Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife) (12 page)

"You need me," it wasn’t exactly what Jennifer had said but she shrugged it off, it seemed to
give her some confidence, "I can do this."

"Alright, let’s go," Jennifer paused to pull the cross from around her neck, it wouldn’t be doing
her any favors where a vampire could see it. She tucked it in her pocket and headed off in front of the
medium again hoping there wouldn’t be any more delays. She figured it would be best if she take
initiative and lead the way, she hoped that letting Marcia see her walking forward without faltering
would encourage the other woman to remain steady. This time however Marcia didn’t even try to walk
beside her she stayed behind Jennifer like she was some sort of human shield. Nice to know she was
good for something, though the type in Crimson Desire didn’t use guns much so a human shield
wouldn’t be of much use. She was almost tempted to laugh but thought better of it because she
couldn’t be sure how it might effect Marcia. She was glad that Marcia was taking the club and what
she’d warned her about seriously, it might save their lives, she didn’t want to jeopardize that by
laughing.

She didn’t expend time with the line, just started maneuvering her way forward to get to the
front. If people didn’t like it that was their problem, she needed to be inside tonight not tomorrow,
which would be about as long as they’d be standing out here if they waited in the line. More than a few
people told her what she could do with herself for cutting, she was thrilled that verbal abuse was all they
were willing to try because physical wouldn’t have ended well for them. Still Marcia had to hold onto
her in order to keep up and not get swallowed into the crowd.

"Won’t someone recognize you," Marcia cried over the general hustle and bustle of the crowd.
Surrounded by the people waiting to get in, and swearing at them for cutting there was no way to be
sure that Jennifer heard her so she repeated herself with more volume. "Jennifer, what if one of them
recognizes you?"

Jennifer took a second and looked back at the medium, "don’t worry, I killed most of the
bouncers that knew who I was the last time I was here." She smiled but Marcia didn’t smile back, she
looked almost mortified at the thought, oh well, she’d meant it to comfort. The memory wasn’t exactly
a happy one for her either, but it was one that she lived with. The clubs previous owner may have
taken some of her friends but he’d paid the price. The lives of her company came at a high price, it
cost him and a good majority of his close followers their lives. Ending him had almost killed her, but it
had proved to be worth it. The loss of some of her team had felt like more than a blow, it was a weight
that was trying to bury her, unfortunately taking his life hadn’t made that weight any lighter.

  She had convinced herself that she’d survived the ordeal because that was what some higher
power wanted, but in the end she knew it was because fear had gotten the better of her and so she’d
failed. There would always be a large part of her that regretted the way things had gone down that day
but she also knew that one way or another Nickolei had to die, no matter the cost. Marcia didn’t
understand just yet that peace with these creatures could only be found in killing them, and that was
alright, killing was her job not Marcia’s. "It will be okay," she assured her and prayed to whatever
higher power that there was that they wouldn’t make her a liar.

            
She turned her attention back to plowing through the crowd, pushing all memories of her past
here away. If she thought about it, she might just remind herself how scary this place really was and
somebody would probably sniff her out through that alone. She couldn’t afford to be afraid, not when
Marcia was giving off enough of that all on her own. Fear was natural, but you could suppress it and it
was comforting in a way to know that the thing that she had feared most here was dead now, he didn’t
have any power over her fear anymore. Jennifer could only hope that whoever or whatever had taken
over management here wasn’t something worse.

            
  She shook the thought off and shoved to the front of the line dragging Marcia up beside her.
She’d never seen the bouncer at the door before which seemed like a given, in any case it increased
their chances of getting in unnoticed. He had salty hair slicked back behind his head, eyes covered by
sunglasses in the middle of the night, as only the best of tools did. If that wasn’t overkill enough he
wore a black wife beater that looked too small for him, it stretched over his frame to reveal his rippling
pectorals. Both of his arms were covered in a collage of tattoos, he looked like your typical biker
tough guy. When he waved the two of them forward she didn’t hesitate, just marched forward with
Marcia in tow and went in the door past him. "All it takes is a pretty face," she looked back at Marcia
as they walked through the entrance. You had to cross through a tunnel to get into the actual club, it
was flooded with the same red light that consumed the night outside. Red was sort of their theme here,
red or black lights. Marcia looked horrified that they had actually gotten in this easily, like it should
have been harder. "Nobodies going to ambush us Marcia, you better take a breath."

