Bloody Mary

the vampire took a look towards the door of his lab, across the room; peering slightly over his glasses. he set down a series of work sheets, bringing out his left arms to roll his leave up, and glance at the display of time on his watch. a light chuckle soon left his lips. as expected, he was just on time.

changmin took no time in going cross the threshold of his lab, and slightly cracking his door open for the other. a set of high fences cut off any praying eyes from any bystanders, but changmin was never sure. once he made eye contact with soohyuk, he turned around, and paraded his way back into his large, leather desk chair. hoping it indicated the other to follow suit.

His gloved hands found themselves folded at his back as the door before him slid open without a sound, separating from its frame only by a short width as two spectacled eyes connected with his own shaded set. There was no exchange in that moment, none seeming necessary as the door was pulled open a few more feet, a welcoming yet reserved light flickering in the doctor’s gaze before he turned abruptly and glided back to his awaiting seat. The taller man took this as an invitation, pulling the door closed as he slipped through the archway and into the relieving escape the building provided from the glaring sun above.

As the latch clicked at his back the black-clad creature wasted little time before shadowing his long known friend, slipping his soft leather gloves from lengthy fingers as his covered gaze flitted over the well-used objects scattering every surface and filling up each small nook and cranny of this crowded and busy space.

At Changmin’s words of welcome Soohyuk’s eyes slowly shifted to once more meet with the older creature’s shining set, his body easily melting back into the chair opposite the creature as his right hand rose to remove the black sunglasses resting squarely on the bridge of his nose.

“The same you could say.” The emotionless vampire replied as his long legs crossed and his pale hands fell to rest on top of expensively clothed thighs; the deep voice that passed over his lips reverberating in the room like a low rumble of thunder as his gaze flickered from the doctor’s folded hands to his expectant expression. “The pain has neither worsened nor lessoned.” He said lightly and drying as if contemplating the weather, shifting his weight as he spoke and tapping rhythmically against his knee.

“Nothing new to report in the end.”

He said this last bit with a void mask, emotions seeming tasked an impossible mission when trying to break from the smooth creases of his vacant and uncaring expression…even when lies like unfaltering breath brushed over his lips.

kahi’s eyes shifted from the hostess at the podium to the couples that filtered through the door. she had been standing at the entrance for the better part of an hour, fighting between two urges; one that told her to just go back to her apartment, the other screaming for her to just go inside the damn restaurant. it was a strange situation for her, putting her a good deal out of her comfort zone, something that had crippled her during life. she was never well off or wealthy, though she did make ends meet well enough for her and her son, and now she was standing outside of a classy, five star restaurant, a place she had never been in life. her eyes followed another couple as they passed through the doors, admiring the beautiful black dress and diamond jewelry the female had been wearing. she looked down at herself, clad in sneakers, jeans, and a t-shirt, and shook her head. if she was going to make it into the building without any trouble she’d have to pull a disappearing act, an act she was particularly skilled at. 

her form slowly began to dissolve into mist until there was nothing left, leaving her invisible to most, if not all, humans. she passed through the door with hesitation, the feeling that she could still be seen and she wasn’t suppose to be in the restaurant plaguing her mind. passing through the glass double doors, she walked past the hostess, a smug smile pulling at her lips as she waltzed right by without any issue. sure, she was invisible but the feeling still felt like a small victory. as soon as she was out of the entry way, she stole off into a corner away from prying eyes, her form becoming corporeal again. 

it was glaringly obvious, even more so now, that she didn’t belong. though she had the face of someone who belonged in a restaurant like this one, she clothing and persona didn’t fit. it was almost as if she a neon sign was above her, advertising her inability to blend in, or maybe she was just that paranoid about being seen again. she peaked around the corner, her eyes scanning the room for something she didn’t even know would for sure be there but her curiosity was far too strong for her to stay away. she had been murdered over ten years ago, brutally killed and left on the roadside, and when her killer had been caught and given the death penalty she was sure she’d be able to move on. it was a gigantic surprise to her to hear there was an accomplice to her murder but in the end it made sense. something was left open, unsolved and unattended to; that’s why she couldn’t move on. 

with a few tips from a less than human source, she had been brought to this restaurant and though she could do very few things to bring herself justice, seeing the face of the man who dumped her body parts off for a bunch of 20-somethings to find would give her some solace. she continued to survey the patrons, wondering who among the packed room had it in them to do unspeakable evil. they all looked normal, then again, so did she at this very moment. shocked out of her train of thought by a hand on her shoulder, a small gasp escaped her lips and she turned to meet whoever the hand belonged to. she favored the waiter with a guilty smile, trying her very best to be charming, a feat she hadn’t had to pull off in years. she gave a meek shrug as he looked at her attire with a look of disgust.

