Chapter 12: The Club Incident

Mia's POV The front of the club was loud and boisterous. Several people were lined up outside the club, either smoking or drinking. They were waiting to get in. A large man sat in front of the door. The bright neon lights flashed loudly against the dark sky. I sighed deeply after surveying the situation. There was no way I was getting to Kaya in time if I had to stand in that line. Gritting my teeth together, I passed the people along the wall and got into the alleyway on the side of the club. I touched the walls to look for any side door or something else to help me get inside without being noticed. A winner's smile crossed my face as I spotted a window. It was wide enough for me to fit through, so that's exactly what I did. Lifting one leg onto the large crates placed under it, I threw myself through the window and landed safely. I sent a silent prayer in thanks that I made the smart decision to wear pants that night and not a skirt. I froze when I stood up and saw three girls staring at me with wide eyes and vials of mascara and eyeliner in their hands. I waved them off as I made my way to the door. "My uhh… My friend's in trouble, so," I motioned to the window and then back at me, "could you pretend to ignore me?" They didn't say anything and continued to stare at me. I sighed deeply again and tried one more time. "Look, she phoned me earlier and said she was being harassed by some men. The line outside was really long, so I..." "Need a favor?" The taller one in the middle asked as she turned toward me. My eyes widened in shock, and I shook my head quickly. "No, no," I waved my hands, "I'll be fine. I told her to wait for me. I will find her quickly." "Well," the one to the taller girl's right said, "Just come back if you need any help. We'll be here for a bit." I thanked the women and left the room. Honestly, I probably could have used the backup, but I didn't know exactly what I would face. Besides, those girls were human. I couldn't put more humans in danger. I tried phoning Kaya again, but she didn't answer. I set off to find her. It took about ten minutes before I did. I found Kaya lying on a glass divider. The loud blaring music prevented my voice from reaching her, and the flashing lights made it hard to catch her attention. However, when I finally got to her, my blood chilled. She was being held against the glass divider by a vampire—a human-turned vampire. I could quickly recognize his race as soon as I saw him. Compared to pure-blooded vampires like Sol and Serin, human-turned vampires looked more ordinary and had an unpleasant odor like a beast. Although they had less strength than a pure type, they didn't have a high level of control over their bloodlust. It was not a good idea to annoy and pick a fight with them unnecessarily. They were vicious when they fought with someone. I unconsciously twisted my naked wrists in my hands and berated myself for not wearing my guards. Taking a deep breath, I approached them, getting out of that vampire's grip while pulling Kaya toward me roughly. I glared at him when I pulled her into me and watched with growing concern as he sniffed the air. The glint in his eyes was familiar to me. Before Kaya could react, I pulled her away and toward the back door. It was hard to weave through so many people. I touched as many people as possible, hoping it would mask my scent and scatter it in different directions. I prayed to the god who might pass by this pub, wishing the god could guarantee my action worked. I couldn't release my breathe until I felt the cool night air on my skin. The air became rich with fresh oxygen instead of the hot and sweaty smell from inside the club. I was glad about it. "Are you alright, Kaya?" I breathed out as I looked at a panting Kaya, who was rubbing at her neck. She nodded at me once and gulped down her fear. "I am now." She let out another deep breath. "Man, that guy was intense. He wouldn't leave me alone ever since I got inside. I'm pretty sure he was even licking my neck at some point." I hid my flinch with a grimacing look and made a disgusted face as she laughed. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I hadn't gotten there in time and taken her out of the club. "How did you manage to get into this club? Who told you about it?" Whoever it was, I would do my best to make sure those vampires didn't do anything more to Kaya and keep her safe for the rest of her life. She only shrugged at my question and tied her hair up. "I don't know. It's all hazy to me now, but I remember walking around town with several friends. Some guys invited us to their party at the club." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Several friends. Where were they now? I didn't get a chance to ask her because I felt a harsh grip on my arm. I heard a loud banging sound as the metal door behind me slammed shut. My body was once again slammed against the cold brick wall. I groaned as my head touched the wall. Actually, it wasn't the pain that irritated me. It was the fact that this was the third time I was forcibly pushed up against a wall in two weeks, and not in a good way. When I opened my eyes, I came face to face with the man who had been grinding up on Kaya before. My eyes shot from the expression on his face as he sniffed at me to the wide, open eyes of Kaya behind him. Her face turned into fury as she realized what was happening. She yelled, "Hey, jerk, what are you doing?" Before she could act or do anything, a wind with a familiar scent swapped my face. Another figure showed up in front of us. This figure I knew. This was a familiar scene to me. Involuntarily, a wide and gentle smile caught my eyes. I looked at the vampire in front of me, knowing that he was too immersed in smelling my blood that he didn't notice the air change around us. "Hey," I whispered to the human-turned vampire. He snapped his eyes open. "You might want to run now." It was too late. Sol's scent was filling the alley. The man was off me and flying across the alley before he could blink and ask me why. I could almost smell the fear from the human-turned vampire and stared at Sol, fear of being torn apart by him. I gripped Kaya and pulled her out of the alley before she could see anything. We quickly ran to the main street. It wasn't five minutes later when Sol appeared in front of us and grabbed my free hand. "Let's go." That was all he said in a tight voice, and I followed him to his car. ###