I woke with a start, instantly alert.  “We are here sleeping beauty,” Antony said.  “Did I fall asleep?” I looked at Yaris.  “No, you were just really relaxed.”  “I wish you would do that for me sometimes,” Ripley commented.  “I would have to imprint and bond with you.  That's just not going to happen.”

Theo stopped the SUV at the door to let us out.  He handed Yaris what I assume is my new ID, “I will go park the car.”  Instead of going to the end of the line, Yaris took my hand and led me straight to the door.  He flashed my ID at the doorman.  “Hello sir, come right in,” the man held the door open for us.  We entered a dimly lit vestibule and approached a desk where Yaris showed my ID to another man who stamped a symbol on my wrist.  He stamped the others' wrists, too.  Theo caught up with us as we walked into an extremely large room packed full of people.  Some were dancing, but most were standing around or sitting at tall tables littered around the outside of the dancefloor.  Yaris looked at me, his mouth moving, but I couldn't hear a word of it for the loud, thumping techno music.  I pointed at my ear and nodded my head no.  We are going to our table, then we will get some drinks.  I nodded my head yes.  Theo led the way around the outside of the dance floor, weaving in and out through tables.  I narrowly missed bumping into others on several occasions.  I was relieved when we made it through and came to a staircase that led up to a balcony.

The balcony was nothing like the lower floor.  Instead of the tall tables, there were burgundy sofas with glass coffee tables.  The floor was covered with plush white carpet.  The walls were mint green and adorned with expensive artwork.  Large windows looked down on the dance floor.  There was a private bar.  But most of all, it must be soundproof because the music is a lot quieter.

“Hello Sir, would you like your regular table?” asked a heavily accented female voice.  “No, tonight we would like the table with the best view of the dance floor,” Yaris answered, “offer drinks, on the house, to the group currently occupying the table.”  She nodded her head in understanding, “one moment, please.”  She went to a table occupied by three men and two women who were dressed so little that they could be confused with call girls.  Smiling, they got up and moved quickly.  A waitress wiped down the coffee table.  The hostess returned to us, “right this way, please.”  We followed her to the table.

“Have you ever had alcohol before?” Theo asked.  “I have had a taste of beer and a taste of wine,” I answered truthfully.  “Which did you like better?”  “The wine.”  “Was it red or white?”  “Red,” I answered because it certainly wasn't white.  The waitress returned to our table.  “A bottle of our best red wine, chilled,” Yaris ordered.  The others ordered various drinks.  “So you never went out drinking with your friends?” Antony asked.  “No, they would, but I never did.  How about you?” I joked.  He smiled, “I am just curious about how your life has been.”  “No broken bones or serious illnesses.  Other than my parents dying and this situation, it was pretty uneventful.”  They all bristled at the mention of my parents.  “That must be really hard, losing two sets of parents.”  “It is really hard, but I am doing better now.”  The waitress brought out the wine sitting in a decorative metal bowl full of ice and two wine glasses, then went back to the bar and brought the other drinks in small glass tumblers.  Yaris poured us each a glass.  “So what have you guys been doing for the last thirteen years?” I took a sip.  It was really good wine.  I took another drink.  It poured down my throat like velvet and had a really sweet flavor.  “Mostly just preparing and waiting for you,” Kale answered.  “No girlfriends, wives, or children?”  They all shook their heads no.  “I'm really sorry,” I apologized, surprised that they didn't move forward with their lives.  “It is our honor to serve you,” Ripley chimed in, “some of us have had girlfriends, but nothing serious.” I finished my glass of wine and sat it down.  Yaris didn't fill my glass right away, “you need to drink the wine slower.  It will creep up on you.”

“So, who wants to dance with me?” I asked.  No one answered.  “C'mon you go out to a dance club but don't dance?  Why bother?  Why not just drink at home?”  “I come to check up on business,” Yaris answered, “I own this club.”  “Okay, so you own a dance club but don't dance?  Where's the fun in that?”  “So I take it that you know how to dance.”  “Yes.  Tap, ballroom, modern, hip hop, you name it.  I took a lot of dance classes.”  “Is that how you stay in such good shape?” Theo changed the subject.  “Yes.  I also run and swim.”  There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.  “I don't want to dance by myself.  Someone has to go with me.”

“I'll dance with you,” came a booming voice from behind me.  I jumped, not expecting it.  “I can't believe that none of you want to dance with this pretty lady.”  We all turned around to look.  He looked to be about thirty, tall and thin with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes.  “My name is Luke. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he moved around in front of us and extended his hand to me.  “My name is Jade.  It's nice to meet you.”  He leaned down and kissed the back of my hand.

“Back off Luke,” Yaris warned, “I will dance with her.  You stay away.”  A dark look replaced Luke’s smile as he looked up at Yaris.  He released my hand and took a step back.  “You can leave now,” another warning.  Luke just turned abruptly and walked away.

