Picking up where I left off last year, here is more of my short story writing from years back. This one is particularly old, I wrote this back in 2008! And it’s just terrible, but it helps me to read these things over again so I can see just how much I have improved since. I think I’ve improved but I dunno, sometimes I do wonder. So please bear with me as I uncover and rediscover my writing voice…

All I remember of the rest of that night was blurred. Blurred like I had slept through it all and only caught glimpses of a dream. It was useless trying to remember any of it. The next night, as I was getting dressed, I found the jacket that the stranger from the night before had given me. When I put my hands into the pockets, I found a card that read “Club Anais”. I called up some friends and asked them about Club Anais. It sounded like a very dark place, but I was sure it would lead me back to the stranger and back to the answers I so desperately needed.

I managed to persuade my friends to come with me, and we made our way to Club Anais. I made sure that I was wearing his Jacket. We got into the Club and looked for a place to sit. I managed to sit down with a drink and kept my eyes open. About an hour later I saw him. He was sitting in a closed off area of the club, surrounded by women. He looked bored, almost irritated, that didn’t seem to stop the girls from doing their best to keep him interested. I had to find a way to get to him. I told my friends I would be back and went to find the bathroom. On the way there, I also tried to find a way to move around the bouncers. I managed to find a door behind the club’s stage that led to another door at the end of a corridor. I gently opened the door and peered into the room. It looked like some kind of members lounge. I went in, closing the door behind me. That’s when I heard voices. Quickly, I found a dark corner and hid. The door opened, and the voices continued. After a while, they stopped, and the door closed again. I gently breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out into the room.

“Sneaking around in the dark again? You should leave that to the ghosts and the demons” he said.
I turned to face him. He walked over to me, his eyes moving over my body again, before returning to mine. “Nice Jacket.,” he smirked.
“I … ”
“You … what? Came to return it to me? How … sweet” he said, reaching up to my body, slowly slipping the Jacket from my body. “You look much better… with it off,” he said, running his cold finger down my arm gently. I pushed away from him. I could feel his disappointment.
“Please… we need to … talk” I said.
“Resistance..?” he said, walking across the room. He slouched down into the couch at the end of the room.
I tried not to focus on his body, which he willingly flaunted. He was wearing a pair of tight leather pants and a black belt which he wore very low on his hips. On top, he wore a black, mesh see-through shirt, with an intricate pattern of holes in the front. His body was lean and muscular. His hair was dark and shoulder length. He wore rings on most of his fingers and a few studs in his ears.

“And here I thought you had come… for me,” he said.
I sat down on the edge of the couch.
“What is the Amulet for and … who exactly are you?” I asked.
He grinned and looked away.
“Who am I?” he repeated. “I don’t think that’s relevant, is it?” he asked.
“Okay.. if you don’t want to tell me who you are, tell me about the Amulet,” I said.
He let out a laugh. “That truly is.. the only thing you want?” he asked, getting up.
He sat down beside me. Lifting his finger to my neck. “Someone so… beautiful and.. alive” he whispered. He looked into my eyes. “Its such a shame that your Father’s obsession has now… become yours,” he said.
“I just want some answers, and then I will leave you alone,” I said.
How I wanted to kiss him. He was quite possibly the most handsome man I had ever seen.
He looked away. “Alright,” he said. Looking back at me. “I will give you all the answers you want… if you give me something in return,” he said.
I hesitated, but I am sure he already knew what my answer would be.
“What?” I asked
“A night … one night, with me, alone. No friends, no security guards… no… Aunts” he said with a grin.
“A night? You mean… ”
“No,” he said standing up. He looked down at me. “I don’t sleep with women on the first date,” he said with a grin.

He left me there to think about our deal. I needed the answers, and it seemed that he was willing to give them to me for my time. It seemed like a good enough deal, and he indeed was the most exquisite creature I had ever met. How could I possibly lose?