Dark Realms (72 page)

“Whatever. My eyes aren’t that bad.
Seriously.”

“If you say so…”

I turned back towards the stage. “Is he
really that cute?”

“Hell yes. Look, don’t worry,” she replied.
“You’ll see him soon enough. V.I.P., remember?”

“Exactly.”

“Just don’t forget
why
we came,” she said,
winking at me.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean a guy like that could make you
forget to go home, if you know what I mean,” she replied.

My eyebrows shot up. “What? Are you saying
that you think Melody may have somehow gotten together with
Slade?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible when you look
like Melody. She could get any guy in town, why not a hot, single
musician?”

“He’s single?”

“From what I hear. Although, it wouldn’t
matter. Not these days. Rock stars like that always have girls
hitting on them. I’m sure Slade sleeps with a new fan every
night.”

I agreed.

Chapter Eight

SLADE

When we were finished with the song and
getting ready to leave the stage, I stole another glance towards
the bar. For some reason, I couldn’t stop staring at the little
redhead in the cashmere sweater. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact
that she looked so innocent and out of place at the club, or that
her bluish-green eyes completely captivated me. Regardless, I was
intrigued by a human and it had caught me off guard completely.

“Nice, huh?” said Liam, nodding towards the
bar.

“Uh, yeah. She’s definitely a looker.”

His eyebrow arched. “I was
talking about the girls making out over there. The ones who flashed
us their goodies. Who in the hell are
you
talking about?”

“Nobody,” I replied as the club’s security
accompanied us off of the stage. The crowd had grown considerably
and were now screaming and yelling for us to play more songs.

“Should we do another one?” asked Jimmy,
looking around. “I mean, I feel like we owe the fans, you
know?”

I stopped in my tracks and turned around.
“Fine. Just one.”

“Let’s do that new one you wrote,” said
Liam. “See how they like it.”

“Yeah, Dark Dreams,” agreed Jimmy.

“Okay,” I replied, thinking that one more
song would give me a little longer to process what I was feeling
towards the girl at the bar.

When we made it back onto the stage, the
crown erupted in approval.

“Thank you,” I said, after turning the
microphone back on. “You guys in Shore Lake really rock.” When they
noise finally died down I grinned. “So… we can’t leave without one
more song, we just can’t.”

The crowd hooted and clapped.

The band began to play the chords to a song
that was very personal, one called “Dark Dreams”. Closing my eyes,
I thought of the woman who’d inspired me to write it and joined
them when it was time. I sang of losing everything to a girl, one
who’d bewitched, and haunted my dreams after tearing my heart
apart. I sang of regret, heartache, and the torture of moving
forward. It was a song I’d written well over one-hundred years ago,
after falling for a human girl.

Vanessa.

Our passion had been like no other and I
would have given my life for hers, in a heart-beat, but in the end,
it was me who’d actually destroyed her. Vanessa had not been able
live with the fact that she’d loved a vampire. A monster. When she
killed herself, she’d also killed a part of me. From that day
forward, I stayed away from humans and only associated with other
immortals, when I needed sex. Although I’d managed to make it work,
it was still a very hollow existence.

When the song ended, the crowd erupted in
applause. Forcing a smile, I glanced towards the bar again, but
noticed the girl with the red hair was gone. Then something caught
my eye and I looked near the other side of the stage, and there she
was, right below it, grinning up at me.

Good God she was even more beautiful when
she smiled….

When I grinned back, she
lowered her lashes and blushed. It was then that my senses went
into over-drive. I could tell from the look in her eyes and the way
that she was breathing that her
body had
released endorphins in response to my performance. I’d excited the
hell out of this human girl, and based on her obvious innocence,
she probably didn’t even realize it.

A fire ignited in my stomach and my jeans
grew tighter. In horror, I turned around and stared at Liam’s ugly
mug, hoping it would be enough to kill my arousal. But, her face
was all I could see in the back of my mind. Her delicate face,
staring up at me with hunger.

Shit.

I’d never gotten excited on stage and it had
been years since I’d even allowed myself to think about a human
girl in such a way. Now I had a boner.

