When the drop of bright, crimson blood fell onto the top of the bar, Love froze.
In her mind she imagined being surrounded by a pack of bloodthirsty vampires, attracted to the scent of blood and ready to devour her whole; the bartender with the kind face, dragging her across the counter to tear into her neck; and the irritating stranger pulling her towards him with teeth bared, his eyes glowing like gemstones.
Suddenly, a cold hand touched her elbow.
"Hey, I said, are you hurt?" The melodic voice uttered close to her ear.
It was a little too close.
Love jolted back, away from his inhuman face and the cold hand dropped from her elbow.
The vampire raised both arms in front of him and flashed another charming smile.
"Whoa there, it's alright, what do you take us for, a bunch of rabid animals? Look around you." He gestured towards the dancefloor with a lazy smile.
Love averted her gaze from him warily to study her surroundings and found that he was right.
A few heads had turned in their direction, but after nothing but a slight frown here or a curious gaze there, the heads had turned back uninterested and the revellers continued on without a second thought.
She looked back.
Was it her imagination or had his eyes just flickered up to her face from her hand?
His playful smirk was still in place, but did his eyes look a little strange? His jaw a little tighter?
"Love, are you alright?" Elora shouted over the loud music.
"Ah - yes, it's fine, it's just a scratch." She hastily grabbed a small napkin that was lying on top of the bar and moved to cover her hand, flushing slightly at the assumptions she had made and the fact that the strange vampire had noticed it.
"I'll be right back, El. I'll just go to the bathroom quickly." Love shouted towards her over the music.
"I'm so sorry, Miss, it was my fault. Please consider all of your drinks free of charge for the rest of the night." Vincent, the bartender exclaimed. His voice was raised, of course, so that their human ears could catch the words - but did it also sound somewhat panicked?
His eyes kept darting back to the strange, tall vampire at her side.
"Well, that won't do now, will it? At least allow me to escort you to the back office. We have a med kit there, so you'll be good as new in no time. Bring your friend too, if you like." The stranger leaned in a little closer once more, raising his voice enough for Elora to also hear his suggestion.
"Ah, that's - really it's ok, th-there's no need." Love fumbled.
"Oh come on Love, we'll both go! Just let them heal it, and then we can come straight back and grab some free drinks." Elora smiled up at Love with nothing but trusting innocence on her pretty face.
Love sighed and glanced back once more at the handsome vampire. His face was once again a charming mask with a playful glint in his warm emerald eyes.
"...okay." Love replied, nodding towards him.
"Excellent! Follow me, ladies." He exclaimed, clapping his hands together once and moving towards a single black door to the side of the bar. A red 'Staff Only' sign hung above it.
He ushered them inside, standing back to keep a respectful distance as they walked inside a small hallway with a door to either side and a back exit at the far end. Opening the door to the left, he stepped back and allowed Love and Elora to enter first, wedging the door open to put them both at ease.
Love glanced around the room. For somebody who had spent her life in the Outskirts of the city, living below her means and outfitting their small apartment with used and recycled materials, she had rarely been given the opportunity to see what wealth could bring.
But staring around the modestly-sized office now, she almost gasped at the sight of real mahogany furniture, black leather chairs and soft lighting cast by a small crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling and a similarly designed lamp that was placed on the large desk.
Closing her eyes briefly, she inhaled and savoured the smell of the leather and wood. It smelled…rich.
Elora whistled in appreciation and turned to Ezra with an excited expression.
"Wow mister, it's proper fancy in 'ere, wha' are ya? Like the bar manager or something?" She asked, blushing slightly at the way her accent would slip into that of an Outer Zone dialect in her eagerness.
The stranger chuckled amusedly.
"Or something, yes. I own the place, Ezra Acheron, at your service, my lady." He bowed playfully, putting on an overly formal accent that caused Love to raise her eyebrow, delicately.
'This man is a little weird.'
Yet, Elora giggled at his clear attempt to mock himself, in order to put her at ease.
Ezra led them over to the expensive, black leather couch and proceeded to take out a small med kit from underneath the impressive mahogany desk.
Medicine had advanced at a startling rate as new technology and innovations were introduced into the world, and so a small cut like Love's was a quick and easy wound to heal.
She turned her hand to the side wordlessly whilst Ezra pulled out a small vial that she recognised as a low-grade ointment, applied for any minor cuts and burns.
He glanced up briefly to look into her suspicious, grey eyes that studied his movements closely.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly in amusement, before he bent over her hand and applied a few drops to her minor wound, without touching her skin.
"So, your name is Love?" He asked, in a low, pleasant voice.
Love felt her body relax once more at the sound of his voice.
"Yes." Love replied, flatly.
"That's a…unique name." He tilted his head to the side, the playful smirk creeping back onto his inhuman face, taking the edge off of the strange wrongness of his too-perfect features.
Love shrugged with indifference, "It's just a name."
"Love! Don't be so blunt, Mr. Acheron seems really nice." Elora interjected. "I'm sorry, sir. She doesn't mean anything by it. Love is amazing, she's just not much of a talker. Oh! I'm Elora Todesco, by the way, but you can call me El, everybody else does. It's really nice to meet you! I love your bar, we were…"
Elora continued to babble nervously for a full minute, whilst Ezra stared at her in polite amusement.
However, just as her voice petered out, he let out a quiet sigh, and his eyes appeared to glow with an odd phosphorescence under the dim lighting of the crystal chandelier.
They appeared as a pair of perfect emerald gemstones.
Love felt her heart rate increase.
"Take a nap." His voice reverberated through the wide office with a strange intensity, and the next moment, Elora's eyelids fluttered closed and she slumped to the side of the leather couch, breathing quiet and steady.
Love froze in shock whilst her friend snored softly beside her.
"Much better. I didn't realise it was possible for a vampire to get a headache but she was really testing the limits. Now - let's have a little chat, shall we? Don't move." He turned back to Love, smiling widely, the strange glow still residing in his emerald eyes.
**