to bash George in the head from jealousy. But his reverie was cut short as Katherine slowly made her way towards him.

"And what if there were other women in this bathroom aside from me? Would you still hide in here?"

Arius leaned his hip on the sink as he crossed his arms. Then, while smirking, he answered her.

"That's why I spoke before coming in, didn't I? I did say to 'open up.' And any sane woman wouldn't have opened the door unless…"

He stood up straight and began slowly walking towards Katherine. And when he reached her, Katherine couldn't help but take a step back.

"…u-unless what?"

She answered back shakily. But despite the uncertainty in her tone, her mind was already at full drive as she tried to think of possible ways of slicing Arius up without him causing a loud commotion.

He didn't answer her as he slowly stalked forward, making her walk a few steps back. And she was about to reach onto her thigh to grab her dagger when suddenly, she felt the wall behind her. At the corner of her eye, she realized that it turned out to be the bathroom door so she figured to just turn around to escape and rethink her game plan. But a hand was slammed against the door, near the side of her face, effectively trapping her. Then, she felt his breath trickle down the length of her neck.

Arius was almost pressed against her, only a thin sheet of space separating their bodies, and his mouth was mere inches away from hers when he finally spoke up.

"Unless that woman was expecting something like, this."

He murmured before nipping at her neck. His other hand trailed down from the door towards her waist as he tugged her closer to him. Katherine's mind was no longer able to keep up with what was happening. Then before she could catch her breath, she was flipped around to see Arius with a hungry look in his eyes.

"Smells so sweet… fuck… " He began mumbling unintelligible words while he continued placing open-mouth kisses on her neck. And now, both his hands were gripping her waist so hard that she instinctively winced.

Judging from the pain she felt, she knew that she'll most likely have bruises on her waist after this.

Not noticing her expression of pain, Arius then lifted her, making her legs unconsciously wrap around him while Katherine involuntarily shrieked. But her shriek was cut short when she was silenced by his mouth. Their lips interlocked with one another as it battled for dominance. And without warning, Arius shoved his tongue in her mouth as she shivered in surprise.

God, how long had it been since she last shared a kiss with someone?

Then, she suddenly remembered that lady he was making out with at the hotel last night. The night where she planned to kill him. The night where she failed miserably.

The freakiest night of her life.

Then, as though a bucket of cold water had splashed on her, the fog in her mind cleared up as she recalled back what she was supposed to do.

Eyes filled with wickedness, she slowly reached for the dagger that was strapped by her inner thigh. But she continued to lock lips with Arius, successfully distracting him as she grabbed the handle.

Then, when Arius least expected it, she pulled out her dagger and tried to slash him with it.

She expected to hear that sound of a blade cutting through skin, but what she just heard was soft panting. And those soft pantings were both coming from her and Arius after they finally separated.

"Phew."

Arius steadied himself as he straightened his suit.

"Never knew you were such a feisty one, ey."

Shit! Shit! Shit! She failed again!

It was the best opportunity! How could she fail that one?!

Katherine took off her fur coat as she got into a fighting stance.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute here, little kitten! Can't we talk this out?!"

She ignored his plea as she launched an array of kicks towards him as another distraction before she tried to slash his neck.

"What did I ever do to you?!"

Arius didn't expect her fighting prowess to be actually good so he barely dodged her dagger at the last minute. But in that close distance, he was able to take a whiff of the dagger. And his eyes widened as he recognized the scent.

Shit! This was getting dangerous!

He no longer joked around as he prepared to fully defend himself. Feeling his body stiffen and the adrenaline kick in, he increased his speed of dodging her attacks and decided to find an opening where he could probably knock her out.

Meanwhile, Katherine was starting to get frustrated by him perfectly dodging all of her attacks. It felt like he was reading her to the point that he actually knew where she would attack next.

Seeing that her relentless slashing would only make her tired, she withdrew back and decided to catch a breather.

Arius saw this as a perfect time to try and get some information out of her.

"Why are you even doing this? Do you even know me?"

Katherine lunged at him as she answered.

"I know you enough to know that you're the one I'm killing tonight."

She tried to kick his stomach to unbalance him so that she'll at least have the chance to get so much as a scratch on his neck. But Arius's body was as hard as a stone wall and it took her far too much force to actually feel like her heels did any damage.

When she was about to withdraw her foot to recover her own balance, she suddenly found herself unable to move. And when she looked at what immobilized her, she was surprised to see a hand grasping tightly on her ankle.

How the hell did he do that?!

His hand was so fast that she wasn't even able to see it grab her until she felt it!

When she saw that she couldn't move from Arius's grasp. She shifted her weight and launched her other foot towards his crotch, shocking him and making him let go of her immediately.

"Low blow!"

He hissed out as he felt his fury heighten.

"I was trying to be nice so I avoided hurting you. It's because it's cute to see you try so hard but now, i'm just getting pissed."

He growled out as he went on his fighting stance. Looking at his animalistic glare, Katherine actually felt fear for the longest time. Her instincts told her to run away but she ignored it. Instead, she lunged at him at full speed as she used her arms to do thrusting attacks instead of slashing.

Due to his heightened senses, Arius was able to see through Katherine's movements better and know which attack she was going to do on and where she intends it to hit. And, from knowing this, he used his superior speed to get ahead of her. So, before Katherine can successfully do her fifth kick, Arius was already holding onto her leg halfway through. And he grabbed onto the arm that was about to thrust the dagger towards the side of his face.

He then squeezed on her arm tightly, making her arm feel like it's been crushed between boulders before it finally turned numb. The dagger fell with a clang on the bathroom floor as Katherine's hand no longer had the strength to hold onto it.

"Why are you doing this?"

He hissed out at her as he tried to look her in the eye. He knew from the minimal movements whenever someone was lying so he figured to stare at the movement of her face if in case it would reveal any micro-expressions that he could use as a clue.

But Katherine kept her mouth shut as she glared at him.

Seeing that asking her was useless, Arius decided to use his ability. But before he had the chance to, a knock suddenly echoed in the quiet bathroom.