Andy had already passed his cups off to Gretchen and Sarah, and was now casually drinking from his, steadily eyeballing Sully over the rim of the glass every time he took a sip. A hint of arrogance leaked from Andy. I was willing to bet he thought he had won an invisible competition between Sully and him, and I was also willing to bet if Sully told Gretchen he wanted her right now, she would take him up on the offer in a heartbeat.
The strong taste of vodka stung my tongue, leaving a trail of heat down my throat. I coughed a couple times which seemed to lessen the burn.
And so, our Halloween night had begun. How was this night going to end? I couldn’t even answer my own question, and that scared me to death.
More than two hours had already passed by since we first arrived at the Fall Harvest Dance, and Davin was still a no show. So, after a few dances -provoked by more than a couple of Robbie’s tainted drinks- I was ready to retreat to a local club called Cult (an oddly fitting name) when Andy suggested we should ditch this boring social.
“We’ll have some real fun there, and they don’t even card you. Butch just says be prepared to have our asses handed to us by him in the back alley if we get caught.” Andy slurred his words slightly. I wasn’t sure if he needed anymore, but I was ready to get out of this place ASAP.
“Who’s Butch?”
“The bartender, he’s a friend of my brothers.”
Sully leaned over whispering in my ear. “Are you sure drinking is something you should be doing tonight? It would be wise to be as alert as possible, since you are marked for death by a werewolf and your best friend.”
I glared at him. What nerve he had to mention Xander in that way again, when he knew how angry it made me!
“So are you, if I recall. I believe it was anyone with the last name Ashford. Who knows, maybe he’ll get to you first.”
He shook his head refusing to argue with me.
Bernadette was still lingering by the entrance as we made our exit.
“So, I see Davin stood you up.” She smirked, causing my face to heat up.
“No, he just didn’t want to deal with a juvenile stalker. He said you just never give up; it’s really quite sad.” I made a pouty face at her, giving her the finger on my way out the door.
Even though I had insulted Sully, he still kept himself wedged in between her and I, to ensure I went out the door completely without ripping her head off on the way. Robbie followed swiftly behind him.
Gretchen, Sarah, and Andy had already managed to make it out the door.
After getting into the Mustang, I was once again stuck with Sully in awkward silence. I decided I wasn’t going to be the icebreaker this time, mainly because I was still mad about his prior remark about Xander.
Where did he get off telling me I shouldn’t drink anyway? He was here to escort me around, making sure nothing happened to me until Davin came home, not give me unwanted advice, and throwing out unnecessary comments.
“You and Bernadette should hook up. You’re both jerks.”
Okay, so not being the icebreaker didn’t necessarily go as I had planned. He looked at me and shook his head smiling.
“Stop taking everything I say to heart, Adelay. But you are in denial about Xander. True, I don’t know him, but your visions and the absence of communication with him is not a good sign. It’s human nature to not accept the possibility of such an unfortunate outcome. We’re vampires. We have been around for a long, long time, and have witnessed things that would make your blood curdle with so much fear that you would never leave the confinement of your frilly little bedroom. Everything isn’t rainbows and lollipops when you live amongst the damned.”
Is that how he thought I perceived the world, rainbows and lollipops? I wasn’t going to ask his pompous ass, so instead I huffed, looking outside the passenger window watching my breath send little puffs of steam onto the glass then disappearing every time I inhaled.
Cult was nestled in an alleyway between two buildings just on the outside of Main St. Déjà vu rippled my insides, but I couldn’t quite place what was giving me such an overwhelming case of the heebie jeebies. Bright neon crackled from the sign hanging above the steel door, and small concrete steps led us into the underground club.
The subtle smell of incense filled the musty air when we walked into the joint that was packed from wall to wall with sweaty bodies, and a cloud of smoke thick enough to part with my hands if I tried. Moisture trickled off of the bodies on the dance floor, adding to the humid heat in the room. The scene of the club was a lot darker than I pictured, giving off a little bit of a Gothic flavor.
Black lipstick, big boots and leather were definitely welcome. What struck me strange was the fact that Andy, Robbie, Gretchen and Sarah were comfortable in a place like that. Sully seemed to brighten up the second we walked inside compared to the crappy school dance. When he broke away to get himself a glass of wine from the bar, I was actually able to take a deep breath without feeling like I was breathing for the both of us.
Gretchen approached me with a red fluorescent drink as soon as he walked off.
“So what’s with Sully sticking to you like glue? It’s not like something is going to happen to you when there’s like at least five of us
