I walked to the address Shannon had given me, guided by the GPS app on my phone, and managed to get there at least fashionably on-time. There was a line and a little red rope-thingy and everything. I’d never been into the club scene so I’d only ever seen such things in movies. I figured if Shannon was inviting me, she would know how to get us in, so presumably she wasn’t already waiting for me inside. I glanced around for a moment, hoping to spot her, but she snuck up on me while I was looking the wrong way and startled the crap out of me instead.
I guess I was a little jumpy. I felt a strange warmth on my hands and almost panicked again, but when I jerked my hands up to inspect them, they were perfectly devoid of burning. I sighed in relief, even as the strangely-gray-looking Shannon and the group of girls accompanying her gave me a curious look. I excused it off as having just realized I’d forgotten to wear a particular bracelet, (as if wearing jewelry was actually something I’d have thought of doing) and played it off as a momentary fear that I had lost it. One of the other girls slipped off a pair of thin, metal bangles and offered them to me consolingly as Shannon guided us to the front of the line and caught the attention of the bouncer. She must have known him or maybe she’d bribed him, because he let us right in.
I felt so immensely out of place in the club. It was dark with flashing lights and music so loud it was nigh painful, though my hearing had been kinda sensitive today. There were so many people. A part of me wanted to bolt. But I didn’t relish the idea of being home all evening, alone, either. I followed along with Shannon’s crowd and settled at a table with them, accepting a drink someone had picked for me, and generally nodding and smiling at everything they said without trying too hard to really pick out what they were saying over the noise of the club. After a moment of idle chatter, Shannon turned to me and leaned in to yell, “So Dakota, we heard there was some kind of break-in at the museum last night. What happened?”
I hadn’t even thought about the fact that Shannon’s gossipy nature could have revealed the reason for her invitation if I’d had the focus and clarity of mind to really consider it. “There was just some … guy.” I really didn’t want to think about it. If I thought about the guy, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the fire, and the glowing, and the stupid silver cup…
“Was he a robber?” Shannon yelled across the thumping bass. I sighed and resigned myself to explaining.
“I don’t know. He didn’t steal anything. He was just—”
“I heard he was a devil worshiper and he drew some kind of Satanic markings all over the floor in the gallery.” Shannon and her friends went on discussing what they’d heard for a few minutes without missing my input. I was okay with that. I found myself drifting away from the conversation as I slowly examined my surroundings.
The club was full of strangely-gray people. I stared at a pretty-enough woman with pale-blond hair and it took me far too long to figure out that her hair was blond and not silver. I couldn’t make out the color of her dress in time before she moved too far away for me to keep my eyes on her. I studied the man she’d been talking to instead: short black hair, pale skin, nothing out of the ordinary really. Except that the satiny vest beneath his tailored suit jacket was a rich, and vibrant, crimson. Not only that, but he was surrounded by a dim, deep-purple light with patches of black and gray. I must have stared too long again. The man looked up from his small table and noticed my eyes on him. His eyes shone with a dim red light behind the dark of his irises. I felt my heart rate quicken. He quirked a humorless smile, and eyed me like a wolf hunting prey.
“Dakota?” Shannon’s voice cut across the violent din of the music and the crowd.
“Huh?” I articulated cleverly. “Sorry… I…” I glanced back to the other table and the red-vest guy was gone. I panicked. I stood up too suddenly and everyone at the table had to clutch their drinks to avoid them tipping over. Shannon wasn’t quick enough and her Cosmo made a valiant effort to ruin her night. I distantly registered her shouting and the other girls crowing over the tragedy of a spilled drink, but I was far too busy feeling hunted to care about social propriety. I backed away from the table and glanced around for the nearest exit. I had to get out. Now.
I desperately pushed my way through the crowd, and as I did, I noticed red-vest guy wasn’t the only person here who wasn’t all 1950’s television. There was a woman in a firey-red dress sitting at a table in the corner with a trio of pretty boys leaning on her arms, their expressions bleary, as she stroked idly at their hair and watched the room like a contented cat. A taller man with thick-rimmed glasses danced with a full-figured woman in a deep blue suit, and both of them were teeming with swirling colored lights. I tried to back away from all of them at once and ended up stumbling into someone out of reckless fear. I whipped around as my heart thudded in terror, fearing the red-vest guy had sneaked up on me, but when my eyes landed on her porcelain skin and her blushing ruby lips…
“A-Amorie?” I breathed shakily. Her brows were knitted together in concern as she held a hand out to me, offering assistance or comfort, or possibly both. I accepted it, stepping closer to her, then froze. She was cold. Not just her hands, but her body as well. The lack of bodily warmth stood out like a klaxxon in a library. I jerked my hand away in fear, meeting her eyes with a look of disbelief and betrayal. “Wait… you too?” I noticed her crimson lips once again, then the lovely azure shade of her eyes. Her body was wreathed in a light like a bloodied bruise. I numbly backed away from her even as she reached out to me.
