Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife)

by Robles, Joyce

  "Won’t someone recognize you," Marcia cried over the general hustle and bustle of the crowd. Surrounded by the people waiting to get in, and swearing at them for cutting there was no way to be sure that Jennifer heard her so she repeated herself with more volume. "Jennifer, what if one of them recognizes you?"

  Jennifer took a second and looked back at the medium, "don’t worry, I killed most of the bouncers that knew who I was the last time I was here." She smiled but Marcia didn’t smile back, she looked almost mortified at the thought, oh well, she’d meant it to comfort. The memory wasn’t exactly a happy one for her either, but it was one that she lived with. The clubs previous owner may have taken some of her friends but he’d paid the price. The lives of her company came at a high price, it cost him and a good majority of his close followers their lives. Ending him had almost killed her, but it had proved to be worth it. The loss of some of her team had felt like more than a blow, it was a weight that was trying to bury her, unfortunately taking his life hadn’t made that weight any lighter.

  She had convinced herself that she’d survived the ordeal because that was what some higher power wanted, but in the end she knew it was because fear had gotten the better of her and so she’d failed. There would always be a large part of her that regretted the way things had gone down that day but she also knew that one way or another Nickolei had to die, no matter the cost. Marcia didn’t understand just yet that peace with these creatures could only be found in killing them, and that was alright, killing was her job not Marcia’s. "It will be okay," she assured her and prayed to whatever higher power that there was that they wouldn’t make her a liar.

  She turned her attention back to plowing through the crowd, pushing all memories of her past here away. If she thought about it, she might just remind herself how scary this place really was and somebody would probably sniff her out through that alone. She couldn’t afford to be afraid, not when Marcia was giving off enough of that all on her own. Fear was natural, but you could suppress it and it was comforting in a way to know that the thing that she had feared most here was dead now, he didn’t have any power over her fear anymore. Jennifer could only hope that whoever or whatever had taken over management here wasn’t something worse.

  She shook the thought off and shoved to the front of the line dragging Marcia up beside her. She’d never seen the bouncer at the door before which seemed like a given, in any case it increased their chances of getting in unnoticed. He had salty hair slicked back behind his head, eyes covered by sunglasses in the middle of the night, as only the best of tools did. If that wasn’t overkill enough he wore a black wife beater that looked too small for him, it stretched over his frame to reveal his rippling pectorals. Both of his arms were covered in a collage of tattoos, he looked like your typical biker tough guy. When he waved the two of them forward she didn’t hesitate, just marched forward with Marcia in tow and went in the door past him. "All it takes is a pretty face," she looked back at Marcia as they walked through the entrance. You had to cross through a tunnel to get into the actual club, it was flooded with the same red light that consumed the night outside. Red was sort of their theme here, red or black lights. Marcia looked horrified that they had actually gotten in this easily, like it should have been harder. "Nobodies going to ambush us Marcia, you better take a breath."

  "I’m claustrophobic," Marcia admitted with no conviction. Jennifer understood what it was to be afraid, and understood that this tunnel despite the brightness of the blood red lights felt as though the walls were closing in.

  "We better get this over with then, it’s going to be packed in there, not a whole lot of room if you know what I mean." She regretted bringing the woman in with her now, she should have sent her home. At least now if someone sensed her fear she had an excuse, she was claustrophobic. She sped her pace through the tunnel, she didn’t much like it either but it suited the club. When she spotted the two guys at the doors at the end of the tunnel she was tempted to duck out of sight incase one of them happened to know her but neither seemed to notice the two of them. Probably because they were both petite women with pretty faces, lucky them for tonight. She could already hear the pulsing of the music blaring behind the double doors that the next two burly men guarded. She swallowed the last of her tension as she passed by the two guards at the door, dragging Marcia with her every step.

  The club seemed to throb with the beat of the music, the room flashed red then was covered in the odd luminescence of a black light. The lights strobing in and out of the two spectrums while people danced wildly with the music was disorienting. She had to wait a minute for her eyes to adjust to the flashes of colors before she could see clearly. The place was jam-packed with people and though the building must have had the air conditioning up all the way body heat seemed to overwhelm the cold. Marcia had a solid grip on her hand, Jennifer looked back at her and wondered if she was still afraid after they’d left the tunnel. The other woman’s grip on her was so tight she didn’t think her fingers were getting any circulation, and she was going to need both hands. She gently pulled her hand away from Marcia and turned to face her so they could hear each other over the booming music. "I need my hand, just follow close to me," Marcia nodded but she looked a little horrified at the idea of being by herself going through the crowd. Jennifer almost felt bad having to take her hand away but she had no choice. She needed her hands open if they ran into trouble. She knew exactly where to find who she was looking for, and she needed to look as intimidating as she could if she was going to get anything out of him, holding someone else’s hand would sort of take away from that image on its own. "Stay close," she warned before moving to maneuver through the dancing mob. She could have gone around the side of the floor where there were tables and it would be easy to get through but Phiaeas might spot her if she went through a clearing, she wasn’t going to make it easy on him.

