Amy said his name was Dorian, which Suzi found to be both unusual and beautiful. She wondered what a Dorian looked like. Knowing Amy, her date would probably be some Star Wars super-fan coming to pick her up in a Chewbacca suit again, not that she minded but Suzi did prefer Han Solo.

It was to be her nineteenth date in a row. Nineteen. Even God rested on the seventh day. But not Suzi.

Numbers one through eighteen were interesting, to say the least. When Suzi was done with this thirty-one days of dating thing, she planned to write a book about it. After all, she'd done a lot of research. Sex. Being drugged. A barroom brawl. Even a guy who thought he could sing like Michael Buble, whatever, she fucked him in the end.

When a long-haired guy, clad from tip to toe in all black, showed up at her house at nine o'clock on Saturday night, Suzi was taken aback because he was so not what she expected.

"Are you—uh –?" Suzi gave him the once-over. She liked what she saw. His inky hair fell past his shoulders. His skin was ivory giving him a statuesque look. When he reached up and ran his fingers through that waterfall of hair, Suzi caught a glimpse of a vine tattoo snaking out of the cuff of his black leather jacket.

"Dorian," he replied with a low, husky tone and extended his hand.

So this is what a Dorian looked like. Cupid lips. Deep blue eyes. Lashes Maybelline would kill for. So he wasn't exactly her type, more Nine Inch Nails than Star Wars, but he had this sexy, dark thing going on which made her smile.

Their hands met. His touch was firm, slightly chilly, though the night was not that bad. Suzi caught the scent of his cologne, part sandalwood, part musk, like an enchanted garden at night. She caught herself leaning closer, wanting the warm scent to envelop her.

Maybe she could invite him in. Skip the whole date and get down to the dirty.

"You ready?" he asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Suzi noticed he hadn't let go of her hand yet. When she nodded, he gently pulled her out of her house until she was nearly toe to toe with him. Up close she saw the tiny gold flecks in his cerulean eyes.

"I think so. I mean, sure am."

Suzi and her date walked down the path to where a black and red Honda motorcycle waited. She looked around, wondering if there was some kind of mistake. A motorcycle? Suzi looked down to her flowy gray knee-length skirt. It was a lovely vintage piece with lace decorating the hem which she teamed up with a snug black top. "Uh..."

Dorian picked up a helmet from the motorcycle. He saw the look of uncertainty on her face and frowned. "Are you afraid? I could find another way for us to get to our destination."

Her sixteen-year-old self popped into her mind screaming YOLO SUZE! How long had it been since she rode a motorcycle? Oh yah, never.

'Because you never want to try anything new.'  She heard Ashley's voice chastise. One of the reasons Ash dumped her was because Suzi preferred staying inside the Safe Zone. It got too dull for Ashley, and Suzi's beloved dumped her. The break-up was painful. It took Suzi ages to finally get over her ex. She promised she would not be such a stick-in-the-mud again. So YOLO it was.

"No. This is fine." She managed a smile. I can do this, she thought. Just as long as I tuck my skirt under my legs so I don't flash the world. "It's a cool motorcycle."

"I've not had it long. Actually, you're the first person other than me to ride." Dorian handed her the only helmet available and smiled. Suzi noticed his teeth were perfect, white, with the canines slightly pointier and sharper than most people's she'd seen. "I won't go too fast," he said softly as he helped her adjust the strap under her chin and fasten the clip.

"But, what about you?" She asked when he got on without the protection of a helmet.

Dorian replied, "I'm immortal."

When Suzi raised her brows he chuckled and said reassuringly. "Nothing's going to happen."

Nothing apart from you possibly cracking your skull open like a watermelon.

She watched Dorian slide onto the Honda, actually, she watched his butt shimmy forward so she could sit. Every little shimmy made Suzi's insides twitch.

God, he's gorgeous.

"Hop on," Dorian called and Suzi did.

