Chapter 7 Viktor
The deeper I walked into the VIP section, the darker everything became. The music faded just a little, the lights dimmed to a muted pulse, and the air felt colder as if someone had turned down the thermostat only in this particular corner of the club.
Viktor sat in the very back booth. I almost didn't see him at first. He was still, silent, almost blending into the shadows like he was part of the furniture. When my eyes finally adjusted, I saw him clearly and instantly wished I hadn't.
He was terrifyingly pale. His skin had a grayish tint, like he hadn't seen daylight since the Declaration of Independence was signed. His slick silver hair was pulled back into a low tied style that made him look like he stepped out of a historical painting of someone who poisoned people for fun. His suit was crisp, elegant, and old-fashioned in a way that felt too expensive and too ancient for a club like this.
His eyes lifted to me slowly, almost mechanically, as if someone had programmed him to do it.
"Miss Shelby," he said, and his voice was smooth but unnervingly hollow. "Do sit."
I laughed nervously. "Oh, no thank you. I don't really need to sit. I'm good standing. Very good at standing, actually."
He bowed his head once, stiff and precise. "As you wish... child."
Child? I was twenty-four, thank you very much.
He inhaled deeply then, and the breath he took rattled through his chest like old paper.
"My goodness," he murmured. "Your blood has the most... exquisite fragrance."
I blinked. "Come again?"
He leaned forward just a bit, nostrils flaring delicately. "So sweet. So tender. So wonderfully alive."
"Oh," I said slowly, "you're... drunk."
"Drunk?" he repeated, tilting his head like he didn't understand the word. "No, my dear. I am merely... aware. Keenly aware."
Whatever that meant, I did not want to unpack it.
"So," I said, trying to smile, "these are the tickets." I held out the envelope.
Instead of taking it normally, he reached out and gently, too gently and wrapped his cold fingers around my wrist. His touch sent a shockwave of icy pain straight up my arm. It felt like frostbite blooming under my skin.
I jerked, gasping as my whole body shivered. "Whoa! Your hands are so cold!"
He ignored that entirely, using his other hand to take the envelope from my limp fingers.
"You have done well," he said softly. "Very well, child."
I swallowed. "Thank you. It was nice doing business with you, Viktor. I hope you enjoy the concert."
He leaned back in the booth, his shadow stretching unnaturally behind him.
"Oh," he said with a smile that was small, eerie, and impossibly sharp, "I will, child. I will."
As he grinned wider, I froze.
His two incisors were way too long to be real.
My heart slammed against my ribs. Nope. Absolutely not. I was done. I was ready to get up outta there.
I turned sharply and walked away so fast my devil tail whipped behind me like it was trying to escape on its own.
I sprinted out of the VIP section like the building was on fire, practically elbowing my way through bodies as I scanned the club. My eyes darted across the flashing lights and sweaty dancers until I spotted Larna first. She was sandwiched between two lanky, drunken scarecrows of men who were trying to grind on her.
"Come on, babeey," one of them slurred in an obnoxious Italian accent. "Malroy just want to do the La Bamba with you."
Great. A grown man referring to himself in the third person. My least favorite personality disorder.
"And then you can come with me around the back," the other guy chimed in. He looked like he was seconds away from climbing into his own coffin. His Adam's apple was bobbing like he was dying of dehydration. "We can have a private drink. Just the two of us."
"Beat it, Jack, I was here first," Malroy snapped.
"Technically, I was made forty years before you, newborn," Jack shot back.
"Leave me alone, or I'll blind the both of you," Larna said sharply. She lifted her homemade pepper spray like it was holy water.
The two men hissed and recoiled.
"Garlicccc!" they spat before shuffling backward with their hands shielding their eyes.
Not weird at all.
I rushed over and finally reached her side. Larna grabbed my arm with wide, terrified eyes. "Shel, thank God you're here. These people are creepy. Can we go now?"
"Yes, but first we need to find Ally."
"You won't have to look long," Larna said, pointing.
I followed her finger... and my stomach dropped.
Alecia was straddling a shirtless, dark-skinned guy with dreads. But even under the dim club lights, his skin didn't look normal. It wasn't glowing or moisturized the way all healthy Black people look. No. His skin was ashy like dried mud that had given up on life.
Alecia was sucking on the guy's face like she was trying to vacuum his soul out. She was gyrating on his lap, and the guy was rubbing her ass like that was a full-time job.
"Oh dear God," I muttered.
Larna grabbed my hand and pulled us toward them.
"Ally, stop it now," she demanded.
Alecia turned with a sloppy grin. "Hey, Lala!" The dreadlock guy was sucking on her neck like he was tasting his dinner early. "Easy, Rodney," she giggled, patting his head like he was a toddler biting too hard.
"Ally, we need to go," I said sternly.
"Why? We just got here," she whined. "Rodney has hot friends. Why don't you two pick your poison? Live a little. Get drunk and wild. I plan to get throat-fucked by Rodney while Kemar over there plays with the butt plug up my ass."
"Hey," Kemar waved cheerfully while sipping something thick and red through a straw.
"Ally. We're serious. We have to go," I insisted.
"Yeah, I'm getting a headache," Larna added, which was the understatement of the century.
"Fine," Alecia groaned, peeling herself off Rodney's lap. "Here's my number, baby. Call me and we can continue this later."
"Sure thing, sweetness," Rodney said, flashing a smirk her way.
Alecia shoved her bag into my arms. "Go warm up the car. I'm going to clean myself up in the bathroom."
"Okay, but Lala should go with you. I don't want you going alone."
"Whatever, Mom," she hissed before wobbling off toward the bathroom, with Larna trailing behind her.