The sun hung as nothing more than a hazy orb burning in the sky for much of the morning; its toxic rays beaming through the stifling heat that seemed to weight heavy in the lungs with every breath and clutch at the skin like clothes fusing to the sweat sliding down heated flesh.

Unpleasant; it was the best way to describe the muggy yet blinding atmosphere that drifted through the city streets like a phantom of misfortune, zeroing in on its prey and infecting them with the fever only weather of this nature can provide. For vampire kind days such as these meant an eternity trapped indoors, very few brave enough to venture out into the broiling clusterfuck of sticky flesh and oppressive heat, choosing instead the artificially lit rooms and dry air of the indoors as a safe haven from the perhaps deathly concoction swirling just outside their walls.

The blazing day however eventually melted into evening, a humid night clinging to the skin only blown away in fleeting moments by a swift breeze of cold that flitted over the night dwellers that emerged from their caves in the evening to explore the shadowed world of night.

Soohyuk was only one among this crowd; a tall well-dressed figure slipping his lengthy form from the black leather interior of his car in the swirl of traffic this bustling busan sidewalk gave way to. The sun’s rays were gone, just the soft muted greys of a recently melted sunset pulling at the edges of the sky as a scattering of broken clouds hung limply in the air like cotton torn apart and left to be blown away.

Though an all-black outfit fell over the vampire’s elegant form pristinely and the heat still reverberated in the darkening shadows of that crowded street, not a drop of sweat shone against his icy flesh nor a flush touched his pale cheeks as he moved through the expensive swirl of dresses and brushed against the arms of well-tailored attire. Being what he was made overheating a near impossibility; his skin--as cold as his blood--as cold as his heart pumping it through his veins.  It made it easy honestly, creating such an image of separation and superiority over the sweating mortals dabbing at their beet-red faces, like pigs rotting in the filth of their human forms as he slid through the scalding heat unscathed himself.

The vampire’s movements were smooth as he glided into the air-conditioned spaces of the restaurant’s humming din, striding steps carrying him to the hostess’s counter who directed him without quibble to his awaiting seat. After a short exchange his drink order was taken, the waiter disappearing into the refined throng of chattering beings as the soft mist of piano music drifted like a fog throughout the room.

Lengthy fingers tapped processionally against the immaculate white tablecloth as he contemplated the spectacle churning around him, the dance of blue bloods and powers-to-be an almost amusing sight for just a moment; feeble life wavering on the edge of collapse but still joyfully hurtling through its short span. Though enjoyable was a stretch when it came to his meandering observations, there was some vague sense of gratification gained from it…even if that just came from his prideful swell of superiority the creature felt every time he watched the humans fritter away their lives.

Pointlessly prideful, he had to remind himself. He was not much different in the end.

A sigh nearly escaped his lips at the thought, dark eyes breaking from their vacant gaze, closing briefly before he stood from his seat, unfolding his form and walking with purpose to the restrooms with a mind to erase the thoughts once pondered like the grime he felt--or imagined he felt on his fingers.

After removing his rings and scrubbing his hands thoroughly the pale and sharp-jawed vampire stepped from the restroom with ease, pushing open the door with the back of his arm and strolling with all the graces of a model through the tucked away hall back towards his neglected table.

It was just then as he was replacing the jewelry on his fingers that he heard the first echoes of discrimination floating through the air, his gaze latching on the pair of creatures standing at odds at the end of the hall, like cowboys in a cliché western…though without the matched countenances. The male, a clearly collected gentleman, was staring down the female like a cat would a mouse; barely hidden contempt cloaked behind a courteous façade of sharp commands while the woman oppositely seemed to hover in the space, a wispy meekness radiating from her like heat would from a fire.

Who knows what initially compelled him; the situation being too intriguing, the characters in this drama far too delectable to pass up. Or perhaps it was the feeling he got from the woman, the wavering and unnatural aura pulling him in like a magnet as his feet found their own way forward until he was standing a mere breath from the confrontation.

“Mina what are you wearing?” Soohyuk interjected with a sigh to the female as he approached, talking to the woman as if they went way back instead of just meeting in this moment. “You’re going to get yourself kicked out again. Don’t tell me this is another one of your rebellions.” He shook his head and tisked before sighing once more in the waiter’s direction, the falseness of his words hidden well with the annoyed gaze he trained on the man. 

“Sorry about this, she’s with me. You can leave now.” He almost commanded as he took the woman’s thin wrist in hand with a fake smile and dragged her to his table like a petulant and fed up brother would his aggravating sister, abandoning the stunned worker whose mouth was easily gaping a few inches before he broke himself out of his daze and rushed off.