RockMySenses (16 page)

I logged onto the program Mike had set up for me. He was
right. I could do so much more and be more efficient using this one system than
all my paper files and other software. The software was designed specifically
for yoga studios and it had been tested and refined by many businesses over the
years, so it almost anticipated anything I could want it to offer. I reviewed
the few clients from the gym who had already signed up for classes. Also, I
reviewed the class schedule and tested to make sure I could add new sales if I
had any today.

Lily had suggested an opening day special where visitors
could have a vast discount if they signed up on the spot. It took a few tries
to figure out how to make this adjustment in the system as it kept tallying the
regular price. Between this issue and the several other I encountered while
trying to learn the ins and outs of the software, I grew frustrated. Since I
wasn’t a computer person, there was a definite learning curve and I spend many
minutes searching through their help or calling to speak to their support team.
It would’ve been easier to call Mike. He could have helped me out in two
minutes flat. How many times I fantasized about calling him, having him help me
through my issue, and then thanking him in a physical way. Maybe starting it
off with a little strip tease.

But it was too late. Too much time had passed and the distance
between us seemed to grow with each passing day. I doubt he even wanted to
speak to me at this point.

In time, I figured out how to work with the system enough to
make it help me save time and not waste it trying to do simple tasks. Mike
would have been proud.

A couple of hours later, Lily showed up with helium balloons
printed with my logo, which she let free all over the studio. She tied many to
the placard out front. Damn, she knew how to draw attention. I doubt anyone
would drive by without noticing.

“You sure we don’t need one of those inflatable figures
swaying around in the wind,” I teased.

“Ooh, that’s a good idea. We could arrange it in a yoga
position. That would garner plenty of second glances.”

“Thank you, Lily,” I said. “I couldn’t have done this
without you.”

“Nonsense. Of course you could. You’re just better with me.
Just like I’m better with you.” She grinned.

I laughed. “We’re a good team. I’m glad I scheduled the opening
on a day you could be here.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She smirked and added,
“Except a full moon.”

The rest of the day went by in a whirlwind. While my fear
was that nobody would show, foreshadowing an inevitable end to this whole idea
of a studio, the opposite happened. Many attendees of my yoga and Pilates classes
stopped by to wish me well and some even signed up for classes. Besides that,
tons of strangers walked in. Some were in the neighborhood and noticed the
eye-catching balloons. Others saw newspaper ads and announcements and many read
about the grand opening on social media. Lily was stellar at getting the word
out online. She purchased social media ads, which weren’t that expensive, but
more so used the power of word of mouth. She had raffles for free classes for
those who spread word about our page, especially the opening.

I heard many variations of “Congratulations” and “It looks
wonderful in here”.

I thanked them all and welcomed them to the studio, offering
them a free class.

Once Lily’s promo machinations had worked to good effect,
she said, “I’m going to head out, okay?”

“Of course. I owe you dinner and drinks tonight,” I said.

“I hope you don’t want it to end there,” she said. “I
thought we’d go out tonight to celebrate.”

“As long as I don’t crash,” I replied. “I’ll be pooped after
this!”

“I’m getting you a latte to keep you going,” she said with a
grin. “With all that caffeine and the excitement of the day, trust me, you’re
going to want to burn off some of the excess energy so you’ll even be able to
sleep tonight.”

“Where to? Go into Boston? Cambridge?”

“Why drive in there when we have such a great club nearby?”

“Vamps?” My eyes widened with amusement. “Wow, that place
has really grown on you. I remember you sulking the first time I took you
there.”

“Since you took me there, my life has changed
significantly.” Lily’s eyes took on that sparkle whenever she spoke of Nico.

“Where you met a dashing computer geek masquerading as a
rock star.”

She laughed. “Who doesn’t love a sexy nerd?” My face must
have dropped. When she saw my face, she said. “Sorry, did I hit a nerve? Make
you think of him?”

“It’s just—well—with all the help he did,” I waved my hand
around the studio, stopping at my office as I tried to formulate the feelings
into words. “He should be here. Know what I mean?”

“Want me to call him?” Lily pulled out her phone.

“No!” I reached for the phone to stop her. “It’s too late.”

