Club Heartthrob had it’s grand opening two weeks later. On the front of the building there was a big neon sign where the “A” in Heartthrob was replaced with a cartoon styled heart. A pair of fangs dug into the side of the heart with a little blood drop. Even though vampires were all trying to avoid the gaze of the human eye at all costs possible, apparently eye catching design was more important. Arthur personally like it, though he wouldn’t admit it.
Arthur had only stuck around for about a day during the design process. Trying to keep up with Claudia’s ideas was like trying to follow some sort of high level mathematical theorem that only the worlds greatest minds could understand. Except, in this instance the numbers were replaced with furniture colors and the formulaic expression replaced with what pieces of art did or didn’t cut it. It was almost like watching a madman work. So by the time the grand opening was set to happen Arthur was half expecting the place to look like a huge, disorganized mish-mash of clashing ideas. But the other half of him expected Claudia to somehow pull it all together. Opening night proved she had.
There was a line out the door stretching far beyond the block that Heartthrob was located on, and all the people were clamoring about the hottest new club in town. There was some kind of DJ that everyone but Arthur was familiar with helping to promote it all. Arthur and the rest of the Baron’s crowd had VIP access, of course, so they didn’t have to wait in the long line as they all arrived. Persephone had pulled on some of her more impressive contacts so that each of the Baron’s people arrived with small groups of trendy, attractive people in order to make the opening pop even more. The only person with Arthur’s group he knew was Tameka, but she brought a number of her friends who were indeed trendy and attractive.
As they approached the front door, there were two huge men bouncing it. One Arthur recognized from the now defunct Syndrome club, who gave him a nod. The other one must have been a new hire, but looked equally huge and menacing. Arthur swiped his key card against the door to the delight of his companions, and the dismay of those waiting in line behind them. As they entered the club, it became obvious to Arthur, who was someone that couldn’t tell the difference between a good and a bad nightclub, that Claudia had gone all out.
The entire place was simultaneously too dark to make anything out further than a few feet in front of you, while also being assaulted by a rhythmic array of flashing lights. Some jumped in patterns, other were seemingly random. There were floodlights all over the ceilings, numerous long, thin wires of lights across the walls, and various fixtures of all strange shapes and designs placed in spots that did nothing to actually help the visibility, but rather were there to look good. The balcony level was full of crowds of people merging, vibrating, and dancing, creating a sort of single celled organism of people that swayed in seeming synchronization. Drinks were sloshing and spilling haphazardly, people were bumping into each other without a care at all, and too many people were taking advantage of the side rooms and dark lighting, performing all manner of obscene acts on each other that had passed beyond perverse and were borderline wicked.
Though, nobody seemed to mind, because anyone who wasn’t wrapped up in another person on the upper floors was drawn to the bottom floor. The huge open space had been converted into a massive dance-floor, where the floor itself was cut into squares lit up with LED panels that flashed in communication with the lights above. Arthur couldn’t tell if it was artificial fog, or just clouds of perspiration below, or both, but there was a thin haze that had completely spread across the dance floor giving it an ever darker, more mysterious air than the above balconies. At the front of the dance floor was a large booth with even more flashing lights and lasers that beamed into the crowd, and massive speakers that were throbbing an industrial, dark, deep kind of electronic music that felt carnal, and base. It felt raw, and brutal.
If Arthur were still human, he might have been converted to another club goer. This would probably be a fun, exciting, maybe even dangerous seeming place full of equally exciting people who presented all manner of carnal opportunity throughout the night. He might find someone offering some designer drug, or get lost in the crowd dancing with beautiful people, or maybe even find himself trying something completely new behind the curtains in one of the side rooms. But, he wasn’t human, not anymore. As the heavy electronic music thrummed through him creating significant vibrations through his body, all he could think about was that he now understood why vampires like night clubs so much. Syndrome was one thing, but Heartthrob was like a completely different animal. He felt like a lion among sheep. Like a panther stalking through the forests unseen. He was the predator. The intensity of the club would normally be overwhelming at points, but right now it was like a perfect storm of chaos that he could slip through easily and unnoticed and find any type of prey to satiate his thirst.
