Karizma
Chapter 3: Ryleigh

Ryleigh’s fingers flew across the buttons on the DJ table, then stroked the records as the rave music blasted even louder. Her noise canceling headphones assisted in dulling the intensity of the music. She was wearing a blue halter top with a pair of skinny jeans and knee-high suede boots. Her long crimson hair spilled over her exposed breasts as she danced to the music that she created. She wore a genuine smile as she watched the bodies around the table writhe as the strobe colors washed out their auras. It was almost like being truly human for a moment; the strobe lights severely impacted the auras of everyone around her, their natural auras drowned out by artificial auras. She could still see a faint outline of white for each human, but it was dimmed. The human guarding her was a bouncer named Kaleb. She trusted him very quickly as his white aura mingled with orange, a sign of protection. He was taking his job of ensuring her safety very seriously, and not one human between him and the table even attempted to breach the barrier. Kaleb was a rather large human that made Ryleigh’s small frame even more recognized.

Ryleigh noticed Kaleb’s muscles ripple through his back as someone in the crowd stumbled forward. The human quickly corrected himself, and Kaleb relaxed slightly. Ryleigh smirked as she continued to dance to her music. She appreciated that her physique made her appear small and helpless, it was a comfort when she could defend herself against someone who thought that she could not do so. Her magic aside, Ryleigh and Bailey had also taken martial arts classes with Ryleigh’s impending birthday. Bailey briefly mentioned celebrating Ryleigh’s birthday, but Ryleigh was undecided. A birthday should be a celebration, but she also knew that it also made her a target. Not to mention, she was not trying to be around her sister for at least a week after her birthday to keep her sister safe.

Ryleigh’s magic crackled under her skin suddenly. She flinched as her magic pounded against her head and sharply jerked her head up. Her eyes landed on the second floor of the club that was sheathed with a railing of knotted metal. She saw three men standing and engaging in pleasantries with handshakes. Vampires, she realized. Their black auras were hard to see in the darkness of the club, but the flashes of color from the strobe lights accented their auras just enough to make them detectable. She wondered how long they had been present in the club. My magic should have told me sooner, she thought. One of the vampires was taller than the other two, and his aura appeared even darker than theirs. He had blonde hair and was dressed in a suit that barely restrained the muscles underneath from bursting through. He did not possess the large clusters of muscles that Kaleb flaunted, but the vampire definitely would have been a fair challenge against Kaleb, had he been human himself. The other two vampires’ black auras were lighter than his, and neither vampire was as physically built as he was.

Ryleigh studied the male vampires curiously. The two vampires that the one in the suit was meeting with were slightly shorter than he was and did not display a swell of muscles like he did. The other two were dressed more casually than the suit vampire was, both of them wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She noticed that one of the vampires had blonde hair, while the other had brown hair. They had their backs facing her as they conversed with the suit vampire, which gave her full view of the suit vampire. His brown eyes were somehow bright in the darkness of the club, almost an auburn color, and his chiseled jaw relaxed as a small smile played against his lips. He was breathtaking. She was sure that the other two vampires would be beautiful as well; vampirism eliminated any flaws in the skin and preserved a youthful physique for their immortality. But this one is different, she thought. Something about him ignited a response in her magic. Judging by the severity of his aura, he is more than likely the most dangerous vampire out of the three. She had learned that a darker aura in a supernatural being was a result of the intensity of the being itself; the other two vampires were not as much of a threat as the one in the suit.

Ryleigh’s skin seared as her magic crackled again. All three vampires immediately tensed. Ryleigh cursed under her breath and quickly shifted her eyes back to the dancing humans on the floor. She knew that the vampires would sense her as she had sensed them, but her magic amplifying defensively was not assisting in her attempt to not draw attention to herself. Vampires would smell her, but her scent was not overly strong; the vampires would be aware that there was a witch somewhere in the club but would not be able to locate her until they were in her proximity. With her magic pulsating and crackling, it was amplifying her scent, which meant she would be easier to replace.

