by Sarah Bailey
“Josh, come on,” she said, going over to him and dragging him away from the sofa.
“What is happening? What the hell is that? Who is this guy?” Josh asked, his voice a little frantic.
She didn’t say anything as she dragged Josh through the portal after Alistair. They needed to get to Amelia. They landed in a dark alley. Alistair was already by the wall, his hands running over it. Josh’s face had drained of all colour.
“What just happened?” he whispered.
“Um, well, you see… Alistair is a witch and he created a portal to get us to where Amelia is.”
That explanation sounded ridiculous even to her own ears.
“A witch? That was a portal? What?”
“Yes. Look, it’s complicated and I’d rather not get into it right now, but he’s not dangerous. He’s helping me.”
She left Josh where he was to process it and went over to where Alistair was inspecting the wall.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to remember where the correct brick is.”
“For what?”
“Why, to open the door.”
She rolled her eyes. As if it was that obvious.
“What is this place?”
“Somewhere humans who don’t know what they’re getting into should never come. It’s a supernatural den of sin.”
“What?!”
“It’s where supernatural types go to get their kicks. It’s not somewhere I’d ever wish to take you, but it seems we have little choice in the matter.”
“Their kicks?”
“Yes, you know, sexual highs or in the case of vampires, their next meal. They cater to all sorts of weird fetishes. Ah, here we go.”
He pressed his hand on a brick and a door appeared in the wall. What the hell kind of place had he taken them to?
“Why do you know about this place?”
“Everyone who’s anyone knows about it.” He looked over at her. “Are you asking if I’ve paid for services here before?”
“What? No! Why would I even care if you had?”
He gave her a knowing smile before he knocked twice. The door slid back on its hinges. No one was there.
“Come along, don’t forget your friend there.”
She looked back at Josh who was staring at them with disbelief written all over his face.
“Come on, Josh,” she said.
He walked over to her, his eyes bugging out of his head.
“Are you all right?”
He shook his head. She took his hand, giving it a squeeze before following Alistair through the door. At the end of the hall, there was a sign fixed on the wall.
ObliVion.
She noted the capitalised V. Did it mean it was a vampire owned club or whatever this place is?
“You two should stay close and don’t talk to anyone. Did she say where she was?” Alistair asked.
“In the toilets, I think.”
“Well, I suggest we start there then.”
Alistair took her other hand and the three of them walked down the corridor. She could feel the bass pounding as they got closer to the end. He led them through a door into a huge old factory converted into a club. There were people dancing everywhere and three bars. Two on the walls and one in the centre of the room.
“I’ve only ever been here for business purposes,” Alistair said in her ear.
She could just about hear him over the sound of the music. As if she cared what he got up to. A small part of her felt a sense of relief that this wasn’t the type of place Alistair enjoyed going to, but she ignored it. What he did was none of her business.
They pushed through the crowd, trying to get to the other side of the room. She could see there were areas cordoned off where sketchy things seemed to be going on. She pressed closer to Alistair, feeling very uncomfortable. She didn’t want to lose either of the guys in the crowd. She hated being around all these people. Her skin felt hot, a sheen of sweat sticking her hair to the back of her neck. Why hadn’t she put it up again? She squeezed Alistair’s hand. He looked back at her, concern on his face.
Whatever he saw in her expression had him pushing harder against the crowd. They reached the other side. There was more space here and room to breathe. She let go of Josh’s hand, confident he wouldn’t stray far. Alistair turned her towards him, his hands on her shoulders as he looked down at her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, half shouting above the din.
She shook her head.
“Is it all the people?”
She nodded, taking a step towards him. Alistair was the only person other than her two friends she didn’t take issue with being close to. If anything, she wanted to press herself up against him, so she could feel safe. She tried not to think about why that was.
“We’ll go in the toilets together. Your friend can wait out here, just in case.”
“Alistair…”
“I know. I’ll get you out of here when we’ve got your friend. I promise.”
She told Josh to stay where he was. Alistair led her into the unisex toilets. It seemed to be relatively empty. He froze, holding her arm to stop her going any further.
“Grace,” he whispered. “Go look for her. Don’t make a sound, okay?”
She looked up at him before following his gaze to a man at the end of the line of toilets. That was no human. He had sharp, elongated teeth, pointed ears and blonde, almost white hair tied up in a ponytail. She trembled as he turned the corner.
Was that the man who was after Amelia?
Chapter Six
Grace didn’t want Alistair to let go, but she needed to look for Amelia. He gave her a tight smile before he moved away, following the man they’d just seen. She wanted to know who it was. He creeped her out. She was sure Alistair felt concerned by his presence too.
She began to check the cubicles silently. Most of them were empty. She had no idea if Amelia would’ve locked herself in or not.
“Amelia?” she whispered, trying to keep her voice low.
