Club Angel's Kiss

The sun was no where to be seen when I jolted awake. I was disoriented, scared, when I realized I had no idea where I was. The room around me was strange. The walls were a dull green with little accents of gold in some odd shape that I couldn’t identify from my blurry vision. There was a wrought iron gate sitting in front of a glass door that appeared to lead onto a balcony. And the bed…

I looked up at the four posters, the canopy of sheer fabric that lay over top, the extravagant bedding.

Where on earth was I?

I ran my hand over the pale blue silk of the comforter. It was soft, nice, cool in temperature.

“Where am I?” I whispered, feeling kind of sick.

My heart skipped a few beats. I was probably sitting in a room, waiting for my death. I couldn’t remember exactly what I had done to deserve being killed, but who knows.

I slipped from the bed and the air was freezing cold on my bare skin. I yelped and looked around frantically for my clothes.

My clothes…

Oh, shit. Matt.

I immediately felt my face grow hot. Did I actually do that? Really? I felt sick.

I scurried around quickly, trying to locate the articles of my clothing. I finally saw a glimpse of white sitting on a nearby chair. My clothes sat on the chair, folded, waiting for me.

I screwed my face up. How was I going to explain this to Mom? Struggling, I fought into my underwear and shirt and pulled my jeans on with only one hand. My boots were a little easier to slide on, but I was quite thankful when I was fully dressed.

“Now…where do I go from here?” I glanced around the room again, in search of the— “Aha!”

I sprinted across the room and to a rather wonderfully designed metal door. I creaked it open, just enough so I could peek out into the hallway. It was empty. I headed out and closed the door behind me.

The walls in here were gunmetal gray, quite beautiful. I saw the hall turn to the right just up ahead. Ahead, also, there were two staircases. One going up, one going down.

My pace was slow as I started walking toward the set of stairs leading down. I didn’t want to travel up, for God only knows what I would find. So the down seemed like the perfect place to go.

The stairs went down for a few feet and they were completely concrete. Where they led looked bright.

I tiptoed my way down, wanting to get home before Mom, Adam, or Dad completely had a fit. I wasn’t really comfortable being upstairs from Club Angel’s Kiss after just having sex with its owner. It wasn’t exactly how I pictured this—

“Amber, good morning!”

I stopped with one foot in the air. I wasn’t even at the bottom of the stairs. How did he know that I was awake?

Slowly, I inched my way around the bend and into a bright kitchen. Matt was sitting in a stool at a granite top island. He had a cup of something in his hands.

I smiled. “Good morning, Matt,” I greeted gently. I hopped off the stairs.

Matt patted the stool beside him. “Good morning, Amber. Come sit beside me.”

I plopped down on the wooden stool and leaned my head on his shoulder. My hand stifled my yawn. “I’m tired,” I whispered.

“Want some water?” he questioned, poking my head with his finger.

“Yes, actually. Thank you.” I took the cup he held out to me and took a small drink. It slid down my dry, achy throat, soothing it immediately. “Oh, thank you.”

Matt grinned and kissed the side of my head. “Did you have a good night?”

I nodded, taking another drink. I set the cup down. He was looking down at me, paying attention to my every move. I felt a little nervous.

“Um…yeah. I had a good night.”

“Dammit, Obsidian! Go away!”

The girl from last night—I think her name was Rave—came pounding through the doorway, fists clenched at her sides, her posture rigid and strange.

I raised an eyebrow at her, and Matt looked up in interest.

“Rave, what’s going on?”

She stopped walking and her eyes flickered from Matt, to me, then back again. A sheepish smile spread across her face.

“Sorry, King. I was having a problem with Obsidian. He’s being a complete asshole again.” She nodded to me. “Hello, Amber.”

I waved, a little confused. She had called him King…

“Don’t worry. I’ll talk with him later.” Matt waved a hand and she walked up the stairs dutifully.

I glanced at him. “How many people live here again?”

“A few.” He turned his head toward the doorway that Rave had come through. “Would you like to go meet them all? I would be glad to show you.”

“Sure,” I replied.

He took my hand and started leading me through the loft-type house. I didn’t pay attention to where we were going, so before I knew it, we were standing on a raised platform. Below us was just an empty concrete area with two double doors on the back wall.

I peeked sideways at Matt. He closed his eyes and whispered, “Come.”

Seconds later, the doors would open and people started appearing in the middle of the room, like they had walked the length of the way in a millisecond flat. I furrowed my brows, terrified at what I was witnessing.

Okay. What exactly was I witnessing?

People walking really fast…or…appearing…or something.

