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“Okay, so then what are you gonna do?”

“I don't know,” I say, picking up the stick again and taking aim at another stripe. “I've got some shit I need to work through when it comes to her, but this is the plan and I'm sticking to it. In order for me to know for sure that Aaliyah is my fated Companion, I have to drink her blood.”

Fourteen

Walking into Fantasies on Fourth for the third time feels like a challenge. From the moment I open the door to step inside, I'm fighting myself internally. The music, the hot flow of blood in the patrons’ veins, the sweat gliding down bare skin, the debaucherous thoughts weaving through people’s minds—all of it pokes and prods my thirst. I am a caged animal, and none of the mindless idiots I walk past know it. If they were aware of the monster lurking in their midsts, they’d run through the exit without even opening the door. Luckily for them, I am here for one reason, and one reason only—Aaliyah.

When I walk in, wearing a red and white button-up with white pants, I make a straight path to the bar and take a seat, choosing not to order a drink from the bartender standing behind me. I look out onto the floor and see that half of the main seating area is empty, even though there is a gorgeous woman dancing on the stage to T-Pain’s “Booty Wurk,” while wearing all-white. To my right, the stairs leading to the Viper Rooms are lit up with blinking red lights, and I catch a man going up by himself after giving the bouncer at the bottom of the stairs money just to ascend. From here, I can't really see what's happening up there, but when I focus my hearing in that direction, there's no mistaking the sound of heavy breathing and soft moans behind closed doors. Legally speaking, I don't know if having the second floor of a strip club act as a brothel is against the law. Then again, I know it’s of no concern to the police, judges, and lawmakers that have climbed those stairs.

“Like what you see?” a voice asks from my left. I snap my head around and find Von standing in front of me, a sly smirk on his chubby face. He's dressed like a true pimp, rocking a plum-colored matching set that looks like pajamas, with a feathered hat to go with it. Making eye contact with him immediately reminds me of all the things that led me to this place. I'm here for Aaliyah now, but it was Von who brought me here.

He looks at me and I know he doesn't remember the way I grabbed him by the face and sank my teeth into his neck. He doesn't know I practically killed him, and it was Shawn who convinced me to bring him back, using my own blood to heal him. If he was allowed to have his memory, the last place he would want to be is standing in front of me. But alas, I erased myself from his mind, and my punishment for letting him live is having to speak to him now as if I don't want to see him completely drained of all life.

“You could go up, you know,” he says after I don't respond to his dumb ass question. “In fact, I've got the perfect girl for you. Shay is the best in the buildin’ when it comes to … well, everything. She’ll get you right.”

With perfect timing, a caramel-skinned woman comes sauntering from the back in sheer black-on-black. She has a long braid hanging all the way down to her ass, and plump lips that are certainly enticing. There's no denying that she's beautiful. But she's not who I'm here for.

“This is my girl, Shay,” Von says, introducing us as if this were a casual conversation between friends instead of a proposition for prostitution. “Shay, this is … what’s your name, big man?”

Big man. He wants me to think we’re friends and I'm getting a hook up. People like him will say whatever they have to in order to get what they want, but when I listen in on his thoughts, I know he's really just after my money, and he wants it in Shay’s pocket instead of Aaliyah’s. He's a selfish snake, and if he knew how much I thought about tearing his heart from his chest and letting the blood drain into my mouth, he’d make sure to never breathe the same air as me.

“I'm not interested,” I say, before dismissing them both by looking toward the locker room. I need to focus on Aaliyah, otherwise, I'm going to turn this club into a slaughterhouse.

“Ah, I know what it is,” Von says while Shay is silent. “You like Aaliyah. That’s cool and all, but you can have interest in more than one girl. Come on, a big baller like you. You could have any chick you want in here, bruh, but nobody is gonna make you feel like Shay. She's the truth. Trust me on that.”

“What’d I just say?” I snip, pulling my eyes from the locker room to glare at the man I still dream of killing. “I don't want her. I'm here for Aaliyah.”

Von’s face shifts, the fake happiness melting away and revealing the angry face he thinks scares people. “It’s like that?”

“Oh it’s definitely like that,” I say, looking past him again. This time, when my gaze shifts, I find Aaliyah walking toward us. She looks unreal wearing a money green lingerie set with little red roses on it, and she has a rose stuck in her hair, giving major Poison Ivy vibes. I couldn't stop myself from smiling if I wanted to. “There she is.”

As Aaliyah smiles at me, Von and Shay whirl around to look at her. Shay scoffs, while Von lets out an annoyed sigh.

“You good, Aaliyah?” he asks. “You need somethin’?”

“She just needs me,” I answer for her as I stand up in front of them both.

For a brief moment, Von and I are nearly nose to nose, but instead of harping on his thoughts about me and tempting my temper, I choose to walk away. Now is not the time. Plus, the smile on Aaliyah’s face reminds me of where she stands on my priority list. She's number one, two, and three. So I ignore Von and Shay, take Aaliyah by the hand, and lead her away from the bar. The last thing I hear from Von is a question about me in his mind.

“Who the fuck is this fool?” he asks himself.

I want to show him exactly who I am, and the second I figure out everything with Aaliyah, I’m going to show him the truth of it all before I kill him.

Fifteen

Aaliyah and I keep walking, and I can feel her happiness emanating off of her as we go. I can also feel the hot glares of both Von and Shay as we enter one of the many empty booths in the club tonight and sit down together. I wrap an arm around Aaliyah’s waist and pull her close to me. Her smile never wavering lets me know that she's happy about it.

“Don't worry about them,” I tell her. “I'm not buying what they're selling.”

“Let me guess,” she says. “What they were trying to sell you was Shay’s ass?”

I laugh. “Well, yeah actually. He was pretty adamant about me going with her to the Viper Rooms, but I told him I wasn't interested in anybody but you. He gave a little speech about how good Shay is and how I could have anybody I wanted, but I don't care about any of that. If it’s not you, then it's nobody.”

She tries to fight back a smile, but it’s no use. “Well I appreciate that. They've been my biggest haters for a while now, but it has really turned up since you started coming in.”

“Let them hate. Hate is just jealousy in disguise. As long as neither of them lays a finger on you, it’s all good.”

Aaliyah’s eyebrows go up. “Oh? What, you’d do something if they laid a finger on me?”