“Fine. Costume or not, you really should come out with us,” Milo said, looking at me with concern.
“It’s not good for you to just lay in bed all the time like this. You’re not even watching TV or listening to music. You’re just laying in the dark. It’s not healthy.”
“I don’t care. Nothing feels right without Jack.” I smiled wanly at my brother. “I’m okay, though.
Honest. I’ll get up and do something tonight. I just… I can’t go out. But thanks for inviting me. I really appreciate it.”
“Okay,” Milo relented. “But you better be out of this bed when I get back. Or else.”
Milo smiled sadly at me before leaving with Bobby. On the sheets next to me, he left behind a trail of glitter and black feathers. I did not want to get out of bed, but I didn’t really want Jack coming back to me being a big, stinky mess, so I decided that if nothing else, I should keep up my hygiene, so he doesn’t break up with me for that. I showered, styled my hair, put on make up, and got dressed. For the sake of Halloween, I even painted my nails green. I don’t know why I went through all that trouble, but it felt like something to do.
Matilda needed to go to the bathroom, so I went downstairs to let her outside. She was the only real consolation I had. As mad as Jack might be at me and everyone else, he would never leave her behind. Not for good. While she was outside doing her thing, I glanced down the hall. The door to the den was open, and Ezra was just sitting on the computer, the screen glowing blue on his face. He was probably still sleeping on the couch in there, and I wondered if he and Mae were ever going to make up. And if they weren’t, I wondered why neither of them left.
My cell phone started ringing, and my heart skipped a beat until I realized it was Milo’s ringer and not Jack’s “Time Warp.” I briefly considered not answering it. He probably just wanted to try and talk me into coming out with him. But then again, he might be in trouble or something, so I figured I should take it.
“Hello?” I answered, and I had to hold the phone away from my ear because the music was so loud.
“Hello?” Milo shouted over the music. “Hello?”
“Milo?” I had to yell back, so he could hear me. “Milo? Where are you?”
“I’m at V!” Milo shouted, and I could barely hear Bobby saying something in the background. He was probably yelling right in Milo’s ear, but all I could make out was something about a girl going somewhere.
“You’ve got to come down here!”
“No, I already told you I’m not going,” I sighed. Matilda started barking at the French doors off the kitchen, so I went and let her in. “Thanks anyway.”
“No, I mean you really have to come down!” Milo insisted.
“She’s going in with the room with him!” Bobby shouted plaintively at Milo. “Tell her to hurry and get down here! We’ve gotta do something!”
“I’m not leaving you alone to deal with her,” Milo told Bobby, and I really wished I understood what was going on or the music behind them was quieter.
“What is going on?” I demanded.
“Jane is down here, and she looks like a corpse! For real! Not like a zombie Halloween costume or anything,” Milo said. “She looks really, really terrible, and she just went into the backrooms with that Jonathan guy she was with before. I can’t go after her and leave Bobby alone, so you need to get down here. If she doesn’t get out of her tonight, she’s probably never getting out of here.”
“This better not be some trick to get me to come out!” I said, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t. Both Milo and Bobby sounded genuinely frazzled. Besides that, I knew she was in trouble, and I hadn’t been doing enough to get to stop being a bloodwhore.
“I would never lie about something like this!” Milo yelled, and he wouldn’t. I don’t think he ever really even lied about anything.
“Fine! I’ll be there as soon as I can! Wait for me by the dance floor!” I told him, then hung up the phone. Immediately after doing so, I realized a giant flaw in my plan: I didn’t know how to drive. Then I realized that there was somebody here that always fixed everything and knew how to drive.
“Ezra!”
“Yes?” Ezra answered, and I walked to the end of the hall so I could see him. He had looked up from his computer and was staring at me. “Something is the matter?”
“Milo’s at a club, and Jane’s there. She’s a bloodwhore, and he says she’s in really bad shape.
I need to get her before something bad happens,” I looked at him hopefully. “Would you be willing drive me down there?”
