Disclaimer: I don't own Stephenie Meyer's characters. I only own mine :)
Wanted to let you guys know that this is set post BD, but Nessie doesn't exist. So, you'll probably find out later how in the world BD applies to this if Nessie doesn't exist, but if not, let's just go with the flow, 'kay? Review?
A series of loud, high pitched screams filled the air of the building. Luna Sullivan's eyes scanned the halls whenever the strobe lights would illuminate the darkness around her. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest and she eased down one of the corridors. It made it worse hearing the poor saps that were lost inside the maze screaming, because when something actually scared her, their screams usually accompanied it and freaked her out even more.
"Such a pretty little thing," a dark, deep, and undeniably male voice said as a hand latched onto her wrist.
Luna slowly turned around, gray eyes wide as the strobe lights flickered and very briefly showed the face of a man whose skin had been nearly ripped to shreds. His eyes were dead and his teeth jagged. She inhaled sharply before letting out an earsplitting scream, punching the man and sprinting away into the darkness.
Almost immediately, she hit a wall and she silently cursed herself for not grabbing one of those stupid glow sticks they were offering at the entrance of the Shriek Shack. Horrible name for a club, she thought as she felt up the wall to make sure it was actually a wall and not some other guy who looked absolutely terrifying.
She stood up and her eyes trained for any source of light. The strobe lights that flickered agonizing slowly only gave her temporary relief. It made it scar because, every time she'd think she'd see something coming at her, the light would flick off. And when it flicked back on, there would be no one there. "I'm going to slaughter Chelsea as soon as I find her," Luna hissed under her breath.
She had to give it to the owner of the club, though. He knew how to work the Halloween thing. All of this scary shit to get to what people were actually there for. She tucked her jet black hair behind her slightly pointed ears and marched on. She was nearing the exit, she knew that much, and felt the excitement bubble in her veins when she heard the pulse of the music at the end of the hall.
Before she got there, the lights flickered, revealing a door. Her face erupted in flames, thankful that the light flickered before she had a chance to embarrass herself by running into yet another wall or door. Even though no one was actually around her, it didn't say much. She felt like someone was following her the second she stepped into the maze of hallways, corridors, and dead ends. Of course, the entrance of the club had been transformed from the usual lounge area, VIP, and who-knows-what-the-hell-goes-on-behind-that-door areas into a terrifying, pulse racing Haunted House.
And it wasn't Halloween yet. On the other hand, Seattle had a way of milking all the holidays well in advance. It was only October 21st, but people were already packing into the Shack.
Luna gnawed on her teeth as she shoved the door open and the shoved it closed. At least, this way she'd know if the person was deliberately following her and not just another person heading to the Shack. She jogged down the hallway and she let out a shaky breath as her hands wrapped around the cold, steel handle of the heavy duty, vault-like door. She pulled and was immediately enveloped by the smell of the fake blood you found at most haunted houses, accompanied by the somewhat rainy scent of the mist that fell from the ceiling somehow.
Luna quirked a dark eyebrow. This place definitely has style, she thought, impressed, as she stared down at the dance floor. The door had led her to the official entrance of the actual club – a long set of steel platforms welded together above the dance floor, but only suspended over the sides of the floor and not the center of it. Yeah, that way, if it falls, it only crushes the bartenders! But, hey, she was complaining. Some of the areas were carpeted and plush couches were added, and long, gorgeous tapestries sectioned each area off as if they were top-notch VIP areas.
Luna descended the long flight of stairs that led from the suspended platforms to the dance floor. At the bottom of the stairs were two really buff looking guys in tight black tee shirts, black jeans, and steel toed boots. She flashed them a grin and they returned it. One of them slid a VIP-pass around her neck, and the other handed her two small bottles of greenish and blueish goo. "What's this?," she asked, holding up the bottles.
The dark skinned bouncer flashed her a slow smile. "Blacklights on at midnight. The paint glows in the dark." He shrugged his shoulders. "Ladies like getting dirty."
Luna laughed and nodded her head. "Right. Have you seen a girl with red hair, about 5'10" and in a very tight neon green dress?"
The other bouncer, a sun-kissed man in his early twenties, grinned. "You're with the Kane party?"
Luna nodded enthusiastically, part of her just wishing this guy would stop trying to play smooth and tell her where the hell Chelsea went. "Yup," was all she said as her body bobbed to the fast paced beat pounding from unseen speakers.
Her jerked his thumb over his shoulders and Luna nodded a jerky bob in thanks, seeing a dark hallway lined with fluorescent orange strips of light. Unlike the neon-color-drenched dance floor, the area that Chelsea and the rest of Luna's friends were was kind of relaxed. The walls were covered with black fabric, and large canvas prints of Seattle's night scene hung on the walls.