  Phineas Toemac, had been one of her regular contacts in this darker part of the world before Nickolei had almost killed them, them being Phineas and herself for his trying to help her. He’d made it very clear to her that he was finished with his good streak after that, he’d even sworn he’d be willing to kill her if it meant he could redeem himself that way. Of course he hadn’t, maybe he would have tried if she hadn’t killed Nickolei before he could tell anyone else that he’d been passing on valuable information to her. Past was past and she’d told him she wouldn’t use him again unless it was necessary and it was hell of necessary now.

  She wished that she didn’t have to bring him into it, he could be a real pain in the ass but all together he was the only monster she’d met that didn’t kill just for fun, or at least not that she’d seen. She could already see Phineas behind the bar, he looked just as she remembered, but then they always did. He still had shaggy dirty-blond hair and a lean face. One that could almost look sinister if he didn’t look so happy all of the time. She should know, she’d seen him unhappy plenty enough times to know that he looked like more of a threat than he really was when he was angry.

  She couldn’t really get a good look at his eyes from here but she knew what they looked like. A long time ago cataract had consumed his eyes, he had been blind as a human, when she’d met him he couldn’t see. But after his change of occupation his eyes were better than new if not a little freaky, it had been worth it to him. Unfortunately he never recovered the color of his iris’s, his eyes had been a nice normal shade of blue once. Now they were devoid of color, literally a clear crystal. She wasn’t sure what she’d give up to be able to see if she was blind, but her soul wouldn’t have been in that category. He used to be a teacher at one of the Christian churches in the area, he’d lost that job after he’d gone blind. Now he was here, he could see and he was a bartender. Not a step up in her opinion but it had been his choice and he thought that his sight was worth it. He didn’t see her coming straight for him, so either his vision wasn’t holding up so well, or she was right and he wasn’t focusing on the dance floor for cust
omers. It was too crowded for him to pinpoint her out, she didn’t bother to take her time, if he saw her he’d probably run hollering to the guards if she wasn’t close enough to stop him.

  It was a shame that he was afraid of her because she got him in trouble, she didn’t take it personally, she was actually rather thrilled that it meant she wouldn’t have to play nice. The people he worked for weren’t exactly forgiving, if he was suspected of something twice, more than likely it would cost him his life. She took a glance back to make sure that Marcia had kept up, the other woman wasn’t less than a foot away. Jennifer stopped as she reached the counter, turning her back on the bar to ensure that Phineas wouldn’t recognize her from this distance. "I need you to walk up to the bar and distract the bartender for me."

  "Where are you going to be," Marcia asked with a confusion that was bordering on terror. She clearly didn’t want to be left alone, why that was Jennifer didn’t ask. Given the look on her co-workers face she could easily imagine it had something to do with what ever it was she picked up from her vibes or future reading crap. In either case Jennifer’s only concern was whether that was going to get between what they needed to accomplish and how. There were too many horrible things taking place under their feet to name and if that was going to stop Marcia cold then she wasn’t going to be of any use tonight.

  "I’ll be close, just distract him," she gave Marcia’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze then headed off through the crowd to angle around the bar. She didn’t want Phineas to see her while she was coming for him, quiet was what she needed, not that anybody would hear him over this music.

  Chapter 9

  Marcia approached the bar timidly at first, she’d be lucky if this was the easiest thing that Jennifer asked her to have to do tonight. Jennifer had asked her not to be afraid, she couldn’t help it now. She took a deep, cleansing breath and strode to the bar, trying to put as much natural sway into her walk as she could. Just another night out with the girls, you’re trying to pick-up guys that’s all. Distract a bartender, she could do that without a problem, she was confident and beautiful and she knew it, and helpless looking as hell, guys always loved that.

  She watched the man behind the counter smile as the song changed, apparently he knew the thumping rhythm that came on next. He swayed to the beat of the song for a moment, matching the rhythm perfectly with the motion of his body. It was only then that she realized how attractive the older man was. He was definitely near thirty-five, lean hard chiseled face, the cleft on his chin made his features look even more so as if it were made of stone. His slender muscular legs and waist were concealed by a pair of grey leather pants that looked like they’d been spray painted unto his body. His torso was covered by a loose dark burgundy shirt that was unbuttoned and revealed his hairless chest. Though his chest was muscular he was also very thin and he looked almost frail despite the muscles that shifted with his swaying body. Her outfit didn’t look right in this place she realized by just looking at him. During her approach she unbuttoned the coat that matched her skirt so well and slipped the it off her shoulders to reveal the spaghetti strap shirt underneath. It was black and looked a little more like something one wore out on the town, showing a little more skin seemed appropriate and would probably catch his attention faster. She draped the coat over her arm and leaned over the bar playing every innocent gesture into the movement that she could. He seemed oblivious of her while his body flowed with the music. "I love this song!" she called over the beat to him. When he looked up at her she was shocked into silence by his eyes, the irises were like two diamonds surrounding the pupils. He smiled at her expression as if he knew exactly what she was thinking when she saw those eyes. Him smiling was even more attractive then him in solemn concentration while he danced.