“Absolutely,” Ezra hit a button on the computer and then stood up. “Milo told me that he and Bobby were going out to the clubs tonight, and Bobby was looking quite well, so I told them to have fun.”
“I think they’re having fun,” I said sourly as he met me in the hall
“At least I get to go out on Halloween,” Ezra smiled at me, and we walked towards the garage. “I haven’t done that in years.” He noticed his teasing falling flat on me, and he nodded solemnly. “We’ll get your friend out of there.” I nodded and followed him out to his Lexus. “And Jack will come home. He does love you very much.”
“I know,” I lied. “I just wish I knew where he was.”
“He’ll turn up soon,” Ezra assured me. “He’s not the kind to stray very far.”
Ezra said very little else on the car ride to V. Since we were in a hurry, he sped crazily, and I wondered if all vampires had problems with speed limits, or just these ones. Downtown was a madhouse. There were people everywhere, dressed in all sorts of wacky garments. Most of the girls’ outfits could barely count as
“clothing,” and it seemed like everyone was drunk or high or just certifiably insane.
I had to jog to keep with Ezra, and I felt weird going to the clubs with him. He was probably dressed more fashionably and appropriate for a club situation than I was, but it was weird thinking of him going clubbing. Even as attractive and as young as he looked, he never seemed like the kind of person that would frequent a place like this, and as far as I knew, he never had. Mae and Peter had used to go to V years ago, and Jack did somewhat, but nobody ever mentioned Ezra going. I was a little surprised that even knew where it was, but he probably knew where everything in the whole world was.
In the block before the club, he had to fend off several very drunk girls. I mean he literally had to push them off of him, and by the looks of the last one, she wasn’t exactly drunk. The fading pink marks on her neck made me think that was just leaving the club we were going to. A couple guys made a pass at me, and I didn’t really care, except for the fact that I was starting to get hungry. I hadn’t even really felt until we were in a crow d of people, and I wondered if this is what it would be like always.
Ezra held the door open to V for me, and the two giant bouncers were still manning their post. They nodded at Ezra and exchanged some kind of look with him. It made me wonder if he was actually acquainted with him, but I didn’t really have time to ask. Jane was in trouble, and it didn’t really matter who Ezra did or didn’t know.
The dance floor was completely packed. Michael Jackson’s hit song “Thriller” was blasting out over the stereo, and at least half of the floor was doing in the dance that went along with it. It would’ve been a sight to behold, but Milo and Bobby were waiting by the doors for us, reminding me of the business at hand.
One of Milo’s wings looked damaged, but with the floor being as crowded as it was, I was surprised that his costume had stayed as intact as it did from the dancing.
“It’s crazy here tonight!” Milo shouted over the music.
“I don’t understand how they all know the moves!” Bobby commented, watching the Thriller dancers with some fascination.
“Yeah, great. Where’s Jane?” I asked.
“In one of the backrooms,” Milo nodded across the dancehall to the vampire bar section of the club.
Blue lights flashed over head, and Ezra looked around the roo
m with an unreadable expression. “I don’t know which one for sure, but I thought you could find her!”
“As long as she’s still alive, I probably can!” I admitted.
Milo grabbed Bobby and started making his way across the dance floor. I pushed into the crowd after him, but they were impossible to get through. Apparently, I wasn’t even as forceful as Jack.
Ezra came up behind him, and putting his arm around my waist, he started pushing our way through them.
I was strong enough to do it, but I felt bed about pushing people out of the way, even in the case of an emergency. Not that any of them seemed to mind. Humans and vampires alike seemed to enjoy being touched by Ezra a little too much.
The dim lighting and muffled sound of the bar came as a huge relief. Even in here, it was incredibly packed. Usually there were just a handful of couples of, but tonight, every available surface was covered with vampires feeding on people or making with each other. There were even two vampires lying on the bar in the corner, grinding up against each other in a very provocative fashion. Milo, Bobby, Ezra, and I stood out for the simple fact that we were standing and weren’t sucking off somebody’s face.
