Alice the Vampire Slayer Page 2

  I frowned. I wasn't supposed to be allowed off campus, since my parents wouldn't even sign a permission slip to allow it. I couldn't get in touch with them if I tried. I was one of the few who stayed on campus most holidays, too. It was as if they didn't want to have much to do with me. That was fine. I didn't want much to do with them either.

  After tipping over the lip of the box, I landed on top of the pile of paperwork that only filled it up about halfway. I strained my eyes in the dark but couldn't read the words. As the hatchback passed under a streetlamp I was able to scan the top of the document. It was a cease and desist letter, addressed to someone named Regina Hearts. I frowned, waiting for the next streetlamp to come and illuminate the page again so I could read more. The light came and I had all of about two seconds to scan the paper again. Something about a nightclub named Underland. I'd never heard of it. Strange name. I peered over the top of the box, growing just a little taller so I could see out of the front of the car.

  The next streetlamp was coming, so I prepared myself again to read for my two second interval. "The guardians do not condone the drinking of human blood..."

  My skin prickled. Vampires.

  Chapter 3

  First, I overheard the teachers talking about calling in a slayer. Now I find this document talking about a place called Underland and the drinking of blood? I peered over the top of the box again, trying to time when the next streetlamp would come, but Mr. Tokki turned into a parking lot.

  Shoot.

  I needed to hide. If he came to the trunk and got this box with me sitting in it, I was going to be in so much trouble. I quickly climbed out of the box. After making sure that Mr. Tokki was concentrating on his parking and not about to look in the rear view mirror, I climbed over the back seat and ducked down onto the floorboards just as he put the vehicle in park. He wrenched the parking brake, making the lever squeal into position. Then he got out of the car, the hatchback coming open on his way, just as I had suspected.

  Tokki muttered to himself, and I picked up words here and there. "...place is packed. Humans should listen to their intuition when it... to stay away... survival instinct."

  My heart raced in my chest, and a lump formed in my throat. I stayed down in the shadows of the floor area and shrank down into myself just a little more, hoping to stay hidden. When he closed the back hatch, I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Then I slowly grew to about toddler size and peered out the window at the building where Tokki was headed. Neon lights shined over a doorway that almost looked like a cave entrance. "Underland," I whispered, reading the sign. "Curious."

  For a moment, I debated what I should do. If I was a normal girl, I would have remained at the slumber party tonight. If I was a cautious girl, I might have remained in the car. But as a curious girl, I knew that I needed to go in there and see what was going on for myself. I opened the door and slipped out of the back of the car, sliding down to the ground and shutting the door as quietly as possible behind me. Tokki still wasn't very far away yet, and I wanted to follow him into the place.

  I rushed forward, hiding behind car tires and under cars as I shrunk down a bit more again so I wouldn't be seen easily. But by the time I reached Tokki, I was down to about mouse size and jumped onto his pant leg and held on. I peered around at the people milling about. Something in the area kicked my senses into high gear. Something in the air smelled slightly foul. I ground my back teeth as anger welled up in me. My instincts were telling me to be on high alert. Is this how slayers felt when they encountered a vampire?

  I wouldn't know. I had never encountered one before.

  But my every sense told me I was right, and there was one, if not many, nearby.

  Tokki kept walking forward, passing the people lined up behind the red velvet rope. They were typical party goers, dressed in Friday night regalia. Spikey hairdos, wigs, short skirts, and skinny pants with rips in them seemed to be the trend. Tokki went straight up to the bouncer and flashed him something he held in his hand. "I'm White Tokki, of the Guardians. I'm here to see Regina."

  The bouncer frowned but unhooked the velvet rope and allowed Tokki to pass through.

  "Hey! I'm here to see Regina, too. Can't I come in?" one of the people behind the rope yelled.

  "Yeah. Me, too. She's a close, personal friend of my family," said another.

