Chapter Five: Mariah

Loud heavy metal music blared from the speakers. Danny could feel the bass beat thumping in his chest. At least thirty or forty people were gyrating together on the dance floor. A strobe light made them go in slow motion. The seating was blood red leather, with black marble tabletops polished to a shine. Along the wall, red light panels placed every few feet gave the place a distinctly eerie glow. Up against the wall near the dance floor was a giant waterfall, lit from behind with a red light, making the water appear almost like Kool-Aid, except Danny was relatively sure what it was supposed to represent wasn't a kiddie drink. Most of the booths were filled.

"Okay!" he yelled above the music. "Hawkes, how about going over to the bar, see what you can get outta them? Lindsay and I are gonna go make some new friends."

Hawkes waved and disappeared over into the corner near the blacked-out window.

Danny turned to Lindsay and gave her hand a squeeze. "Ready?"

She nodded, looking around at the people. Based on looks alone, they all looked like potential suspects. "Yeah!"

Danny decided on the corner booth in the back opposite the door. He and Lindsay threaded their way through the people on the dance floor, earning them some "die" looks. There were two girls seated in the booth by themselves. "Anyone sittin' here?" Danny yelled over the music.

The couple of girls in the booth eyed him warily. "Whatever," said a girl with spiked black hair. Danny slid into the booth, Lindsay following.

The girl next to Spike looked very out of place. She was younger, Danny was almost positive she wasn't 21. She had long blonde hair, and he thought her eyes might have been blue, but couldn't really tell. She wore a low cut red tanktop and an equally short gray skirt. "You ladies come here often?" Danny asked.

"Nothin' better to do on a Friday night," Spike replied.

Lindsay looked at the blonde. "How 'bout you?"

She shook her head. "First time." Her eyes kept glancing around the room.

She doesn't want to be here, Lindsay noted. She slid an arm around Danny's waist and felt him respond by scooting closer and tightening the muscles in the arm that was holding her other hand. It made her feel more confident. He was there. Nothing was going to happen he wasn't ready for.

"How'd you hear about this place?" Lindsay asked them.

Spike cast a glance over to the dance floor. "See the tall guy out there? With the earring?"

Danny followed her gaze over and settled upon a tall guy, at least 6'4", with spiked blonde hair and a diamond stud. He had at least two girls hanging all over him, but a crowd of people around. He had an air of authority around him, but it wasn't a respected authority. It seemed more like...fear. "Yeah?"

"He's my dad," Spike said. "Owns the place."

"What's his name?" Danny asked her.

"Dalon Gareth," Spike said. "What's it to you?"

Danny held up his hand. "Nothin'," he said. "Me and my girl here," he pulled Lindsay tighter, and she played it up by resting her head near his ear, "heard about it from a friend of hers. I think she came here a lot. Her name was Gennifer Holland."

Lindsay caught the flicker of recognition in the blonde's eyes. Spike, however, only shrugged. "Don't know her."

Lindsay turned Danny's head toward hers. "Think I'm gonna go dance." She looked at the blonde girl. "Come on. Let's go!" She pulled the girl to her feet and led her out to the dance floor.

The beat was strong, and Lindsay began moving her hips to the music. "This place is off the hook!" she yelled to the girl.

The girl didn't look much like dancing. She stared at the floor, the walls, anything but Lindsay.

"What?" Lindsay asked.

In a voice barely above a whisper, almost near impossible to hear, she spoke. "Gennifer couldn't tell you about this place. Gennifer is dead," she said finally.

Lindsay stopped moving. "How did you know Gennifer?" she asked her, dropping the act at once.

"She goes to school with me," she replied. "She came here one night with a boy…and the next day we all found out she was dead."

"What are you doing here?" Lindsay asked her.

"I…I thought maybe I could find something out about how she died."

Lindsay grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "My name is Lindsay Monroe," she said. "I'm from the Crime Lab." She slipped her business card from her pocket and showed it to the girl. "I'm going over there to get my partner," she said, pointing. "Stay right here." She was in over her head. Lindsay wanted to get her out before she did something stupid.

The girl nodded.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

"Mariah."

"Okay, Mariah. I'll be right back. Stay here." Lindsay threaded her way through the crowd and back to the corner booth. "Hey, baby," she told Danny, "I'm not feelin' all that hot. How about we move the party back to your place?"

Danny could tell by her tone that something was up. He nodded. "Yeah, all right. Ain't much privacy here, anyway." He nodded to Spike. "Nice talkin' to ya." Spike only rolled her eyes. Danny slid out of the booth and put a hand on Lindsay's waist. "What's up, Montana?" he asked as they slid away into the crowd.

"The girl, the blonde, Mariah. We need to get her out of here. Now." Lindsay said. She looked around. "Oh no."

"What?" Danny asked.

Lindsay had just reached the spot where she'd left Mariah. The girl was nowhere to be found. "Danny, I told her to wait here."

He looked around. "I'm not seeing her." Then he had a thought. "Outside. Come on." He took her hand and led her through the crowd and over to the door.

Sheldon Hawkes watched Danny and Lindsay's every move. When he saw them bolting for the door, he knew something was wrong. He paid for his drink and followed his coworkers out the door, ignoring the advances of a very buxom female with pale skin and dark hair. He chased them down the street. "Danny. Lindsay." The streets of New York seemed especially quiet after leaving the bass-beat and body infested Darkness Falls.

The two of them turned around. "Hawkes," Danny said. "Come on. We have to find the girl."

"What girl?" Sheldon asked. There was a sense of urgency in Danny's voice, adding to the feeling of foreboding that had been working its way through Sheldon Hawkes since they'd gotten to the club.

"Her name is Mariah. She came here looking for Gennifer Holland's killer," Lindsay said. "I told her to stay put…I don't know where she went."

Then they heard someone scream.

The three CSIs broke into a run, following the sounds. As they ran, Danny couldn't help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu. Whoa, hold on. I know this area. He slowed. Lindsay nearly crashed into him. "Danny? Why are we stopping?"

"Shhh," Danny whispered to her. "This is the spot in my nightmares. Right around this corner. Just trust me."

Lindsay did. Danny led the way. Sure enough, they rounded the corner, just in time to see Mariah in the grips of a man. He had his head bent over her. "Hey! NYPD!" Danny yelled. He pulled his gun from his waistband (another reason he'd left his shirt untucked) and aimed.

The person on top of Mariah turned around and growled-yes, growled- at the three CSIs. The other weird part…his eyes were glowing. They were a deep golden color.Danny stared, shell-shocked. He heard Sheldon swear under his breath. In one movement, whatever it was had jumped ten feet onto a fire escape. Another twenty foot jump and it was on the rooftop, and gone into the city night.

Danny looked at Lindsay, who was holding a sobbing Mariah in her arms. Lindsay looked back at him. Sheldon was looking at the roof, trying to see if he could spot the...whatever it was.

"What in the hell was that?" Danny demanded.