The Food of Love (Only Lovers Left Alive)

Chapter One

Chapter One

Adam plucked the note off the front door and read it.

'I'm sorry, my darling, I had to step out for a while. Make yourself at home and I'll be back as soon as I can.

Love Eve.'

Adam sighed; after travelling for four nights, thanks to being delayed by an ash cloud, he was starving but more than that, he wanted to see Eve. Although they had spent a few weeks together, usually Eve visiting him, they had been living apart for over five years.

Still, with any luck he could find her blood supply and quench at least one of his thirsts.

The front door was locked so he looked under the doormat, where he found a key. It was hardly secure, he thought as he stepped inside. It felt very odd to be entering her home without her here but he supposed he did have an invitation, of sorts.

The Victorian villa was lovely, decorated with a mixture of period features and modern furnishings. It was not Eve's usual taste but it was nice. Far nicer than his last home; he hated decorating.

He put his bags down by the front door and looked around as he headed deeper into the house, looking for a kitchen, the most obvious place to check for blood.

Human blood had become harder to come by in recent years. Not only was there more disease, such as Hepatitis E and, HIV type II and III, there were also a lot more drugs, both legal and illegal. If that wasn't bad enough, humans had now developed synthetic blood, so blood donations were almost a thing of the past. Unfortunately, synthetic blood was useless to Adam's kind, having no nutritional value. It would be like a human eating cardboard as a replacement for food, it might sate hunger for a moment, but would eventually result in starvation and death.

He found the kitchen and looked inside the refrigerator, surprised to see it had real food in it. No blood though. A quick look in the freezer compartment showed no frozen blood, although given how cold and wet the Edinburgh climate was usually, that was hardly surprising.

He closed the door and looked through the cupboards, which were filled with more food stuffs. Opening a door off the kitchen, he discovered a small utility room with some white goods in.

"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my house?"

He turned to see a redheaded woman standing in the kitchen doorway, a gun aimed at his chest. She was scantily dressed, some kind of yoga gear, minus underwear.

"Put that away," he told her. "You might hurt yourself."

She raised a haughty eyebrow. "Answer my questions."

"Why? Your gun doesn't frighten me."

He saw her look to his hands, which still were still covered with his black driving gloves.

"I'm an excellent shot and the bullets in this gun travel at 500 meters per second. You're fast but are you that fast?"

Adam shook his dead in derision and she smirked.

"Did I forget to mention, the bullets are also made of wood."

His expression hardened, as did hers.

"You must be Eve's familiar." He stated.

"I'm Eve's friend."

"Whatever you call yourself, this isn't your home, it's hers, you're nothing but a guest here, for some strange reason."

"Really? That's odd, because it's my name on the deeds. In fact, this house was built by my great-great-great something or other grandfather. Now get the fuck out before I drastically shorten your so-called eternal life."