“Are you sure we’ve got the right place?” I teased Darcy for the third time. She was notorious amongst our sisters for being bad with finding her way anywhere she hadn’t been to before.

“Yes, I’m sure. We come here a lot, remember?” She told me again as we walked in. It didn’t take long to find Cindy, as she had somehow gotten coaxed into singing “Say You Will” by Evanescence and was only half way through the song. I grabbed Darcy’s arm and lead her to the side of the stage so we could follow her back to the table once she was finished. She wasn’t doing too bad a job at singing, but I wasn’t going to tell her to quit her day job either.

Soon enough, the song was over and as she got her applause, I walked over and gave her a hug.

“Hey there kiddo. Let me introduce you to my roommate, Darcille.” I said as I dragged the vampire in question front and center. They shook hands (Please, call me Darcy) and we made our way back to where they had already been seated, not too far from the stage at all.

Introductions were made all around and I took a seat next to Carly and Darcy took one on the other side of me.

“Haven’t kept you kiddies waiting too long, have we?” I asked them.

“Nope, not at all. Did you have to come far?” Jan asked us.

“Not really, we live over on Greek Row.” Darcy answered.

“Oooo... Sorority girls... Which one?” Lesley asked. Time for the first bombshell of night.

“Delta Beta.” I jumped back into the conversation and smirked at their reaction. In their defense, it was a knee-jerk reaction and they recovered quickly. I was fully aware of the reputation and the urban myths about us in Delta Beta, so I could tell that Ashley moved her from out of town recently.

“Well, that explains the killer figures you two have.” Jan said after she recovered. “What’s the secret?”

I shared a look with Darcy and almost missed a similar look between Ashley, Cindy and Carly.

“Good genes?” I asked and was rewarded with a snort from Carly and Darcy. If the humans only knew the truth. “Besides, you don’t look too bad yourself.”

This led into more small talk between us as a group. Lesley and Jan were typical for a pair of high school girls and Ashley struck me as a pretty shy kind of girl. She also seems a bit out of sorts when Darcy, Cindy and I started playing Mystery Science Theater 3000 with some of the people that sang after Cindy did. It wasn’t too long until Jan and Lesley were coaxing Ashley into going up and picking out a song to sing. She seemed a bit hesitant to commit to one, though.

“Need a hand?” I asked her as I walked up and snickered under my breath as she gave a start.

“Uh... Sure? I thought I knew what I wanted to sing, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Well, how are you feeling?”

“Nervous?”

“Really now?” I asked with an arched eyebrow. “Let me rephrase that. How have you been feeling lately? Angry? Frustrated? Angsty? In love? Sad or depressed?”

“Oh... Kind of annoyed and somewhat frustrated...”

“Say no more kiddo; I know a good one for ya.” I said as I looked through the list to find the song I had in mind.

“Happy day, happy day.” I muttered under my breath when I found “Our Truth” by Lacuna Coil and queued it in for her, then began looking for something for me to sing. I had just remembered about a couple somethings I had stashed in my purse from last Halloween and they were going to work perfectly with the song I had in mind.

“Hey Ashley, I think I made a mistake on something. You’re going to need a back-up singer for this one. Why don’t you get Carly to sing with you?” I suggested to her as I made my way back to the table with her. “But before we go back, Why don’t you check out the song first so that you’re familiar with the tune first. They’ve got a headphone rack over there for that purpose. I need to go use the little girls’ room.”

“O-okay.” She said, looking at me like a fish out of water. “Just don’t be too long.”

“You got it, Chicka.” I said with a warm smile and made my way to the woman’s restrooms.

Once inside, I did a quick check of my make-up and fixed what needed fixing. Then I reached into my purse and pulled out a small container about the size of a ring box and a tube of fast acting denture adhesive.

“Oh, this is gonna be fu-un.” I said to no one at all. I finished up with the little surprises I had stashed in the ring box and made my way back out to the group. Imagine my surprise when the only questions I got asked were yes or no questions.

When Ashley’s turn came up, she and Carly made their way up and picked up their microphones.

