Chapter 6
He finished in thirty minutes, a record for him. Stepping out of the bathroom, he walked over and slipped his sneakers on, along with his watch and numerous rings. He looked around. She'd jumped out the window before, how was he supposed to get in touch with her? And how was gonna get there? Was he supposed to just walk out the entrance?
"No, I'll take you there."
He looked over at the window. "You LOVE to sneak up on me don't you?"
She grinned wryly. "You all set?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Ok, come on then. Let's get this over with."
AJ grabbed his sunglasses and walked over to her. She took his hand and started towards the window.
"Whoa! Can't we just, go out the entrance? I don't jump out of windows, in case you've forgotten, I don't bounce."
She rolled her eyes. "I won't let you bounce Alex. You won't even feel it." She pulled him closer, setting one foot on the ledge.
"Feel it? God! No, I won't do it!"
"You have no choice." She pushed off with her one foot, pulling him with her out the window.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he went to yell when suddenly he opened his eyes, startled. They were on the ground.
"Come on." She pulled him along with her.
"But...how...how did you..."
"Shhh! No more questions."
They walked out of the alley and down the sidewalk.
"Normally I'd just carry you over there, but I don't think you're ready for that yet. So we'll take the long way there."
"Carry?"
"Ya know, fly."
"FLY?!"
She rolled her eyes, turning quickly down another road. "Hurry." She called, turning abruptly into the forest that they had now up on.
They walked for a while when she stopped, right in the middle of the forest.
"We're lost aren't we?"
"No we're not lost. We're here." She started walking again, through a clearance and over to a building that seemed to come from out of no where.
"Where the hell did that come from?" AJ gasped, as he walked with her to the building.
She said nothing but continued to walk until they reached the entrance, she stopped and turned to look at him.
"Take them off."
"What?"
"Your glasses, take em off."
"Why?"
"Because, they see you in glasses looking slightly pale, and they're gonna assume you work for Jareth."
"But I'm only pale cause of the whole blood thing."
"They don't know that yet."
He sighed, before reaching up and removing the glasses, folding them and sticking them in his pocket. He looked up at her.
"Thank you." She paused for a moment. "You have really nice eyes, it's a shame you hide them all the time." She turned quickly and knocked on the door.
AJ grinned, raising an eyebrow. The window in the door opened and a guy peered at them.
"Hi Donelle."
"Aradia." He looked back at AJ. "Who's he?"
"He's with me."
Donelle looked at AJ a moment longer before closing the window, a few seconds later the door opened and he stepped aside. Aradia started in and AJ followed behind her. The door slammed shut and AJ turned to find that Donelle was gone. Turning, he took in his surroundings.
It looked similar to a club, there was a bar and a few tables and couches around the room. It was incredibly dark, only a few dim lamps at various spots. There was a heady spicy sent that lingered in the air, it was light, but intoxicating.
"This way." She led them down a staircase, lit only by some lanterns hanging on the wall.
He looked around, careful to stay close to her. Finally they reached the bottom and she stopped, turning to him again.
"Here we go. Above all Alex remain calm. They can tell if you're nervous and that will make them weary. If you need to talk to me, do it telepathically. Try to make as much eye contact as you can."
"When you first walk in, they're going to do a quick scan of your body. They'll be able to tell right away that you're not a vampire, but they will be able to detect my scent on you and my blood also. Our leader's name is Damek he'll be the one who does the survey. During this time, you need to clear your mind of any other thought; I'll help you with that. Ok, I think that's everything. You ready?"
He stared at her like she was crazy.
"I know it's a lot to take in, but I know you can do it. If you can handle swarms of screaming girls, you can handle a few bloodthirsty vampires."
He smiled blandly at her. Against her better judgement, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You can do it Alex."
AJ stared at her a second longer before nodding. "Let's do this."
She smiled. "Ok." She knocked on the door.
"Password?" A voice called.
"Darkstar." Aradia called.
The door swung open and Aradia stepped in, AJ behind her.
"Good evening Aradia. I see you've brought your friend." Damek murmured, standing up and walking over to them.
"Hello Damek this is Alex."
AJ swallowed hard, this was it. Damek walked over to him.
"It's nice to meet you Alex, I'm Damek. I wish that I could say that Aradia's told me a lot about you, but I'm afraid she hasn't."
Aradia looked over at AJ and then at him.
"You never told me he was mortal."
"We're in the process of blood exchange."
"I can tell, your scent is on him. I do intend to do a scan, you know we have to be careful."
"I know."
He nodded and stood back, staring hard at AJ.
"This is it AJ. Now just relax, I'm gonna help you clear your thoughts. Stay calm."
"Can he hear us?"
"No, this is our link. Ok, get ready."
AJ felt that familiar warmth spread over him and suddenly he was just there. He was suddenly aware of his surroundings, but he couldn't really seem to focus. And for the life of him he couldn't remember anything, nothing.
