Ghosted

FAY

Great spears of purple and red strobe lights sway in the distance, sweeping through the black sky like a kraken's giant tentacles. It gives me that energy boost I was, to be quite frank, in desperate need of. How long has it been since I last danced? A month. That's like light years.

"Woo!" Almost made a hot sizzling mess of myself. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to install electric cables so high? Lines of them are barbing my flight path! Maybe I'm not flying straight...

A stream of people forming beneath me resembles an ant queue waiting to enter The Restless Club. Aside from a few heated clusters raring with insults and held-back fists, things are looking good overall. I hope it lasts. A night spent there is worth more than any other night at any other place in the entire year.

My wings fold behind me, and my diving self giggles because I...

"Damn you, fairy!"

... lash them out inches from these good little soldiers' heads. I glide my way up to the entrance and hover for a couple of seconds until the bouncer sees me.

A memory obscures my vibes. The last time Tyke and I came, I attempted to skip the line but was roasted instead.

I'm not being honest with myself because I can still taste his lips on mine after he grumbled, "No, Fay, we wait like anybody else."

Like anybody else...

In the blink of an eye, pure bliss becomes a nightmare of congestion and people. I'm about to fly for this depressing, very far end of the queue, when, "Hey, Fay. Nice to see you back."

My wings break, and I turn to the sound of a cord unclicking.

Now that the bouncer's seen me, I mean, why not?

There is hushed whispering behind me as I land on the ground, my pumps touching the red carpet I've missed a little too much.

"It's her."

"She's back?"

It's impossible to resist throwing my hair and winking at the crowd behind me. Oh, come on. Sometimes modesty is a vibe killer. The more you pretend not to care, the more you look like a condescending prick.

"Hottie!" An unknown face whistles.

Let me put it this way, The Restless Club is basically how to feel like a million-dollar babe in less than two seconds. I huff with a smirk, all too content to know I still got it.

"It's not the same without you, Queen Fay." A voice born from a mountain cave, such is Amerius' tenor.

I gaze into the bouncer's black eyes, letting out a simper. "Glad to see you, too, Amy." With me, he's always been a sweetie, even though I've seen him toss out a variety of fae and other unsavory monsters without so much as a thought.

I dawdle toward the entrance, feeling a tingle in my chest as his two other troll brothers open the double camphor doors for me. The heart of this place is beating so strongly, it's replacing my own. And as I bring my stiletto onto the first step, vaporous, almost bloody-tainted smoke flows out, engulfing me, my coat fogging crimson as I enter.

Let's do this.

So, here's the situation...

I gave my coat to the cloakroom attendant and went straight to the lady's room for one last prep.

Once jacked up, I cat-walked into the club like a panther, giving that hip-sway in an attempt to knock out Vym. In any case, who the fuck cares.

This vampire appears to be a hollow scumbag because he ghosted me before even coming!

So, now, if someone is looking for me, my lonely ass is sitting at the bar opposite the VIP section. But I doubt this particular someone is... I can't stop staring at some giant pair of lips floating inside the bar counter as if they were in a fish tank, my face and glass taking a red tint to the holographic 3D rendering. This thing lolls a tongue every ten seconds, which, sadly, has been the best part of tonight.

I exhale a skinny but impactful blow on my feykila, sending ripples of my disappointment over the counter.

Can't deny I've been ogling my phone for the past thirty minutes, mostly obsessing over my nonexistent notifications.

I should've stayed on the sofa.

With Donna.

And buried myself in a mountain of tissues while I sobbed, watchingThe One That Got Away...

Next to my feykila shot sits five suspicious drinks from five lurkers. I feel oppressed, narrowing my gaze into my own as one demon, two elves, a minotaur, and a lycan eye me from this round-shaped, large, lusty counter.

Fact is, I'm purely jaded.

I don't need this.

I should go.

Some clattering behind me pulls my dried-out orbs from my glass that is, by all means, as large as a thimble.

This regret of turning to a familiar sound.

Shit.

Old friends. Actually,ex-friends, if we're being honest.

I want nothing to do with them, not with the way they talked to Tyke last time...

"Green monsters to the cage!"

"You don't belong here."

"Leave before you waste more air."

"Fay!"

Fuck me.

"Come over here!"