Phoebe tried to duck into the small, two person booth of the bar without being seen. That was easy enough; with a petite frame and unassuming features, she wasn't really the type to turn heads. Her beauty was more subtle; with twinkling hazel eyes and brown hair that shown auburn highlights when the sun hit it, she wasn't usually one-night-stand material, but it was easy to fall in love with her.
Sitting in the booth she could feel her veins tingling with excitement, her arm hairs standing on edge. Was she really going through with this? Her nervousness continued to boil up until it was almost too much to bare. She nearly resolved to leave, but then she saw him. Austin entered the bar with confidence. He was dressed very plainly, in a black t-shirt and grey jeans, but he walked in as if he owned the place. His jet black hair was lightly tousled so that a few stands fell to block his eyes, and his dark outfit highlighted his ice blue eyes. Phoebe thought those eyes were sexy, but a little terrifying.
Without even looking towards Phoebe or the booth, Austin strode right over. "Hello Phoebe" he said, turning his head towards her as he spoke. Even standing, he would've towered over her. She thought he must be about 6'3" and somewhere in his late-thirties. Both facts intimidated her, as a 5'2" girl in her last year of college. His deep, melodic voice and intense stare alone were enough to send her into a trance. She realized that she'd been staring at him for several seconds without speaking. "Hi," she squeaked out, barely making a sound. With a chuckle, he sat on the opposite side of the booth.
Phoebe and Austin had met on an online forum only accessible from the dark web. The forum had one purpose: to find willing individuals for vampires to feed on. Phoebe found plenty of scammers on the forum -- humans looking for roleplay who ghosted once she tried to make plans to meet up, people requesting she send them money in advance to rent a hotel room for the night. She'd yet to have a successful encounter, but Austin seemed like the real deal. Within minutes of chatting, he proffered a meet up. The message was clear and simple, "The Craft Bar at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, and if things go well we can go back to my place." It was risky to agree to go back to someone's house she'd never met, but they'd be meeting in public first, and there was something about him -- even his messages -- that lulled her into a sense of safety.
"Can I get you a drink?" he asked. "Won't that make me taste...different? Worse?" she asked earnestly. Austin chuckled again, "You metabolize one drink per hour, that's barely enough time for a conversation and a taxi back to my place." "I'll have a vodka soda then." Phoebe said, finally starting to relax. "Yes ma'am," Austin stood up and walked over to the bar. Phoebe watched from the booth, noticing the bartender blush as Austin ordered from her. "Wow, he must have this effect on everyone," she thought. But that makes perfect sense. How else could a vampire lure in their victims in order to quench their insatiable thirst?
Ethical vampires don't do much "luring" anymore. Why would they when there are so many underground forums and group chats full of humans looking for the rush of being fed on. The experience was supposed to be indescribable -- when vampires feed, they inject a chemical into your blood stream in order to save the person from the discomfort and pain of having your skin pierced by fangs and your blood sucked out over a period of minutes. Phoebe read that chemical is like experiencing an adrenaline rush, peaking on MDMA, and orgasming multiple times all at once. That description was enough to make her desperate to try.