            
"I’m claustrophobic," Marcia admitted with no conviction. Jennifer understood what it was to
be afraid, and understood that this tunnel despite the brightness of the blood red lights felt as though the
walls were closing in.

            
"We better get this over with then, it’s going to be packed in there, not a whole lot of room if
you know what I mean." She regretted bringing the woman in with her now, she should have sent her
home. At least now if someone sensed her fear she had an excuse, she was claustrophobic. She sped
her pace through the tunnel, she didn’t much like it either but it suited the club. When she spotted the
two guys at the doors at the end of the tunnel she was tempted to duck out of sight incase one of them
happened to know her but neither seemed to notice the two of them. Probably because they were both
petite women with pretty faces, lucky them for tonight. She could already hear the pulsing of the music
blaring behind the double doors that the next two burly men guarded. She swallowed the last of her
tension as she passed by the two guards at the door, dragging Marcia with her every step.

            
 The club seemed to throb with the beat of the music, the room flashed red then was covered in
the odd luminescence of a black light. The lights strobing in and out of the two spectrums while people
danced wildly with the music was disorienting. She had to wait a minute for her eyes to adjust to the
flashes of colors before she could see clearly. The place was jam-packed with people and though the
building must have had the air conditioning up all the way body heat seemed to overwhelm the cold.
Marcia had a solid grip on her hand, Jennifer looked back at her and wondered if she was still afraid
after they’d left the tunnel. The other woman’s grip on her was so tight she didn’t think her fingers were
getting any circulation, and she was going to need both hands. She gently pulled her hand away from
Marcia and turned to face her so they could hear each other over the booming music. "I need my hand,
just follow close to me," Marcia nodded but she looked a little horrified at the idea of being by herself
going through the crowd. Jennifer almost felt bad having to take her hand away but she had no choice.
She needed her hands open if they ran into trouble. She knew exactly where to find who she was
looking for, and she needed to look as intimidating as she could if she was going to get anything out of
him, holding someone else’s hand would sort of take away from that image on its own. "Stay close," she
warned before moving to maneuver through the dancing mob. She could have gone around the side of
the floor where there were tables and it would be easy to get through but Phiaeas might spot her if she
went through a clearing, she wasn’t going to make it easy on him.

            
Phineas Toemac, had been one of her regular contacts in this darker part of the world before
Nickolei had almost killed them, them being Phineas and herself for his trying to help her. He’d made it
very clear to her that he was finished with his good streak after that, he’d even sworn he’d be willing to
kill her if it meant he could redeem himself that way. Of course he hadn’t, maybe he would have tried if
she hadn’t killed Nickolei before he could tell anyone else that he’d been passing on valuable information
to her. Past was past and she’d told him she wouldn’t use him again unless it was necessary and it was
hell of necessary now.

            
She wished that she didn’t have to bring him into it, he could be a real pain in the ass but all
together he was the only monster she’d met that didn’t kill just for fun, or at least not that she’d seen.
She could already see Phineas behind the bar, he looked just as she remembered, but then they always
did. He still had shaggy dirty-blond hair and a lean face. One that could almost look sinister if he didn’t
look so happy all of the time. She should know, she’d seen him unhappy plenty enough times to know
that he looked like more of a threat than he really was when he was angry.

