‘Geez. Really?’

I looked at my phone once more. In the ‘Girls Only’ chat, they discussed what to wear. Of course, we couldn’t just go in jeans. Oh no, Quinn practically shouted at me for suggesting the idea.

Here I was, looking through my closet to dress to the nines. For a ‘quick drink’ at Jack’s Hideout.

A quick drink, my ass.

Dressing like this; we would eventually taxi to the nearest town after a few drinks. I texted Leo the warning, to which he replied.

[Devan already told me 😉]

Sigh. I pulled out the little black dress, a clutch, and heels.

‘Girl, we got work to do.’

“Well, the boy scrubs up good,” Mum stated, looking out my bedroom window.

I moved to peek out; sure enough, Leo was walking towards the house. His black shirt was buttoned up, except for the last two, grey jeans and trainers to match.

“Don’t have too much fun, sweetie.”

“Mum!” I whined.

She laughed, leaving the room.

----------------------------------------

After asking Mum nicely for a lift to Jack’s, she pulled into a side road a few minutes away from the hideout. As I unbuckled the seatbelt, she turned to look at us.

“Stay safe. If you need to call me, it doesn’t matter if I’m asleep.”

“Okay, Mum. See you later.”

I leaned forward and kissed her cheek before following Leo out of the car. I waved as she left, and Leo held out his arm.

“Please lead the way.”

I chuckled, and holding his arm, I gently guided him down the alley. The same cigarette smell got stronger as we walked down. I could see the faint amber glow at the end. I turned to the metal door and knocked twice. The metal window slid open, and amber eyes peered out.

“ID?”

“Bellatrix.”

The door opened, allowing us entry.

I spotted Seri and Quinn at a high table waving while walking in with Leo. Devan and Lathen were playing at a pool table just before them. It was busy on a Sunday night. Usually, all the tables would be occupied, yet somehow, they managed to get a prime spot.

After a few drinks, Quinn tried to play pool with Devan but failed miserably. Devan was more than happy to teach her…

“Shameless!” Seri hollered.

Quinn stuck her tongue out at her and carried on. Seri and I laughed and sat dancing in our seats to the music.

“Hey!” Exploded a voice from the bar, “Hands off my sister.”

We stopped and couldn’t help but look over. It was Tiffany’s brother; he was clutching an offensive hand, and Tiffany was calming her brother down.

“Calm down or take it outside,” Commanded a voice.

Jack.

“Geez, sorry, miss.” The guy shrugged his hand out of the tight grip and walked away.

“Bro! Chill, come on.”

Tiffany turned and returned to her group. Her brother still seething with anger, followed her without taking his eye off the random guy.

Jack watched them walk away from the bar. Looking straight at our group, he stepped forward.

“Quinn.” I motioned to Jack, coming closer, and she came closer to the table.

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“Who is that?” Leo whispered in my ear.

“The owner, Jack.”

Jack was a burly man, older and wiser. He kept a tight ship and was no-nonsense. Everyone played nice, or you were thrown out, simple as. No drugs were permitted, and no smoking inside. Nothing happened without Jack knowing; if something did happen, you were assured he would find out who had done it.

“Evening. Are you the two who came in last week?”

“Yes, Seri and I,” Quinn said, gesturing to Seri.

“Grand. You and your friends come this way, please.”

“I’ll guard the table,” Lathen said, sitting on a stool.

“I’ll stay too,” Leo said.

I looked at him suspiciously, but he winked and returned to his drink.

Jack led us to the back rooms, a VIP section, which was empty. Full length windows allowed us to look over the whole bar and dance floor with plush red sofas, and a large TV monitor stood in the middle.

I looked down at the busy bar and inspected Leo and Lathen. They were… talking. But their body language told me it wasn’t a comfortable ‘chat’. They gave nothing away, talking like two friends.

He pulled the curtain closed, returning my attention to Jack and he hooked a laptop to the monitor.

“I think I found the culprit, but I was wondering if you recognise ‘em and hopefully tell me a name.”

“Our memories are a little jumbled, but we will try,” Seri mentioned, sitting on the edge closest to the screen.

He nodded and played the video. It was a tape from behind the bar pointed out at the pool table and seating area. Fast forwarding it, he quickly spotted Quinn’s bright red hair.

We watched a past Seri and Quinn grabbed a chair and sat by the bar.

“I only counted two drinks, the third abandoned,” Jack murmured, allowing to play.

I could see Seri’s face scrunching up as she sipped her second drink.