Ryleigh’s magic tickled suddenly, and she knew that at least one of the vampires had found her. She kept her eyes trained on the DJ table as her fingers worked the table effortlessly. She focused on the dull music through her headphones as she tried to distract herself. She forced her mind to wander, and it drifted to her sister as a distraction. She felt her magic begin to calm itself, and she exhaled internally.

Ryleigh felt the attention of the vampires shift away from her, and this time she exhaled externally. She may have been found, but it was easy enough to stay away from fellow club patrons when she was restricted to a table with a guard. Patrons could not approach the table, and she could not leave it. She was not afraid of vampires, but she would do her best to avoid them. They will be hunting me soon enough, she thought. I shouldn’t make it any easier for them.

Kaleb rolled his shoulders, and Ryleigh smirked suddenly. Kaleb was a rather attractive human, and she would rather focus on that piece of eye candy than allow her eyes to wander back to the vampires upstairs. She felt her magic try to pry her eyes away from Kaleb to settle back on the suit vampire, but she fought against it. She could not deny that the suit vampire was drop dead gorgeous, but she would not allow herself to admit that she was attracted to him, either. Refusing to admit attraction to a species that was promised to radiate desire and sexual prowess was almost harder for her to do than mastering her magic. It was like the vampire species had their own magic that drew others to them with an irresistible pull. She had been rather well at not indulging in admiring them, but there was something about suit vampire that triggered her curiosity and caused her magic to spark.

Ryleigh allowed her eyes to flicker back to the second floor, and she saw that the three vampires had settled into some couches that were offered on the floor. She cursed under her breath. They intended to stay for a while. Should have figured that when they accessed the VIP floor of the club, she thought foolishly. That means that they are regular patrons to the club, or, at the very least, investors in it. Fuck, I’m going to have to quit, she realized suddenly. Her birthday will make her a target to vampires, and her employment at the club will help the vampires track her down. She had a few more weeks before her birthday, which meant that she would have to resume job hunting now to have a place to switch to before the warding fell off. The alternative would be that she could enact a cloaking spell on herself.

Ryleigh bit her lip at that contemplation. She had learned the spell but had never tried it. She did not want to hide behind a shield, she much preferred fighting the vampires head on; she intended on killing every last vampire that tracked her down so that she could give her sister a true life, a true chance at living past twenty-three. Ryleigh was positive that she would not live to see her twenty-fourth birthday. If she succeeded in slaughtering most of the vampire species, she was sure that one of them would be able to replace her and achieve revenge. But Bailey would have a chance, she thought.

We could have a chance, she corrected herself suddenly. If I can master this cloaking spell, we could have a real chance at living past twenty-three. Ryleigh’s magic crackled again, and she closed her eyes as her hands continued to work the table, as her body danced to the music like the humans in the club. Her magic approved of the idea, of course, but there was one flaw with the cloaking spell; it required constant magical fuel. Her magic would not be allowed to rest, it would need to constantly cast the spell upon her person for protection, which is why her ancestors never used it. Sleep would be rendered almost impossible unless she had herbs strong enough to drown out the scent of her own blood for protection. She would have to master her magic consistently running in the background of her life, rather than just tapping into it when necessary. Exhaustion washed over her suddenly at the mere thought of her magic straining all day, every day, for the rest of her life.

Ryleigh opened her eyes and smiled as she watched the humans around her dance. She smiled as she watched Kaleb tense again, and the smell of alcohol filled the air. She enjoyed her current employment, and part of her enjoyed making music that filled people with joy and the need to physically react to it. She had planned her entire life on not surviving after twenty-three, but what if she could? She laughed suddenly and energized her own dancing as she switched to a faster, more upbeat techno song, which was greeted by cheers. I could be the first of my ancestors to live a life, to grow old, maybe even fall in love. She had indulged in sexual urges but had not permitted herself to fall in love; she was going to be dead soon enough, she would not need to put that emotional turmoil on someone else. What have I got to lose by attempting this cloaking spell? She thought. Worst case, I die after I turn twenty-three, right on schedule.