“Dakota? Oh… Oh dear.” She followed me slowly, steadily, as if trying not to spook me. “Listen to me, Dakota. Everything is going to be all right.” She managed to keep her voice soft, even while raising it to a volume still audible over the roar of the club. I wanted to believe her. More than anything, I wanted to let her take my hand again, and I wanted to believe that she really could make everything all right again. But I didn’t believe that. In fact, I was terrified of her. Because she wasn’t… I didn’t know what she wasn’t… but she was one of them. And the other one was out there, hunting me.
I turned without thinking and bolted for the emergency exit. I fixed my eyes on the little sign above the door and figured the unfortunate club-goers in my path could sort out the aftermath of my charge on their own. I cut through the crowd to several alarmed cries, one of which I vaguely registered as Amorie’s, and hit the bar on the door, shoving through the final barrier between me and freedom from the trap that the club had become.
I stumbled out into the night and backed away from the building, my heart still doing an impression of a dubstep song. I glanced around and headed for the alley leading back to the street. Suddenly, my back impacted the brick wall beside me, and the red-vest guy’s dimly glowing eyes met mine once more. His cold body was pressed against me in such a way that I could hardly move at all, his thighs pressing painfully hard against mine, and his arms pinning mine to the wall to either side of my head. I screamed and he dropped one of my arms to slap his palm across my mouth. My eyes were stinging with fearful tears as he held me there, my body stuck to the wall, entirely helpless. He leaned his head in close and grinned at me, a wicked expression that promised he was enjoying my dismay far more than a good man should.
He shushed me and met my eyes, “No need for all of that.” He pressed his torso against mine too tightly for comfort. “It’ll all be over soon.” His lips parted in a dark smile, revealing elongated canines that came to horrifying points. Until that moment, I had known he was going to hurt me, and I was terrified that he intended to rape me, but when I noticed his dreadfully sharp fangs, I knew that my earlier instinct was correct. He intended to eat me.
I screamed against his palm, struggling with every ounce of strength I possessed. I didn’t want to die. Not here. Not now. I’m only 28 and I haven’t even done anything with my life yet. I’m not going to die here! My despair transformed into resolve as I realized that one of my hands was still free. I tried to push him off o
f me, but he may as well have been a statue for all I managed to move him. He chuckled as if my struggles were amusing to him, then lowered his head to my shoulder and lashed his tongue along my neck. I screamed again and tried to picture the ugly, emerald flames bursting from my hands. I tried to imagine the fire catching on his jacket and I pictured him leaping back from me in terror as I ran down the alley to safety. I felt the palm of my hand growing warm.
“Reynold Cuthbert. That is enough.” Amorie’s melodic voice carried her disapproval like a dagger’s edge. My eyes darted toward the alley and her voice as the red vest guy, Reynold Cuthbert, jerked his head away from my neck, whipping his face around toward her as well. “Release her at once.” She demanded, taking a few steps closer.
“This one’s free game!” Cuthbert insisted with a growl that would have made me cringe away from him if I’d had anywhere to go.
“This is my city,” Amorie proclaimed with a hint of admonishment. “So unless I say otherwise, the ‘game’ is mine.” She stepped beyond the lip of the alleyway and settled her features into a cross expression.
Cuthbert snarled. “You can’t claim everything. I found this one first, so it’s mine.” His grip on my wrist suddenly became even more painfully tight and I cried out behind his palm.
Amorie narrowed her eyes into a dangerous expression that sent a chill down my spine. She shifted the bottom of the long black drape she wore across her shoulders to reveal something he must have recognized that I couldn’t make out beyond a glint of silver. “Leave. Now.” Her voice was adamant. Her eyes and her posture said she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Cuthbert growled again, a sound of anger mixed with frustration, and released me all at once, pushing his body away from mine and moving away in one swift motion. He approached the alley, and Amorie thusly by proxy. His expression screamed of the threat he was apparently too wise to speak aloud, but to my dismay, he turned that dark look on me instead as he departed by the alley beside the club.
I felt my legs quivering with fear and pain, and the betrayal of heels I hadn’t the practice to wear. I would have sunk to the ground but for Amorie whose body was suddenly just in front of me. Her arm went around me gently as she pulled me away from the wall. “There now. Are you all right, Dakota?” Her voice was soothing and soft, but my instincts were still on edge. Her cold body mirrored his cold body, and that just reminded me of how frightened and betrayed I’d felt at her cold touch in the club. I almost pulled away, but she kept a firm but gentle pressure on my back where she held me steady. It was probably for the best; I was still rather shaky on my feet.
“I… What was he? What… What are you?” I shivered despite the warmth of the night, wondering if I was even safe now that I’d been rescued.
Amorie shushed me softly. “It is all right. I will not harm you. I did not harm you before, did I?”
I shook my head and thought about that. “What did he mean? That I’m free game?”
Amorie shushed me again. “I will explain. But we should go somewhere else. You should sit down. You are trembling.”
I was. But I was still afraid. And I didn’t know if I could trust her. “Go where?”
“Wherever you like. Wherever you feel safe.” Her eyes were full of compassion. I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe in her. Whatever the reason for her cold body and the muted, bloody colors that danced at her perimeter, I wanted to believe that she was safe. But a little voice said it would be stupid to show her where I lived, and stupider still to go anywhere with her alone.
