I glanced casually over towards the fireplace. A solitary Bloodling dressed in an expensive suit lounged on one of the sofas. He rolled a tumbler of blood between his fingers. It was mostly empty, but his eyes still seemed dull. His silver hair had been combed back over his head. He looked to have been in his early forties when he was turned. I watched as he prodded a tongue gently at his own fangs. His demeanour was one of self-assured arrogance. We waited, me taking slow sips of my beer, trying to get used to the harsh taste. I let my thoughts wander. “I was meaning to ask. What’s the deal with school — do I have to leave now or what?” “Not if you don’t want to. The Alliance encourages life outside of the job. You just need to be available when they need you.”
“Good to know.” I smiled. “You know, if you’d have told me a few weeks ago that I could leave that hellhole, I’d have been out of there like a flash. But now…I’m kind of starting to enjoy it. People are nice to me, no more bullying…” I trailed off. Something I hadn’t mentioned occurred to me. I felt disgusted in myself that I’d barely given it a thought. “What happened to TJ in the end?”
“He’s fine. When we got to him, he was on his way out, but a booster brought him back. They are pretty dangerous for humans in general, but we needed to take the chance. We got lucky. I made sure he doesn’t remember a thing.” “Where is he now?” “I charmed him into changing schools. I thought it will do him good to get away from Terry.” I stared down at my bottle. “I’m glad he’s okay. What I did to him…”
“Was his fault. Sure, you went over the top, but that was because of your Awakening. He came into the alleyway with a baseball bat. Don’t forget that.”
We fell into a silence. I let everything that had happened so far wash over me. It seemed so much. I thought about how much of a contrast this world was to school, with it’s boring lessons, sports matches and winter balls. The last part snagged stuck in brain.
Gabriella took a slow sip of her drink and surveyed me over the glass.
“You look like you have something else on your mind.”
I tore a piece of the label off the bottle and folded it into a little square. “Well there was something I’d been meaning to ask you.” Inside my negative internal voice tried to stop me speaking, but I forced it away.
“You can ask me anything, you know that.”
I cleared my throat, not moving my gaze from the square of paper resting between my finger and thumb. “Well, I don’t know if you’d even be interested, but well…there’s this sixth form ball next Friday…it’s probably a bit stupid…but I…was wondering if-”
Midnight’s voice filled my head, cutting me off midsentence. “Look sharp guys, three loud arse chicks from the premonition coming your way.”
“Okay, Midnight. Del, Rachel, you get that?”
“Got it boss.”
“Good. First port of call is to get them the hell out before anything happens. Then we can leave without any drama and everyone’s happy. If not, we wait for the attack to start and act before any damage is done.” “Waitin on your word,” said Midnight and the earpiece fell silent. Gabriella put a hand on mine. “Let’s come back to that conversation later.” She stood up and motioned for me to follow. We stood up and made our way over to the bar.
Gabriella ordered another round of drinks. I pretended to take a swig and then settled the bottle on the bar and waited for the new arrivals.
The sound of giggling burst from the doorway and group of four girls stumbled into the bar. They were all dressed up ready for a night out and clearly drunk. “I can’t believe it,” a blonde one said. “They wasn't messing about,” a short one with pink heels answered. “Proper secret this place!” “It’s wicked!” slurred a third with dyed black hair and a lip piercing.
Looking around I could see that every pair of eyes were on the girls. There were murmurs from the occupants of the booths and I saw the ones who couldn’t pass for human shrink quickly from sight and disappear through a door hidden in the shadows at the back. The barwoman’s wings retracted into her back with feathering sound.
The girls staggered over to the bar. One put her hands in the air and shouted ‘WOOOOO’ at the top of her lungs. I could feel the room growing hostile. The Incubus barman slid uneasily over to them. I noticed him glancing over to the same man we were keeping an eye on. When he served them, I noticed that he wasn’t trying his charms, but this didn’t stop the girls from being infatuated.
“Oh my god you’re well fit!” cooed the blonde one.
“Have a drink with us,” said the one with the lip ring.
The barman didn’t answer, just got the drinks they ordered. Around me I could feel the room stir. More Pandemonians started to leave, shaking their heads in disgust. Only a dozen or so remained. Gabriella edged her way over to the girls, armed with a winning smile. “Hi girls”, she beamed. They turned around and frowned as if trying to stare through fog. Then one by one they noticed her. “Wow, you’re so pretty!” said pink heels. “Thanks. Looks like you’re having a good night.” “It’s been quality,” said blondie. “It would be better if hottie over here gave us his number. What do you say babe?” said lip piercing. The barman cringed and glanced over at the Vampire again.
Gabriella carried on speaking, her voice taking on a diplomatic tone. “Listen girls I don’t want to ruin your night, but this bar is actually private. I think it might be better if you enjoyed your night somewhere else.”
The girl’s demeanour changed in a split second. Pink heels folded her arms and rested on her back foot, expression full of attitude. “Well the bouncer let us in so it can’t be that private, actually.” The other girls chimed in with ‘yeah.’
“And who do you think you are, comin over here and tellin us to leave?” piped up lip ring. “Why don’t you leave?”
Gabriella raised her hands in an appeasing way. “Girls I’m not trying to start an argument. I just think you should go and have fun somewhere else.” “Not a chance bitch,” said blondie. I saw Gabriella stiffen. “I see what it is,” slurred lip piercing. “You want to have all the guys in here to yourself!” Pink heels leaned over. “And what are you wearin? Mate, the Matrix isn’t real yeah?”
The girls all burst into a savage laughter. I felt a sudden temptation to march Gabriella out of the bar and leave the vile girls to their fate. But as grudging as I felt, I knew they had to be protected.
The atmosphere in the bar was now as oppressive as the weather had been outside. I could hear the patrons starting to grumble. A Bloodseeker crushed a glass in his hand.
Gabriella reached backwards for my hand. I knew what she was going to do. I closed mine around hers.
“ Listen to me now,” she said, her voice raising and taking on a sharp tone. “I want you to turn around — ”
“Stop the music!” shouted the Vampire in the suit. The bartenders looked warily over at him and then one passed through a door. The music cut off. He unwound himself from the seat and poured his drink onto the fire, causing the flames to flare angrily.
I unbuttoned my coat and held it closed with one hand. Gabriella moved out of the Vampire’s way. He stared at the girls one by one.
“Who are you?” the lip piercing girl asked, making a sucking sound with her teeth.
“Who am I?” he growled, curling his fists into balls. “I’m Malachi, the god damn owner of this bar. Who the hell are you?’ He emphasised each word of the last part, pointing a finger at each girl in turn. They shuddered.
“I think that maybe we should go,” said pink heels to her friends.
“Now that’s the best idea you’ve had all night,” he said, his voice taking on a calm, acidic tone. “Unfortunately it’s no longer that simple. You came into my bar through a fatal error by my doorman.” He cast a menacing look at the man with the Mohawk who shifted uncomfortably. “You inappropriately propositioned my bar staff. Your very presence forced my…shyer customers away and your unsightly behaviour offended others into leaving. And worst of all, you had the bare faced cheek to insult another to her face!” He gestured towards Gabriella.