William T. Hyde's Story

Despite the loud pounding music and low whispers and moans of the patrons Hyde found he had no difficulty hearing the orders of his customers. He supposed the perks of being a vampire were heightened senses, one being hearing of course. It was an interesting thing being a vampire working in a bar filled with hormonal humans. Even through the music and their words he could hear the steady flow of blood through their veins.
"Holy water, please!" He heard a pretty little thing at the corner of the bar call for and he lifted his green eyes to hers and nodded letting her know he understood his order. With skilled hands he made a show of pouring the drink for her and then slid it towards her and held his hand out for the bill that was placed in his hand. He could hear her blood seem to increase in place as he came closer and they touched. It was another thing that one got used to when being a vampire, everyone seemed to be attracted to you.

He moved along the bar filling orders as they came, slowly making his way towards Juliette and Beelzebub, when he reached them and they were in speaking distance he heard Beelzebub tell Juliette she had gotten her a nice tip and watched as a ferret also came up to her and deposited his loot from the bar goers. He was used to stealing as well now, and rather than frown he went and got a small little dish of water for the Ferret.
"Not bad there friend." He told the small creature, Glancing up at Beelzebub he let his gaze linger over her clothes and sighed a little "I think a challenge would be to steal fully dressed." He told her. "But it is a nice body, so I suppose you have every right to show it off." He told her honestly. He looked over to Juliette and then straightened.

It may have been a very different place, certainly a place that might make most uneasy, but for Hyde- it was home.

Nyx & Kaine.
Nyx - "Speech"
Kaine - "Speech"

With an unusually wide grin stretching from ear to ear, Nyx eyed herself in the mirror, checking that her outfit looked at least decent; while she was never one who dressed to impress others, she was far from a tramp and she actually liked to look good. Her image was important to her, but she couldn't care less what other people thought of her. Her clothes were dark and baggy, from top to bottom, and she wore a black cap that tilted up slightly. She ran a hand through her side-swept fringe and turned around to see that her brother had been staring at her. "Are you ready?" he asked, his voice monotonous, "because I don't want to be stood her for much longer. I'm terribly impatient, as you know," he continued. She rolled her eyes and let out a huff of breath simultaneously, nodding her head shortly after. "Yes, Kaine, I'm ready." She eyed his outfit then, scrunching her nose a little. She didn't understand her brother's fascination with skinny clothes. Kaine said nothing more, and simply just walked past her and towards the door. He trusted Nyx to be able to keep up with his pace, though she had stopped to lock the door before she left the building.

They made their way down to the club together, but they hadn't spoken a word to each other since they set out, until they got to the doors. "Listen, if there's something hanging on the door when you come home tonight, just make yourself scarce for the night, yeah?" she warned him, but she was clearly joking. Kaine scoffed lightly, but nodded regardless; he never knew when she was being serious or not, and the last thing he wanted was to walk in on that. Kaine walked over to the bar, whereas Nyx was making her way around the club, hoping to find some interesting people to talk to, or have some fun with. She held a light smirk on her lips as she made her way to an empty booth. She took a seat and let out a huff, repositioning her cap out of boredom. Her eyes darted to certain people in the club, and occasionally she would catch sight of her brother making conversation at the bar; with whom, she didn't know, but she narrowed her eyes anyway.

She had also noticed a small gathering at the bar, and she was debating whether or not to approach them, because she was becoming bored and she didn't want to be sat alone all night. Humans weren't as interesting as some of the Vampires in the club, but she didn't consider herself to be that close to any of them. She sucked her teeth and sighed lightly, standing herself up, only to be caught off guard by a presence that had appeared directly in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere. Her eyes travelled upwards, until she met the eyes of the man stood before her. His piercing blue eyes stared down into hers, and she wasn't sure what to do at that point. She didn't even know if he was a Vampire or not, but she was seriously freaked out. "Can I help you?" she asked, and a smirk crawled across his lips as he lightened his expression slightly. "No, but you can let me buy you a drink..?" he offered, and Nyx shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Maybe." With that, she sidestepped him and made her way to the bar, almost gesturing for him to follow.

