She huffed none too softly as the line moved forward. She pulled her jacket closer to her body as another chill ran through her. The short blonde to her right laughed.
"Cold, Eris? I figured all that huffing and puffing would warm you." Amanda and Michelle laugh, looking night and day next to each other, the ebony skin of one playing the light completely differently from the alabaster of the other. Damon just rolled his eyes and took a swig from his flask. He was only here for Amanda after all, and his unrequited puppy love.
"We would already be inside at a haunted house," Eris hissed back. But the entire group knew it wasn't the cold bothering her.
"It's just this once, babe. Just for the hype. Aren't you curious at all?" Michelle popped her gum as Amanda nodded to her words.
"It isn't a zoo, you two. There aren't any bars or cages or safety glass. Also they think like people so maybe an ounce of respect?" Devin grumbled, shaking his head. Another swig. It was only fair, this would likely be a long night for him, but Eris grimaced in any case.
"Hey, don't-"
"Forget to eat the ice once we get inside to stay hydrated." The other three interrupted her, chanting in unison.
"We know, we know. AND! Devin, that;s why we brought Eris. Mommy will keep us safe." Amanda's toothy grin made Eris grind her teeth, but she gave her sweet friend a pat on the head anyway.
"I don't have superhuman strength so no bar fight or getting cornered, kids." She was not looking forward to this. Eris fiddled with her class ring.
"But what if we wanna be cornered?" Michelle wiggled her eyebrows.
"You don't. But if it happens yell, I'll figure something out. Hopefully I'll just...know. And if you wanna take someone home you BRING them to OUR home. Don't go home with anyone. And also-"
"WE KNOW!"
"I'm keepin ya'll dumbasses safe, be kind enough to pretend to care, you gremlins." The line lurched again and they were finally at the front. She yanked her wallet from her pocket and displayed it to the frosty woman at the door. Her blonde hair was carefully shaped, and her shoes made her tower over the majority of those coming in and exiting.
"Eris Fleurmen, Amanda McBriar, Michelle Wurbman, Damon Callister," she nodded and allowed them to pass. Eris felt the cool gaze follow them until they disappeared into the throng of sweating bodies and pulsing light. The four made their way quickly to the bar to gather the fuel for the night.
"Now! Ladies and Damon! Stick close, if I can't touch you you're too far, nobody alone at any time. Have fun and dance!" She threw her arms up briefly as she shouted, and a chorus of 'Yes mooooom' answered her.
They gathered their drinks and moved to the dance floor, careful to glup their drinks down to a manageable volume for dancing. As they danced and played into the night, Eris kept a careful eyes, gently shifting her friends whenever a stranger became too friendly, attempting to keep a bubble of safety around her friends.
She glanced around the club, eyes darting about. She took account of everything. There were the bathrooms, the bar was so many feet from the exit, the stripper pole on the stage was only so many feet from their own dancing position, and then the throne. She felt her throat tighten with an unexplained fear as she looked at the man on the throne. Based on his bored expression, the casualness of his lounging position, and his eyes on the floor, this was a man in charge, a man with power. And a man with power in a place full of vampires was something to be feared, vampire or no.
She kept a mental note to keep a special eye on him. Eris would leave a happy lass if none of her friends even noticed him. But how often did that ever work out? Especially as her own limbs began to warn and her body began to loosen. Maybe she should have gone nonalcoholic.
"Pee!" came a sudden yell, and her hand was seized by Amanda. She gazed back at Michelle and Damon as she was pulled through the crowd by the little spitfire. Surely Damon would keep to the buddy system and follow Michelle about.
She leaned against the wall of the bathroom stall, toying with her empty cup.
"Fantastic Halloween so far, huh? Too bad there aren't any vampires here. None that I've seen anyway!" Amanda called from her stall. Eris hummed.
"Yeah I guess it's too bad. Party till we can't and bounce the new plan?" Eris didn't believe for a moment that the dance floor was void of vampires. If the hairs on the back of her neck and the bumps on her forearms had anything to say about it, there were likely quite a few.
"Oh absolutely, party hard." She hiccuped. Amanda exited the stall and moved to the sink. Eris nodded in approval, and turned to fix her makeup as Amanda washed her hands. She fluffed her thick dark hair quickly before smacking her lips.
