AN: I realised I messed up Farhid's name. It is Farhid not Fadal, I was tossing up between the two and forgot to correct it in the second chapter.
They were in a darkened alleyway behind a club that had now closed hopefully meaning there wouldn't be any witnesses wondering by.
Adam stepped closer to the couple. They were lying facing each other whispering words in Arabic he couldn't understand, smiling, looking into each other's eyes. It would have been rather sweet if it weren't for the presumably dead body lying next to them. The boy then obviously said something amusing as the girl cracked a massive smile as she let out a joyously loud laugh, the same as the one that had attracted Adam and Eve in the first place.
As she gasped for breath and clutched her stomach in her bout of laughter she first noticed Adam. They momentarily locked eyes with each other, remained unmoving for a second before the girl quickly jumped up, stumbled on her feet a bit. Adam was the first to speak.
"What is your name?" he said slightly sternly, but, in a way one would speak to a child while you were still trying to figure out if she were going to behave or not.
"I'm Arlia and who are you?" Arlia replied in an accusing tone.
Adam was momentarily taken aback by her attitude and it was Eve placing her hand gently on his back as she walked up behind him that clicked his brain back in place.
"My name is Adam." He replied.
Thankfully, she spoke and understood English so a language barrier was one less problem they would have to face. Eve spoke some very basic, broken Arabic but Adam wanted to communicate first in case they became violent. He could deal with them fairly easily. The boy was shorter and smaller than Adam so he felt confident he could control him and the girl wouldn't be a problem.
The boy still lying on the ground started humming a tune which the girl clearly recognised as she gasped and did a dance on the spot which once again sent the pair into fits of laughter.
"They're fucking insane." Adam said as he pushed some of his hair out of his eyes and pressed his fingers into his forehead in frustration.
He and Eve were a little confused by this constant giddiness they were displaying. They had both assumed they would have to take the pair back to their house for a very solemn discussion about their newfound immortality but it appeared Arlia and the boy had no interest other than having a good laugh.
Peering at the couple as the girl pulled the boy to his feet with some struggle, Eve said with a sudden realization
"They look…
"Drunk." Adam finished her sentence.
After exchanging a quick glance with Eve, Adam walked to the dead body and pressed a finger on one of the messy wounds on the man's neck. Bringing it to his mouth he placed his finger on the tip of his tongue then immediately spat it out pulling a face like he'd just eaten a slice of lemon.
"That's definitely contaminated blood, this guy must have passed out drunk when they found him." He said nodding towards the still giggly couple.
"What an unfortunate first meal." Eve sighed feeling a pang of sympathy for the couple. Although she was soon trying desperately not to smile at them as it appeared the boy had decided to imitate Adams melancholy pout and slow walk only to trip over his own feet much to the amusement of the girl who let out a cackling laugh at his failed attempt.
The performance was not unseen by Adam who was looking ever more annoyed than usual. He rarely found comfort in people other than Eve and most of his experience with young vampires came from Eve's little sister, Ava, who he was most definitely not fond of. Perhaps it was her careless, free and occasionally rather dumb attitude that exasperated him or that she had made a meal of Ian, the only human he hadn't considered a complete zombie in the past century when he was last with her. Either way, the almost disgustingly happy pair in front of him was starting to get on his nerves.
He rolled his eyes at them and continued his inspection of the body.
"Eve," he said suddenly.
"This guy is still alive."
"What? How is that possible?" Eve replied rushing to Adams side.
The victim was covered in blood as were the couple that had feasted on him. It was messy.
"They mustn't have drunk much before they themselves got drunk," Eve proposed.
"Well, that was lucky." Adam replied. Eve could sense a little relief in his voice that someone who didn't know him like she did wouldn't have picked up.
"Yes," Eve responded. She too was thankful that they wouldn't have to add disposing a dead body to their things to deal with tonight.
"Although he's not dead, not even turned, which means they can't have drunk much so they'll only get hungry again sooner. Our problems aren't over yet." Eve continued.
Adam murmured in agreement.
"Should we clean him up a bit?" Adam asked.
"Perhaps not. It might look like a dog attack this way." Eve replied.
