100% Freshie Chapter 3 --PG-13

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librarian_7
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100% Freshie Chapter 3 --PG-13

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Disclaimer: The characters from Moonlight are copyrighted by CBS, and no infringement is intended.

Special note: This work takes place in the world of Moonlight, but your favorite vamps are not the main focus. Sorry about that; try to enjoy the story anyway. You might be surprised.


100% Freshie

Chapter 3


1.
Danni had been worried that she wouldn’t get on as well in person with Emma and Hunter as she had online, but as soon as they’d gotten past the first greetings, she found herself chatting with them as easily as she ever had on IM.

“This is an amazing apartment,” Danni commented after her initial shock had worn off. The place was huge, with three bedrooms and three baths. “Are you sure you’re charging me a fair rent?”

Emma and Hunter exchanged a glance, and Danni thought, oddly, that they were hiding something from her, but the feeling passed as Emma laughed. “Okay, you caught us,” Emma said. “I—well, I own the place. My grandmother left it to me. So whatever I say is a fair rent for a room—is.”

Danni looked at Hunter, a tall and willowy brunette. “So how much rent are you paying, Hunter?”

The girl gave her an amused smile. “Same as you are, sweetheart. And you’re right. It’s a good deal, especially for a place like this. But she insists, so what can I do?”

Emma chimed in as well. “I just like having a room-mate or two.” She shrugged. “It’s win-win.”

About then a cell phone rang, and Danni noticed both her new roomies brightened at the sound. Hunter immediately scrambled for her purse, flashing a brilliant smile as she held the phone to her ear.

“Boyfriend?” Danni asked Emma.

“Not exactly. He’s—he’s Will,” she replied. “He’s a very good friend of ours.” Danni couldn’t help but notice the intonation in Emma’s voice. Whoever this guy was, it seemed that both her friends had it bad for him.

Hunter hung up, and smiled at them. “Will is anxious to meet you, Danni—he wants to take us all out tonight for a drink.”

Danni felt a faint alarm go off in her head. Something sounded off here. She trusted her friends, but something was off. “Gee, I don’t know. I’m awfully tired—the long trip and all. Maybe I should stay in tonight.”

Again she noticed that odd exchange of looks between them. Hunter spoke up this time. “Danni, it’s all right. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Danni allowed a hint of sharpness to creep into her tone.

Hunter’s reply was amused. “For one thing, I know you pretty well, and I know you’re not stupid. And you’re thinking the same thing I’d be thinking in your shoes. But I promise you, it’s not the case.”

Emma nodded emphatically. “You just—you need to meet Will. I promise, you’ll like him. Everyone does.”

Danni chewed her lower lip, thinking. She’d spent so many hours online with these women, and she believed she knew them. She guessed she had to trust them, but she secretly resolved to keep her wits about her.

Emma and Hunter were chattering to one another about what to wear, where they’d be going. Then they started clucking over her, offering dresses, shoes, jewelry. Emma insisted on helping Danni put up her hair, expertly pinning it into an elegant chignon. The dress they found for her left her feeling a bit exposed; it was a floating, scarf-hemmed chiffon, with a low cut bodice supported by spaghetti straps. Both of them told her she looked amazing, and she barely recognized herself in the mirror. They pooh-poohed her concerns about being underage for clubs.

“Trust me, no one is going to card Will’s party at either Pulse! or at Club Valis,” Hunter said, and giggled.

“What kind of places are these?”
Emma shrugged. “Clubs. Really good clubs. You’ll see.”

There came a point when they’d all gotten as ready as they possibly could, and all remained was for the mysterious Will to turn up and whisk them away.

The sun was setting late, these summer nights, and it was not until after the sun was gone that there was a knock on the door. Emma answered, almost throwing herself into the arms of the man coming in, even as Hunter rushed to him as well.

He advanced into the living room, flanked by Emma and Hunter, and gave Danni a blinding smile. As Hunter introduced her, Will stepped forward to take her hand. “Danni,” he said in a low voice that sent chills down her spine, “I’m so pleased to meet you at last. The girls haven’t talked about anything else since they found out you were coming. But I had no idea you’d turn out to be so beautiful.” He punctuated his statement by flipping his heavy blond hair back from a high forehead.

Danni was instantly so entranced she couldn’t speak, and only nodded dumbly. It wasn’t only that voice. Standing in front of her was a tall young man, maybe a few years on the right side of 30, with longish hair so golden it made her own honey blonde seem dull and pedestrian. He wore a very well tailored suit over a deep blue shirt casually open at the throat, but it would have taken Danni a while to get past the hair and the extraordinarily pale and handsome face. But it was his eyes that truly mesmerized her. They were a bright blue, almost turquoise, such an unusual color that Danni thought he must be wearing tinted contacts. She forced herself to swallow, to try to respond to him before he decided she was a complete idiot. “Come on, Danni” she thought, “you can do Texas charm on this guy.” With an effort, she smiled. “Well aren’t you just the sweetest thing?” she asked in her best Texas drawl. “You do turn a girl’s head.” It sounded corny, even to her, but at least it was better than standing there with her mouth hanging open.

