Thayne
Things had taken a sudden change in the right direction. Thank fuck!
I’d been sat at the bar talking to Dean, the barman, who had warmed up to me since I’d broken up the large fight that had been getting closer and closer to his bar by the second. Apparently he’d only just had the top replaced after the last big fight cracked it, and he didn’t want the new one to get even a scratch on it. We’d been deep in conversation, a young familiar named Pippa snuggled in his arms smiling up at him lovingly when Gideon approached me, his hair in disarray as if he’d been pulling at it, his fists clenched at his sides.
Pippa took one look at the Master vampire’s face and departed quickly. I didn’t blame her. He didn’t seem euphoric. What had I done now to piss him off now?
Coming up beside me, he mumbled something that I didn’t quite catch. “What?”
Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, he repeated, “Do you still want that job?”
“What?” I laughed. “Just a few hours ago you were giving me my marching orders.”
“Yes, well, things changed.”
Yep, like my saving his club from destruction.
I was just wondering why he’d changed his mind, what could have happened to make his stubborn ass offer me a job when the three vampires from his security team pushed their way over.
“Well?”
“Is he taking the job?”
“Have you stopped being a fucking ass yet?”
I had to try seriously hard to keep my face straight with that last one.
Face flushing with anger and frustration, he reluctantly asked, “So do you still want the job or not?”
“You haven’t told me what the job is yet?” I smiled. I shouldn’t really tease him, but it was just so much fun.
“Security… and training this bunch.”
I could have refused. Could have made him stew and beg. But I needed the job, and they really did need the help. Not that I was going to tell him that. With employment in this place, I’d have the perfect opportunity to get to know all his staff and customers, both human and vampire alike. Someone was bound to know something; it was obvious to me already that something was going on around here. Gideon had tried to get rid of me for a reason. The question was why?
“I’ll take the job. But there’s one problem,” I added seeing an opportunity and taking it.
“What’s that?”
“The sun will be rising soon, and I don’t have any place arranged to stay for the day.”
“I thought you said you would sort that yourself?” he asked, remembering my earlier words.
Back then I hadn’t known he was going to be such a bastard about me being here. If I were going to get any chance of looking around this place when it was empty, I’d need to be here during the day when he wasn’t. “That was before you refused me, and I didn’t see any point in arranging anything after that. So do you have anywhere I can stop?”
“No, I don’t think so,” he answered stiffly.
“What about the cellar?” one of the guys helpfully put in. “We have that whole section down there cleared out from when Trent needed somewhere to stay.”
I swear Gideon was going to shatter his teeth with how hard he was clenching them.
“I really don’t think…”
“You’ll be okay with kipping in the cellar, right? It’s nothing fancy, and you’ll have to sleep on a futon, but there are no windows, so you’ll be safe from the daylight.”
I liked these guys already. I could tell that Gideon was about to blow his top. He didn’t want me here, but it looked like his staff had worn him down.
“Oh for fuck sake! Fine, you can sleep in the damn cellar. But I want you out of there as soon as possible. And if I get one whiff of you stepping foot out of there during the day, I will have you staked out to burn.”
I’d just have to make sure he didn’t catch me then.
***
The cellar turned out to be better than I had expected it to be. When the guys had suggested it, I’d imaged a dark and dingy corner of a room filled to the top with kegs of beer and crates. Instead, what I stepped into was a vast and spacious room. It was located just to the left of the stairs leading down into the cellar. It was a little on the dingy side, but it was clean at least. And the futon seemed to be a new one, so that was a bonus.
“This okay, mate?” Reese asked.
Gideon had stormed away back to his office as soon as I’d accepted the job and promised to help train up the guys. They all seemed really keen to learn a few things from me. Though, apparently, there was another guy on the team, one I had yet to meet. I’d asked if it was his day off as I’d not spotted anyone else working the club. It turned out that this Vince was indeed working, but they had no clue as to where he was. The first thing we would have to deal with would be his behaviour. He wasn't going to be disappearing on the job when I was in charge.
“Yeah, it’s great.”
“Well, I’m off.” He nodded. “There is a fridge of blood down here if you ever need it. But I’ll warn you, cold, bagged blood tastes like shit.”
“So I’ve heard.” I laughed, thinking back to a friend of mine that had once lived off the stuff. I doubted I would be trying any… ever.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow night. And thanks, man. We really need some help getting this place back in shape,” he said as he disappeared out the door.
They sure did. I was still shocked by how out of control this place was. The place had gone to pot since Gideon had taken over. He hadn’t always been the owner of this place. It was only during the last few years that Gideon had started to make a name for himself and then took out the old Master, Denton. When Denton had run the place, it had run like a well-oiled machine.
It still surprised me – and everybody else – that Gideon had managed to take him out. We’d all thought that old bastard would always be around. That’s one of the main reasons I’d been sent here now. Something just didn’t feel right.
