Fate: Updated Edition, page 10
“She’s just gonna change anyway,” he reasoned.
“She doesn’t need to freeze until then.”
She led me through the house, back towards her room, where I’d presumably get ready. Milo, who’d been in the living room, ran out to greet us. If I wasn’t mistaken, he looked even better than he did the last time that I saw him, and he was taller too. The change was still taking its full effect on him.
“Has he told you where we’re going yet?” Milo asked.
I shook my head. “No.”
“You’re going to a club,” Mae answered.
Jack scoffed behind us. “It’s supposed to be a surprise!”
“Oh, quit, it still is,” Mae said.
“Like a dance club?” I asked.
“I don’t know if I really approve of the idea, but Ezra’s not here to talk him out of it, so here we are,” Mae said tiredly and steered me away from the boys to her room. “Why don’t you go ahead and hop in the shower, and when you get out, we’ll pick out some clothes?”
I was confused, but I did as I was told. I went to the master bathroom and took a shower. They had a million shampoos and body washes, and they always made my hair and skin feel amazing afterwards.
Once I was done, I wrapped myself in a fluffy robe, and I opened the bedroom door to find Mae waiting. Clothes covered her bed. On closer inspection, many of them still had the tags on, and they all looked to be about my size (which had to be a few sizes larger than Mae).
“Is there anything you really like?” Mae had a puzzled, serious look on her face, as if she was having trouble making an important decision.
“Well… they all look really nice,” I said, but that was an understatement. “What exactly am I getting dressed up for? It might help me pick something out.”
“Well—” Mae said, but the bedroom door opened and cut her off as Milo burst into the room.
“Oh good,” he said. “You’re out of the shower”
Whenever I went out to something special, he helped me get ready. This wouldn’t be any different, and it would actually be kinda nice to do something normal with him. Relatively speaking.
“Are you ready for a night at a vampire club?” he asked excitedly.
“What?” I didn’t think I understood him right, so I looked to Mae. “What’s he talking about?”
“A vampire club.” Mae smiled in way that I knew that she wasn’t as keen about the idea as Milo. “We told you a little bit about them before. They’re similar to a regular bar or club, but with obvious differences. Jack frequents one off Hennepin Avenue, and I’ve been there a few times.”
“Obvious differences?” I asked. “Like what? Do they have a keg of blood?”
“Well, not exactly. They do have some kind of blood on… tap,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Humans go all the time, though, and they have bouncers. People aren’t…” She sighed as she floundered for words. “They don’t harm people there.”
“That’s where Jack goes to eat, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yes. They have some doners there,” she explained. “They call them verkurvas. But mostly it’s people and vampires doing what anybody does at a club.”
“Getting drunk and looking for sex?” I asked.
“Dancing and having fun,” Mae corrected me.
“It’s gonna be a blast,” Milo said. “I’m so excited to get out of this house and actually do something. Especially with other vampires! Aren’t you excited?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, but I didn’t really know how to feel about it.
I’d never met any other vampires, not that I knew of, anyway. I’d love to see what they’d be like. And dancing and being out is exactly how I wanted to spend my last few days before school.
On the other hand, I was going to be in a room full of vampires, which still had some frightening implications. Thinking about Jack eating made me physically ill, and the prospect of seeing where he got his “food” didn’t thrill me either. There could be someone there he had bitten, someone who knew him more intimately than I did.
“Are you okay, love?” Mae asked me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied.
“You look really pale,” Milo agreed. His eyes softened with worry. “Are you sure you’re okay? Do you not want to go? We don’t have to. Jack and I just thought it might be fun.” He desperately wanted to do this, and he would give it up for me, so I just shook my head.
“I want to. Really. I do,” I said, and sighing, I decided to explain my ambivalence. “I don’t want to see anyone that Jack’s… bitten.”
“Oh,” Mae said knowingly.
“What?” Milo asked, confused.
“You don’t understand because you’ve never been bitten,” Mae told him, then turned to me. “Jack doesn’t feel it like you feel it. Being on the receiving end of a bite is much different than giving one, and it’s not the same when you do it for food, versus pleasure.”
“I don’t follow,” I shook my head. Milo sat on the bed, on top of the clothes, and listened. Apparently, this was new information to him, too.
“It feels amazing,” she said. “Few things in life are better than drinking someone’s blood. But in order for the prey-predator relationship to work, humans willingly give themselves to us, and that happens because they develop an emotional attachment that we don’t feel. For us, it’s purely physical.”
“That sounds like something a guy says after he cheats on you,” I pointed out dryly.
“I suppose it does,” she agreed. “But it’s the truth. Your feelings on this are slightly misleading. Your only experience is with Peter, and you’re bonded. When you love each other, it’s intimate and intense. But just eating, that’s nothing really.”
“Uh huh,” I said skeptically.
“Let me put it this way: Ezra bites other people,” Mae said. “And on occasion, so do I. This doesn’t bother me, and it doesn’t bother him when I do it. But if he were to allow someone bite him, that would bother me. That would be tantamount to cheating.”
“I think I understand.”