"Just relax Alex, it's almost over."
Suddenly he could focus again, he looked over at Damek and then at Araida.
Damek nodded. "He's in." He looked at AJ. "You're now part of the society, you'll be protected as one of us. Once you've totally changed, we'll do the induction ceremony."
"Induction ceremony?"
"Don't worry, you won't get that far Alex."
"I'm sure Aradia has briefed you on what's going on."
AJ nodded.
"Good, well I think everything is settled then. If you want to take him to meet the rest of the society, you can now Aradia."
"I don't think so Damek, I think I'm just gonna take him back and do the next exchange. I don't want to wait too much longer."
Damek nodded. "Very well. Welcome to the society, take care Alex."
AJ nodded again and turned and followed Aradia out. Neither spoke until they were out of the building. Once outside, they continued walking.
"You did a great job Alex." Aradia smiled.
"Thanks, I was scared shitless though. I almost peed my pants."
Aradia stifled giggles. "Well, let's get you back to your hotel before anyone notices."
"No need to worry, no one will no...Aradia, what's wrong?"
They were about halfway to the hotel, when she stopped and looked around.
"Aradia?"
"Alex..." She was silenced as someone shoved her hard, knocking her to the ground. She scrambled to her feet, looking over, she saw someone advancing on AJ. She walked closer, the scent filling her nostrils. A zombie. She had to act fast. She watched as it lunged for AJ, jumping she landed between them, kicking the zombie back and pushing AJ out of the way.
The zombie started at her, and she grabbed it around the waist, they wrestled for a bit as she threw him to the ground. She went to jump at him, when it tripped her, causing her to fall. Instantly it was on its feet, looming over her. She backed away quickly, rising to her feet.
She started at him again, when he kicked her back, sending her flying. She moaned as she hit the ground hard. She got up quickly, looking around. Finally she found what she sought, a sharp piece of wood. Aradia turned, her eyes widening as she watched the zombie's hand cut the air swiftly and a loud cry of pain. She saw red.
"ALEX!" She ran at the zombie, once again knocking him away, she turned it over and before it could move, drove the stake into its heart. It jerked a bit before going still. She backed away from it, panting heavily. The stench was nauseating. This was bad, they knew where she was, and they were being followed. It was only a matter of time.
"A-Araida..."
She turned, running over to AJ, dropping to her knees. "No." She whispered. Protruding from his chest was a butcher knife.
"A-Araida...it...hurts."
"I know, I know it does." She bit her lip, the tears stinging her eyes. He couldn't die, she wouldn't let him. She had only one choice. "I'm going to help you Alex, but you have to trust me ok? We don't have time to wait."
He swallowed hard; the pain was unlike nothing he'd ever felt before. He just wanted it to stop. "P-please...help...help me."
He was unnaturally pale. She knew what she had to do, it wasn't something done often and could be very dangerous, but it was a risk she had to take. Reaching over, she grabbed the handle of the knife. AJ looked up at her weakly, his eyes pleading with her to stop the pain. It was her fault he was in this, and it was her fault he was dying in front of her eyes.
Closing her eyes, she pulled the knife out, AJ cried out in pain. She threw the knife down and looked at AJ, the blood pouring from the hole in his chest. Reaching out, she covered the hole with her hand, the blood seeping through her fingers.
She placed her other hand on his head. Concentrating, she let the healing powers flow through him, closing the wound. She could hear his breathing starting to return to normal. When she was sure everything was ok, she moved her hands. The wound totally healed, she looked up at him to see that he was still deathly pale.
Wasting no time, she slit her throat again, pulling him to her body. She moved his head, placing his lips to her skin. "Drink Alex." She knew what this would mean, a second blood exchange. Technically she didn't have to take from him, only him from her. It was becoming dangerous. She felt his lips press against her neck weakly, as he drew from her.
She closed her eyes, so much of her wanting for him to be teasing her skin, his lips moving over her in passion, and maybe even love, something she'd been without for too long. She felt him jerk a bit as he went limp in her arms. Pressing fingers to his neck, she found his pulse to be strong, he'd be ok. He'd passed out, pulling back she looked at him.
Everything was all jumbled in her head, what was she doing? How could she involve him in this? The tears ran freely down her cheeks, he could always make her cry. After all her years of walking the earth, and all that she'd seen, only he could touch her in such away to invoke feelings she thought had died so many years ago.
Pushing that aside, she picked him up, flying to his hotel room and placing him gently on the bed. She stared down at him, the tears continuing to fall as she fell over him, sobbing softly. She'd almost lost him, she was too careless and she almost lost him.
Never again, it would never happen again. She'd guard him with her life he was hers and she'd protect him till the end.
She knew that Jareth was waiting, waiting for the right moment to strike. She knew it would be that night and she knew she had to be ready for him. She stayed with AJ for a while, making sure he was alright before quietly slipping away just as the sun started to rise.
