The beach house was already humming with activity by the time Heliodoro was striding over the sand towards it, pulling the mortal behind him. He'd picked the youth up off the street after offering him some little white pills. He really didn't give a shit what the boy wanted beyond the drugs, he would be compliant for a while and seemed happy enough to come along with him. Time had turned so quickly since Genevieve had got herself pregnant, and he knew it was all fucking Bennett's fault, wanting to watch his mortal fucking all of the girls in the house. He had no doubt it was that idiot boy Shane's baby that had grown inside her and that she'd given birth to, which meant there would be no more parties for Genevieve. She'd been so perfect, too. Diplomatic, confident, pretty, intelligent and alluring. Now she had a baby to raise, and she was no longer interested in entertaining vampires.
This guy was just some druggy groupie with a nice face, but Helio had missed far too many parties in his search to replace the gap Genevieve left. His standards had been too high, he knew this now. He should've gone with Linda or Davinia, but he really hadn't wanted to bring a woman to the parties anymore because he didn't want to risk losing them to pregnancy, like he had Genevieve. Oh, she'd seemed happy enough to raise her baby with the money Helio had given her in compensation, but it was just so inconvenient!
Now, somehow, almost an entire year had passed, and if he didn't show up to a party before the year was up, he'd be struck off the list. Even though he didn't turn up to all the parties anyway, he liked being invited; he liked making contacts in the vampiric world, and meeting new mortals that he could add to his little book of 'those in the know', and also the playtime that such open-minded mortals and vampires afforded. He certainly didn't go every fortnight, but once a month had been good.
He was embarrassed at the idea of turning up with this below-average specimen, already high from Helio's supply. Well, it wasn't like he wasn't going to take anything at the party, but it was normally frowned upon to bring someone who'd already started having their own private party. At least Helio could promise that it came from his own stash, and that the young mortal wasn't on anything hinky. It wouldn't do to have a vampire drink from him to get a high that wasn't quite right.
The pair of them arrived at the stairs which led to the first floor. There was nothing down here except the posts that supported the large beach house; it was too early for all the rooms to be full and those seeking privacy to find it on the sand below. Not that anything was really private, at the beach house. He looked over at Finn (whose last name he didn't know), and hoped that he'd be able to get up the stairs on his own steam. Carrying him up would not look good, and he might not be let in anyway considering the quality of the mortal he was bringing, but he had to at least try. This was his last chance.
They moved up the stairs in unison, at a leisurely pace. The balcony ran around the full length of the house - quite wide in front, narrow down the side that faced the cliffs, wide down the side that looked out over the beach, and fairly narrow at the back, but big enough to support a barbecue area, which was the only place mortals could get food. Once they were at the top of the stairs and standing at the front deck, he was finally pleased with Finn, for the mortal moved up each step with easy rhythm, and presented him with a very nice smile at the end, which ended up being directed at Sophocles, never too far away from the main door.
"Helio!" the large Greek vampire greeted, giving the much smaller (at a mere six feet) Portugese vampire a high five. Finn would have to look up, and up, to see the grinning face of the other vampire.
"Hi, Soph. I've brought my ticket."
"A bit shabby, eh? He have a name?"
"This is Finn. I promise I'll do better next time."
Soph peered at Finn for a long moment, while Helio hoped the mortal wouldn't say anything. It would be very bad if he spoke up with something stupid now, considering it was generally rumoured that Soph was one of the owners of the beach house. Rumours aplenty, and it had never been asked, let alone confirmed.
"Mmmn, all he needs is a bit of cleaning up. He's quite... nice."
Helio was astounded by this assessment, and looked at Finn, who he was still holding hands with. Because of the positive feedback, he began to see the potential in the mortal he'd picked up, and wished he could've paid attention before the other was so starry eyed. Well, they were in for it now, and it was his duty to keep hold of him until he ended up with someone else, then Helio would be able to mingle at will. He imagined they would make quite a pair, both six foot, both with a curly-haired mop atop their heads (though Helio's hair was washed, brushed, styled and a lighter shade of brown with golden highlights), and that was where the resemblance ended, before it had even properly begun. Helio's skin was a light tan, (much paler than the mortal dark-olive skin inherited from his latino heritage, but even in lightening up he would never be as pale as those with caucasian backgrounds), and his eyes - thanks to his vampirism - were vivid gold. They'd been a light brown in his mortal years and had changed quite strikingly. His physique was muscular but lean while the mortal needed fattening up, because he was properly skinny. He couldn't decide whether the scars enhanced the youth's beauty or marred it.
"C'mon," he said, pulling Finn along and entering the house.
The lighting was low and warm, for mortals to be able to see their way around without bumping into coffee tables and other low furniture scattered throughout the house. Upon entering the lounge, there was a well-stocked bar on their immediate left, and a very long sectional sofa that travelled the right hand wall and then around it, finishing just before a potted plant. There were two couples and a trio sitting upon it, each comfortable in their own space. Someone - Helio didn't bother looking to see whether they were vampiric or mortal - was sitting on the floor across from them, underneath the large screen TV affixed to the wall, which was turned off. The stereo was piping music into the house though, a pulsing beat that could appropriately be called 'trance'. It wasn't loud, but mortal ears would hear it clearly, and mortal voices wouldn't need to speak loudly to be heard. This party house wasn't a nightclub, after all.
They moved down the wide corridor past the front sitting room, and found themselves in an area where to their right was another sitting room - the library, with a leather two-seater at the back of it. Helio knew better than to peer in and see who was in there. He could hear that someone was in there. He moved ahead and pulled Finn behind him, past a couple of closed doors and a number of open ones that had beds inside but no occupants, except for one bedroom where there was Bennett seated on a chair beside the bed and watching his mortal, Shane, making out with someone. It wouldn't be long before the two mortals were having sex, and here Helio paused, just enough to see Bennett look his way so he could scowl at him. The bastard smiled back in return and Helio moved on.
The bathroom was huge and the spa bath inside wasn't bubbling away yet, though he could hear the water was filling it. He paused long enough to see a female vampire he couldn't remember the name of sitting on the edge of the tub, and two mortals standing nearby chatting with each other. Here was another lounge, down the end of a side corridor, and Helio turned down it, ending up in a very large, open room that had a pool table in the middle, a number of armchairs and sofas scattered about, an old retro space invaders table game where the players sat opposite each other to play it, and a darboard in a corner of the room. Quite a few vampires and their mortals were sitting here talking, and Helio recognised and gestured a greeting to Eddie, who was with his mortal still - Clark. Helio sat down in the armchair beside his friend and noticed that Finn had started to take notice of his surroundings as the effect of the drug began to wear off. If the mortal went looking (and if Helio allowed him), he would find a few candy bowls and ashtrays around with various drugs in it. The bar in the front sitting room was also an open bar, for those vampires who preferred the drunken over the drugged. Helio chopped and changed depending on what he was in the mood for.
"You can sit on the arm of the chair or at my feet, Finn," Helio commanded, giving his mortal a bit of sway with his invisible leash. Gah, he hadn't even had time to run the youth through the rules yet. This could be a fucking disaster.
