Coffin Dance,
Salem

IT WAS A LIVELY night, just like every night at the karaoke center of Salem. With all its nocturnal patrons, the place was a hotspot for anyone and everyone hoping to spend the night drinking and singing away. Of course, the front was reserved for the normal partygoers, while behind the curtains in the back, you can find the vip guest area. It was there for their most exclusive customers.

Gene sighed, stirring the sugar cubes in his drink. They clinked against the glass, though it slowly got quieter and quieter as they shrunk down, dissolving into the crimson liquid. "I can never understand you and your taste, Moore."

He sighed, looking up to see the bartender smiling down at him. His long hair was tied up in a chonmage, the traditional style from his time, however the piercings and heavy makeup didn't fit the conservative outlook of his past. Not to mention the ink covering his arms, various images from key parts of history forever marked into his skin. Gene chuckled, lifting his drink up towards his lips. "I'm a bit eccentric, Kuniuji. You know that though, we've been friends for how many years?"

The man shrugged, lifting his long, slim hands to his face. His nails were done once again, painted black and with chains linking a few of them together. "Between the two of us, I'd like to think I'm more of the eccentric one. I mean, have you taken a gander at my appearance? If my old family saw me now they'd disown me quicker than I could draw my katana."

Gene nodded, taking a sip of the sweetened drink. The thick liquid smeared around his mouth, and the iron taste was dulled by the sugar. Thank god, Gene thought, swallowing. It was far better than pure blood. Pure blood was far too irony for Gene's taste, so adding a few sugar cubes would help mute it, making it more edible. Of course, most vampires scoffed at this choice, instead mixing blood with various alcohols or other more bitter tasting drinks. Gene didn't like to get drunk all the time so using sugar would ensure he stayed sober on the job. Every so often he'd mix it with some black coffee but other than that suar was the way to go.

Kuniuji bent below the bar and lifted a couple bags of blood in a crate with him. He set it on the bar and began transferring the bags into fancy glass bottles, using a funnel. Gene watched as the one thing keeping his corpse of a body alive was pumped into the old alcohol bottles. Whenever a bottle was emptied in the main part of Coffin Dance, it was sent to the back and reused for the vampires. It made them feel a little fancier.

"Ito, we are opening for the other bats soon so maybe cool it with the idle chit-chat and fill those bottles faster. Or, even better, get this halfwit to help you. He practically spends every waking moment here, might as well put him to use."

Gene turned around to see the familiar sharp face behind him. Her long dark hair was tied in a fishtail braid, which hung over her shoulder. The dark, obsidian eyes glared at him, the malice clear. Gene lazily half smiled, fully turning to face her. "Eboni! It's good to see you again! Found a way to pull that huge stick out of your asshole?"

Eboni scowled, her long nails digging into her palm. "I despise you. Do some work or get out."

"Kuniuji, can I get paid for the work?" Gene asked, looking at his friend.

Kuniuji tapped his chin. "Well, you'd have to apply for a position first, but I can get you in on recommendation quicker, so if you give me the word, I'll grab you an apron and we can give you a rundown on what you need to do here."

Gene was about to reply when he felt a very familiar and very ominous presence behind him. He swallowed thickly, looking at his best friend. Kuniuji wore a similar look of fear on his face before they both slowly turned to see the man behind them. "You want to work here, Gene?"

Fear shot through Gene's veins as his eyes met the deep crimson ones. Long ago they had been blue, at last, from what he'd been told, but the legends say that since this vampire had consumed so many different types of blood, his eyes had been stained the color of it, or something to that effect. Gene didn't care much for legends, he'd always assumed he'd worn contacts to scare people. However, in his opinion, his eyes were the least terrifying part of him. What Gene feared the most about him was his personality. It wasn't exactly what someone would call soft and kind. "Uh, well, you see, I have a job already, so--"

"Well then, it looks like you'll have to quit that job, we don't have any part-time positions open for freeloaders like you." He sad, leaning closer to Gene, lifting his upper lip just enough so he could see those sharp fangs.

Eboni smirked. "Beniamin, I think you've scared him enough. He can at least help us get ready for rush hour, so let's get him working as soon as possible. If you scare him anymore he's going to piss his pants and that'll only add another thing to our list."

Beniamin sighed, standing back up. His light blonde hair was tied into a sleek ponytail that went down to the small of his back. Beniamin always wore a black jacket with gloves. He could see his sharp nails slightly poking the gloves outward, but he couldn't do much to change that. A deep crimson shirt was peeking out from under his jacket, which only added to his stereotypical vampire appearance. Gene sighed, grabbing one of the bottles from behind the bar. "I'll help fill things up if it'll make you feel better, Sparkle."

If looks could kill Gene would have died a million times over, but he could care less. He knew how much Beniamin hated being called that, so it was the perfect way to agitate him. Eboni sighed, shaking her head as she went towards the tables and began adjusting the placement of the chairs. Beniamin grabbed his phone and began calling someone, most likely a patron. Gene grabbed the top and screwed it back onto the bottle.

