Opera

A 1-post collection

Challenge #01256-C161: Blood in the Boards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3xp5ZXSYA

Opera vampire

He tries very hard to be a baritone but he's a a countertenor (or possibly a contralto) -- Gallifreya

[AN: This is the guy referred to on the internet as "Gay Opera Dracula"]

Some appetites can not be ignored. Some can be... restrained. I learned that when a Master of Voices turned my best friend into a Castrati. That was a very, very long time ago.

I was turned into something else, myself. But that came later. A whisper in the night. A seduction dipped in fine perfume and coated pretty words. And two sharp teeth into my neck.

So very long ago, now.

I make some money as a roving Contralto. I never stay anywhere long enough for people to ask questions. And I make certain that I am never good enough to be truly famous.

But you see, I love Opera. I love the art, the discipline. It has kept me sane in decades when I feared I would go mad. And I despise those who treat it as a frivolity of a bygone era.

Those who slack, those who do not put in all their effort. Those who slip and do not care... they are my food.

And those who make an artist's life pain. The followers, the hangers-on, the people who have unfortunate cases of Erotomania, and the people who have unfortunate cases of not hearing the word 'no'. Those are also... dealt with.

Those who ignore my admittedly strong mental control become my meals also. I consider it a service to the Art.

And in the months when none of these examples present themselves... do not fret. It's quite possible to acquire deals with Kosher and Halal butchers. I do not starve, and I do not prey on the innocent. Well. Innocent enough, anyway. This is opera. One expects a certain amount of drama in the opera houses.

The years have lead me to see patterns. Which, in turn, has lead me to give remarkable advice to those treading the same, well-worn paths of people in my past. And I'm seen as something of an expert on the history of Opera. I tell no-one that I lived most of it. That sort of thing has... repercussions.

And once in a while, I meet someone with... star quality. Those who would do so much good for the Art, had they the time. I offer, discretely, a chance to remain at their peak. I don't turn them without their consent. There are downsides to vampirism, after all.

No-one has taken me up on the offer. Not yet. For all the drama and emotion, Opera people can be remarkably pragmatic.

Yet I live in hope. Someday, somehow, someone will take me up on the offer.

And I won't be alone any more.

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