I put one hand over my mouth, focusing intently on the people that were appearing before us. The first arrivers were a few girls and a few boys. They kept their heads down and stayed to the back, farthest from us.

Then, the others started appearing. The first person I saw took my breath away. She was beautiful, of course, pale skinned, long, jet black hair, beautifully curvaceous body. I was struck. She was gorgeous.

The next two that appeared beside this girl were Inez and Rave. All three girls stood directly side-by-side, their shoulders touching. Their hands were clasped together and their heads were positioned down, but not as much as the people in the back.

Then…He showed up. The boy…the one that had amazed and dumbfounded me last night. I took a step forward, wanting to run up to him and ask a million questions. He had his head turned away from me, as if he was intentionally ignoring me.

Matt put his hand on my lower back. I looked at him again; he was staring at all the others. I wanted to start asking him questions too, but questions of different kinds. First on that list would be, “What the hell is going on?”

But the look on his face told me otherwise.

I went back to watching as well.

Beside my admirer appeared three others guys. One had longer black hair and wore a black shirt that revealed his completely tattooed arms. The guy beside him had flattened, strangely cut black hair. The last one had bleached blonde hair and looked slightly crazy.

They were all attractive in a way, but my eyes remained on the one that originally took my breath away. Matt seriously had nothing compared to this guy.

Matt cleared his throat and all looked up, including me.

“I have brought you all here to show you someone.” He gestured to me. “Meet Miss Amber Renee Harless.”

All eyes flew to my face. I cringed back slightly, hating all the attention.

Matt went on. “I want you to meet her because you might already know, but she is your new queen.”

I looked at him, confused. “Matt, what do you mean?” I whispered.

He didn’t answer. He just kept going. “And you will obey her just as you obey me. Do you all understand?”

A chorus of “understood” chimed back.

My face screwed up with confusion. I was nobody’s queen and no one had to obey me. Oh dear lord, what the hell was going on?!

“Matt,” I bumped him with my cast-covered arm. I needed to get out of here.

He looked at me. “Yes?”

“I really need to go home.”

He took my hands and turned his undivided attention to me. I stared at his face, trying to decipher his expression, but it was unreadable.

“Amber, I’m sorry, but that will not be possible. You have entered into Club Angel’s Kiss and you can’t leave now.”

My mouth dropped open. “Fuck, you’re kidding, right?”

He shook his head.

I tore my hands from his and took a step away from him. “I’m going home.”

“Amber, don’t be difficult. You aren’t leaving.”

I raised my good arm in the air. “Matt, stop whatever the hell you’re doing, because I need to get home before my parents and Adam have a fit. I’m probably already going to get killed when I go home anyway. Bye.”

I turned toward the door we had come through, but the guy with the long black hair was already standing there, blocking my way.

He held his hand up. “Step back, Queen.”

I swiveled around and glared at Matt.

“Okay, please explain why the fuck I can’t leave, now. And there are some other things I would like to know about this fucked up place, too!” I looked around pointedly at all the people still watching us with blank expressions.

Matt put his hand on my shoulder and led me back to where we had originally been standing. He stroked my hair.

“Amber, I have fallen in complete love with you.”

“So?” I interrupted. “We can go out on dates, you can call me. We’ll have a normal relationship!”

“You don’t understand. Okay, wait. Johnny, come forth.”

The guy with bleach blonde hair appeared beside him. He bowed. “Yes, King?”

“Can you explain why Amber cannot leave?”

“Of course.” He stepped in front of me and smiled. “Hello, Queen. It’s very nice to have you leading our coven.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Coven? Like…a vampire coven?” I threw my head back and cackled loudly. It echoed through the empty space. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You guys think you’re vampires? What kind of drugs are you guys on?”

“We’re not on drugs, Queen. You’re exactly right. We’re vampires,” Johnny agreed.

I laughed again. “You’re going to have to explain better than that because I’m not believing you,” I argued. “And besides. I’ve seen Matt go out in the sunlight. He didn’t burn.”

“Ah. You watch too many movies and read way too many books,” Johnny explained, smiling softly. Even if he was crazy, at least he was polite. “The sun does not burn us. It merely makes our heart beat faster, pumping more blood—“

“I’m confused,” I whispered, shaking my head. I knew I had tears forming behind my eyes because I honestly had no idea how I was getting out of this mess. Well, getting out of it alive.

“It’s okay, Queen. It takes a while to completely grasp, but I’ll try my best to explain. Alright?”

I nodded weakly. Matt was smiling from behind Johnny. I gave thought to throwing something at him, but waited to listen to Johnny.