She ran through the scales that the song’s intro was made of and I just about gave my surprise away when I heard her launch into them. Dear Lord that girl can sing! The only thing I could find wrong with her voice was that she was singing like she normally could add more power to her voice than she seemed able to tonight. Not that it was really noticeable, mind you.

“Clock is ticking while I'm killing time. Spinning all around... Nothing else that you can do to turn it back!” She sang in a voice that in spite of not being up to full strength, was still powerful and piercing while managing to caress the ears like fine silk. “Wicked partnership in this crime. Ripping off the best condescending smile!”

Ashley and Carly shared the next lines, going back and forth between like they were playing vocal tag.

“Trying to Forget...” Ashley sang, stretching the words out of the chorus.

“Wasting my time” Carly answered back just before Ashley finisher her line, drawing out the words in a similar fashion.

“We're falling right through” They sang together, harmonizing in spite of how much better Ashley was than Carly.

“Lying to forget” Ashley went on, once more drawing out the words.

“Telling more lies” Carly once again came in over Ashley just before she was finished.

“We're raising our truth...” They sang together.

“Go on, tease me!” Ashley Continued without Carly and held the last word.

“Clock is ticking while I'm stealing time... Can't you turn it back? Stop the cycle, set it free and run away! Silent, sneaking along my path... Rugged the road, but we feel it like we're flying!”

“Feel it like we're flying” Carly sang once Ashley was done.

After this, they sang the chorus again, Ashley went through the scales from the intro, and they sang the final chorus. I was very impressed with her voice by the end of the song. But I was up next and as I walked past her on my way up I put a hand on her shoulder. I giggled inwardly at the involuntary shiver that ran down her back at my touch.

“You are one of the best vocalists I have ever heard, young lady, but your showmanship leaves a few things to be desired.” I said into her ear, so that she couldn’t see my fake fangs.. “Take a seat back at the table and lem'me show ya how it’s done.”

I skipped lightly up to the stage and hid my mouth behind the microphone. A few seconds later and the intro to my song started up. I took a deep breath as the intro played through, then set my voice to be somewhere between husky or sultry and pissed off.

“Don’t listen what your girlfriend says, she reads those magazines that say you failed the test: You don’t have what she needs.” I sang as I moved my body with the music. I wasn’t too erotic with my movements, as I wasn't looking to snag a meal tonight. At least not from here. “I slither like a viper and get you by the neck. I know a thousand ways to help you forget about her... That bitch can eat her heart out!

“Love bites, but so do I... So do I.” I sang as I moved my mouth away from the microphone for the chorus and gave the crowd a predatory smile, exposing my fake fangs. This had the desired effect and a majority of the crowd was laughing pretty hard at my antics on stage. I looked jsut in time to see Carly do a spit-take all over the front of Cindy's top. “Love bites, but so do I, so do I... Love bites!”

As I watched Dani sing on stage, bearing her obviously fake fangs at the laughing and cheering audience, I wasn’t sure what to think about her. At the moment, I was kind of irked with Cindy for not telling me about her and Darcy. Especially since they were Vampires. I turned to Cindy as Dani entered her last chorus.

“Why didn’t you tell me about our surprise visitors?” I asked.

She sighed. “The truth is that they wanted me to organize this so that they could meet you. Dani heard rumors about how well you could sing and wanted to see for herself.”

“Love Bites!” Dani continued to sing as I slowly nodded.

“I hope she’s satisfied… even if I wasn’t at my best,” I said.

“Girl, you out sang all of us despite that!” Leslie chimed in.

“Well, maybe not Dani. She rocked it up there,” Jan said.

“Aw, shucks!” her voice suddenly popped up, “Is that praise I hear?”

I felt kind of guilty for singing for her. I had a feeling that she was looking for some kind of competition, especially with the comment she gave me just before stepping on the stage, and I didn’t want to do that. Her singing skill came from training, while mine came from my Nereid nature.

“You were awesome up there,” I told her truthfully.