What I had felt with Peter had been because we were already bonded and I was the human on the receiving end. If anyone bit me, I’d feel similarly, but if I bit someone else, I’d feel good, but without all the emotional connection.
“When you’re a vampire, you’ll understand,” she assured me, but that only touched on another raw nerve. Realizing this, she smiled and brushed past it. “Anyway, let’s get you dressed.”
“I know you love jeans, but I’m thinking a skirt, definitely.” Milo hopped off the bed so he could inspect the options.
I just agreed with everything they said as Mae and Milo sifted through the clothing. Milo spoke animatedly about everything. Being a vampire sat very well with him. I had never seen him so comfortable in his own skin before. Jack’s tutelage must’ve been helping, because it was an improvement from even a few days ago.
Mae did my makeup, since that was one area that Milo had never been any help with. He left to finish getting ready while she styled my hair and assured me that I would have fun. I asked why she wasn’t going, and she just shrugged and said she was too old for it.
When she finished, she paraded me out into the kitchen to show the boys. Jack leaned on the island, looking handsome in his stylish attire. He traded in his shorts uniform for dark washed denim and a fitted shirt made of a shimmery fabric.
As soon as he saw me, he let out a long whistle, making Matilda bark.
“Look at you.” Jack straightened up as he admired me. His eyes lingered at the hem of my skirt, and I squirmed. “I might like that skirt even more than I like those little shorts you were wearing this morning.”
“Jack,” Mae said, lightly admonishing him, since we were supposed to be keeping things platonic for the safety of everyone
“You’re the one that dressed her up,” Jack reminded her with a smirk. “It’s not my fault Alice is smoking hot.”
“Just be good,” Mae said wearily.
“I’m always good,” he muttered.
“I want you kids to have fun, but you need to be careful,” Mae warned. “And I’m talking to you, Jack. You need to keep your eyes on both of them. Milo’s really young, and Alice is only human.”
“I know.” He started edging towards the door, and I followed. “We’ve had this conversation a hundred times today.”
“Stay close to Jack, and don’t go anywhere with anyone, okay?” Mae said, talking to me directly. “And just remember. Vampires are like men. They only think about one thing.”
“I think about a lot of things,” Milo argued.
“What about you, Jack? You only think about one thing?” I teased.
“I’m thinking about one thing right now.” His tone was joking, but his eyes told me he was dead serious.
“Jack!” Mae snapped.
“Being good!” Jack turned away from me.
“I’m trusting you,” she said solemnly. “They’re both in your care, and I expect them to come back in the exact same condition they are now. Is that clear?”
“It’s been clear all day.” Jack walked backwards to the door, so he could mount his escape while still looking at her, and Milo and I trailed right after him. “You know, I’m a grown man, Mae. You think you’d start trusting me by now.”
“I would if you acted your age for a change!” Mae called after him, but he was already slipping into the garage.
I waved at her before I left, and she pursed her lips and hugged herself, like she already regretted her decision to let us go. I didn’t feel that nervous, though.
After all, I was with two vampires that would kill anyone that tried to mess with me. What was the worst that could happen?
Chapter Thirteen
We parked by First Avenue, but it wasn’t until we got out of the car that I realized that it was the same parking garage where I’d first met Jack. He said he’d just gotten done eating when he ran into me, and then saved my life from some aggressive hooligans.
It was so weird to think that if I hadn’t stumbled into the garage that night, my entire life would’ve turned out differently.
“You coming?” Jack asked, waiting for me. He and Milo had taken a couple steps ahead of me, but I stood just outside the car.
“Yeah.” I nodded and hurried to catch up with them.
People littered the sidewalk, enjoying the last days of summer. Soon, the sundresses and shorts would have to go back in the closet. The Minneapolis skyline towered over us, and the music from clubs and voices of people echoed off the buildings.
I looked down the street at the brightly lit marquees announcing clubs and restaurants and plays, and I wondered what there would be outside marking the vampire club.
“What’s this place called anyway?” I asked.
“It doesn’t really have a name,” Jack said. “It’s like an underground thing.”
“Well, what do people call it? Or does everyone just refer to it as Vampire Club?” I asked.
People were definitely within listening distance, but I wasn’t too concerned about them. They were drunk or talking with friends, and they wouldn’t start believing in the supernatural just because I dropped a word as we walked around downtown.
Plus, most of the passersby who paid attention to us just gawked at Jack or Milo for a minute before moving on. They didn’t notice me or what I was talking about.
Jack shrugged. “I think they call it V or something.”
I scowled. “That’s not very creative.”
“Yeah, I thought it’d be something sexier,” Milo agreed.
“It’s an underground vampire club,” Jack reasoned. “It doesn’t need a ‘creative’ name to entice people.”
Jack directed us to turn off Hennepin, leading us away from the glittery lights of the gay club flashing down the street. People were still around, but less of a crowd and more of a handful. Without all the bright lights announcing venues, the yellow streetlamps made it seem much darker. The traffic had even dissipated.
“We’re almost there.” Jack slowed and held his hand out to me. “Give me your hand. You’re with me, and everyone needs to know it.”
