Midnight Flock

Chapter 7: Club Midnight

A/n: hey guys, look, I posted on Saturday. I wasn't sure this was going to make it up on time because we had a death in the family, but here we are. Thanks to ibewaiting (jennifer) for being my Beta. I really appreciate everything you do for me. Thank you guys so much for continuing to read my story and for your continued votes and comments. 

I rode in with Marc. Brandon took off ten minutes earlier on his bike. It was beautiful. It was all chrome, black and bright colored flames that looked amazingly real. Brandon was like a proud father showing her off to me, telling me how long it took him to build her and the different techniques he used on the flames to get the depth and appearance of movement. I was impressed to find out that Brandon had a shop near North where he built custom bikes. It was apparently a thriving business for him. I might have to find out how much one costs. I know North has been talking about getting a new bike for a while. Maybe the rest of the family could chip in and we could buy one for him. Or at least put a significant down payment on one and let him finish hashing out details for the customization. For that matter, with how beautiful Brandon's bike was, maybe I could work out a deal with him to get him to make me one. He'd probably be thrilled to find out I could ride. But, Marc finally barked at him to take off because we needed to get going. Raven had already left in his black SUV. I asked Marc why we didn't all just drive in with Raven and they both laughed at me. Marc made some comment about needing me to get to the club in one piece as he climbed into his black truck after helping me up into it.

We headed up the highway toward North's place, and drove past the exit I would have taken to get there. It was another two exits before we got off the highway. The area becoming more rundown as we headed north. There were boarded up houses on every block, cars in the front yards, or on blocks on the street. Graffiti covered buildings, fences, abandoned homes, burned out street lights and some vehicles I doubted worked at all. The houses that looked like someone still lived in them were rundown and in only slightly better condition from the ones that had boarded windows. The whole neighborhood was depressed with it's dead grass, broken down cars and shoddy homes. It made me sad.

"I know, sunshine." Marc reached over and patted my knee. "The Academy is making progress, but they haven't made it this far yet. It's a slow process and we can only help those who want it. Some of these people don't think anything will help, or don't care enough to want help to change it." These were people hurting, bleeding out, who had given up hope of ever being saved. These people had nothing, so they had nothing to lose. From the looks of the various tags, gangs ruled these streets, and most likely, so did violence and drugs. They fed off of broken dreams.

"The club is in this neighborhood?" I asked, wondering what I was walking in to.

"It's still a mile or two down the road. The block it's on is marginally better than this area. It's still dangerous. Don't go outside alone. Don't drive to the club by yourself, or leave by yourself unless it's an emergency. The jewelry Corey gave you also has a gps tracker we can use to locate you if something happens." I nodded my understanding. I don't think I would willingly leave the confines of the club without one of the guys. This was a rough neighborhood. No wonder the gangs had gotten their hands in whatever the owners were doing.

"Can you hear me?" My earpiece came to life suddenly and made me jump in the car seat. Marc was just pulling into a fenced lot behind a large brick building covered in graffiti and gang tags. There wasn't any light back here from what I could tell. They probably kept it dark to hide the illegal activities that went on here. Not that I thought the police really paid much attention. By the looks of it, they had given up on this area as well.

"I can hear you loud and clear, Corey." I said quietly. Marc grinned over at me, likely hearing Corey or Axel in his earpiece as well, checking in before we headed inside. It was about an hour before club opening.