In Our Image: The Hollow

Chapter Four

Not sure I know what I'm doing but I do feel a certain rhythm beginning to grow behind the bar. Mishka says after a while you will be able to tell the whiskey shooters from the piss drinkers on sight. Occasionally you're thrown for a loop when the rough and tough types order the fruity shit, guess it's half science, half intuition and part chance.

"Hey Mishka I need to you know... pee, cover me for a second?" I ask doing the dance behind the bar.

Mishka nods at me, "I got you girl, go tinkle." She replies smiling as she pulls two long-necks up from behind the bar and hands them to a man.

I navigate my way through the sea of people, some making their way to the bar, others to the dance floor and some in the direction I'm going. I feel a hand on my shoulder trying to get my attention so I turn around to find a pale faced blond guy. He's well dressed but has a certain look of desperation in his eyes.

"Hey sorry about that, I just know you work with Chloe and I really need to see her."

I look around for her but the urge to use the restroom is too much, "Yeah she's around here somewhere, but look I have to go okay, just have a look around." I reply turning away towards the restrooms.

"Please, I need to see her now, right now!" he yells loudly causing several people around us to look at him.

Trey, one of Dominique's security detail and no less intimidating rushes over, "Madison you ok over here?" He asks while staring the blond guy down who has now begun sweating.

A voice from behind us chimes in and just in time, "It's ok Trey, I got him." Chloe says smiling as she grabs the blond by the hand leading him to a side hallway.

Trey looks at me and I mouth 'thank you' as I continue to the restroom.

Longest pee ever... and I'm not even drinking. I ignore the mindless and slutty chatter of two girls lingering and snorting

coke at the sinks and wash my hands. I exit the bathroom and find Chloe entangled with the blond guy, his moaning is faintly audible with the loud music.

Are they actually doing it, like right here?

It's un-avoidable; I have to walk past them to get back to the bar. As I pass I can see her pull away from his neck. Chloe smiles and rolls her eyes at me as blood runs down her mouth. A look of pleasure and release is on his face. He looks like he is smiling and could fall asleep right there. It all makes sense now; he was one of her tags, looking for a fix of venom. All the legends about our kinds attacking people and draining them must have been just lies, in truth they come eagerly looking for us, begging us to feed on them.

I shake it off and continue to the bar, a commotion breaks out around the dance floor as several women begin fighting. Guys surrounding them are more concerned with filming it from their phones and copping feels under the guise of 'breaking it up' than actually stopping it. Dominique rushes past me while shouting into the radio, a few seconds later Dom, Trey and another of his crew step in. Dom bear hugs one female from

behind and carries her outside as she curses and shouts at the other women. Trey grabs the other two with one in a wrist lock and leads them out as well. Everyone else begins shouting and cheering as Dirty begins playing a fight track, the club erupts in a kind of chant and bobbing jump in unison. Miskha looks over at me and smiles, "It's live as fuck tonight baby girl, you sure you can handle this?" She asks jokingly while pouring a Red Bull and vodka.

"I got this, just... it's a little much at first, but Mishka, I really need a tag don't I?"

Mishka looks back at me with a grim face and nods, "Yeah, yeah you really do... I mean you're new still and that's fine but eventually everyone is going to stop feeding you and expect you to..." She lingers on the words I know are in her mouth but won't leave it.

"Grow up..." I finish for her.

Mishka walks over to me ignoring a dude knocking on the bar with his knuckles and waving a twenty dollar bill, "We just want to know that you are ok, that's all sis." She says.

She plants a kiss on my forehead and makes her way to the testy patron.

I wonder if this is why Bailey hates me, cause everyone is always handling me with kid gloves.

The place is definitely at capacity now, I can almost see Father smiling through the two way mirrored glass windows he is no doubt watching from. Bailey, Chloe and the girls are putting in work on some out of town businessmen in VIP and Dominique is escorting an underage group of girls that slipped in outside. Trey is catching flirtatious eyes from a cougar at the end of the bar while Mishka is taking a shot out of a busty redhead's cleavage. I laugh at the show she is putting on for a couple of twenty something guys as I hand two ladies their cosmos.

The music, the fights, the flirting, dancing, laughing and noise of the place, and there in all of the chaos... was you.