“You’re feeling it, huh?!”
Arthur turned to his right. There was someone he didn’t recognize at all, a pretty young girl who looked half drunk looking up at him. Without a second thought, Arthur wrapped his arms around her and twisted like they were in a dance, dipping her. She yelped in surprise but before she could even think to struggle, Arthur’s fangs were in her neck. She gasped, her body relaxing as he drank that sweet, red blood from her veins. It was so easy.
His fangs retracted as he stood the woman back up, only having drank a little, the taste of her essence on his lips still. He felt it beginning to course through his veins, this time tinged by a slightly tipsy feeling from the alcohol in her veins. She swooned, Arthur catching her, guiding her to a nearby couch with a soft, fuzzy texture. Not a single person bothered to look, or ask questions, or even notice what had just happened under the dim, flashing lights and the beating music.
Arthur stood, wiping the edge of his mouth. That girl had just been one of hundreds in the club. Unsuspecting, prime targets who could be easily drank from without anyone batting an eye. He grinned. This, he could get into.
At that moment, the music slowed and the blaring volume turned down. Lights flashed towards the DJs stage, where he saw Persephone standing with a microphone in her hands. Even without her Potential, she easily stole the attention of most everyone in the club, wearing a sequined silver dress that reflected all the lights pointed at her like she was a beacon in the dark.
“Everyone!” Persephone said into the microphone, “Welcome to the grand opening of Heartthrob! You have all been chosen as our most special guests, those most deserving to experience the first night of many to come here.” The crowd cheered. “I am Persephone, your host, and I have crafted every single experience here to give you the most awesome of nights. From this moment going forward, know that our little haven here is unlike any other, and this night you will all remember.”
There was another roar from the crowd. Arthur was surprised Persephone could promote so well compared to her usual, serious demeanor. Arthur looked around, wondering how many people here were actually vampires, but was interrupted by a huge spray of smoky fog from all corners of the club met with surprised and delighted cries from the club goers. Curvaceous women in all too skimpy clothing began to pour out of side doors carrying large trays full of bottles and drinks, as cages attached to the ceilings were illuminated by the flood lights. Inside were similarly dressed women who began to sway and swing around poles to the thrum of the growing music. As it came to an apex, Persephone shouted out one more word of encouragement Arthur wasn’t even able to understand this far back in the club, and the place became alive again.
Arthur drank from two more people with no fear of being watched or any kind of persecution, before making his way to the back elevator and getting inside. As it moved up a floor and dinged open, there were two armed guards waiting for him on the other side in front of the upper suites. As soon as they saw him they nodded him in. Claudia had gone all out with the upper suites too, as expected. Expensive looking modern art paintings hung on the walls. Strangely shaped, semi-circular lights hung on the ceilings, and every inch of the place was decorated with small pieces of furniture holding little knickknacks. Big fuzzy carpets lined the floors and there were couches, chairs, a stripper pole, and a manned bar in just the first room alone.
There were numerous people in here that Arthur didn’t recognize at all, only a few he knew were friends of his friends. Most of them were too absorbed in each other, holding glasses of deep red liquid chatting quietly, snickering and laughing at each other, and generally having a good time. They exuded that sort of exclusive, upper-crust type of attitude that Arthur usually hated. Right now, he barely even noticed it. Claudia stood in one of her own perfectly fitted dresses that only she could pull off, gazing down at the club through one of the huge window walls. There were more guards in here as well, all carrying big guns. Apparently Shiang’s suggestion at beefing the place up hadn’t fallen on deaf ears.
As Arthur walked through the small throng of VIP guests some of them gave him the eye, one even scoffed. He was someone they didn’t recognize in their inner circles of hip vampire goers. He stared a few of them down, and as he approached Claudia he put them all to silence by wrapping a hand around her waist and greeting her at the window.
