Sing Once Again

[Jezebel Tzasun]

Things had been slow at the club. There wasn't much going on most nights and she was in desperate need to bring in more customers. A new band. A new gig. Something. Something new was needed and soon. It was so boring and dull there most nights, and when she wasn't there she spent all of her time stressing and freaking out about the place. It was literally controlling her life, well, lack thereof, but still, it was controlling just about every aspect of it on a daily basis. Oh well, it at least gave her something to do. Yeah, something other than staring at the walls in her manor, which apparently some people thought that it was their personal playground so she stayed pretty busy with various rituals as well, but that had nothing to do with the club, or how monotonous things had become.

Audition after audition. Each band failing to meet the standards she had in mind. Each musician was more annoying than the one before them, if that was even possible with some of them. There were musicians from punk rock bands to pop and rap, but none of them met anything she was looking for in a band.

A woman, clad in colorful clothing that was so bright it literally made the necro want to hurl and claw her own eyes out had, approached her wanting to audition. Just to be fair, Jez allowed her to do her thing. The singer performed some sort of song that seemed to be some god awful mix of country and pop, or perhaps she had actually sang two songs and the necromancer had passed out during one of them. She wasn't sure about what had happened, or how things had changed.

“Get out!” The goth screamed at her, pointing at the door with one hand and throwing her clipboard at her with the other. The ditzy blonde stumbled and scrambled, nearly tripping over her own two feet in the process of trying to avoid being hit by the clipboard as it whizzed past her head. “But I..” She said feebly, only to be meet with a coffee mug being thrown at her. “I said out!” Jez's mug shattered upon impact with the wall, leaving a red liquid splattered all over the wall in its wake. The blonde practically scurried out of the room, leaving the door wide open. “Close the damn door!” A man that had been standing right outside the door to the right shut it without causing her to yell again, which was a small blessing in its own way.

She leaned back in her seat, instantly regretting the fact that she had thrown her only drink of the evening at the girl. At some point in the near future she was going to have to get another drink, but she wasn't sure when that would be or if it would actually happen anytime soon. Frustration had settled in quickly, however there was still a long way to go before she could call it a night. The woman was beyond determined to find a new band or someone to perform for the club. Hell, she was almost borderline desperate. It was getting to the point where she was almost willing to hire the next person to walk through her door as long as they could sing halfway decent, or at least draw attention to themselves without being too...weird...even for her taste.

Once more, performer after performer graced her with their presence and left her feeling increasingly frustrated with the situation. Nothing was working for her. No one seemed to fit what she was looking for no matter how hard they tried, maybe she just needed to lower her standards a bit. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen with her.

Laughter left her, maybe she was starting to lose her mind with focusing so much on what she was trying to accomplish. Wait, losing her mind? Did she ever have it to begin with? Probably not, but still, for the sake of the argument, she was losing it slowly, a little bit more with every failed audition. Jez pushed her chair back and stood up, it was about time for that new drink. “Johnathan, be a dear and get me a new drink.” She called out to the man on the other side of the door as she stretched. The man didn't bother with answering her, he knew better than to make her wait, so he hurried off to go get her a new drink.

She walked around the room, more like paced the length of it like a caged animal. Several minutes passed by and right when she started to wonder what had happened to the man, he showed up with her drink. “Oh thank you dear. You have brightened my otherwise grim night.” That tiny woman hugged him and without a single word he went back to his post outside the door, leaving her to have a few moments of peace before sending in the next performer.

The minutes ticked by and seemed to pass slowly almost as slow as a snails trying to race one another. She sat there in silence, sipping her drink and staring at the clock on the wall across from her. It wasn't until she was about half way done with the drink that she decided to set the glass down. “Send in the next performer.” She called out to Johnathan and almost immediately the door opened but no one stepped across the threshold, perhaps they were still getting their act together out there. Well, whatever the reason for the delay, it gave her more time to enjoy her drink and hopefully finish it before throwing the glass.

