The Bartender (Sanguine Hearts Book 1)

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF I TOLD YOU THAT MONSTERS ARE REAL? WOULD YOU THINK ME INSANE? WOULD YOU LOCK ME AWAY IF I INSISTED? WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME? NEVER MIND. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE. MONSTERS. ARE. REAL. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU A STORY. INDULGE ME, IF YOU WILL. MONSTERS. ARE. REAL. VERY REAL! YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW YOU MET ONE UNLESS HE OR SHE INTENDED FOR YOU TO KNOW. MONSTERS LIVE AND BREATHE IN CITIES JUST LIKE THIS CITY ALL OVER THE WORLD. YES, LIVE AND BREATHE. YOU SEE, MONSTERS ARE NOT LIKE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE. NOT ALL OF THEM, ANYHOW. THEY WALK AMONG THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH. THERE ISN'T A CONTINENT, A COUNTRY, A CITY, OR A STATE, THAT IS FREE OF THEM. THEY LIVE EVERYWHERE THAT HUMANS LIVE AND ARE JUST AS DIVERSE IN CULTURE AND VARIED IN ETHNICITY AS HUMANS ARE. ALLOW ME TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT REGARDING MONSTERS. NOT ALL MONSTERS ARE BLOOD-SUCKING CREATURES OF THE NIGHT. NO. NO, THEY ARE NOT. AS I SAID. MOST, ALL TRUE MONSTERS, IF YOU EVER MET ONE, AND CHANCES ARE YOU HAVE MET SEVERAL IN YOUR YOUNG LIFE THUS FAR, YOU WOULDN’T KNOW YOU HAD. THEY LOOK LIKE HUMANS. THEY WALK LIKE HUMANS. THEY BREATHE LIKE HUMANS. THEY EAT AND DRINK LIKE HUMANS. THEIR HEARTS. THEY BEAT, AND THEIR BLOOD. IT FLOWS THROUGH THEIR VEINS; JUST LIKE HUMANS. THEY LOOK AND ACT LIKE HUMANS. HELL, FOR ALL YOU KNOW, YOU COULD BE TALKING TO ONE RIGHT NOW. AS WITH ALL THINGS, THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS, THERE ARE A FEW MONSTERS OUT THERE THAT ARE EXACTLY LIKE THE MONSTERS YOUR GRANDMOTHER, IF SHE LOVED YOU, WARNED YOU ABOUT. THEY ARE DARK CREATURES OF THE NIGHT AND ONLY THE NIGHT. THERE IS NO MAGIC RING THAT ALLOWS THEM TO WALK IN THE SUN. THEY DO NOT COME OUT IN DAYLIGHT. THEY AREN’T PRETTY. THEY DO NOT SPARKLE IN THE SUN. THEY DO NOT TURN INTO A THOUSAND BATS, OR MIST TO SLIDE UNDER YOUR BEDROOM DOOR SO THEY CAN SEDUCE YOU. THEY WILL NOT SEDUCE YOU, CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO TRY. NO! THEY ARE TRUE TERRORS OF THE NIGHT. THEY DON’T LIVE UNDER YOUR BED OR IN A SECRET REALM ACCESSED BY YOUR CLOSET. THEY DON’T CARE HOW OLD YOU ARE. THEY DON’T CARE. THEY WILL HUNT YOU AND THEY WILL KILL YOU. THEY WILL KILL YOU WITHOUT HESITATION OR THOUGHT BECAUSE THEY DO NOT THINK. THEY ARE NOT CAPABLE OF THOUGHT. THEY ARE NOT A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT GONE VERY WRONG. THE FORCE THAT DRIVES THEM, THE ONLY FORCE, IS THE NEED TO FEED. THAT IS IT. THAT IS ALL. AND YET, THEY ARE NOT THE GREATEST THREAT TO YOUR SAFETY. THERE ARE ONLY A FEW OF THEM LEFT IN EXISTENCE IN THIS WORLD. THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN A FEW THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES THAT MONSTERS HAVE EXISTED. THEY DON’T BLEND IN. THE GREATEST THREAT TO MANKIND IS THE MONSTER THAT BLENDS IN. THEY HIDE AMONG THEM, GET LOST IN THE CROWD, AND KILL WITHOUT MERCY BECAUSE THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT MERCY IS. MOST MONSTERS ARE PEACEFUL, WELL PEACEFUL IS NOT THE RIGHT WORD, —RECLUSIVE IN NATURE, BETTER DESCRIBES THEM. MOST BUT NOT ALL. BUT, THEY REQUIRE FOOD TO KEEP LIVING. THEY DEPEND UPON IT FOR SURVIVAL, JUST LIKE HUMANS, BUT THAT FOOD, THAT ENERGY, CAN COME FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES. MONSTERS, LIKE HUMANS, CANNOT PRODUCE IT ON THEIR OWN. IT IS NOT THERE ARE MANY WAYS FOR MONSTERS TO FEED. YOU WILL SEE. THE HISTORY OF MONSTERS EXTENDS WELL BEYOND DRACULA AND THAT STORY OF OLD, FAIRYTALES AND FABLES BUT THAT IS A TALE FOR ANOTHER DAY. TODAY. TODAY I WANT TO TELL YOU ANOTHER STORY. SO, SETTLE IN, GET COMFORTABLE. DO YOU NEED TO USE THE RESTROOM? I WILL BE HERE WHEN YOU RETURN. THEN WE CAN GET STARTED. ‘IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES. IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES…*’ JUST KIDDING, HERE SIT A WHILE AND LISTEN. *Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities.