by Jones, L. A.
"So maybe all I need to do," Aradia muttered to herself, "is wait."
Chapter Three
Aradia still went to the club, regardless of her boyfriend being a no-show. It was after all her club, and her idea to use it to promote tolerance. Most especially, after last month's smack down with the vampires Aradia was desperate to help prevent more violence from erupting in the neighborhood. So after spending an hour on her hair and makeup, Aradia appeared in the doorway dressed in a shimmery pink halter top, black glittery shorts, fishnet stockings, and black wedges. She then descended from the house and into Roy's truck.
"You look great," Melina noted.
Aradia just nodded in acknowledgement. Melina raised an eyebrow while Roy's brow furrowed.
"Is something wrong?" Melina asked.
Aradia shook her head.
"Are you sure..."
"Look Melina, I don't want to talk about it okay? Now let's go! We are already late!" Aradia snapped.
The couple paused for a few seconds before Roy finally turned on the engine. For a while, the three drove in silence.
At least until Roy unintentionally asked, "so is Dax meeting us at the club?"
Aradia scowled. "No. Worse. He's not coming."
Both Roy's and Melina's eyes widened.
"Why?" Melina asked before she could stop herself.
"Like I said before Lina, I don't want to talk about it!"
The music was so loud that Aradia could hear it all the way from the parking lot. She grimaced as she stepped out of the car and her wedges squished on the wet ground. It was like adding fuel to her already fiery mood. Melina slowly reached out to help her but Aradia shrugged her off and stomped onward. Melina warily hung back and looked at Roy. In his eyes shone the same worry that she had in her own. They took each others hands in comfort and slowly walked to the club.
The song Fyah by Kevin Lyttle boomed from the loud speakers. The music with the red, yellow, white lights flashing from the ceiling, and misty grey smoke curling around the floor gave the club a romantic eastern temple feeling. But all that was lost on Aradia whose anger did not diminish in spite of all the other cute Hidden guys eyeing her. She made her way to the bar, glaring at the ground and resisting the temptation to push people away roughly. Her darkened mood lessened as soon as she caught the familiar glimpse of pigtails.
Although Rhonda and the rest of her crew at the club had all graduated from high school last year the economy was still so bad that most of them had chosen not to go out of state. Rhonda, Everett, D, Al, and Felix had all enrolled into the local community college and had started taking classes while living at home. Calvin, however, had enrolled in a four year college. As a graduation gift, Calvin's parents had bought him a car so he could easily travel to the college and back. Still, Aradia was surprised to see him at the bar because she had thought he would probably be too busy with his classes to visit. Yet it was not Aradia's style to ask her friends unnecessary questions so she just made her way to the bar and greeted him.
Calvin was serving the drinks but was shocked to see Aradia looking so grouchy. Usually she never went anywhere without a smile on her face. One glance to see that she was clearly alone was enough for him to deduce why.
"C'mon Aradia," Calvin said while giving her a playful punch on the arm. "Cheer up. I mean sure your boyfriend isn't here but that doesn't mean you still can't have a good time?"
Aradia just glared at him.
"I actually agree with him sugar," came a deep voice from right next to her.
Aradia looked up and saw a tall, handsome, blonde boy with a dimple in his cheek dressed in black staring at her hungrily.
Vampire, Aradia automatically concluded. This in turn reminded her of the vampire that was the source of her discontentment.
"Who asked you?" she snapped.
Glancing away, she stared at her reflection in the polished wooden surface of the bar. The vampire said nothing, he merely tipped his head back and finished his drink. After licking his lips, he looked back at Aradia.
"Whoever he is, he is not worth it," he whispered in her ear.
"Like I said who asked you?" Aradia snarled.
Instead of being insulted, the vampire merely smirked.
For a while, they just stood gazing at each other. One in hostility, the other clearly not. However, almost as fast as lightening the vampire let go of his glass, slipped his arm around Aradia's waist, and dragged her towards the dance floor. She knew she could easily burn this guy to ashes but stopped herself considering the fact that there were humans around. Gritting her teeth, she decided to grin and bear it.