[Sony Gold (DELETED 5593)]

Sony, or Black Gold as he was known on stage, walked in with the other members of his band, Metal of Gold. They each carried a case, Sony's being a small one, from the shape it housed a violin or something similar. Two of the three other men where carrying cases that gave away they were guitars, the third with a long rectangular carrying case, probably a keyboard. A woman followed them in, also seeming to be carrying a violin case. They were all dressed in regal goth attire, but Sony was the only one wearing a top hat, a tall top hat, which to some might seem a crown to signify he was the leader of the group.

The quintet stood before the goth woman sat before them with her glass of...red something, obviously waiting for something, but it was not apparent what. Sony held eye contact with the woman hosting the auditions for a few seconds, then opened his case, prompting the other four to follow suit, and their instruments were revealed. He smiled, a mischievous smile some, if not most, might say, and spoke in a deep and enchanting voice “we are Metal of Gold. With your permission, we would like to audition for the band position that you have advertised.”

She arched a brow, raising her glass to her lips, "Well, get on with it then. I don't have all night." Already she was wanting to throw the glass at him but she was too intrigued to manage it..yet.

With her permission given, Sony and the woman with him raised their bows to their violins, the men readying their guitars, and finally, as if on cue, the one with the keyboard pressed a button before touching the keys, making it sound like he was actually playing the drums. The four on strings joined him then, the woman standing closer to Sony now, the song they were auditioning with delightfully obvious from the first few chords played. Their music was that of the song Phantom of the Opera, but in a sort of orchestral metal or rock style. The only version of the song that had been done like this before was when Nightwish had performed.

After almost thirty seconds had passed the singing finally began. The woman, Scarlet Gold (they all used a colour as their first name and Gold as their last name for the stage), took the lead in singing, sounding nothing like Tarja, or Sarah Brightman for that matter, but more like Maria Brink when she sang. The violins, at least for now, were playing in unison, a harmony, while she sang. Then came the pause in singing, and just over a minute into playing, he began. Sony broke in to song, picking up the role of Phantom, and when his voice joined Scarlet's it was like Chad Kroeger had been hiding somewhere and was now auditioning. Four minutes went by, the song finished, and they all lowered their instruments, watching the club owner a little anxiously, their hearts racing with possible excitement, hoping that they were going to land this gig.

It had not escaped the keyboard player that the red stuff near the door from the smashed cup was blood, or something that look like it, so he was not excited. He was terrified, thinking if they failed they were about to be killed for not being good enough. They called him Brown Gold, but only the band members knew why, and the reason was he was scared easily by things. One time Sony had decided to explode a paper bag behind Brown's head, causing him to literally **** his pants, and that was how he got his band name. He was easy going, and laughed about the name, wasn't offended, but begged that the reason stay between them, to not get out, not to anyone beyond the five of them. His fear was getting the better of him and he dropped a silent one, though what smell it might hold remained to be seen.

Meanwhile, Sony, Scarlet, Indigo and White (a natural ginger) stood waiting for the decision that would either see them walk out of here with a job, or out of here still looking for work. Of course for Brown the options were walk out of here with a job or get killed for not being good enough.

[Jezebel Tzasun]

With that one brow arched and her glass almost to her lips, she sat there in silence, contemplating how they possibly came up with the name of their band. Had they been drunk or something and that was the best idea they could come up with? Well, however they came up with it, whatever the reason behind the name, she was intrigued by them. Their appearance was perfect. It was eye catching to say the least, and, in a few strange ways and aspects, it matched her own style at times. Okay, so they could get attention. Could they hold it though? That was her biggest concern.

Her gaze moved over the various cases they had brought in with them and then she actually noticed the instruments. Just as she had thought. Violins, guitars, and a keyboard. Interesting choices. The woman looked back at him again, the one that seemed like he was going out of his way to maintain eye contact. It wasn't a normal thing for someone to do that with her. Hell, it wasn't even normal for people to stay near her for that long anyway.