“The second one tasted weird, very alcoholic,” Seri recalled.

Jack rewound it, but nothing was different: the same female bartender.

“Wait, can you slow it down?” Devan asked.

He did.

There. A smudge, a blur as the bartender placed the drinks down. Jack tutted; he noticed it too.

“That solves that. Now.”

He fast-forwarded until they were approached by a man, tall, blonde and slightly tan.

“Recognise him?”

They watched and shook their heads.

“After this, you go off the frame. Until…”

They staggered through the front door. Quinn is holding up Seri, who is close to fainting. The bar was packed, and no one noticed them enter the bathroom.

“Two hours later. Your friend comes to get you.”

He played it, and sure enough, I was at the bar asking for Angel and running to the toilets.

“How did they get outside?” Devan asked.

Jack shook his head, “We’ve been scratching our heads at that too. But superspeedy here has a couple of tricks up his sleeve-ies.”

I noticed someone in the tape, “Could you go back?”

“How far?”

I thought about it, “When they were approached.”

I had a gut feeling, one my intuition could not ignore. Could a random vampire simply get lucky finding two witches? He let it play normally.

“Stop. Look at the bottom right, the blonde girl watching him.”

Seri and Quinn looked closer.

“Megan?” Seri shrilled.

“What the hell?” Quinn murmured.

“You know her?” Jack gruffed.

“Megan Mants. She’s meant to be three hours away looking after her grandmother after they left months ago… And last I saw her, she was NOT that pale,” I informed.

“You think she’s been turned?” Devan asked.

“Why else would she be there? If you fast forward to them coming in, you see her follow them in and hide in the corner.”

Just as I said, she followed them and directly look into the camera before moving off the frame.

“Sneaky fucking Vampires,” Jack swore, “I’m sorry this happened in my place. If I find out more, I’ll inform you.”

We thanked Jack as we returned downstairs. Quinn’s eyebrows furrowed as she was thinking.

“Anything?” Lathen asked hopeful.

“Well,” Seri started, “You remember Megan?”

“Mants? Yeah.”

“We think she’s turned Vamp.”

“She drugged you?” His eyebrows rose.

“Not her, but possibly her sire,” Quinn mumbled.

“Shit.”

“How would she know…?” Devan muttered.

Quinn replied instead, “I don’t think she did… Maybe she wanted some sort of revenge? Or… wrong place, wrong time?”

We all became quiet, the mood sombre.

Megan could be one of many people turned. Two hundred years ago, a truce was formed all over the world. No more vampires were to be made, no more killing of witches. With the witch trials, we became few and far between; many hid away from society and never returned, while others stayed but kept their heads down and out of sight.

“If it comes to it. Do you think the wolves will help?” Leo asked.

“Who knows,” Devan replied, shrugging.

I chuckled lightly and recited, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

We finished off our drinks and decided to end the night there. I made sure I left nothing, looking into my clutch.

“Oi!” threatened a voice.

I was quickly pulled back into Leo’s warmth. He pulled me out of the way as a body flew across the tables.

“You okay?” he asked, helping me catch my feet.

“Yeah,” I breathed, “Time to go,” I panted, watching with wide eyes at the brawl about to ensue.

“I TOLD YOU OUT!” Jack's voice quickly thundered over the entire place, hauling two bodies away from each other, “Bloody pups!”

“Yep, go.”

Leo pushed the bottom of my back, urging me forward. I grabbed Seri’s hand as we passed her. Lathen held the door open as we exited, and Quinn flagged down a large taxi.

“Well, that sucked,” Lathen began, “Maybe we should stick to house parties for now.”

“So long as an ex doesn’t show up. Eh, Leo?” Devan added, laughing.

Leo groaned. They were not going to let that one go.

As we piled into the cab, the door slammed open, and the two brawlers were thrown out.

----------------------------------------

Arriving at our street, Leo held out a hand to help me. I waved and said goodbye from the corner.

We turned, walking down the road. Leo searched his pockets before pausing and groaned, “Shit.”

I paused with him, “What?”

His face fell, “My house key… I think I dropped it when I pulled you out of the way.”

I laughed at his predicament before realising what that meant.

I smirked, “Come on, Idiot,” I grabbed his arm, “I bet you did this on purpose.”

He laughed, “I’m not that sly.”

“Hm?” I hummed.

Getting out my keys and inviting him in. Luckily, I hadn’t given him back the pyjamas he abandoned on his cat adventures.