She turned her head in surprise, but instead grinned through dark red lipstick as she saw who it was.
“Bolder and bolder every day, eh Arty?”
He returned the smile, kissing her on the cheek. “Had to show some of your sycophants whose really important around here,” he said quietly.
“Oh,” Claudia said, a look of amusement on her face, “You’ve become quite the lady killer, haven’t you?”
Arthur laughed, removing himself from her and looking down over the club. “More than you know. Just some fun. I gotta say, I’m impressed. I’m not a big fan of clubs but this place is making me one.”
She grinned, snapping her fingers at the man tending the bar, who brought over two glasses of blood for them. “I never fail to disappoint. Although, Percy getting up on stage and taking all the credit did rub me the wrong way. Just a bit.”
Arthur sipped at the glass, surprised that the blood tasted fresh. “Eh, anyone who knows what’s up knows it was all you. And once this is all over you can make as many speeches as you want.”
“Speaking of which, what do you plan to do once this is all over?”
Arthur shrugged, “Probably head black to Glasshill, why?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, I mean all this. Once our enemies are out of the picture.”
“Probably just keep working for the Baron, right?”
“That’s it?”
Arthur looked at Claudia, who was giving him a surprisingly stern look. “What?”
She shook her head, looking back down over the throbbing crowds below. “Nothing.”
Arthur snorted, “Jesus, come on. What?”
“I dunno,” she shrugged, “I just figured after all this, all you’ve been through, you’d want more than to just be another one of the Baron’s thugs.”
“I don’t know if I’m just a thug,” Arthur said defensively. “But, honestly, Persephone is the first person I’ve met who actually treated me like a normal person. Like an equal, even. She’s introduced me to other people, I’ve made some friends, and she’s taught me a lot about how to survive. Most importantly she’s the one that turned me.”
“And in that short time, you’ve accomplished more than most of the people in this room combined,” Claudia said with a quick, snide glance at the people behind them. “I’m not saying you should try to usurp the Baron or anything crazy like that, I’m just saying that I think you’ve done a lot and maybe should shoot for more.”
“Why? Are you fishing for a potential power couple in the vampire world?” Arthur only half-teased, the alcoholic blood he’d just drank gliding in his veins.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
She shot him a sharp look. “Although not a bad idea, I’m being serious. Every Baron traditionally has five Claws. Since the incident at the club, he only has three now that Benny and Lewis are gone. Me, Percy, Shiang.”
Arthur shook his head, “Wouldn’t people be upset that someone and her sire are both a claw? Especially someone as young as me?”
“See! You’re even starting to think politically, something every Claw has to do,” Claudia said, turning to face him. “And who gives a shit what they think. All that matters is what the Baron thinks.”
“What would I even do? Don’t the Claws all have some kind of specialty?”
“I guess, but you can figure that out later. Look, all I’m saying is that at some point the Baron is going to have to choose two new Claws and I think you’ve got a pretty good shot if you act smart about it.”
Arthur snorted, “Your opinion and the Baron’s opinion might be vastly different.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I hear a lot of things in my position. Lots of idle talk, even more rumors. You might be surprised to know that your name has gotten around since everything that happened. Lots of vampires are starting to know who you are.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Arthur asked, genuinely curious.
“Depends on how you use it,” Claudia said, finishing the blood in her glass and placing it on the sill of the large glass window.
Arthur looked at his own drink, sloshing it around. “Why exactly are you telling me all this?”
She looked at him, “What?”
“You know, why do you care? What’s your angle? Why are you telling me all this instead of somebody else. Somebody smarter? Older?”
Claudia’s jaw fell, as she stammered over herself before responding. “Are you a fucking moron or what?” She said, snatching his drink out of his hands and stalking off down one of the hallways, slamming a door behind her.
Hisses and ooh’s from the small group sitting in the middle of the room followed.