The glass barely made a sound as it came in to contact with the table, but her chair on the other hand squeaked as she turned it a bit. Silence fell over the room before the music started. It didn't take her long to realize what song they were using. For the first time that night, other than when Johnathan had brought her a new drink, the frustration with the entire situation melted away. Music had always been a wonderful way for her to relax and finally, after hours of torture, things were looking up for her.

Oh the music. It was wonderful and just to make it better, at least in her opinion, was their voices. She couldn't help herself, she ended up humming along to the music and occasionally mouthing the lyrics. Whatever it was that had encouraged them to sing that song she was glad it had happened. For a brief amount of time she was disappointed when it came to an end, sending the room back in to total silence. It wasn't that she wasn't impressed, because she was, but she just couldn't bring herself to talk just yet.

Okay, so they had a nice appearance and they could sing. While thinking she lifted her glass back up and took a few small sips. Her gaze scanning over their faces real quick as she thought things over. The suspense was building and the tension was probably too much for most to handle. Jez looked at the wall where her first glass had shattered then at the one that seemed to have noticed the red substance. “Do not worry dear. It's not what you might think it is.” She said while pointing to the shards of glass on the floor.

Slowly, she pushed her chair back, once more causing the object to squeak. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard to her, causing her to cringe a bit. She mouthed a silent apology to them. There were a few wrinkles in her pants and shirt that she quickly smoothed out before moving around the table toward the band, only to change direction in order to open up the door. That door creaked open and for a few seconds she stood there as if telling them to get out before she poked her head out, “Johnathan, do me a favor, go to my office and get the paperwork on the desk. Oh, and tell what's-his-face to come in here and clean up the broken glass. Thanks.” All the man named Johnathan did was nod and walk off as she closed the door.

The woman turned toward them once more, “Well, Metal of Gold,” she paused for a moment, thinking over her next few words, “interesting name. I love your appearance by the way.” That last little bit came out accompanied with a small gesture of her hand at the one Sony but she made it a point to look at all the members. She went silent again as she moved back to her seat. Johnathan was taking longer than usual to get back with the paperwork but she figured he was probably having a hard time finding the man she had sent him after.

Still, she said nothing about whether or not they got the gig. Oh, she had already made up her mind about them and in fact she was going to give them the job, but she was having too much fun making them worry. She knew there was only so long that she could do that to them before it would become some sort of cruel trick and it was quickly reaching that point. It was about time she told them her decision.

A serious look came over her face as she twisted her chair back and forth. Every so often she would make some sort of strange face or move her hands a bit. Finally, the door to the room opened and in walked Johnathan with the paperwork. “Thank you dear. Oh, before you get too comfortable outside that door again for the time being bring in some chairs for the new band for the club.” Jez set the paperwork down as she smiled at the band. “I hope I didn't have you all too worried there but I was waiting for him to bring this to me.” She said, lifting the folder up and giving it a little wave before dropping it back down on to the table.

Johnathan showed back up moments later with chairs for them. She motioned for them all to have a seat while she rummaged around through her bag for a pen. “So, my darlings, tell me a bit about yourselves.” It took a good bit of effort for her to keep her voice calm and pleasant. The man that was supposed to show up to clean up the glass and everything had finally came in and he was making more noise than she really wanted to deal with. Every now and then her eyes would drift back to Sony. The wheels were turning and not just about the band. She had other plans already. For her, the fun was just beginning.

[Sony Gold (DELETED 5593)]

The woman, who they knew to be Jezebel Tzasun from seeing the advertisement for a band, really had a knack for causing an atmosphere of suspense. Sony continued to watch her as she moved, his contact lenses so pale in appearance one might mistake him for a vampire, if this particular style of contact lens was not already so widely known about due to certain well known websites that sold them, or ones similar.