“Thanks, kiddo,” she said, giving me her attention. I wasn’t sure how much I liked being called kiddo, though. Leslie gently poked my ribs.

“So, it looks like you’ve got some competition now, Ash. What are you gonna do about it?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe just let them have their fun?”

“Now, that’s no fun!” Dani pouted.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not trying to show off with my singing. I don’t want to steal your thunder, and you already have more experience than me,” I explained.

“Looks like she’s not interested, Dani girl,” Darcy chimed in.

“Never mind that,” Dani said, “Ashley, you’ve got a hell of a voice, and a girl’s gotta respect that.”

“Thank you?” I said, almost as a question.

“You really aren’t all there, are you?” she asked. I frowned.

“Yeah, Ashley. You definitely had a bit of emotion up there with me,” Carly added.

“It’s… personal,” I said, resisting a sudden urge to look at my mark.

Dani arched an eyebrow up. She seemed to do that a lot. “So, do you just not want to tell anyone, or is the problem that you can’t tell anybody?”

“Can we please not talk about this?” I asked, trying not to get angry at this perfect stranger for trying to butt into my personal matters. Thankfully, she backed off immediately, obviously noticing that she had hit a nerve.

“Sorry, Ash. Maybe we should have waited a day or two to do this,” Cindy consoled me.

I smiled at her. “It’s okay. You shouldn’t cancel some fun on account of me!”

“She was like this at the beginning of October, too. It’ll pass,” Jan assured everybody.

“I’d love to see you sing when you’re able to give it your all!” Dani chimed.

“I told you, I’m not looking for a competition!” I snapped. Cindy grabbed my arm.

“Ashley, she didn’t mean it that way!” she scolded me.

“Sorry,” I said.

“No worries, kiddo. I know what it’s like to be this frazzled by something,” Dani said, waving the issue off as if it were nothing, “Not happy at all.”

“I sing for fun, not profit,” I told her once I completely calmed down.

Dani and Darcy shared a look. “Why don’t you two do a duet down the road, then?” Darcy asked.

“Sounds good to me! What about you?” Dani asked.

“Well, okay… but I want to get to know you a little first. You’re still practically a stranger to me,” I said.

“Say no more!” Dani said, moving as if to take out a pocketbook, “It looks like I’m free as a bird-plane for a looooong time! You name the time, and I’ll be there.”

I managed to smile at her antics. “Okay. I think I’ll wait until I’m feeling better, though.”

“Good call,” Leslie said.

“Sooooo, who’s up for another song?” Jan asked. The next thing I knew, I was whisked back onto the stage.

And, you know what? I was starting to have fun.

After we all said our goodbyes to each other for the night, I told Leslie and Jan to go on ahead to Leslie’s car. I wanted to talk to Cindy about something.

“Mind if Carly listens in, too? If you want to talk about what I think you want to talk about, there’s nothing to worry about,” Cindy told me once I stopped her.

“You’re probably right,” I said, walking with her to Cindy’s Miata.

“So, what’s up?” Carly asked once we got to her, “I figure that this conversation is a long time coming.”

I nodded. “So, I’m kind of annoyed that you two invited Dani and Darcy along without telling me, or anybody, really. What I want to know is how you managed to befriend a pair of vampires.”

Cindy laughed. “I had a feeling you noticed. Anyway, it’s a long story, but they aren’t going to hurt you. I promise.”

“Yeah. They only drink from guys, and they know you’re our friend. You’re safe,” Carly added.

“I just can’t believe that they wanted to meet me because they heard I could sing,” I mused.

“That’s because you can sing,” Cindy said.

“But that’s just because I’m a Nereid. The skill isn’t actually mine,” I said.

“Even so, people still enjoy it,” Carly said.

“I know, but I’m not going to use a skill that I didn’t actually earn for anything except for fun,” I told the pair.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Carly mused.

“I think you should at least try to humor Dani,” Cindy told me, “I know that she seems a little overwhelming, but things should go more smoothly once you start to know what to expect from her.”

“Do you know what to expect from her?” I asked.

