The car came to a stop outside a rectangular building that seemed to be squatting between a coffee place and a shoe store. It was set back from the road with a wide, gravel covered car park acting as a buffer.

It had been altered from its original purpose in such a way that the side of the building facing the street had been covered over. The outline of windows and doors showing still, but bricked up and scrawled over with graffiti.

Around the side, above the entranceway, it was all glass. Flashing lights and people dancing enthusiastically amidst smoke and thumping music could be seen. There wasn’t much of a queue, just a few groups of men and women working their way inside, past the two large men in dark jackets.

“What is this place?” I asked Jo.

She was seated in the passenger seat beside Patrik who had driven. I’d been told quite firmly that as the newcomer, I got to ride in the back seat. It wasn’t too bad, sandwiched between the bag of weapons and the junk food cartons, though the smell was horrendous and the seat was sticky. I tried not to think about why.

“Called the Night House,” Patrik said as Jo ignored me. “Fun place for kids to dance and take drugs.”

“Vamps run it,” Jo chimed in finally deigning to speak. She hadn’t taken her eyes from the place since we’d arrived. “When the kids get nice and wasted, they feed off of them.”

“Doesn’t someone notice the bodies or that people are missing?”

“They don’t kill them,” Jo said and I didn’t need to see her face, I could hear the sneer in her voice.

“Ja, catch and release,” Patrik said. He was oblivious to the tension in the car, or at least acted like he was. “They take a little bit of blood, the kids come back, nightclub stays open and they make money too.”

“So what’s the plan? They won’t let us in like this.”

We were all wearing plain t-shirts and jeans in dark colours. Patrik and Jo each had a harness like I’d seen Abe wear and their knives and assorted weaponry hung from it. They’d both dropped a thick coat onto the back seat so that they could cover their weapons at least, but bouncers would notice.

“Someone needs to go in and open the emergency exit,” Jo said as she twisted around in her seat to look at me. “That’d be you.”

“I’ve never been in there before! How will I know where it is?”

“You’ll figure it out,” she said. “Consider it part of your training.”

She narrowed her eyes as she said it and I could see how resolute she was. It seemed pointless arguing and besides, I wanted to make a good impression.

“Okay, fine. They still won’t let me in like this though.”

“Some clothes in the bag,” Patrik said. “Should be your size.”

“Great,” I muttered as I unzipped the large duffel on the seat beside me. “You’ve gotta be kidding!”

“Wear that and they won’t even look twice,” Jo said. “They’ll just wave you through.”

“Some shoes in there too,” Patrik said.

“You’ll need to take off your bra,” Jo added as I pulled a face at the dress.

It was a perfect example of the little black dress I’d heard people talk about. It was mini length with an all-black body, spaghetti straps and wrap plunge style. It had lace detailing along the hem that would leave little to the imagination. Nothing at all to the imagination if I didn’t wear underwear.

“Don’t you dare look!” I said to Patrik as I pulled the t-shirt off and reached behind my back to unclip my bra. With heat colouring my cheeks, I pulled the dress over my head and down over my body. It fit, barely, so long as I didn’t try and actually breathe out. It also revealed far too much of my breasts.

“Looks good,” Jo said grudgingly. “Though you’re far too pale to wear black well. We should have brought fake tan too, but pale works for us here.”

I ignored their laughter as I kicked off my trainers and wriggled out of my jeans. Jo climbed out of her side of the car and pulled open the door next to me. “Turn your face to me,” she said as she reached across and pulled a small case from the duffel.

She flicked open the lid to reveal an assortment of makeup and I swallowed back what I was about to say. It wasn’t that I’d never worn makeup before, but I’d fallen out of the habit during that last stint in the nut house. Hadn’t seen much point afterwards.

“Don’t need to apply much,” Jo was saying. “Just enough to get you past the bouncers.”

With a surprisingly gentle touch, she applied eyeliner and mascara, a little shadow around my eyes and some crimson lip gloss that tasted of cherry. “Am I supposed to look like a hooker?”