When she spoke to Brown, the other four turned to look, curious as to what she was referring too. The red liquid on the wall greeted all their eyes at once, and White caught the scent of Brown's fear first “damnit Brown! Again? It's a good job we aren't trying to hide from anyone, because they literally would be able to smell your fear!” he muttered to his bandmate. Scarlet then wrinkled her nose, catching the smell herself, making a comical look of disgust as she moved over to the other side of Sony while Jezebel continued to keep them hanging in suspense. “Sorry” Brown said finally, looking ashamed of himself as the chairs arrived.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, something White immediately regretted given his close proximity to Brown and the direction the fart seemed to be heading in, probably due to the constant opening and closing of the door. Sony smiled “not too worried, at least not so much to spoil your amusement” he added boldly. Once everyone was seated, Sony began “well, we met in music school, formed a band while still studying. I'm Sony” he gestured to himself, “and these are Amber, the ginger is Mike, Leo, and the stinky one is Markus” he gestured to Scarlet, White, Indigo, and finally Brown, respectively as he said their names. “I'd say we've been together for around eight years now, including school, getting small gigs as a local band, but nothing regular or major yet.”

A brief pause from Sony as he tried to think of what to say next, and then he got nudged by Amber/Scarlet “tell her about our stage names, she'll want to know about that.” Amber looked at him like he was an idiot, but also amused, obviously this not being the first time she had had to remind him of that part. “Oh yeah” Sony said as if having an epiphany of some sort. “As Amber just said, we have stage names too.” As he said each name he pointed to the relevant band member “we are Black Gold, Scarlet Gold, Indigo Gold, White Gold and finally Brown Gold. I'm sure you can imagine why we call him Brown.” The other band members, except for Markus, erupted in light hearted laughter, but Markus huffed “we agreed that wouldn't get told to anyone!”

Before anything else could be said, despite his being in a huff, Markus spoke up “if it isn't what I thought it was, what was that stuff on the wall? And why was there broken glass on the floor?” From his voice it was clear that he was still shaken up from thinking it was blood, seeing that the drink in her current glass looked the same as what was on the wall. “Nah” he thought to himself “she wouldn't be drinking blood, that's just not natural. Not human.” Leo gave him a nudge since he was sat closest to him “quit being nosy man, she just gave us the job.” Markus looked down ashamed again.

[Jezebel Tzasun]

She would have let the suspense build more but she was getting tired of being stuck inside the club. All she wanted to do was get out of there for a bit, even if it was only for a few minutes. Fresh air. That was it. That was what she needed but first, she needed to finish up her business with the band. A very faint sigh left her as she thought a few things over real quick. Her attention went back to Sony. Oh yes, there was definitely something about that man.

“Well, there's something that doesn't happen everyday.” She said, laughing softly at the men. “I don't scare many people, or at least I don't think I do, but at least now I know what could possibly happen when I do manage to scare someone.” Okay, she had to admit, it was more than just a little funny but her laughter about it didn't last too long. Then there was the look of disgust on the other woman's face that caught Jez's attention, for a fleeting moment.

Once everyone was settled into a seat and comfortable while she was digging around in her bag for that damn pen. That ever so elusive pen that always disappeared to somewhere near the bottom of the bag regardless of where she put the thing. It was almost as if that bag was, in its own right, a black hole or something similar, since usually whatever got put into the bag was never seen again. Pens, pencils, anything smaller than some sort of card always disappeared in the damn thing, and there wasn't much she could do about it unless she wanted to consider buying a new bag. Nope, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She loved her bag too much, even if it did devour everything she needed to put in there.

One brow arched as she looked up at them over the table before she went back to digging around in the bag. She sat up quickly, giggling a bit in triumph after finally finding the pen. “So, let me make sure I got this,” the goth woman paused a moment, looking at them, “Sony, Amber, Mike, Leo, and Mister I Scare Easily, Markus.” Of course, as she said the names she pointed at each of them, just to make sure she had actually seen and heard him correctly. “I'm hoping you all are a bunch of night owls. This place keeps strange hours. When most places are opening, we're just closing. When they close, we're opening.”