Will’s smile turned sardonic, and he took a deep breath through his nose. Danni had the strangest sensation that he was smelling her, that he could tell—things—about her from her scent. Especially that he knew how nervous she was in his presence. He looked up from her at the other two girls. “What did I tell you?” he said. “These Texas girls, they’ve got voices sweet as dripping honey.” He smiled back down at Danni, and she felt the world go spinning away into space. “Ladies, shall we go?”

And with that, they were away, down to a waiting limo, with Hunter merrily cracking open a bottle of champagne and passing foaming glasses around. Danni had never tasted anything like it; the only “champagne” she’d ever had was a sip of what she now suspected was really cheap stuff at her cousin Alicia’s wedding the summer before. She tried to act as though this were all old hat to her, even if inside her heart was beating faster with the excitement and glamour of it all. This was everything she’d dreamed of, back home. She accepted a second glassful from Will, giggling a little and thinking that the only thing that would make this more perfect was if he were like the heroes of the romance novels she loved—a vampire.


2.

As a newcomer, Danni had no idea of the city, and she had paid little attention to the streets they rolled through, but it seemed not a long ride before the limo pulled up in a crowd of young people outside a nightclub with a red neon logo reading “Pulse!” Will got out first, handing out the ladies, and Danni found herself following her friends’ lead and clustering close around him. There seemed to be an inordinate number of young women, most very pretty and dressed to the hilt, trying to catch Will’s attention as he ushered the group forward toward the door. It would seem that he was known to the doormen, Danni noticed, as they deferentially opened the velvet ropes to him at once, and a man in a suit rushed up to them.

“Mr. Spence, so glad you’re joining us this evening,” he said. “We have your table ready.”

Inside, the club was washed with a variety of colored lights, and music pounded from an excellent sound system with an insistent steady beat. Danni noticed that, as outside, the club’s crowd seemed skewed toward young, attractive women, although a number of men were also in evidence. Hunter and Emma made their way confidently through the crowd, nodding and waving to friends and acquaintances, and pausing once or twice to communicate with each other, one shouting into the other’s closely inclined ear. In the noise filled room, anything else would have passed unheard. Danni felt that she herself was attracting curious glances from some of the people they passed, and she was glad when they finally stopped and slipped into a large booth upholstered in blood-red leather. She found herself seated next to Will again, with Hunter on his other side this time, and Emma next to her. A waitress appeared almost instantly with a tray of drinks, and Danni reflected that whoever Will was, he obviously had some special standing to merit such treatment.

Danni sipped carefully at her drink, a piña colada, and stared avidly at the dance floor and the booths and tables surrounding it on a variety of levels. She’d seen the interiors of a couple of beer joints back home, but she’d never been in a place like this. Several times she stole glances at the impossibly handsome man next to her, and at least once he caught her, and smiling, laid a hand on hers for a moment. Nothing too forward, just a brief press of his hand on hers. She noted again that his skin seemed very cool and dry, but she felt her heart thrill inexplicably at his touch, at the unexpected intimacy of the moment in such a crowded place. He had a way of making her feel that when he smiled at her, his attention was nowhere else. She couldn’t imagine such a man being seriously attracted to her, and she tried not to show how he affected her, although she had a faint feeling he knew more than he said, more than he indicated. Those brilliant turquoise eyes appeared to miss very little.

At one point there was a bit of a commotion, as another young man came by, a beautiful woman on each arm, and another trailing behind. He was tall and well-built, with shrewd brown eyes that seemed far older than his boyish face. Back home, Danni would have thought him cute, but a little too polished for her tastes. Here, her first thought was, “This man is dangerous.”

He paused in front of their booth. “Will Spence,” he said, “what an unexpected pleasure.”

Will inclined his head, and returned lazily, “Josef Kostan. It’s been too long.”

Josef smiled in a way that somehow reminded Danni of a striking water moccasin. “You’ve been treading on shaky ground lately, Will. You need to be more careful.”

Will smiled, and Danni thought she saw the edge of a razor in it. “We live in California, Josef. Everything here is on shaky ground.”

