They didn't speak much as they walked through the dark city where the humans went about their business oblivious to the danger that was hanging over them. It was eerily peaceful.
It was a little after midnight when they made their way over to Toulouse Street. The Abyss wasn't the typical New Orleans club scene. It was dark and far from inviting like most of the more touristy places that beckoned the mainstream inside.
Tabitha led him down a long alleyway that was narrow and a bit spooky in feel.
"Hey, Tabby," a tall, African-American man greeted her as he was checking the IDs of the couple in front of them. He was bald with tattoos marking every inch of exposed flesh... even his hands.
"Hi, Ty," Tabitha said. "How's it going tonight?"
"Not bad," he said with a wink as he waved the couple in. "Who's your friend?" he asked, raking Valerius with a frown.
"Val. He's a friend of Ash and Simi's, too."
"No shit?" Ty said before he extended his hand to Valerius. "Ty Gagne. Nice to meet you."
Valerius shook his hand. "You, too."
"You two have fun, and Tabby, no weapons tonight, deal?"
"Yeah, yeah, Ty. No bloodshed. Gotcha."
Once inside the club, Valerius was taken aback by the sea of black-garbed humans. It looked like a Dark-Hunter convention. It was extremely easy to pick out the tourists who had stumbled inadvertently into the club or maybe had been dared into it. There were more body piercings and tattoos than he'd ever seen in one room in his entire two thousand years of living.
Many of the regulars knew Tabitha on sight.
"Hi, Vlad," Tabitha said to one emaciated, tall man with skin so pale it was translucent. He wore a white ruffled shirt, blood-red velvet tuxedo jacket, and black slacks. His long, black hair hung around his gaunt face, and his eyes were covered by a pair of round, black sunglasses.
"Good evening, Tabitha," the man said, before he smiled to show Valerius a set of fangs. He saluted them with a brandy snifter that looked like it held blood. Valerius's Dark-Hunter sense could tell it was red vodka. Vlad's long, skinny fingers were covered with silver claws.
Valerius felt an urge to laugh and show the man his own set of real fangs, but refrained.
"Vlad is a fifteenth-century vampire," she told Valerius.
"Son to Vlad Tepes and named for my esteemed father," Vlad explained in a faked Transylvanian accent.
"Really?" Valerius said. "I find that fascinating since Vlad's only son, Radu, was slain by the Turks when he was eighteen. Vlad's only surviving child was a daughter, Esperetta, who now lives in Miami."
"Vlad" rolled his eyes. "Really, Tabitha, where do you find these people?"
Valerius did laugh as the fake vampire drifted off.
Tabitha joined him. "Seriously," she said, sobering. "Is there any truth to that bull you just spieled?"
He nodded. "Ask Ash. Retta's husband was made into a Dark-Hunter around 1480, I believe, and she followed him over. Her husband is one of the few Dark-Hunters who will actually speak to me in a civil tone."
"Kewl!" Tabitha stepped back as another Goth princess walked between them.
She indicated a stairway with the tilt of her head. "There are three bars here and an area called the Library. Daimons are usually found lurking in the Library or the Sound bar. The other two are the Main bar and the Aphrodite bar. Oh, and I should probably warn you that Eros and Psyche tend to haunt the Aphrodite bar as well, so you might want to leave that to me in case they show up."
"Hey, Tabby!" a plump blonde said as she grabbed Tabitha in an overbearing hug. "You seen any vampires tonight?"
"Hi, Carly," she said, casting an amused look at Valerius. "Not tonight. Why?"
"Well, if you find one, send him my way. I'm ready to be bitten and made immortal."
Tabitha rolled her eyes. "I told you they can't do that. It's a Hollywood myth."
"Yeah, well, I wanna be mythitized. So if you find one, tell him I'm in the Library, waiting."