Diamonds and Deviants
This picture my own - others from Google Free to use images
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
The vampire looked at the bracelet in disbelief. That would explain why his head had been parted from his shoulders by what appeared to be nothing more than a very athletic human.
Celtica anticipated the attack but stood still, feigning surprise as the vampire leaped at her.
The obvious target for a vampire is a human’s throat and Celtica turned her head away from the attacking vampire in order that she could try.
The vicious and lethal teeth emerged and she lunged at the exposed and tender flesh of her victim’s throat. The unwitting vampire screeched in shock and pain as the teeth, the tools of her trade, broke on the dragon-hard scales under Celtica’s skin.
“Ooops, I forgot to warn you about that.” Celtica said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
Then she stretched out her arm and took the sister of the vampire she had just dispatched by her throat and snapped her neck.
She was still aware, just as her brother had been, as Celtica tore her head off and wiped the bracelet across both edges of the gaping wound.
“I really, really dislike vampires,” she said.
Celtica arrived downtown on foot.
She made her way there faster than any cab could have taken her. There was a long line to get in and the line wasn’t going anywhere, the club was already at capacity.
Celtica sighed and went around the barriers to the front of the line. The people at the front, the next ones to be allowed in, began muttering their annoyance about her standing there but she ignored them. She waited until someone that she assumed was the head doorman noticed her and she beckoned to him.
He wasn’t usually one for going over to the losers in the line. There was a guest list and if they weren’t on it, they were nobodies and he didn’t converse with nobodies.
This one was different though, she interested him. She wasn’t dressed in the latest designer gear, she hadn’t arrived in a multi-hundred thousand dollar car, he hadn’t seen her with anyone important, but he seemed to want to go to her.
His colleagues looked at one another as he barged past them. Then he removed the rope that cordoned off the line and she was in, much to the amazement and annoyance of the rest of the waiting customers.
He escorted her past the payment desk and took her directly up to the private offices. Her best chance of getting hold of Maclaren was to get to him before he had a chance to realise she was there.
She was spot on with her plan. Maclaren hadn’t been watching his security cameras and had no idea she was close to the premises, let alone at his office.
The head doorman knocked and was allowed in, Celtica followed him.
The room wasn’t like anything she imagined a nightclub office to be. It looked more like a drawing room. There were shelves of books and beautiful ornaments, there were two wing-backed chairs set opposite one another and the crystal decanters close by were expensive if Celtica was any judge (she actually was quite an expert on antique crystal).
She looked around, appraising the décor. It wasn’t a cheap and nasty copy, it was the real deal. The furniture was mahogany or cedar wood, expensive, sumptuous and extravagant. She liked the room, it had a lot of class.
Maclaren hadn’t noticed her yet, he knew that his head doorman was there but it was early, there couldn’t be anything for him to deal with yet.
“What is it, Saunders?” Maclaren said.
The voice seemed to jerk Saunders out from under the spell that Celtica had placed on him and Celtica smiled as she watched the bemusement on his face. He had no idea why he was in the room.
“What am I doing here? How did I get here? Do you want me for something Mr Maclaren?”
At the obvious confusion from the usually competent doorman, Maclaren’s mental alarm bells started ringing. He turned around and saw Celtica. If he wasn’t already so deathly pale, the colour would have drained from his face, Celtica saw the expression register his shock.
He tried valiantly to recover but it was too late, he couldn’t bluff his way out of this one. “Miss Diamond, what a pleasure. Can I offer you a drink?”
“No thank you Maclaren, you can send your people out if you’d like. You have my word that I won’t harm you.”
He studied Celtica for a moment and decided that he had no choice. The few details he did know about the enigmatic woman included one very important piece of information. If she promised something, she kept her word. If she said she wouldn’t harm him, he was safe - at least for this meeting.