She put her phone away. “It’s never too late.” She studied
me. “But I’m wondering—what do you want from him? Just to thank him out of
feeling obligated? Or is it something more?”

I sighed. “I think I made a huge mistake.”

Mike

Vamps was closed for a couple of nights and I didn’t know
any other way to find Danton. My online searches yielded nothing—not that I
thought Googling “Danton blond gargoyle” would yield anything of value. I
headed to Vamps when it finally reopened on the weekend and searched for him.
With his head of long blond hair towering over the crowd, he’d be easy to spot.
He didn’t appear to be at the club, but it was still early, maybe he’d show
later.

“What can I get you?” The pink-haired bartender was wearing
a tight black corset that showed generous cleavage. She’d told me her name in
the past, but I couldn’t remember it as usual. I’d tried to get in her pants,
but she’d blown me off.

“How about a Rusty Nail.”

After she brought my drink, I sat on a stool and waited,
scanning the club. Scantily clad bodies dressed mostly in black writhed to a
pounding mix the DJ created with Halestorm’s
Freak Like Me
chorus
blended in. That song fit. This club was a total freak magnet. Not that I ever
minded the view—women revealing pale skin in their skin-tight black outfits or
fetish wear. You wouldn’t hear many guys complaining about the scenery. My
acute sense of smell picked up the distinct scents of bodies warmed up from
dancing as well as various scents of alcohol and fruity drinks.

We’d played Vamps many times before and the gargoyles
perched around the club were one of the key features that made it stand out in
my mind. Now I studied them in more detail. It had to be more than a
coincidence that I met Danton in a club with gargoyle statues, when he himself
was one.

After twenty minutes, I began to pace, my boots sticking to
beer-sloshed areas on the floor. I started to doubt whether this guy would ever
show.

“Do you know Danton?” I asked the busty bartender. “I think
he’s a bouncer here.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want with him?”

“I want to talk to him about something he brought up
earlier.”

She continued to eye me with suspicion. “You’re Chee
Keydood. From the Velvet Cocks, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll let him know you’re looking for him.”

She pulled out her phone and began texting.

“He might know me as Mike.”

She glanced up at me from over her phone and smiled. “He’ll
be glad to hear from you.”

She appeared to know more about Danton—and me—than she’d let
on.

Danton arrived as I finished my drink. He wore all black as
usual, as did most of the crowd tonight.

“Mike.” He nodded and sat next to me at the bar.

“Thanks for coming to talk to me,” I said. “Can I get you a
drink?”

“I’ve got it already,” the bartender said. She put down a
glass filled with dark amber liquid on ice.

“
Merci, cherie
,” he said.

“I wanted to ask you about that night backstage,” I said.
“When I saw the women kissing and you told me to get the blonde, Allana, out of
there.”

“Yes?” His eyebrows rose in question.

“That woman. I think you called her Nike. I never remember
names, but hers stood out. You know, sneakers.”

Danton stared at me. “Sneakers?” he questioned. “Nike is the
goddess of victory.”

My reference clearly went over his head. “Anyway,” I
continued. “She bit Allana. I saw the blood. I thought they were just into
freaky vampire-play shit, but what my grandfather said made me think
otherwise.”

“What did he say?” His eyes shined with curiosity while his
face remained impassive. Similar to what I’d seen in Papa.

“That vampires exist.”

“Ah.” He tapped his fingers on the glass. “Yes. They do,” he
replied matter-of-factly.

“So is Nike a vampire?”

Danton ran his hands over his chin. “Not exactly. She was
attacked by a nightwalker and has experienced an unusual reaction.”

“But she was trying to drink Allana’s blood.”

“So it seemed. That’s why I told you to get Allana out of
there.”

My heart pounded against my chest as my fears became
realized. “Is Allana in danger?”

He studied me. “What do you think?”

I thought about it, gauging my thoughts. Intuition told me
she was. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like she is.”

Danton nodded and took a sip, glancing out into the club. I
gathered he was focusing on the gargoyle statues and made a mental note to ask
him about that later. “That makes sense.”

He was so cryptic it was starting to get old. “How?” My
voice revealed an edge of annoyance.

“Let’s get back to that. Have you thought at all about what
I told you I suspected about your family?”

