Chasing Vespers - Sneak Peek!

I sat at the bar, nursing my bourbon and Coke, silently cursing myself for letting Kara talk me into going out with her tonight. “Come on, Hols,” she’d said, “all you do is work and sit at home. You need to get out of the house and live a little!” We weren’t great friends, but we’d known each other since high school — those good ol’ days at St. Peter the Fisher on the Rock, where we’d just been a couple of indiscriminate hellions the old nuns had given up any hope of providing salvation for — nearly 18 years now, so I figured that must count for something.

I had been feeling pretty antsy lately — a touch of wanderlust, or something — so I figured what the Hell, and we’d dressed ourselves up and headed out to Shades of Twilight, the only goth club in town. That’s when I remembered why I never go out with Kara — within minutes of arriving, she’d latched herself onto some random hottie and ditched me to lock faces with him out on the dance floor. And that’s how I wound up sitting here alone, waiting for the friend who’d never quite managed to grow out of high school to finish gods-knew-what in the bathroom with her boy-toy du jour, feeling sorrier and sorrier for myself.

“Got a light?” a man’s voice said right in my ear, startling me and causing me to jump a little, even though it was a helluva voice — a little quiet, but strong, with a touch of a Southern drawl and timbre that was just right — the kind of voice I’d love to hear whispering pillow talk in my ear. Normally I’d have noticed the intrusion into the arguably large area of my personal space much earlier — I must’ve been more lost in my self-pity-party than I thought.

I turned to find a guy, just as smoking-hot as his voice, standing nearly on top of me and holding a cigarette. He was tall — I guessed at least six foot four — and lean, with slightly spiked platinum-blonde hair — obviously bleached — and a pair of the most astonishing cerulean eyes I’ve ever seen, framed with a touch of black eyeliner. He wore discs in both ears, a bar through his left eyebrow, a pair of well-worn blue jeans, scuffed work boots, and a plain white t-shirt peeking out from under a brown leather 50s-style motorcycle jacket that was quite possibly even more worn than his jeans. Clearly, he was trying to emulate a goth-punk version of the bastard child of Billy Idol and James Dean — but damn, did he pull it off well.

“Sorry, I quit,” I replied. Those Caribbean-blue eyes were hypnotizing, and I found myself wishing I’d at least thought to keep a lighter.

“Too bad,” he said with a shrug. I expected him to turn away and go off to find some little waif with half a pound of metal in her face, but instead he tucked the cigarette behind his ear and slid onto the barstool next to me. He had an ingratiating smirk as he looked me over like a piece of meat — great, one of those guys. “I’m Declan,” he said, holding a hand out. “But you can call me Dec — remember it, ‘cause I think you’re gonna be screaming it all night.” And he actually winked to follow up the crappy pickup line.

I sighed and ignored his hand. “Look, Declan, I’m sure that line works great on all the girls half your age,” I said dismissively, “but I’m not falling for it.”

His smile changed a little, but stayed overwhelmingly sleazy. “I thought I was talkin’ to a girl more than half my age,” he persisted. And he chuckled a little, like it was some sort of inside joke.

I sighed again, frustrated. Why could they never take no for an answer? “Look, seriously, I’m not interested. So go use your bad lines on someone else.”

He cocked his head a little, as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard me right. Yeah, the guy was gorgeous, he’d probably never been turned down. “Ok, ok, you’re right, the lines ARE bad,” he admitted. “But how about a dance?”

“What part of ‘not interested’ did you not get?” I said — maybe a little harsher than I should’ve, but it was already turning out to be a crappy night, and I didn’t need a guy like him trying to use me to get his rocks off in some dark corner. Frankly, that was Kara’s specialty.

