Hi all! Annabelle here with something new!
This story was originally going to be a surprise come October, and I was going to upload it once a week until it was done. However, with Covid keeping so many people at home, I wanted you to be able to have something a little extra to read each month in the hopes it would keep you sane.
So surprise, this is the Dana/Lily spinoff novel! It takes place during the events of Book Three, and follows our intrepid trio (Tick Tock is with them) as they try to hunt down missing magic from the Radley house in order to (maybe) bring Dana back to life. You don't have to have read HFHM to understand the story, but it will greatly deepen your understanding if you do.
This sordid tale will go into Lily's surprising backstory, explore Dana's newly dead mentality, and will feature some absolutely amazing cameo appearances that will expand the Monster-verse.
I will be scheduling releases of this chapter in advance, so check my Bio to see when I am planning to drop next chapter of this or HFHM (I intend to spread out posting them).
The community here at Lit has been so good to me, and this is just a little something I am doing to try and help out (and give you something to do this summer). Make sure you help me by leaving comments, reviews, and sending me feedback, I love to read them, and they keep me motivated (especially when I am struggling)!
Enough from me, let's get this party started!
Bar Hopping
The door to the Double Deuce opened with a creak, the hinges protesting loudly. A wave of heat rolled out through the door, carrying with it the scent of oily food, beer, and the delicious aroma of living, breathing human beings.
Dana opened the visor of her helmet and licked her lips, a small chasm opening up inside her stomach. Ever since dying, she had been stripped free of most of her emotions, her ability to feel pain, and even her sense of cold. However, her sense of smell had been amplified, and right now, all she could smell was the delicious bounty of flesh that packed the dimly lit Double Deuce. Every individual had their own unique scent, and a tired waitress who smelled of burger grease, coffee, and sweet potato fries greeted her at the door.
Dana pulled off her helmet, revealing a tumble of shoulder-length blonde hair with streaks of gray in it.
"You... waiting for somebody?" The woman's hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, but several strands of it had already come undone, hanging lifelessly over a face that likely had quit giving a crap about ten years prior. She wore a faded nametag with the name Janice.
"It's just me." Dana's eyes swept across the room, taking in the men who had already noticed her entrance. A couple of bikers in the corner were elbowing their buddies and pointing her out, and a couple of college kids took a break from losing their money at the pool table to ogle her over their beers.
She had never been comfortable getting attention like this when she was alive, but that part of her that felt uncomfortable was dead and gone, leaving only facts. These men could stare all they wanted, and Dana just couldn't bring herself to care.
"Um..." Janice took a quick look around the bar, then back at Dana. "You sure you got the right place, hun?"
What Janice likely meant to say was this is no place for a single woman.
"I saw this place from the main road. Thought I'd stop in for a... bite." Dana tried to grin but ended up baring her teeth instead. Maybe if her parents had signed her up for modeling classes as a child, she would have been able to smile and wave at the judges, convincing them that she was beautiful both on the inside and the outside.
Janice wasn't one to argue, apparently, and just sighed in disappointment. "You got ID?"
Dana held up her wallet. "Been twenty-one for long enough."
Janice shrugged and stepped aside. "Open seats at the bar. You can give your order to the bartender and I'll bring it out from the kitchen."
"Thanks." Dana walked across the Double Deuce and sat toward the end of the counter. The door to the kitchen was to her left, and she could smell grease burning on the grill. Picking up a laminated menu, she flicked off some dried food that clung to it.
"Get you something?" The bartender was a tall man in flannel, and if his beard wasn't so neatly trimmed, Dana would have assumed he stepped out of someone's piss poor lumberjack sex fantasy. His sleeves were pushed up, revealing several different tattoos, including some that looked like they had been done in someone's basement.
"Lemon drop."
The bartender placed both hands on the bar and stared at her for several seconds. She wished he at least had a glass to pretend to be washing, maybe spit in it, give it a polish, and ask what brings her in.
Oh, you know, got murdered by a necromancer and can't properly die and see my loved ones in the afterlife, so am hunting down some lost magical items. You ever had that problem?
"A lemon drop, please. You know how to make one, right?" Dana knocked on the counter impatiently. "Or do you only serve beer here?"
"ID?"
