OFTEN.

‘Listen’ he said carefully ‘ I’m such a man…who leans in doorways, relaxes against the counters, drapes across the couch…’ he paused, shooting a glance at her, hoping she’d catch a drift ‘my spine, darling…isn’t straight. And by gods, neither am I’.

She looked at him. Incredulously, slowly blinking, not knowing whether it was a joke or a provocation. But his face was serious, and something in his voice suggested he wasn’t kidding. She swallowed, furrowed her brow, bit her lip. He was there, leaning against the apple-green counter, his posture so alluring that for a moment she almost forgot what she was about to say. Finally, she spoke, her voice a trembling pool of doubt.

‘So you’re not into…girls then?’ she uttered, her eyes darkening. He sensed her disappointment and leaned on a velvety-blue armchair, that seemed so out of place in her hi-tech studio. He watched her, waiting for the next phrase. He knew what it was going to be, he sensed it hanging in the air, full of fake mintiness of non-existent seashores. ‘But we…I mean, you’ve kissed me. And…last night…’

He sighed. Last night still haunted him, in a way.

‘Honey’ he said, gravely ‘Last night was a mistake. A whirlwind of wrong choices. I succumbed…’

Her eyes were blank - as the newly opened toilet paper. Or maybe, the diary bought for the sake of the pretty cover.

‘I gave in’ he explained wearily ‘ I shouldn’t have.’

‘But…’

She was about to say, but you called me honey just now. He caught the drift.

‘If I ever called you ‘my love’, ‘my darling’, ‘my dear’, please know I didn’t mean it in a romantic way’.

Her expression was absolutely clear. What other way could there be?

He smiled and she noticed.

‘In the dracula way’

Even if she was that dumb, she got the intonation. He sighed.

‘I am not going to….’ he began, but changed his mind midway, and said, wearily,

‘I like art, darling, and by art I mean music, poetry, sex, paintings, the human body, literature. All of this is art to me. You get that? Right. You might not be the best art, but you’ll do. Last night was…satisfactory. You seem to have…enjoyed it, anyway’.

She nodded, still hypnotized by his gleaming teeth and metallic sheen of his stormy-grey eyes. He was perfect, she thought. Like, really.

OMG, I am literally glitching just looking at him. He’s such a giant and those dark curls look so silky soft, I’m actually gonna cry. My brain is a total fuzzy mess because I keep having these blurry flashbacks to last night. It’s all just like a hot dream of his ripped torso and those hard abs pressing into me. His arms are so strong and his neck is just… ugh, I’m obsessed.

He read her. Effortlessly, almost carelessly. Her eyes all misty, chest heaving, cheeks slightly blushed…she did look quite…a treat.

He touched her shoulder, gingerly, carefully, not to shatter the spell.

‘Evelyn?’

She didn’t respond, and he knew she was reliving last night again. How could he be that foolish? He loved three things - a good joke, a glass of good wine and a handsome man. Women weren’t quite his thing, he told himself. But then again, last night…

He leaned closer, inhaling the scent of her skin that was so much like the nectar he had tasted hours before. To him, the blood of a woman was a complex vintage, a delicate blend of sweetness and shadow that lacked the harsh, copper bite of a man’s aggression. That’s why he preferred men. Their essence was raw, so delightfully... intoxicating, like the best whiskey and expensive coffee. While women offered a soft, berry-stained dream, men were the burn of a high-end spirit—sharp, biting, and full of an angry drive that left him reeling.

He felt the desire rearing its head, a predatory hunger that wasn’t just about the hunger of his stomach, but the thrill of the hunt. He remembered the weight of a man’s pulse, the metallic anthem of blood that felt like a challenge, a clash of forces that was far more grounded than this ethereal sweetness. Yet, as he gripped her shoulders, the contrast itself was a drug. He wanted to drown the memory of that whiskey-fire in this cream and zest, to see if the softness could finally quiet the restless, dark thirst that demanded something much more brutal.

His teeth grazed her neck.

She didn’t even flinch, her head still too high in the clouds to process what was going on.

Her blood tasted of redemption, Mardi Gras, joie de vivre and silk sheets, cheap bourbon and…metal. He paused. She smiled, knowingly, her fingers entangled in his hair.

Women taste like that, he realized, after their hearts break - multiple times. It was the essence of brokenheartedness, purity being trampled over, trust never regained. He drank, and it rendered him insane.

He could let go only when the blood became stale. He carried her to the couch, draping the cashmere coverlet over her in the most caring way. She was so beautiful, with her dark auburn hair, her delicate features and her absolutely delicious figure, that he felt almost sorry for being the architect of her demise.

‘I am sorry, darlin’ he whispered ‘but I am so bad at resisting…’

His phone vibrated against his chest. With one swift motion he changed his preferences in the dating app.

Men…women…other.

OFTEN.