“You fucked up dude,” one of them jeered at Arthur with some laughs.
Arthur took a few steps closer to them, “I don’t get it, what happened?”
One girl with her hair half dyed different colors split into pony tails rolled her eyes, “Seriously dude? She’s into you.”
“Hah! Good one. No she isn’t, we just tease each other.”
“Come on bro,” one of the guys who was wearing a strange, revealing netted shirt said. “She’s totally into you. No woman would let you touch her like that if she was just ‘teasing’.”
Arthur thought for a moment, “But why would she be into me?”
“Great question,” the guy said getting some snickers.
Arthur made a noise in his throat, “Whatever. Thanks for the tip, I guess.”
“No problem!” he said with a laugh, as the group went back to drinking and chatting among themselves.
Arthur looked down the hallway towards where Claudia had disappeared into. Maybe they were right. Arthur figured he and Claudia always just…looked out for each other, but never really thought it was anything more than that. She was absolutely beautiful, that was for certain. But she was way out of his league. Older, smarter, probably more powerful too. It didn’t make sense to him.
Arthur's phone buzzed, a text from Persephone to meet him outside. He thought about what Claudia said. Could he really become one of the next Claws?
-
Word began to spread about the club so quickly that not only was Heartthrob becoming one of the most popular spots in town, but it was causing the balance of human patrons against vampire patrons was becoming too imbalanced. There had been four incidents within two weeks of vampires mistakenly attempting to feed on each other. All four incidents had broken out into fights. Apparently vampires could feed on each other, but it wasn’t a socially acceptable thing to do. It usually only ever happened when vampires were trying to kill each other.
Beyond the fights, the amount of money and attention Heartthrob was bringing in was impressive, to say the least. Persephone even gave an interview with some local news on how to make run a club successfully. Claudia gave her most of the talking points. For a long while, it was difficult to tell if their plan was actually working in the way they intended. But, eventually, Obi’s men reported back that they had spotted some of Santiago’s scouts moving around the area on one of the club’s weekend nights. Which meant that Santiago was starting to move out of hiding, if he was sending people out to survey the local situation. But, they still hadn’t caught wind of Santiago himself, so Persephone decided that they needed one more push in order to draw him out, and take him down.
This push, Arthur volunteered to be in charge of. One of the major problems that the Baron’s side had with dealing with Santiago is that they never seemed to keep cash on site for any of their holdings. Every time they raided or destroyed a location, there were always valuable assets, but never cash. So, Arthur had reached out to Father Arlo to see if he knew anything about it. Providing this information would prove his trust, and Arlo was given the guarantee that he would be protected by the Baron in case anything went wrong.
This turned out to be the right move, because the church itself that Arlo worked at was one such money laundering operation for Santiago. He never saw the money directly, but was in charge of keeping everything going on at the church under wraps. Which meant he knew everything that was actually relevant to Arthur’s plans. The number of guards, their hours, when they made deliveries, and so on. Arthur put his trust in Arlo’s word, and Persephone put her’s in Arthur's, and so the operation was green lit by the Baron. The only stipulation, one that Arthur had put forward, was that they would tell Arlo when they were coming so he could get out beforehand. This was a point of contention from both the Baron and Persephone, but Arthur claimed Arlo wasn’t willing to do it otherwise. Arlo never actually had any say in the matter, but Arthur went to bat for him anyway. If the man wanted to get the hell away from Santiago and Bartolome, Arthur would do anything he could to help. Because as soon as they hit the place it would be obvious who spilled the beans.
To Arthur’s surprise, Arlo was still willing to go through with the whole thing despite the risk. Apparently the man really did have a sense of morality. Arthur sat in an unmarked black van just a hundred feet away from the church. He was in the passenger seat, while Obi sat in the driver’s. Four of his men were in the back of the van. All wearing heavy body armor, small communications devices in their ears, balaclavas over their heads, and each held big rifles with suppressors on them. Obi wore the same, double checking the equipment on his vest and making sure his gun was good to go.