“C’mon, just one song,” he insisted, backing towards the dance floor as he beckoned with his hands for me to follow. I just glared at him. “All right, you win,” he finally conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. “But if ya change your mind, ya know where to find me.” He gave me that wink again, and I turned my back to him — to be honest, mostly because I was afraid that smokey-eyed, sultry look of his would finally make me cave. But, I did peek back over my shoulder just in time to watch him saunter into the crowd. He was easy to spot, with that nearly-white hair picking up the black lights — and we WERE in a goth club, after all; everyone else was sporting either black or multi-colored hair. I found myself glancing behind me every so often to see if he was still out there, and there was this niggling little thought in the back of my head that maybe I should take him up on his offer — Kara’s plaything for the night was a friggin’ gargoyle by comparison, and it would be fun to rub it in her face for once…

I shook my head. Where the Hell did that come from? Ugh. Clearly, I needed new friends. Or to get laid. Probably both. But it was not going to be that narcissistic Lothario, that was for sure. I glanced back again — just one last time, I told myself — and felt my stomach drop when I couldn’t find his stupid head glowing over the top of the crowd. I found him again after a quick glimpse around the room, but the realization that he was cozied up with a cute, elfin goth boy — no doubt crooning his ridiculous lines in his ear, too — made me feel like I’d been kicked in the chest.

Ok, that was the last straw — I had to get out of there before the jerk showed back up hoping for a threesome and I gave in to him. I sighed and picked my phone up off the bar and sent Kara a quick text, Going home, enjoy what’s-his-face, before slipping it back in my purse. As I headed for the door, I dug my keys out and carefully positioned the giant one for the car between my middle and ring fingers — where I could use it to quickly cut at an attacker, if the need arose. Yes, I’m more than a little paranoid — but I’d read too much about serial killers, and human beings scare the crap out of me.

I ducked my head out the door, quickly scanning the parking lot for any signs of creepers lurking in the shadows, then turned and scanned behind me to be sure I wasn’t followed. When I was convinced it was clear, I made a bee-line for my car, vigilantly listening for any signs something was amiss. But the lot was quiet — almost eerily so, but I told myself it was just because it was still early. The real crush of people wouldn’t start for a good hour or so, and I was the only killjoy leaving the party prematurely.

I was halfway across the lot when I heard a rustle behind me. I spun around, keys jutting out between my fingers as I clenched my muscles, preparing to fight — but there was no one there, just a damn Taco Bell wrapper blowing in the wind. I let out another sigh, partially in relief and partially in frustration, as I calmed down. I shook my head at my silly delusions, even chuckled a little, before turning back around.

And finding myself face-to-face with a man, not much taller than me, but stoutly built, giving me a sadistic grin. He was clearly from the club, dressed entirely in black leather and hair dyed an unnatural black, even completed the look with a set of those insanely expensive canine extensions meant to make him look like a vampire. I resisted the urge to scream — I doubted anyone would be able to hear me over the music inside, and I guessed that was exactly what he wanted me to do. To Hell with that, I wasn’t going to give him whatever sick fantasy was running through his head.

Instead, I took a step back — but this time I hit a solid wall of muscle. I spun around again and found yet another man, taller, but dressed the same — right down to those ridiculous teeth — and grinning the same vicious grin. In my peripheral vision, I could see two more — all identically dressed, and equally psychotic — coming out of the shadows to circle around me. The parking lot wasn’t well-lit, but the small amount reflected off their teeth, making their sharpness gleam. Oh, fuck, I groaned to myself. Sure, my self-defense tricks might work against one or two of them, but I doubted that, even with the vast amount of adrenaline racing through my system, I could possibly fend off four bloodthirsty maniacs.

My only hope was that maybe I could dodge them, outrun them, get back inside the club where there were other people. They were all wearing big, clunky boots that had to reduce their maneuverability. I can do this, I told myself as I slipped off my heels. From the way they bared their teeth further, I knew they’d guessed my plan, but what they didn’t know is that I ran five miles every day in less than half an hour. I can do this.

I took off like a horse out of the gate. Muscle-man made a grab for me, but I easily ducked under his arm, and skidded around one of the other Wonder Twins. But then the first — their leader, I guess — came down from out of the fucking sky in front of me, making a landing like the Incredible Hulk and cracking the pavement all around him. My throat constricted in terror — even if the guy was on something, that was not normal. Not without breaking a few bones. And when he immediately stood and rushed at me faster than a cheetah, I couldn’t stop the keening that left my lips. I tried to dart around him, but he easily caught me and wrapped a meaty arm around me, preventing me from bringing my key up to gouge out his eyes.

