The Fall of Judas Priest

2:A Ghost From History

(Andersen) 

I had just stepped off the stage, Connie handing me a towel for my face, and she was wearing a huge grin. 

" What was that?! That was so damn good! You, buddy, are a bucket of surprises." 

" You have no clue, Con."

" Alex, we have a booth request."

" Absolutely not, no. You know I hate doing private dances. Fucking pervs always try to touch and I hate it when they don't take no for an answer." 

" Come on, he looks filthy rich and I know you just made bank, but please, do this one booth dance, and you are done tonight." 

" And I get to have tomorrow off?" 

" Fine, fair. Will you do it?" 

" What booth?" 

" Four."

" What does he look like?" 

" Tall, long black hair, pale, names Alucard. You can tell he's just passing through. No one in LA would ever wear a bright red coat and hat in the middle of summ-" 

I grabbed Kyle and pulled him closer to me, my face inches from his. 

" Did you just say he was wearing a red coat and hat? Did he have white gloves too?" 

" Yeah, and?" 

" Fuck!" I let Kyle go, and felt the embarrassment and rage coat my face in red. Alucard had seen me dance. That crimson fucking bastard had seen me strip damn near raw and dance in a makeshift version of my old uniform! I felt sick to my stomach, and desperately wanted to puke, but my iron stomach wouldn't let me, my hands shaking and my heart racing too fast to calm down properly. 

" Alex, what's wrong?" 

" I will not go in that damn booth. I will kill him long before I do that, Kyle, you can't make me." 

" Seriously? Why? Who is he?" 

" A ghost from my past I prefer to never deal with ever again."

" Oh. Is he your Ex?" 

" Absolutely not! Oh good god man, no! He...He's a dangerous individual that honestly deserves a stake to the heart, literally. Keep him away from me, and keep him out of the club. He is a risk to have in here."

I was having a panic attack. They were something I dealt with for the last 4 years, a side effect of being a retired hunter, my anxiety no longer had a proper healthy outlet, a way to get out the pent up energy. Sure, working fixed it a bit, but this...this is not what I had planned. 

" Hey, ok, easy. Deep breaths, slow down, ok big guy? I'll have security kick him out and tell him to stay out. If you want, I'll let you slip out my back office door to get to your car.

" Wait to kick him out until after I leave. I don't want him being able to follow me."

" Alright. You do you. Go." 

I packed away my stuff rapidly, got changed, then quickly went to Kyle's office and left out his side door, and raced to my car, driving off and getting almost home before I pulled over and sent a text to Kyle. I made it home to my one bedroom apartment. It was very nice, and with my new salary and how frequently I got paid, I was very well off. I put up vampire repellents all around my windows and the door to my patio, making extra care to put up holy pages to keep him out. I haven't had the need to use them since I left Iscariot, and him being here wasn't good. Why was he here? Did he intentionally try to find me? Thoughts like this and more racked my brain as I pulled out my leather jacket and a fresh papal shirt, the collar missing due to me removing it before I had moved here, and to know I was now wearing it not to make money, but in self defense, it scared me.