House of Pain
Chapter 4: Werewolf Pain
David Hue had fallen on my floor and quickly scrambled to his feet. He is an insurance claims adjuster and together we created a pack. Even though I'm not a werewolf he gladly wanted to have me in his pack to prevent him from joining a real werewolf pack. It was his choice that he had been a lone wolf because in a pack he had to pick a mate, which is why he chose me because I wouldn't be his mate. For a while it used to be just the two of us but now we have two new members. That came to be when I was looking for the Were artifact and it had a side effect on David which caused him to turn his human girlfriends into werewolves. Some of them didn't survive but two of them did. They had to be part of our pack since David had to teach them the 101 about being a werewolf. Recently, David informed me they had plans to get matching tattoos. I told David that I didn't care but he wanted me to at least take part into choosing the design, since it will go on my skin.
David looked different. His brown hair was starting to grow long, covering part of his eyes and it didn't help that it was a mess as if he hadn't combed it in days. Not only that but he had this scruffy look; apparently David had forgotten to shave for a couple of days. Which I think it suited him. Once on his feet he strode towards me and took me by my arms. I didn't understand at first what he was saying. Slowly I began to catch a few phrases when I realized he was repeating himself.
"You have to help me. Please Rachel, you have to help me."
"David…David…ok…let go. David!" He stopped muttering the same sentence and took a stance back. "Thank you. Slowly tell me what's going on?"
"Our two pack members are missing."
"How do you know they're missing? What if they are visiting their family or maybe even a friend?"
"I know they are missing. After not hearing from them for three days I went to their homes and they have not been there. I could tell by their lingering scent and my nose can distinguish that they have not been at their residence. I called one of their friends and the last time they were seen was at this new club, exactly three days ago." David searched his coat pockets and took out a piece of paper. He unfolded the paper and handed it to me. I noticed it was a flyer. The flyer had red letters written on black paper. I nearly dropped the paper when I read the club's name.
"Are you positive that this is the place where they were last seen?" I asked. I handed the flyer to Ivy, who at first didn't seem to notice the paper or me. Her eyes were fixed on the werewolf before me. I tapped her with the paper until she took it, all without ceasing her view from David.
"Yes, I am. What I know is that this is a vampire club. But according to my source they allow Inderlanders of any type to enter this club. Only as long as they have a vampire in their group."
"I didn't know they knew any vampires?" I thought out loud. Truthfully I didn't know them that well to know if they did know any vampires.
"As far as I know, no. I didn't think of asking her how they got in."
"Funny thing, we were on our way to this club. Seems they like to snatch unsuspecting victims since they managed to get Trent Kalamack." Ivy informed him.
His face looked thoughtful for a few moments. He quickly glanced at her but shifted his eyes at me. She really made him shake in his boots; somehow I believed it was not out of fear. "That explains it."
"What does?" Ivy asked him.
He quickly glanced at her but instead of diverting his eyes he looked at her while he answered her question. "Well, their friend mentioned that inside the club they were offered to buy brimstone. It was offered to everyone, especially to non-vampires."
"They were offered brimstone?" I asked, knowing that Trent dealt in that underground drug business.
"Then it all makes sense," a raspy voice said from down the hall. Quen was making his way slowly towards us, apparently to Ceri's objections. "If these vampires want to put their stuff out on the streets they have to remove their biggest competition."
"That being Trent. What doesn't make sense is their reason to take your young wolves?" Ivy said, turning back to David.
"I…I don't have an answer to that. But this is my only lead. And as far as I was told both girls never bought any of the stuff."
"Maybe these bloodsuckers hate it when someone with brains stays away from that crap," Jenks said from my shoulder.
"If they had brains they would not be in some vampire club," Ivy said, clearly not liking Jenks' term for vampires.
"Ok, brains or not, we are going to this place to get Trent and our two pack members." I said looking at David, which seemed to calm him down.
"I'm going too, Rachel." David responded while fixing his brown coat.
"You could stay with Quen and Ceri, it's better to let us do this."
"Rachel I'm supposed to be the Alpha of our pack. I can't just let them rot in some prison while I sit back and do nothing. I'm going with or without you," he said with a hint of growl and in such an authoritative tone that I have to say it seemed to work for Ivy who garnered more interest. His eyes shimmered in that amber color some Weres seem to have. He has been a werewolf for a long time and should be good at keeping the wolf at bay, but apparently this was causing him to lose control since I saw a glimmer of his wolf.