  The bouncer huffed and held up a finger. "Talk to me again, and I won't accept any of the first twenty people in line tonight. You all can go home. One. More. Word.”

  The group at the front clammed up, their lips tightening. I lost sight of them as Tokki continued forward into the cave-like entrance. We started on a ramp that sharply sent us walking downhill, tunnel walls closed in on both sides and overhead. Techno music played softly through speakers on the walls. Artwork and plants took up the space in between the speakers. At the end of the tunnel stood a bay of five elevators, another bouncer standing at each one. When Tokki stepped up to the man with slicked back hair and a tight black suit, the bouncer said, "To which level of Underland are you descending?"

  "I'm here for the Guardians, to see Regina."

  The bouncer huffed. "Seventh sub-floor then."

  He stepped into the elevator with Tokki and pressed the button. We descended even farther down.

  I blinked. This whole thing was surreal. The plants and art were strange and of a kind I'd never seen before. The elevator itself had a cage at the front so we could see each floor as we passed. I had once seen a painting called Garden of Earthly Delights. It had three panels. The first was the garden of Eden. The second was a crazy world full of naked people, and the third was darker and more hellish. As we passed each of the six sub-floors, each became darker and weirder. Though the people had clothing on, as far as I could tell, it wasn't much. On one floor, there were soap bubbles every where, and people were soaked to the skin.

  Curious. But really, this time, I was pretty sure I meant crazy.

  When we passed the sixth sub-floor, a man with a strange, wide grin lifted a brow and looked directly at me. My heart skipped a beat. He continued to watch me as we descend out of his view. Shoot. Without question, that man saw me. I needed to get away from Tokki as soon as possible, get back to normal size and blend in with the crowd.

  Once we reached the seventh sub-floor, the bouncer opened the cage door and allowed Tokki to walk through. Black light cast everything in the room with a weird neon glow, but also made the room full of shadows. I took this opportunity to hop off Tokki and duck behind some potted tropical plants while peering back and finding the elevator going back up.

  Just then, another elevator in the bay came down. As soon as a pair of purple pants came into view, my heart began to race harder. The rest of the man in the elevator showed up as it continued down. It was the same man with the cat-like grin that curled up at the edges of his lips. I pulled myself further behind the plants. The man with the purple pants and smile peered over the crowd and then blended right into it. I let out a slow breath, glad he didn't see me.

  I needed to change. I grew behind the plants, ducking down so that no one could see me. Once I hit my normal height and could relax, I came out from behind the plants and headed for the ladies' room. Inside the room, the typical women were already hanging out, mostly in leather and tight skirts. I needed to do something to fit in, and my white tank top and sweatpants weren't going to cut it.

  I rolled up the bottoms of my sweatpants so that they were capri length. One of the ladies waiting in line for a bathroom stall lifted an eyebrow at me. I smiled back at her. "Do you happen to have an extra hair tie?"

  She shrugged, and peered in her purse. Then she pulled out a tie.

  I peered in her purse with her. "You wouldn't happen to let me borrow some of that mascara, too would you?"

  She smiled. "You do look a little too girl-next-door for Underland. Want help with your makeup?"

  I looked up at her, my grin widening. "If you don't mind?"

  "This is goi
ng to be fun," she said and set her bag on the counter.

  I guess I got that makeover after all.

  Fifteen minutes later and my hair was in pigtails, and over-the-top makeup made it so I looked like a comic book character... more villain than superhero. The girl did a great job on me and even gave me some bubblegum to complete the persona. At least now I could move about the area without drawing undue attention.

  I stepped back into the black light, my white shirt glowing in the atmosphere. I'd painted the Japanese Kanji for 'power' on the front of the shirt in red lipstick to make it look less like pajamas and more worthy of a night out. I chewed on the gum and blended in with the crowd.