A small gasp escaped Eris, and she closed her eyes for a moment. A scene played before her. A dirty alley, a cold blurring moon. The scent of blood and fear drifted through the air, Michelle and myself lay dying, as a tall dark figure closed in on them. Even as the light left Michelle's eyes, and began to fade from hers, she snarled still, and the figure struggled.
"Easy there, pretty thing."
"Mmm, headaches again?" Amanda asked, digging through her purse, likely to help her.
"Oh no no. I thought maybe but uh, it was just, just pressure for a second." She knew she sounded a bit anxious and rushed but she needed to get back to Michelle.
"Alrighty, let's get back out there 'fore the others find trouble and chase it up a tree." Amanda nodded in agreement. They exited the bathroom and fought their way through the crowd back to the dance floor. And of course, Damon was swaying on the dance floor, eyes closed drink in hand, and Michelle was nowhere to be seen. She groaned and slapped Damon's arm.
"Dammit child, I said together! Amanda! Stay. I'll go find her. Stay. Together." Eris eyed them both as they nodded, Damon's eyes bashful and downcast. Rolling her eyes she began her trek. She poked her head into the bathroom with no luck. Chewing the inside of her cheek she returned to the dance floor, phone in hand to her ear as she called her friend as well.
She spun through the crowd expertly, as she'd been doing this for nearly 6 years now. She avoided the touches and gropes and introductions like she was allergic. Not spotting her anywhere in the crowd, the booths were next.
She walked by them casually, the tall tables next, and anxiety began to bloom in her chest. Her eye caught the man on the throne again, and a natural thrill of fear ran through her. What she didn't expect, is when his icy eyes met hers. She felt a strange sort of panic rise up within her. A gripping but quiet fear that told her to back away slowly and not return. She pressed her lips into a narrow line and regarded him for an instant more before turning away. She didn't have time for this. Michelle was her focus now. Michelle. She spared Amanda and Damon a look, they were both exactly where they should be. She nodded.
She moved back to the front of the club and peeled out of the doors. The line had died down an hour or two back and now it was a mostly silent parking lot. Breathing in the chilled air disrupted the strange panic she had felt indoors, but that urgent need remained. She could only guess she had minutes left. Her visions only came minutes in advance unless she concentrated or something Devastating was coming. Eris licked her lips and began to quietly scoot around the building, eyes peeled for her friend.
As she rounded the corner she gasped. Michelle was pressed into a wall, her eyes spelling dazed and confused, as a man loomed over her, groping and whispering. Her hackles raised immediately as she stormed forward.
"Hey that's enough! She obviously isn't sober enough for this, you're done!" She shouted, shoving an arm between them. The man stepped back, likely in surprise more than anything else, and that's when she got a full look at his face, and the fangs poking out of it. She blanched hard, frozen in position for a moment. They simply stared at each other for a moment before the vampire sneered.
"And how the fuck do you have a say in it, girl?" He loomed over her, teeth bared in an intimidation attempt. Eris puffed her chest, backing down would only spell disaster.
"She's with me and we are going." Eris began to pull Michelle's arm, bringing her closer. The vampire shook his head, and his hand shot out, curling around her upper arm. Eris attempted to pull away, but his hand was like an iron trap.
"No one is going anywhere until I get a meal."
"We aren't food!" Eris grasped his hand with her own to pull at it, and flinched in surprise when the vampire screamed, as if burned and flinched away from her. Not wanting to question her good fortune, she yanked Michelle behind her, who seemed to be coming around a bit.
"Listen, Michelle the others, you have to-" Eris was cut off as a blow from behind lifted her from her feet. She crashed back down to the pavement with a strangled cry. Pain blossomed in her shoulder and Michelle screamed.
"You think you can just silver me and walk away? You think you can silver ANYBODY and not face consequences? You really are as stupid as you look."
"Michelle, the others go!" She scrambled back up to her feet, keeping herself between the vampire and the fleeing Michelle. The terror on the poor girl's face hit her heart, but the farther she retreated the less likely the vision became.
"Just me and you then, doll. You ready?" The vampire's hands clenched and unclenched rapidly. She was going to die. She was going to die protecting her friends at a fucking vampire bar. And it wasn't even that fun. She planted her feet and raised her fists. The vampire laughed.
"Well isn't this just hilarious." The driest, deadest voice murmured from behind her.
She licked her dry lips, quickly adjusting her footing to include this second person in her line of sight. Of course it had to be the biggest terror at the bar, tall and blonde. She couldn't help the tremble in her hands or the sweat on the back of her neck, but that didn't make her helpless.
