To Love A River

As the drop of crimson blood fell onto the bartop, Love froze.

In her mind she imagined being surrounded by a pack of bloodthirsty vampires, pulled towards the smell of blood and ready to devour her whole, the bartender with the kind face, pulling her across the counter to tear into her neck, and the irritating stranger pulling her towards him with teeth bared, and eyes glowing a brighter green. 

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 slightly, away from the voice 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 had continued on without a second thought.

She looked back.

Was it her imagination or had his eyes flickered back 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 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 ladies quickly." Love shouted towards Elora. 

"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 a little panicked? His eyes kept darting back to the strange, tall vampire to her side. 

"Well that won't do now will it. At least allow me to escort you to the back office, we have a small med kit there, so you'll be good as new. Bring your friend too if you like." The stranger had 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, 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 pretty fancy in here, what are you? Like the bar manager or something?" She asked, blushing slightly in her eagerness. 

The stranger chuckled amusedly.

"Or something, yes. I own the place, Ezra Acheron at your service." He bowed playfully, putting on an overly formal accent that made Love raise her eyebrow.

'This man is a little weird.'

Elora giggled as the vampire, Ezra, led them over to the black leather couch and proceeded to take out a small med kit from under his desk. 

Medicine had advanced faster and faster 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 as 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 grey eyes that studied his movements closely. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly before glancing down and applying a few drops to her hand without touching her skin. 

"So, your name is Love?" He asked. 

"Yes." Love replied flatly. 

"That's a…unique name." He tilted his head, the playful smirk creeping back onto his beautiful face, taking the edge off of the strange wrongness of his perfect features. 

Love shrugged, "It's 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 an amazing person, she's just not much of a talker. Oh! I'm Elora by the way, but you can call me El, everybody else does. It's really nice to meet you!" 

Elora continued to babble nervously for a full minute, as Ezra stared at her amusedly. 

However, just as her voice petered out, he sighed lightly and his eyes appeared to glow a little brighter under the dim lighting of the chandelier. 

"Take a nap." His voice reverberated throughout the room with a strange intensity, and the next moment, Elora's eyelids fluttered closed as she slumped to the side of the couch breathing softly. 

Love froze in shock as her friend snored softly beside her and Ezra let out a soft sigh of contentment. 

"That's much better. Now - let's have a little chat shall we?" He turned back to Love smiling widely, the strange glow still residing in his eyes. 

**