“Stay away from him.  He is well known for groping women.”  “Okay,” understanding dawned on me.  “He is also known for preying on drunk women.  I wouldn't put it past him to drug you.”  I sat back into the sofa, disappointed.  He only wants to dance with me to keep some perv away.  He poured me some more wine.  I downed it fast.  Tonight was not what I thought it was going to be.  “No more for you.”  He signaled the waitress, “she would like a diet coke and a water.”  We sat in silence for a few minutes, enough time to calm down anyway.  “You don't have to dance with me if you don't really want to.”  “I do want to.  This just is not my type of music.”  “What is your type of music?  Can't we ask the DJ to play something else?” “I do not want to get things thrown at me.”  “Let us finish our business here, then we can go to a club with better music.”  “ Okay,” I agreed.  Happy now, “maybe I will go dance by myself.”  “Ripley, go keep an eye on her down there.  We will be watching from up here, too.”

Ripley stood up and offered me his arm, “this way, Miss.”  I stood up and linked my arm through his.  We headed toward the staircase.  “Just do not wonder too far away.  I will always be near the staircase.  If I can not see you, I will come looking for you.  Okay?”  “Sounds like a plan.”  We descended the staircase and entered the main room.  We found an empty table nearby, and he planted himself on a tall stool.  He gave me the thumbs-up signal.  I returned it and went out to the dance floor.  It was packed now, so I stayed close to the edge and started swaying to the music.  This one wasn't techno, so Yaris may have been able to dance to it.  It's too late now.  That song ended, and another techno song started.  Several people cheered.  I can see what Yaris meant now.  They come here for the techno.  I started dancing to the beat, getting lost in it quickly.  I do that sometimes.  When I really feel the music, I get lost so much that I don't pay good enough attention to my surroundings.  It had a good steady fast beat, then it would switch to a different one, and so on.  I made the transitions effortlessly.  I was in my element.  At least I thought I was…….

I got a funny feeling and looked at my surroundings when the tempo didn't change like it should have.  It just kept playing that same beat over and over again.  Everyone had stopped dancing but me.  They were all staring at me.  Men were looking at me like I was Thanksgiving Turkey.  Women were looking at me with what I think is jealousy.  I decided it was time to stop and go get a drink.  I had somehow made it to the center of the floor.  I started walking towards Ripley.  A new beat started, and people started dancing again, me forgotten, I hope.  The dancefloor was so packed, and I am short, so it was hard to navigate my way through.  I could catch glimpses of the staircase as I inched forward.  That was my only point of reference.

A strong arm snaked around my waste.  A scent that I don't recognize.  It smelled like skunk.  I looked up at him over my shoulder.  Someone I don't know.  He started pulling/carrying me in the opposite direction.  “No!!!!!” I screamed as loud as I could.  No one around us even heard, locked into the loud music.  I started frantically kicking, hitting, elbowing, doing whatever I could to get away.  All of it to no avail.  Within minutes, he had me at an exit that was different from the entrance that we used earlier.  He drug me outside into an empty alley and shoved me up against a wall.  He didn't say anything. He just started undoing his pants.  I screamed again as loud as I could.  He shoved me up against the wall again and put his hand over my mouth.  I bit his fingers as hard as I could.  He jerked his hand away in obvious pain but didn't let up his hold on me. He raised his right hand back and slapped me hard across the face.   I felt a crack, and then pain exploded across the left side of my face.  He slammed me against the wall so hard it took my breath away.  My head bounced off the concrete.  It didn't knock me out, but next time, it might.  Help!!!  I should have asked for help sooner, but I was busy fighting him.

Where are you?  We can not find you.  A man has drug me into the alley.  The door is opposite from the staircase.  He intends to rape me.  We are on the way.  Keep fighting.

The man has gone back to navigating his zipper with one hand.  I free my right leg and unsuccessfully knee him in the groin.  It is enough to push him away from me, though.  I get free and start running down the alley.  I only make it about ten feet before he grabs a handful of my hair and yanks me back.  I stumble backward into him, and he slams me into the wall again.  My back and my head hurt so bad that I lost the ability to think.  He turns me around to face the wall.  “I like it better this way, anyway,” he growls in my ear.  I watch the door, tears streaming down my face as he flips my skirt up.  He realizes that my shorts are connected to my skirt and growls an expletive.  He tries to work my skirt down, but it is attached to my top.  Thank you for complicated clothes.  This is buying me time.  I catch a whiff of lavender and mint.  Relief washes over me at the realization that Yaris is getting close.  My attacker holds my head against the wall with one hand and yanks my jacket back and off with the other.  He discards it onto the ground.  He starts unfastening the back of my top when the door to the club opens.  “Get off of her,” Yaris growls.  Ripley and Kale come out right behind him.  Antony comes fast down the alley on the other side of them.  The strange man releases me and backs away.  I start to fall.  Ripley is right there to catch me.  He helps me hold my top into place and grabs my jacket to cover me with.

“She asked for this.  She wanted it,” the man declares, walking backward, fixing his pants.  “Right,” Yaris growls, “how come she is crying?”  “She is just disappointed that we were interrupted.”

“Ripley take Jade to the car.  Theo has it down at the end of the alley.  I need to spend some alone time with our new friend.  Do not let her watch.”  We start slowly walking down the alley.  I stumble,  disoriented.  Ripley catches me and scoops me up.  “It is okay, Jade.  I have got you.”  He carries me to the car, and we get in on the back passenger side.  I sit in the middle, and he sits by the door.  He puts his arm around me, and I collapse against him with a moan, too weak to talk.  We just sit in silence.  Theo doesn't say a word.