“Strike-slip subduction is not a valid business model, my friend,” Josef returned. “But, fielder’s choice.” He gestured to show that the subject, whatever it had been, was closed, and turned his attention to the women at the table, his smile becoming different, somehow, but still dangerous. She thought he was looking at them all as though they were, well, food. “Emma, Hunter, charming as always. I didn’t see you at my last pool party.” Then he looked directly at Danni. “And I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Danni was quickly coming to the realization that this brown-eyed man was as overwhelming in his way as Will was. She managed a wide-eyed nod. “Hi,” she started, “my name is—“

Will put a hand over hers, cutting her off, and his gaze at the other man was less friendly than it had been. “Her name is Danger, Josef. And that’s all you need to know right now.”

Josef ignored Will, and made a small bow in her direction. “Danger, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps later we can—dance.” He seemed to put a wealth of meaning into the suggestion, and Danni’s eyes widened. That may have been why she noticed him inhaling, much as Will had earlier, as though trying to catch her scent. It seemed, somehow, predatory.

Again, Will answered for her. “I’m sure she’d be delighted, just as I’m sure Allara would be—charmed—to dance with me.”

Josef’s eyes flicked from Danni to Will and back, and seemed to darken, even as the petite pretty girl with blue hair by his side stiffened. “You’re very new in the city, aren’t you, Danger? I’ll bet old Will here didn’t even give you time to unpack your suitcase before dragging you out here.”

Danni had no idea how, or even whether, to answer this comment. To cover her confusion, she picked up her drink and sipped, noting that Hunter seemed to be deep in conversation with the tall, elegant red-head that stood on Josef’s other side.

“Josef,” Will said, a distinct coolness in his tone, “don’t let me keep you.”

The answer was a short laugh, as Josef slipped an arm around the waist of the red-head, and turned his head to speak to the young woman standing close behind. “Faction,” he said, or at least that’s what Danni could have sworn he said, “you ready to ready to dance, babe?”

She smiled, illuminating her face with warmth, “Always, Josef,” she said, putting a small hand on his arm. Josef’s smile back to her was at least as warm and his expression gentle.

They moved away, and something about the way the four of them had interacted caused Danni to look around the crowd, reassessing some of what she was seeing. At almost every booth, a single male was surrounded by two, three, or more women. On the dance floor, there had to be at least four women for every man, some dancing by themselves, some with other women. Danni really started wondering exactly what was going on here.

3.

Danni stared at her reflection in the mirror of the ladies lounge in some dismay. Her hair was definitely coming down, and she had no idea what to do about it. That last dance had been a little too energetic, she was afraid. Maybe she should simply pull the pins out and let it fall around her shoulders—but she didn’t even have a comb in the tiny evening bag she was carrying. The attendant—and heaven knew she had never been in a place before fancy enough to have an attendant in the ladies’ room—seemed to be studiously ignoring her. She was rummaging in her bag to see if she possibly had a spare bobby pin, when she sensed motion behind her, and looked up to see the reflection of one of the women who had been accompanying Josef earlier, the tall red-headed one.

“Hi, Danger” she smiled at Dannie in the mirror. “You look like you could use a hand.”

Dannie smiled back, ruefully. “Yes, I think so. But my name isn’t really Danger—“

The other woman laughed, gently. “I heard Will call you that. The boys—they do love their nicknames for us. They call me Lucky, by the way.” While she spoke, Lucky had produced several hairpins and began to repair Danni’s chignon. “I’m really hopeless at this kind of thing—but you can tell, can’t you?” She turned and called out to the attendant. “Mollie, hon—can you help us?”

Mollie was a very old woman, tiny and hunched, with bright blue eyes. She shuffled over to them quickly. “I didn’t know this was a friend of yours, Lucky. Did she come with Josef?”

Lucky laughed and shook her head. “She’s Will Spence’s new fre—new friend. Do you know him?”

“Child, I’ve known him longer than you have. But I’ve never seen this one before.”
Danni held out her hand. “I’m—“ she paused and looked over at Lucky, who nodded encouragingly to her, “Will calls me Danger.”

“Danger? You don’t look dangerous to me, child. But I guess Will Spence knows best about that.”

“She’s very new, Mollie.”

The old woman hmmphed and helped to re-anchor Danni’s hairdo, more firmly than Emma had fixed it to begin with. As Lucky pressed a $20 bill into Mollie’s hand, the old woman’s face lit up in a smile. “Tell Josef hello for me, will you, Lucky?”

“Of course. He always sends his regards, Mollie.”

She chortled. “He would, the smooth talker. You girls take good care of him, you hear?”

Danni noted the change in Lucky’s expression, as though the other young woman were suddenly miles away, and in a good place. “Oh, we do, Mollie believe me, we do. It’s Josef. How could we not?”

Mollie chuckled again, and smiled as though remembering. “Ahh,” she said, “devotion. It’s good to see, dear.” She patted Lucky’s hand and turned away.

