You look like you could be a boatload of trouble for him
Four establishments later, and I’d caught nothing but dirty glares from daytime bargoers.
The sun had already begun its angular descent toward the city skyline. Soon, it would get dark, and I didn’t know if that’d be better or worse for finding a vampire. If daytime is like their nighttime, isn’t that when they’d go to clubs? Like how humans go at night?
I didn’t know, but I also didn’t think I’d been anywhere that looked like a “vampire club.” All I’d found was some human alcoholics.
One club tucked away in the corner of an alley looked like it could have vampiric regulars, but the bouncer wouldn’t let me through the door due to how terrible I looked. He probably thought I had some sort of serious drug addiction. I didn’t blame him after I’d blatantly puked in the dumpster at the end of that same alleyway.
That wasn’t the first or last puke stop along my route either. By the fifth bar I was so weak my legs were wavering in their ability to continue. My search needed to be more efficient. I needed a little more strategy and a lot less hollow optimism.
Finally, off the recommendation of the bartender at establishment number five, whom I’d asked some choice questions to, I came to the Equiluxe Night Club on Harrison Avenue. It had been harder to find than the others, tucked away on the backside of a lesser-known building. Not to mention it had zero social media presence, which gave me a good feeling. It had an enigmatic vampiric aura slathered all over it, all the way down to the wrought iron door with a sliding eye slit. With the light outside waning, the neon sign above the door glowed a bright purple against the grimy alleyway brick. It illuminated the name Equiluxe in swooping letters and the iron slit on the door slammed open when I approached.
Steadying myself under the neon light, I listened to a gruff voice as it asked, “Who do you know here?” That wasn’t something I was used to hearing at club entrances. Not when cash spoke louder than words.
“Uh—” I stuttered, my voice hoarse. “Um, Riftan. Riftan told me to come here.” I lied confidently through my feeble lips.
A harsh gaze looked me over through the slit in the door. “Fine, come in.”
This was it. I’d found the place. The bouncer knew Riftan. Would that mean he was inside? The metal creaked as it opened for me, and the humongous man behind it ushered me inside. The prospect of finding my savior had me nearly jumping out of my shoes, but I held in any relieved verbal sentiments.
I followed the man down a dimly lit hallway until it opened into an expansive room where lights flashed and swayed like in any normal club. There were a few individuals dotted around the interior, but the dance floor lacked debauchery, the music too low to encourage such a thing. Maybe it was still early for a vampire club.
The hair on my neck stood with the sensation of being watched. It was the first time all night I’d had that feeling. Everyone on the street had avoided me, likely for fear that I might ask them for some change.
Ignoring the newly acquired feeling, I made my way to the bar and asked the bartender if she’d seen Riftan around. I tried my best to make it sound like we were old acquaintances, as if that were remotely believable.
“He’s not here.” She looked me over with roving eyes that picked apart every detail of my being, down to the threads on my tightly wound scarf.
“Does he come here often?”
“Why do you need to know?”
“Because I want to talk to him. Do you know where to find him?” I pushed, leaning over the counter to assert myself.
“I don’t share customer’s personal information,” the woman drawled. “That’d be unethical.”
“I don’t care about ethics! Tell me where Riftan is!” I snapped, unable to control my tone though I knew my attitude would get me nowhere.
The girl was unphased, her gaze lingering past me only to fixate on an unfamiliar arm that slid around my shoulder.
Jolting away from the sudden touch, I gasped. The strong arm let go, but only enough to let me spin around to face the man it was attached to. He reached out with a deadly fast hand and steadied me close to him. The first thing I noticed was the tidy blue suit he donned. The second was the blond locks combed back into a short, styled hairdo that screamed CEO.
He smiled wide, undaunted to show the fangs that slipped past his thin lips. “So, you’re looking for Riftan, dear?” His voice was soft—tranquil even—as he sat me down on a chair at the bar and took the seat next to me. His eyes crinkled with warmth, his shoulders tipping toward me, signaling as if we were about to have a friendly chat.
With that, the bartender shook her head and walked away.
“Y-yes. I need to talk to him.”
“Hmm.” The man looked me over with analyzing eyes like many had since I’d begun my bar hop for Riftan. Without another word, he yanked off my scarf, exposing my neck to the world.
“Hey!” I complained, grabbing at my garment which was already dangling a full arm’s reach from me. There hadn’t been any point in trying to contest him—he possessed the same stupid strength this Riftan guy had the night before—but that didn’t stop me from snagging my scarf back the second he let go of it, which was before I’d had time to comprehend the full event. The fucker was too quick.
The moment he saw my neck, the man threw his defined chin up into the air, bellowing like I’d said the funniest joke in the world and we were laughing together. But I definitely wasn’t laughing. “Oh dear”—He stopped to pat his cheeks that must have hurt from laughing at my expense—“I’m sorry, this is so comical to me.”
You don’t say.
He continued, still grinning up a storm. “Oh please, don’t look so angry. It’s not attractive on a girl as cute as you.”
He can fuck right off for all—
“May I ask how you know his name? Did he tell you? How did this happen?” He pointed toward the mark on my neck.
“No… I got his name from someone I know. And how the hell do you think this happened? He fucking bit me!” I would have stood to assert myself, but my legs felt more like noodles than when I’d first sat.
The man raised a curious brow. “And you remember it?”
“Yes. Perfectly.”
“Oh wow.” His chest heaved with another bout of outrageous laughter. “This is going to be such a hassle for him.” The man centered himself, looking me sternly in the eyes. His voice suddenly turned to ice. “I’ll tell you where he is, but only because you look like you could be a boatload of trouble for him. I’d love to see where this goes.”
His words were hopeful to my ears, but they slipped off his tongue like daggers meant to harm. I didn’t think I could trust a man whose playful demeanor so easily ran cold. If only I had the luxury of deciding who to trust and when. Unfortunately, my health was waning, and I wasn’t going to be lucky enough to make those choices much longer.
“Please,” I practically begged, “just tell me where to find him.”
The man with the smoothed back hair and pointed chin looked away from me and flagged down the bartender, easily asking her, “Get me a pen and paper, will you, sweetheart?” Looking back at me, he winked. “Make sure you tell him that Darrin says hello, okay, dear?”