            
She couldn’t really get a good look at his eyes from here but she knew what they looked like. A
long time ago cataract had consumed his eyes, he had been blind as a human, when she’d met him he
couldn’t see. But after his change of occupation his eyes were better than new if not a little freaky, it had
been worth it to him. Unfortunately he never recovered the color of his iris’s, his eyes had been a nice
normal shade of blue once. Now they were devoid of color, literally a clear crystal. She wasn’t sure
what she’d give up to be able to see if she was blind, but her soul wouldn’t have been in that category.
He used to be a teacher at one of the Christian churches in the area, he’d lost that job after he’d gone
blind. Now he was here, he could see and he was a bartender. Not a step up in her opinion but it had
been his choice and he thought that his sight was worth it. He didn’t see her coming straight for him, so
either his vision wasn’t holding up so well, or she was right and he wasn’t focusing on the dance floor for
customers. It was too crowded for him to pinpoint her out, she didn’t bother to take her time, if he saw
her he’d probably run hollering to the guards if she wasn’t close enough to stop him.

            
It was a shame that he was afraid of her because she got him in trouble, she didn’t take it
personally, she was actually rather thrilled that it meant she wouldn’t have to play nice. The people he
worked for weren’t exactly forgiving, if he was suspected of something twice, more than likely it would
cost him his life. She took a glance back to make sure that Marcia had kept up, the other woman
wasn’t less than a foot away. Jennifer stopped as she reached the counter, turning her back on the bar
to ensure that Phineas wouldn’t recognize her from this distance. "I need you to walk up to the bar and
distract the bartender for me."

            
"Where are you going to be," Marcia asked with a confusion that was bordering on terror. She
clearly didn’t want to be left alone, why that was Jennifer didn’t ask. Given the look on her co-workers
face she could easily imagine it had something to do with what ever it was she picked up from her vibes
or future reading crap. In either case Jennifer’s only concern was whether that was going to get between
what they needed to accomplish and how. There were too many horrible things taking place under their
feet to name and if that was going to stop Marcia cold then she wasn’t going to be of any use tonight.

            
"I’ll be close, just distract him," she gave Marcia’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze then headed
off through the crowd to angle around the bar. She didn’t want Phineas to see her while she was coming
for him, quiet was what she needed, not that anybody would hear him over this music.

Chapter 9

Marcia approached the bar timidly at first, she’d be lucky if this was the easiest thing that
Jennifer asked her to have to do tonight. Jennifer had asked her not to be afraid, she couldn’t help it
now. She took a deep, cleansing breath and strode to the bar, trying to put as much natural sway into
her walk as she could. Just another night out with the girls, you’re trying to pick-up guys that’s all.
Distract a bartender, she could do that without a problem, she was confident and beautiful and she knew
it, and helpless looking as hell, guys always loved that.

She watched the man behind the counter smile as the song changed, apparently he knew the
thumping rhythm that came on next. He swayed to the beat of the song for a moment, matching the
rhythm perfectly with the motion of his body. It was only then that she realized how attractive the older
man was. He was definitely near thirty-five, lean hard chiseled face, the cleft on his chin made his
features look even more so as if it were made of stone. His slender muscular legs and waist were
concealed by a pair of grey leather pants that looked like they’d been spray painted unto his body. His
torso was covered by a loose dark burgundy shirt that was unbuttoned and revealed his hairless chest.
Though his chest was muscular he was also very thin and he looked almost frail despite the muscles that
shifted with his swaying body. Her outfit didn’t look right in this place she realized by just looking at
him. During her approach she unbuttoned the coat that matched her skirt so well and slipped the it off
her shoulders to reveal the spaghetti strap shirt underneath. It was black and looked a little more like
something one wore out on the town, showing a little more skin seemed appropriate and would probably
catch his attention faster. She draped the coat over her arm and leaned over the bar playing every
innocent gesture into the movement that she could. He seemed oblivious of her while his body flowed
with the music. "I love this song!" she called over the beat to him. When he looked up at her she was
shocked into silence by his eyes, the irises were like two diamonds surrounding the pupils. He smiled at
her expression as if he knew exactly what she was thinking when she saw those eyes. Him smiling was
even more attractive then him in solemn concentration while he danced.