Prettiest Vampire

Chapter IV: Lilian

Chapter IV: Lilian

Lilian entered the beauty salon cautiously. He really didn't want to be here, but he needed to look as professional as possible tonight. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong on this sale! And besides, his Uncle Barnaby had left him no choice. Today was the day he would say goodbye to childish things, and finally cut his hair.

The shop looked like any other beauty salon you might see anywhere else in the world. There were rows of raised seats in front of mirrored work stations lined with scissors and combs and brushes, other seats that reclined into hair washing stations, and several seats with large, clear plastic dryers that could be raised and lowered over a woman's head. There was also a small waiting area. Lilian was about to take a seat to wait for the hairdresser, when he heard a gravelly voice call from the back of the shop.

"Is this customer?" the voice asked. "We are at back of shop, please come."

Lilian walked through the shop, past the various seats and basins and dryers and work stations until he arrived at the back. Around the corner at the very back of the store was a traditional barber shop, where a traditional barber was cutting a traditional man's hair.

The barber shop consisted of a single, ancient steel chair covered in cracked red vinyl, which was raised and lowered by stepping on a bar at the floor. On a shelf were combs floating in an unspecified blue liquid which did not inspire any sense of sanitation in Lilian's mind. There were photos on the walls of several different hairstyles which all looked exactly the same, and seemed to emphasize a geometric-style military look. The photos looked as if they had been taken some time in the 1950s.

The barber himself was ancient, and wore a filthy white smock that was probably last cleaned about the same time the blue liquid was last replaced. He was bald on top, and scraggly white hairs stuck out from the sides and back of his head in all directions. He could have used his eyebrows for a comb-over if he had had the imagination.

The barber's customer was almost as old as he was and sat in the chair reading a newspaper while the barber, who Lilian now had subconsciously decided to call Igor, worked at his hair with scissors and a comb.

As Lilian watched he saw the customer wince, then say something in Romanian to Igor. Igor put down his comb and scissors and started fishing in his pockets, while blood slowly trickled down the customer's neck. Igor pulled a dirty, stained handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to the customer, who used it to dab at his ear, never once looking up from his newspaper. Igor picked up his comb and scissors, and resumed his devastation of the man's hair.

"Have a seat," said Igor. "I be with you next."

Lilian slowly backed away from the barber. He had not completely decided to run, but, yes, he was going to run. He turned, but found his path was blocked by a middle-aged woman with huge hair.

"You must be Lilian," said the woman. "I am Tatiana. Please, follow me."

Lilian gratefully followed Tatiana to the women's section of the shop. He realized that she had been speaking to Maria and had likely concluded he was a girl, and he would clear that up as soon as possible, but getting away from that barber was his main priority at the moment.

Tatiana led Lilian to the front of the shop, and sat him in one of the hairdressing stations. "Lilian, I am so pleased to meet you. I'm sorry that your appointment must be so late, except I was visiting in Cuzdrioara today. Maria told me how very important it is for you to have your hair done for tonight. So do not worry, we will get you to your dinner on time!"

"Thank you, Tatiana," said Lilian. He took a deep breath, because what he had to say next would not be easy. "Except, I'm not here to see you. I need to see the barber."