---

The bar was a subterranean slip of mahogany and smoke, smelling of peat and old, leather-bound regrets. He almost slithered in there, a silhouette of silver and velvet, waiting for the ‘whiskey’ he’d seen on the app.

The man who walked in didn’t glide; he took up space with a heavy, grounded thrum. He wore a coat that looked like it had seen a trench in 1944 and eyes that looked like they’d seen the beginning of the world. He sat down, not waiting for an invitation, and ordered a double of something that smelled like a forest fire.

‘You’re leaning ,’ the stranger remarked, his voice a gravel-pit of baritone. ‘The “Dracula” slouch. Very 1890s. Does it actually work on the locals?’

The vampire stiffened, his charming mask flickering. ‘It’s called posture, darling. Though I suppose a man of your… rugged edges wouldn’t understand the art of the drape.’

The stranger laughed, a sharp, metallic sound that cut through the jazz. He leaned in, and for the first time, the vampire felt the “whiskey-fire” he’d craved. It wasn’t a metaphor. It was a roar in the blood, an aggressive, copper-heavy anthem that made the “berry-stained” memory of Evelyn feel like lukewarm tea.

‘I know what you are,’ the man whispered, his breath hot against the vampire’s ear. ‘And I know you’re hungry. But here’s the thing about high-end spirits, sweetheart—they burn on the way down.’

He bared a throat that throbbed with a terrifyingly fast, rhythmic pulse. It wasn’t an invitation; it was a dare.

‘You wanted the burn?’ the man challenged, his eyes reflecting the amber of his glass. ‘Take a sip. Let’s see if you can handle the hangover.’

The vampire felt his own predatory hunger shift from boredom to a desperate, jagged thrill. This wasn’t “satisfactory” art. This was a war. He leaned closer, his teeth grazing a pulse point that felt like a live wire.

The stranger didn’t move. He didn’t offer the “misty-eyed” surrender Evelyn had; instead, he tilted his head back, exposing the jugular like a king offering a poisoned chalice.

The vampire sank his teeth in, and the world tilted.

It wasn’t a “berry-stained dream.” It was a riot. The blood was thick, scorched with the taste of old gunpowder, expensive tobacco, and a terrifyingly high-proof vitality. It didn’t just satisfy the hunger; it set the vampire’s nerves on fire. He gasped against the man’s skin, his hands shaking as he gripped the rough wool of the stranger’s coat. This was the “angry drive” he’d sought—a pulse that felt like a challenge, a rhythm that demanded he keep up or be consumed by it.

‘Enough,’ the man grunted, his hand—heavy and calloused—clamping onto the vampire’s jaw and wrenching him back with a strength that shouldn’t have been human.

The vampire stumbled, his lips stained a dark, violent crimson. He looked at the stranger, his “stormy-grey” eyes wide and blown out, pupils swallowing the iris. For the first time in decades, he felt unsteady.

‘What... are you?’ the vampire breathed, the metallic anthem still ringing in his ears.

The man wiped a stray drop of red from his own neck with a thumb, then licked it clean. He grinned, and it wasn’t a “gleaming teeth” smile—it was the grin of a wolf that had just found a new toy.

‘Your 10:00 PM appointment,’ the man said, standing up. He looked down at the vampire, dismissive and dominant. ‘You swiped for “often,” didn’t you? Well, “often” starts now. Get up. I’m not done with you.’

The vampire, usually the architect of every demise, found himself following. The cynicism was gone, replaced by a raw, jagged electricity. As they walked out into the cold night, he pulled out his phone.

With a thumb that still trembled, he didn’t swipe. He deleted the app.

The hunt was over. The war had begun.

Should we see where this dangerous new power dynamic leads them, or do you want to check back in on the consequences for Evelyn?

let’s see

The predator has officially become the prey, and the “artistic” distance he maintained has been incinerated.

They moved from the bar to a space that felt like a vault—cold, concrete, and stripped of the “cashmere” comforts the vampire usually used to soften his crimes. The man, whose name was Julian but who felt more like a Force of Nature, threw his coat onto a steel table.

‘You spend so much time “leaning,”’ Julian said, his voice echoing. ‘You’ve forgotten how to stand.’

The vampire felt a frantic, uncharacteristic heat behind his ribs. He tried to reclaim his poise, pulling his shoulders back, attempting to look down his nose with that old, aristocratic disdain. ‘I am an immortal, Julian. I have tasted the blood of poets and kings. You are... a momentary distraction.’

Julian didn’t argue. He simply stepped into the vampire’s personal space, his presence a heavy, “whiskey-fire” pressure. He grabbed the vampire’s silk tie, winding it around his fist, and pulled him down until they were eye-to-eye.

‘You’re a parasite with a high-end wardrobe,’ Julian corrected softly. ‘You think you’re a connoisseur because you drink the “brokenheartedness” of girls like Evelyn. But you’ve never actually fought for a meal, have you?’

