Chapter 10

They didn't stay up there long. I imagine Jesse rushed to get rid of her. He couldn't just be immune to her. It I had stayed any longer I'd be obsessing over her neck and that mouth and the way her hair was pulled up just right.

Fuck.

I need to stop that.

And what was that in the bath.

Shit… Being a vampire is really making me more sexual than I'm used to. And I'm a pretty sexual person. I usually act on impulse. Except, of course, with Aubrey and Beca. I've never tried anything with Beca, even though there's a lot there between us. And with Aubrey I don't want to ruin things, it's better if she's in charge, always better.

Beca came down in a hurry before Jesse. She walked in front of me and squatted in front of me to touch me knees and speak softly. All of a sudden I could smell her like she was food.

Food. That was it.

We were full when Beca came over but that was beginning to slowly wear off.

I got it.

It made sense.

Beca's skin on mine sent shocks all through me and I got goosebumps immediately and twitched.

"Shit," she said. "Chloe, I need you to talk to me okay?"

"I, yeah, I mean, sure," I said, shaking my head. But I couldn't think with her hand on me and her scent wafting up and teasing me. I was ultimately distracted by her.

"Chloe, what the hell is going on?!" Beca was pissed.

"Look," I said, leveling with her. Unlike Aubrey, Beca was the sort of person that understood when people needed time and space from one another. She was always pushing people away. "There is something going on but I need time to figure it out. It's sort of well… It's medical," I said.

"Oh my God," Beca said, her face dropping.

"Do you have Cancer? Are you okay?"

"Beca," I laughed. "Believe me, it's not as dire as that. You sound just like Aubrey."

"So Aubrey knows?" Beca seemed upset again. She hated when I would tell Aubrey things and not tell her. She didn't trust Aubrey with me, which was crazy but it was very Beca to think that way.

"I haven't told her," I said. "You know more right now and believe me that's only because I don't want you to get the wrong idea of why I've been staying with Jesse. Beca, I would never-"

"Oh, I know," she said, her face going dark as her eyes trailed off and stared out into space. She bit the nail on her thumb and seemed to be thinking. The whole while though she never removed her hand from my knee and it burned hot in a good way. I could feel myself breathing faster and harder, my heart pumping. Being a vampire wasn't very different from being human. If anything it was just more extreme.

A normal conversation like this with Beca would delight me and turn me on a smidge but this was ridiculous. I could feel a drop of sweat falling from my collarbone down between my breasts. I could feel my face flushed with blood even though I was unsure if blood still ran through me.

What did any of it mean?

It seemed to just mean I was turned on.

I needed to get to that man.

Jesse fumbled down the stairs and shoved his wallet in his back pocket.

"Beca," he said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Jesus! I'm going!" She said standing.

"If you need anything," she said, standing back from me but starting with intensity and concern. I could tell she didn't really want to leave.

"I'll text you, I promise," I said.

If tonight didn't work I'd probably be in a world of trouble and in need of a friend.

As Beca left I shot Aubrey a basic text.

I'm going to see Danny again. Please don't worry about me. I am very sorry Aubrey. For everything. And I do miss you.

Whatever was going on between us, it wasn't safe. I needed to force distance, at least for now.

~~

The club was even busier tonight than it usually was. That was going to make finding the vampire even harder. We were waiting in line and I just prayed that I didn't see anyone I knew, though it was a distinct possibility. If I happened to run into one or more of the Bellas the fact that I was here and with Jesse would get straight back to Aubrey.

That was why I tried to look inconspicuous. I hadn't even had a chance to go get clothes but at least Jesse lent me a t-shirt. The jeans I was wearing were getting kinda old but it wasn't too bad. There were bigger things to worry about. The line moved and we shuffled forward. Not much longer now.

"So, if we see him then we can just go up to him and politely ask for some answers."

I was going over the plan. I needed to go over the plan.

"Uh… are you sure we shouldn't do this my way. There's two of us and I don't know about you but I feel a lot stronger than I used to be."

"Violence is not the answer." I rattled off the cliche and punctuated it with an eye roll. "Let's just see what happens. I'm really not feeling up to any kind of fighting." Not that I ever was. I was more of the lover type.

