My cabbie asked me if I wanted to be dropped off at the front of the club or back near the end of the line, which I'm sure he figured would save me a two block walk. I told him the front of the club would be fine. “It is your shoe leather.” he shrugged.
The line stretched like a black leather and lace snake down the street and around the corner. Every imaginable variation of a vampire costume was on display. Everywhere the eye could see, ruffled white shirts, jagged black skirts, leather corsets, velvet jackets, fishnet stockings, pale made up faces and blood red lips. I was seriously underdressed.
Arkady was manning the door, guarding the velvet rope with a grim expression. I hadn't really realized just how big he was. Had to go six five, two hundred and sixty pounds of mean vampire. Despite the crowds' intent on getting in, there was a three foot gap between the rope and the next in line. His yellow eyes swiveled to me like gun emplacements and his expression didn't change. I looked back calmly, but I started to hear the mutters and voices in the crowd.
“ -- End of the line sucker—“
“-- Don't even think about it, dude!—“
“-- Ohhh, me likee.—“
“-- Hey Chris!—“
I turned to the last one, locating two female gothic types about fifty people back. It was Paige and Kathy, dressed like Dracula's brides, in gauzy white gowns. I walked over to them.
“Hi Chris, I thought you didn't like this place?” Kathy greeted me, while both looked me up and down.
“Well, I don't really, but I like some of the people and I wasn't given much of a choice.”
Paige spoke up. “Good luck getting in. You could jump in with us, but I think it would start a fight.”
”--Damn right—“
“--I'll kick his ass—“that one came from a tiny little girl in black tights and a shredded white shirt.
Chests puffed up and eyes frowned in menace in my direction, but before I could answer, the line went dead quiet and all eyes looked over my shoulder at something behind me. I turned and looked back, then up. Arkady was about six feet behind me, his glare menacing.
“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.
A couple of people looked at me like I was gonna get my ass kicked, and they were happy about that.
“Are you hating me then? Trying to get me in trouble? You need to go in! She will know by now!” he said.
“Arkady, these two are my friends. They need to go in with me.”
He instantly moved toward the girls, the crowd parting away from him like the Red Sea.
“What the hell is going on?” an angry female voice said from the front door of the club.
Lydia, dressed in a black micro skirt over white scale pattern tights and a red blouse, stood just outside the club, her arms crossed and her left foot tapping.
“Northern, get your ass in here! Arkady, what's he doing in line?” she demanded.
By now Arkady had herded the three of us toward the door like a giant Russian sheepdog, his expression slightly worried.
“Why Lydia, you look lovely tonight,” I said with a smirk.
“Cut the shit Gordon, and get in here. You do know that all hell broke loose as soon as you got outta that cab, right? Who are these two?” she directed the last at Paige and Kathy, whose eyes were the size of gumballs and just as round.
“These are my friends! Kathy and Paige are my neighbors and I want assurances that they will be looked after properly.” My emphasis on the word friends did not go unnoticed and the little vampire instantly knew what I was talking about. She turned her head slightly toward the door and spoke in a normal voice “Trenton.”
A lean six foot tall vampire slid around the door frame, looking like a pale Abercrombie model. “Ma'am?”
“These are Mr. Gordon's friends. They are to be seated at a VIP table and you are responsible for them tonight.” She gave him a level look and he nodded acknowledgment after a brief glance in my direction. A brief, nervous glance. What was that about?
“Should I clear out one of the celebrities then?” he asked.
“Why don't you let the ladies decide which celebrities should sit with them. Use your judgment.”
Again he nodded and led the two awestruck girls away into the club. Lydia, meanwhile, grabbed my hand and pulled me in and down the stairs, past the bar and into the corridor beyond. I'm pretty sure my feet never hit the ground after the first step. We slowed down outside the same dressing room that Tatiana had cleaned up in a week ago. Lydia glanced down at the red wrapped package in my left hand.
“It's a damn good thing you remembered that. She's been talking about nothing else all day.”
“I'm not sure if she'll like it.” I said.
She snorted. “We'll know soon enough.”
She reached for the door but it yanked open from the inside and I was lost. Tatiana was wearing a black spiderweb that somehow managed to barely cover her breasts and seemed to grow out of a skin tight sheath that hugged her hips and extended in wispy fabric down to her knees. Both sides of the dress were slit almost to her hips and my eyes didn't know which portion of exposed creamy white skin to look at first. She looked me over from top to bottom and then turned to Lydia.
“Oh, thank you for my present. Can I unwrap him now?” she said with a sly grin.
Lydia laughed. “Oh you might want to wait until you open his gift before...um ...unwrapping mine.”
Tatiana's gaze shot down to the pitiful package in my hand. Then she squealed, like a teen girl at a boy band concert. Her liquid blue eyes lit up and she pulled me into the room hard enough to give me whiplash. Figuring that my life depended on it, I surrendered the gift and awaited her disappointment. No way could it live up to this level of expectation. Fingers that could tear steel, gently untied the ribbon and carefully pulled the paper open. The flat black box slid onto her waiting palm and after a quick glance at Lydia and me, she opened it. Two silver bracelets sat in nests of black velvet. Tatiana looked at them in a puzzled manner.
Lydia spoke first. “Silver? You got her silver bracelets, Northern?” She asked in a voice that questioned my sanity.
I shook my head quickly. “No! Not silver,... polished tungsten carbide, inset with sapphires.” I said.
They both looked at me quizzically. I explained, hoping I could salvage some tiny part of the moment.
“Tungsten is one of the hardest metals known. It takes something as hard as a diamond to really scratch it. They won't ever need polishing and they won't ever tarnish. And they should turn pretty much any knife or sword strike. That's the theory at least,” I finished, a little lamely.
Lydia started to smile and Tatiana touched one gingerly, then with more assurance, pulling it from the velvet.
“I had them sized to fit your forearms, Tanya, figuring you block with that part of your arm.” Her head lifted to meet my gaze and her smile lit up the room. There was a slight blur and I was wrapped in one hundred and twenty pounds of vampire girl. After kissing me to within an inch of my life, she peeled herself off and slid the bracelet up her arm. Thank heavens it fit. The other bracelet swiftly found its new home on her other arm and she was bouncing up and down with excitement, which had an interesting effect on her anatomy. Suddenly, she went from mid bounce to fighting stance, blurring through a series of blocks and strikes. Apparently more than satisfied with the results she proceeded to kiss the hell out of me again. When she came up for air and stepped back, Lydia reached over and turned each bracelet so that the three sapphires were visible, their blue a close match to Tatiana's eyes.
“Holy Crap, Chris. These are really cool. You really do pay attention when I'm telling you stuff,” Lydia said.