Night Touched

Nebula

The outside of the warehouse looked rather nondescript from the outside; beside the sign with the sigils there was another sign that said Nebula. The exterior was cinderblock with chips of paint peeling from the edges. The two bouncers were the only real hint that there was something here at all. 

The closer we got to the entrance; the more I could sense the layers of spell work woven around this place.  Whoever did this had spent a lot of time cloaking it from the human eye. I fidgeted nervously, suddenly worried that Tony's a la carte spell might not work. Ruby nudged me forward gently with her elbow, giving me a look that clearly said, "go on."

I stepped forward clearing my throat nervously addressing the disinterested looking bouncer to the right of the door, "Um.. hi... sir... we would like to go in." Stammering audibly.

He gave me a once over, his gaze lingering a little too long for my comfort and then looked over at Tony and Ruby disapprovingly frowning. "Who are you, and why did you bring two Coven mages with you?" He asked gruffly.

I shuffled my feet a little, taking a breath to calm myself. "I'm Lyra, and I vouch for them tonight." I said doing my best attempt at sounding brave even though I was nervous we would be caught.

He seemed to ponder that a moment, then glanced over at his silent counterpart who just glared menacingly . He turned back towards me and grunted, "It's your hide," he shrugged his shoulders, continuing "One at a time through the door. You first girlie." pointing at me.

So this was how they warded the place. A portal ward, which makes total sense. I thought to myself, taking a deep breath. Well, here goes nothing. I closed my eyes for a second and stepped through the door; I hadn't realized that I had been holding my breath until Ruby bumped into me from behind ushering me forward.

Ruby squealed delightedly and pulled Tony into a passionate kiss. Breathlessly saying afterwards, "Babe you are just the best boyfriend ever! Let's find the bar and celebrate!"

I took a second to get my bearings; the music was much louder in here then I thought it would be. I made a mental note that the wards used had to have also included noise dampening work. I admired the craft and thought that went into hiding this place for a moment, before looking around. We were on a mezzanine level that had numerous black cocktail tables with chairs grouped around them that went to both the left and right of were we entered.

The mezzanine overlooked a rectangular dance floor light up with blue rope lights around the edges. The ceiling above the dance floor was bewitched to look like the night sky so the room was illuminated by the light of the full moon and twinkling stars. On the far side of the dance floor was a long bar that ran across the whole back wall of the building.

"Isn't it great Ly?" Ruby asked, "there's so many Night Touched here! Let's go get a drink", she said taking my hand and pulling me towards the stair that descended down to the dance floor on the right hand side.

The music the DJ was spinning was some electronica with a pounding bass line that was so loud it assaulted my ears but I couldn't help but to sway my hips to the rhythm while I walked. Ruby danced down the steps leading Tony behind her. As I was going down the stairs behind them, I looked around for the first time, looking at the various Night Touched all around us. I had never seen so many in one place before, but I suppose that was part of growing up as solitary hedge witch.

As we went down the stairs I saw that the left side of the room, under the balcony above, was a group of what I guessed were VIP areas. There were  two vampires sitting in a corner booth looking rather disinterested. I had never seen one before and it took me aback, they were rare among the Night Touched,  preferring instead solitary existences.