Damien ambled his way down the crowded streets, doing a little step as he passed the familiar places, noisy and colourful as they had always been.
Smiling and nodding to street girls and their pimps alike, he was reminded by the fact that things never really changed and history was bound to repeat itself - eternally.
He took a turn and walked down the familiar alley that led to his bar. He felt a small twinge of hunger but contained it, feeling a little too skittish to face a hunt. The news about the Baranovs had him tense, the stench of doom hanging in the air heavier than the familiar smell of urine that did so little to faze him.
He longed for blood and so he he made his way towards Voodoo Room, a hole-in-the-wall bar that he had invested in on a whim but which had proved to be a comfortable joint for him to put his legs up and feed. Had he been the kind of vampire that actually invested adequately, Voodoo Room would have actually churned out a profit over the years but as it stood, dilapidated and frequented by customers who did not always pay in cold hard cash, it had become more of an extension of his living room rather than a business.
Walking past Tweedledee and Tweedledum - as he liked to call them, but never to their faces - Damien entered the sweet smelling bar. He was looking forward to the easy banter and the loveless embraces.
Damien opened his mouth to greet Simone, the bartender - his eyes already sparkling in mischief - when he suddenly stopped and turned to face the stage. A heavenly voice drifted through the bar and pierced what little soul he had left. He stared - his mouth still open—at possibly the most ethereal being he had ever laid eyes upon. His palms, which he thought had long since lost the ability to do so, began to sweat. She stood swaying in the soft blue light and singing a sorrowful tune, her eyes closed and her fingers barely grasping what was left of her drink. He turned to Simone but before he could utter the question she answered it.
"Stranger, just walked in about an hour ago and been getting steady hammered ever since. Sure can sing." Her tone was gruff but Damien didn't register it rather, he continued to stare even as she handed him his drink.
Simone could recognise when a man wanted a woman, hell, any woman probably could but when it came to...him, she knew him like the back of her hand and the look on his face was new. This wasn't pure animal lust, this was something else, something she couldn't recognise. She turned to the next customer in the gradually filling bar; jealousy burned in her belly.
"Read her yet?" Damien asked taking a sip, never shifting his gaze from Lia.
Simone shook her head although Damien didn't see it. "She's got some kind of block, can't get past it."
"Hm" Damien replied still staring.
Lia, herself, was barely aware of her surroundings; she felt weightless on stage as if she had shed all her troubles and was standing naked and free. The melody was not new. She had been singing it since before she could remember and even now, it filled her with the simple happiness of a lullaby.
Finally reaching the end of her song she opened her eyes to a bar that was staring at her in awe. She blushed but in the dim light no one could have noticed. Drunkenly, she handed the mike back over to Old' Jim who was as wide-eyed as everyone else.
"Damn girl, where'd you learn to sing like that?" he asked and Lia blushed once more.
"Dunno" She mumbled. "Always could." She smiled nervously and began her descent from the stage. Unfortunately, a few bourbons in succession do not do healthy things to one's motor skills and she tripped on a cable and fell off the stage, hard. She stood up, rubbed her dirty hands on her jeans and groaned in humiliation and pain. A large hand gripped her by the elbow and helped her stay upright.
"Ow" She said, rubbing her knees and looked into the eyes of her saviour. Beautiful amber eyes, she thought to herself. "Um, thank you" She attempted a smile.
"Think nothing of it." He said in with a deep, deep drawl. "And may I say that you have the voice of an angel."
His eyes held hers in a long and spine-tingling
moment and Lia lost the ability to speak.
"Would you like a drink?"
Her heart finally thumped heavily in her chest and suddenly, she came back to herself. Warning bells rang in her mind and Lia instantly bristled: she was not looking to get picked up by a random stranger no matter how chivalrous he was. She pulled her elbow out of his grasp and shook her head.
"I can get my own drink, thanks" This time her smile was barely above polite.
Damien chuckled and Lia shivered. There was something about him that made her anxious and from experience, that was never a good thing. She looked up at his face, those impossible eyes shining down at her with amusement. He had the nose of an aristocrat, straight and slightly sharp but his face was rugged, tanned and tawny. His hair was chocolate brown and cut short so it barely grazed his perfect ears and tufted out of his dark green trilby hat.
"I have no doubt but 'lemme get you one and you can tell me all about it." He smiled dazzlingly and suddenly the world seem to dim in response.
Lia blinked in confusion."Tell you about what?"
"About the guy that made you stop accepting drink offers"
"What makes you think there was a guy?" She
frowned indignantly.
"Darlin', it's always about a guy" He laughed, took her by the elbow again and led her towards Simone and the vast array of alcohol behind her.
"What are you having?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.
He ignored Simone's obvious dirty look and gazed appreciatively at the red-haired beauty next to him. Unbelievable, he thought to himself, the first time in centuries that a woman had enthralled him so. She had a delicate face, soft and dotted adorably with light freckles. Her skin seemed to glow slightly and Damien was reminded about stories he was told as a child about The Fey. Her mouth was slightly wide with lips so soft and pink they were like rosebud invitations for a kiss.
Her accent was hard to place, not exactly Toussaint but not exactly anywhere else either. As he watched her mouth move, for a second Damien forgot what was happening. Shaking himself from daydreams of naked skin and heat, he pulled himself back to reality.
"Look, I don't know who you think you are but..." Lia began.
"Damien" He replied casually.
"Damien? Damien, who?" She scrutinized him, her arms crossed over her breasts, pushing them up a little and causing Damien to stiffen.