Saul wanted to pinch himself. He couldn't believe he was right now dancing with Aradia, the girl that been haunting his dreams since the day he first saw her. He thought he would never have the chance to get her alone but after hearing all the rumors of her and her boyfriend, Dax, fighting it was as if all his prayers had been answered. Now all he had to do was put his plan into action.
Aradia swayed along with the rhythm of the music and tried to keep her body contact with him to the bare minimum. She cringed a little whenever his hands touched her, memories of her rape still flashing through her mind. It had been over three years since it happened but still the memories haunted her. However, it was as she tried to block the memories when she started to feel a strange tingle of familiarity with the vampire caressing her.
"Have we met before?" Aradia finally asked him.
He chuckled and asked, "does it matter?"
"To me it does," Aradia snapped, "so have we met somewhere before?"
Saul lifted his head and stared into Aradia's eyes. He sighed softly before capturing her lips with his own. Aradia's eyes flew open in astonishment as she struggled to break away.
Saul wouldn't let her go until at last the kiss ended and he whispered in her ear, "we have met before and we will meet again. Only the next time we will get to know each other more intimately."
He let her go before she could shove him away. It was as he turned his back when Aradia remembered exactly where she had seen him before: at the house where Henry McAlester had taken her!
"Hey!" she cried as she ran after him. "Hey!"
Shoving people out of the way as gently but as swiftly as she could, she tried to follow Saul. Why had he been there? Why had he and his friends been staring at her the weeks before? She had so many questions and hoped he had the answers. However, as she reached out to grab his shirt he ducked out the back. She followed him and tried not to slip on the mud. Covering her bare arms to shield herself from the cold, she quickly looked around to see if Saul was nearby. She knew in order to sense everything around her she would have to put her hand on the ground but such an option seemed disgusting. So Aradia angrily stamped her foot and then turned around to march back into the club.
Saul stood on the rooftop of the very next building, even from all the way up here he could smell the scent of her hair. He slowly licked his lips remembering the taste of her mouth and savoring it's sweetness. He hadn't been surprised when Aradia had followed him but he had been surprised when she couldn't sense him. Witches were suppose to be able to sense movements in the very air just by focusing their energy. Seeing Aradia glancing at the ground however clarified why.
"I guess there are downsides to being the last of your kind," Saul concluded, "and that is not knowing the extent of your own powers. She never had any teachers or any clue to her past before so everything she knows is self taught." A cruel smirk curled on his face, "and that will be the perfect angle."
Melina and Roy were already dancing and smiling. Melina, however, noticed Aradia stomping back into the club. She hesitated and wondered if she should go over and check on her.
"Whats the matter?" Roy asked.
One glance at her boyfriend's handsome face made Melina push aside her concern and press her cheek into Roy's shirt.
Heart Stop by Alex Young began to blare through the stereos and Aradia busied herself by patr
olling the club and making sure no fights broke out. It made her happy that everything was so peaceful so far, but it was frustrating how so many cute guys kept asking her to dance and she had to keep saying no.
"I have a boyfriend," she kept reminding herself. "I can't dance with other guys because I have a boyfriend."
Her anger kept boiling as she kept seeing other couples dancing and smiling at each other on the floor. Rhonda and D sat at a table staring into each other's eyes, Xan and Brenna were in the corner sitting on bean bags talking, and Melina and Roy were dancing as well. Aradia balled her fists as she tried to turn away.
She was stopped, however, by an arm that suddenly thrust itself out to wrap around her waist.
"Hey baby," Bane crooned, "Are you alone?"
Aradia groaned. I am starting to get the feeling that the universe likes torturing me.
"No I am not alone Bane," Aradia practically snarled, "And you know it!"
"Then how come your boyfriend isn't here with you?"
