Good Intentions (Book 3 in the Road to Salvation Series)

CHAPTER 17

The portal opened in an alley behind the club. Katie heard and felt the bass from the music coming from the building. Holding Josh's hand, they walked around to the front. There was a short line with a bouncer checking IDs in front of the door. Her eyes drifted over the patrons. At first glance, they looked like any other people she'd seen at the clubs. Smiles covered their faces, and they were ready for fun. But as she looked closer, Katie was sure that the vast majority of the kids in line weren't older than she was. In fact, she thought she recognized some of them from school, but she didn't know their names. That was odd. Where were they?

They bypassed the line and headed for the door. Josh signaled to the bouncer, who nodded, and they headed inside. Instantly, Katie's ears were bombarded with deafening music. It threatened to explode her head. The bass vibrated through her feet and into her chest. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, and the dancers on the floor seemed to move in slow motion as the strobe light pulsed above them. As usual, Josh headed for the bar. A neon light above the mirror caught her attention. It read: Inferno. She'd heard that name before from Deb. It was a club a town over that had an 18 and up night on Thursdays. That must be where Josh had taken her. It would make sense if the kids outside were from her school. It was a short fifteen-minute highway drive to get here. Katie had never been—never really had a desire to go—but Deb always insisted she would get Katie here one day. She scanned the crowd to see if she recognized anyone else, and immediately saw several faces she knew. That didn't make her comfortable. She hoped they weren't targeting another of her classmates. The school couldn't stand another death.

Josh pulled her arm gently and turned her attention to him, pulling her close and speaking in her ear.

"You all right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I recognize a lot of people here."

Josh smiled, then turned and continued to the bar. He ordered himself a beer and Katie a water. He downed his drink and ordered another. Katie just stood there holding her water. She scanned the crowd again. Mixed in with her classmates was a wide array of people of varying ages. A lot of them were her age or a few years older, but she noticed some that could have been her mom's age. Most of the younger ones were on the dance floor showing off their stuff. Katie had heard stories in class about how girls had met college guys at the club, but she couldn't understand the appeal. Granted, at the time, she had been totally focused on Wes, so other boys in general had held no interest to her.

She also remembered hearing stories in the locker room about creepy old guys who stared at the girls. She saw them now, hanging out around the edges of the dance floor in the shadows. Their eyes drifted up and down the girls as they gyrated and jerked on the dance floor. They tried to hide their desire by slowly drinking their drinks, but it was obvious. It was even more apparent when the girls walked by. It seemed it was all the men could do to keep from jumping on the young prey.

But it wasn't all of them. Some seemed like halfway decent people out for a good time. And that's what the teens were looking for. Some of the kids were looking to hook up, and the desperation in their eyes was apparent as they scanned the room for a target. Katie almost laughed out loud as she took in the scene. The amount of sin flowing around the club was almost overwhelming. No wonder Josh always took her to these places. The pickings were easy. And Katie assumed that the drunker people got, the simpler they were to tempt. It was almost ridiculous. She almost felt bad about ruining one of their nights by taking their soul, but with the amount of sin in the place, they really were doing the world a favor.

Josh placed his hand on the small of her back. She looked over her shoulder at him. He had a fresh beer, but it didn't matter. Katie remembered the day at the reservoir when he'd told her alcohol had no effect on him. He could drink as much as he wanted and never get drunk. But no doubt, in the eyes of her classmates, he was the coolest kid in school. Again.