Alpheus’s tattoos are not on show, but there is a peek of his batwing emblem that extends from his elbow along his forearm. The grey shirt he has chosen he has buttoned up to the top, neat like and sophisticated. Complete with a silver tie, with flecks of black and red. As he slips into the booth on the other side of Kai, he gets two girls; big curls of blonde that pile atop their heads and thick black circles of makeup accentuating the green of their eyes. They are all hands, running along his arms, all awkward gasps and oohs and aahs. I see him stiffen slightly. The attention, it startles him, he is not like myself or Kai. It shocks him sometimes, the interest, and the touch.
‘Hey, Handsome.’ A black-haired girl practically falls into my lap, her delicate fingers curling around the back of my neck as she holds her wine glass just slightly out of the way. She has a look of desire in her eyes, hazed by the pull of our presence. We have such an allure, a girl can be in mid conversation (just like the one who is making her way over, right now.) see us and then swan over, teetering on her heels before falling at our feet.
I say nothing, I glimpse a look at Kaiser. He is whispering poisonous words into their quivering ears, taking it in turns to tug at their necks. Sending chills down their spines with every breath. The silver of his hair looks luminous under the strobe blue light that flickers above us, it makes him look even more ghoul like as he stares at them with level eyes; behind the mask I see him totting up souls to be reaped. Desires to be given but in turn he is striking down their souls for his own benefit. It is amazing just how enraptured girls can sell their souls for anything. A touch, a drink, a kiss…
‘I’ve not seen you around before.’ The black-haired girl’s breath feels hot and clammy against my neck. Her scent is a mixture of citrus and smoke. I breathe her in, my hand finding the small of her back, leaning in towards her ear I touch my nose against her neck; her skin is human warm, not the blistering heat of Hell. My words are cool, crisp and a little too sharp, but it still leaves her trembling, in desire, in fear. I do not know. I still have the same effect.
‘Perhaps you should open your eyes a little more.’
Her fingers run through my hair, she catches her breath and I can hear every thump of her heart as she leans closer and closer, her plump red lips trailing from my cheek to my neck and to my mouth, only then do I push her away; it is so easy when they are limp like a doll, quivering with desire and losing themselves completely.
I still feel bored. Even with the thump of electronic music in the background; the sweaty bodies writhing around in front of me, the allure of human females. I feel bored. I lean back into the leather couch, extending both arms to rest on the back of them. The black-haired girl, she is still wide-eyed and under my spell, she leans into the nook by my shoulder, placing a hand upon my hollow chest. On my other side, a pretty, kohl-eyed blonde slips in, trailing her fragile fingers along my leg, my thigh.
‘Is there anything I can do for you?’ her voice is breathless, so full of desire, of bleary-eyed haze, I can hear the thundering in her chest as she leans closer and closer. I cup the back of her neck with my hand, whispering into her ear,
‘Lay your soul bare for me. Give yourself to me.’ I smirk into her hair, feeling her shudder and the little yelp as she relents.
‘Anything. I’ll do anything.’
I know it is wrong. Using allure and manipulation so liberally. But there are no Angels in East Hollow to see, no Demon Lords and Generals to knock us back into place. We are free to do what we want here. And if we want to collect a few souls on our visit, we can.
No one can stop us.
I cup her cheeks in my hands, running my fingertips over her skin, I pull her closer, my lips meeting hers. I engulf her, tearing at her lips with my teeth. A hunger, a hunger I have not satisfied in a while, but not for that sort of thing, for her soul, for the desire that burns within me.
I push her away, her soul, the wispy grey inside of her, it is mine.
She goes limp, completely and utterly spent. Wordlessly she gets up and teeters on her heels, so weary, so tired. I lose sight of her when she disappears into the crowd. Glassy-eyed and empty.
The black-haired girl, she toys with my hair, curling it around her finger.
‘I want you.’ She whispers, husky and low. Trying so desperately to be sexy, to be wanted. I take her cheek in my palm, pulling her closer, and my eyes burn into her, like the flicker of the centre of blue flame. They engulf her as do my lips, crushing her spirit, her heart, her soul. She winches slightly as I tear at her upper lip. One must draw blood to bind a seal of the contract. A verbal contract, a thought, it needs a little bit of blood to activate. But they all are just as binding as a written scroll. They want me, they want a kiss, a touch. I see it inside of them. They would give anything to me. Including the hazy spirit within.
