Chapter 1
Marketing manager, Noel Adler, sipped a blue cocktail. This Halloween party in Midtown Manhattan was…er… a little bizarre. Unconventional? Weird? Noel, who was arm-twisted into wearing a costume…groan! didn’t know anyone here, except his lover, Dimitry. Oh, yes. His boyfriend, Dimitry Rhodes, a software developer, had just launched a new gaming app with his coworkers. Rega Software was the next big ‘thang’ in videogames. Dimitry and his buddies Raphael Figg, Shannon Saunders, and Ezra Sinclair, all dressed as vampires. Why? Because the video game app was about bloodsucking vamps. As Noel tried to get drunk but not sick, on these foo-foo blue and red cocktails… yes, the red cocktails looked like blood in the low light. And now he knew why Dimitry told him to wear black. Everyone in the room was. Black. Black shirt, slacks, shoes, nail polish, eye makeup, black lipstick… good lord. The lighting was so low, Noel imagined using his flashlight to find the bathroom. As he listened to various conversations, although not participating in them, he gazed at his boyfriend. They’d met two months ago at a gay nightclub, and then again at a coffee shop. You know, those unanticipated chance meetings when you order a pumpkin spiced cream chai at Bucks, and you realize the cute gay guy next to you ordered the same thing. Love at first sight? Lust more like it. Sipping his Blue Lagoon cocktail after eating the pineapple wedge from the rim, Noel admired his hunky man. Dimitry was gorgeous. Classic good looks. Dark, mysterious and a great lover between the sheets. Dimitry’s chocolate brown eyes and jet-black hair contrasted his blue eyes and sandy brown hair. He was thirty-two and his lover-boy was three years younger, and three inches shorter. Noel liked being tall. Six-two was perfect. It made him feel as if he had an edge. Mostly a three-inch edge. “… O-M-G!” Raphael flipped his wrist at Dimitry as he spoke, “The presales for Halloween weekend were mad!” Noel finished his second drink, eyeing the bartender who’d been hired for this bash. New Yorkers. Any reason to drink and dress up. Dimitry held a red cocktail. A Vampiro. I mean, aren’t you dudes taking this bloodsucking thing too far? After listening to the three game app creators gloating about the sales figures, which Noel admitted were impressive, he stood near the bartender who was in all black. Black. Noel wore a black turtleneck under a black sports jacket with black pants. Hell, he didn’t want Dimitry to annoy him all night. But he drew the line at lipstick and nail polish. “Another?” Noel held up his empty cocktail glass to the young man. He got a nod, and the bartender took his glass and filled it with more blue liquid. He was about to stick more fruit on the lip when Noel said, “Just the drink. Thanks.” The bartender nodded again and handed him the stemmed glass. “Thanks.” Noel sipped it and then looked for food. Snacks. Canapes, crackers and cheese, anything? Where the fuck is the food? No food. Oh, that’s right. Vampires don’t eat… food. He rolled his eyes, checked his watch, and then lingered near a wall of glass. This pricy abode had a glorious nighttime view of sparkling lit skyscrapers. A first-quarter moon appeared from behind a few clouds. Noel stared at it as he felt slightly tipsy from the strong cocktail. “… and the first million we make will be invested right into our next game…”