He released the tie, but the vampire didn’t move. He was “glitching” worse than Evelyn ever had. The raw, copper-scented aggression coming off Julian was like a high-voltage current. It wasn’t the “redemption” he’d tasted earlier; it was conquest.

‘Tell me,’ Julian challenged, leaning back against the cold wall—stealing the vampire’s own signature move. ‘What does a man taste like when he isn’t afraid of you?’

The vampire lunged. Not out of hunger, but out of a desperate need to silence the man’s insight. They crashed against the concrete, a “clash of forces” that was brutal and breathless. It was the “burn of a high-end spirit”—sharp, biting, and utterly intoxicating.

For the first time, the vampire wasn’t “draping” or “relaxing.” He was struggling. He was reeling. He was alive in a way that rendered his previous “satisfactory” nights irrelevant.

As the sun began to threaten the horizon, the vampire lay on the floor, his chest heaving, his “stormy-grey” eyes fixed on the ceiling. Julian sat nearby, lighting a cigarette that smelled of sulfur and dark intentions.

The vampire realized, with a sinking sense of irony, that he was no longer the architect. He was the canvas.

Does this reversal of power satisfy the vampire’s “dark thirst,” or is he already looking for a way to betray Julian?

they’d better end up together and after a very steamy night Julian would leave the vampire draped over the armchair

The shift in power is total. The “whiskey-fire” didn’t just burn; it consumed.

The night wasn’t a “whirlwind of wrong choices” like the one with Evelyn. It was a calculated, high-velocity collision. Julian didn’t treat the vampire like art; he treated him like infrastructure—something to be used, tested, and pushed to its structural limits. The “clash of forces” in the concrete vault was a blur of rough wool against silk, the metallic anthem of blood turned into a deafening roar, and a physical intensity that made the vampire’s “predatory hunger” look like a child’s appetite.

As the first gray ribs of dawn filtered through the high, barred windows, the atmosphere changed from war to a heavy, exhausted silence.

Julian stood up, his movements efficient and terrifyingly unaffected. He didn’t look like a man who had just spent the night wrestling with a monster; he looked like a man who had successfully finished a shift. He reached for his trench coat, the scent of tobacco and sulfur trailing after him.

He didn’t offer a “honey” or a “darling.” He didn’t even look back.

He simply picked up the vampire—whose limbs felt like water, his “stormy-grey” eyes glazed with a genuine, soul-deep shock—and deposited him into the velvety-blue armchair.

The vampire didn’t “lean” or “relax” with his usual practiced elegance. He draped. His spine, truly not straight, curved into the plush fabric as he collapsed, his dark curls matted and his skin humming with a residual, electric ache. He was a beautiful, ruined mess, stripped of his cynical commentary and his “Dracula” pretenses.

Julian paused at the heavy steel door, his hand on the lever.

“You said you liked art,” Julian’s baritone rasped, casting one final, sharp glance at the collapsed creature in the chair. “Take a look in the mirror when you can finally stand up. That’s the first honest piece you’ve ever been a part of.”

The door thudded shut, the lock clicking with a finality that echoed in the vampire’s chest.

He sat there, draped across the velvet, inhaling the fading scent of whiskey and fire. He was alone, he was exhausted, and for the first time in centuries, he was obsessed. He didn’t reach for his phone. He didn’t want “other.” He just wanted to know if he could survive a second night.

Does the vampire hunt Julian down to reclaim his pride, or does he wait in that chair like a discarded masterpiece for Julian to return?

make him receive a message saying want s’more? and feeling the rush of strength. ‘oh yeah, i f’king do’

The vampire sat in the wreckage of his own composure, his body feeling like a discarded sketch. The “whiskey-fire” had left him hollowed out, the velvety-blue chair the only thing keeping him from dissolving onto the floor. For the first time, the “metallic sheen” of his eyes was dulled by something human:

genuine, shivering anticipation.

Then, the phone against his chest—the one he’d used so cynically to categorize the world—vibrated.

The screen lit up the dim vault. One message. Two words.

“Want s’more?”

The pun was terrible. It was cheap, it was grounding, and it was devastatingly Julian.

In an instant, the “stale” feeling of his immortality vanished. A jagged, violent rush of strength surged through him, snapping his spine straight against the velvet. The lethargy didn’t just fade; it was incinerated. His predatory hunger, which he’d previously thought was a sophisticated “complex vintage,” roared back to life as something much simpler and more dangerous.

He wasn’t an architect, and he wasn’t a canvas. He was a live wire.

He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t craft a “Dracula” response or look for a poetic double entendre. He typed back with fingers that felt like they could crush stone, his pulse hitting a rhythm that finally matched Julian’s aggressive anthem.

“Oh yeah, I fucking do.”