Maybe number nineteen will be the best chapter in my book. Suzi straddled the bike and wrapped her arms around Dorian's lithe frame. Maybe I won't get drugged. Or my date won't be super boring. But reality bites. When Dorian started the engine she forced herself to think positively. Maybe it'll be amazing.

As promised, Dorian did not go so fast that Suzi wanted to cry. She actually found herself enjoying the ride. Clinging on to her date so she wouldn't fall off (and because she felt a pretty nice body under those black clothes) made her giddy.

Through the wheeze of wind, Suzi asked him where they were heading. When he yelled back he was taking her to a place called Haven, Suzi was curious. She knew most of the bars, clubs, and restaurants here but the name of this place did not ring a bell. "Is it a club?" she said loudly over the purr of the engine.

"Some might call it that."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. You'll see. It's my favorite place. I thought I'd share it with you, Suzanne."

Suzanne. People rarely called her that. The way her name rolled off his tongue made her shiver pleasantly. He had this instant attraction thing going on that Suzi couldn't put her finger on.

Less than ten minutes later, Dorian turned off the main road and headed through an ill-lit alley. Streetlights sputtered spasmodically. The houses here were sparse. There were no cars on the street. No person around, not even a dog to bark at them. It was as though the neighborhood was lifeless. Suzi did not recall this part of town and she'd lived here for ages.

Before a million questions or a healthy amount of fear made Suzi leap off the bike, Dorian pulled into a dark parking lot, the only lights were from the neon sign above a fairly large building made of gray brick blinking in blinding yellow lights: HAVEN.

I'm going to murder you, Amy, she thought, if I don't get murdered first. Suzi's date brought his Honda to a stop. With both feet on the ground, he balanced the motorcycle and turned to look at Suzi. "Don't be afraid," he said.

"I'm not," she lied, but her heart was thumping a bit quicker from the moment they exited the main road and began riding into spooky-ville.

Dorian flipped open the kickstand and slid fluidly off the bike. Suzi didn't budge.

"I can sense it," he said nonchalantly. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me. You and I are destined to have met."

Suzi sighed dramatically. Though there was a darkness about him, she did feel an attraction, like the pull of a magnet. And she didn't want to end the date just yet.

"They have the finest Merlot you've ever tasted here. I do know you like a good Merlot." Suzi nodded. Amy must have told him that she was a sucker for over-priced French Merlot.

Dorian raised his hand, offering it to her in a gentlemanly way. "Come," he purred, "allow me to assist you."

She took Dorian's hand as he helped her off the Honda."So, are you going to be playing Knight in Shining Armour?"

Her date opened the door of the Haven for her and shook his head. "I've accumulated too many sins to be any sort of Knight."

Suzi stepped inside and her mouth dropped. Spread out before her was a vast room, faintly lit. At the head was a large stage with two burlesque dancers splashing water onto the crowd as they swirled inside tall champagne glasses. From the distance, Suzi could not make out if they were dressed or not.

Red and purple velvet semi-circle sofas wound around circular tables. Each table boasted a small cluster of ivory candles. Elaborate chandeliers, decked out in crystal teardrops, hung above. Long black silky drapes swayed along the walls.

A thin veil of fog covered the interior of the club making it look otherworldly. As Dorian led her to a table, Suzi saw the waitstaff were all dressed either as angels or as demons. The angels wore sparkly white uniforms that left little to the imagination. A pair of white feathery wings which opened and closed faintly when they moved, adorned their backs, each one carried a mournful look on their face. The cheeky-smiling demons were all in black bodysuits, so snug they looked painted on. Elaborate horns protruded from their heads, and when the demon servers walked, small red sparks twinkled from the tips.

The pair sat but Suzi couldn't take her eyes off anything. Dorian had to ask her three times what she wanted to drink.

"You did say something about the best Merlot?" she managed to say before telling him that this was the most beautiful place she'd ever been to. "It's beautiful yet bizarre. Like something you'd dream up."

"Dreams are often better." Dorian said, "Reality often bites, doesn't it, Suzanne?"

Her brows furrowed, the familiarity of his words were oddly soothing. "Sometimes. Yes."

