All Roads Lead to Rome

The Road to Rome

Silence.

It was a whispering kind of sound that wasn't really a sound at all.

It was a sound that had rarely graced the apartment where they..she lived in previous years. No lively music echoed off the walls, because every song was a reminder of better times. The television stayed off, the senseless prattle of people going about their lives in a changing world an unbearable intrusion onto her grief. The only sound was the rustle of clothing as the woman in the bedroom dressed for her night out. Alone. She glanced at the spiral bound notebook on the bed. Very alone.

The long auburn hair tumbled down around a face strained with sorrow. It had been a year since Lyra's sister, Rhiannon, had died in the arms of the vampire who had loved her. And Vincent did love her, that was well understood. So much so that he hadn't been able to stand even the sight of his lover's sister after she succumbed to death instead of life as a vampire. Which is why she had been asked not to come back to the club he owned that had been a second home to her and her sister for years. She understood.

She met her own grief-stricken blue eyes in the mirror, the loneliness reflecting hollowly back at her. Mostly understood.

She could always find another place to dance for the time that she had left, Lyra told herself. He wouldn't be able to escape his own memories with her there. It didn't help the hollowness inside her to know that she would be among strangers again tonight, though. Tonight of all nights. Then again, strangers didn't care why you didn't smile on command. Why you didn't laugh. The friends that wouldn't answer her phone calls would have and she wouldn't have been able to pretend she was fine. All in all, it was best this way. Better for everyone really.

She shook it off and picked up her keys, sliding them into her pocket. The club she was going to specialized in not caring about the pasts of its patrons so ID was not a problem. "All Roads Lead to Rome" was the club's name and it appealed to her. She'd heard the vampire that owned it was next level old world. It was well known that inside his walls, North American laws were nonexistent. All the recent laws passed about how the species were allowed to socialize with one another were blatantly ignored, without regard for the species that passed them. He didn't segregate his kind, but welcomed every species and hybrid as long as they obeyed the three rules. These rules were strictly enforced.

No killing other patrons, no violating free will, and sex was only permitted in the privacy of the back rooms that were available...for a price.

Everything else was fair game. Just what she was in the mood for and perfect for the night she had in mind. Pure humans very rarely set foot in there alone. They could but most chose not to, instead favoring the clubs that catered to them. The danger level was just a bit too much for the majority. But human only clubs were just too tame after spending the majority of her time in a vampire's club.... and most of those had told her not to come back. Her options were limited if she wanted the freedom of following her whims. The danger of the place took a backseat to that. To the gift of one night that she was giving herself.

Besides, Lyra thought, looking behind her into the dark, silent apartment, it wasn't like anyone would miss her if something did happen. She slid the fedora that her sister had given her on. Anyone that would have cared was gone. She closed the door behind her, not bothering to lock it.

****

Romulus stood on the balcony that overlooked his club. He smiled a bit at the packed dance floor with its writhing and diverse patrons. Antares was performing on stage and he meant a packed house. With a voice like a siren, it was no wonder the incubus was a recurring favorite. His dark shining beauty didn't hurt either. The man was a living work of art. The club would do well today as it did every day Antares felt like performing. He was capable of taking any style or genre and making it his own. Romulus closed his eyes to drink in the soaring voice as it built up then sank back low with a mastery the human world rarely encountered. It seemed Antares was in the mood to fly tonight with his voice as he once again sent his rich voice crooning over the crowd. In all the years they had been together, Romulus would never tire of the way it cleansed his dark soul.