“Which hall did she go down?” I asked Milo quietly. There were seven different hallways that went off the main bar, and I’m not even sure how many rooms are down each hall. I went down one before, and it seemed to go on forever. A cold chill went over me as I realized that there were nearly an infinite amount of places that Jane could be hiding with her vampire boyfriend.
“I think that one,” Milo pointed to one on the far side of the room.
“Are you sure?” Bobby squinted. The red lights in here weren’t the best for his eyesight. “I thought it was the one just to the left of that.”
“You’ve got be kidding me,” I groaned.
“Ezra Townsend!” Olivia squealed, and pushed an unconscious girl onto the floor. She moaned a little when she hit her head on the floor, but that was the only sign she gave that she was still alive. Olivia’s tight leather uniform seemed much more appropriate with the Halloween crowd, and she was smiling widely at Ezra in her usual drugged out way. I expected him to look appalled by her, but instead, he smiled back at her, and when she reached him, they actually hugged. “It’s so good to see you!”
“Likewise,” Ezra agreed when they stopped hugging. This was the most shocking display I had ever seen Ezra perform, and I glanced at Milo and Bobby to see them gaping at him too.
“It really has been too long,” Olivia touched his arm and laughed. “I didn’t even know you were still in the area! I thought you’ve would’ve left years ago.”
“Well, I tried, but the wife has roots down here,” Ezra shrugged. The wife? I had never heard him call Mae his wife ever, and it seemed particularly strange given their current circumstance.
“She’s not-” Olivia looked at me distrustfully for the time.
“No, no, Alice isn’t mine. She’s my brother Jack’s,” Ezra explained, and Olivia nodded and smiled again at me.
“I was gonna say. She’s a little tart, isn’t she?” Olivia was looking at me in a way that would’ve made me blush if I wasn’t busy trying to figure out how we’d find Jane if Milo and Bobby couldn’t decide what hall she went down.
“Perhaps,” Ezra looked at me, and I was pleased to see it was affectionate. I think I had been kind of expecting him to hate me after all the trouble I was causing between Jack and Peter, but Ezra didn’t seem to be one to hold a grudge either.
“You should’ve told me you were with Ezra!” Olivia exclaimed and touched my arm. “I would’ve given you the special treatment.” I had a feeling she was already giving me special treatment, but I just smiled.
“Sorry. I didn’t realize you two knew each other,” I said. I wanted to not be talking to them anymore, but I wanted Ezra to help me, and I didn’t want to be rude to her. After all, she had helped me out a couple times.
“That’s just like Ezra,” Olivia rolled her eyes. “He never talks about his past.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but we’ve got a missing friend,” Milo interjected, saving me from some long, semi-drunken conversation. Olivia might not be able to drink alcohol, but she drank more blood than a vampire needed too, leaving her act and feel rather drunk.
“Same one as before?” Olivia raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, and we’ve got to find her. So, if you’ll excuse us.” Milo had Bobby’s hand in one hand and he took mine in the other. Olivia nodded at us as we started making our escape, but Ezra stayed with her. I wanted to have him come with us, but he was nearby, and he was catching up with an old friend.
“So you know which hall it is?” I asked as Milo drug me to the other side of the room.
“Nope, but it’s got to be one of these two halls.” Milo let go of my hand, but he still hung onto Bobby’s. In another circumstance, it would’ve been a very funny sight to see a black glittery fairy leading a rather short Han Solo by the hand.
They were leading the way, but once we were in the hall, they slowed down considerably.
Milo didn’t really know how to track Jane, not as well as I did anyway, but it was going to be impossible.
There were too many people tonight. Everything smelled like blood, and I was incredibly impressed with my current level of self control. My stomach burned a little bit, and I was really thirsty, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. It did, however, make it hard to distinguish different scents and sounds. Blood overpowered everything else.
I was about to give up on the whole thing when I finally got something. I froze in the middle of the hall, and Bobby bumped into me. It was too dark for him to see that I had stopped moving.
Very faintly, I could smell her perfume. Her blood wasn’t as distinct to me as I thought it would be, but her perfume was.