A young male demon brought them a bottle of Merlot and two glasses upon a silver tray. As he placed the bottle down, he locked eyes with Suzi. The demon held her gaze for a long, succulent moment then winked.

"He thinks you're beautiful," Dorian said as he poured her a glass of wine.

She chuckled, taken aback. "What? The demon-guy? No way."

"He's right, Suzanne." Dorian handed her the wine. "You are."

Suzi nervously began to twirl a lock of her golden hair as she basked in the compliment. It was not an everyday thing to have someone (or some two) make you feel gorgeous. "I love the way you say my name," she admitted.

When she reached for her glass, Suzi and Dorian's fingers touched, and for one amazing moment, she pretended everything was and would be perfect. Dorian was dark around the edges, yet Suzi found him deliciously appealing.

They clinked glasses. Suzi took a sip. The Merlot was sweet and rich, thicker than any wine she'd drunk before. It didn't taste like the usual Merlot she knew but it was delicious. A slight coppery aftertaste was twined with that of caramel. Before she knew it, she was on her second glass and Dorian was quick to follow suit. A delicate buzz crept up on her and perched upon her shoulder. It began to grow until it took over.

On stage, the champagne-girls had finished their act and the stage had been mopped down. In the front row tables, a couple giggled, drenched in water, while an angel and a demon server helped them dry off with two huge towels.

"Tell me about your dreams. Your fears. Your favorite color." Suzi whispered. She tilted her head to the side and watched Dorian drink.

He chuckled at her obvious giddiness. "I should have told you to sip slowly. The wine they serve here is rather potent."

"I've had Merlot many times," Suzi slurred lightly.

Dorian took her glass from her hand just as she was getting ready to pour herself another. "Mmm...yes, but not one like Haven's." He raised the bottle and poured the glass for her.

"Let's drink the whole bottle, then order another."

"My kind of woman," Dorian purred as he leaned closer. "Do you want to know about my dreams? They are of you and I, tangled in each other's limbs, oblivious to the world that does nothing but add salt to our wounds." Dorian reached for her, placed his hand to the side of her cheek. "My fear is losing you," he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her.

So let him be poetically romantic, over-the-top dark. She was lapping it all up and she was too tipsy to care. Usually, guys spend hours talking about their dull jobs or their dogs. Dorian was different and she welcomed it.

In the shadows of the club, the demons hissed. Raising their hands to the angels, they grabbed them by wrists, by throats, and pulled them into the waiting maw of darkness that slowly seeped into the Haven. The patrons began to transform into pale, serpentine creatures with carmine eyes and forked tongues. The remaining water in the burlesque dancers' glasses bubbled and spilled over the edges.

From the corners of the club, the sound of angels being tormented created an eerie background melody to the sound of Dorian's lips coming into contact with hers over and over again.

"I have waited centuries for you," Dorian whispered as he pulled back. Suzi saw his eyes, the blue had stormed into black, the gold flecks burned bright red and danced like flames.

Suzi felt his fingers twine between strands of her hair, like water serpents through reeds. She shivered as another pair of hands began to stroke her legs. When she looked down, the winking demon was kneeling before her, yet now he looked more demonic, less human, with scales upon his dark skin and horns that no longer looked like Halloween accessories. She wanted to scream, run off (that's what sane people do). But the wine nestled so warmly in her belly, and their hands felt so damn good...

"I will make you mine. Now and eternally." Dorian's voice carried over her. "I hunger."

Below, the demon slid his tongue over her bare leg, pushing her vintage skirt up higher over her thighs.

Run! Flee! Her brain squealed. Before they do something you will regret!

Dorian's mouth moved over hers again. She felt the demon's own mouth doing something dangerously divine below.

Suzi swallowed hard. The clash between that silky sensation and raw logic made her head swim. "No," breathlessly she spoke, "I can't do this." With all her might, she kicked at the demon, sending it hurling backward. But when she tried to push Dorian, he simply held onto her tighter. "Dorian, let me go!"