“Yes. I met with my family.” I kept my voice low so only he
would hear, although I doubted anyone else could over the music pounding around
us.
Freakshow
by the Cure. “My grandfather is what you are. You were
right. I have that blood.”

He nodded at me “I’ve looked into your family history. You
descend from an old family.”

“What does this mean about me? I’m only one-quarter,” I
leaned in and whispered, “gargoyle.”

“Fractions don’t matter. It can have a stronger presence in
some over others. But what you have to your advantage is you possess many of
the abilities without any restrictions.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re not bound in stone until you’re needed to protect
someone.”

“What do you mean? You’re not stone right now and you’re not
protecting anyone.”

“I was. Until I bonded with a human and took the gargoyle
oath.” He glanced at the bartender and smiled. She couldn’t hear what we were
saying over the volume of the music, but she winked back at him.

“The what?”

“We’ll get back to that. While I was a boy, I was free to
change from one form to another. But once gargoyles come into manhood, they
take on the role of a watcher.”

“My grandfather mentioned something like that.”

“We watch over others, protecting them. When our protection
is needed, we can transform into human form. If during that time, we take an
oath with a soul mate, more powerful magic streams into us. We are able to
transform at will and become gatekeepers between the gargoyle and human
worlds.”

“You were once in stone?”

“I watched this club as stone for many years until I had to
protect the woman I loved.”

Following his gaze to the woman behind the bar he couldn’t
keep his eyes off, I had an inkling who he meant.

His mention of protecting a woman reminded me of the odd
compulsion I felt about Allana. “You remember Allana, the woman Nike bit
backstage?”

Dante’s eyes fixed on mine. “Yes.”

“What you said about protecting your girl reminds me of her.
Sometimes I’m consumed wondering about her. If she’s happy, if she’s safe. If
she’s in trouble and I should be protecting her. When I’m not around her, all I
do is think about her.” I ran my hand over the growth on my chin. “It’s driving
me insane. Like an obsession.”

Dante lowered his voice. “Gargoyles are designed to protect
others, especially humans. Sometimes one human in particular.”

“But what does that mean?” I questioned. “My feelings for
her are because I have gargoyle blood flowing in my veins so I’m programmed in
some way? Or is it more? I was falling for her, or at least I thought I was.
Now I don’t know what to feel. If my feelings are even my own.”

Dante nodded as if he understood, which gave me some assurance
I wasn’t losing my damn mind. He took a sip of his drink before he continued.
“The connection between a human and a gargoyle is powerful. As powerful as
true, lasting love. And they are often intertwined.”

I was starting to feel like a clueless young apprentice
being schooled by a master. “But how do I know if it’s love or just an
infatuation?”

“Ah, the mysteries of love,” Danton said with a slight
smile. “How can anyone truly know? Part of the mystery is having faith in what
you feel.”

“If there’s ever been a point where I’d doubt my feelings,
it would be now,” I replied. “Since I met her, I’ve felt different. I’m wound
up so tight, about to spring like a coil at any moment. To kill anyone who
hurts her.”

“That is consistent with our nature, yes, to protect those
we love.” He ended his statement with a question, the way Papa did. “What else
have you discovered?”

I contemplated the recent changes I’d noticed. Ones I’d been
aware of, but now took greater prominence. “I’m stronger, faster. My vision and
hearing have always been better than others, but now they are even more acute.”

Danton’s gaze flickered over me for a long moment. Whether
he was sizing me up or deciding what to tell me, I didn’t know.

“When gargoyles take on the call to protect someone, it is a
magical experience,” he said, emphasizing the last phrase. “I’m wondering if a
sort of switch was flipped on inside you when I asked you to take care of
Allana.” I stared at him without answering, trying to take it all in. “When I
took the gargoyle oath with my love,” he continued, “it awakened powers I never
would have imagined while in stone form.”

“What is this oath?” I asked.

“Gargoyles are able to take a sacred oath that binds them to
one person, to love and protect for all their days.”

I thought about that, thought about the idea of doing that
with Allana. “I don’t know who I am anymore. I’m not stone like you and I’m not
the human I thought I was.”

Danton peered at me intently. “You are more than you ever
thought you could be.” He stood up and nodded. “You have much to process. We
can talk again, if you wish to learn more.”

