Sanguine Dynasty: A Study in Blood

Chapter 2

Whitewashed walls surrounded the hospital as the sun filtered through the window panes, it was like the light was cleansed before it hit John's skin, so warm but also clinical. His eyes roved over the different medical posters, some talking about sepsis, others about argyria.

His lips tugged into a smirk as the decorations seemed to differ between the different wards. For the humans, regular clean walls and nurses donned in scrubs seemed to filter about, whereas for those areas designed for the care of lycans and vampires there were strange, almost mediaeval tools.

It had always amused John the difference in medicinal treatments and studies for the two breeds. During medical school, he and Mike had joked about how humans were so fragile that they required such advanced technology to ensure their safety, whereas wolves and vampires merely required the most basic of treatments as their bodies appeared far more robust.

"Just in here," Mike muttered to him as he held the door to a laboratory open. John nodded his thanks with a tight smile as he slipped past his old friend and stepped further into the lab.

The lights were dim, all apart from the sheer glowing of light that leaked through the slither of glass that remained uncovered above the shelves that stood high in the room. Along the walls, pipettes and test tubes decorated the shelves.

Over the countertops that lined the walls were documentation and paperwork, it appeared to have been strewn around with little care. A chaotic form of organisation that John had seen so many times before but had never truly been able to appreciate.

He wasn't certain if it was his military training or a natural instinct, but the lycan had always preferred a more linear form of cleanliness.

John's nostrils flared as the stench clung to his nose. A bitter amalgamation of coppery blood and an intensely floral incense filled the room and as the smell lit up his brain, John could unpack the scent immediately. Vampire.

Hunched over a microscope and in the centre of the room was the epicentre of the smell. A man stood tall, his lithe limbs tucked close to his body as he gently squeezed out a clear solution over a little glass slide of crimson liquid.

A halo of ebony curls surrounded his head and the contrasting shade of darkness caused the ethereal white of the man's pale skin to almost illuminate. A silvery shade loomed within his irises and his cupid bow lips were pursed with concentration.

In a word, the man who stood before him was gorgeous.

John's cheeks flushed slightly as he caught the thought in his mind, he ducked his head and shuffled his toe against the floor, kicking away an imaginary clump of debris and dust before his eyes fluttered about the room.

"Yeah, bit different from my day." He hummed out, breaking the tense silence that had hung between him and Mike upon their intrusion into the room. Mike gave a little chuckle as he nodded and tugged out a stool before perching atop its wooden seat.

"Oh, you've no idea mate." He replied, eyes now fixed on the strange vampire before them.

"Mike, can I borrow your phone please?"

The deep baritone that rumbled from the man's chest almost shattered against John's rib cage as he took in a sharp inhale of breath, filling his lungs with that strange vampiric scent once again. His eyes locked on the creature as he stood taller and flashed a shy smile at him.

Mike patted his hands over his pockets before shrugging, his lips curved with a regretful frown. "No, sorry, we stopped by my office. I think I left it in my coat."

"Oh, um, use mine." John proffered then as he fished the battered device from his jeans and held it over to the vampire. Said creature's face froze mid grimace before a flurry of micro expressions flitted across his face before his features froze in a mask of intrigue.