The throes of girls disappear. All empty and hollow. They wander Avalon’s dance floor, tumbling and staggering. I hear Kaiser’s chuckle break through the fuzz of music, in his hand has materialised a glass, the strong scent of alcohol biting my throat as he offers me one and then the other to Alpheus. He must have compelled one of the girls to bring them to him, the last one that still quivers in delight as she walks away.
‘Round one complete.’ Kai clinks his glass with both mine and Alphie’s. his silvery eyes narrow, light eyebrows low to his eyes as he surveys the nightclub for more prey, more shallow girls to manipulate and toy with. ‘Evan, you have a bit of…’ he doesn’t elaborate but he gestures with his finger to his mouth, just at the corner. Ah yes, the spilt blood from their lips. I run my tongue over my own, tasting the sweet copper of their life source. I tilt the glass, the ice jingles at the side, but the amber liquid floods my mouth, coating my throat with a woody burn.
‘You haven’t lost your touch, Evan. They still tremble, they still swoon.’ Alphie chuckles, his empty glass placing on the floor beside his foot. His dark eyes do not meet mine, they stalk the club, his fingers consciously running over his chest.
‘Seen anyone that takes your fancy?’ Kai asks, so nonchalantly stretching his arms behind his head, it almost appears as if he is as bored as I still feel.
‘They are all the same. They are all too dull, too plain… too…’ my voice drawls out, my eyes find the door, the scene before me stopping me mid-sentence. I stare, eyes narrowing, fingers curling into the thick black material of my jeans.
The svelte curves are noticeable, just so. The way the black dress sits almost perfectly upon every subtle curvature, the way her brunette hair lulls against her shoulders, they look like artistic brushstrokes against her skin. Her chocolate waves complete with a gold and ruby hair slide, encrusted in the shape of a rose, sweeping half the hair over her forehead to one side, revealing coffee bean eyes. I lean forward, forgetting the trance of electronic music, the thud of the heartbeats around me, my eyes fall upon her svelte neck, the neckline of the dress accentuating the necklace that drapes her milky skin.
‘Evan?’ Alphie clicks his fingers, and I pull myself from the strange entrapment, but I feel my lips turn up into a smile, a sickeningly proud smile, one that Kaiser notices and laughs at, a hearty laughter that vibrates through the leather chair, sending me lulling back into the seat, crossing one leg over my knee, eyes not leaving the girl with my pendant.
‘Bet you didn’t think you’d see that again for a while.’ Kaiser says, his hand knocking my shoulder, drawing my attention back to him, if only for a few moments. I laugh, my laughter dies into the loud music, falling in rhythm with the heartbeats of the humans that dance, writhing and falling over in a drunken haze.
‘This is what I intended all along, dear Kai.’ I pause, finding the girl once more, she stands in between two others, a honey blonde and a black-haired girl, they are certainly dressed to impress, but my eyes still fall around the curves of her neck, the pulse of my firestone burns bright against her milky white skin, matching the flush of her cheeks as she meets my gaze.
‘She is exactly m
y boredom breaker.’
‘A fanciful toy.’ Alphie muses but it is Kaiser’s next words and his echoing chuckle that makes him choke over a mouthful of whiskey that contorts my face into a sneer.
‘Well, looks like there’s a few others who want to play with your toy, Evan.’
I’ll leave her for now. Now I know who wears my pendant around their pretty little neck, I can keep track of her. I can think of ways to lure her in, to destroy her pathetic human emotions, just as easily as I had done the last two girls. But there is something, something about this one, this one is different. There is a slight familiarity about her. The auburn tinge in her brunette hair, her large cocoa eyes and heart shaped face. She looks familiar, but I cannot think where from.
‘Up for Round Two, boys?’ Kai murmurs into his glass, just as another group of girls step over, with their plunging necklines leaving much to be desired. All I want from them is their soul, but the girl, the girl with my pendant. I want everything from.