“It’s this one,” I whispered, gesturing to the door in front of us. After the way Jonathan had reacted the last time we busted in on him with Jane, I figured that Milo should take the necessary precautions. He moved in front of Bobby, putting himself between him and any possible attack.
This time, I decided against busting in. Very slowly, I turned the knob and pushed the door open.
Jonathan didn’t even hear us because he was feeding on Jane. He knelt on the bed, her body hanging limp in his arms, and he was gnawing on her neck. It wasn’t the gentle bites that Olivia always gave her girlfriends, or like the ones I’m sure Milo gave Bobby. This was intensely animalistic, reminding me of the shark attacks I watched on TV. Jane appeared completely unconscious, and when I listened for heartbeat, I couldn’t hear one. Only the sounding of his, pounding strong and fast.
Without thinking, I flew at him. I had the upper hand of a surprise attack, but that’s not why I did it.
He was killing her, and I had to stop him while there was still time, if there was still time. I jumped onto his back, and he snarled and threw Jane to the ground. It would’ve been easier for him to just drop on the bed, but her purposely chucked her away, like a piece of garbage. I wrapped my arms around his neck, but he reached back and grabbed me by my hair. He lifted me by it, and I screamed because it hurt like hell. I kicked and clawed at him, but he threw me against the wall.
“Milo, get Jane!” I commanded. As long as I was holding off Jonathan, Milo should be sneaking her out.
The pain stopped instantly. Hitting the wall hurt, but it was over right away, and I was back on my feet. I dove at him again, punching and clawing at him. I had never been in a fight before, so I was just doing whatever I could think of. Theoretically, I should be really fast and strong, but I did not feel like it. He blocked every move before I even made it, and when I was resorting to simply scratching and kicking, he held me tightly to him, so I couldn’t move.
“Drop the meat!” Jonathan roared at Milo, and I looked over at him. Milo had carefully picked Jane up off the floor, but he didn’t want to leave me alone with Jonathan.
“Get out of here!” I shout
ed. I didn’t really want him to leave me, because I had a feeling that I couldn’t win this fight, but this was his only chance to save Jane. “Go!”
Milo was indecisive, and Bobby stood in the hallway right out the door, looking pale and afraid. I was still struggling against Jonathan, but not really accomplishing much. He apparently tired of the stand off, and in a ridiculous move, he suddenly bite into my shoulder. I yelped, and I could feel the blood flowing hot and strange from the wound, but he didn’t drink from me. He easily could’ve bitten my throat and caused real damage, but he was doing this just to hinder and annoy me. Losing blood weakened me, and I wasn’t that strong of a fighter to start with.
“Alice!” Milo shouted, and I could tell he really considered discarding Jane to save me. As it was, he had never really been that fond of her to start with.
“Drop the girl!” Jonathan snarled, and threw me to the ground. My shoulder had already stopped hurting, and it was just tingling from healing, but I could feel the blood seeping out of me. It was an incredibly nauseating feeling.
“Run, Milo!” I insisted, and Jonathan turned back to glare at me.
He was standing right be me, where I was laying on the ground, and then an idea occurred to me. He kicked me, and I let him, and Bobby shouted at me to get up. If Jane weren’t completely unconscious, Milo probably would’ve handed her to Bobby and helped me himself, but he couldn’t, and that was just as well. As soon as Jonathan turned back to Milo, I moved forward and bit into his ankle as hard as I could. I tore through his Achilles tendon, and Jonathan screamed in pain and fell back on the ground.
Even though the pain would stop soon, the damaged ligament would slow him down considerably.
I got to my feet as quickly as possible, but Jonathan grabbed me. I stomped on his hand before he would get to the chance to bite me the way I had done him, and he hissed at me but wouldn’t let go. He was bearing his teeth at me like he was some kind of animal, so I kicked him hard in the face. At the same time, he pulled my leg, so I fell back onto the ground, and Jonathan laughed. His mouth was full of blood from me kicking him, and some of it sprayed on me. The worst part was that all the blood still smelled like Jane, so I kicked him the mouth again. He finally let go of me, and I scrambled to my feet.
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