When they approached, she tried her best to stay as far away from her brother as possible, because she always felt a little uncomfortable communicating with guys when he was around, for more than one reason, but she found herself to be fairly close to the small gathering that she'd spotted earlier. It made her feel a little uneasy, but she kept her eyes on the guy as she took a seat. As he ordered drinks, she allowed herself to look around the club once more. She felt his hand on her back as he shifted a little closer, but she didn't feel the need to react to that so soon. In all honesty, she was looking for Jagger. He was always fun to hang out with, despite how terrifying he could be at times. She tried to look past all that, and see him only as the guy who had willingly taken her and Kaine in during their time of need. She spent a while making conversation with her little friend, discovering that his name was Rick. Such a ridiculous human name, she thought, but he didn't seem too bad. If he was persistent enough, he'd be the guy she'd take home, but she would easily give up that chance if someone better came along.

Hyde watched as Beelzebub blew him a kiss and he pretended to catch it and put it in his pocket. He went about serving a few more customers and saw Beelzebub leave the bar out of the corner of his eye. Juliette was alone at the bar and slid on over towards her, she was watching the dancers with a bit of a dreamy look in her eye. Curious as to what she was thinking about he grabbed a glass and a rag.
"Juliette." He said her name with his soft British accent. Though he had spent many many years in America he was proud that the language had not changed his own. "You seem lost in thought." He told her. His hands moved quickly over the glass drying it till it shone. He put it away and started on the next glass. Around them he could see Beelzebub moving over to Felix and Jagger, she always seemed so moon eyed over Jagger and he wondered if the man that had taken him in even noticed. His friend Felix received a hug from her and he reminded himself that he wanted to speak to Felix about some deep conspiracy he had found out about one of his Jane Austin novels.

He let his attention move back to Juliette and he gave her a friendly smile, "you know Juliette, if you want to dance all you have to do is ask." He set down the rag and glass and leaned on the bar much like she had been and put his head in his hands. He looked up at his co-worker and said "I remember large extravagant balls back from my time. We had elaborate dances and it was proper to know all of them, but I think I can dance like this too." He looked at the dance floor watching as Nyx and Minji began to move together. He lifted his brows and then looked back to her. "Whaddua say?"

She was smiling at him and Hyde returned the motion, “I remember balls,” She said softly to him and he nodded. "They were certainly grand affairs." he agreed. The song changed and Hyde noticed as his friend tilted her head a little listening to the song transition from loud and pulsing to a song that most might make love to. He found his finger tapping to the beat of the song on the bar and said "our balls were certainly different." he mused. "I remember this one I went to-" he found himself cut off when she stood. Her fingers moved through her blond locks sending it cascading down her shoulders.

She was smiling at him as she reached out grabbed him by the belt and dragged him onto the dance floor. They were soon lost in the masses of bodies around them and Hyde found himself pressed up against his friend. On the dance floor it was far too loud to talk, the music made the ceiling above them vibrate with every pulse of the bass. In a motion that he did often Hyde let his arms move around Juliette and he leaned down his head a little so that she wouldn't have to lean back so far to look up at him. Hyde was used to towering over people and he often he liked to intimidate people by stepping as close to them as possible and just staring.

Their bodies moved together, and he could feel the heat and smell the sweat of those around him, their blood was pulsing fast and he could all but taste it. In a practiced motion from his time at the balls Hyde caught one of her hands and lifted it a bit and then gave her a silly grin before dipping her like one might do in a waltz. He pulled her back up and laughed a little. He missed the old balls, with soft violins and regimented dancing. While there was truly excitement in this sort of music, he missed glamor of it all. In salvation all anyone ever seemed to care about was sex.

He threw in a few more silly moves that one might have seen at a ball, and even took the time to twirl her in a few circles before bringing her close again. He enjoyed being with Juliette, as a close friend he often didn't feel the need to impress her.

Hyde was attempting to look serious at Juliette but the way she was looking at him made him grin. They could never be serious with each other. They danced for a little while meshing modern dance with their pasts, and when they were finished and had to return to their duties they headed on back to the bar and out of the dance floor area. Hyde chuckled to himself and he leaned against the bar and brushed a friendly finger down her nose. "There you see." He told her. "I can dance like those humans any day." He pointed to the crowd with the finger that had previously been on her nose.

