"I am serious, Kavnar!" A fat dingy merchant exclaimed as he pounded his fist onto the dark cherry oak bar.
"You mean to tell me you saw a man turn into a beast and ran away with a whore in his claws?" The barkeep asked the merchant while he was cleaning some mugs.
"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" the merchant exclaimed banging his fist down once more.
"Clearly, you left here last night with more to drink than you thought." The barkeep scoffed as he turned to place the mug on the shelf.
As he turned back, he saw that the disgusting grimey merchant had turned a ripe tomato red from anger. The merchant made the mistake of trying to reach across the bar in an attempt to put his hands on the barkeep.
Reeling backwards quickly, the barkeep pulled a flintlock dueling pistol out from under the bar. He flicked the hammer back and pointed the barrel directly at the merchant's head. The cold iron of the barrel was less than three centimeters from the idiot's skull.
"Now, Lemuel, we've been in good standing with one another for a long time, but I won't hesitate to pull this trigger and make you forget all about what you just thought you were going to do and that ridiculous tale you just spun." Kavnar, the barkeep, stated surprisingly calmly, despite the situation at hand.
Lemuel threw his hands up, palms open, with a look of pure horror on his face. He gulped heavily and took a step back from the bar.
"That's a good lad. Now stay just like that and walk backwards out of my bar. Then, go home and sleep this ridiculousness away. In the morning, you'll come apologize to me." Kavnar said, never moving his gaze and aim.
His eyes were deadly as he spoke. There was an almost tantric ambience to the tranquility he emitted and the polar opposite violence that he was willing to commit. It was like he was walking a tight rope, and Lemuel was a gust of wind.
Depending on which direction Lemuel blew, or in this case depending on what decision he made next, would determine which side of the rope his actions would take him. Nevertheless, the barkeep gracefully kept the balance, for now.
Lemuel started to open his mouth to say something, but Kavnar interrupted him before he could.
"No. No words need be said for now. Just do what I said, and we'll talk later." Kavnar stated.
With fear consuming him, Lemuel did what he was told and backed out slowly. Eventually, the doors closed in front of him. Within seconds, the sounds of scurrying feet took off away from the entrance.
He was the last customer that Kavnar thought was left to leave. He sighed and slowly let the hammer down into its original state. He eventually placed the pistol back into the holster hidden beneath the counter, and, as if the last ten minutes had never occurred, he went right back to cleaning the dishes.
"That was rather impressive." a gruff yet darkly charming voice resounded, breaking the silence and startling the poor barkeep nearly to death.
The barkeep turned quickly and looked for the source of the voice, but he couldn't pin point it. That was until a figure emerged from the darkest shadow in the corner of the room.
The figure ended up being a man with hair as black as obsidian. His eyes were a disturbing amber orange in the iris. The black pupil, however, had several spikes that jutted into the iris like black needles. He was a bit pale for the average person of caucasian descent. His facial features were like they had been chiseled like a Greek sculpture that actually gave Adonis justice.
His attire was a simple black vest with silver plated buttons worn underneath a black slim fitted trench coat. His pants were a color and styled to match to his upper garments and so were his boots. His hair was about mid shoulder blade length and pulled back into a low ponytail.
"I... I don't know who you are, but we are closed. I'll ask you only once to leave." Kavnar stuttered.
"So nice of you to only ask once. I suppose then I'll only say no once. Seems like a fair trade, don't you think?" The odd man said with a spine chilling yet charming tone.
"D-don't come any closer!" Kavnar managed to exclaim before he pulled the same pistol from before out, cocked it, and pointed it at the man.
"Oh if you had a clue how much I wish that could actually work. Don't do anything drastic now." The man said as he took two steps forward.
As soon as the second step was completed, Kavnar pulled the trigger. The spark hit the powder, the powder ignited, and the steel ball in the chamber shot forward with incredible accuracy.
Suddenly, Kavnar felt a hand over his mouth just an instant after the gun shot rang out. It was a very cold hand, and it sent shivers down his spine. That was quickly paled by the breath that hit his ear from the same man who some how had dodged the bullet and was just as quickly behind him.
"You've got a good eye. A normal man would have been dropped cold. Good for you. Its also a good thing that no one bats an eyelash at gunshots around here. Too many stray pests and what not." The odd man breathed eerily down the nape of the barkeep's neck.
"Hmmm, do you know why I am here?" He asked Kavnar who merely mumbled something, but was obviously muffled.
"Of course you don't. How rude of me. My name is Benonai, but you can call me Ben." The odd man finally revealed a bit more of who he was.
A muffled response came from the barkeep, so Benonai, or Ben, continued.
"You seem like a rather reasonable person. Simply put, I have a request of you. I'll set you free right now if you will agree to my request." Ben asked Kavnar calmly.
The barkeep elected to merely nod in agreement, so Ben released his hold on the man.
Kavnar quickly spun around and took a few steps back as he stared into the ravenous eyes of this... whatever he was...
"Wh-what d-d-do you w-want?" Kavnar managed to ask.
"Something I've never done before." Ben smiled, revealing a startling fanged grin, "I want to tell you my story."