“This is our coven. Club Angel’s Kiss is what we keep our secret hidden behind,” he said. “And we don’t drink human blood either. In fact, we can go a rather long time without drinking any, but sometimes we have to eat, or bad things will happen.”

“What do you eat?” I placed a hand on my stomach as it rolled.

“Animals.”

I slowly sat down on the floor and laid my head on my knees. I felt woozy.

Johnny crouched beside me. “Sorry. That does that to a lot of newcomers.” He patted my back. “Is there anything I can get you?”

I shook my head, though I was shivering like it was freezing, when in fact, the temperature was pleasantly warm. I closed my eyes.

“Please, continue.”

He did. “Matt is our king and you are now our queen. Any questions?”

“Who are all those people?” I pointed blindly at all the other occupants.

Johnny laughed. “I think I should let King explain that part.”

“Of course I will.”

I soon felt a strong arm hoisting me up from the ground. It wrapped around my waist to hold me upright. I cracked one eye open just a slit. When I realized I wasn’t going to faint, I opened them fully.

Matt pressed his lips to my temple. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to faint, vomit, or keel over?”

“No.”

“Good. Now sit down, my love.” He turned both of us around to two padded, velvet blue chairs.

“Our thrones?” I guessed.

“Precisely.”

With a gentle push from Matt, I sat down, immediately sinking into the soft material and plush pads. He sat down in the other one and quickly went into talking.

“Okay, so, are you curious to whom all these people are?” he questioned.

“Mhm.” I tapped my fingers on the arm of the chair, trying to keep from running, screaming from the room.

“Johnny, Vengeance, Synyster, Reverend, step forward.”

The four boys that had been standing in front of us—and that includes the one I found myself wanting to drool over—step up onto our raised platform.

“These are the Guardians.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes from that certain one, though he still had his head turned, not looking at me. I barely even caught what Matt said next.

“They are my most faithful men. Now, introduce yourselves.”

“The name’s Synyster.” The one that had blocked my only escape.

“You already know me,” Johnny raised a hand.

“I’m the Reverend, or Rev for short.” The guy with the strange hair.

That left one… “I’m Vengeance.”

I couldn’t help but smile, even if it was weak and pitiful.

I waved. “It’s nice to meet you…I think.” I was confused. How long would it take for me to get used to all this?

Wait, I still didn’t know why I couldn’t go home!

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Queen,” Synyster grinned brightly.

“Thank you.”

Matt nodded. “Dismissed.”

They stepped off the platform and flickered from sight.

“Noire, Rave, Jett.”

The three girls appeared before us this time. I relaxed somewhat. I already knew two of them.

“Hi, Inez,” I greeted.

Inez huffed and watched Matt intently, ignoring me like I wasn’t there. I made a face.

“Hi, Amber.” Rave waved at me.

“Hi, Rave.” I flashed an evil glare in Inez’s direction. She didn’t like me at the store; why would there be any reason to like me now?

Oh, wait. I was her Queen. I would be sure to bring that up at some point.

The girl in the middle, with the super long hair, made a sound.

“I’m Jett,” she stated.

“And they are?” I asked, glancing at Matt.

“They are Loyals,” he answered. “They do anything I ask them to.”

“Anything? So, they’ll obey me, too?”

“Yes. You are their Queen.”

I nodded, purely interested now. Who knew I would have been so calm in the face of about fifteen vampires.

Vampires.

I almost laughed again.

I simply nodded, as to not get myself in too much trouble.

“Dismissed.”

They left as well, in about the same fashion as the Guardians.

“That’s about it,” Matt muttered.

“Then who are all those people?” I glanced at the other vampires still remaining below us. They were perfectly still, not even breathing, it seemed.

“Those are merely our coven members. They are all different, and it would take a while for me to introduce you to them all, but I’m sure, as an excellent Queen, that you will learn their names rather quickly.” He rose, whispered something, and the others disappeared as well.

I stood, too. “Matt, I still don’t know why I can’t go home.”

He turned on me, his face full of anger. He walked forward, forcing me backwards until I felt my back against a wall.

“Amber, once you’re in Club Angel’s Kiss, you can’t leave. You’re part of our coven now. You can never go back to your family. Do you understand?”

I pressed my lips together. “But why? I want to go home.”

“Haha! Don’t we all?” He raised his hands in the air. “This is your goddamn life now. And you can’t leave.”

I fell to the ground, shaking.

Matt sighed and dropped beside me. He gathered me up in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, beginning to walk. “I…I have a temper that I can’t control. It wasn’t this bad before, when I was still human. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

I didn’t respond.

He deposited me in the bedroom that I had awakened in and left, slamming the door behind him.