Her heart crashed against her ribs. She put a hand on her chest. She couldn’t hear a sound. She moved on to the next one. She tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge more than a few inches.
“Amelia?”
She shoved the door harder, managing to get her head around it. Slumped on the floor was a tanned girl with black hair, her clothing in disarray. Oh gods, Amelia! How was she going to get her out of here? She needed help.
She crept back the way she’d come. Alistair had gone after that strange man, so she dared not follow him. She slipped out of the toilets and found Josh leaning against the wall outside.
“Josh.”
“Shit, Grace. Did you find her?”
“Yes, but you have to help me. Hurry!”
She dragged him into the toilets, putting her finger to her lips. He raised his eyebrows but didn’t make a sound. They went to the cubicle where Amelia had passed out. Josh managed to get the door open and pick up their friend. He hoisted her over his shoulder.
“Where’s your friend?” he hissed.
“I don’t know. I should find him,” she whispered.
They went over to the toilet door together. She heard voices nearby.
“Wait here.”
Josh looked like he wanted to protest, but he kept his mouth shut. They had Amelia, but Alistair was still their ticket out of this place. She edged past the first set of cubicles and poked her head around the corner. Alistair was standing nearby glaring at the strange man.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, old friend,” the strange man said.
“I’m not your friend, Raoul,” Alistair replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “You shouldn’t be hunting in here.”
“Me? I’m doing no such thing.”
Raoul, or whatever his name was, grinned in a way that made her tremble. She found herself worried about the witch’s safety, which was ridiculous. Alistair was capable of handling himself.
�
�I don’t believe that for one moment. I can taste your fae magic in the air.”
Fae? Did faeries exist? Is Raoul a fairy? He looked like he could be one with those pointy ears and teeth. All this supernatural stuff made her head hurt.
“What I do in this place is none of your concern. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my meal has walked off and I intend to find it.”
She put her hand over her mouth. She was in no doubt he was talking about Amelia. She had to get her friends out of here. She backed away, trying to keep as silent as possible. When she reached Josh, she shoved him out of the toilets. She hoped nobody would notice them with Amelia passed out on his shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Josh shouted at her.
“We need to go, right now.”
“What about your friend?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not safe.”
She took Josh’s free hand and dragged him back through the crowd. People gave them some strange looks, but no one stopped them. As soon as they were out of the crowd and through the doors, she took a deep breath.
“Are you alright?” Josh asked.
“No. The people, it’s too much.”
“Hey, hey, it’s alright. Come on, let’s get away from here.”
They reached the front door, but she hesitated.
“I should find Alistair.”
“Grace, you’ll end up having a panic attack if you go back in there.”
She hated it, but Josh was right. She’d already reached her limit today. This whole situation was stressing her out far too much.
“Okay, let’s just go.”
They left the building. When she looked back, the door disappeared, sealing her away from Alistair. Her heart sank. Why did she feel like this?
“Do you even know where we are now?” he asked.
She pulled out her phone, opening up Google Maps. They were in a backstreet in Soho, not too far from a tube station. Before she put her phone away, she sent a quick text to Alistair.
‘Found Amelia. We’re outside, Josh wants to take her home.’
She wasn’t sure if he’d check his phone, but she felt better for letting him know.
“Soho,” she said. “Tube isn’t far.”
She found herself hesitating again. What was wrong with her? She didn’t even care about that stupid witch. Why was she worried about him not knowing where she was? When he’d noticed how uncomfortable she was in there, he’d looked concerned and tried to take care of her. She hadn’t realised it before, but he was actually quite considerate when he wasn’t teasing her.
“Grace?”
“I…”
Josh shifted Amelia to his other shoulder.
“That was some weird shit in there. How… how long have you known about this supernatural stuff?”
“Um, well, since last night. I mean, my dad has been trying to convince me for years that vampires and shapeshifters existed. I didn’t believe him until I met a vampire myself.”
“And what about that guy?”
“Alistair? Again, last night. My dad got into this sticky situation and like I said before, he’s helping me.”
“And he’s a witch? Like he does real, actual magic and stuff?”
“Yes. You saw the portal, it’s hard not to believe in it after experiencing that.”
“Shit. Shit, Grace, this is insane.”
“You’re telling me. I’ve barely wrapped my head around the whole thing as it is. Hey… do you think she’s going to be okay?”
“Amelia? I’m sure she just needs to sleep it off. We should get her home.”
He had their friend flopped over his shoulder still. She felt bad for making him carry Amelia, but she wasn’t strong enough to lift their friend up.
“Well, we should go then.”
She almost jumped out of her skin. She turned, finding Alistair leaning up against the wall watching them.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was there?” she said, glaring at Josh.
“Hey, I didn’t notice either,” Josh replied.