  The beat was hopping. Literally the people in the room were basically hopping together with the beat instead of doing any real dancing. Easy enough. I peered around, trying to avoid Mr. Smiles and find Mr. Tokki. Silver hair should have been easy to spot in the black light, but it seemed that more people had light hair than I ever imagined, and they liked being in the black light of the room.

  Then I spotted it. The smile. The one I'd seen on the elevator ride down. The black light so focused on the smile that it made the man's whole face disappear. His whole body. The whole room of people. I could only see the hypnotic smile coming my direction. And then he stood directly in front of me. His body becoming corporeal again, and I realized for the first time that his smile didn't just appear to be the only part of him I could see—it was the only part of him visible.

  He lifted a brow and eyed me up and down with his purple eyes. Then in a smooth, deep voice, he said, "I don't believe you belong here."

  Chapter 4

  I blinked up at him as he smiled wider. Then I schooled my shocked expression, chewed my gum, and twirled a pigtail around my finger. "What do you mean?"

  He chuckled. "You're far too normal looking. Far too sane for Underland. Don't you know, young one? We're all mad here."

  Then he grabbed me by the arm and spun me onto the dance floor. I nearly choked on my chewing gum. He began dancing, and at first, I just blinked at him. Then I realized that I needed to follow his rhythm if I wanted any hope of fitting in. I began to hop and dance just like the rest of them. My teased out pigtails flopped around my face. I closed my eyes for a moment and lost myself to the music. Then I smelled it again. That foul odor that rankled me and made anger bubble up in my chest. I stopped and peered around the room. Who smelled like that?

  "What are you looking for, young one?"

  I shook my head. The smell had faded again. It didn't matter. I was losing track of the time. I needed to find Tokki again. "I've got to go. I'm looking for someone."

  "Which way is it you need to go?" he asked, lifting a brow again at me and purring in an almost catlike way.

  "I'm not sure..."

  "If you don't know where you're going, then it doesn't matter which way you go," he said as he spun me around in a circle twice.

  I nearly fell as I lost my sense of balance. My body stiffened as he set a hand on each of my shoulders.

  "Since you don't know which way you're going, might I suggest this direction?" he asked, and the pushed me slightly in the direction he'd faced me. I peered back around. The DJ was to my right, the elevator bay to my back. This was the general direction that Tokki had gone. Somehow that man with the strange smile seemed to know what I was looking for... more than that. He seemed to know quite a bit. I had the feeling that he could almost tell me my future without a crystal ball if I asked him. I shook my head and started making my way through the crowd. No way. He definitely had some kind of magic that helped him disappear and reappear like that, but it didn't make him omniscient. Perhaps he was just very observant.

  I walked forward and then found myself looking back for the man with the grin, but he'd disappeared again—whether into the crowd or into thin air, I wasn't certain. I passed the DJ, still bouncing to the rhythm of the beat he laid out. When I got past the crowd a row of doors stood before me in odd shapes and sizes.

  "Curious," I found myself whispering again.

  The deep, smooth voice whispered in my ear. "Since it doesn't matter which door you choose, why not try the purple one?"

  I blinked and turned around, finding the purple-suited man with the smile right behind me again. If he'd been tall, he would have been intimidating, but instead we stood eye-to-eye with each other at my normal height of five feet, six inches. I might have been tempted to add a few inches to myself if he'd been taller. But there was no need. "Why the purple door?"

  He gestured to himself. "It's my favorite color. Right down to my eyes." He batted his eyelashes at me in response.

  I half-laughed and shook my head. What did I have to lose? I stepped forward and opened the door.

  At the center of the room was a long dining room table with about six chairs on each side. At the head of the table sat a man in a top hat, and multiple piercings on his face and ear. Even one chain went from his lip toward his ear. He wore more mascara than I had on, and he peered up at me as I entered. The purple suited man followed behind me and shut the door.

  The music from the dance floor outside immediately cut off as though the beat had just ended. I blinked. Had to have been an enchantment on the room that soundproofed it so well.

