Fair Deception

Chp. 2, Part II

A loud babble washed over me when we turned the corner and I was disappointed to see a huge queue outside the front of the club. To my surprise, the others walked straight past so I followed them uncertainly. Broch and Kalen spoke with the bouncers at the door for a few minutes and then we were all waved in, much to the annoyance of the other people in the queue. Once we were in, I threw a questioning look at Kalen.

"We know that bouncer and a few of the other staff," he explained simply. I nodded, figuring it must be because he and Broch now worked in the entertainment business, doing something I didn't understand.

The club was amazing. An enormous light, that covered the entire ceiling, lit up the black walls and melted into a different colour every few seconds. A huge bar stretched in front of an equally long, glass drinks cabinet and music pounded out from floor to ceiling speakers that were dotted around the room like columns. The dance floor was raised a few steps and surrounded by a chrome barrier in the centre of the room. It had four exit points and all around it were large booths where people could sit and talk. There seemed to be hundreds of people in the club as groups were reflected in wall mirrors, creating a kaleidoscope effect.

We wove our way through the crowded room and over to the bar. Kalen ordered three pitchers of cocktails. When I turned around to ask Miranda what was in the cocktails I realised she wasn't there. I looked quickly through the dense crowd hoping to spot her curly blonde hair somewhere. Gabriel tapped my elbow and pointed to a booth where Miranda was waving furiously at us, clearly very happy that she'd managed to snag one of them so quickly.

As I followed Gabriel over to Miranda, I felt a hand fondle my arse. I turned sharply to face a guy with dirty, brown hair and strange coloured irises. I flicked my eyes over him dismissively, making sure I was as cold as possible without saying anything, but then followed Gabriel a little more closely.

The pitchers went down a lot quicker than I thought they would and before long Kalen and I headed back towards the bar. Seeing the queue, we changed tact and dragged Miranda onto the dance floor, leaving Gabriel and Broch in the booth. After a rather energetic bout of dancing, I wandered over to the chrome barrier at the side of the dance floor, a little away from the others, trying to grab a breath of less sweaty air.

I felt a hand on my arse again. Grabbing it quickly, I bent it back from the thumb, making the wrist click. I turned around and glared at the same guy from earlier. "Did you not get the message? I'm not interested," I told him bluntly, glaring at him.

"Why? Too busy with Kalen and co. over there?" he said.

"I'm not interested in you," I repeated sharply, ignoring the anxiety I felt when he mentioned Kalen, and tried to push past him. He was like a brick wall.

"But you're looking so damn... edible," he said, licking his lips. I raised my hand as a barrier between us and he encircled my wrist in an iron grip.

"Let go of me. I don't want to hurt you, but I can if you don't leave me alone."

"Surely one dance won't hurt?" He smiled menacingly, and I took a step backwards against the barrier, surprised and a little unnerved by how pointy his teeth were

"I don't want to. Just leave me the hell alone!" I said, raising my voice and feeling dread settle over me - if this guy didn't leave me alone soon, I knew Kalen would defend me, but I didn't want a fight to break out.

"Sweetie, all I'm asking for is one little dance," he persisted.

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to," Kalen said, digging his thumb into the nerve point of the guy's wrist until he let me go.

"Well, Kalen, I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to bring her sort here, perhaps it's just your arrogance getting the better of you," he said.

"We were told you were out of town. I don't want to fight with you Zeph," Kalen said coldly, his blue eyes flashing in an unfamiliarly dangerous way. I looked at this Zeph guy again and suddenly felt unsafe; I'd never seen Kalen this riled up before. Another figure stepped up behind Zeph and I sighed with relief when I saw he was a bouncer.