At the top, Jack set me down, and I looked around. I could see the marquee for Barfly glittering brightly, but we were hidden in an alley, next to a stairwell I had never noticed before.
Olivia waited for us, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that pushed out her ample bosom. A full moon splashed in between the buildings, lighting her face, and she was even more exquisite than I had first believed.
“Thanks,” Jack told her. He moved a couple feet away from me, because he didn’t trust himself right now.
“You have to be careful,” Olivia cautioned him. “What were you thinking bringing her here?”
“I don’t know.” He scratched his head and looked at the ground. “I’d never brought anyone here, and the girls I’d met here never seemed like they in were any danger.”
“That’s because they’re whores.” Olivia looked at Jack like he was an idiot. In response, he kicked an empty bottle with his foot. “They let people bite them! If you had wanted to share her, you probably wouldn’t have had a problem.”
“What the hell happened in there?” Milo asked.
“I don’t know really.” I shook my head. “There were these vampires, Violet and Lucian. And they were into me, and Jack went to look for you, so they pounced.”
“What were you doing?” Jack lifted his head to look at Milo. “You disappeared in there.”
“I was dancing,” Milo said. “I didn’t know we’d have to run out ten minutes later because you didn’t realize it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring a human to a vampire bar!”
“You guys can sort it out later,” Olivia interrupted. “You should get out of here.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jack said. “Thank you. You’ll never know how much I appreciate what you did tonight.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been there,” Olivia shrugged, but her expression got more severe. “You need to hurry up and turn her, unless you’re ready to bury her.”
“It’s complicated,” Jack sounded exasperated, and I knew it touched the same raw nerve it did me.
“Maybe, but death is simple.” She pointed to the end of the alley. “Now get out of here.”
“Thank you,” Jack repeated.
“Thanks,” I echoed.
“Take care of yourself, kid,” Olivia smiled at me before going back down the stairs, into the darkness that led to the hidden vampire club.
Jack took my hand as we walked towards the car. All the clubs downtown were letting out, so the streets were more crowded than before. Milo and Jack had put me in between them, and Milo scoured the crowd, as if a vampire would attack us on a crowded street.
Neither of them said anything until we reached the car.
“Well, that was fun,” Milo sighed as he leaned back in the seat.
“I am so sorry.” Jack started the car and wouldn’t look at me. “I should’ve known better.”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “Everybody’s okay. And it was a really interesting night. I learned a couple things, and that’s something.”
“There’s easier ways to learn,” Jack said.
“I had a blast!” Milo interjected. “I mean, until the whole Alice-almost-getting-slaughtered thing. That wasn’t fun. But the running away kind of was. I felt like Matt Damon.”
“What does Matt Damon run away from?” I looked in the backseat at him, but he gave me cockeyed grin.
“I don’t know. I just felt like him,” Milo shrugged.
It was such a 180 from how he used to be. Everything I did used to make him nervous and scared, but I had almost been murdered, and he made jokes on the ride home. He was still sweet and geeky, but he’d lost his insecurities and paranoia.
“At least you wore your pajamas here,” Jack said as we got closer to his house.
“Why?” I asked.