A medium sized chandelier hung from the ceiling, drenching everyone with a dim golden light. Crème colored sofas formed a half-square, and a glass coffee table sat in the middle. Luna plopped down on the sofa next to Chelsea and their other best friend, Mason. "I love having you guys as friends," she said, draping her arms around both of them.
Chelsea snickered, swirling the little umbrella's toothpick around in her glass. Luna didn't have to wonder if it was a virgin drink. It wasn't. Chelsea's dad owned the club, and made an exception for his 'baby girl' and her friends. "Please, your eighteenth birthday party was just as wild. If not wilder." Chelsea's emerald green eyes sparkled in delight of the memories.
Mason laughed, sitting up a little on the sofa, his dark brown eyes obviously recalling the same memories. "Yeah, if I remember right, by the end of the night, half of us were running naked around that bonfire."
Luna snickered and grabbed the glass Mason had in his hands. Without bothering to ask what he'd ordered, she threw back the remaining contents. Her eyes immediately watered and her throat burned. She licked her lips at the tingly sensation that ran down her throat. "What was that?"
Mason blinked furiously. "Uh, something involving screaming and a hooker. I don't...I can't remember," Mason smacked his face, as if wiping the confusion and shot to his feet, holding out his hands. "May I have this dance, lovely ladies?," he asked, his words slightly slurred but his body language didn't give away that he was probably pissed off his face.
Chelsea and Luna grinned, linking hands with the handsome blonde boy, and let him guide them down the hallway and into the sea of bodies.
X
Edward Cullen had no idea what he was doing here. All he knew was that Emmett, Jasper, and the wolves, had thought it a good idea to have a "guys' night", since Alice had all but forced their mates into a girls' night. He grimaced, looking up at the brightly lit sign hanging off the very plain looking red-brick building. "The Shriek Shack?," he said, skepticism thick in his tone.
Paul laughed, nodding his head. "It's an awesome place. Just not at Halloween. Front entrance leads you straight into a haunted house. Which is why we're going around back. My mom's old friends with the guy that runs this place if you catch my drift."
A few of the guys grimaced at the mental image of Paul's mom doing anything even remotely sexual, and quickly trained their thoughts on the building beside them. "It doesn't look like much," Emmett muttered.
"Would you just trust me, man?," Paul asked, jumping over the small chain-link fence that closed off the small alleyway between the Shriek Shack and the empty building beside it.
Edward didn't comment. Things were just starting to become friendly between his family and the wolves from La Push. Trust wasn't exactly what he'd call what they had. Still, he hopped the fence and followed them through the alleyway and to a very thick looking steel door. Paul banged on it three times and the door opened to reveal a man in his early forties.
Edward eyed the man with a grimace on his face as he led them threw a door and onto the dance floor. Paul passed them all VIP passes. "Don't say say I never did anything for you, kid," the man told Paul.
He grinned before disappearing into the crowd. Edward's eyebrows jerked up at some of the thoughts of the hundred plus people in the room. Most were typical, but some...some were clearly not sober. He tuned out the voices and felt the relaxing sensation of mist dancing across his skin.
"Have some fun," Emmett advised before disappearing into the ocean of people.
Edward grimaced but followed his brother into the crowd nonetheless. It wasn't his cup of tea at all, but he needed a little fun in his life, right? A little excitement? He let out a sigh and let a blue-and-blonde haired woman with a very revealing, tiny, black dress on pull him to her.
After having endured Bella's scent for three years before she'd become immortal, it was nothing to be surrounded by other humans. He didn't speak as the woman attempted to flirt with him. He didn't really move, and just kind of swayed in his spot and let her dance around him. When he got bored, he twirled her away from him and headed to sit at the bar and watch. This really wasn't his idea of a good time at all.
Two songs – two very long songs – later, he stood and was about leave them to go back home when a dark haired girl stumbled to the bar stool next to him. He inhaled her scent and found his body was moving back to the seat next to her. "I want a Screaming Hooker," she said, smacking a bill onto the counter and sliding it to the very amused looking bartender. The girl laughed at the man's expression and propped her head up on her elbows. "I've no clue what's in that drink, but my friend had one and well, let's just say it's a lot easier to be social."
The bartender chuckled, mixing liquids into a tall glass. The girl bobbed her head to the fast paced remix of some kind of rap song. Her head snapped in his direction and she flashed him a devilish smile, leaning toward him. "Hello, handsome!"
"Hello," Edward said, trying not to laugh at the tipsy girl.
She smiled and grabbed the glass the bartender slid across the counter. The girl licked her lips before downing the entire glass. She hissed, blinking furiously before turning to him and grabbing his hand. She grinned at him, jerking her thumb in the direction of the dance floor. "Come dance with me?," she asked, her storm gray eyes piercing his amber ones.