He must’ve realized Arthur was staring, because without looking he said, “Something on your mind?”
“How many times have you done something like this?” Arthur asked.
Obi chuckled, “Enough times where we’re not worried about taking out a bunch of paid thugs, right boys?”
There was a simultaneously grunt of agreement from the back of the van.
“All right. As far as I’m concerned, as soon as we get in there it’s your game,” Arthur said. “I’ll…what should I do?”
“Follow behind. Don’t point your gun at anyone unless you’re one hundred percent certain it’s not one of us. And don’t pull the trigger unless you’re two hundred percent certain.”
“Fair enough,” Arthur said. “We’re just waiting for the signal then. Point of entry will be the back door, it’ll be open. That’ll lead into the back rooms, which has stairs down into the basement according to Arlo. But there might be some guys on the first floor.”
“Yup, I remember. We’ll clear the back rooms and all the church staff area before securing the main worship area. From there we’ll head down and see what we see.”
“All right then,” Arthur said. It wasn’t easy to forget these guys were professional. It reminded him of the few times he got to see the departments SWAT unit operate. He took a voluntary, deep breath looking out to the church. He swore he could see some movement at the front door, and a few moments later there was a sharp reflection of light towards their van.
“You’re kidding right?” Obi asked.
“Nope, that’s the signal. Let’s go.”
“Moving, on me,” Obi said.
All at once, all the doors of the van opened simultaneously, Arthur lagging behind a few moments. Dead silent, guns at a half ready, Obi’s kill team was rapidly shuffling along the pavement, sticking to the shadows. Arthur watched Arlo close the front door and scuttle away into the night as they made their way around the back of the building, Arthur following best he could, pistol low.
Just like Arlo had said, there was a back door, unguarded. Obi’s men stacked in a line against the wall closest to the door. The front man jiggled the handled gently, and then made some sort of signal with his hand.
“Lock,” Obi said quietly. One of the men removed a small multi-tool from one of his vest pockets and began to work at the door. Arthur felt like saying sorry for not having foreseen this, but nobody was paying attention to him at this point. It only took a few seconds before there was a quiet click and the lock-picker made his way back in line.
“Remember, we are not weapons free. There’s some regulars in here. ID targets.”
Obi made another signal with his hand as one of his men came around to the opposite side, and gently pushed the door open. As soon as it was was half open, the group began moving silently again. Only the occasional squeak of sneakers against the floor indicated any presence as they started making their way through the building. The church was silent, with only a few fans and an errant radio playing noise in a different room.
As Arthur followed through the door, he heard three suppressed shots go off. It sounded like someone hitting a punching bag from this distance. Loud, but not noticeable. A few moments later there was some quick, surprised chatter that was quickly silenced. By the time Arthur got inside, all he saw was one of Santiago’s men dead on the ground with a bullet in his head and two in his chest. Obi’s men had restrained and gagged what appeared to be another priest. They were giving him some sort of instruction, and Obi had his fingers against the mans neck.
“Human,” Obi said quietly, and one of his men smacked the priest in his head with the butt of his rifle.
“You’re going to hell for that,” one of the other men quipped.
“Keep it tight,” Obi whispered, “Arthur you stay here, watch the back door. We’ll link back up here before moving downstairs.”
Arthur did as he was told. Over the next two minutes, nobody came in through the back door but he did hear a few more suppressed shots punch through the air. Eventually, all of Obi’s team routed back to where he was, one by one. Obi made yet another motion with his hand and they all started moving again, one of his guys nodding at Arthur to follow.
They reached what appeared to be a storage closet in the kitchen, of which there was a large metal hatch. One of the men began smashing the lock on it with his rifle until it shattered. He slowly opened the hatch, the rest of the men near pointing their guns down at it. As the door opened, light filtered up from a basement with a ladder leading down.
