“Yeah, I love his voice. Uh, here we are,” I said, pulling into the parking lot of the night club. I’d driven by it a couple of times on my way to Susan’s, but hadn’t given the place much thought until the last few hours. Now that the mirrored building was lit up with strobe and fluorescent lighting, it was pretty impressive, especially for such a small town in the middle of Montana. “Looks pretty… swanky.”
Susan fluffed her hair as we parked. “I heard this place gets nuts after midnight.”
I turned off the engine. “Since it’s one of the only clubs around, that doesn’t surprise me.”
She unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her purse. “You ready?”
“I guess so.” I looked at the building again and a knot formed in the pit of my stomach. “You sure we won’t get caught?”
She opened the car door and got out. “Just act confident and you’ll be fine. Come on.”
I slid out of the car and locked the doors. “Okay,” I replied, trying not to chicken-out. She’d obviously done something like this before at other bars, so she knew what she was doing.
Clutching my purse tightly, we walked to the front door and found that there wasn’t a line yet.
“Slow night?” asked Susan, handing the bouncer her I.D.
“It’s early,” he replied, looking the fraudulent card.
“True. I know it gets pretty crazy here at night.”
He didn’t reply.
I stared at him nervously as he looked over her fake I.D. His nametag said, “Honi”, he was bald with a spider web tattoo that wrapped around his neck, and had muscles the size of coconuts on each arm. When he looked up, his dark eyes went directly to mine.
I smiled weakly.
“You’re next Cupcake,” he said, handing Susan back her I.D.
Cupcake?
I cleared my throat and handed him the I.D, our fingers brushing. His skin was unnaturally cool, even for October and the brief contact gave me the chills.
He smiled, a big toothy grin. “You nervous?” he asked, his eyes glittering in the darkness.
“No,” I answered, trying to look confident, although I was almost peeing my pants.
He glanced down at the I.D. and then back at me. “Your I.D. doesn’t do you justice, Cupcake.” He smiled and handed me back the I.D. “You’re much better looking in person.”
“Uh, thanks,” I replied, my face turning two shades of pink.
“You two, behave,” he said. “Or we’ll have to get the whips out and you don’t want that.”
My eyes widened. “Whips?”
He chuckled and looked at Susan. “She always this gullible?”
Susan smirked. “Only after dark.”
His face became serious. “That’s when you have to be the most careful,” he said. “Especially in this place. Pomaika`i, ladies.”
My eyes widened. “What does that mean?”
“Good luck.”
His words made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “Oh.”
“Uh, thanks,” replied Susan, grabbing my arm and pulling me away.
I glanced over my shoulder and noticed that he was still watching us.
Chapter Five
Chelsey
“That was weird,” said Susan, handing the coat-check girl her jacket.
“I know. But at least he didn’t say anything about the I.D.’s,” I whispered.
She slung her purse over her shoulder. “Exactly. Told you everything would be cool.”
I looked down the hallway leading to the dance area. It was dark and the music was so loud, that it made my teeth vibrate. “You ready?” I asked, feeling anxious now that we were inside of the club.
“Yeah. Should we get a drink?”
“I’m just drinking soda,” I said, wanting to keep a clear head. I’d had a half-can of beer once, and even that had made me dizzy.
“Suit yourself,” she said. “But I’m having a Cosmopolitan. I’ve always wanted to try one.”
“What is that?”
“It’s a martini.”
“Oh.”
She looped her arm through mine and walked me towards the bar. “We’re undercover, remember? We need to play the part.”
“I can still do that without booze,” I said. “Not everyone drinks alcohol here, I’m sure.”
“Fine, I’ll just tell everyone you’re my sober-cab.”
“Great idea.”
When we entered the main part of the club, I froze in my tracks, amazed at how big the place actually was. Not only did it have two floors, but on the first level, there was an expansive oval bar already crowded with customers, and a dance floor nearby that rivaled my old high school gymnasium. Next to the dance floor was a stage with music equipment from Venom still set up.