“You okay?” asked Sean.

I didn’t answer. I was far from okay.

“Dude, what’s up besides…” laughed Liam,
nodding towards my zipper.

“Give me your guitar,” I said to Jimmy,
gritting my teeth.

Grinning, he handed it over to me.

I held it in front of my jeans and turned
back to the audience.

“Thank you everyone!” I hollered, waving my
hand and trying to avoid the human who’d gotten me so worked up.
“Have a great night!” Then I walked off the back of the stage while
security rushed to keep the fans from mauling me.

Chapter Nine

Chelsey

“Wow, that was awesome,” said Susan as we
walked back over to the bar. “I still can’t believe you wanted to
fight your way over to the stage.”

After he’d started to sing, I hadn’t been
able to stop myself. Like a moth to a flame, I’d been drawn to
Slade’s voice, wanting to get as near to it as I could. He’d swept
me away with the lyrics, and the emotion in his words had made me
quiver. I was totally crushing on him now and could see why he had
so many fans.

“Did you see the way he looked at you?”
remarked Susan. “The guy looked like he wanted to jump your
bones!”

My jaw dropped. “What?”

“He was hot for you. Even his eyes looked
like they were on fire.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Actually, it was
kind of weird how they glowed. I’m sure it was some kind of stage
act with contact lenses or whatever.”

“Yeah,” I replied, noticing the same thing.
Ethan’s eyes had glowed the same way, and again, I blamed it on the
lighting.

“Anyway, now I bet you can’t wait to meet
him. I’ll bet he can’t wait to meet you. I mean, wow… the way he
looked at you. I thought he was going to leap off of the stage,
throw you over his shoulder, and carry you to his man-cave.”

My stomach grew warm with that idea. “Shut
up. He did not.”

“You’re such a virgin,” she giggled.

“How do you know?”

“Because you’d have told me all the gritty
details by now.”

I blushed.

She pointed. “And you wouldn’t be
blushing.”

“Whatever,” I said as we stopped back by the
bar.

“Hey,” said Brian, handing Susan her
martini. “You forgot this. I saved it for you.”

“Thanks,” she replied.

“We should go up to the V.I.P. now,” I said.
“Before it gets too late. I really don’t want to stay here too
long. I have a lot of studying to do tomorrow.”

“Sure, but let me finish this first,” she
said, stirring the martini.

“I bet. So, I take it those Cosmopolitans
are pretty strong,” I said, noticing how shiny her eyes were
getting.

Susan giggled. “I know.” She held out the
glass. “Try some? Just a sip?”

Not wanting her totally wasted by the time
we met the band, I extended my hand. “Sure, I’ll help you.”

She handed the glass to me. “They are so…
yummy,” she said. Susan lowered her voice and gave me a lopsided
grin. “Kind of like the bartender.”

Chuckling, I gulped down
most of the drink and then shivered. It
was
really strong.

“Hey,” she pouted as I handed her the glass.
“You hardly left me any.”

“Sorry,” I replied, feeling my stomach get
warm. I smiled as the heat spread to my cheeks. “I see what you
mean. Those are damn good.”

“Would either of you like another one?”
asked Brian, handing an older guy next to us a bottle of beer.

“No,” I said, grabbing my purse from the
bar. “I think we’re going upstairs.”

“But, we’ll be back,” said Susan, smiling at
him flirtatiously.

“Hey,” I asked leaning towards Brian. “Just
curious… you mentioned that you were working last night?”

“Sure was. In fact, I’m here most nights
until close.”

Feeling more comfortable with him,
especially now that the booze had loosened my tongue, I lowered my
voice. “Did you see a blonde around my age here, last night? About
as tall as Susan with long hair and big blue eyes?”

“Yeah and even bigger boobs,” said
Susan.

Brian burst out laughing. “Sounds like half
the girls that were here last night.”

And
tonight
, I thought.

“
What’s her name?” he
asked, wiping the top of the black-marbled bar with a towel. “Maybe
it will ring a bell.”

“Melody Williams,” I said.

His forehead wrinkled. “Hmm… Melody…. blonde
hair and stacked, huh? Can’t say that I recognize the name, but
that doesn’t mean she wasn’t here. Last night was jam-packed.”