Alistair shoved off the wall and came towards them, looking her over for a moment.
“What?”
“I’m just making sure you’re in one piece.”
“I’m not the one who passed out in a toilet trying to get away from creepy, pointy ear man.”
“I won’t tell Raoul you said that about him.”
Josh eyed the two of them with raised eyebrows.
“What is he?”
“One of the fae, and no, I don’t plan on introducing the two of you.”
“So, I was right. He’s a fairy.”
He chuckled, shaking his head.
“Oh, I’d love to see the look on his face if you called him that.”
“Wait, a fairy wanted to attack Amelia?” Josh asked, his eyes bugging out again.
“He wanted to feed off her energy. It’s what some of the fae do, but they’re not all evil. Right, should we get your friend home?”
She nodded before she reached out and took his hand, entwining her fingers in his. His eyes widened, but he didn’t comment. She didn’t dare look at Josh. He knew she didn’t like being up close and personal with anyone she didn’t know very well. Oh gods!
Blue smoke appeared from Alistair’s other hand. The portal shimmered in front of them after a few moments. Josh stepped through with Amelia first.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I will be.” She looked up at him. “I’m just worried about her.”
They stepped into the portal together. Back in the flat, she found that Josh had taken Amelia to her room. She sat down on the bed next to her friend. Alistair looked Amelia over for a moment.
“She’ll be all right when she’s slept off Raoul’s magic,” he said.
“He did this to her?”
“Yes. It’s not harmful in itself, merely sends you into a deep sleep. It’s easier for them to feed off human energy that way.”
She shuddered. The thought of a fae feeding off humans made her feel queasy.
“Well, um, you two should probably go stand outside whilst I make her more comfortable.”
She didn’t want to leave Amelia in all her clothes and her high heels. The two men glanced at each other before leaving. She tugged off Amelia’s shoes before unzipping her dress and pulling it off with some difficulty. After tucking her friend in, she watched her for a moment, hoping Amelia would be fine in the morning.
She left the room, turning out the light and shutting the door behind her. She wandered into her own room, stopping in the doorway. Alistair was sitting on her bed, fiddling with his phone. He was on her bed. Her bed! Oh gods!
“I… thought you’d left.”
She came further into the room, shutting the door behind her out of habit. He stood up, tucking his phone back in his pocket. She looked up into his piercing blue eyes, feeling the events of the night catching up with her. Her feet moved towards him of their own accord. She wrapped her arms around his back, placing her head on his chest. He froze for a moment. She knew he hadn’t been expecting her to hug him. She wasn’t quite sure why she’d wanted to. He’s annoying and frustrating and yet…
“Grace, are you okay?”
“No. No, I’m not.”
He put his arms around her, holding her close.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like crowds of people and… and… and the reason I don’t go out very much is that I get anxious. Josh was worried I’d have a panic attack tonight and… well, I was worried about you too.”
“Me?”
“Yes, I saw you talking to that fairy and I… He made me uncomfortable.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I know. It’s everything else. Yesterday I had no idea any of this stuff existed.”
“I imagine it’s a lot to take in.”
She looked up at him.
“I… I don’t want to die.”
His expression softened.
“I’m not going to let that happen, Grace. I told you I would break your contract and I meant it.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For tonight. You didn’t have to help me with Amelia. I know you’ve probably got better things to do.”
He smiled at her.
“Oh, well, it was nothing really. You did interrupt my research, but I suppose I can forgive you for that.”
She bit her lip. He was an idiot, but right now, she found it endearing. Sort of.
“What, you weren’t at a wild party full of debauchery?”
He raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes.
“Is that what you think I get up to in my spare time?”
“Well, I don’t know. You don’t volunteer much information.”
She tried to let go and step away from him, but he held onto her.
“Where are you going?”
“It’s been a long night. I was going to say goodnight, you know… so I can go to bed.”
“Alone?”
“Yes, alone. Did you think I was going to invite you in with me?”
“Well… I wouldn’t like to presume, but if you’re offering.”
She wrenched out of his grasp and backed away a few paces. Was he for real? She wasn’t quite sure why she’d been surprised. She should’ve known he would say something like that.
“Alistair, let me make something very clear. I’m not going to sleep with you now or ever, so you can get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Never?”
She threw her hands up.
“For the love of… What part of ‘I’ve never been with anyone’ didn’t I make clear? Why on earth would I let you take my virginity? You irritate the hell out of me.”
“Do I now?”
He took a step towards her.
“Yes.”
And another step.
“Grace…”
“Yes?”
He was close enough now she had to crane her head a little to look at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For making you think I’d ask you to give that up to me.”
“Give what…? Oh!”
“I wouldn’t presume such a thing. Is my teasing too much?”
She scuffed her foot on the carpet, looking away.