Finding Fire

Chapter 5

Anna's legs were getting tired. She'd followed him for almost forty minutes so far, and she felt overheated in her sweatshirt.

He turned a corner and was out of her sight for a few seconds. She walked faster to get him in her line of vision again but when she turned the corner, all she saw was a swarm of people standing outside a doorway. Pounding rock music blared even through the closed door, and Anna grimaced at the noise.

She scanned the crowd of smokers outside, but he wasn't there. She looked around, trying to see whether he'd crossed a street, and sighed in frustration.

When she looked back at the doorway, she realized it was some sort of Goth club. All of the people out front were in their late teens or early twenties, with lots of black clothes and white powder on their faces.

With one more look at the otherwise empty street, she decided he must be inside the club. A vampire going to a Goth club? How stereotypical...

Anna walked into the black doors of the club. The bouncer gave her a strange look, seeing how she obviously didn't fit in with the regulars.

She gave him his money and walked into the crowd of densely packed young bodies and loud, raging music. The heat immediately overwhelmed her, and she unzipped her sweatshirt and took it off. She held it like a shield in front of her to protect her from the hard dancing bodies surrounding her.

She tilted her head as she looked for Nicolas. She started to look for his coat but reminded herself he would probably take off his outer layers in the heat of all of the people. To make matters worse, she was continually knocked around as she tried to make her way around the club. She wasn't short, but it seemed that even the tiniest of the club patrons wore platform heels. She could hardly see over any of their shoulders.

She'd almost reached the back of the club when hopelessness sank in. She couldn't see anyone who looked remotely human, let alone like the man she'd followed here. Though she looked different than everyone in the club, no one seemed to pay any attention to her.

At first, when someone brushed against her back, she didn't pay much attention, so used to all of the bodies around her. But there was no mistaking the menace in the arm that snaked around her waist.

She jerked away, but the arm tightened and captured her arms in the process. She screamed, but a thick forearm cut her off. Any sound she did make didn't carry over the music.

The body behind her pushed her forward. She glanced up and saw he was pushing her toward an exit. She renewed her struggles with extra effort, and in response, he tightened his arms even more and lifted her so her feet dangled in the air.

They got closer to the door. Anna's wide eyes frantically scanned the crowd, willing someone to see her plight, but no one spared them a glance. She wanted to cry in frustration. Instead, she channeled her fear into more useless struggles.

When her captor got to the exit, he kicked it open with a booted foot, and splinters from the broken wood tumbled to the ground. The cool air rushed over her as he carried her forward and pressed her body into the wall outside of the club.

The rough brick pressed into her face, and the large body was as hard as steel. She felt so stupid and angry with herself. She wasn't the victim she once was. Who was this beast to change that? She felt tears well up, but she forced herself to hold them back.

His deep whisper shook her to the core. "Where are your friends now, little one?"

Her mind swam as he stroked her cheek and neck with one solitary finger. She shivered and bucked back against him. "Friends? What friends?"