One by one they made their way down quietly, Arthur heading up the rear again. The basement was a short hallway, with a single door that was half ajar. Relaxed voices were coming through the other side. One of Obi’s men removed some sort of small object, Arthur realizing it was a grenade only as the pin hit the floor and the object skipped across the stone floor. He half expected a huge boom and to have to take cover, but there was instead a loud pop and cries from inside.
Obi’s men followed the flash bang inside, and all of them starting shooting. But by the time Arthur got to the door, it was already over. It was a single room with numerous tables and money counters, lots of sacks, bags, and briefcases, and a small room with huge stacks of cash wrapped in plastic cellophane. There were five corpses on the ground, dead before any of them could get a shot off. All had been shot in the head at least once. Guess you don’t always need a shotgun for a vampire, Arthur thought as he stepped over some of the corpses.
“Holy fuckin’ shit,” one of Obi’s men said, looking through the storage closet full of cash. His men became easily distracted by the huge amounts of money in the room. Obi did too, but just for a moment before ordering two of them back upstairs to get the van and pull security outside.
“Nice little bonus, huh?” Obi said, tossing a wrapped stack of ten thousand dollars to Arthur. There had to be millions in the room.
“We’re not taking any of this,” Arthur said. Obi and both his men looked at him, confused.
“Bartolome has places like this all over Longley. We don’t need to steal his money, the Baron’s got plenty of it. We’re here to send a message. Let Santiago know that this is our city, and he’s not allowed in it.”
“You’re not meaning…?” Obi asked.
“I am. There’s gasoline in the van.” Arthur looked around the room, all eyes on him. He could tell that although these men technically worked for the Baron, and right now technically worked for him, they weren’t happy about this. “All right, fine. Take a couple of stacks. But leave the rest.”
“Fuck yeah,” one of Obi’s men said, raking various stacks of money into a backpack he slung over his torso. Obi’s other men started pocketing some of the cash while stacking the bigger amounts into piles, as Obi made his way over to Arthur.
“Sure the Baron’s not gonna care if we skim some?” Obi asked.
Arthur shrugged, “He said it was my job, I run it how I want. Consider it a bonus.”
Obi snorted, “You’re all right for a kid,” he said.
“How long until I stop being a kid?” Arthur asked.
“Eh, just a figure of speech. I’ve known guys who’d been vampires for nearly fifty years and were still considered punks. Normally you wouldn’t be lumped in with them, but you’ve been turned for less than a year.”
“Fair enough,” Arthur said as one of Obi’s men came climbing down the stairs with three jerrycan’s of gasoline behind him.
“What do we do with the prisoners?” he asked as he handed out the cans. They all looked at Arthur again.
“Just put them in the parking lot. They’re all human right? Does it matter that they saw your faces?”
Obi shook his head, “We’ll be outta the country by the time this is all over. Shouldn’t make a difference.”
As the fire spread throughout the building and began to blaze through the night, Obi’s men all packed up back into the van as Arthur crouched down next to the priest who was bound and gagged in the middle of the parking lot. It took a few light slaps to the face, but eventually he woke up, his eyes going wide watching the church inferno in front of him.
Arthur removed the mans gag, “None of your people died. Just some of Santiago's.”
The priest was breathing rapidly, fear mixed with fury in his eyes. He didn’t know how to respond to Arthur, so Arthur instead spoke.
“The cops will come and this’ll burn out in a few hours, but when Santiago comes around asking- you know Santiago right?”
The priest nodded slowly.
“Good. When he comes asking, I want you to tell him this; ‘From Persephone, with Love.’ Oh, and once the police start asking questions,” Arthur willed his blood to boil, feeling it power his supernatural abilities as his voice turned unnaturally deep, “You’ll forget what we all looked like and have no idea how this all happened.”
The priest’s eyes went blank as Arthur used his Potential, and a moment later he came back to himself. Arthur smiled, standing and making his way to the van, getting in as it screeched off into the night.