Dana slid her driver's license over. He picked it up and inspected it thoroughly, then tossed it back.
"You want a tab?"
"Cash." Dana pulled a ten from her pocket. The bartender made her some change and then went around the corner to make her drink. Dana spun around on the barstool and surveyed the room, looking for her target.
The front door of the bar opened, and a raven haired beauty in a tight red dress strolled in, her hips rolling with every step. The whole room went silent, watching the buxom bombshell as she walked toward the bar and took a seat on the stool closest to the entrance.
"I've just had the worst day," the woman announced, slamming her hand down on the polished wood. "I just found out my husband is fucking his secretary, my car broke down trying to come out of the valley, and some asshole claiming to be my rideshare bolted with my phone and my purse." She crossed her legs, briefly revealing a flash of lacey black panties that matched her thigh-high boots. "Please tell me there's somebody here who is willing to buy me a drink."
The college boys looked intensely interested, but the bikers stood up and immediately made their way to the bar. Instead of fighting for the woman's attention, the college kids decided to cut their losses, settle up with the pool shark, and make their way to the door, vanishing into the fading light of day.
Dana smirked. It was probably the smartest move of their lives, for the newcomer was not only her partner, but the succubus Lily in disguise.
Dana's lemon drop was set in front of her without a word, the bartender moving away to see what the newcomer was having. Dana gave her glass a little swirl, a small frown on her face.
The first sip should have been sweet, tinged with lemon and a thinly veiled burning sensation that would have warmed her from the chest out. Instead, the flavor was muted, and she had to be careful not to quickly slam the whole thing like poorly flavored water. Her dead taste buds registered just a hint of vodka, but that was it. It pained her to admit that the popular trope about hot sauce and zombies was true, but intense flavors were among the only things she could taste that didn't come from a human being.
"Damn," she muttered in disappointment, her eyes flicking to the three men who had surrounded the stranded motorist. Lily briefly made eye contact with Dana, then turned her attention to the bartender.
"Apparently these men would like to buy me something hard and strong," Lily said, opening her arms and hanging them on the men at her sides. The dress she wore was strapless, and it seemed to shift on its own just a bit lower, threatening to fall away and expose her breasts. "So what do you say, Paul Bunyan? You got anything hard for me?"
A couple of patrons laughed, and a couple more rolled their eyes, but Dana kept her gaze on the rest of the room, wondering who had what they were looking for.
Lily laughed, flirted, and drank. Dana ordered another lemon drop to keep up appearances, and even a plate of nachos. Other than the jalapenos, she couldn't taste most of what was there, reminding her of a time when she had been younger and had her mouth numbed for some dental work. Her tongue had stayed numb for an unusually long time, and the tomato soup she had eaten could have been warm water with salt and pepper in it for all she knew.
An hour passed, followed by another. Dana played on her phone while Lily amused the bikers, playing pool with them, eating their food and drinking whatever they brought her. She was tilting around the room like a barmaid out of control, and Dana was starting to wonder what would happen if the succubus got good and drunk. Would her wings and tail poof into existence? Would she attack someone?
Maybe she should have thought this plan through some more.
"So what's the deal with you and your friend?" Paul Bunyan was back, his dark eyes narrow.
"What do you mean?" Even though he had surprised her, it was easy for her to remain calm as if nothing had happened.
"I've seen you watching her."
"It's a free country. Lots of people are watching her."
"Not like you are. I can see it in your eyes, you know this woman. Are you friends? Or maybe she's your girlfriend, and she does this to make you jealous." He picked up a bottle of beer from under the counter and took a sip off of it. "I'm only asking because I'm the one who has to clean up if the two of you start making trouble."
"How considerate." Dana looked at Lily, then back at the bartender. Would it make things worse if she told him they were trying to find one of his regulars? Naturally, the reason why would have to remain a secret. The man, Ray Scotes, was in possession of a magic item that Dana intended to take from him. No, the truth wouldn't work here, but Lumberjack Holmes was going to need a solid answer that made sense.
Dana leaned across the bar, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Okay, I'll tell you, but you have to keep your mouth shut. Yes, I know her."
Paul Bunyan's lip curled up, but he remained quiet.
"So, it's like this. My friend there, is... well, she's my girlfriend."