“Vamps like red, reminds them of blood,” she said. “I don’t have a foundation that’ll match your skin tone but it’s not a problem. The paler the skin, the clearer the veins and that’ll give them a raging hard on for you. You want to see?”

“I’m good,” I said as I turned my eyes away from the compact mirror she held up before me.

She looked at me curiously but shrugged and finished with the makeup. I fished out the shoes and held back a sigh. Barely there heels with a strap across the toes and another above the ankle to hold them in place. The heel though was about four and a half inches, which was probably four inches taller than anything I’d walked in recently.

“Take this,” Jo said and passed a light grey clutch bag to me. It was slim and not very wide, but long enough to fit my knife. Which she picked up from beside me and slipped into the bag. “They won’t search you.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Sexist,” Patrik said. “I always get searched.”

“That’s because you’re the size of a bloody tank,” she shot back and he subsided, grumbling. She flashed a smile at me and winked. “There’s a little cash in the purse but you won’t need it. They’ll just wave you straight through. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine and we’ll be waiting outside the back door.”

“What about alarms?”

“They don’t bother with them,” Patrik said. “Too many of their… less human customers like to exit discreetly.”

“Great!” I repeated and climbed from the car.

“One more thing,” Jo said and I turned to her.

“What?”

“Don’t use your powers where you can be seen.”

“I wasn’t intending to,” I said and she nodded.

“Good. Most people can’t grasp this reality that’s all around them so they make up excuses for what they see. Something blatant with all kinds of cameras around is not going to help us though.”

“Fine, I get it. No powers,” I turned to go but stopped and looked back at her. “How will I know which ones are vampires? I can’t see their faces change unless I’m touching them.”

“Leave that to us for now,” she assured me. “Now go.”

I exhaled softly and tugged at the hem of my dress. It barely reached mid-thigh and I was just glad that Evie had insisted I wax my legs with her, the last time she’d visited. Didn’t think I’d get far if I looked like a Sasquatch. Hardly a sexy look.

After a few minutes tottering on my heels as I crossed the car park, the gravel crunching with each step and certainly not helping my balance. I joined the back of the queue of perhaps fifteen people waiting to enter, and crossed my arms over my body.

To say I was out of my comfort zone was an understatement. Even as a rebellious and somewhat adventurous teen, I’d never been one for high heels and short dresses. Jeans and a t-shirt were usually good enough to get the attention of the local boys.

Still, if I did a good job, then I’d finally have the chance at some small measure of revenge. A vampire had killed my parents and while he wasn’t likely to be here, others were and they deserved to be put down. It was a minor hardship to wear a dress even if it did feel like everyone was watching me.

The bouncer leered as he waved me through but didn’t say anything and I stepped through the open doors sound washing over me, the thumping beat that was loud enough that I could feel the vibration in my body.

A smell of too strong perfume mixed with the faint odour of bleach filled the place. Considering the number of people jammed inside, sweating as they danced frenetically to the music, the bleach was likely a necessity to clean the place.

Heat from too many people in a far too small space caused my skin to prickle and I knew right away that it wasn’t for me. Evie was the clubber, while I avoided contact with crowds of people whenever possible.

I bypassed the bar, too many people crowding it and I wasn’t there to drink no matter how much I needed one. People watched me, heads turning and eyes following me. I hated it. It was overwhelming and entirely too claustrophobic.

A hand touched my ass, and I whirled but whoever’d grabbed me was gone, lost in the crowd. I kept the scowl from my face, determined to seem like any other girl on a night out. Don’t stand out, be part of the crowd.

Metal stairs led up to the next floor on one side of the room and on the other, a number of curtained-off alcoves. Likely used for privacy. The other two walls had bars before them and the dance floor in the centre of the room was full to bursting. The DJ stood on a raised platform, behind his equipment with attractive girls crowded around him.

I pushed past a group of women who turned and gave me the death glare for some reason and made my way to the curtained alcoves. One of them must hide a corridor that would lead to the emergency exit.