"He is..."Aradia started to say but Bane cut her off, "oh please Aradia, if he was here I would have been able to smell him a mile away."
Aradia cursed under her breath. "I'm still not dancing with you,"
Bane pouted. "Why not?"
"Because you are an obnoxious bully, a creep, a thug, a coward, and I hate your guts! Do you need more?" Aradia then tried to shove him away as hard as she could.
Bane, however, pressed his mouth to her ear and said, "Silly me for thinking that you would want to punish your boyfriend for not showing up by dancing with a guy you know he hates."
Aradia stopped. "What?"
"It's like this," Bane began as he circled Aradia. "It's no secret that you and prince charming have been having trouble lately. Hell, even people in my circle have been gossiping about your relationship crumbling."
"Your circle? You mean the druggies, the drop-outs, the crooks, and the-most-likely-to-end-up-on-America's-Wanted-List? They have been criticizing my and Dax's relationship?"
Aradia smirked after her statement.
Bane just shrugged indifferently. "We aren't saints and we don't pretend to be. We all know what we are and what people think of us."
Aradia raised an eyebrow sarcastically. "Like you being a leader of a gang?"
He shrugged again. "Hate me all you like baby, but it's thanks to me that the gangs here have not gotten too out of control."
Now Aradia was intrigued. "What do you mean?"
"Well gangs are not necessarily just punk kids hanging out," Bane explained, "Real gangs are people who get endorsements from drug dealers and gun dealers as well. They get money while the crime lords get cannon fodder. It is done in Texas, Chicago, and god knows where else. It's thanks to those influences that things quickly escalate."
"That's all very fascinating," Aradia interrupted with sarcasm in her tone. "But what does that have to do with you?"
"Who do you think keeps those influences away?" Bane asked while looking her straight in the eye. "Thanks to me and my crew we keep the drugs and weapons dealers away from Salem so things don't get freaky. Hell either way you look at it we are the reason Salem doesn't get caught in a gang war."
Aradia stared at him in disbelief.
Slowly though awareness began to dawn in her eyes as she said, "Which of course keeps you and your gang as the baddest dudes in Salem."
Bane smirked. "Nothing in life is for free sweetie, not even charity or protection or whatever the hell you call it."
"I call it self serving," Aradia stated flatly.
He shrugged. "Whatever."
"Either way though," he added before Aradia could speak, "it helps keep things less complicated for you so who are you to complain?"
"What do you mean?" Aradia inquired.
Bane rolled his eyes while muttering, "No wonder Tristan calls you a ditz behind your back."
"He what?"
Bane cut her off, "The fact of the matter is we Hiddens may be strong Aradia but that doesn't mean we don't have any weaknesses. Drugs and weapons can wound us severally, however, it takes a larger quantity to do it fatally."
Aradia made an attempt to clarify. "You mean werewolves right?"
Bane shook his head. "No. All weapons and drugs can hurt us from werewolves to vampires etc. etc. especially now a days."
"What do you mean?"
Bane sighed through his nose heavily. After pausing for a few quiet seconds he leaned in closer to Aradia and said, "I will tell you if you dance with me."
Aradia snorted angrily and turned around to walk away, but Bane quickly grabbed her elbow.
"Think about it Aradia, there's something majorly wrong going down," Bane whispered in her ear. "And I am the only who knows about it."
"How do I know you aren't lying?" Aradia snapped.
Bane chuckled. "Maybe I am but I don't think you really want to take that big of a chance."
"Oh you can think? I never would have guessed," Aradia smirked.
She attempted to break away once again until Bane said, "what if I have info on the latest smackdowns?"
Aradia stopped. "what do you mean?"
"Oh c'mon Aradia. There has always been violence between the Hiddens and yet your parties have been able to change the atmosphere. Now of all of sudden, fights are breaking out let and right as random as firecrackers going off in the middle of winter. Don't tell me you aren't suspicious of it?"
I wish I could, Aradia thought to herself.