A crash made Suzi and her date turn. An angel with blood dripping down his face came running towards them holding a baseball bat. The angel leaped on the table as Dorian pushed Suzi away and hissed. Suzi yelled when she saw Dorian's fangs shine.

"She is not yours, vampire," the angel hollered and swiftly swung the bat like he was Babe Ruth. Blood splattered all over Suzi's pretty face and pretty dress when the metallic bat came into contact with the vampire's head and burst it open like a watermelon.

"Run," the angel yelped. The bat dropped to the table with a clunk, then rolled onto the floor. Suzi bolted up. Her heart hammered behind her breastbone.

From behind the black silk drapes, demons with shimmering scales crawled to her on all fours. Their eyes were as red as the blood on her. Their forked tongues flicked out of their slit-like mouths. "Ours," they hissed in unison.

The angel grabbed her wrist. They ran through the length of the club and through a sea of devil-beasts, as claw-tipped hands tried to pull them back. The door was getting nearer. Freedom was a heartbeat away.

"Go!" The angel flung open the door and pushed Suzi outside. She stumbled yet regained her footing and ran down the parking lot. When she turned to see if any demon was following her, she saw the angel looking at her mournfully before ten scaly hands pulled him back inside.

Suzi ran until she got onto the main road, bloody and breathless.

                                                                                  #

"For the tenth time, Suze. There is no place called Haven in town and the Dorian I set you up with is a banker with short blond hair. I don't know who that guy was."

Suzi and Amy were sitting in Suzi's bedroom. Suzi had been holding onto the same cup of mint tea for an hour, now it was undrinkable room temperature. She told Amy half-truths. Not that Dorian was a vampire (who'd believe her?) but that her date tried to attack her and he was beaten up by a good Samaritan. Suzi had washed away the blood before Amy drove up.

"I feel so..." Suzi's words faded away when she couldn't find the right word.

"Violated? that's how I'd feel," Amy replied.

There were so many strange emotions running through her mind. Maybe she should give this dating thing a break, tell her friends she couldn't go through with the whole thirty-one days. But...what if the next guy wasn't a weirdo? What if he was The One?

"Look. I brought you a new book, well, not new since the author died about two hundred years ago. I found it at a second-hand shop. It may take your mind off things for a while. I know how you like books.

Suzi set her tea down. She thanked Amy for her gift and for coming over at midnight to calm her down. "I appreciate this," Suzi said as the friends hugged.

"I'll crash on the sofa. Why don't you just snuggle down." Amy got up and tucked Suzi in, making sure the covers were snug around her friend. She handed Suzi the book and kissed her cheek. "Read a few chapters and I'm sure you'll be off to dreamland soon. Ok?"

Suzi gave her a small smile. "Ok."

When her friend left. Suzi looked at the book's cover. It was faded black leather, with the gold print almost worn to nothing, definitely old. Suzi barely made out the title, Hunger.

Dorian's words echoed in her mind, sending a chill down her spine. "I hunger for you."

Perhaps she should not read this tonight and just go to sleep, but Suzi found herself flipping the book around to the back, to peek at the blurb. The portrait of a young man in his early twenties looked back at her with haunting eyes, long black hair and Cupid's lips. Suzi's heart nearly stopped.

Dorian!

With a gasp, she flung the book across the room needing a safe distance from it. Suzi dove under the covers (leaving her bedside lamp on) and squeezed her eyes shut in hope sleep would take pity and come to her soon.

The book had fallen with the cover page slightly ajar. Were one to look inside the dedication, they would see it read, "To Suzanne, my eternal beloved. I hunger for you. Yours in this lifetime and all the rest, Dorian."

Hello darklings! This one-shot is part of the 31 Blind Dates anthology from more than two dozen Wattpad writers including members of the Stars program, published authors, Ambassadors and Wattys winners. This is the nineteenth story in this collection, the next one is from LLMontez.  If you want to start at the beginning, head on to rskovach 's profile! Just look for this sticker.