A Night at Club Vampire 2 (2 page)

****

While her friends were excited about having the good fortune of being waved into Club Vampire, they were there purely to have a good time. Lacey, on the other hand, was excited for an entirely different reason. She'd graduated from Columbia University with a master's degree in journalism several years before, but she was having a rough time finding a job where she could be a real journalist. Currently, she was working at the
New York City Scooper
, which was the journalistic equivalent of a sleaze magazine.

It wasn't exactly what she had pictured for herself when she graduated. However, for most university graduates she supposed what they dreamed for themselves as they worked hard to secure those great grades and what they actually ended up with were two entirely different things.

Lacey felt certain that Club Vampire could be just the big break she was looking for.

Club Vampire was infamous for its questionable activities. People seemed to end up missing or dead, in the vicinity, on a regular basis. And the stats seemed to be getting worse rather than better. The owner, Nigel Stafford refused to talk to reporters and for some odd reason the police seemed reluctant not only to do anything about the club, but to even comment on the situation.

Lacey, rummaged into her small, black satin purse and pulled out a black and white photograph of Nigel Stafford. It was somewhat difficult to see the photograph since the club was so dark, with only the coloured strobe lights for illumination, but when she held the picture close she could make it out well enough. He was a handsome devil, she'd give him that. His full lips were curved into a mischievous smirk. His strong, chiselled jaw told her that he was a force to be reckoned with. But it was his dark eyes... they seemed to call out to her, haunting her. They seemed to leap off the paper and pierce stright through her.

Once she was sure she had his face memorized she stuffed the picture back into her purse. Now all she had to do was find him,
and
of course convince him to talk to her.
If
he won't talk to the police what makes you think he'll talk to you?
That voice in her head continually taunted her. Lacey clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, considering. She'd find a way to get him to talk.
First things first: I have to find him
.

Chapter 2

"Nigel! We need your help over here," Luther - vampire and lead singer of the band

'Intensity' - called out to him, just as he appeared on the main floor of the club. Growling to himself Nigel turned off course and headed for the stage.

"What's the problem, Luther?" he asked, jumping up onto the stage.

"We're having a little problem with the microphones," to demonstrate Luther picked to the microphone from the stand and made an attempt to speak into it. A loud screech overrode the DJ's music, causing the crowd to cringe, while looking around for the source of the disruption of their good time.

"Fuck! Where's Edward?"

"Dunno, man. That's why I'm asking you," the singer shrugged as he placed the microphone back on the stand.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Nigel looked out over the sea of faces looking for his sound guy, Edward. He knew close to nothing about the equipment. That's why he paid people to take care of those things for him. He fumed silently.
Would be nice if I could
get what I pay for
.

Finally, he noticed Edward exiting the VIP room and hastily making his way through the overcrowded dance floor heading for the stage. "I'm here. Sorry, I got sidetracked."

He hopped up onto the stage, coming to stand next to Nigel.

Giving Edward a once over, Nigel knew exactly what the young vampire had been up to. His eyes were still pearl white and there were a few drops of blood on his cream coloured shirt. He'd been feeding, no doubt about it.

"What the hell are you doing feeding before the band starts playing, Edward?" Nigel fought to control his anger.

The staff was forbidden to feed from the humans until the band began to play. The band itself was made up of three vampires and two djinn. It was the djinn that caused the real magic in the group, literally speaking. With their presence the music the band presented put humans in a state of erotic euphoria, allowing the vampires to feed without fear of the humans objecting. Between the liquor, drugs and the magic the vast majority of humans left the club, went home and remembered virtually nothing about their experience at Club Vampire, all they knew for sure was that they had the time of their lives and wanted to go back. It was foolhardy actions like the one taken by his sound guy that was causing problems for the club. He had enough media and law enforcement sniffing around already without his staff giving them reasons.

He wasn't quite sure who he found more annoying, the police or the nosy reporters.

Reporters! There's nothing I'd like to do more, than to drain one of those fucking
reporters
.
Aside from getting laid, that is
. Now if he could find himself a female reporter he could drain her
while
getting laid. Now
that
would be ideal! He grinned for a moment at the thought, before realizing Edward and Luther were standing there staring in his direction, waiting for him to say something. Slightly embarrassed at being caught in a brief daydream his grin was quickly replaced by a scowl.

Edward cowered under Nigel's fierce glare. "I'm really sorry. I met this girl and..."

"Look, I don't care about the excuses. Just fix the fucking sound system," Nigel growled leaping from the stage. He made his way through the crowd on the dance floor, and quickly headed up the metal staircase leading to the second floor balcony. The coat-tails of his black blazer flapped out behind him as he took the stairs two at a time. He'd be able to find his red headed beauty from the balcony, he was sure of it.

Making it to the top of the staircase he scanned the hundreds of people lounging on the sofas, on the second floor. A good number of couples were already starting their physical exploration of each other, reminding him of his task in hand. Find
her
. Pushing his way through the swarm of people crowding the bar, he leapt over the bar counter landing to stand beside Franny.

Startled, Franny dropped the vodka bottle she was in the process of pouring into a shot glass. The bottle hit the floor, shattering. Franny placed a hand on her ample hip and gave Nigel a glare of annoyance. "What are you doing behind my bar?" she demanded, pulling another large vodka bottle from under the counter and opening it.

"I need to know if you've seen a woman," Nigel replied running a hand through his thick, brown hair.

Franny poured the waiting customer his shot and took his money before answering.

"You mean
any
woman or are you looking for one in particular, sugar?" As she brushed past him, her hand accidently grazed the crotch of his black slacks.

Nigel glanced over at William who was busy serving some women at the other end of the bar and wondered if he knew just how flirtatious his new vampire mate was. Nigel might have a couple of centuries of age on William, but he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of William's massive fists, because Franny couldn't keep her hands to herself.