It was true she had some suspicions about the fights breaking out. In the beginning, there had been the usual scuffle between all of them where blood had been drawn and bones had been broken. However, as the weeks had gone by the fights had started escalating.
There had been a huge throw down in an alley and at first no one had done anything because they figured it wouldn't escalate. However, it quickly did and crashes so loud could be heard from three blocks away. Violence had erupted that not even the anointed peace keepers of the separate races couldn't break up the fight. Ironically, many of them ended up getting involved in the fight. In desperation one of the peace keepers had called Aradia. When she had arrived, she had been shocked to see how blood soaked the alley was. Several faes, werewolves, vampires, and shape shifters were going at each other like rabid animals. Corpses were lining up all along the gutters. After controlling her urge to throw up, Aradia quickly summoned all her energy to cast a sleeping spell upon the ones involved in the fight. In a few minutes they had all passed out and so had Aradia. The moment she had awoken she had investigated the fight to see what on earth had happened. However, the strangest thing was that from the scene of the crime right down to the participants of the fight she wasn't able to get much answers. In fact many of the participants had claimed that they couldn't remember even starting the fight! Needless to say, that made Aradia awful suspicious.
"What is it that you know that I don't?" Aradia finally asked Bane.
He shook a finger at her. "Ah, ah, ah! Not until we dance."
A few awkward and tension filled moments passed before she finally sighed.
"You better deliver Bane," she grumbled as she reluctantly took his hand.
He threw his head back and laughed. "Oh don't worry baby. I always do."
She choked back an urge to throw up and shuffled towards the dance floor. It was when Bane and her finally reached the dance floor when Everett changed the song to My First Kiss by 3OH!3 featuring Kei$ha.
"Whoa haven't heard this song in a while," Bane remarked.
Aradia shrugged. "The trouble with playing the top 40 is those songs get old quickly so we like to put a little variety into the music we play."
"I am not complaining," Bane said as he leaned in closer, "besides the songs lyrics give me plenty of ideas."
Aradia gritted her teeth. "Keep in mind Bane, all I have to do is think about it and I can transport you all the way to Antarctica!"
Bane jumped back. "You're bluffing..."
"No, I a
m not," Aradia stated firmly.
The two of them stared at each other, their eyes like sharpened flints until Aradia finally said, "now are we going dance or what? Or do we just skip it and you tell me what the hell is going on? Keep in mind the second choice guarantees you a longer stay here in Salem."
Bane said nothing, but then he sighed and chuckled softly. "You drive a hard bargain witch girl."
After the song had ended, Bane and Aradia had retreated to the back room.
"So?" she began.
Bane lit a cigarette and said, "so what?"
Aradia scowled. "Don't screw around with me Bane."
He smiled crudely while she snapped, "you know what I mean! You said if I danced with you, you would tell me why people have been acting so weird."
"What if I lied?" Bane smirked.
Quick as a flash, her hand shot out and she grabbed his throat. Bane's eyes flew open in astonishment as Aradia hoisted him off the ground. His feet dangled in the air as Aradia glared at him long and hard.
"Now you listen to me you little prick. I am already having a very bad day so do yourself and your health a huge favor and do not make it worse. You are going tell me everything or so help me I am going to make sorry you were ever born. Do I make myself clear?"
Bane was unable to speak but that did not seem to matter to Aradia. She pulled his face closer to hers and snarled, "Do I make myself clear?"
Somehow Bane managed to feebly nod and Aradia promptly let him go. He gasped as soon as he hit the floor. He slowly raised his head to stare up at Aradia who looked down at him coldly.
"Well?" she demanded while folding her arms.
Bane chuckled as he stood up, rubbing his throat. "I am beginning to think some of our culture is starting to rub off on you."
Aradia shrugged off his comment. "Whatever. Now are you going to tell me why people have been acting so crazy?"
Bane chuckled. "Well there are rumors going around that the drug trade has been escalating in Salem."