We made it to the bouncer and Jesse paid our cover charge. Thank god, I'd somehow managed to hang on to my ID. He checked it and secured a neon pink bracelet around my arm and made two big black X marks on Jesse's hands.

Inside it was insane. People were packed into the dance area and the bar wasn't much better. It was the only club near Barden and they did good business. College kids did love their jiggle juice.

"Okay, where should we start looking?"

I shrugged and pointed. The bar is good. At least we can hang off to the side and have a view of the dance floor. He came up to me at the bar. I'd never really thought about how the guy got Jesse but if it was the same way he got me.

"Wait, where did you meet him?"

The question kind of hung there with implication.

"Here," he said. But I could tell he was hiding something.

"Yeah, but where," I fought. "If we want to find him before he gets someone we might want to retrace the scene of the crime."

"Eh," just wiggled a bit. He didn't like the question. "It happened in the bathroom," he said.

"Oh no…" Poor thing.

"Yeah, it was weird," he said. "Fast but weird."

"Were you attracted to him?" I didn't think it was odd to ask but Jesse's face seemed to betray him and tell me things that he never would've said.

"It doesn't matter," he shrugged. "You know how vampires are."

"Sweet and dodgy," I joked. I liked to see Jesse outside of a theater. He was cute in his awkward way and I was starting to really get why Beca liked him. Twice now he'd tried to help me instead of pawning me off onto someone else. A lot of people wouldn't have been that kind to someone else.

"Ha!" Jesse said, noticing at once that I had paid him a compliment all of a sudden.

"Wait," I said, a sense of something came over me. There was something in the air and it was calling me to turn and see. I touched Jesse's arm and looked upwards to see that he felt and smelt it too. He took my hand and we both turned to see.

"It's him," Jesse said.

"Yup," I breathed back feeling all at once enticed by that creepy man's presence again.

We watched but I couldn't move.

"Are you stuck?" I asked.

"Yup," Jesse said.

The man with the magic looked to both of us subtly and gave a small nod. Immediately we hurried to sit on the barstools behind us. Out of nowhere a waitress came and dropped too drinks in front of us without even taking our order.

The three of us said nothing but we all stared back at the man.

"He's sexy," I huffed.

"Tell me about it," the waitress gulped. She must've been bitten too. She seemed equally paralyzed.

"What is he doing to you?" I asked Jesse.

"I'll give you one guess," he said. But he was too controlled to feel uncomfortable about it.

The man walked up the stairs to the stage where a few other guys were waiting. They didn't have his allure, not in my opinion.

"Alright, this is a very special night for those who don't know." The man squinted and he seemed to be looking right at us. "We've got a few of the gang together," he said. All of a sudden I felt myself stand-up. When I moved my eyes to the left I noticed that Jesse was standing too.

"Holy shit, what's happening," he gritted through smiling teeth.

"We've been meaning to get together like this for a while but it's been a long time in the making," the man lied.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's okay, I'm with you," Jesse said. I felt his hand in mine and I squeezed. I was nervous but only because I had little to no control over my own body.

Jesse and I began to walk.

"This sucks," he said.

"I know," I said.

There was clapping as we made our way through the crowd that basically made a path for us with great ease.

"And here are the two mystery members. Give it up for Chloe and Jesse!"

We walked up the steps and suddenly control came back to us. I watched Jesse touch his chest and stomach awkwardly.

"You good?" I asked.

"Yeah," he smiled and scoffed. "What are we doing?" I heard Jesse grumble to the man.

"What you do best, monkey," he said.

"What did you just-"

"Calm down princess," the man said. That need for him returned to me but so did my anger and it was a dangerous mix. I could feel myself wanting to simultaneously kill and ride this strange man. He was handsome but his behavior was repulsive.

"You've got some nerve," I said.

"Just sing," he said. "I know you want to."

Suddenly I did want to.

Fucking bastard…

He was controlling us. Just like Dracula would or Edward or whomever, who even cares? He was making us doing things! Making us WANT to do things.

I could scream if I wasn't so suddenly excited to fucking sing.

I wanted to growl and fight him but instead when I opened my mouth the only thing that came out was a song.

But then the music started and I was ready. I looked at Jesse and knew. We were both smiling like we were insanely happy.

"I HATE THIS!" I said, smiling sick through my teeth.

"IT'S HORRIBLE!" He said back, his smile contagious.

We knew the song.