  "Chester, have you brought another guest for the party?" the man with the piercings asked the purple man behind me.

  "Yes, Hatter, I have. She's a special one—I can tell," The purple man offered with a slight bow.

  "Chester? Is that your name," I asked him.

  "Why, yes. Chester Katz, the manager of Underland."

  "Oh," I said, my eyes going wide. "I'm Alice."

  "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alice." His body flickered again, like it was there, but not there for a moment. "And at the head of the table is the owner of Underland, Madison Hatter, but everyone just calls him Hatter."

  I nodded my head toward him. "It's a lovely establishment you have here."

  Hatter lifts a brow. "Is it your birthday?"

  I frowned. "No, sir, it's not."

  "Well, no matter. There's no room for you at the table."

  I blinked. One side of the table had six empty chairs, and only one person sat on the other side, leaving five. Were the seats all reserved? I offered Chester a confused expression, and he guided me to a chair next to Hatter and then sat in the one beside me. I checked to see if Hatter intended to stop me from sitting, but he didn't even look up at me. He was too busy cutting what looked like a birthday cake. I peered down at Chester who nodded toward my seat.

  Curious, I think to myself as I sit down.

  Across the table from me sat a petite woman with mousy brown hair and a sleepy expression. Then the door to the front banged open, allowing in the loud music from the club just outside. I caught sight of a very panicked looking Mr. Tokki, and my stomach lurched. Without a second thought, I slipped under the table and shrank to about half my size.

  Chester peered under at me with his wide grin, and I put my finger to my lips, hoping he would stay quiet. He winked and then returned to sitting upright, replacing the table cloth.

  "I'm late! And I can't find her," Mr. Tokki's voice rings through the room in the silence left behind after the door shuts out the noise of the club.

  "Who are you looking for?" Chester asked.

  "I can't find Regina, and I'm late for our meeting. I need to speak with her at once." Mr. Tokki's voice hit a high note at the end. His anxious voice made me nervous. I end up shrinking even further.

  "What difference does it make?" asked Hatter. "It's matters as little as the difference between a raven and a writing desk."

  I blink from under the table, trying to wrap my mind around the eccentric man's words. Feet shuffle toward the table, and I recognize the white athletic shoes that Tokki had been wearing all night. "There is no time for riddles, Hatter. No time for anything. I must deliver these papers to Regina at once. Do you know where she is?"

  "If she wa
s under the table, we'd surely tell you," Chester said smoothly.

  My heart sank to the pit of my stomach, and my skin prickled. I tensed. Would Tokki look under the table.

  "Games and riddles. That's all this place is good for. How you attract a single normal human to this establishment, I do not know. Right now I need to find Regina." Tokki's white athletic shoes shuffled toward the door opposite that of the club, behind Hatter, and he slipped through, slamming it behind him.

  I breathed a bit easier once he was gone.

  Chester peered under the table at me. "It's a good thing he didn't look under here, isn't it?"

  I glared at him, walking toward him pointedly and growing as I approached. Once I cleared the table cloth, I continued to my full height and then stood next to the table for a moment.

  Hatter blinked up at me, setting a piece of cake at the place where I'd been sitting. "It's good to see you again. Is it your birthday today?"

  Chester smiled up at me. "You shrink and then you grow. I wonder just how small or how large you can get."

  I glared at him. "None of your business."

  He blinks at me in surprise and places a hand to his chest. "Fun is my business. That's what we do here."

  I shook my head at him. "You were right the first time. You are all mad here."

  Without another word, I slip toward the door to the back that Tokki had exited through. It spills me out into another hallway with six more doors of odd shape and size, but all the same color… purple. I step forward to the door straight across from me. Before I even open the door, I smell it again. That foul odor that my heart beat races to. My adrenaline increases, and anger makes me clench my back teeth. This had to be my slayer instincts kicking in. That could only mean that the smell emanated from a vampire. And if that was true, then there was a vampire on the other side of the door.