The Midnight Cleaning Company

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It was dangerously close to sunrise by the time the black cab had reached the nightclub in Camden Town. Sun-sickness had yet to kick in, but the sight of the brightening light grey sky filled me with dread. My stomach muscles clenched in anticipation. The four of us hurried out of the back of the cab and in through the front door of the club. The heavy door swung shut behind us and I heard the screeches of the tires as the black cab sped off.

I saw Jacob perched on a stool by the long neon lit bar. A raven haired female Rogue was tending to the wounds inflicted during his capture, gently rubbing vodka onto his huge bare chest. Evidently he had yet to make the transition to Human blood, unlike Andre, and so was healing slowly.

"I approve of this ebony adonis, but not of those two Elder's slaves", crowed the Rogue to Josephine when she looked up from her nursing work, which mostly involved caressing Jacob's muscles.

"Each of these two warriors could rip your lungs out through your throat before you could blink", rebuked a voice with an American accent I immediately recognised as Vincent.

"Warriors?" I scoffed.

"Absolutely", drawled Vincent as he came into view with a silver platter balanced on one hand. "Never again will you clean up after some one else... you will cause chaos and make a great mess of your own", he said, summoning as much gravitas as he could muster.

"Have a drink", he said, more an order than an offer, as he lowered the silver tray and presented it to George and me.

I hesitated, not willing to expose my secret affinity for Human blood. Vincent thrust one of the grand chalices towards me.

"It's tradition... to welcome you", said Josephine warmly, noticing George's discomfort at being presented with Human blood.

"Welcome us to what?" he asked suspiciously.

"To the fold, to the family, to the future... to the army", Vincent replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
I took a big gulp of the warm blood from the extravagant chalice and exhaled blissfully as it trickled down the back of my throat. George had watched my reaction closely as if he expected me to drop dead from poison. Now that I had shown the drink to be safe, he took the other from Vincent's silver tray and raised it tentatively to his lips. He sipped at the liquid inside before pulling the chalice quickly away.

The light grew inside his eyes as he tasted Human blood for the first time and felt its wonderful effects. He licked his lips to catch the droplets before finishing the rest of the chalice with noisy slurps.

"Now that the pomp and ceremony is out of the way, please join us in our office", said Vincent.

I drained my drink and placed it back onto the silver platter, which Vincent passed to a Rogue who had been loitering behind him.

George and I followed Vincent, Josephine, and Andre through the club. There were far fewer occupants than on my previous visit. There was no oblivious Human revellers, just angry looking Rogues lounging on the leather sofas, leaning on the long neon bar, and emerging from every booth and alcove to glare at the uniforms that George, myself, and Andre still wore.

The large central room of the club was rather disorientating. Large mirrors covered pillars and entire walls from the ceiling down the floor, so I could not always tell what space was real and what was a reflection. Small stages and platforms jutted out of the ground, upon which were cages and poles for dancing, and clusters of black leather sofas scattered around the dance-floor.

As we ascended the stairs to the VIP lounge in which I had first met Vincent. The Rogues that surrounded us stared with loathing.

"Don't mind them, they are just irritated because you killed a lot of their friends... they will come around once they see your worth", Vincent said with a casual wave of his hand, his eerie permanent smile stretching even wider.