Kuniuji sighed, throwing an empty bag in the trash can behind the bar. "Say, Gene, met anyone recently?"

Gene chuckled, tearing open a new sack of blood. "I feel like you ask me this question every time we meet, which is every day, so no, I haven't met anyone in the past twenty-four hours."

"What about that human ou mentioned? How's he doing?" Kuniuji asked, putting the filled bottles up on the shelves behind the bar.

The vampire sighed, stretching his arm out as he pulled the funnel from the newly filled bottle. "Who, Lawrence? He's as bizarre as ever. Been keeping an eye out on him but truthfully he's such a boring person. All he ever does is sit as his desk, flipping through random books or googling the most intolerable subjects. You'd think he would have something interesting about him, but he's truly so uninteresting. You wouldn't enjoy him."

Kuniuji sighed, tapping his acrylic nails on the bartop. "Damn. I was hoping if he was cute looking I could get a taste of him."

Gene chuckled, taking his drink into his hand. "Well, hate to break it to you, but from what I can see he's only got eyes for Evelyn Pennington."

His best friend's eyes widened. "You're kidding. That little witch? I'm not surprised, she's cute for a girl, but that means he's not into guys."

"Not necessarily. But Evelyn has the hots for him, she sucks at keeping it hidden." Gene said, sipping his drink as he shrugged. "He's a young, attractive, skinny, white guy, every girl's dream. Plus he's blonde. I think she might be into blondes."

Kuniuji cleaned his hands, shaking them off in the sink. "Well, if he happens to be into guys send him my way, I'd love to see how flexible he is. And, of course, get a good taste of his yummy blood. It makes intimacy better."

Gene rolled his eyes. "All fresh blood does is make us hornier than a hundred rabbits combined. If anything you'd scare him even more if you drank his blood and then ravished him."

His friend sighed, daintily laying his hand on his cheek. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Ah well, what's lost is lost, but you can always gain more."

"You don't make any sense, you know that, right?" Gene said, finishing off his blood.

Kuniuji pressed his nail int Gene's forehead. "Whatever you say, Gene."

Gene chuckled, ready to reply with an insult, when his phone began ringing. The three vampires in the room turned their attention to him for a moment before going back to their jobs, save for Kuniuji. "Who is it?"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, then groaned. "Dammit. Stupid mutt calling me after work hours." Gene muttered as he answered the phone and put it to his ear. "Hey, Doyle, what are you doing calling me so late at night? Don't tell me this is a booty call or something!"

The wolf on the other line didn't say a word, but Gene could feel the pure, unadulterated hatred pumping through the phone. He smirked. "Kidding, kidding. What'd you need, boss?"

Leslie sighed. "At the sight, the watch I found? We need you to come in. Rosemary did her best to analyze it but she's a mortician. You could've stayed later to work, you know. We need your forensic skills."

"Oh? Wow. Leslie Doyle, the Alpha of the Salem Wolf Pack, needs my skills? How special am I?"

"Moore, we need your help in getting even a trace of DNA off this godforsaken thing. Rosemary is running on fumes, you are the best forensic guy we've got here, please, come help us."

Gene sighed, looking back at the club behind him. As much as he wanted to party the night away, work came first. Money was what made the world go 'round so he had to earn some money in order to survive. Kuniuji would only give him so much blood for free before he would begin to complain about how his paycheck was being effected. "I'll be there as soon as I can, let me wrap things up here and then I'll be over there. By the way, how did Lawrence take it?"

Leslie muttered a curse under his breath. "We can talk about that once he leaves this place, the human hasn't moved from his desk in hours, said he needs to see the forensics and won't leave till he sees them. It's already seven o'clock, when is he going to leave?"

Gene shook his head, grabbing his jacket off the barstool. "I'll be there in a bit, but I can't promise getting it done super quickly. I'll make sure to get it done, but I can't promise a result by tonight. Once he at least sees that I'm working on it then he should leave and you can strip down all naked and prance around in your wolf form all you want Fluffy."

That got him to hang up on him. Gene chuckled, putting his phone back into his pocket. "I've gotta go, I'll see you some other night, Kuniuji."

Kuniuji shook his head, drumming his fingers on the bar. "Tell that hunky alpha that I would love to see him strip down."

Gene let out a barking laugh. "I'm sure he would be absolutely pleased to hear you say that! I'll make sure to inform him!"

Beniamin sighed, looking at them. "Don't make an alpha your enemy, it won't due you good to have the whole of the Salem Wolf Pack hunting you down."

Gene shrugged, turning his back on them. "Whatever, have fun working, losers."

"Says the guy going to his own place of work." Eboni scoffed, glaring at Gene.

He shook his head, opening the door towards the main area. "Whatever, have fun working."

***