“I know,” Jack rolled eyes. “I got it when we had this conversation twenty times this morning.” He started edging towards the door, and I followed.

“Stay close to Jack, and don’t go anywhere with anyone, okay?” Mae said, looking at me directly. “And just remember. Vampires are like men. They only think about one thing.”

“So vampire men really only think about one thing?” Milo asked with a deviant glint in his eye.

“You only think about one thing?” I teased, looking up at Jack.

“I’m thinking about one thing right now.” His tone was joking, but he looked at me seriously. He felt dangerously close to me, and my pulse quickened.

“Jack!” Mae snapped.

“Being good!” Jack turned away from me.

“You better be,” she said. “I’m trusting you. They’re both in your care, and I expect them to come back in the exact same condition they are now. Is that clear?”

“It’s been clear all day.” Jack walked backwards to the door, so he could mount his escape while still looking at her, and Milo and I trailed right after him. “You know, I’m middle aged, Mae. You think you’d start trusting me by now.”

“I would if you acted your age for a change!” Mae called after him, but he was already slipping into the garage.

I waved at her before I left, and she pursed her lips and hugged herself. She already regretted her decision to let us go.

I didn’t feel that nervous. After all, I was with two vampires that would kill anyone that tried to mess with me. What was the worst that could happen?

- 13 -

We parked by First Avenue, but it wasn’t until we got out of the car that I realized that it was the same parking garage where’d I first met Jack. He said he’d just gotten done eating when he ran into me, and then saved my life from some ridiculous hooligans.

It was so weird to think that if I hadn’t stumbled into the garage that night, my entire life would’ve turned out different.

“You coming?” Jack asked, looking at me curiously. He and Milo had taken a couple steps ahead of me, but I stood just outside the car.

“Yeah,” I nodded, and slowly followed them.

People littered the sidewalk, doing similar things as us. Summer was ending, and girls were getting the short skirts and halter tops out of their system. The Minneapolis skyline towered over us, and the music from clubs and voices of people echoed off the buildings.

I looked down the street at the brightly lit marquees announcing clubs and restaurants and plays, and I wondered what there would be outside marking the vampire club.

“What’s this place called anyway?” I asked.

“It doesn’t really have a name,” Jack said. “It’s like an underground thing.”

“Well, what do people call it? Like, the ones that don’t know it’s a vampire club? Or even the ones that do?” I asked.

People were probably within hearing distance, but I didn’t lower my voice or hide the term “vampire.” They were drunk or on cell-phones or too embroiled in their own drama to notice me. Most of them only gave a fleeting glance at Jack and Milo.

“I don’t know,” Jack shrugged. “I think they call it V or something.”

“That’s not very creative,” I scowled.

“Yeah, I thought it’d be something sexier,” Milo agreed.

“It’s an underground vampire club,” Jack scoffed. “It doesn’t need a ‘creative’ name to entice people.”

“He has a point,” Milo said.

“I still expected more from them,” I said.

Jack directed us to turn off Hennepin, leading us away from the glittery lights of the gay club flashing down the street. People were still around, but much less than there were before. Without all the bright lights announcing venues, the yellow streetlamps made it seem much darker. The traffic had even dissipated.

“We’re almost there,” Jack slowed. He held out his hand to me, and I didn’t understand so I looked at him. “Give me your hand. You’re with me and I want everyone to know it.”

“Okay?” I let Jack take my hand, and looked over to Milo to make sure he wasn’t going to growl and attack me for touching Jack.

“He’s got it under control,” Jack said, slowing so we were barely walking, and Milo stayed a few paces ahead of us. When Jack spoke, he lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “Stay by me. And try not to get excited or think about Peter. But if you do, you find me. If somebody’s gonna bite you, it’s gonna be me.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” I smiled up at him.

“Both,” Jack laughed. “No. Sorry. Neither. I’m being good. But just stay by me.”

“You’re making this sound dangerous.” My stomach filled with butterflies, and I thought of the worried look on Mae’s face. “Why are we going here if it’s hazardous?”

“It’s slightly riskier than hanging out with us in the first place,” Jack said. “But you needed to get out and have fun. And I won’t let anything happen to you. So…” He shrugged. “Milo. Hold up.”

Jack stopped next to a nondescript doorway in the middle of the block. The nearest streetlight had completely gone out, making it eerily dark for downtown. He squeezed my hand briefly, and I felt his temperature warm up just slightly, but it wasn’t out of control.

Milo came back to where we were standing, and Jack nodded at a large black door. Milo raised his eyebrows, and then opened it.

The door opened into a narrow entryway that glowed red from the bulb above. Two giant bouncers stood there, nearly blocking our path inside. They nodded at Jack and Milo, but something about the way they looked at me when I walked past assured me that they were vampires, and I hurried past them.

At the end of the narrow hall, a steep set of cement stairs led down into black nothingness. The only light in the stairway came from the red one by the front door.

We walked into complete darkness, but that wasn’t a problem for most attendees. For my puny human eyes, it was disorienting. I clung onto Jack, and he never let me go.

I could hear the music pulsing, some kind of heavy electronica. Jack whispered that we had reached the main level, but I still couldn’t see anything. We walked a little farther, and Jack opened the door, bathing us in cool, blue light and making the walls echo with the music.