"Alright. Two, then. Okay." She was murmuring softly to herself. To her dead self. Tall and blonde snorted at her and shook his head. Then walked right past her, bumping her roughly as he did so, to address the first vampire. She wasn't dumb enough to stick around. She took one step back, then two. Eris would not be turning her back on these predators.
"Stop moving, I don't want to have to hunt you down next. I have a party to attend." Tall and blonde called to her over his shoulder, not even bothering to look at her. She wobbled indecisively on her feet for a moment, she didn't know what manner of beast she was dealing with, but with most of them if you run, you won't get far. But her car wasn't far. Maybe 300 feet. Maybe-
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a scream of pain from the assaulting vampire, and such an intense sticky fear shot through her veins she couldn't help it. She ran. More cries sounded from behind her, she assumed that meant she wasn't actively being pursued. She nearly tore the handle off the door of her car before she scrambled for her keys.
"Please please please," she chanted as she dug through her purse violently. They aren't here. They aren't here. She could feel herself hyperventilating. Then she realized what she heard, and what she didn't. A soft jingling was sounding behind her, and the sounds of the first vampire had died entirely. She closed her eyes for a moment, just to savor whatever time she had left, and she turned around. Her chest had stopped heaving, as she was holding her breath now.
And there he was. Maybe 6 feet away, so tall, so muscled, and so lethal, staring her right in the face, with her keys dangling from his raised hand. She couldn't run from him outdoors, not at night like this. The game was up.
They regarded each other silently for a moment.
"Well? Aren't you coming to get your keys?" He said it softly, mockingly. Amusement danced in his eyes, even as his face remained stone. She blinked a few times, slowly releasing that held breath, and looking at the ground. She took one slow stuttering step after another until she was before him. She looked into his eyes, watching him carefully as she slowly reached for her keys, like a stray taking food from a stranger. He smiled and tilted his head, before his other hand whipped out and snatched her arm, yanking her flush to him. He did not break eye contact. She watched his pupils blow wide open, and gazed at him in terror and some confusion.
"You're going to go home, and tell your friends how much fun you had tonight. You went home because one of you became ill outside. There was no vampire attack, and you will not tell anyone there was. You went home happy." He was murmuring softly, holding her there.
She blinked.
"O-okay. Yeah. Sure. I think that's fair. I can do that. I'm positive the others will agree. Please just...let me...go home…" she trailed off as he leaned into her, their noses nearly touching. His brows were knitted together.
"Nothing happened."
"Yeah, I get it. I won't say anything. Please." She tugged on her hand. He shook his head, and began to drag her back towards the building.
"No! NO! You said I could go! I agreed! Let me go!" she was shrieking now, clawing at him, she firmly grasped his hand to attempt to pry him off when he hissed, withdrawing sharply. She fell to the ground and scrambled backwards back towards her vehicle. She hadn't even gone a few inches before she felt his foot planted firmly in her back, pinning her to the ground. He tsked at her, nudging her hand with his foot.
"Naughty naughty, look at what we have here. Now what are you doing bringing a thing like that to a place like this?" She was frazzled to the point of snapping and tears, her poor nerves finally broke.
"I didn't do anything! I didn't bring anything! My hand isn't a crime! Let me go!" She shrieked, clawing at him with her free hand to no effect. Ignoring her, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wrapping her hand in it.
"For future reference, silver is offensive to my people," he chuckled, hauling her back to her feet, and then over his shoulder. She groaned and closed her eyes.
"Silver is my favorite," she whispered. "It...burns you. Doesn't it?" He chose then not to reply, hauling her back to the very place she had escaped. She decided going quietly would be the most productive thing at the moment. Entering the establishment he tossed her into an office, telling her not to touch anything before the door closed, a lock clicked into place, and then silence. She tore her phone from her pocket immediately, how did he not take it? She shook her head. Sending messages as quickly as she could. She ripped the stupid hanky off her hand, grumbling. Their allergies aren't her problem. She continued to send messages to Michelle, Amanda, Damon, her boss, and after a few moments of thought, her landlord. If she was in some real shit she would at least like to entertain the possibility the landlord would be a bit understanding.
With a shaky breath she dialed 911. And then she just stared at the numbers, innocently glowing up at her, her thumb hovering over the call button. With a scowl she shoved it back into her pocket. Still not enough to force her to use them.
Next up was escape.