Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking.

I'm pacing the living room for the 2,543 time. When I notice how threadbare the carpet is getting I halt, dropping down cross legged with a sigh. Now I can add stir crazy to the already gargantuan list of crazies I'm afflicted with. Biting my nails idly, I rack my brain trying to dig up an idea entertaining enough to keep my mind off of all the bureaucratic crap going on. And hopefully something to distract me from being...lonely. I pull Mongrel's responding note from my pocket, reading it over for the thousandth time. I'm alright. You know where I am. I chose my deputy because he seemed trustworthy even if he is wet behind the ears.... I miss you. My face softens into an expression rarely seen by my fellow Kindred. I hop back to my feet. Fuck. I've got to go do something. I ate earlier, so hunting is unnecessary. I walk into my bedroom, rummaging under the bed, through the closet. My hands pause on soft leather and grimy rubber wheels. My eye are alight with enthusiasm as I pull out a pair of well worn quad skates. I didn't even realize I still HAD these! I bought the skates sometime in the early nineties, surprising myself by reawakening a hobby from my mortal years. I laugh aloud. Wouldn't the other Kin be just flabbergasted at the sight of murderous Maddie on wheels?! I sling the skates over my shoulder and grab my Ipod before heading out the door. Waving to the crows, I head towards the nearest park.

"If you say run, I'll run with you...If you say hide, we'll hide." Singing aloud, I skate laps around the empty race track. Reaching speeds that would of made human legs burn like fire. Pink hair whipping behind me in a fan, dopey smile plastered on my face...I look every bit the seventeen year old, despite my sixty plus years. "If you should fall, into my arms. And tremble like a FLOOOOWER!" I belt out a high note, despite the awareness of another being nearby. I slow myself to a less supernaturally strong pace at the sound of a different set of wheels. A mohawked mortal skims up next to me on a skateboard with a grin. I pull the headphones out of my ears, David Bowie gives way to Queen, crooning out uninterrupted into the still night.
"Hey. I didn't know anyone else skated around this place at night." The streetlights glint off the hoop in his bottom lip. The boy is maybe a year or two older than I appear to be.
"Nice board." I say, glancing at his feet.
"Thanks. I'm Josh, by the way." We both halt our momentum to shake hands.
"I'm Madelyn." 
I take a peek in his thoughts. Wow...she's hot...and a skater punk...wonder if she's single. I resist rolling my eyes. Boys. 
We make small talk, most of which entails him slipping little compliments in and trying to discern things about me. He's not awful, for a breather. Kinda cute. Makes me glad I already ate so I can spare this one. "So, how long have you been skating, Madelyn?" 
"Oh, about fifty years off and on." I respond without thinking. His puzzled look alerts me to my slip. Oops. I laugh it off. "Sometimes it feels like it's been that long. Y'know what I mean?" 
He chuckles in assent. "If you've been doing it that long, surely you won't turn down a test of speed? You wanna race?" 
Jeez. Is this really a part of mortal flirting? Oh well, I have always been competitive. "Sure, Josh. How about five laps around the track? Winner takes all!" We both take to the track.
"On my count.." He rolls his board back and forth in anticipation. I lean into my toe stops, bending low. "Three...two...GO!" I run on the rubber stops for a few paces before putting the wheels to the pavement. Keeping my speed normal, but still ahead of Josh enough to turn my head and smirk back at his playful smile. I keep low, leaning into the turns and crossing over with ease. The wind picks up as I pull a bit further ahead of him. The comforting noise of bearings rolling along starts to fade as I pick up the sound of Josh's juicy heart beating with adrenaline. Him panting with exertion. The clean scent of his skin, dampened just so with sweat. I'm licking my lips as I deeply inhale the smell of his blood rushing so teasingly through those flimsy veins and arteries. Executing a quick 180, I skate backwards for a spell before popping back up on my toes in a stop. Josh fails to slow enough, and collides with me. I'm unmoved as he falls on his ass, his skateboard coming to a stop at my feet.

All signs of the innocent teenager are gone as I stare down at him with hunger. "Heh...ow. Thanks for the wipe out..." He trails off, looking perplexed as I bend down and grab his board, lifting it over my head. "...what...the...OH SHIT!" 
I bring the board down on his face, cracking his jaw in two and splattering the concrete with blood. I'm laughing as I smash the skateboard down over and over, and soon it bounces off the ground under what used to be a cute, mohawked little head. I lift his body with one hand, drinking the blood that seeps from the ragged stump above his shoulders before tossing him into the grass. I roll back and forth in a tight circle, the wheels of my skates making red trails around the puddle of blood. ...fuck. I lament my lack of self control. Damn it. I'm so fucking hopeless! I snap Josh's stained skateboard over my knee with a growl and heave the pieces away. My wheels start to stick and I tumble into the boy's body. Taking my skates off, I look at the wheels. They're gummed with blood. "Great. GREAT! NOW I NEED NEW FUCKING BEARINGS!" I slam the skate down on Josh's still form. I make a quick clean up of the scene, muttering angrily to myself the whole time. Once I reach home again, I point an accusatory finger at the black feathered birds on the porch. "DON'T YOU FUCKING JUDGE ME!" I pause in the doorway, turning around with a ashamed look on my face. "Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to yell at you." I pull something out of the hall closet. Sprinkling sunflower seeds on the porch from the bag I bought earlier in the week, I look sadly at Mongrel's birds. "...tell him I miss him, too." I close the front door, dropping my skates and falling onto the couch. Starting up my Ipod again, I lay my arm over my eyes. Humming along with the music while I'll mentally drift away for the rest of the night.