Lucky glanced over at Danni, noting her confusion. She frowned thoughtfully. “Perhaps we should talk.”

Danni nodded. “I was hoping someone could tell me what the hell is going on. What have I gotten myself into?”

The red-head paled slightly, and sank gracefully onto one of the couches scattered around the lounge. “Do you mean you really have no idea?”

Danni shook her head and seating herself, told her story with a little prompting from Lucky. When she had finished, Lucky was frowning.

“I thought Emma at least had more sense,” Lucky said. She paused, chewing her lip. “Listen, Danger, I think you’ll be okay. I mean, as far as I know, Will is a fairly decent guy, for a—“ she paused again, and dug in her bag. “Here’s my card. Once you get a bit more clued in—and I think that’s going to be Will’s job, but I want to tell you this is not necessarily a bad thing—if you run into any problems or have questions, call me.

“One more thing—“ and she laid a soft hand on Danni’s arm. “—around here, or if he takes you to Valis, stick close to someone you know. Will, Emma, Hunter…stay away from strange—men—and if someone approaches you, be sure and tell them you’re Will’s fr—Will’s friend.”

“Lucky, please,” Danni’s voice was low, worried, “why can’t you just tell me? Is this some kind of—of prostitution thing?”

“Sounds a bit like it, doesn’t it?” Lucky’s tone, and her smile, were a bit dry. “It’s not. I won’t deny that Will wants something from you. But when it comes to it, it’s nothing you won’t want to give him. And trust me, it’s a two way street.”

“This isn’t very reassuring.” Danni looked down at the card. It had a Josef Kostan Associates logo, but the only information was the name “Lucky” and a telephone number. She looked up and straight into the other woman’s eyes. “Lucky, tell me honestly, do you think I ought to get on the bus back home?”

She hesitated before responding. “You’re the only one who can answer that, Danger. But from what you told me, I think you want to stay. For now.” She paused. “I’ve got to get back to Josef. But do call me.” She patted Danni’s arm. “Whatever happens, you aren’t alone.” And with that, she left.

Danni stayed, seated, for a long time, thinking. She was still in the same place when Hunter came in looking for her.

“Danger, are you okay?”

Danni snapped back into focus with some difficulty. “Umm, hi, Hunter. Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little confused.”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. Come on back to the table, okay?”

As they made their way through the crowd, Danni saw Will from across the room, with his mouth on Emma’s wrist. Emma’s head was thrown back, her expression almost ecstatic, as best Danni could see in the dim light. Then the crowd blocked her view and when she saw them again, Emma was calmly sipping her drink, and Will had leaned back. As she looked, he blotted his mouth with a white handkerchief.

Danni felt a glimmering of understanding, a feeling that the pieces were beginning to fall into place. It was just that the picture was not one her mind was ready to accept. It was too much, too fantastic to be believed. On the other hand, if there were any possibility it was true…Lucky was right, Danni thought. There’s no way I’m walking away now.
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francis
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Re: 100% Freshie Chapter 3 --PG-13

Post by francis »

Good for Danni to realize something is off here, she is perceptive and intelligent. Emma and Hunter behave as if Will is a drug. But then Will shows exactly why, he is enthralling Danni from the get go. The glamour she isn’t used to adds to an atmosphere that has me slightly on edge, like Danni. Kostan dangerous, predatory? How perceptive she is! Kostan is warning Will, seems he is in charge. Will already has a name for her. And she meets Lucky! I’m thrilled.
I love Mollie, she’s a retired freshie, isn’t she? And the talk with Lucky, well done. Lucky doesn’t overstep her bounds, and still manages to give her advice. She’s a nice person. And when Danni sees Will feeding on Emma, it all falls into place. I don’t think she will need much reassurance after that.
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allegrita
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Re: 100% Freshie Chapter 3 --PG-13

Post by allegrita »

Hmmm...Danger, huh? Seems to me that Will was talking about something else than just Danni with that name... and speaking of danger, Danni's found herself in a world where one wrong step can really set a girl on a path to somewhere she didn't want to go. Good thing Lucky was there to give her some very good advice, and a phone number she can call if she needs help.

I agree with francis--I like Mollie! She obviously has history...and what better job for a retired freshie than working in a club? You get to keep in that world, keep a taste of the life. But I imagine it would be hard to see your vampires moving on without you...or maybe you're moving on without them... :sigh:

Well, Danni--or Danger, I she's apparently going to be called now--seems to be getting the drift of what's going on. And I guess she's game... :laugh: Good luck to her!
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librarian_7
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Re: 100% Freshie Chapter 3 --PG-13

Post by librarian_7 »

I'm so excited to see someone reading this, Alle...thanks for the read, and the comment! It's an old favorite of mine.

Lucky
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