Adam and Eve would have left two almost clean puncture wounds each had they fed on this man, which looks rather suspicious, but thankfully new vampires are far less neat during their eating which worked in their favor this time. The wounds merely looked like torn skin and blood something passable as a dog bite to the neck. They attention was drawn from the body when the boy asked them something in Arabic.
Adam turned to Eve. She shrugged not understanding fully what he said.
"I think it best to leave the body as is, someone will find him early morning, lets just sort out these two." Eve said signaling towards Arlia and the boy who weren't causing trouble at the moment, indeed they were looking rather curiously at Adam and Eve.
"At least they're happy drunks I suppose," Eve said.
"Happy," Adam replied. "Lucky them."
Drinking too much contaminated blood caused a progressively intensifying illness in vampires, much like an addict enjoying too much of a good thing. Adam often craved the momentary release of alcohol but pure alcohol was toxic and blood alcohol eventually became so too, leaving Adam with no real escape from his own mind. Except for his music, and Eve of course.
"Lets just try to get them to the house," Eve said, watching Adam.
Adam nodded.
"Arlia," he called.
"We would like you to come with us."
"Come where?" She replied.
"Stranger danger you know, can never be too careful of strange men in the dark." She said jokingly pointing a finger playfully at Adam.
"No! Back away! I'll save you Arli!" said the boy suddenly as he grabbed Arlia in a massive hug picking her up off the ground.
Arlia squealed as Adam turned to Eve. Eve read his expression and stepped forward to have her turn at communicating with the couple.
"Arlia, what's your friends name?" Eve asked.
The boy returned her to the ground as she replied.
"This is Farhid."
"You and Farhid were at the concert earlier tonight weren't you? Yasmine's concert?"
The pair's eyes lit up.
"Yes we were, were you there too?" Farhid replied expectantly.
"Yes," Eve said smiling. "and Adam is very accomplished at playing music like Yasmine, would you like to hear some?". Eve waited with baited breath for their reply hoping they would agree as she was becoming increasingly aware that the summer sun would rise early.
"Yes." They answered in unison.
The journey back to the house was easier than expected. They were talkative and Farhid playfully mocked Adam and Eve's names by insisting they call him Jesus but on the whole they were easy to manage even though the alcoholic blood had clearly affected them. They also became progressively more tired as they got closer to their destination. Adam and Eve hoped they would sleep giving them time to plan their next meal, as it seemed more likely that they would have to do something illegal to find some untainted blood.
Finally arriving at the house Adam pulled out a spare mattress Eve had that occasionally Marlowe had slept on. The two tried not to think about him too much; the grief over his death was still raw.
"Nice clock." Farhid said sleepily pointing to the antique on the wall.
"Thank you." Eve replied as she threw some blankets on the mattress. They would all rest in the same room so Adam and Eve could keep an eye on them.
Arlia almost immediately fell onto the mattress her eyes drooping. New vampires were usually full of energy after their first feed but alcoholic blood was not good for anyone let alone two that had been turned only hours ago.
"Wait!" Arlia said suddenly her eyes flinging open again as Farhid joined her on the mattress.
"You promised us some music," she pouted.
Eve turned to Adam and raised an eyebrow. He sighed and shrugged in agreement.
Having left all his instruments and gear in Detroit he would have to play on the dusty, old guitar Eve kept. She didn't play it but she held it whenever she missed him in their many years apart.
Eve fetched it as Farhid and Arlia looked at Adam expectantly despite their fatigue.
When Adam and Eve settled on their mattress he began playing. He hated playing for strangers but he thought it would be best to settle down the new couple so he closed his eyes to pretend it was just Eve. The tune was soft, in a minor key, which sounded rather sad but built to a slow crescendo that sounded surprisingly optimistic for Adams music. Adam finished his piece and opened his eyes. Being satisfied that Farhid and Arlia were sleeping he turned to Eve who was already looking at him.
"I haven't heard that one before," she said quietly.
"Was it for me?"
"You know it was," Adam replied softly as he leaned into her.
They down on the bed as Adam put the guitar to one side and allowed themselves what would likely be one last moment of peace before their adventures with this new couple began.