Rita and Miguel stepped inside and what greeted their eyes was splendor. The place was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were rows of tables and bars that looked to cover an entire football field minus the five dancefloors. There were pillars here and there that gave it a greek feel, the smell of good alcohol, spice and something sweet fought each other for her attention while the lights softly played with eyes. The place had dark comfort to it. She felt a zip of energy flow through her, like she could do anything and each step further inside made the feeling grow.
“There they are.” Miguel said. His voice startled her. She had been so caught up in the place that she had completely forgotten he was there beside her and she slightly stumbled when he started them towards his friends. He did not seem to notice.
Miguel's friends had chosen to take the tenth table in the central row just two away from the center stage. They were chatting having completely filled the table and had already ordered drinks. “Hi guys.” Miguel greeted, a smile on his lips. Rita could not tell if it was a real one or forced, she was guessing the latter. Rita was not sure but she could have sworn a flash of annoyance passed their faces before it was gone, replaced by warm smiles as soon as they saw her. “Hi Miguel.”
“Glad you could make it Ms Rita.”
“Let me introduce you. This is Travis.” Miguel gestured to the plump looking man with brown spiked hair, brown eyes and a very suspicious looking mustache. “Fiona,” gesturing to the black haired green eyed beauty that sat opposite Travis. She wore a body hugging mini dress with heels that could put the tallest ladder in the city to shame. She had seen the look in her eyes before. Bright and dark at the same time. Hungry. Hunting. Succubus.
“And finally, Lara and Shane.” gesturing to the two blondes. Shane's hair was brighter than Lara's, fuller too. They both had ocean blue eyes. Maybe they were siblings? Lara gave a tooth smile that showed off her perfectly white fangs. Rita's breath stilled, painful panic freezing it in place and all she could think about for a few seconds was the memory of those fangs pressed painfully against her neck. “I know what you're thinking but I can assure that we are not siblings.”
“It's just a weird coincidence.” Shane reassured, giving her his own smile. No fangs. She let in small breaths of air. “Thanks for clearing that up.”
“Travis here would have magicked up two more chairs but magic is not allowed for the customers.”
“That's alright. Rita and I will find somewhere else to sit.”
“Ok.” Fiona said. “We will see each other on the dancefloor then?”
“Sure.” came Miguel's reply.
“By the way,” Travis said, looking directly at Rita. “happy one monthiversary.” The look in his eyes were familiar and Rita did not like it. Not one bit. The rest of the group seemed like something just clicked and congratulatory words started shooting out of their mouths.
At the end of it, Rita just smiled and said “Yeah, thanks.” before she and Miguel stepped away from them. It was clear who the alpha of their little group was. She was definitely not joining them for anything else unless absolutely mandatory. Even if they did not give her the creeps, after why they just did to Miguel, it was still a no.
They found an empty table two tables and a stage away. Miguel was looking anywhere but her. She got the feeling he was embarrassed. Because of how his ‘friends’ acted or because she was there to witness it.
“How about I get us some drinks?” he asked when he finally got the courage to look at her. He just wanted to get some time to himself and did not want to talk about it, she could respect that. “That would be great.”
He rose from his chair. “Coming right up. I'll get the house special.” Then he left in the direction of the bar. Rita took the time to truly get a good look around. The lights and the lack thereof, made it a little hard to see more than her own area. The feeling she had when she first entered the place had dimmed but she still felt contained.
All the lights suddenly went off and a spotlight focused on one man. Dressed in party casual. The jacket he wore reached his elbow and showed off the tattoos on his arm. He was floating. He held a staff as black as his hair was stark white in his hand. He had an oval face, a lean figure and tanned skin. “Welcome everyone, to the grand opening of my establishment. I hope you are all having a good time.”
A roar of affirmative filled the room. The man smiled and to say his smile was disarming would be an understatement. “Wonderful. I'd like to thank you all for coming out tonight and giving Umbra a lovely start. Well then, without further Ado let the fun continue.”
Music blared for the stereo system, the lights came back on and the man disappeared. Mad cheer rose from the crowd and some hit the dancefloors. Rita saw Miguel dance through the crowd with drinks in hand.
Miguel handed her one glass and she examined the liquid. It was crystalline blue and...sparkly? “They call it the shadow's gem.” Miguel said, taking a sip of his. The glass looked too beautiful to drink. “What's in it?” she asked.
“Don't know,” he replied. “But it won't mess with humans anymore than it would a vampire. I asked don't worry.” There was a slight pit in her stomach but Rita took a sip anyway. The taste surprised her and had her taking another sip. It was smooth, rich and left a tingling sensation in her body. “Good?” Miguel asked.
“Pretty good.” She answered. She did not know how many minutes past before Miguel asked for a dance. She must have agreed because the next thing she knew she was dancing with him. She was having do much fun that she did not care when she someone else started dancing with her. Then another and another.
******
The first round of drinks in the lounge were spectacular. He had never known Gero to make his own brews but he had done so. And it was pretty good. Samuel could tell Umbra was going to be a true success. And for Gero that was not something entirely new.
Samuel had walked in through the regular entrance with a regular pass. The VIP lounges had given him nothing but boredom, nothing was going to be different here. He just wanted some time away from it all. The low lighting in the place and his very few public outings made it a bit easier. He had had to buy the bartender's silence though. He took another sip of his drink and savoured the burn and slight tingle going down his throat.
The tingling bit was suspicious but he guessed that was how drinks made by mages felt like. He still felt suspicious about it though and he was certain Gero would not give away anything. The place was in full swing now, several people had made their way to the dance floor gyrating and swaying to the music, some still with drinks in hand. The scent of sweat, an assortment of perfumes and colognes, alcohol, new leather and arousal flooded the air, all trying to mess with his head just like the drink in his hand.
He heard the click of the woman's heels and caught her scent before her hand could tap his arm. “Hey handsome, w–”
“No, thank you.” Samuel said nonchalantly. He did not care if she was asking for a dance, conversation or her back against the wall. All he wanted was some minutes of peace and whatever he was drinking. The woman humphed and stomped away. He downed the contents of his glass and ordered more. He would have to congratulate Gero the bastard of a demi-mage for the drinks. And possibly get himself some of the stuff for later.
His eyes went back to watching the people dancing, scanning over heights, clothes and faces he would forget by the time he turned back to his drink but his eyes did found something familiar and it sent a jolt to his brain.
A/N: What do you think he saw?