Both of the girls laughed. “Not one bit.”

I sighed. “Well, the date’s already made. Wish me luck.”

“Definitely. You’ll need it!” Cindy chimed, leaving my prospects of seeing Dani again very mixed. All I knew was that she was an interesting person, and I’d need to see her again in order to determine whether or not I liked her.

For now, I was going to go home and sleep the night off.

And hope I didn’t have another nightmare.

“You do realize that she isn’t human, right?” Darcy asked me on the ride home.

“How do you figure?” I asked in reply. She had seemed like a normal person to me.

“She sings too well. No human has that kind of emotional pull in their voice.” She explained. “If any of us would know about that, it’s me and you know it.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll give you that one. But if she isn’t human, what is she?”

“I’ve got nothing on that. I thought you would have figured it out by now.”

“What? How would I have done that?”

“You always do an ass-pull with that kind of thing. Come on, what’s keeping ya this time?”

“I thought I’d give you the chance to do that ass-pull, but it stinks!” I teased her, which earned me a smack on the back. I let that smack affect me more than it normally would and it gave rise to some speed-wobbles from the scooter.

“You little bitch!” Darcy exclaimed after I got the scooter back under control. “You did that on purpose.”

“You bet I did.” I said with a grin. “While I’m the rider and you’re the passenger here, your safety is in my hands. Don’t forget it.”

This last I punctuated with a slap to her thigh with my open hand and I knew it was hard enough to leave a red hand print under the denim on her jeans. To this, she gave no response. Deciding that the fun had gone on long enough, I twisted the throttle a little more and made for home.

I awoke in complete darkness. I immediately recognized the landscape as being from my dreams. I steeled myself with the knowledge that what I was experiencing wasn’t real… and waited.

Soon enough, “he” arrived. He appeared to me in the form of a ludicrously beautiful man. A perfectly proportioned face, perfectly toned muscles, and a calm confidence that made me think he was capable of anything.

He was too perfect.

“You came back,” were his first words to me.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

“That is not important. What matters is who you are,” he stated simply, “and that begs the question. Who are you, Ashley Martin?”

“I am me,” I told him, trying to put on a brave front.

“Oh, but you can do better than that, my sweet Nereid,” he said, stepping closer to me.

“I…” I started.

“…don’t know who you are, yet?” he asked. He continued to walk toward me. For every step forward he took, I took one back. I couldn’t let him reach me. Couldn’t let him touch me.

“I’m only sixteen! I’m supposed to still be finding myself!” I yelled.

“Exactly, my dear. And that means that your true self isn’t yet set in stone,” the man said, stopping.

I stood tall. “My true self will be what I want to be. Not what you want me to be!”

Suddenly, the man was in front of me. He slowly walked behind me, trailing a finger across my cheek as he moved. I shuddered as a chill ran down my spine.

“My mere nearness is forcing your resolve to falter, Ashley,” he said.

“You can’t influence me! I won’t join you!” I almost screamed.

“Oh, but I won’t force you to join with me. You’ll come willingly, in time,” he assured me. His calm confidence still showed in his words, and I became greatly concerned for my ability to resist him.

“Never!” I screamed.

The man seemed to ignore my outburst, instead examining me more closely. It was bordering on a leer, and it made me shiver with revulsion.

“It has been so long since one as fair as you has come under my influence. You shall make an excellent consort once I am free,” he said.

“I… I would never do that!” I cried. He just smiled.

“By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging for it,” he said. I shivered again.

“Just… just who are you?” I demanded once again.

Instantly, the man was in my face. His eyes shined a deep red for a second, and he scowled.

“My name is Aka Manah, and I am your Master.”

Authors' note (from Loki):

For any of you who want to hear the song's as they are intended to be heard, please go here and here for the music videos.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Sorry about being late this week, Dustin and I had a few technical glitches crop up. If you enjoyed it, let us know by leaving a comment and a kudo, if you don't mind. If you didn't like it, then leave us a comment (or pm one or both of us) to let us know how/where we could improve. Thanks and happy reading!