14
Emma
The line took an eternity, or at least that's what it felt like. Figuring we’d been standing here at least an hour, I checked my phone, and it had only been about ten minutes. Shit. It was awkward standing with all these young people, each of them looking like they could be hanging out with my son. The guys trying to look suave and badass at the same time while the girls were tittering with each other in dresses that were crazy short and heels that would have given me vertigo.
Those ten minutes passed like ten hours.
Each one dragged like the last class of the school day.
Beth kept up a steady stream of conversation with me barely participating, too distracted by everything around me and the prospect of entering a vampire club. She didn't seem to mind too much, though, as she filled me in on what everyone from our high school was doing now. How many kids each of the popular crowd had now, and how many marriages they'd been through. I felt a pang of disappointment that I would now be in the list of divorced members of our high school class. Honestly, the thought of getting married again was exhausting. I didn't know if it was for me.
Daniel's face flashed in my mind, his jade green eyes pinning me with his stare.
Nope.
Not going there.
He might be pretty to look at, and I might have crushed on him super hard in high school, but my heart wasn't ready for anything just yet. I wasn't sure if it ever would be. How did I learn to trust again when the person I trusted most in the world just betrayed me in every way imaginable?
I looked at my surroundings, forcing myself to focus on the present. Beth's voice was soothing in my ear, and I tried to listen to what she was saying, I really did, but my mind drifted. I couldn't help but wonder if some of these people knew what they were walking into.
How many of them thought they were going to get sparkly vampires and how many thought they were going to get men in long black capes? Were either of them even accurate for that matter? I certainly had no idea.
Were some of them hoping to be bitten? Was that even how you became a vampire? Or did they just like the idea of feeding a vampire? I really needed to find out some of these basic details before we left for an exclusive club next time.
Eventually, it was our turn at the front. The bouncer turned from letting two giggly girls into the club, who were surprisingly adept on stripper heels with their thongs practically hanging out, and looked down at us. He laughed out loud and shook his head. “No way. Come on.” He turned and looked at the two guys standing on either side of the door. “Are you guys punking me?”
They shook their heads and looked at Beth and I in amusement. Their lips quirked up just a little at one corner, each one a mirror of the other.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
The bouncer looked down at us again, and I caught a glimpse of fang. Oh, shit. He was a vampire. “You’re old.”
I bet you're older if you're a vampire, I thought, not that I'd ever say it out loud. I took a step, preparing to turn and leave empty handed, but Beth had other ideas.
“Excuse me?” she hissed as she stepped forward and looked up. The giant of a man—vampire—didn’t flinch. And honestly, a cute witch versus a bodybuilding vampire that looked like he should be on the cover of a romance novel? Why would he? Beth practically growled as she demanded, “Did you just sayold?”
He didn’t move, but somehow he seemed bigger and more threatening as he glared down at Beth. His bulk looked like it was growing in my line of sight, though I was sure that wasn't what was happening. He was probably just flexing, beefing himself up to get Beth to back down. I was certainly willing to back down and leave since I couldn't help but think of how he could smush us like bugs.
“Hey, let’s just go,” I whispered. “We don’t want to piss these guys off.”
But the main bouncer wasn’t having it. “Take these two grandmas into the back and teach them a lesson about respect,” he said in a voice so low I wasn’t sure the other two could hear it.
They must’ve, though, because they stepped forward. I stepped back, ready to run for the car with a scream building in my throat, but once they were close to grabbing her, Beth raised her hand and threw some sort of powder into all three of their faces. The white cloud started small, erupting from her hand like a volcano, and as it reached them it turned shimmery in the spotlight that shone above the door. It only lasted for a moment before the powder vanished completely.
The enormous men blinked rapidly, and one of them sneezed. The burst of noise seemed to shake them from their stupor, then they all shook their heads in unison. “Let us in,” Beth said in a low voice.
The bouncer nodded and stepped back, and his two goons went to their positions at the door, one of them reaching over and opening it as Beth and I walked in.
Well, Bethstruttedin like she owned the place. I looked behind me to see if any of the kids had noticed, but no one had even glanced in our direction. Was this a witch thing? Could humans not see what we did? I’d have to ask later. For now, I needed to follow Beth, who was evidently pleased with getting her way. I, on the other hand, more scurried and cowered as I made my way through the doors.
And as soon as I stepped foot inside, I slammed straight into someone’s back. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, but the music was too loud.
The woman and her friends, the ones who had been in line ahead of us, turned and leered. She looked me over, then Beth, her lip curling upward in a sneer. “Old bitch.” I couldn’t hear her, but her lips weren’t hard to read.
One of the others looked at Beth and just as I glanced her way, I saw her mouth move. “Fatass.”
Oh, hell, no. Vampires were one thing, but no way I was letting this child get away with calling my friend fat.