As much as she tried to look at them all and not just one, she kept finding herself almost staring at Sony. Every once in a while, she would jot something down on a piece of paper, or the entire time she was listening she was busy sketching something. The whole theme that they had going on made her night, more so than finally finding a band that was actually good enough to perform at the club. Her pen ran out of ink though which caused her to pout momentarily, and right away she went back to digging around in her bag.

“We have,” she paused as she sat back up, pointing at them one by one with her pen, “Black Gold, Scarlet Gold, Indigo Gold, White Gold, and,” the woman snickered a bit, “Brown Gold.” Of course with each name she pointed at the individual, only to pause with each one to stare at the person for a moment. No doubt she was trying her best to devote their faces to memory but that wasn't going to work. “I'm not too concerned with the stories behind the names but if I get curious at some point, I might ask but that doesn't mean you have to tell me. I won't make any of you do or say anything you don't want to.”

Her attention went back to the man that was supposed to be cleaning the mess up. The noise he was making was getting on her nerves more and more. “A woman that was auditioning before you all made me mad and I threw my glass at her. Luckily it missed or else I would probably be facing a lawsuit at some point in the near future.” That was the closest she was going to get to answering his question about the liquid. Again, she found another pen and hopefully it would work for a bit longer than the other one did. Her attention went back to Sony. “Your band is perfect for what I was looking for.” The woman looked down at her paperwork again, not that it was needed for what they were going to discuss anyway, it was just her way of trying to keep herself busy while talking. “Markus, dear, you have every right to ask questions if you are curious about something. Just as the rest of you do with me.”

After a few minutes, the janitor left the room, leaving behind no trace of the shattered glass or the liquid on the wall. At least that was one less thing she had to worry about. “Is there anything you would wish to know before you jump headfirst in to this job?” Hopefully there wasn't much they wanted or needed to discuss with her but if there was she was prepared to attempt to handle everything they could throw at her.

[Sony Gold (DELETED 5593)]

When Jezebel snickered when she came to saying Brown Gold the other band members chortled a little under their breath, all except Markus of course. They all nodded both times she went over their names to confirm she had each of them correct, both real and stage names. When she finally asked if they had any questions for her, Sony spoke “well, with regards to hoping we are night owls, as long as we get to play music and get paid, we are willing to work any hours. Sounds like a win win situation really.” A momentary pause, “questions? Hmm, let me see.”

Amber spoke up while Sony was thinking of something to ask “I suppose the obvious question to start with is how much are we getting paid? Oh, and when do we start?” As if adding on to her questions, Leo spoke up “and how many nights we gonna be playing?”

Sony looked at the pair with a little bit of surprise on his face, then he laughed, turning back to Jezebel, noticing the wedding band on her finger “well Mrs Tzasun, or do you prefer Jezebel? I think it's safe to say you've opened up a door for yourself there, giving them free reign to ask you anything they want.”

This time it was Mike who asked a question “do we get free drinks on the nights we're playin'?” Sony just rolled his eyes before asking a question finally “and my question is, do you want me to gag this lot so you have a chance to answer the questions that have been asked so far before they can fire anymore at you?”

Markus, however, remained silent the whole time, trying to figure out still just what that red liquid could have been. Sure, she said it was a drink, but he didn't know of any drink that looked the same as blood, both in colour, and from what he could tell, consistency.

[Jezebel Tzasun]

She definitely should have prepared herself a bit better to deal with their questions. Oh she hoped she could figure out how to answer them. It was going to be one of those moments where she was going to have to wing it and just hope for the best. There were brief moments of happiness that washed over her each time they nodded to let her know the names were right. Silence fell over the room for a few seconds before Sony spoke up before the rest of the bands. “Perfect. This will work out very well for all of us.”