A face in the crowd turned my way, handsome with a great jawline and piercing eyes, his expression seemed appreciative as he watched me walk by. He smiled and I could admit that it was a pretty fantastic smile. The type that would make any girls knees weaken. I did my best to ignore him though I saw him approach from the corner of my eye.

“Hey,” he called, loud enough to be heard over the music.

“Sorry, I need to…”

“What?”

“I said, sorry…” louder this time and he grinned.

“Hey, no worries, want a drink?”

“No,” I said firmly as I shook my head. His smile never wavered and he leaned in a little closer.

“Just one drink? What harm could it do?”

The others would be waiting and I didn’t want to make a scene, but the only way to get away from the pushy creep would be to kick off… or lie.

“Sure,” I said. “Just let me use the ladies first, yeah?”

“Come straight back,” he said as his gaze moved down my body. I bit down hard on my lip and forced a smile.

“I will. Promise.”

Then I was past him and headed towards the furthest alcove from the door. It was near the bar and as I pushed through the curtain, I realised I’d guessed rightly. A door with ‘EXIT’ in green light above it was set into the wall. Unfortunately, the reason they didn’t need an alarm on the door stood beside it.

He seemed to be as wide as he was tall and his muscles fairly bulged beneath his shirt. Beady eyes stared out at me from beneath a heavy brow that would have looked more at home on a caveman than a modern human.

His nose was bent, likely broken several times over years or brawling judging by the numerous scars on his face. A tattoo of a Chinese dragon started just above his ear and swept down over his bald head and down his neck. He was not, in any way, an indication of good life choices.

“You’ll need to head back the way you came miss,” he said and pointed back towards the heavy curtain. I glanced back and chewed on my lip as I weighed options.

The creep was still out there. Handsome creep, but still a creep. My friends, if that’s what I could call them, were beyond the door behind the muscular behemoth before me and I was fast running out of options.

“I just need a breath of fresh air,” I said as I stepped closer. The wobble as I tried to maintain my balance in the shoes I’d been given would at least sell the idea that I was worse for wear.

“Back through the club and out the main doors.”

“Can’t I just…” I said with a nod towards the door behind him. “Please?”

“Tell you what, love,” he said as he ran his gaze over my body, lingering around the plunging top of my dress. “Maybe you can persuade me to let you through.”

“Ah…” I said as he stepped closer to me than I’d hoped for. I stepped aside and banged up against the wall. Crap!

“Come on,” he said as he pushed up against me, his hand resting on my hip. I stared up into his face but nothing changed. Likely human then which was a relief. “Just a bit of fun.”

“Not quite what I planned…” I said and sucked in a breath as his hand slid down my hip to my bare thigh. His fingers moved over my skin, seeking to push up beneath the hem of my dress.

A tremble ran through me and he leered, his hand finally finding its way beneath my dress, sliding up my inner thigh as I cringed, pushing away from him. His body was firm, solid as a wall and I had no chance of pushing him away.

I reached for my power, screamed silently for it, but the fear and disgust kept it beyond me. I wanted to find the anger, the rage that I needed as his hand touched the outside of my underwear, thick fingers pulling clumsily at the material.

My forehead connected with his nose with a satisfying crunch and he cried out in pain, stepping back as his hands went to stem the blood flowing from his nose.

“Bitch!” he said as I stepped forward. My hands grasped his shoulders firmly as I brought my knee up straight between his legs.

“Damn right I am,” I spat at him as he curled up on the floor, one hand cradling his no doubt swollen balls and the other his broken nose. I slammed my hand down on the locking bar to the door and it swung open.

“What happened?” Jo asked as she looked from the bouncer to me. Her face darkened as she saw the look on my face and she turned to Patrik. “Take care of this piece of shit.”

The large man looked at the two of us and grunted. He didn’t need to know exactly what had happened. He reached down with one hand and lifted the bouncer to his feet. He took one look at me and stepped outside, dragging the injured man with him. A moment later there was a heavy thud and Patrik came back inside, letting the door close behind him.

“You good?” Jo asked and I nodded as I hoped she wouldn’t see the trembling in my hands.

“Then let’s go kill some vamps,” she said with a grin and pushed through the curtain.