Hyde opened the area that let them step behind the bar and let Juliette pass and then walked in behind the bar himself. He closed the bar top and said "Well that was certainly fun." He said. He leaned against the bar, and heard someone calling for a bartender and he glanced down the way and lifted a hand telling the patron silently that he would be along in a moment. "Oh I'd forgotten to tell you." He told his friend leaning towards her. "I read this new book, I think you and Felix might like it. So if you want it first you'd better steal it from the back." He told her. "It's a fantasy this time. Lots of dragons and some steampunk." He winked at her and then moved away.

Hyde found himself walking towards the patron who was asking for some sort of drink concoction. He nodded and grinned at the female as he made it for her. She smiled coyly at him and Hyde found himself wondering if he had found a meal. Her blood smelled sweet and he'd always found he had a sweet tooth. He passed her the drink she requested and leaned up on the bar and looked at her with a smile.

Within minutes he had her number written on his hand and he was off moving down the bar. Hyde made it a policy to never have relations with his meals. The idea of taking the life blood from someone you knew and loved seemed impolite in a way, and though some of his relations had begged him and he was usually happy to go above and beyond for them, he would never drink from them.

Hyde could feel his hunger rumble deep within him, though working at a club did have its perks, it was also very very tempting to just jump over the bar and rip into the closest person he saw. Their blood smelled delicious, being 202 years old Hyde had many years to perfect his technique on feeding. He knew Felix being the oldest out of all of them was of course far stronger and had that bit of finesse that the other vampire did not have, but Hyde prided himself on his feeding, he left small marks and tried his best not to mar the body of his donor.

Hyde filled out a few more orders until finally he could not stand it anymore, the woman who had given him the number was still at the bar her gaze found his and he flashed her a quick and easy smile which she returned. Hyde ducked under the bar and then made his way to her, she turned in her stool and Hyde found himself reaching for her hand to help her off the stood. Old habits die hard. He introduced himself and inclined his head in a bit of a bow, she giggled at his manner and told him her name was Jane. Delighted in her name he took her hand again and kissed the knuckles. He could feel the blood flow in her veins quicken and he knew he had his prey.

He grabbed them a few drinks and then led her to a small table hidden away in the corner of the bar, the music was softer there muffled by the bodies and walls. There is was a tad easier to talk and so Hyde turned on the charm. He asked her questions focusing on driving the conversation towards her, when ever she asked him a question about his past he would neatly turn the tables on her. He didn't touch his drink and let her have it instead. There was something delicious about an intoxicated human.

Her blood smelled thick and sweet to him and testing her to see if she was alright with his closeness he took her hand and their fingers laced. his strength held her there and when he leaned over to nip at her jaw line he felt her shudder. Had this not been his meal Hyde would have enjoyed the small shudder, but he was focused on his own hunger. He nuzzled her neck and she tilted her head a little giving him more access. Growling in appreciation he let his teeth sink into her. The blood filled his mouth and his eyes closed in appreciation to her sweet taste. Her fingers tightened over his but she didn't move, he could hear her breath pant out and he let himself drink a while more. After a few minutes when he was finished he lifted his mouth and licked away the last of the blood. She looked at him a bit dazed and he patted her hand.
"Maybe you'd better go home dear." He told her whispering in her ear. He could see the faint marks of his teeth and prided himself on doing as little damage as possible. She nodded at him thinking that was a good idea and he let her stand. She held onto him for support and he led her out to the door. Hyde waved her farewell and then feeling very pleased with himself he went to collect some glasses and walked back to the bar.

