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Perched on a barstool in her small kitchenette of the house she shared with her two best friends, Aubrey sighed. “We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up,” she called out, trying for the tenth time to get Taylor and Keiley to finish arguing over some guy she knew nothing about. They had invited her to Night Pleasures, and even though Aubrey said no, they insisted and that was the end of it. Last time she was invited, they disappeared into a special VIP room and the bouncer wouldn’t let her in.
The twins were very protective of her. If only they knew the half of it. Aubrey was a clairvoyant, though only her closest family members knew about it, and she was happier that way. Clairvoyance was like a recessive gene that often skipped a generation and only showed up in the women of her family. Unlike her grandmother before her, however, Aubrey was able to control her gift. When it first became apparent that she had it, on her sixteenth birthday, Aubrey refused to let it rule her life. She practiced diligently until she could call the power up at will, and suppress it at all other times. It worked well unless she avoided using it for too long, but then it usually only came to her in the form of dreams. Her grandmother had never been able to control the gift, and after awhile it turned itself on and never went off again, giving her visions from everything she touched which eventually drove her to madness and, ultimately, suicide.
Because of her talent, Aubrey knew what Taylor and Keiley were, and acceptance of St. Cloud’s nightlife came easy to her all things considered. She also knew that her friends were charged with the task of keeping her safe, though they didn’t know why. It was clear that someone important knew Aubrey’s secret and that person didn’t want such a strong history of clairvoyance falling into the wrong hands. Aubrey agreed and refused to tell anyone about her gift outside of her immediate family.
“You don’t need all of that, Keiley. We’re only going there for a meeting, not for a full blown hunt!” Aubrey could hear Taylor whining from the upstairs bedroom.
“He is going to be there!” Keiley said matter-of-factly, as if it explained everything.
“I give up!” Taylor yelled, and appeared at the top of the stairs, dragging her twin behind her. “You ready, Aubrey?”
Glancing at the clock, Aubrey just laughed. “Yes. I was ready at midnight. You know, when you said we were leaving?” It was now one-thirty in the morning. “How long is this place open, anyway?”
Keiley grinned, clearly pleased with something, “They’ll be closed to the public when we arrive. This is strictly an after hours party. Jayden will be around this time, so you should have no problem getting passed Roland.”
“Just because there will be no one there except our group doesn’t give you permission to attack Riley again,” Taylor scolded her sister, exasperated.
Aubrey wasn’t sure if it was something about the glint in Keiley’s eye, or the hint of fear in Taylor’s voice, but her curiosity got the best of her as they all piled into Taylor’s red Corvette. The club was on the other side of St. Cloud and would take them almost a half hour to get there even at that time of night, so Aubrey relaxed herself and began summoning her power. She reached her hand to touch the back of Keiley’s seat, where her hair was fanned out, and Aubrey opened herself up to the visions that flooded her.
She was in the main bar area of Night Pleasures. Several people, many of whom she recognized, were sitting around a bar table talking. Off to the side, she saw a man whom she did not know, but she recognized as Riley because of her gift. He was leaning against the wall, furthest from the entrance, stoic and lost in thought. She saw the doors open and three girls slowly came into view. It was Taylor, Keiley, and herself. Keiley’s face sharpened, and she launched herself at Riley.
From here, Aubrey’s vision took on a slow motion effect, as though someone was manually inching the vision along frame-by-frame. Riley’s eyes had flashed black as Keiley’s silver dagger took him off guard and plunged directly into his heart. Riley grabbed Keiley by the neck, twisted her around, and tore her neck open with his…fangs? Aubrey couldn’t believe Jayden had let a vampire into her club. But there he was, holding Keiley’s limp form in his hands.
Several seconds that seemed to go on forever passed and suddenly everyone was rushing to pull Keiley away from Riley. Matt was by Riley’s side, pulling the silver blade out of the vampire’s heart. Keiley lay motionless on the floor, Taylor standing over her screaming incoherent words.
Matt was shaking Riley, trying to bring him back to his senses. Slowly the black faded away from his eyes and sheer horror took its place. For what seemed like an eternity, Riley stared at the ravaged mess of Keiley’s neck. His eyes slowly lifted to Matt’s face, panic entering his voice as he spoke, “What have I done?” He asked the same question over and over again like a shock victim. “What have I done?"
Hoping that the events from her vision would take place that night, Aubrey tried to figure out a way to stop it. How, she didn’t know, but she had to. She just had to. Keiley was going to march herself right into a death trap because of some vendetta she had against the vampire, and Aubrey didn’t even understand why.
The silence was getting to her. Finally, Aubrey asked, “Who is Riley?”
Keiley turned around and stared at Aubrey. The color drained from Keiley’s face as she demanded, “How do you know about that evil…that thing!”
Taylor laughed, “Come on, Keiley. Aubrey would have to be deaf to not pick up the name, what with the way you were yelling about him tonight.”
“Oh. Well. He’s bad news. Stay away from him,” Keiley said, turning around dismissively.
Taylor sighed and said, “My sister doesn’t like him, why I don’t know. He lives with Matt—you remember Matt?—and just moved here just over a year ago. He’s very attractive, Aubrey. You might like him.”
Keiley gasped, “Taylor!” and the argument began anew. Aubrey tuned the twins out, and thought about what Taylor had said. Riley was attractive, very much so in fact, with his dark brown hair, Italian features dominating his face, and those eyes…When they weren’t black, they were the most amazing shade of green. Aubrey sighed. Taylor was right, she did like him. Even though they had never met. Maybe her clairvoyance was driving her to madness after all. A different kind of madness, anyway.
They arrived at the club with little time to spare. Aubrey tried to get ahead of the twins, but once they reached the door, Roland let Taylor and Keiley enter first. Aubrey was grateful that the troll—at least that’s what she thought he was—gave her no trouble, and she walked in on the scene of her vision. Matt, Lana, Jayden, and Anise were all sitting around one of the bar tables, talking amongst themselves. They all looked up as the girls arrived. Riley, completely lost in his own thoughts, paid no attention to any of them. Aubrey’s eye caught a glint of silver in Keiley’s hand, and just as the hunter lunged toward Riley, Aubrey raised her arms as if to grab Keiley, yelling, “Keiley don’t!” A powerful surge of energy shot out of her fingertips and before anyone knew what was happening, Keiley was knocked to the ground, her blade sliding across the floor to land at Riley’s feet. Aubrey stared dumbfounded at the scene. With a hint of amusement, she said to herself, “Well, that was new,” and her eyes locked on Riley’s.
“While I don’t normally appreciate violence in my bar, why do I get the feeling things could have gone way worse?” Jayden asked, breaking the silent tension. Riley could hear the faintest hint of a purr coming from the panther, and he knew she was using her power to keep everyone calm. The gift was unique to Jayden alone.
