Enticing Blood

*chapter one

Melanie could feel the heavy music reverberating through her body. The bass of the blaring beats rattled her bones, traveled through her blood stream and became the air she breathed. The music pulsed through her body like a working heartbeat and all she could feel was the nothingness that overcame her.

She was a ghost, maybe thin air.

All that mattered to Melanie was the music that controlled everyone around her—almost like it was some sort of God—and the dancers couldn't help but heed to it's every will. To them, this was their escape. It was something they could focus on at hand and it would assist them in losing themselves for a while. Melanie and the music were the only two inside this club—no one else existed. The others slowly melted away with the vocals of the singer, disappearing into thin air as the guitar droned on.

Melanie swayed her body side to side, her hips a fluid motion. She lifted her arms, holding them up in the air and reaching for the lights that flickered above. They flicked on and off with various colors, matching the beat of the music with the bright pinks, blues and yellows that blinded the dancers who praised them below.

"This music is awesome!" Melanie's twin sister, Isabel, called over the music, her voice almost inaudible. "Nice pick, Mel!" Melanie flashed a knowing smile to her sister. She knew this club would be a good place to hit since the crowd never shut up about it after it opened nearly a week ago. The rage over this club was incredible—she knew she had to see it for herself. Although they said the scene was amazing, they never once said that the music was this good. It almost put Melanie in some sort of trance.

Melanie let herself fall back into the enchantment of the music as everyone around her bounced and swayed together in one large mass, working as an ample machine. Her body was covered in a thick film of sweat that glistened across her olive skin, shimmering against the flickering lights.

People around her danced together, all of them collecting a euphoric buzz that formed a cloud around them and dripped from their pores like honey. They talked over the loud music, sang along—clearly inebriated—to the words they assumed they knew, but turned out they didn't when the wrong words drunkenly spilled from their lips.

Suddenly, Melanie felt Bethany grab her arm and her voice whined over the music. "I'm getting thirsty, guys." Melanie opened her eyes with annoyance and they automatically adjusted to the darkness. "Wanna go sit down and have a couple drinks?" Bethany looked at Isabel as she jabbed a manicured thumb to the bar behind her that was littered with people too drunk to dance. Girls hung over guys who knew they were going to get some that night, and friends laughed and giggled with their hands gripping their drinks as if it might slip from their fingertips.

Melanie frowned, not wanting to move a muscle in the direction toward the lounge area. Leaving the dance floor was the last thing she wanted to do, but to no avail, she watched as Isabel nodded and followed Beth through the crowd and disappeared into the waves of people.

She contemplated dancing alone—since that was how it seemed to be even with her friend's company—but she feared she would look like a loser. Even worse, some men would take it as an open opportunity to come join her on the floor, and that gave her even more of a reason to follow behind her sister as her lip curled in distaste.

It felt as if she were trying to swim through the ruthless waves of the ocean that tried to desperately pull her under. She pushed her way against the dancing bodies and cursed as they swayed around her as if she weren't even there. Compared to the large crowd, her small stature didn't have a chance. If she didn't know better, she would think they were trying to swallow her whole and drag into the epicenter of the dance floor.

Finally, Melanie managed to break free from the elated swarm of people as she spotted her sister a couple paces in front of her. She focused on their bobbing heads that navigated through the masses of intoxicated people that stood around the main floor.