Post by SADIE VALENCIA on Oct 25, 2024 21:00:29 GMT
Tipping her head back, Sadie drew in a deep breath as she walked into the club. The sweet and sour scent of liquor and sweat, lust and desperation filled her nose, wrinkling it but leaving her grinning. It had been too long. Her trip here to give Tobi shit for not telling her the truth on the night he’d saved her ass felt like it had happened months ago. After it had happened she’d gone to ground, working on the new book and now that the line edits were done and passed back to her editor it almost felt like she was emerging from a sort of hibernation.
After weeks of forcing herself out of bed at eight to stick to a routine, she’d shut off all of her alarms, pulled the drapes tight and had slept the sleep of the comatose. It had been midday before she’d groggily thrown back the covers and had staggered to her bedroom window to peel the drapes back and let the light sear the sleep from her eyeballs. She’d boiled herself in the shower until the water had started to cool off and then went to work on her hair. If she was gonna celebrate another giant leap towards getting this book in the bookstores, then she was gonna do it looking fucking amazing. Breakfast had ended up being pancakes at the Diner, dinner a burger from the Grill (tomorrow she’d finally make it to the grocery store and end the fast food diet that had kept her fuelled for the last couple of weeks).
”The biggest French martini you can make me, please,” Sadie called over the bar as she elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. Unfortunately Tobi wasn’t behind the bar, but the drinks were free flowing anyway. Three down and her brain buzzed along with the bass line of the music. Carrying drink four, Sadie let the girl who’d been sitting beside her drag her out onto the dance floor. Drink five was delivered on a tray by Marianna’s (Maryanne’s? What had she said her name was – something that began with an mmmm), along with a couple of shots. The drinks went down easily and the buzz became a warm hum, like a note played on a double bass. Vibrating in her chest, leaving her smirking as she danced with the two of them. At some point others joined them – friends, we’re going back to their place for an after-party – an offer dangled for her to come with them.
Temptation washed through her warm and tingling, an echo of the feeling that had raced through her on the night she’d discovered the world was a whole lot freakier than she’d ever imagined. Marley? Maisie? Whoever she was cupped her cheek and grinned down at her from a lofty height of what had to be close to six feet – ugh, some girls had all the luck. ”Pleeeasse. I think Jackson likes you. You like him too, don’t you?” Coyly she looked over her shoulder at the even taller figure working his way back through the crowd with another tray of drinks. The guy opening up his apartment to party half the night. A year ago it would’ve been an instant yes, his name forgotten almost the moment she slipped out of his apartment, her heels in hand tomorrow morning, but now? Hmm.
Ready to offer up a slightly slurred maybe, Sadie looked back at Mia (closer) and froze. The strobe lights overhead threw themselves into a frantic rhythm, reflecting off of Mia’s dark eyes in a flare that had her blinking rapidly. When it stopped the light was gone, but it was as though the after image of them was seared onto her eyeballs the way the sun had been that morning. The primal part of her brain – the bit that had lit up bright as that strobe when she’d had the run in with the coyote – lit up again. Danger, Sadie Valencia, danger.
Sadie held up a finger, smiling over it at Morticia (far more fitting). ”Maybe. I’m just gonna head to the little girl’s room first. Powder my nose.” And try to sober up enough to figure out how much further she was gonna get in over her head. The angel on her shoulder told her it was beyond time that she should’ve gone to bed, she could head home and sleep this off. The devil was whispering though. How many things had eyes that lit up that way?
The hallway that led to the bathrooms was empty, miracle. Sadie dug in her purse as she walked to the end of it. If Tobi had been behind the bar this would’ve been a far shorter conversation. She leaned against the wall, dialling Darcey instead. The sound of his voice on the other end had the grin back on her face, the rough English edge to his greeting sounded even better when she was this buzzed. ”Hey,” she drawled lightly. ”So, I, uh, I came down to the club. I’m celebrating.” Something she probably could’ve done with him since the book wouldn’t have existed without him and his family. ”Found some people to party with … something weird happened with one of them. What could make someone’s eyes light up weird? Like starbursts? That’s gotta be something right? But is it like the good sorta something, or the bad?” Please don’t let it be the latter.
Music poured in through the door back to the club as it swung open again. Morticia stood there, smiling at her. ”You ready to go? Jackson wants to get out of here.”
Holding up a finger, Sadie tried to buy herself a minute. ”We’re heading out of the club,” she announced into the phone. ”Why don’t you meet us there? It’s on the corner of Elm and Grant, that apartment building with the weird sculpture in the lobby.” That was what you were supposed to do when you thought you were about to be kidnapped right? Leave a trail, just in case you ended up dead in a ditch come morning. ”My friend’s gonna join us, hope that’s alright.” A friend who could snap necks if things got weirder than she was anticipating here. What was the worst that could happen? Darcey would turn up and stare Jackson down – actually that might be fun. Hooking an arm around Maya’s (how had she got from that to Marianne?) and headed out, stuffing her phone back into her bag.
Tagged: DARCEY REID * Word Count: 1087