Holy Goddess, what the Hell was going on?! As I struggled against him, he wrapped my hair around his free hand and yanked my head to the side. The others leered at me, while boss-man lowered his face to my neck. Again, I couldn’t contain the whimper that escaped, and he inhaled deeply. “You’re quite the little fighter, aren’t you, sweetheart?” he taunted in a gravelly voice, and the others laughed like a pack of hyenas on crack. “That’s ok, the adrenaline makes your blood taste sooo much better.”

By now, I was in an all-out panic attack and trying not to hyperventilate. This couldn’t be happening. I wanted to think it was all just a bad nightmare, but it was just all too real. Then a familiar voice came from behind us, and I would’ve gladly jumped into the arms of that angel with the over-inflated ego — at least, until his words actually sank in. “I’ve got dibs on this one,” Declan announced, sounding slightly bored.

“We did all the work,” Mr. Big griped, temporarily releasing my head from his hold. “Why should we give her up now?”

“I saw her first,” Declan growled in reply.

“Ya snooze, ya lose,” muscle-man prodded.

I didn’t even have to wait until Declan bared his own fangs before I realized he was one of them, too, and I very nearly gave into my rising hysteria — either way, I was doomed to become a vampire’s dinner tonight. A real-life fucking vampire. My brain kicked into overdrive as I watched them all posturing, trying to prove who was in charge here. I’d seen enough movies, read enough books — there had to be some smudge of truth, something I could use to get out of this.

“I said she’s mine!” Declan hissed, following it with a snarl that would’ve sent a grizzly bear running. Muscle-man returned his challenge with a roar and a head-on charge, but Declan was much faster and rolled out of the way. It took the much larger man a full second — which seemed like an eternity, compared to the rest of their movements — to slow himself enough to turn back around. Declan fell into a half-swaggering fighting stance and gave the guy a simpering grin, before the big ogre made another bull-elephant charge he easily swept away from. “This really all you’ve got?” he goaded.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see their fearless leader’s face turning red with fury. “Get him!” he thundered to the other two, who obediently scrambled into the fray. Declan easily side-stepped their attacks as well, and I could see my captor becoming more and more flustered. One of the duo managed to connect a punch, causing Declan to pause slightly to shake it off, and I saw my chance.

While the leader was distracted, I managed to wiggle myself out of his grasp and bolted for the door. He lunged for me, but I spun around and got a good slash at his face with my key — still clenched tightly in my hand. Aided by his own momentum, it split the skin open from just below his eye all the way to his jaw — though it also knocked my only weapon to the pavement — and he clutched at the wound for a moment, howling in pain. Unfortunately, it was quickly forgotten, and he made a mad dash after me, but Declan leapt between us and barreled into him, knocking him to the ground.

To my horror, Declan then turned and sprinted towards me — of course I wasn’t fast enough to out-run him, and he caught me with an arm around the waist. But to my astonishment, he pressed his lips to my ear and quickly said, “I’m here to help, ok?” I really wasn’t sure whether I could trust him or not, but he sounded sincere, and I didn’t really have another option, so I nodded and kept close to him when he released me.

“Ah, now I see,” the big bad boss surmised as he lurched to his feet. “She’s your little pet, is she?”

Declan shrugged. “Never saw her in my life,” he replied. “Just deserves a helluva lot better’n you ugly cowards.”

Big Cheese bellowed and plowed towards us. Declan swung me away before coming at him from behind, but it made me dizzy watching them assail each other at high speed, so I turned my attention to the rest of the pack. They were warily watching the fight, no doubt making out far more than I was. I knew I should make a break for it, but I just couldn’t pull myself away from the fracas — or maybe it was just Declan. Eventually, I caught Declan getting in a solid hit to the chest, and then everything stopped. It took me a minute to realize his hand was covered in blood, clutching onto something, as the leader just stared down at his shirt. The others started to slink backwards, even the brawny giant, and that’s when I realized there was a gaping hole in the left side of his chest.

Dec had torn his heart out.