Despite Risk and Ruin

          Alexander stared coolly around the room. He didn’t much care for nightclubs, so he had settled for this bar-club hybrid. There was a dance floor, but plenty of tables to sit and actually be able to hear another person’s voice without shouting next to their ear. Not that Alexander wouldn’t be able to pick up on a human’s voice, even right next to a booming speaker, but then again he was a vampire. However, he wanted to humans he was speaking to, to also be able to hear him.

      He was here to find this week’s meal. He hadn’t drunk any blood yet this week, and it was already Friday night. That was a longer time period than usual. Yet he still didn’t rush the process of finding a human, seducing them, luring them to a dark corner, and drinking from them during some heavy making out. Some vampires would go farther and have sex with the humans, but Alexander felt that that was going too far. He had his own peculiar sense of right and wrong – it was okay to exploit humans for blood, but not blood and sex. Alexander was always careful to adjust his victims’ memories to make them forget the drinking part.

       Clara was at the bar with a group of friends to celebrate their graduation from high school. She was a bit wary of going out with fake IDs with such a large group of people, afraid it would be too conspicuous, but her friends had convinced her anyway. Graduation was a good enough reason to take a little risk to blow off some steam and celebrate. Besides, once they parted ways and went to different universities, who knew when they’d all see each other again? So Clara ignored her inhibitions and decided to have fun.

       She noticed a man standing on his own. He was leaning against the bar hardly moving a muscle except when he took a pull of the drink sitting next to him. He was well-dressed for the bar, wearing a sports jacket over a black t-shit and jeans that almost looked formal. The reason Clara noticed him was his good looks: light brown hair, slightly disheveled, and a piercing stare that made her aware that he was staring right at her.

      Alexander’s nerves had made him aware that a human was observing him for an unusual amount of time. His vampire senses hummed and directed him to the girl watching him from the corner of her eye. She was very pretty, wearing a red dress that looked particularly good against her tanned skin. It was difficult to make out in the dark lighting, but her hair appeared to be an attractive mix of red and light brown. Alexander liked her. He liked her already more than he liked most of his victims. That alone intrigued him, so he lifted one corner of his mouth in an inviting smile and used just a smidgen of his powers to suggest she come over to him.

         Clara wasn’t quite sure what compelled her to walk over to this man. It wasn’t like her at all. She was known as the shy, sweet one in high school, and she would never go up to a man she didn’t know, let alone one who seemed so worldly and sophisticated as this one. Well, I’m not in high school anymore, she rationalized as her feet continued to carry her towards the bar. Maybe this is what graduation does to a person.

        Alexander sensed that this girl was a bit frightened by her seemingly inexplicable move to join him. He didn’t want her to be frightened or uncomfortable – that would go against his moral sense of right and wrong. So he tried to soothe her with a warm, friendly smile as soon as she was next to him. “I’m Alexander. What’s your name?”

        “Clara,” she breathed out in nervousness.

        “You don’t hear that name every day. What are you drinking, Clara?”

        Clara was still a little intimidated, but this man was making her feel comfortable a lot quicker that she had thought. “Jack and coke, I guess.” She cringed as soon as the words left her mouth. It seemed like such a high school drink, and she wanted to seem older and more sophisticated. So as soon as Alexander had ordered a Jack and coke for her and a scotch and soda for himself, she tried to distract him. “You don’t hear the name ‘Alexander’ much either. Most people go by Alex.”

        He smiled at her. “You can call me Alex if you wish. My family didn’t believe in nicknames, so I just got used to being called by my full name.”

     Their drinks arrived and Clara took a hasty gulp to calm herself down. She was inexplicably attracted to this man. Alexander observed her over the rim of his glass. He wasn’t compelling any feelings from her anymore. He didn’t want her to be uncomfortable or nervous, but he didn’t feel right messing with her mind. He found her nervousness sweet and refreshingly honest, so he left her emotions be. He liked her just as she was.

        “What’s the occasion?” Alexander asked.

        “What do you mean?” she asked back, confused.

       He nodded towards her group of friends. “You seem to be here to celebrate something. What’s the occasion?”

     Clara hesitated before admitting that she was only eighteen. “We just graduated,” she said vaguely.

       Alexander smiled softly, sensing her uneasiness. He wouldn’t mess with her emotions, but he did want to put her at ease, so he didn’t probe any further, merely accepting her answer. He didn’t understand his attraction to Clara or his interest in her far beyond as a drink.

       “What about you?” Clara asked hurriedly to prevent him from following up. “Any special reason you’re here?”

        “Just having a drink after a long week’s work. It’s sometimes nice to just be around strangers who don’t have preconceived expectations of you. They don’t ask you to do them favors or talk to you about serious matters when you’d prefer to just switch off for a few hours.” The long answer surprised Alexander himself. The first sentence would have sufficed, and yet he felt the desire to share more with this girl he had never met before.

        “I can understand that,” Clara said. “What do you do?”

       “I invest in different projects. It changes all the time. What about you? Now that you’ve graduated, what do you want to do?”

      “I’m not entirely sure yet,” she said. “That’s what I have to spend the next few weeks thinking about.”

       “Well, if you want, you can give me your number and I could give you a call if I hear of anything good at an entry level in the next few weeks.”

        Clara smiled cheekily. “You sure that’s the only reason you want my number?”

        He grinned. “Well, it’s a good excuse, isn’t it?”

        “A little transparent.”

       “Well, I don’t mind that too much. I like you, I’d like to talk to you more and see you again after this. And seeing as you came over here to talk to me, I can be fairly certain you don’t dislike me. Unless something I’ve said in the past fifteen minutes has put you off me.”

      “No, nothing has put me off,” Clara said smiling as she blushed involuntarily from the compliment. “Give me your phone and I’ll put my number in.”

        As she punched in her number and saved it on his phone, one of Clara’s friends came over to tell her they were getting ready to leave.

        “It was lovely to meet you, Clara,” Alexander said as he accepted his phone back. He touch of her hand on his created a warm buzzing sensation that he was sure she felt too. Clara said goodbye and went off with her friend.

        Alexander left the bar shortly afterward without drinking from anyone. He was a romantic at heart, and he couldn’t bear to seduce a human to drink from them so soon after meeting Clara. It would contaminate everything he was feeling. So he could wait another day or two. He’d just go out again soon after he had spoken to Clara a few more times. Alexander was sure that Clara felt the connection as well, but he had to work at wooing her in a human way first. 

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Yes, a new story. I'm facing a dense fog whenever I try to continue writing any of my other stories. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or hints from the readers of any of uncompleted stories. But I also thought some people might like this story. The title might be subject to change. Anyway, let me know what you think please!!!