Letting out a loud puff of air, Nigel turned back to Franny who was in the process of serving another customer. "Long red hair. White blouse. Looks like she doesn't fit in here."

"Haven't seen her, baby, but I'll let you know if I do," Franny reached behind him and gave him a quick, hard swat on the ass. "Now get out from behind my bar."

"Technically, it's my bar," Nigel countered.

"Not for the next five hours it isn't," came the smug reply as Franny went back to work, all but ignoring him.

Well that was pointless
. With his buttocks still stinging from the forceful slap he had just received, he vaulted over the bar, shoving customers out of the way as he pushed a path through the crowd. He walked over to the glass railing and looked out onto the main floor of the club.

It appeared that the band had finally finished setting up and were about to start. That's when the fun really began at Club Vampire. He needed to find the woman
before
the band started. Once they began to play the people would begin pairing up, like rabbits in heat. Cutting in once the humans paired off never turned out well. It normally ended up with fights breaking out, and on some occasions someone winding up dead.

Then he spotted her. Close to the stage, speaking with a small group of women.
Gotcha
, he thought as he raced back down the metal staircase and across the dance floor.

****

Lacey wasn't paying much attention to her friends as they chattered amongst themselves, discussing the men as they walked past the group. Nursing her drink - a vodka tonic - she scanned the crowd, looking for Nigel. She wasn't sure if he would even appear downstairs. She had noticed when she first arrived that there was a large, mirrored window, directly above her head. She assumed it was his office, from which he would watch the club throughout the evening. He really had no need to come downstairs.

To her direct right there was a steel door marked
Private
. She had noticed a number of staff coming and going through that door. If she was forced to, she was willing to sneak inside, but only as a last resort.

Turing her eyes back to the dance floor she gasped when she noticed Nigel across the room. He was unmistakable. Wearing a black suit, with a black satin button down shirt, he stood out from the rest of the partially-clothed people in the club. What was even more unbelievable was that he appeared to be heading straight towards her!

She looked around her, trying to see if perhaps there was someone else he was moving towards, with such determination in his eyes. There wasn't. Everyone else seemed engrossed in their current conversations. As he drew closer his eyes locked onto hers.

Does he know I'm a reporter? Is he on his way to boot me out of here?
She didn't think so. There were no security guards with him. Not like he would need the assistance of one.

Considering he must have had close to a foot over her short five foot three inches and perhaps around a hundred pounds of muscle on his side, she was confident he would be able to drag her out of there easily enough all on his own.

Nervous, she looked all around her once again. Still no one seemed to be paying attention to him as he closed the remaining thirty feet between them. He was undoubtedly looking to speak to her.
Well I am here to talk with him. Perhaps it's my lucky night and
he's delivering himself to me
. She let out a soft, nervous chuckle.

Just as he closed the remaining distance from her, he suddenly veered off course and swiftly leapt onto the stage directly to her left and strode up to the microphone at center stage. Lacey could feel a slight flush suffusing her face. Of course he was heading for the stage. Why would he be coming to see her anyway? She was a nobody to him.

She looked back to the door marked
Private
. Once he was done onstage she was betting money he'd be going back to his office. She smiled to herself as she shuffled herself a little closer to the door. He'd have to go through
her
to get there!

The DJ music died out.

All talking stopped as everyone's eyes shot over to the stage, where Nigel stood. "Allow me to introduce your band for the evening,
Intensity
!" Cheers, along with a round of clapping and whistles erupted from the massive crowd. As the band began to play their first song, a fast tempo number, Nigel stepped aside, leaping back off the stage.

As she predicted, once the band was introduced Nigel started towards the door marked
Private
. Making his way towards
her
. Lacey still wasn't sure what she was going to say to him to cause him to stop and talk to her. She was certain as soon as she mentioned she was a reporter that would end any possibility of a conversation dead in its tracks and she'd be buying herself a one way ticket out the back of the club.

Perhaps she didn't have to mention that fact right away. If she could just get him to
want
to talk to her, just long enough that perhaps he'd hear her out. Looking down at her own outfit compared to the other women in the room she soon realized she was very overdressed.
Shit. Men love large breasts right?
Hastily, she undid a couple more buttons on her blouse, so the collar opened just low enough that it displayed the top of her breasts, held high with her white lacy bra. She silently thanked her mother for blessing her with a couple of good sized...

"Good evening, I'm Nigel." Nigel stood mere inches from Lacey, his hand outstretched waiting for her to accept it.

Lacey noticed that her mouth had dropped open - taken by surprise at his unexpected greeting. She quickly snapped it shut. She took his hand giving it a brief shake before snatching it away. "It's a pleasure." She gave him her sweetest smile.

Nigel returned her smile. His deep grey eyes seemed to light up with amusement. Lacey realized, at that moment, just how little justice the black and white headshot she carried in her purse did him. Nigel was absolutely gorgeous. Handsome, in a boy next door way, but at the same time an aura of mystery and danger seemed to radiate from him. Even the suit he wore, the fabric of his shirt seemed to beg her to touch his broad chest, and torso.

So very, very sexy.

Her hand seemed to have a mind of its own, reaching out and stroking the soft, black satin of his shirt. She felt the defined muscles of his chest go rigid under her touch. With a little gasp, Lacey abruptly pulled her hand away. What was she doing? Since when had she begun touching strangers uninvited and for no reason?

Hearing Nigel laugh softly, she could feel her face flame up for the second time since she entered the club. She took a quick sip of her drink before running a shaky hand through her long red locks. Taking a deep breath she looked up into his eyes, and tried to make light of her inappropriate action. "I'm sorry. I should learn to keep my hands to myself." She winced. That sounded less cheesy in her head.