The Soul Thief

Chapter 4

Whatever I had expected a supernatural bar to look and sound like, this was not it. The Wyld Inn had sounded like some quaint little country pub and I had been to plenty of those before. This was not that. It was more like a club than anything else. Bright lights flashed, and sweaty bodies danced too close together on what I assumed was the dance floor in the centre.

Holed up in a little space next to the bar, just under an emergency exit with Nancy and a friend of hers, I looked out longingly over a chest height railing between us and the dancefloor. It gave me a perfect view of my fellow students, all of which looked far too normal to be the things I had been told they were.

They looked like any other uni students on a night out; laughing, dancing and drinking too much. But I had met enough monsters to know it was the ones who were good at pretending to be normal that were the most deadly.

Enzo and Nancy had been taking it in turns to stand with me all night and make sure no one got too close. It would be sweet if it wasn't so mind-numbingly boring.

"I'm pretty sure I can order one drink without anything going wrong." I pleaded, as Nancy looked torn between protecting me and her discussion with her friend.

She glanced at the busy bar and then back at me. "We will get you one. I don't trust someone not to slip you something. At least I can check the drink is safe for you."

I had seen that earlier. A clever little trick with whispered words over something to check for poisons or contaminants. Something I thought most girls on a night out needed really.

"I don't mind going." I protested, desperate to get out of this little corner even for a minute or two.

She shook her head. "No, you stay here and keep out of sight as much as possible. The fewer people who know you're here, the safer you are."

I didn't point out that her five-foot nothing form standing in front of me was probably more conspicuous, especially as she had blocked multiple people from wandering over to chat to her as well.

"Yes, mum." I gave an eye roll and slouched back against the door.

Nancy stuck her tongue out before grabbing her friend, who's name I couldn't remember, and darting towards the bar. Within seconds, she was elbowing her way to the front. What she lacked in height, she more than made up for with her attitude, and I liked it.

After a moment, I moved to the railing and leant on them, looking out over the sea of people and feeling the pounding of the music through the sticky floors. This was not where I had expected to be this morning and I personally thought I was handling it better than I perhaps should.

As long as you excluded my ten-minute freak out in the shower before we left. I'm not sure if it was the hot water, the idea of fitting into the borrowed dress that was at least two inches shorter than anything I had ever worn before, or just a combination of everything the day had thrown at me, but something tipped me over the edge and the panic overwhelmed me.

When I finally emerged, Nancy hadn't commented on my swollen eyes, and I was grateful for that. Enzo, on the other hand, looked horrified and quickly escaped, promising to meet us when we were ready.

Now I was here in a little black dress that clung to my body like a second skin and really put emphasis on the little part of its name. Nancy had been right about it helping me blend in though. My jeans would not have fit in with this crowd.

Resting my chin in my hand I focused on watching the crowd. If I was going to get through this, I needed to learn everything I could about these people.

So far their wants and needs seemed like any other person frequenting a bar. A little fun with friends, a little attention to those that interested them, and drunken fumbles in the dark. People of every race, size and shape - it was impossible to look at them and understand how to protect myself from them.