Midnight Saturday at a club simply called X. It's nomenclature is derived from it's owner's name, Xiang. He is Chinese, but not Cathayan. He was embraced by the Followers of Set for his debauchery. X is just one manifestation of that: a members only nightclub on the outskirts of LA that plays hosts to vampires, blood dolls and those just too stupid to know what they have walked into.
The masks are torn away, and the true face of the beast sometimes shines here. Not very often on the dance floor, but in back rooms, private chambers. Xiang has a cleaning crew that disposes of the bodies every morning. He had their tongues cut out so they could never divulge their secrets.
I come here for easy prey. For the rush. For the music. The grinding rage of Disturbed roars from the speakers like a primal call for visceral satisfaction:
"Drowning deep in my sea of loathing,
Broken your servant I kneel,
(Will you give into me)
It seems what's left of my human side is slowly changing in me,
Looking at my own reflection,
When suddenly it changes,
Violently it changes,
There is no turning back now,
You've woken up the demon in me..."
I am hypnotized by the undulating bodies, the strobing light glinting in their eyes, the eternal dance of predator and prey. The pounding of hearts threatens to overwhelm the throbbing bass of the song, and I feel a stirring deep inside me, an insatiable need.
She creeps up behind me, and I pretend not to notice. It is a game we often play. I can smell her, sense her...a smell like fresh poppies, a new perfume she has found. The unique rhythm of her own heartbeat.
She presses her body to me feline-like, purring in my ear, her lips hot on my cold flesh, her soft, warm hand sliding under my shirt to rake sharp nails across the hard muscle of my abdomen. Her voice is a low and lusty "I found him, Krow."
Her tongue flicks across my ear before she withdraws. A chill rises inside me, anticipation of what is to come. Not so much brought on by her touch as by her words. The hunt has begun, and as I turn, I find her strutting away, stiletto heels clicking on the floor, fishnet stockings rising to a short, black leather mini, topped by a low slung spaghetti strapped top.
She glances over her shoulder to see if I follow, her pale makeup making her look like a corpse, dark mascara giving her eyes a zombie-like appearance. The lights flash on the chain dangling from her nose ring, leading to a clasp on her left ear.
She loves the game, reveling in it. I hang back. My presence would ruin it. My six-and-a-half foot frame, broad-shouldered, muscled, clad in leather with long black hair doesn't usually inspire comfort in her conquests. I am the tracker now. The accomplice for the first half. My time will come soon enough.
Her target is a man doing his damndest to be goth. One of the many who have had a taste of the world that exists behind the veil of darkness, and craves more. Silk shirt with lace cuffs, tight black pants and just the right touch of dark eyeliner, all topped off with an ankh prominently displayed at his throat. He is completely enamored with Leslie...Lez as I like to call her. He can sense she has danced on the dark side, and he wants to be her next partner. I will see to his wish being fulfilled.
I follow them as they exit the club, and he is so focused on her, he never has a chance to notice me. Mounting my Harley, I turn the key and it roars to life, and I fall in behind his new black BMW. Perhaps he is a writer, a producer, or just some lucky asshole who invested in the right stock portfolio. Tonight, he is on a quest for something more, something he thinks he is ready to see, but has no idea of the true implications.