Almost by his job description, Felix was the resident kill-joy of Salvation, at least for the new vampiric population. It was with his sharp gaze and quick retribution when someone took things too far that he kept the club in check, something that its owner was unwilling to do. Quite frankly, Jagger was under the impression that the sign out front was enough policing for his club, but Felix, Hyde, and occasionally Juliette, when she could be bothered, thought otherwise. It kept the club in balance, as it were, with Jagger providing the insanity, the freedom, the lust for (un)life that their customers thrived on, feeding off of his wild, untamed energy. Felix, on the other hand, provided the solid rock of sanity that no one particularly liked, but was ultimately necessary. Well, we say that nobody liked it- a good majority of the humans did for the simple fact that when Felix was on duty unwanted feedings and violence plummeted in comparison tot he laissez-faire attitude Jagger and a good majority of people felt towards the place.

It didn't mean that Felix had to like this part of the job, especially when sociopathic, new bloods started sassing him. Not only did it make him feel old in a way that no immortal should, but it wore on his almost legendary patience. Kaine was a frequent offender in this regard, starting fights and breaking rules that weren't explicitly stated, but were still enforced by Salvation's only manager. Like this one for instance, number six in the Holy Book of Felix; thou shalt not assault other club goers for asinine reasons.

That was why, when Kaine stared impassively up at him, smugness in his features like a teenager being called out by a teacher, Felix simply stared back, lips pressed into a thin line. There was quiet between the two, a battle of wills and instinct as Felix waited for Kaine to let the poor man go and/or attempt to defend himself. Felix wasn't unreasonable, of course, so he did end up listening to more explanation than most people would. They just usually ended up being completely idiotic.

"This pervert has been eyeing up Hyorin for a while, and no one touches or looks at my baby sister without her permission."

As he'd thought; this clearly broke the rule in the Book of Felix regarding asinine behavior. He didn't car about big-brother instincts because, quite frankly, if someone took an interest in Nyx and wasn't a vampire, he would be more considered about them than the vampire girl. Nyx could and would take care of herself.

Clearly unimpressed, he simply looked on as Kaine inflicted the last bit of damage he could before releasing the man who scampered away into the crowd, bleeding from his scalp, which was clearly visible given that Kaine had ripped out a good chunk of his hair. The younger vampire looked so pleased with himself, or, well, as pleased as Kaine's general expression allowed.

"Is there anything else, or did you just come over here to ruin my fun?"

"No, I'd like to remind you that, if you want to assault people, please don't do it on or around club property." So Felix wasn't a saint, per say, but, honestly, he had a hard enough time keeping Salvation sane; once the club goers left his sight and range of influence, they left his mind. "Have a nice night."

His job wasn't done yet as he waved Kaine off with disregard only an old or powerful vampire could get away with, vanishing back into the crowds with a silent threat to keep his eyes on him. Quite frankly, however, he had other things to worry about. For instance, a bleeding patron in a room full of drunk and/or drugged up vampires. If the man made it out the doors, more power to him, but an injured human in the club just oozed danger.

After making sure that the human had made it out the door without any more real issues, Felix weaved his way through the crowds and back to the bar. He'd only been on the job for ten minutes at most and already he'd broken up a misunderstanding, had a serious talk with Jagger, and he's most likely saved a young man's life. Typical Salvation. It was only after he'd slid onto a barstool that he noticed the very different scenes around him from the resident bartenders. Hyde looked dreamy and satisfied, obviously a feeding has gone right that night. On the other side was Juliette with a decidedly un-Juliette-like expression of an unnatural sluggishness, the cause of which was dispersing into the club, fading in the red lights. If that hadn't been enough, her choice for companion and the obvious smell in the air(well, obvious to someone who'd been here almost as long as the club had been opened) made it all the more obvious. His lips twisted into a frown, but he didn't walk over, didn't nothing to acknowledge the pair apart from a look that lasted a moment longer before he was waving Hyde over. He couldn't tell Juliette what to do, after all, even if he knew he'd be hearing about this later either from Hyde or a teary-eyed Juliette.

"I take it you've had a good evening?" He asked, leaning over the bar. Even if everyone else seemed to prefer fresh blood tonight, Felix, more often than not, didn't have time for that, so the sight of him at the bar was as normal as anything in the bar(not that that was saying much). Honestly, children these days; they had no idea how lucky they were to have blood whenever they wanted to it for only a small monetary price.