There it was again. That silence and right when she thought it was safe for her to let her mind wonder off the woman known as Amber spoke up. Okay, she knew the question about their pay was bound to come up at some point along with them wanting to know when they would start. They were most definitely questions that needed to be answered, there was no way around that.

It took her a few minutes to realize what he had called her, and at first the woman couldn't figure out why he had just called her that. There was a look of confusion that crossed her face until she looked down at her hand. That ring. She had forgotten about that thing. A very soft sigh came from her as she fiddled with the ring, looking down at it for a little while before her attention went back to them.

Once more they got started with the questions. She figured she would wait until they were done with all of them before she would start talking. It gave her time to try to clear her mind a bit. Emotional pain had settled in quickly but just as fast as it had came over her, it disappeared. Luckily, she had actually caught the rest of the questions no problem, but it was remembering the order that was going to prove to be a pain in the butt for her.

Her attention went to the woman known as Amber. “We can discuss the pay until we all are comfortable with the amount. I'm not too worried about it really.” Jez's gaze shifted around the room before she once again looked at the woman. Oh geez, what was next? Oh dear. She was drawing a blank and then, all of a sudden, it hit her. “When do you all start? How does tomorrow night sound?” Okay, she knew the next one was also a question dealing with their performances. What was it though? She replayed everything as best as she could. Then, just like before, it hit her. “How many nights are you willing to play here?”

It was then that her attention went back to Sony. Sadness and pain found its way back to her. “Please, just call me Jezebel.” Jez became a bit fidgety and her hands disappeared beneath the table. With a bit of difficulty and an inner struggle from hell, she finally managed to pull the ring off of her finger. Without it on she felt naked but she knew she couldn't continue wearing it all the time.

“Okay, on to the next couple of questions or whatever.” There it was, that pleasant smile and that mask she wore when working. Her hands stayed in her lap as she played with the ring. ****. She was struggling to remember what the next question was, or if any came after. Silence fell over the room again but unlike before it was more of an awkward silence, or at least it was for her. Somewhere in her mind, she was busy replaying everything in the hopes of figuring out what was next. It took longer than she had hoped it would but eventually it did come back to her. “Ah yes, the question about the drinks.” The goth paused to think about it before answering, “I don't have a problem with the free drinks, as long as you all do not get drunk while here.”

Everyone else had something to ask her, except for Markus and right away fear set in for her, or at least whatever it was could have passed as fear, but it wasn't. There weren't many things she feared and someone finding out what she was wasn't on the list of things that scared her. Let him wonder. That's exactly what was going to happen. The man was going to be left to wonder about what the substance had been. Her attention once again was drawn to Sony. Oh he was going to be wonderful to have around. “Oh, no, dear. It's fine. I might struggle with keeping up with the questions like this but it's a nice challenge.” That smile went from pleasant and forced to being genuine. “If you want, you all can go and check the club out, get a feel for it. I have some questions for Sony and don't worry. You all will get one-on-one time with me. I'm merely starting with him.”

[Sony Gold (DELETED 5593)]

They all smiled and nodded when she answered each of their questions, but when she answered about the drinks, about not getting drunk, they all erupted in gentle laughter. Leo spoke up “ah don't worry about that Jezebel, we all know how to hold our liquor, and never get drunk on performance nights.” “Aye” Mike chipped in “not until after we're done anyway.” More laughter from the band.

Markus seemed startled for some reason when she mentioned talking to Sony alone, even more so when she said about each of them having a one-on-one with each of them. The other three stood, Amber speaking to Markus “come on shitey pants, you too.” Again more laughter from the four at Markus' expense. He stood and stormed out ahead of them. “Don't worry about him” Leo said to Jezebel “he gets out of his moods as quickly as he gets in to them.” Amber, Leo and Mike all left then, following Markus and leaving Sony and Jezebel to have their one-on-one conversation.

Once alone, Sony looked at his new employer “with regards to your question about how many nights are we willing, I would say no more than six nights in a row, though there might be the occasional week we could manage the full seven.” He licked his lips, realizing then he was thirsty “hey, any chance of getting a drink? Mouth and throat are a little dry” he laughed.