Ellison –
Even outside of the club, you can feel the electric thump of music, smell the taint of liquor and debauchery. The thrum of music and chatter fills my ears as I stand amid the throngs of people in the queue; Avalon is indeed a busy and well sought after club. I guess because it is the only on in East Hollow, the residents – namely late teens and early twenties – need somewhere to go, to stretch their limbs, to unleash their inhibitions. I pull my cardigan around my torso, the dress Jade and Liv had gotten me was a plush velvet but did not leave much more for warmth, the sleeveless dress just skimmed the top of my chest, the hem just below my knees. As Jade said, it was a ‘go get ‘em’ dress. Her words of wisdom, that a little black dress can capture the eye of any eligible bachelor, but it is the smile, the eyes that can capture their heart. Her words sounded like Madison’s and when we were walking to the club from the flat, I couldn’t help but shed a little tear.
The bouncers are two big burly men, their fluorescent yellow badges on their arms flicker under the strobe, as if warning that they mean business. Whilst standing in the queue we had seen them turn away three groups of underage minors. I was biting my lip and curling the cuffs of my cardigan in my fingers. I just know I won’t be allowed in, even if I was way past eighteen, no I.D means no access and even pleading isn’t a good enough excuse to lose their license for.
‘Hey, don’t be nervous Elli!’ Liv sidles into me, jutting her elbow into my ribcage for a good measure of coercion. Her brilliant eyes gleaming behind a sweeping of charcoal eye shadow and eyelined flicks from the corners of her eyes. She pouts her lilac lips at me and smiles brightly. ‘Lighten up, we’ll get in no prob.’
Jade’s golden hair has been swept off her face and neck, strung high upon her head in ringlets and loose strands. Her china doll like face made up with a flush of pink cheeks and a not so subtle red pout. She stands just in front of me, her hands on hips, clutching her matching crystalline purse close to her side as she eyes up the bouncers.
‘We’re in.’
‘But you haven’t even tried yet!’ I shake my head, my voice shaking slightly, from the brisk cold wind that hurls past us, dishevelling my brown hair from its clasp at the side of my head. The ruby encrusted gold rose I had found in Charlie’s box of trinkets earlier in the day, I had handed the amount he wanted and kept it in my pocket. I thought it brought out the gold and red of the pendant that hung around my neck, perfectly.
‘I’ve seen that guy before. When I say we’re in, we’re in.’ Jade winks her lashes at me, they brush against her cheek like a kiss of raven wings. Her purple halter top with spangle details of silver on the bodice and her tight silver jeans make her look more showy and glitzy than normal.
I say no more, the wind hushes me as I huddle closer against the wall, eyes curiously glancing at the promotional posters stapled to the wall; apparently in a few weeks they have a band, and in a few days they have a clairvoyant night. It seems Avalon is indeed the nightclub to go to.
Just as Jade predicted, the bouncer gives her a long, emphasising look. From head to toe, he rose an eyebrow suggestively, his slightly rounded cheeks dimpling as he grins at her and lets all three of us in. I would rather not know what she has done to get such liberties. What Jade does in her spare time, is none of my concern. I follow her in, the thump of music beats in my chest, matching my heartbeats perfectly. Thud. Thud. Thud. The warmth inside fills me with a sudden flush and I peel off my cardigan and drape it over one arm, leaning into Jade as she shouts to me over the music.
‘See anyone you like?’ she raises a blonde eyebrow, her pink eye shadowed eyelids flickering as she moves her head from me to the dancing bodies, writhing close and suggestively so. I feel a little bemused. I have only been to this club once before and that had been with Madison. I remember it well, the bouncer had let her in because she too had fluttered her eyelashes and hooked my arm with hers. Apparently the bouncer had a penchant for twins.
I take in her question, it sinks in my mind and I pry my gaze from her glitzy top to the throes of people.
‘Oh, well I haven’t seen them before!’ Olivia squeals, her voice sounds just like a quiver, a slight drawl of tipsiness. Perhaps a few glasses of wine before heading out had loosened up all of her morals, but it made me feel a little more conscious. I run my hands over my arms, feeling a quiver of life shoot through them, the strange pulse of the necklace matching my thundering heart as I follow Liv’s gaze and flushing hands to a booth in the back.
‘Looks like they have more than enough company.’ I say, my voice lost in the sudden drop of music; the flare of electronic beats and squeals taking a whole new tirade on the dance floor as the bodies of both girls and guys gyrate and then flop around as if they have no bones in their bodies. My eyes never leave the booth, I catch the slight glimmer of gold in the back, followed by the luminous waver of silvery hair as one of the guys gets up and scoops a drunken girl from her feet.
