Imagine Book 2

Dance With the Devil- Santanico Pandemonium (From Dusk Til Dawn)

Male Y/N

The neon lights of the Titty Twister cut through the Mexican night like a blood-red wound. Y/N lounged in his usual corner booth, nursing a glass of tequila he hadn't touched in hours. After decades of haunting this establishment, he'd grown accustomed to the raucous atmosphere – the blend of trucker's shouts, the clinking of bottles, and the perpetual thrum of rock music that seemed to pulse through the building's very foundations.

But tonight felt different. The air crackled with an unfamiliar electricity that made his undead senses tingle. Even the other regulars – the ones who, like him, were more than human – seemed to feel it. Their predatory eyes kept darting toward the stage, waiting.

The announcer's voice boomed through the speakers: "Gentlemen, the Titty Twister proudly presents... Santanico Pandemonium!"

The moment she stepped onto the stage, Y/N's world tilted on its axis. She moved like liquid smoke, her body draped in an elaborate costume that left just enough to the imagination. A massive albino python draped across her shoulders, its scales gleaming under the spotlights. But it wasn't her beauty alone that captured his attention – though she was undeniably stunning. No, it was the power that radiated from her, ancient and intoxicating.

Y/N could sense it immediately: she was like him. A vampire, yes, but one far older than any he'd encountered in his centuries of existence. The way she commanded the stage spoke of experience that went beyond mere decades or even centuries. This was someone who had danced for kings and emperors, who had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations.

Her hips swayed to the hypnotic rhythm, and Y/N found himself leaning forward, transfixed. The other patrons – the humans – saw only what she wanted them to see: a beautiful exotic dancer. But Y/N saw more. In the fluid grace of her movements, he recognized the lethal precision of a predator. In her eyes, he caught flashes of ancient wisdom and barely contained wildness.

The python slithered down her body as she danced, and Y/N couldn't help but smile at the symbolism. How fitting for one of their kind to dance with a creature that shed its skin and was reborn. He wondered how many times she had reinvented herself over the centuries, how many names she had worn before becoming Santanico Pandemonium.

As her performance reached its crescendo, their eyes met across the smoky room. Recognition flickered in her gaze – she knew what he was too. A slight smile played at the corners of her mouth, an acknowledgement of their shared nature. The connection was electric, sending a shiver down Y/N's spine despite his undead state.

When the dance ended and she disappeared backstage, Y/N knew he couldn't let the moment pass. He slipped from his booth, moving through the crowd with supernatural grace. The bouncer at the backstage entrance – another of their kind – gave him a knowing look but stepped aside without question. Y/N had been a fixture at the Titty Twister long enough to earn certain privileges.

He found her in her dressing room, still wearing her performance costume. She was removing her jewellery when he knocked on the door frame, but Y/N suspected she'd known he was coming.

"I wondered how long it would take you to follow," she said, her voice rich with an accent that hinted at countless lives lived across different continents. She turned to face him, and up close, her beauty was even more striking. "I noticed you during my dance. You're different from the others who come here."

Y/N stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "As are you. I've never seen anyone command a stage quite like that in all my years."

She laughed, a sound like dark velvet. "And how many years would that be?"

"Three hundred and forty-two," Y/N answered honestly. "Though I suspect that's barely a blink of an eye compared to your lifetime."

Santanico rose from her vanity, moving toward him with that same fluid grace she'd shown on stage. "Age is such a human concept, don't you think? We measure time differently – in empires risen and fallen, in civilizations forgotten by history."