Outside the room Markus was still storming off ahead of the other three, they still laughing a little at him. “So, what you think it's going to be like here?” Mike asked Amber and Leo. “We get to play music, get paid, get free drinks, and it's our scene. How about awesome?” Amber answered before Leo could say a word, instead causing him to burst out laughing “trust you Amber!” Markus meanwhile made his way straight to the bar to get a drink. “Nothing red!” he practically yelled when asked what he wanted, almost scaring the barmaid out of her skin, and shocking his three band mates in the process too.

[Jezebel Tzasun]

Their laughter was nice to hear. The only time she had heard someone's laughter, other than her own, was when she was when she was at the club, surrounded by strangers. It was nice to be sitting there laughing and carrying on a conversation with people that actually wanted to talk to her, even if it was only for a job. Still, her amusement with them and the situation itself was genuine, not forced like how it usually was. It was such a nice change to the woman, but she couldn't help but wonder about something: how long would it last before even the interactions with them became forced?

She shook her head and pushed the thoughts of doubt and fear to the back of her mind. There was plenty of time for her to deal with her own demons and the like, but it wasn't the time or place for such depressing matters. “Getting drunk after you're done performing at nights is fine with me.” A soft sigh of relief passed her lips, more out of habit than anything else. Her attention went to Markus for a moment and right away she knew she would have to be careful when it came to dealing with him.

There was something about that easily scared man that probably would have caused her to be a bit more cautious with him but, in fact, all she wanted to do was scare the hell out of him. She had ways of doing that and as much fun as it sounded, the woman knew she couldn't do that if she intended on keeping the band together. Leo's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, right away she put on that pleasant smile, “It's all good.” She watched as they left though the fact that Markus left in such a hurry amused her. “Have fun!” Jez called out after the group as they disappeared out the door. There was no telling how things were going to go with them now that they were out of her sight but she knew she didn't have anything to worry about, or at least she figured she didn't.

At least now it was only the two of them, her and Sony. Finally, something that was a little bit easier for her to manage. One-on-one was always the easiest for her to be able to handle, or at least it usually was. There was something different about this time though, she felt nervous, or at least what she believed to have been some sort of nervous reaction to the situation. He spoke, startling her some and causing her to jump a bit. “Johnathan,” she called out to the man and almost immediately he was standing in the room, “Sony would like a drink.” Of course, the man quickly turned to leave the room once more. He wasn't going to stand there and wait on either one of them to tell him what he was supposed to get.

Her attention went from Johnathan back to Sony, as soon as she laid eyes on him she started smiling. The wheels were turning once more though she still couldn't figure out how she was going to go about doing what she wanted to without scaring him away or just flat out killing him. “You'll have to excuse him from time to time. He gets a little moody after having to put up with me for so long during the nights.”

At least they didn't have to really worry about anyone listening in on their conversation once Johnathan could manage to get his *** back to his post. “I don't want you all to overdo it though. We'll find a schedule or something that can work for you or we can just play it by ear.” Usually playing it by ear was the best option for her since her mood would change so much the majority of the time. Johnathan came back in with a couple of glasses, one with water in it and the other with something she guessed was rum. He set the glasses down on the table and walked back out without saying a word. “Thanks Johnathan.”

The small woman rolled her eyes and shook her head some before turning her attention back to him fully. He was wonderful. Perfect actually. “So, Sony, my dear...” She trailed off in order to think about what it was she was going to say or ask. There was a moment of awkward silence as they sat there. Oh dear, what was she going to say? Had she been about to ask him something or maybe it was both? Jez honestly had no idea what it was she had been about to say. It took a few minutes but she finally figured it out. “Tell me, why the vampire look? You don't think it's a little cliché or anything?” She moved around in her seat, “I love the look. I'm just curious as to what made you decide on it over anything else.” Oh she hoped his answer was something better than just the typical 'Oh I think vampires are cool' response. Surely his answer would be better than that, or at least she seriously hoped it would be better.

