Vampire's Runaway

The Magic Mirror pt 2

As he sat down next to me, I finally got a good look at him. He had dark raven hair that was cut mid-length and styled perfectly. His face was angular and masculinely sculpted, contrasting with the softness of his eyes and the soft fringe of black lashes that even women would kill for. It was hard to tell much else because he wore a black designer jacket, but from the looks of it, he probably had an athletic build underneath.

"Uh... my name is um... Candi... Apple," I said as I tried to fake a smile as I gave him my fake name. I wasn't about to give a stranger in a nightclub my real name.

"Suits you. You smell delicious," He said, without missing a beat.

I wasn't wearing perfume, so maybe he meant my shampoo. Little did he know it was the free stuff from the hotel. Unless he was just flirting-- which now that I thought of it was way more likely. I tried to think of a clever response but got nothing. "Thanks. What's your name?"

"It's Damien," He said as he looked back at a waitress behind us. With just one look, she came over like she had been summoned. "Can you bring me some Jack Daniels and leave the bottle? Just put it on my tab."

I watched him pour himself a drink and drink it straight up. I've never heard of someone drinking the whiskey from the bottle before. Beer yes, wine maybe, but whiskey is supposed to be a hard liquor, right?

"Do you want some?" He asked when he noticed my silent stare.

"Oh, no. I still have my first drink," I said as I took another tiny sip of my drink. "Thanks for that. I've never had a guy buy me a drink before."

"A beautiful girl like you? That's hard to believe," he said.

I tried not to blush as I looked away. How was this happening? Guys never talk to me. And this guy was so handsome, entrancing, and smooth. What the hell was the catch?

"So are you staying here?" I asked.

"Yeah. Room, 1301."

"There's thirteen floors? I only remember seeing two floors on the elevator."

"You need a special key card. If you don't believe me, I can show you. I promise I won't bite– unless you want me to," He said, not taking his eyes off me.

What? I'm sure he's joking. "Um... I don't know. I'm here with a friend."

I look over at her and I see that she's already making out with a guy at the bar. That was fast.

"Well that's too bad," He said, and I also felt disappointed for some reason.

"What about your friend?" I asked, curious to know what the blonde's story was as she continued to glare in my general direction.

"She's not a friend. She's a coworker."

"Oh really?" A coworker who was staring daggers at me. "What do you do?"

"I work in... Security."

"Oh interesting," I said as I took another sip.

He stopped suddenly and looked towards the door. With a look of annoyance, he got up. "I've got to go for now, but I'll be around."

He got out his wallet and took out the tip for the table and a room card and slid the card onto the table in front of me. "You can use this keycard to get to my floor and my room. But don't lose it or they will think you're trespassing. And you don't want that so you?"

"Of course not," I answered before I could think on it. It seemed a little strange for a hotel rule.

"Bye, Candi," he said before leaving, and I realized I hadn't picked up the card key yet. I sighed and put it into my purse. I wasn't going to go to his room, but I couldn't just leave it there for anyone to pick up.

I stayed long enough to finish my drink, but when I went to find Sarah she wasn't at the bar anymore. I looked around the dance floor, went upstairs and looked over the railing across the low-hanging chandelier, and tried to find her, but she had just disappeared. I texted her a few times but didn't get an answer.

Frustrated, I left and I went to my hotel room, but when I went to open the door with my key card the privacy lock chain was on the door and I could hear Sarah in there with the guy from before.

"Sarah?"

"Occupied," she said as she slid the do not disturb sign on her door handle. WTF.

"Sarah!"

She ignored me and I gave a huff of indignation then sat on a couch in the hall. To pass the time, I searched on my phone for apartments in Las Vegas, and soon enough I had bookmarked a couple of places for me to research and call. It wasn't a solid plan, but sometimes I liked to explore possibilities before creating a plan of action.

After about an hour I went up to the door and tried to knock on it again, but there were some questionable noises coming out from behind the door and the do not disturb sign still on the knob. I texted her furiously.

Me: You are still at it? I swear I'm going to get you back for this.

No response. Not even a read. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I gave up waiting and went to the hotel lobby of the casino.

I asked the front desk for a room and they said it would be $250 a night. Apparently, the discount only applies if you aren't registered in the system, and my fake ID was already in there. If I used my real ID I wouldn't be able to go anywhere but the gift shop and they may even catch me. I imagined being hauled away by the cops and thrown in jail for life. Well, probably not life, but still, it wasn't going to be good.

I was still standing at the front desk imagining the grim future I had if I was caught with a fake ID when I heard Damien's voice from behind me. "You're still here? What happened to your friend?"

I turned around to face him and realized he was a lot closer than I thought he was. Now that we were standing, I realized he was taller than I expected, and his presence was more dominating than I recalled. I swallowed a lump in my throat and then remembered he asked me a question. "She's with a guy, so I'm kind of locked out waiting for them to um... finish... but who knows when that will be."

"If you want, we can just watch Netflix and chill in my room," he said innocently.

A movie? Hopefully not anything scary. "That sounds fine," I said.

Naive I didn't realize at the time what that was code for.

It's code for sex if you didn't know.