When they had originally arrived at Club Vicio Alison was sure that she had made a poor decision and would be miserable for the rest of the night. The club used to be a large three story house and so the club boosted some unique features, like crown molding and banister stair cases. There was a large dancing room on each floor for rock, techno, and hip hop. The club also boosted a room with darts and pools tables, three bars and many dark hallways and corners in which to discreetly hook up. The close proximity of so many people felt slightly overwhelming, but after a few drinks and being forced to the dance floor by her sister, Alison began to relax and start having fun.
While Alison was finally letting loose, there was another development that could possibly ruin their evening. Alexa had met a reasonably cute guy in the pool room and had danced with him once. But when she made her goodbyes to him and tried to go to another room, he followed her. And he had been continuing to follow them for the last two hours. Now, they were currently in the hip hop room trying to avoid him and actually enjoy dancing.
"Oh my god, there he is again. Like seriously, I am so not into the stalker-type. I can't believe we're going to have to move again." It was obvious that Alexa was beyond irritated with the guy and the interruption he was causing to her night.
"Come on. Let's go get a drink and then head to the rock dance floor. We haven't been there for a while" Ali placed her hand on her sister's shoulder and gently pushed her toward the bar. "And if he follows us down there I will set him on fire for you." Alexa grinned and her spirits lifted slightly.
"You're the best sister ever."
When the girls arrived in the rock room they were surprised to see it so packed full of people. An hour ago when they had been there, it was the least popular room, but now it was wall-to-wall people. They squeezed and pushed their way through the crowd and finally found a location where they had a reasonable amount of personal space. They also had a great view of the stage, which proved to be good for Alexa. An announcer came over the sound speaker and began to introduce the next act.
"How are you feeling tonight Club Vicio?! Well I hope you're in the dancing mood, 'cause if these next performers don't get your heart pumping and your body moving then you're dead! Please welcome to the stage the newest band to rock the sound waves of the kingdom! Levanthal's Paradox!!" Cheers and screams filled the air but none were louder than Alexa's, who was jumping up and down with excitement.
"Holy shit! He's here! I had no idea they were playing here tonight! I didn't think they would be performing like this over break. Melodic Records must have finally agreed to sign them." Alexa grabbed Ali's arms and started dragging her even closer to the stage. The band came out from back stage and the man who was obviously Damien Brice stood behind the lead microphone with a guitar strapped across his shoulder. Alison had to admit that her little sister had good taste. He was, as Alexa had described him, totally dark, mysterious and gorgeous.
"Good evening to you all," Damien said in greeting. "We are thrilled to be with you tonight. So let's get this party started shall we?" The drummer counted off the beat with his drum sticks and then an intricate, fast-paced rhythm was established by the guitarists and bass player. It was obvious to Alexa from the moment Damien had spoken that his element was Water. His voice was smooth and had flowed over the audience like a gentle rain. Now that he was singing and the song was picking up intensity, she felt like she was in the middle of rapids. It was exhilarating to just listen to it. The man obviously had a large amount of musical talent.
"You certainly know how to pick 'em. I see what you were taking about earlier," Alison leaned in to comment to her sister.
"So help me Ali. If you go after him I won't hesitate to hurt you, even if you are all super magical now." Alison had never seen her sister so possessive before. Still, there was more to Alexa's crush than she was letting on to. It ran deeper than him being really cute or musically talented. Ali was starting to realize that her sister might actually have fallen for the guy.
"I would never do that to you. Plus, I have my own guy to be obsessed with." As Alexa began to relax and turned her attention back to the stage, Alison couldn't help but wonder what that guy was currently up to.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Braden pulled into the lab's parking lot around midnight. It wasn't unusual to see multiple professors' cars still parked outside this late at night. In fact, the complete lack of other cars seemed strange. After parking and cutting of the engine of his truck Braden headed in the direction of the lab. He had to pass through multiple checks points. In fact the elevators that led to Alison's fourth floor lab wouldn't even work unless you had the proper ID card with you.
Once in the lab, he switched on the lights and took stalk of the mess they hadn't addressed after their fateful coupling. They had taken the time to clean up the mixed air and fire extracts, but that was it. Books and papers were strewn across the floor along with glassware and office supplies.
"Note to self: no sex in the lab," Braden thought allowed. He then set to work cleaning up the mess. After completing his plan to confront these bastards he probably was never going to see this place again. For some reason he needed to let Alison know he truly cared, and cleaning the lab seemed like one way he could start to do that.
After about twenty minutes, Braden began to organize all the documents that described how to make the extracts or what they could do. The last thing he grabbed was his lab notebook, and then he headed to the vault room at the end of the hall. Each lab group had a vault that they could store confidential or particularly vulnerable documents or compounds in. They could even change the temperature of the vault if the contents inside needed to be kept a low or high temperatures. Usually the extracts themselves would have been stored in the vault, but since they had been smashed on the lab's floor, that was no longer an issue. What was an issue was insuring that Simon Newgate and his cronies never got their hands on how to makes the extracts for themselves. If the power that he and Alison currently possessed was used for Simon's purposes, there was no telling what terror would be unleashed upon the kingdom.
Braden had been lost in his train of thought about what he needed to do first in his plan to confront Simon, so he didn't originally register that voices could be heard coming from the vault room. Once he did catch on, he was immediately put on the defensive. He pushed himself against the wall next to the room's entrance. Closing his eyes, he pulled himself mentally around the corner using his Air magic and spied on the men he found there. There were two of them dressed in all black from head to toe. Black masks covered their faces, and hand guns were holstered around their waists. Braden immediately noticed the butt of the gun of one of the two men; a single silver snake was coiled around itself until it formed a figure eight. Simon's symbol, the one he took upon himself when he started this whole crazy push for power and domination. There was only one reason Simon would have sent men into the lab's vault in the middle of the night: the extracts. They thought they were still here, because that's where months ago Braden had told them they would be.
At least I didn't tell them the code,
Braden thought just before he felt a fist collide with the side of his head. His mental connection rushed back into his own body and his eyes popped open to see the barrel of a gun pointed at his head.