[Sony Gold (DELETED 5593)]

When she mentioned about having to excuse Johnathan and why, Sony just looked at her with a knowing smile “I imagine you already know I go through something similar, if not all of us, with Markus. We all have that one friend, or acquaintance, or in your case, employee” his smile had turned in to a laugh. He was busy laughing when Johnathan came back in with the two drinks and placed them down in front of him. It certainly had the aroma of rum, what Johnathan had brought with the water, and Sony couldn’t help but wonder just which rum it was. He hoped it was Captain Morgan Tattoo, which had a nice flavor but no harsh kick, so it went down rather smoothly instead of kicking the **** out of the throat of the one drinking it. Sony picked up the water first, as much as he wanted the rum, but his mouth and throat really needed the water before anything else.

He was taking a long, but slow, drink of the water when she asked him about his look, asking whether or not he thought it was a bit on the clichéd side. Putting the drink back on the desk he nodded in agreement, “Oh totally clichéd, but I don’t care. Most people who go for this kind of image I would imagine would come out with the clichéd response vampires are cool, or something similar. Not me” he said with a shake of his head “this is just how I see myself, how I feel most comfortable. I enjoy standing out, being different. It’s not about being non-conforming, I couldn’t give a rat’s *** about any of that, I’m not Emo, though I know the song a bit too well” he laughed again. “This is just what makes me feel comfortable, genuine, and I guess real. It just happens to fit with my musical taste.”

He had another drink of water and then switched to the rum, smirking a little to himself as he decided to fire the question back at her. It was only a sip he took, and yes it was rum, but not the one he had hoped for, nor could he place which one it was, but he knew it wasn’t the house rum, it was good stuff. This time he didn’t put the glass back down, but instead practically cradled it in his lap, and then asked the question “so, Jezebel, since you asked me, now I ask you, since our looks are practically identical. Why the vampire look?”

The main problem with Markus is that he had heard too many of the stories around town about the supposed vampire and zombie outbreak, and even got paranoid from time to time that Sony might be one too, since it was rumored that some of the vampires were even able to walk out in the day. That red stuff on the wall, and yeah, sure, there was the broken glass, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a glass of blood she had been drinking, right? He sat at the bar, shaking with nerves as he shakily drank a tall glass of bourbon, the strongest they had in stock.

The others knew better than to try and talk to Markus when he was like this, that he would come to them when he was ready, so sat a little further down the bar and got in a round of Budweisers while they talked amongst themselves.

“Seriously, what is his problem at times?” Amber asked first.

Leo just shook his head with a smirk, leaving Mike to answer “oh come on Amber, you saw the stuff on the wall. You know he believes all that conspiracy crap about the supernatural **** supposedly going on around here. Me, I don’t believe any of it, not until I see it with my own eyes. That **** that was on the wall though, that’s probably got him thinking she’s some freak or something, a vampire I guess.”

Amber rolled her eyes “Seriously? Come on Mike, you telling me you never looked over the wall? I’ve seen the videos dude. There’s some fucked up **** going on in there that they don’t want us knowing about. Markus might be a paranoid conspiracy nut, but I believe this **** too.” Again, Leo just smirked. “Maybe she is a vampire, maybe she isn’t, but just because someone needs to drink blood to survive doesn’t mean they are going to kill us or anything.”

Now Leo finally spoke “She’s got a point Mike, don’t you remember those animals that keep getting found that were drained of blood outside the city? Hell, even some inside the city limits. Maybe the vampires are getting them, rather than hurting us? It’s not about what you are, but who you are.”

Mike just glared “You too? Both of you? You’re ******* nuts the three of you. I should call the men in white coats and have you all locked up in a psych ward or somethin’.” He grumbled and drank his beer, glancing at Markus out of the corner of his eye, then the other two on the other side of him.