“There’s a diner… on 14th street. It’s 24 hours and there’s always people there. We can go there.”
Amorie smiled warmly and nodded once. “As you like, Dakota. Will you let me take you there?”
“I’ll walk.” Getting into a stranger’s car was like grade school no-no. That’s elementary-my-dear-Watson level hell no.
“All right. Will you let me walk with you?” I thought about that for a few seconds as she offered her arm, before deciding that anything she could do to me while walking me down the street, she could just as well do right here without going to the trouble of convincing me.
“Okay.” I timidly accepted her arm as I glanced toward the alley and my stomach filled with dread. What if he was still there? What if I saw him again? That look he had given me… I dared to hope he wouldn’t give it to me again in my nightmares. I tightened my grip on her arm without thinking. All things considered, I’d rather take my chances with whatever Amorie was than to walk down that alley right now alone.
7
Cold Truth
We walked to the diner in relative silence. Amorie seemed willing to give me time to calm down, and never pushed me to speak. She just walked beside me, not touching me since I’d pulled away from her grasp as we departed the alley behind the club. The walk felt like it took only seconds. I realized I had likely zoned out again. All of this trauma couldn’t be good for me. We settled down in the last booth at the back of the diner, away from the Friday night crowd, but safely visible to all.
I glanced up at the desaturated waitress who immediately arrived to query about an order. I hadn’t even considered food, and with the tightness in my stomach from earlier events, I wasn’t sure I could keep anything down— My stomach growled loudly as I realized I hadn’t eaten a bite since that cereal this morning. Amorie maintained her gentle, neutral smile. “Order what you like. It is my treat.”
I appreciated the gesture, even if it did shift the scale of my suspicion one tick further against her. People who offer to help you usually want something in return. Right? I grabbed the laminated, single-sheet menu and gave it a quick glance. My head was still spinning from all the fear and adrenaline. “Uh… I’ll have a coke. And a burger with everything. And some fries. With cheese. And chili. And a waffle on the side.” I handed her the menu with a sheepish expression. Despite my demure figure, I’d always been a big eater. I glanced over at Amorie as the waitress turned to walk away, still working on jotting down my order. “What? If you’re buying, I’m eating.”
Amorie’s genteel smile remained, her cheek quirking slightly with amusement. “It is fine. It is good that you are willing to eat.” She laid a hand on my hand which I’d left in front of me on the table. I started to pull away, but her expression was soft and concerned, and I wanted the comfort. Even if I couldn’t trust her, there was no harm in letting her comfort me here in a public place where I was safe.
I stared for a moment at our hands, marveling at the coolness of her touch, and at the utter stillness of her body. It was unsettling now that I thought about it. She seemed frozen, like a sculpture in ice, unmoving, devoid of warmth. I couldn’t even tell that she was breathing. She gazed at me with her wide, vibrant blue eyes and she fluttered her lashes, making me chuckle slightly. “What… are you?”
“I am a vampire.” The word sounded so sweet with her beautiful European accent sheathing it. I nodded slowly, considering the facts I had available to consider. She was cold. She was still. She parted her lips just enough to reveal the points of her two elongated canines. Fangs, I supposed.
“Was red-vest guy a vampire too?” I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it.
“Red-vest guy?” She tilted her head just slightly, then her face warmed with amusement. “You mean Mr. Cuthbert? Yes.”
“Are you going to eat me?”
She laughed softly and quirked her sly little smile. “If I were going to eat you, it would have been far easier to do so in that alley than here, no?”
I knew what she was saying made sense, but a nagging feeling in my gut kept telling me that I was in danger. “Then why do I feel like I’m not safe?”
“You are Awakening. You have noticed that some people have brighter colors than others? They are Awakened too. And some of them are not human. Like me.” She kept her voice soft and unthreatening. I was still nervous, but I realized, it wasn’t her that was frightening me. I glanced around the diner. Most everyone
here was gray. There was one woman paying her check at the register whose colors were not muted, and one shadowy figure, but I didn’t see any others. Amorie noticed me eying the woman at the counter. “Now that you can see them, they will notice you too.”
I felt a chill and pulled my hand away, opting to hug myself instead of holding hands with the vampire. “Am I in danger?” That feeling in my gut was telling me the answer already, but again, I wanted to know what Amorie had to say on the matter.
“Not while I’m here with you. But you will be, if you are alone.” That was exactly what I was hoping not to hear.
“What do I need to do?” I wasn’t sure I could even trust her answer. But it was better than nothing.
“Typically when a human is Awakened they must seek the shelter of an appropriate group in order to avoid being, as Mr. Cuthbert claimed earlier, ‘free game’. There are organizations of different varieties that could protect you, such as SII, but for you, I think there is a better fit.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a little card and a pen.
“So, wait. What does it mean? ‘Awakened’? Like I was asleep before? You mean like The Matrix?” I was tempted to feel the back of my head for a metal port, but I restrained myself. Amorie began to write on the little card.
Awakened (Auralight Codex: Dakota Shepherd Book 1) Page 3