Hyde was busy cleaning some glasses when he saw Juliette leaning over the counter with a woman. He raised a brow as she reached for the the woman and they shared the smoke together. There was something about it that seemed appealing but Hyde knew all to well the dependance humans had on such substances and he hated how they looked when they had too much. Those types could be seen in the bars most of the time as Juliette was the one that would give them what they craved. He never had much use for drugs and so though he didn't approve he never said anything. It was her life and he had no business telling her that.

He set down a small shot glass and noticed Felix waving him over. Grinning he walked over to his friend and leaned on the bar much like him. "I take it you've had a good evening?" Felix asked him and Hyde nodded.
"You could say that." He gazed at his friend and tilted his head a little. "How ever it looks like you are not having much of an evening. What's wrong friend?" Hyde pulled up a stool and sat showing Felix he was ready to listen. Often they would have such talks and Hyde enjoyed talking over books they had read and he would even bring up conspiracies about his favorite books by Jane.

They were close friends, and Hyde enjoyed his company. He leaned down opening a small fridge that held a supply of blood for emergencies and he poured some into a glass and set it in front of him. He then sat back on his stool and gave his friend an encouraging look.

Felix let out another sigh, but this one was breathier, relief escaping from parted lips. Hyde was, in his own opinion, the calm in the eye of the storm, a safe haven for nights where the sheer chaos of Salvation became too much for the elder vampire to take. This was one of those nights, and Felix couldn't help but lean on the bar in a bit of a slouch unbefitting his own status. He ignored Hyde's question for a moment, choosing instead to wrap one hand around the glass, cool and wonderful under his touch, and the other snaking out to grab Hyde's hand, bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss on the knuckles.

"You are too good to me, pulchra mihi," He exhaled, lips curling upwards. Hyde was a dear friend and one of the few people in his acquaintance who still understood the days of passing affection that didn't have to lead to something more. Felix grew up in the days where kisses were as much thanks as they were romantic, and with Hyde at least he had no need to stop himself unlike the aborted gestures of affection that he might have to use with the other workers and players of the club.

He relinquished his grip on Hyde's hand, taking a moment to sip at the glass of blood before him, savoring and scenting it like it was a fine wine and he a connoisseur. A-… A fine choice, fresh but only as much as their supplies would allow. It was subpar to an educated tongue, none of the vivaciousness and pure energy that came from a live feeding, but it was enough and would have to be enough. He licked his lips with a quick swipe of his tongue, disappearing any hints of red that lingered.

"Tonight has just been one of those nights, my friend," He finally replied, leaning against one hand. "There are always too many things to do, and I cannot be everywhere at once. I've broken up at least two fights since I walked in a few moments ago, I've talked to the police for at least an hour this evening before arriving… It's…exhausting." He stopped for a moment, a chill of pure instinct rolling down his spine. Someone was looking at him. He turned his head slightly, just in time to catch Jagger's childish gesture and of course Kaine had gone over to the club's owner to tattle on Felix. If you looked at the club like one big family, Felix was like the stern mother who made you eat your vegetables and do your homework while Jagger was like the fun dad who sneaked you ice-cream and took you to the park. Each needed each other, but it was certainly no fun having to play mother, but no one else would do it. Felix rolled his eyes in response and turned away, not quite in the mood to play. Jagger was, however, and especially with Kaine. It was only a matter of time, Felix decided, before something happened there- sexualities tended to become irrelevant when Jagger turned up his manic charm and actually focused.

It was then that Beelzebub returned, new decorations on her neck that Felix knew were not from Jagger(he was never that neat or gentle with his partners).

"Lovely for you, perhaps," He teased gently, reaching a hand out to tap on one of the hickeys with a gentle flick of his index finger. There was a daze in her eyes when he really looked that exposed just how much fun she'd just had. Ah, the little pills, most likely that had been circulating around the club. They were most certainly not Felix's choice for a good time, but these vampires and humans needed that extra something to really enjoy themselves, to revel like a member of the cult of Dionysus. Who was he to fault them?

"But enough of my complaining. Someone please tell me some good or exciting news. I need to live vicariously through somebody right now," He continued, taking another sip of the ruby red liquid, tongue darting out to catch the red slipping over the rim of the glass.