I watched Danton as he walked away, sinking into the shadows
of the crowd until only his blond hair showed. My phone buzzed. When I read the
text, it was from Nico.

Meet me at Vamps?

Weird. I texted back.
I’m already here.

Doing what? Never mind. Stay there.

Allana

“Cheers,” Lily raised her glass. “To wild success for you
and the studio, where you will change lives—and net a nice income.”

I clinked her Fruits of Temptation cocktail with my Anything
Goes. “Thanks. I hope so.”

We took a sip and then I glanced around the club from my
vantage point at the bar. Tonight’s theme was Wicked Freaky. The DJ played a
number of songs with “freak” in the title or any song that would encourage the
masses to dance like freaks.
I Walk the Line
by Alien Sex Fiend struck a
chord with the crowd. A lot of pale skin and black clothing. Some wore tight
vinyl or fetish-wear, and they danced like, well, freaks. In a good way. They
were tightly packed on the dance floor but nobody seemed to mind.

“We were celebrating your success not too long ago,” I
pointed out. The first night I dragged Lily here for a night of dancing to
celebrate a promotion at the company she no longer worked at, the Velvet Cocks
played.

“I remember that night well,” she said. “When I met Nico.”
She gazed off into the crowd, lost in her memory.

I envied her at the moment. She was happy, head over heels
with the man she loved. What did I keep doing wrong to end up alone? I ran from
risks in my romantic life, as guarded as a maximum security prison.

Was I causing my own heartache by closing myself off and not
taking chances?

Just as I was about to descend to wallowing in self-pity,
I
Fink You Freeky
by Die Antwood came on. I jumped off my stool. “I love this
song. Come on, let’s dance.”

Mike

“What’s up, Nico? Why did you want to meet up here?”

John arrived too. I wondered what was going on.

“Do I need a reason to meet up with my bros for a drink?”
Nico sported a mischievous grin.

“Dude, I see you all the time. We share an office. We’re in
a band together. You’re always telling me how you’re sick of seeing my ugly
mug.”

“Ah, you know I’m just ribbing you.” He grabbed John’s and
my shoulders. “You blokes are my best buds.”

I raised my eyebrow to indicate my skepticism. Sure we were
bros, but we gave each other shit on a routine basis. That’s what bros did.

John added wryly, “Thanks for dragging me out. As if I don’t
spend enough time in clubs. On a night off, I want to sit home and chill.”

“You can watch the SyFy channel later,” Nico replied. “I
have some news. Let’s get some drinks first.”

After we ordered a few Sam Adams beers, we leaned back at
the bar and watched the crowd. They were dancing as if they were nuts, singing
along and jumping around. I watched with amusement and glanced up at the
gargoyles perched on the wall. Danton said he’d watched this club in stone for
many years. Now I was sure there was something behind those hard gray eyes.
Something alive.

“Pack your bags. The tour is on,” Nico announced.

“What?” John’s mouth dropped.

“Toxic Fox Records is going forward with a three-week tour
on the West Coast!”

“Holy shit,” I said.

“For real?” John asked.

Nico nodded. “Sometime this spring. Not cramped in the van.
A tour bus and everything.”

We toasted each other and chattered on about what this meant
for us. What it meant for the Velvet Cocks. Our record company believed in us
to put up this investment. We’d had short tours on the East Coast, but nothing
like this.

Although a tour like this was something I’d dreamed about
since I was a teenage boy picking up a guitar to emulate my rock idols,
something was missing. I realized how much I wanted to share this news with
someone. One woman in particular.

We finished our beers and I moved my gaze to the dancers.

The DJ Mistress Mona announced, “How are all my freaks
tonight?” When the crowd cheered in reply, she said, “You’re all beautiful.
This is for you.”

The opening sounds of Marilyn Manson’s
The Beautiful
People
boomed from the speakers and bodies erupted into a conflagration of
movement. I caught sight of a blonde through a break of dancers. Could it be?
No, it had to be wishful thinking. Her back was facing me, so I couldn’t be
sure, but the way hair swished around her petite body in a black tank top and
plaid schoolgirl skirt as she danced reminded me of the way her body moved.
Could it be her? My heart throbbed with expectation.