Once I knew Reese was gone, and I was truly alone, I began the necessary process of checking my new home for bugs and cameras. I wouldn't have put it passed Gideon to rig something up down here while I was talking to the guys.
After three sweeps of the room, I’d found two small cameras and one listening device. After a fourth sweep, I was satisfied that there were no others. I would need to do another sweep tomorrow after working in the club. I knew Gideon well enough to know that he would try to replace the ones I had found.
Stripping off my shirt, I grabbed the blankets Reese had brought down for me and made myself comfortable for the day. I wouldn't go snooping around yet. I needed Gideon to have some trust in me first. I would also need to do something about the club CCTV before I could do so safely. It was going to take a while, so it was best that I put off finding a place of my own for a week or two, come up with some form of excuse.
Gideon was going to be so pissed.
Eve
There truly were no cleaning companies within a fifty-mile radius that would take the job. It had taken me over five hours of calling companies a couple of towns over before I finally found one that would travel over and clean the place… but at a cost. Gideon wouldn’t be happy, but what could I do about it? Finally, utterly exhausted, I stumbled into my apartment above the club.
When I had first come to this area, I’d had nowhere to stay. Not knowing anyone, I had been at a total loss for what to do or where to go. Luckily – or unluckily depending upon how you looked at it – I’d stumbled upon Gideon, who’d offered me someplace safe to sleep. After he had taken control of the club and become the local Master vampire he’d moved me here.
Locking the door behind me, I began my routine of checking all the windows, locking all the doors, and setting the alarm system. I had already locked up the club downstairs, but if anything, the security system in my small apartment was even more advanced. To some, it might seem crazy that a place like mine, inside an already secured and alarmed nightclub, had not just your standard alarm, but the best money could buy, but I had my reasons.
As I made the rounds, I began to get the strangest feeling that somebody was watching me. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, a shiver that had nothing to do with the chill of the air running through me. I could literally feel eyes upon me.
Panic began to set in as I ran through the rooms, double checking, triple checking all the locks and alarms. It had happened a lot lately; a sense that I was not alone. Grabbing the remote from the side of the bed I turned on the TV and flicked through the channels until I found the one I was looking for; the CCTV footage from the club. Checking each camera, I half expected to see figures leering in the background, waiting to strike, but saw nothing. Moving on to the next set of cameras, I checked the stairwell that led up to my place. Still nothing.
After half an hour of going over the footage again and again, I finally relented, giving the place one last check over before stripping and climbing into bed. I left the screen on, the images flashing from one camera to another as I closed my eyes and let exhaustion pull me under, into the world of sleep.
It’s all just in my imagination. No one is watching me. Are they?
Vince
Watching Eve’s small sleeping form, scenting her delicious aroma wafting through the air vent was the highlight of my night. As soon as the club closed its doors every night I would head straight upstairs to the storeroom next to her apartment and climb into the air duct. A few meters to the right and I was in perfect position. There were three vents in her apartment, one in the living room, one in the bathroom, and one in the bedroom, ideally located directly above her bed. I could watch her every move, and she would never even know. She may have sensed something – like tonight, with her constant checks of the doors and windows, and her panicked viewing of the camera system – but I had no reason to worry.
She would never catch me. At least not until it was too late.
Eve
I hated doing inventory. Counting all the bottles and beers was one thing. Counting every single little red straw was another. I wasn’t even sure why I bothered doing it, to be honest, it wasn’t as if I didn’t know some of the staff were helping themselves.
When I’d first moved here when Gideon had taken over the club, I’d been full of hope and excitement for the future, but after a few years of seeing the place slowly going down the pan, I was sick of it. Gideon didn’t seem to care what happened to the place, but for some strange reason, he never forgot inventory.
As I set the last box of straws back in the cupboard behind the bar, I got that sense again, the feeling that eyes were upon me. There was one small difference, though; the sense of danger did not follow it. Following the feeling, I glanced over my shoulder to the opposite side of the balcony floor. Stood on the other side was Thayne, the new vampire Gideon had hired the night before.
The assassin.
What was he doing here? It was still daylight.
“May I help you?” I asked as he moved in my direction, making his way round the room towards me. It was the first time I had gotten a really good look at him. Watching him the night before hadn’t given me much to look at, it had been too dark. But as he strolled towards me now, I had to fight seriously hard not to drool. He had the most amazing crystal blue eyes. His spiked hair was as dark as night, but the tips were the colour of blood. I had never seen anyone so… sexy.
“I was just scouting the place out. Getting to know the place better,” he explained, smiling as he took a seat at the bar. “What are you doing?”
I really should have kept quiet, ignored him, but against my better judgement, I found myself answering. “Inventory,” I sighed. “Though I don’t see the point. If the staff does not steal it, it'll be destroyed in the next big brawl.”
“Well if I have anything to do with it, that big brawl will never happen.”