"I'm not that great a dancer when it comes to that," Edward said, his eyes on a group of people swaying and twirling and jumping around, and feeling a little dizzy as the girl's fingers pushed the sleeve of his jacket up – her skin sliding smoothly across his wrist. He was more than a little shocked.
She gave him a mischievous smirk before attempting to pull him toward the floor. "I'll teach you," she said, noticing that he didn't budge from his spot. "I'm Luna, by the way," she said, wishing her head would stop swimming. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have that fourth drink...
"Edward," he told her, allowing her to yank him onto the floor.
The music stopped automatically, and so did the mist. Edward looked at the girl, noticing how her shirt clung to her curves in a way that had the venom in him boiling. He halted those thoughts as soon as they'd come, thinking of the beautiful wife he had back in Forks.
The lights switched off, throwing the entire room into darkness. A few excited yells ensued before the room was flooded with black light. To most people in the room, only the glow sticks and glowing bracelets and necklaces – or the occasional shirt or tattoo – were visible.
Luna smiled up at him, yanking his jacket off and discarding it somewhere in the crowd. "This is the gonna be the best part," she said enthusiastically, eyes dancing with excitement as bass pulsed through the club and through the bodies of the people in it. And then all hell seemed to break loose as a myriad of sounds blasted from the unseen speakers before Luna doused him in fluorescent paint. Lines of blue and green paint soaked his skin and hair and she grinned up at him, sliding a pair of shades onto his face before pushing a pair on her face. "You're gonna need 'em," she said, passing him the small bottle of blue liquid.
Luna held out her hands, quirking an eyebrow. Edward found himself grinning widely before squeezing the paint onto her shirt. She grinned, smashing her body against his and emptying the contents of both of their bottles over them before locking her arms around his neck. He was floored to say the least. Bella never did this. Ever.
Bella was just a bundle of nerves, always fretting over things and wanting to be with him all the time. But this girl – Luna – she was all about having a good time. "Are you going to teach me to dance or what?" Edward asked her, giving her a crooked smile.
She snapped her eyes to his before turning around so that her ass was pressed against the front of his jeans. "You just take your hands," she said, grabbing his hands and putting around her.
Edward swallowed hard, feeling the toned muscle of her abdomen against the heel of his hands, and the button of her jeans against his palms. God, he thought, what the hell? It was like he'd somehow switched brains with Emmett...or one of the wolves. It wasn't like him to be ruled by hormones...
Luna jerked him closer, giving him a funny look. "You gotta loosen up, Edward," she told him, "just go with it. It's just dancing." Her hands went up to lock behind his neck and she drew his head down next to hers. "Just go with it. Your friends seemed to have gotten the hang of it," she whispered, her eyes shooting to the wolves who were grinding in the middle of a circle of people.
Edward felt her pulse against his jaw and he couldn't help the low growl that escaped him, his nose skimming her neck. She giggled, complimenting him on his ability to let loose quickly. His hands tightened around her hips and pulled the lower half of her body against his.
Luna's hips rolled and rocked and swayed, causing his body to react in a way that almost made him feel guilty. Almost. But her scent was so strong in the air, the blood so close to his lips – how could he feel guilty when he was so close to ecstasy? So close to tasting the blood that rivaled the scent Bella had before she was turned?
All too soon, the song ended and she pulled away from him. Luna swayed side to side, smirking as she tip toed to press her lips against his in a heated kiss that tasted like seven types of alcohol – one of which had a little spice in it.
Edward groaned, deepening the kiss and pulling her body to him. She laughed against his lips and slipped her tongue into his mouth, skimming it over his teeth and tongue – exploring his mouth just like his tongue did hers. He was only half aware of the stunned looks his brothers and the wolves gave him, but he couldn't pull away. Luna had him captivated, locked in whatever she wanted him to do.
The taste of her blood spilled onto his tongue and she pulled back, laughing. "Sorry. I think I – or you – bit my lip." She ran her tongue over her bottom lip before disappearing.
Edward felt the warm liquid slide down his throat, tasting of cinnamon and chocolate, with something else underneath it. Something...fruity. He licked his lips, feeling kind light headed as he made his way toward one of the VIP areas.
He collapsed onto the couch and immediately felt the rush of wind in the air that meant his brothers had joined him. "Are you all right, man?," Emmett asked, popping Edward on the face.
He licked his lips and laughed, feeling a little weightless. "Great, Em, I'm glad I came," he said, his words slurred.
His brother's faces froze with shock. "Are you drunk?" Jasper asked incredulous, taking off the paint-splattered sunglasses from Edward's face.
Edward looked up at him quizzically, his face twisting into a comical expression as Jasper sat on the couch next to him. "Emmett," Jasper said, "his pupils are dilated."
"So?"
"I mean, more so than normal when there is minimal light. He's drunk."