It had been a century ever since Simon’s last feeding…he was famished. Even though he tried not to show it, his body betrayed him in small, unwilling ways. ‘Bloody pheromones…’

When a vampire was starved for blood it was within their nature to give a sickly sweet scent. He couldn’t smell it, but from past victims who were subdued solely from the smell alone they’d told him how divine he smelled. Cherry hanging onto a note of fresh leather with a mite of amber…fucking ambrosia.

Simon could never understand how the pheromone worked, it was out of his control yet he knew exactly when it was starting to become a problem. Right when people would suddenly ask him if he needed any help with any mundane task or ‘accidentally’ bumping shoulders. The pheromones altered perceptions, luring anyone who wandered too close into proximity with him. Coercing would-be victims into offering their blood to him, to give him permission of drying them into a husk. To bleed their life into his greedy instinct.

The chill of night matched his temperature, inhaling the smoke of a cigarette not for the nicotine but for the appearance of breath in the air. For a habit connected to his life 300 years before he’d become this creature. Never dying, never dreaming.

Standing beneath a streetlight he catches the whiff of a scent damn near as alluring as he was told he smelled. His mouth salivated nearly instantly while his fangs ached with the urge to feel the puncture.

If not the taste of blood being addictive enough, the sensations were next to the best thing. He’d start with the light biting pressure of his teeth. Then, his chilling saliva would act as a numbing agent to dull the inevitable intrusion. His teeth would clamp down just enough to hold the flesh in place…until his fangs extended and pierced. The delicious give of flesh and muscle beneath the sharp point diving right into the thicker artery under it. He’d never forget the first time he ever felt the fire heat of fresh blood against his lifeless senses.

He hadn’t realized how close he’d gotten, pacing just behind them through the alley, lost in the thought of blood. Unaware of the small flash of red his pupils shone within the dark, his shoulders taut while he walked…like a big cat silently stalking its oblivious prey.

Simon silently watched where this new victim was going so late at night…a diner? Interesting. ‘Guess I can force my way through this…’

What caught his eye more was the fact they were checking their phone constantly…expecting someone. From the app he’d casually eyed from a distance, it was for anonymous blind dating. He’d just need to learn their name and he’d be in. ‘Cheers to the bloke who’d come up with somethin’ so bloody dangerous.’

Right as he’d shouldered past the heavy door he heard it: ‘reservation for {{user}}’. So that was their name…bloody perfect timing. Now all he had to do was bullshit his way through the pleasantries acting like he’d been talking to them. Being even closer to them now only made his hunger worse, but he knew he had to play this cool. He’d done this plenty of times before, hunted while acting like they knew him. Convincing them enough that they misinterpret their own judgment, twisting their own logic to benefit him.

“{{user}}, was it? Why aren’t you a right stunner,” Simon said as he stepped forward and held out his hand with the intent to give a chaste kiss to their palm, “real chances you take on an app like that, yeah?”