"Ok, ok, you can come along. Just don't go all wolfie on me."
He smiled at that. He looked down at his outfit and then at us. He had brown cargo pants, a white button shirt, and his leather brown coat. He must've noticed that Ivy and I were dressed all in black, of course with the exception of Jenks. Then again no one in the club might notice him besides us. That can be good or bad for a pixy. They like to be treated like everyone else but there are those who plainly ignore pixies. However tonight it will be a good thing, since we need Jenks to infiltrate to find us an entrance to their restricted area.
"Is black a mandatory color?" David asked, to no one in particular.
"You look fine like that," Ivy said. There was that hungry look again. This time I can guarantee that it was not for blood, rather for my werewolf friend here. "Enough of this chit chat, lets get going."
Ivy tied her trench coat and grabbed us from our arms and pulled us out. I think Ms. Tamwood did this so she could have an excuse to touch David. As far as I know, Ivy has had a crush on David for as long as I've known him. David seems to know this and has been careful to avoid her since he tends to become uneasy around her. I do wonder if it could mean something? I know I'm just being an instigator. Don't blame me if I would like to see one of my good friends happy with someone who doesn't hate me and/or is trying to kill me, like her ex-girlfriend. Besides I know David pretty well and he is nice. And as far as I know he is not dating the two missing werewolves anymore.
Although when we met he did mentioned that he never dated outside his species, except for humans. Like if I wanted to date him! He said he wanted to make it clear to me. I let it go, since I was not in the market shopping for a potential werewolf boyfriend. Then I wondered why is it that he always tried to avoid Ivy? When he visits he never wants to step in the house and is always in a hurry. Now I wonder if he might possibly have a crush on Ivy? She is an attractive woman after all. She is tall and leggy, with her silky dark straight hair, and an envious flawless skin. I think if she was a Were, David would be all over her. Maybe he is just nervous about her being a vampire. Two predators dating? That would be interesting.
We all got in Ivy's sports car, and then she peeled out towards the new club. Only then did it hit me that Quen never told us where this club was located. I sure hoped that Ivy got the information when she spoke with Cormel. I saw her weave throughout the city until I recognized the area, which was near the Ohio River. It was then when she pulled up on a half full parking lot that we had arrived at the House of Pain. The building faced away from the riverfront, on the left of the building there was an alleyway that led towards the back. Hmm? Easy access to the river to dump any undesired pests? The large parking lot was on the front of the newly remodeled building. House of Pain was a two-story tall brick building, the bricks on the outside had been painted black and the club's name was in red neon lights that resembled bloody letters. There were enough parking spaces yet we parked as far as possible. We remained in the car and discussed the matter before hand.
"Quen said they entered through the back door. Which means that their offices are accessiblethrough there. And since we are dealing with vampires, most likely they have to have an underground lair." Ivy said.
"It doesn't seem like we will be able to sneak in from the back. The best thing to do is to scope the front area while Jenks searches a way for us to go into their back offices."
"You got it. Just leave it to me." Jenks said from my earring.
"Then let's get going." I said opening the passenger door.
David had sat behind me so once I got out I had to move the seat forward to let him out. We then trailed behind Ivy who turned out to be our ticket inside. Jenks was well hidden in the collar of my jacket. There are two reasons for that, one is to keep him from being seen and secondly to hide from the cool night. As we approached the entrance I noticed that the bouncer did not look like the typical muscle looking types. He was thin, pale, and shirtless. On the latter I figured it was to show off all the multiple piercings on his body. They were on his nipples and belly button. He even had some circular rings pierced on the skin that ran down from his shoulder all the way to his forearm. A long chain connected each ring together. I was able to notice that he had some surgically inserted spikes that ran on his spine. No wonder he was shirtless. Imagine wearing a shirt over all that metal?
Lucky for us there wasn't a line, which I was willing to bet it had to do with this place being new. The bouncer looked at us, he automatically knew what Ivy was. He stepped around Ivy to get a good look at David and me. Satisfied with us, he nodded to let us in, but before we made it all the way he flashed us his fangs. I turned away, not because I was afraid but because if I looked at his cocky face I would punch him or do another silly action and in turn we would lose our cover. Instead I continued to follow Ivy. We got in without a hitch. Once we passed the threshold to the House of Pain I was ready for business. Time to save that elf yet again.
To be continued…