Of Shadow and Light (Preview)

Chapter 2

Lost
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A loud gong reverberated through the room, vibrating every molecule in my body, sounding until the music stopped, until everything stopped. Spotlights focused on the first level arch above the DJ booth. Ty, the owner, stood there waiting. Applause broke out, the shadowed creatures enthusiastic, the others going along with everyone else.

"There is a door," a small voice hissed next to me, "at the end of this wall." Looking down, I saw the woman I'd saved from falling earlier. Her large eyes blinked up into mine. "If you can get to it when it starts, you might survive the night."

"What do you mean?"

"Provided you didn't eat the food. If you ate or drank the food, you will moan while they devour you." My eyes widened. Before I could speak, she placed a long bony finger to my lips. Cold. "You helped Margo; I'll help you this once." Her heavy lisp made her sound like a snake. "When the gong strikes three times. Run." With that, she vanished. As the applause closed out, I stood wide-eyed.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight. Those who are friends, those who are guests," Ty started his speech.

Without thinking, my feet had me moving, slowly, one step at a time, along the length of the wall, towards the hidden door the woman had revealed to me.

"In a moment, the clock will toll three o'clock, and it will officially be my birthday." Indicating the clock on the wall opposite where he stood, the crowd turned look at the clock, but my feet kept moving away from the buffet, towards the door.

"Two hundred and twenty-five years can go in a flash." The guests laughed, the shadowed figures did not. "I can't believe I'm celebrating another birthday again. Can you believe it's been twelve months since I opened this nightclub, changing the way we hunted?" Cheers went up. "Yes, change is good my friends. Adapting to the outside world has brought our numbers back up, has seen us at our healthiest and the most powerful we've been in centuries."

Another roar of support, but now only from the shadow creatures. Tiptoeing further towards the hidden door. I was trembling. When Ty's eyes landed on me, flashing silver in the light, I froze. He lifted a brow. "Tonight, we will celebrate in the traditional ways. All will partake in pleasure, feast on flesh, and drown in blood." Covering my mouth to hold in a scream, I couldn't prevent the fear that leaked from my eyes and down my cheeks as the shadowed roared their agreement. Ty chuckled before turning his eyes to the clock. The other guests stood enthralled, smiling at Ty's words, entirely oblivious to the meaning.

Searching the crowd, I spotted Lisa looking around excitedly. Gus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, whispering to her. Her smile grew. Gus's grip tightening, his eyes looking over her head to meet mine. The shadows swirled around him and slipped away. Talc white skin, flame-red eyes, sharp glistening white teeth flashed at me before he blew me a kiss.

"Esha will start the banquet, then, as the clock strikes three, my friends, Feast and be merry."

A curtain below where Ty was standing drew back to reveal a raised dais. One of the white-skinned monsters stood there kissing a human girl passionately. The shadows were falling throughout the room, exposing many of the talc skinned creatures, and many others that the words ogres, trolls, and goblins seemed suited too. None of the humans seemed to notice the shadow curtain come down, or recognize the difference in those standing close to them, rapt as they were in the show.

The man on stage was shirtless, displaying a hard muscled, lean body covered in purple tribal markings. While everyone watched, he pushed the woman's dress from her shoulders and ripped the front of it open. The girl jolted from the force of it, but moaned for him. As he discarded her clothing, her eyes seemed vacant of the awareness that they weren't alone. Sickness crept beneath my skin as I recognized that spaced out expression all too well.