Why are memories so painful?

Waning Sun begins to set up and I suppose we unfortunately missed Den of Sin, since Waning Sun is the headliner tonight. Lily Bullet arrives and is dressed in her sexy gothic best; black and red corset that has her breasts defying gravity. She’s paired the corset with a black pleated skirt, fishnet stockings and black stilettos that aren’t much different from the pair Estella gave me.

Lily’s jet black hair is completely bone straight, her lips are as red as her corset and so are her fingernails. Her eyes are rimmed with black coal making their hazel hue big and bright. She is angrily approached by a tall dark haired man who is quickly ushered out, Lily doesn’t let it phase her; going about her sound check duties. Bron positions himself behind Lily on a tall barstool, his guitar resting against his chest as she cloaks herself in front of the microphone. Her face is barely visible giving her aura a haunting element. Sound check ends, Waning Sun eases into “An Open Gate” and then “Land of Slow Sleep”. I’m in an acoustic trance as I dance to Lily Bullet’s soft and sweet, almost sad, melodic voice. Finally they play, “Chosen Paths”, I take a deep breath before closing my eyes to sway to the sound. I’ve often felt Waning Sun’s music and Lily’s lyrics embody all my feeling and emotions; the absolute epitome of my longing for Cian.

I’m pulled out of it by his scent, Cian and I look around the club for any sign of him. In a distant corner I see a tall dark haired man hunched over a petite blonde girl, it looks as though he’s cloaking her from the crowd to feed from her. Another unexplained urge befalls be and I can’t stop my feet from trudging toward the dark corner. It takes a minute as passing through a club full of dancing fools is not as easy as it might appear. I’m bumped a couple times and I’m pretty sure someone purposely grabbed my ass. I don’t turn around because that could be an issue in itself and push me back to either where I was or a whole other part of the club.

It happens in slow motion it seems; I blink and the strobe light has moved the person in front of me to the left of me and blinking bodies flash before my eyes. I finally close in on the figures huddled in the corner and lightly place my hand on the man’s back. This startles him and when he slowly turns to face me, I instantly realize my mistake.

I attempt to walk away but he grabs my arm, “Yes, you may cut in.” He holds my arm up to view the rest of me, this infuriates the woman he’s been molesting. She glares at me before huffing and puffing away. I make an, “I’m sorry, my mistake” face but she’s not buying it.

I turn back to the “gentleman” that has a hold of my arm and attempt to apologize, “I’m so sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

He releases me and says, “I’ll be whoever you want me to be.” His breath reeks of vodka and I have to turn away when he speaks. He is the same height and shape as Cian, but that is all. His black hair is an optical illusion under the changing lights, and I see it is dark brown. His bloodshot eyes are brown and his skin is wrecked with acne scars. What the hell is this bond doing to me, I must be completely insane, walking up to complete strangers and interrupting trashy PDA in a club. What the fuck is wrong with me.

I’m pulled from chastising myself by JB, “Everything okay over here Babet?” He’s eyeing “Drunky” warily.

“It’s my fault JB; I thought he was someone else. It’s my mistake.” I’m nodding my head and looking back and forth from both men.

Drunky staggers and attempts to gather his swagger, “I told her I’d be whoever she wanted me to be.”

JB rolls his eyes before looking at me, “Okay.” He then looks to “Drunky”, “Okay, we’re going back to our table; take care man.”

“I’m sorry, again, my fault.” I say to “Drunky” who winks at me. I look up at JB, “Sorry man, I really thought he was someone else.”

“No worries Babet, we saw him grab you and Chloe got worried.” We make it back to the table in one piece but Chloe hugs me so tight I feel like I’m about to split in two.

“Hey!” She says. “I’m drunk.”

“I know, but you’re cute about it.” I reassure her, but she doesn’t need it, she’s having a grand time tonight.

“Thanks!” She smiles big and bright.

I lean into her ear as we listen to the end of Waning Sun’s set, “I think I’m going to take off; okay?”

“Aw, noooooo!” She cries and makes a pouted lip face.

“Be careful, someone will come along and put a drink down on that.”

She pokes it out further and swiftly shifting her eyes for the possibility of a floating drink needing a resting place. She smiles and hugs me again, “Thanks for coming out, I hope you had fun?”

“You know I did.” I look up to JB, “Take care of her, you hear?” He salutes me like only dry humored JB can, “And thanks for rescuing me from…that.” He nods like it’s no big deal.

I don’t feel inebriated and I’m still in my heels so I feel confident about driving home, but the walk to my car is not a fashion show. I steady myself against the railing of the ramp down from Ziggy’s and remove the shoes, I breath out a sigh of relief once my feet are free. I see my car and pull out the keyless entry mechanism from my bra. It’s hard to carry keys when you have no pockets, a woman’s bra can be a mini purse; which is also where I keep my cash when I go out. As I walk the music from Ziggy’s slowly fades but I feel a presence or at least eyes watching me.

I’m almost to my car when I hear the slurred speech of a man say, “I meant what I said…in there.”