  "‘It’s a Get Ur Freak On remix," Phineas answered her over the thrum of the music.

  "You know the song," Marcia asked over the throbbing speakers, she was surprised, there was something about him that the music just didn’t fit, despite his fantastic ability to dance to it. She smiled at him anyway just to keep him interested incase he thought she was trying to insult him.

  "I have a niece who is a huge Missy Elliot fan, I’ve probably heard every song she’s ever made."

  "Cute," she said while watching him move to the music still despite her presence. She wasn’t sure who was more of the distraction, him or her, she was the one supposed to be distracting him, but he was distracting himself. She knew what he was, he should have been terrifying whether he had a niece or not, but he wasn’t

  "What do ya need," he asked leaning unto the counter to hear her better.

  "Just you," she answered, she wasn’t sure if he heard her or not but he smiled at her like he had. As soft spoken as she had been just then no one should have overheard her but given what he was it was no surprise. "What have you got back there," she batted her eyes at him. Hitting on him in every physical way she was aware of other than throwing herself at him and ravishing him behind the counter, which for reasons that she didn’t understand was more tempting then terrifying. He smiled at her now like she was more than just another customer come to call for drinks, she liked that a lot. This smile was even better than the first one, it made him look younger, ravishing him definitely wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.

  "Anything that you want," he stopped dancing as the song changed to one that he didn’t seem to recognize. She didn’t mind and leaned farther over the bar as if to speak more privately with him. He did the same and it left very little space between them.

  "Anything," her voice she knew was nothing more than a seductive breath in his ear. He seemed to jump a little with the one word, and she was surprised, she would have thought that she should be reacting that way, when she leaned back to a more comfortable position across from him she definitely saw a heat in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. She could practically feel his lust rubbing against her skin in hot waves, it was intoxicating. Jennifer would be very angry at her if she went just a little beyond what she was expected to do. She wanted to reach across the bar and kiss the handsome monster, he was in reachable distance and it would be a great distraction. She knew that he would let her, that it was probably even what he wanted which was why she restrained herself. She knew what Jennifer would think if she saw that, she would think that he’d forced his way into her mind, that he had taken control of her so easily, and that was not what this was.

  The bar tender pushed the sleeves of the silk dress shirt he was wearing up before leaning farther over to reach her. He put his hand over hers and she smiled, "if you like." She blushed at his words, a soft glow under her perfect olive skin. As distractions went these seemed to be going well, but when she saw Jennifer coming up behind him he must have noticed that her eyes were no longer on him because he shifted away toward Jennifer. "Hey you can’t be back here," he warned.

  Chapter 10

  Jenny grabbed his shirt and tugged him away from Marcia before he could get out another word. She tossed him awkwardly back against the bar, pressing her Bowie knife into his stomach when he tried to move away. She’d watched Marcia with him for just a moment and their interaction had worried her. In all truth Marcia’s apparent attraction to Phineas may have caused her to over react just a little when she did step in. So sue her for being over protective of the woman, nice monster or not Phineas was still dangerous and she wasn’t going to get Marcia killed if she could avoid it. "Howdy old buddy, what’s going on?"

  "Jennifer!" Phineas cried his alarm at the sight of her, it was always violence when she showed up. She didn’t look happy with him, not that he could blame her, they hadn’t exactly parted ways on the best of terms. "I was just helping a customer," he tried to explain.

  "Can it Phineas she’s with me," she watched him spare a glance back at Marcia before turning back to her. "I need information Phineas and I need it yesterday, given the circumstances I figure you’re probably not going to volunteer any so I thought I’d give you some i
nspiration, hence the knife." She put some emphasis on her point by shoving the blade a fraction closer than was comfortable.

  "Did you say howdy just now," Phineas asked clearly trying to lighten her mood so she wouldn’t stab him, she could see already he was working very hard at trying not to laugh at her.

  "Yes," Jennifer confirmed doing her best to give the impression that she was looking down at him despite the fact that he was taller. There was something about him that always tempted her to forget that he wasn’t human. It didn’t help that he always seemed to be laughing when she was threatening him, it wasn’t an encouraging result. Maybe he’d caught on to the fact that she had no real intension of hurting him if she could, without him there was no source for information without going higher up the food chain, which never led anywhere good. He’d lightened the mood just within the first couple of seconds of the two of them having met back up again. He used to work with kids, he’d been very good at it, but damn-it she wasn’t a child, his ability to calm shouldn’t work on her that well. She was almost tempted always because of his normalcy to put the knife away and just talk, but then she remembered his threat against her life and stood her ground, regaining some of her hostility. "I need information Phineas, your either going to give it to me or I’m going to have to cut you up."

  "Still go straight to the point don’t you?" he pushed himself against the bar trying to strain away from the blade that she had jammed against his gut.