The dim lighting and muffled sound of the smaller bar came as a huge relief. Even in here, it was incredibly packed. Usually there were just a handful of couples, but tonight, every available surface was covered with vampires feeding on people or making out with each other. There were even two vampires lying on the bar in the corner, grinding in a very provocative fashion. Milo, Bobby, Ezra, and I stood out for the simple fact that we were not kissing or biting.
“Which hall did she go down?” I asked Milo quietly.
There were seven different hallways that went off the main bar, and I’m not even sure how many rooms were down each hall. I went down one before, and it seemed to go on forever.
“I think that one.” Milo pointed to one on the far side of the room.
“Are you sure?” Bobby squinted. The red lights in here weren’t the best for his eyesight. “I thought it was the one just to the left of that.”
“You’ve got be kidding me,” I groaned.
“Ezra Townsend!” Olivia squealed, and pushed an unconscious girl onto the floor. She moaned a little when she hit her head, but that was the only sign she gave that she was still alive.
Olivia’s tight leather uniform seemed much more appropriate with the Halloween crowd, and she was smiling widely at Ezra in her usual drugged out way. I expected him to look appalled by her, but instead, he smiled back at her, and when she reached him, they actually hugged.
“It’s so good to see you!”
“Likewise,” Ezra agreed when they stopped hugging. I glanced at Milo and Bobby to see them gaping at him too.
“It really has been too long.” Olivia touched his arm and laughed. “I didn’t even know you were still in the area! I thought you would’ve moved on years ago.”
“Well, I tried, but the wife has roots down here,” Ezra shrugged.
“She’s not-” Olivia looked at me distrustfully.
“No, no, Alice isn’t mine. She’s my brother Jack’s,” Ezra said, and Olivia nodded and smiled again at me.
“She’s a little tart, isn’t she?” Olivia was looking at me in a way that would’ve made me blush if I wasn’t busy trying to figure out how we’d find Jane.
“Perhaps,” Ezra looked at me, and I was pleased to see it was affectionate. I think I had been kind of expecting him to hate me after all the trouble I caused between Jack and Peter, but Ezra didn’t seem to be one to hold a grudge either.
“You should’ve told me you were with Ezra,” Olivia said and touched my arm. “I would’ve given you the special treatment.” I had a feeling she was already giving me special treatment, but I just smiled.
“Sorry. I didn’t realize you two knew each other,” I said. I didn’t want to talk to them anymore, but I wanted Ezra to help me, and I didn’t want to be rude to her. After all, she had helped me out a couple times.
“That’s just like Ezra,” she rolled her eyes. “He never talks about his past.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but we’ve got a missing friend,” Milo interjected, saving me from some long, semi-drunken conversation. Olivia might not be able to drink alcohol, but she drank more blood than a vampire needed too, leaving her to act and feel rather drunk.
“Same one as before?” Olivia raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, and we’ve got to find her. So, if you’ll excuse us.” Milo had Bobby’s hand in one hand and he took mine in the other. Olivia nodded at us as we started making our escape, but Ezra stayed with her. I wanted him to come with us, but I couldn’t force him.
“So you know which hall it is?” I asked as Milo drug me to the other side of the room.
“Nope, but it’s got to be one of these two halls.” Milo let go of my hand, but he still hung onto Bobby’s. In another circumstance, it would’ve been a very funny sight to see a black glittery fairy leading a rather short Han Solo by the hand.
They led the way, but once we were in the hall, they slowed down considerably. Milo didn’t really know how to track Jane, not as well as I did anyway, but it was going to be impossible. There were too many people tonight.
Everything smelled like blood, and I was incredibly impressed with my current level of self control. My stomach burned a bit, and I was really thirsty, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. It did, however, make it hard to distinguish different scents and sounds. Blood overpowered everything else.
I was about to give up on the whole thing when I finally got something. I froze in the middle of the hall, and Bobby bumped into me. It was too dark for him to see that I had stopped moving. Very faintly, I could smell her perfume. Her blood wasn’t as distinct to me as I thought it would be, but her perfume was.
“It’s this one,” I whispered, gesturing to the door in front of us. Milo moved in front of Bobby, putting himself between him and any possible attack.
After the way Jonathan had reacted the last time we busted in on him with Jane, I figured we should take the necessary precautions. This time, I decided against busting in. Very slowly, I turned the knob and pushed the door open.
Jonathan didn’t hear us because he was feeding on Jane. He knelt on the bed, her body hanging limp in his arms, and he gnawed on her neck. It wasn’t the gentle bites that Olivia always gave her girlfriends, or like the ones I’m sure Milo gave Bobby.
This was intensely animalistic, reminding me of the shark attacks I watched on TV. Jane appeared completely unconscious, and when I listened for a heartbeat, I couldn’t hear one. Only the sounding of his, pounding strong and fast.