I turn to see “Drunky” has also left Ziggy’s and it looks as though it wasn’t his choice to do so. His lip is bleeding and his black shirt is torn at the neck, his jeans and boots are sandy and there is still a little in his hair. I know I shouldn’t, but I feel bad for him, “Are you all right…sir?” I make the question a formality so not to provoke anything.

“Sir.” He stops and scoffs before advancing again causing me to backup against my car. The shoes in my hand hit the door.

He’s literally two feet from me when I say, “Look, I’m sorry I mistook you for someone else but I’m going home now. I hope you have a nice evening.” My tone is stern but I can hear the trepidation behind it.

“Can I go with you?” He’s drunkenly looking at my car and me and whatever else his eyes try to focus on.

I laugh a little, “Um, no; I’m sorry.” And as if a switch had been flipped, he was no longer drunk, no longer staggering and takes a giant step forward, pinning me to my car with his body and of course I drop my shoes. Fuck!

He’s pressing against me so hard it hurts, I wince from the pain, he likes this; chuckling at my struggle before I hear the most frightening tone, “That little beating your friend gave me sobered me up; you should thank him for what I’m about to do to you.” He leans in further and I actually cry out this time.

“Please!” My hands are clinched so tight my nails are digging into the flesh of my palm and at that moment I realize, my nails. I unclench my fists, draw my hands up and smile at him as if I’m giving in, which throws him off a little. I put my hands on either side of his face and with all my might dig my nails into his flesh. He staggers back to grip his face but he’s angry and fast, he attempts to lunge at me but he doesn’t get the opportunity, something loud and guttural; something I’ve heard before spooks him. He looks beyond me and his face turns a shade of white, reserved for the dead.

I turn to see what he sees, but all I see when I do is the darkness beyond the parking lot. When I spin around to watch my back for “Drunky”, he’s staggered half way back to Ziggy’s padding his face with his fingers. Serves him right but what the hell scared him away, it wasn’t me; he was coming back for me. Again, that sound. I heard that sound over and over in the depths of Morte’ cradling Griffin’s bloody body in my lap, not from him but the imprisoned vampires. I open my car door, gather my shoes, get in and lock it. I have to drive around the circle on my way out, passing the club again and I don’t see “Drunky”. With my windows down the music is still permeating the air but of course no sign of anything that would have made that sound. On the way back to Watersedge I can’t help but think of Griffin.

“Get in there!” The handsome Spanish man who abducted me from Audubon throws me into a dank musty cell and slams the cage closed. He smirks at me and begins to laugh heartily on his way out of the corridor. I slowly shuffle around the dirt floor because it so dark I can’t see my own feet which are bare. That asshole made my lie to my children, threw a black bag over my head and shoved me out the door without shoes. I don’t know where I am or what the hell is going on, my thoughts are spinning out of control on the verge of a panic attack when my toes hit something soft like fabric. I jump back because whatever is in here with me is definitely alive, barely but alive none the less.

My voice is a panicked whisper, “I’m sorry.” I back myself against the cell’s bars.

I hear a shifting and movement before a familiar voice says, “Babe?” The sound is barely audible but I know who it is, the way he says my name.

“Grif?!” I lift my body from its resting place and crouch to crawl over to where he is, “Griffin…I thought, oh Grif!” I’m pawing his body for his head and once I find it I gather his heavy frame into my lap, “What happened? Have you been here the whole time?”

He coughs before taking slow shallow breaths, he winces when I shift my body to cradle him more comfortably for both of us, “I don’t know, I remember getting us coffee…” I roll my eyes at my demands for coffee the night he went missing, I could have made a pot at home but no, I had to have Café DuMonde. I take a deep musty breath as he continues, “I was walking back through the archway when some “thing” grabbed me, and bit me. It left me for dead.” Griffin coughs and winces again.

“How did you get here?!” I ask in a whisper

“I don’t know I couldn’t focus on anything. I could only hear what they were saying.”

“What were they saying?” I begin to stroke his thick brown hair. Oh how I wish I could see his blue eyes, Henri’s eyes. I start to tear up thinking about all this and why, why does anyone want me? Why am I so fucking special?

“They kept laughing and joking about how I would see you again, very soon…” he trails off and I feel his body tense atop mine but he laughs and it’s a strange sound at this moment, “…They were right, here you are.” He laughs again causing him to cough and wince.

“Shh, don’t talk. It’s okay.” My voice cracks and I feel Griffin’s weak hand on my thigh, I place my free hand on top of his, “We’re going to be okay.” I say but not even I am convinced by the words.

We sit in silence for a while before Griffin remembers, “Scarlet? Henri?”

“Are safe, they are safe.” I feel as though I’m convincing both of us of that fact.

“Don’t let them get the kids Babe, you can’t.” Griffin is delirious and I detect his heartbeat is slowing.

Instead of bursting into tears I have to be strong for Griffin, I take a deep breath, again the mustiness burns my nose, “I won’t Grif. I promise.” I lean down and brush my lips across his sticky iron smelling forehead, “I love you.”

“Always, my love.” Those were the last words Griffin said to me before Keane accompanied by another tall blonde vampire freed me from my jail, leaving my dead husband’s body behind.

http://www.amazon.com/Babets-Epiphany...

Babet's Epiphany