“She was definitely here,” I replied. “Her
friends, Veronica and Taylor, verified that.”

He swung the towel over his shoulder and
gave me a curious look. “So, why exactly are you looking for this
chick?”

“She’s my cousin and now she’s missing. She
supposedly took off with some guy last night and hasn’t made it
home yet.”

Brian shrugged. “Maybe she’s still with the
dude and just forgot about checking in.”

Susan grinned wickedly.
“Exactly. Maybe she’s just too busy
gettin’
busy to think about anyone
else right now.”

He chuckled. “Exactly. Once they come up for
air, you’ll hear from her, I’ll bet.”

“I hope so,” I replied,
still not too sure myself. No phone calls from Melody, well that
was one thing, but the texting thing disturbed me. She was addicted
to her keypad and should have texted
somebody
by now.

Just then, my own cell phone began to
vibrate. I pulled it out of my purse. “It’s my mom,” I said to
Susan, staring down at the text. “They still haven’t heard from
Melody.”

“Crap,” said Susan. “I was hoping that was
good news.”

“Me too. She says that she’s staying with my
aunt overnight,” I mumbled and began typing a message back, telling
her that I was still out with Susan and would be home later.

“Is your dad staying, too?” she asked. “Or
is he going to start badgering the police to start looking for
her?”

I shoved my phone back into my purse and
zipped it up. “I’m sure they’re going to file a Missing Person
Report. It’s been almost twenty-four hours since Melody’s friends
saw her.”

She bit her lower lip. “I know what Brian
said and all,” she said as we stepped away from the bar. “But what
if something seriously bad has happened to her?”

“That’s why we’re here,” I said. “To see if
anyone remembers seeing her, or the guy she left with. Melody kind
of stands out in the crowd, you know? I would think that someone
would remember her.”

“She definitely thrives on attention. So,
um… are you going to ask the band if they know anything?”

“Well, I’m going to try,” I replied as we
took the stairs. “I mean I didn’t exactly come here to ‘ooh’ and
‘ah” over these guys. I’m here for answers.”

“Ditto. Hey, maybe we should have asked
Ethan? I didn’t even think about that.”

“I did, but not until after he left.
Unfortunately, it’s too late now.”

“Shit,” she said, looking back towards the
entrance. “We should have asked the coat-check girl. I didn’t even
think about that!”

“If it’s even the same one from last
night.”

“Doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“We’ll do it on the way out.”

“Good idea. Hey, maybe Slade will remember
something about her. I’m sure Melody made her way to the front of
the stage to get his attention.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” I replied,
picturing her making goo-goo eyes at him. After seeing and
listening to him tonight, however, I couldn’t exactly blame
her.

When we reached the top, there were three
rooms marked “V.I.P.”. We stepped towards the one with two security
guards.

“Yeah, um… I think that we’re supposed to
give you this,” I said, holding up the card from Ethan.

The taller of the two, Bill, a guy with a
blond ponytail and goatee, took the card. “You say Ethan gave you
this?”

I nodded.

“Yeah,” said Susan, her eyes big. “Don’t
worry, we’re not going to stay long. Just want to meet the band and
maybe get an autograph or two.”

The other security guard, Mason, a
dark-skinned man with soft brown eyes and a friendlier face, leaned
over and looked at the card. He read it and then smiled at us.
“Huh… well, I guess it’s your lucky night.”

“It appears that way,” I replied, as Bill
handed me back the card.

“Or maybe not,” said Bill under his breath
with a smirk.

“What was that?” I asked, looking up at him.
With his thick lips and beady-eyes, he was far from attractive.

Mason laughed. “Don’t listen to him. He’s
just jealous.”

“Screw that,” said Bill. “I’m not jealous of
those guys. I get all the chicks I want. I don’t need to be in a
rock band for that.”

“
Whatever. I’ll escort you
two inside,” said Mason, turning back to us. “There might be some
crazy shit going on in the V.I.P.” He smiled wickedly. “And you
lovely ladies might just need some protection from the animals in
there.”