I stare, I cannot help it, and the throb of the music just compels me more, racing my heartbeats in a race neither can win. I feel the necklace burn into my skin, bringing me back a little. One of the three guys in the back, lounging so idly in the booth, arms around a dozen girls, meets my eyes with his. I am startled that I can see the brightness of his blue eyes. They gleam like the polished sapphires in the diadem Charlie had cleaned up earlier in the day. So bright, so dazzling, I cannot draw myself away, until he does. I stand there with flushed cheeks and Jade nudges me with her arm, drawing me back into the throb of music and electricity of dancing.
‘Well, looks like someone’s caught your eye.’
‘Him? Oh please. He looks like he has a harem going on over there.’ I defend myself, finding my flushed cheeks burning brighter than the strobe lighting above me. I turn away, back towards the booth and find Liv laughing, concealing her mouth as she has lost herself in fits of giggles. Somehow whilst I was lost in the music and the blue-eyed boy, she had gotten a few drinks.
‘You have gone the brightest red, ever!’ her laughter does not lessen, even as she hands me a tumbler of ice and gin. My fingers clutch the plastic excuse of a glass, nails digging into the sides, squeezing it in my palm, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.
‘Thank you.’ I say no more, silencing myself and my friends by tipping my glass to my mouth, swallowing the twang of gin in a few mouthfuls. The buzz soon follows and I find myself loosening a little.
‘Looks like blue-eyed boy is watching you.’ After a while, we had moved from near the doorway to the middle of the dance floor and then to a quieter table in the back, Liv is piling the empty glasses into the centre of the table when she leans across from me, with the biggest, smarmiest grin.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ I purposely avoid looking over; it was making me squirm watching the women drape themselves over him, and his friends. They have no shame, none whatsoever. But it is strange to say that I know he is staring, I can feel it burn into the back of me, as harsh as the golden chain burns into my ski
n. I’m sure it’s the fleece of alcohol that is starting to drape me, my inhibitions are dropping and I find that I have lost all conscious thought of blushing, of feeling a fraud. I turn around and make it obvious I am staring at him, watching as he tears at the girl’s lip with such fervour, I am sure her face will be next. Subtly, his eyes meet mine, even when his face is buried into a blonde’s tanned cheek. I cannot mistake the bright blue that pierce through a veil of blackness. It reminds me of the dark skies at night, veiled by onyx skies, peppered with bright constellations, and as night changes to morning, the sky takes on a bright blue colour, navy to cornflower blue. His eyes are somewhere in the middle.
‘You’re gawking, Elli.’ Jade plonks another empty glass in the centre of the table and leans over, clasping my wrist with her pink fingernails, drawing my attention back to her.
‘And so is he.’ Liv points, trying to be as discreet as possible to a blonde guy standing just off the table from us. He keeps glancing over, raking his fingers through his hair and meeting my eyes with a surreptitious wink. Not as subtle as the blue-eyed boy but definitely not a harem master.
‘He has friends. Looks like we have struck gold, ladies!’ Liv, tipsy and slightly disorientated on her red heels, scrapes back her barstool and clatters across the dance floor. Underneath the blue, and red strobe that flickers and streams over her, Olivia looks very beautiful. Her black hair trailing down her back, a few ringlets bouncing it from the crown of her head. Her sleek red dress matching her heels and her flushed cheeks.
‘A few glasses and she forgets all her woes.’ Jade chuckles into the lip of her glass, her chuckle fades slightly and I see her eyes haze over, dilating. She is thinking about the last few weeks and how painful they have been for Liv. She had been happily going out with Chase. A guy in her culinary class at college; according to her, he was the crème de la crème. Blue-eyed blonde haired, he was perfect. But they say that perfection only lasts until the flaws stat to crack through. He had grown distant and while Liv was arranging a romantic meal for two, he had been playing around with two other girls from college. It broke Olivia’s heart, so she, in typical woman-scorned fashion, broke his jaw. She had swung the frying pan in her first class of the day, into his face and it knocked his jaw. I’m still not sure of the outcome, but it has left Liv reeling, it is good to see her spreading out again, even if it did mean her bringing over the two other guys along with the blonde haired one who kept winking at me.
Grey October (East Hollow Chronicles) Page 5