From what I’d seen, he was excellent at what he did. Well, at stopping fights that is. I didn’t know how good an assassin he was, and well, I hoped never to find out.
“Thank you. But I don’t think anything you could do will help keep this place going forever.” Thinking about the amount of stuff missing so far this inventory that dreaded day looked like it was looming closer and closer.
What would happen when it did? What would become of me? I had nowhere else to go.
He looked at me puzzled for a moment, his eyes squinting like he was trying to figure me out. “You’re not a familiar, are you?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, you don’t act like one. When you first saw me heading over here, you didn’t plan, didn’t come up with a million different ways in which you could get me to change you. Familiars all have that same calculating look. You don’t have that. Also, most importantly, you actually care about this place.”
I did. Before the club, my life had been nothing but pain and loneliness. Now I had something to love, to take care of.
And I had freedom… kind of.
Yes, I was made to feed Gideon every week to keep that small bout of freedom I had, but that was nothing compared to what I had gained from this place. It was my home.
We talked for a while, about the club mostly, but occasionally he would ask something personal. I avoided all of those questions like the plague. I never let anyone close. The only person that really knew anything about me used me as his personal feedbag and didn’t give one shit about me.
Inventory wasn't so bad with Thayne keeping me company. Time seemed to fly by. Heading back downstairs shortly before nightfall, this month’s inventory complete and the club thousands of pounds out of pocket, again, I shook my head at the sight that greeted me. The new cleaning crew had been in earlier and done what I had asked, cleaned up the damage from the fight, but still the terrible stench remained. “It doesn’t matter who I hire; they never can get rid of the smell.”
“The carpet is so saturated with blood that you'll never remove it. It’s spread through to the floorboards below. If you think the smell is bad to you, just think what it is like to us vampires. That is the reason there are so many fights breaking out all the time. Why all the vampires are so on edge. The scent of blood is so strong in here that even the most controlled vampire would have a hard time keeping a lid on his temper. The hunger burns,” he growled. The low, almost animalist sound, sending a shiver running down my spine.
“And does it,” I asked, swallowing hard, “make your hunger, control, worse?”
Suddenly I didn’t feel quite so safe. Maybe it was best if I kept away from him. I startled when I felt his hand wrap around my wrist, his grip stopping me from moving forward, away from him.
“No. You have no need to fear me, Eve. I would never hurt you.”
And strangely I believed him, though why I wasn’t sure.
As I stood there unable to speak, not knowing what to say, a small flirty smile pulled at his lips, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he gazed down into my eyes. “I am incapable of harming beautiful women.”
A laugh burst past my lips at the terrible line, my fear and nervousness disappearing as if they were never there. “Bad, Thayne. That was so bad.”
Smiling, we continued our way downstairs. As I moved down the last step, I felt it again, that sense of eyes upon me. Instantly fear and panic began to rise within me once more.
“You okay?” Thayne asked as if sensing the sudden change in me.
No, I wasn’t. I was far from okay. But what could I say? I think someone is following me? Stalking me? No. I couldn’t tell him anything. He would think I was crazy. “Just a little chilly,” I lied, wrapping my arms around myself. “Well, I better head back upstairs and get ready for when Gideon arrives.”
“Upstairs?”
“Yeah. I live in the apartment above the club. It comes in handy when officials call around during the day when things have gotten out of hand at night.” Like last night, though thanks to Thayne’s intervention I hadn’t been woken by phone calls or pounding on the door.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you later then, neighbour.”
Neighbour?
Seeing my look of confusion, he explained. “Gideon's allowing me to rest in the room just off the cellar until I find somewhere nearby in which to stay.”
He was staying here? In the building?
Okay, no need to panic. It was okay. I just had a blood sucking vampire sleeping a few floors below me, who could easily decide that I would make a great midday feast.
“You sure you’re okay?”
I'm fine,” I croaked. “Totally fine.”
I would have to be. But there was one thing I knew for sure… I was sleeping with the curtains open from now on.
Later that night, I sat in anticipation as the guys and Thayne waited for Vince to show his face. Thayne had called a meeting before opening in a hope of reorganising the group, but it seemed as if the final member of the team had decided he didn’t need to show up. I could literally feel the anger in the room building with every minute that went by. Vince was in so much trouble.
“Is he always like this?” Thayne demanded.
“I wish I could tell you otherwise, but unfortunately, yes,” Trent explained. “Vince does what he wants when he wants.”
“And Gideon allows this?”
“I don’t think he really cares.”
And unfortunately, that was the brunt of it. Gideon didn’t care. Not about the club at least.
In the end, Vince never showed, so we opened the club without him, and Thayne got straight to work with the others. He was fantastic. By the end of the night, I could tell that we have made the right decision hiring him. It would take longer than a day to get the guys up to scratch and working as the team Thayne visioned, but judging by the progress they’d made in just that one night, Thayne’s promise of no more big brawls happening looked more likely to be true.