I let Jack take my hand, but I looked apprehensively over to Milo to make sure he wasn’t going to growl and attack me for touching Jack.
“He’s got it under control,” Jack said, slowing so we were barely walking, and Milo stayed a few paces ahead of us. When Jack spoke, he lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “Stay by me. And try not to get excited or think about Peter. But if you do, you find me. If somebody’s gonna bite you, it’s gonna be me.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?” I asked.
“Both.” He shook his head. “No. Sorry. Neither. I’m being good. But just stay by me.”
“You’re making this sound dangerous.” My stomach twisted anxiously, and I thought of the worried look on Mae’s face. “Why are we going here if it’s hazardous?”
“It’s slightly riskier than hanging out with us in the first place,” Jack said. “But you needed to get out and have fun. And I won’t let anything happen to you. So…” He shrugged. “Milo. Hold up.”
Jack stopped next to a nondescript doorway in the middle of the block. The nearest streetlight had completely gone out, making it eerily dark for downtown. He squeezed my hand briefly, and I felt his temperature warm up a little.
Milo came back to where we were standing, and Jack nodded at a large black door. Milo raised his eyebrows, and then opened it.
The door opened into a narrow entryway that glowed red from the bulb above. Two giant bouncers stood there, nearly blocking our path inside. They nodded at Jack and Milo, but something about the way they looked at me when I walked past assured me that they were vampires, and I hurried past them.
At the end of the narrow hall, a steep set of cement stairs led down into black nothingness. The only light in the stairway came from the red one by the front door.
We walked into complete darkness, but that wasn’t a problem for most attendees. For my puny human eyes, it was disorienting. I clung onto Jack, and he never let me go.
I could hear the music pulsing, some kind of heavy electronica. Jack whispered that we had reached the main level, but I still couldn’t see anything. We walked a little farther, and Jack opened the door, bathing us in cool, blue light and making the walls echo with the music.
Considering we were in the basement, the ceilings of the room were amazingly high above the dance floor. Hundreds of people smashed onto the floor, dancing wildly. Long arms waved in the air, and bodies moved delicately and perfectly in time with the music. Never had I seen movements so graceful.
A long, metallic bar lined the far side of the room, and based on the bottles lining the back wall, I assumed it was an actual bar, full of alcoholic drinks for the humans. Several very attractive men and women stood behind it, manning it for drinks. The stools in front of it were full, and a line of sweaty humans waited to be served.
I turned to look for Milo, but he’d already disappeared onto the dance floor. Jack smiled at me and pulled me into the crowd as M83’s “Midnight City” played over the speakers. The people moving around us were stunningly beautiful. A girl with pixie white-blonde hair smiled at me, and I noticed the fading bite marks on her neck.
Jack moved gracefully, and I tried to match his elegance, though I often misstepped. He kept his hands on me the entire time, holding me close to him, and I loved it. The blue from the light made his eyes glow, and his happiness was infectious. My heart was racing, my stomach was filled with butterflies, and I couldn’t stop smiling.
Other bodies pushed up against me as people danced around us. It almost felt like they were grabbing at me, but I thought I was just imagining things because it was so crowded.
Then I felt a sharp prick as someone scratched the back of my neck, and Jack stopped dancing. They hadn’t scratched hard enough to draw blood, thankfully, but it had hurt. When I looked around, I saw the crowd had closed in on us.
Jack started to lead me off the floor, towards a doorway into another room. Someone touched me, letting their fingertips glide lightly down my arm, caressing me. I glared back over my shoulder, expecting whoever touched me to slink off in shame, but he just stood there. Not dancing, not moving — just staring at me.
He was gorgeous, with thick hair slicked back. His eyes were a mesmerizing black and burned straight through me, and when he smiled, it was pure wicked seduction.
I had fallen into a trance, but I didn’t notice until Jack started dragging me away.
The lights shifted from blue to dull red as we slipped through a doorway into the next room, and the walls dampened the pounding music. This room was smaller than the last and styled more as a coffee shop than a club. Soft couches and overstuffed chairs filled the space, and there were open doors lining two walls, leading out to a multitude of darkened hallways.
A small bar sat in one corner with a bartender behind it. There weren’t any bottles lining the wall, and I figured the drinks serviced a more supernatural clientele in here.
On the couch nearest to us, a stunningly beautiful woman laid with her head lulled back. Her clothing was black leather and so tight I couldn’t believe she could move. A pretty young girl was curled up on her lap. Her eyes were closed, and a thin line of blood trailed down her neck. The vampire holding her looked at me and smiled as she licked the blood from her lips.
“Stop it,” Jack murmured in my ear.
“What?” I asked, pulling my attention from the vampire to look about the room.
Scenes similar to the one on the couch played out all over. Some people (or vampires) were simply sitting and talking, and some were just making out. But others were openly feeding on humans.
As soon as we entered the room, everyone seemed to turn and look at us. Vampires with their stunning, entrancing eyes, kept fixing their gaze on me, and I would forget to breathe.
“Stop,” Jack repeated and jerked my hand so I would focus on him.
“What?” I looked up at him, away from everyone in the room.
