The Bad Boy And The Mermaid

Chapter 16

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“What’s clubbing? What do I have to do there?” I asked Hannah. I was excited at the prospect of going out somewhere. I was tired to being holed up in the house for an entire week.

Worse all I did was ended up thinking about Hunter. Now I had really made him upset and I had to find a way to apologize but before that I wanted to go out.

“Clubbing is where you will be dancing.”

I shook my head. “I don’t like dancing. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“You will be fine. It’s a club slash bar so there will be a lounge where you can sit and chill if you don’t like dancing. They serve the best tortilla chips and guacamole, and don’t even get me started with their burgers. The club is owned by my friend, you know. Trust me, it will be fun, Blue.” Hannah concluded. She seemed pretty excited and I didn’t want to burst her bubble of happiness with the gloominess that I was feeling myself.

It wouldn’t have to have a little fun, would it? If Hannah said it was going to be fun then I trusted her.

“Okay, let’s do this. Can I wear the Dora the explorer t-shirt that Hunter got me?” I asked.

Hannah laughed. “No way. You’re not a kid, Blue. You’re a woman. And if that wasn’t the case before, it is right now. Leave it to me.”

Hannah then processed to throw her clothes out of the closet and started telling me to dress up in them one after the other. Lastly I was dressed in a short skirt and a white off-shoulders blouse that was low cut and when I looked at myself in the mirror I felt my cheeks burn. I pulled my hair to cover my breasts because Hunter used to say I shouldn’t be showing them off in the public.

“What are you doing?” Hannah said exasperatedly.

“Hunter said I shouldn’t wear something like this outside in public.”

“Yeah not in public but flash all those wonderful boobs to him in private. What an asshole. Here’s a reality check, sweetie, Hunter is just jealous.” She said. “But worry not, this is the last place you will find Hunter going to.”

“Oh.” I felt a bit disappointed. I had thought maybe I could have a glimpse of him.

“Now let me choose a dress for myself and then I’ll do some wonderful things to your eyes. We will leave in thirty minutes.”

Hannah was dressed in a red short dress, her beautiful golden-brown hair tied in a long pony tail. She then sat me down at her dresser and styled my hair in what she called “beach waves” and Smokey eye makeup that made me look BOMB as she put it. When I took a final look in the mirror, I agreed that I looked different. She sprayed some amazing smelling scent on me and handed me a small pouch where I kept my phone and some money.

“Let’s get going.”

* * *

I wasn’t really a fan of Hannah’s driving skills. She drove recklessly, and tried to coax some boys into racing with her. I didn’t understand what was fun about it. I liked being in Hunter’s car. He was a safe driver, which reminded me...

I wanted to learn to drive too.

Finally Hannah parked outside a really fancy looking club called ‘Lucifer’s Den.’ I didn’t like the name of it. I had learned that Lucifer was a fallen angel turned demon, why was this club named after him?

A very angry looking man stood at the entrance of the club door, staring at me. “ID ma’am.”

“She’s with me, Rodney.” Hannah said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Hannah. I didn’t know you had brought a friend.” This time his angry expression dissipated into a smile. I was relieved.

“Is Phoenix at the club tonight?”

“I’m not sure, ma’am. I didn’t see him. I saw Mr. Lockhart accompany his friend though.”

Hannah giggled. “Which one of the Lockhart’s, Rodney? There are a bunch of them.”

“The oldest brother, Max. He’s having some friends over tonight.”

“Yes, I know. He invited me too. Thanks, Rod.” Hannah waved at the big man and led me inside the club.

The place wasn’t something that I had imagined about. It was like walking into a completely different dimension, one that was all shinning and filled with glitter. Huge pink Chrystal chandeliers suspended from the ceilings. Even though the place was dark, the entire club was lit with pink lights that were glowing. I had no idea a place like this existed on earth, and yet Hunter had never even taken me to see it. Sure he had showed me to the malls, amusement parks and cafes but this was different. A group of boys were chatting and drinking from lovely looking glasses. There was a stairwell leading upstairs to people dancing. It looked crowded and I didn’t want to dance.

“Hannah!” I looked into the direction of the voice and saw a tall, attractive man beaming at my friend and making his way towards us.

As soon as the man neared us, Hannah jumped into his arms. “Max! It’s been so long, why haven’t you texted me?”

Max was a tall attractive boy with brown eyes and silver hair. He had a piercing in one ear and lower lip. There was this design that Hunter called a Tattoo on his neck. If I had to speculate his age in the human world, I would say he was the same age as Hunter, around twenty-three.

He looked at me curiously and smiled at Hannah. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

“Oh yes, right.” Hannah said, her cheeks were pink. Did she like this Max boy? “Blue, meet Maximus Lockhart, he’s the owner of this club, hates being called Maximus and Max, this is Blue. She’s a friend who’s….well; she’s on a holiday here.”

Max grinned, “Pleased to meet you, Blue. Any friends of Hannah’s are my friends by default. I hope you enjoy your time at the club.”

“Thank you.” I said shyly.

Max smiled again. “She’s totally beautiful, Hannah. Where is she from?”

I wasn’t sure if I liked him talking about me third person.

“Uh…she’s not from around here.” Hannah said.

“I come from the underwater world.” I said proudly.

Max stared at me in complete silence and then laughed. “You’re funny.”

“Everyone says that.” I said.

“You’re in college?”

“Not really.” I answered.

“Work?”

“Haven’t had a job before, I would love to try one day though. So far, I just eat, sleep, and watch Dora the Explorer.”

Again Max stared for maybe an entire minute and then he was laughing until he had a tear leak through his eye. Hannah stepped lightly on my foot and whispered. “You’re not supposed to say that, Blue”

“I like a girl with a mystery. It just makes me want to solve it all the more.” Max said through all the laugher. “Are you single, love? Wait; don’t answer that because it doesn’t really matter.”

Hannah’s eyes widened. I could sense the fear coming through her in waves and I didn’t understand why. “Max, she’s actually with Hunter.”

“What if she is? It’s not like I’m asking her to be my girlfriend or something, chill Hannah.” Max said and then turned to me. “About the job you were talking about. One of the waitresses bailed on us last minute. I needed someone to cover her shift tonight, just for a few hours. Do you think you can help me out, Blue?”

“What do I have to do?” I asked him curiously.

“Oh, not much actually. Just serve some drinks to my friends, talk to them, hang out with us. I’ll even pay you by the hour.”

“Max!” Hannah said in warning.

I’ll have money to buy anything. I would experience what it was like to do a job and I knew working here would be a really fun.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” I said.

“Blue, it’s not easy working here with men trying to claw at you.” Since the time I had known Hannah, it was the first time that I had seen her this upset over me.

“Relax. I promise that your friend will be in good hands besides, Tyler is here too.”

I watched Hannah relax a little. “Really? When did he come back from London?”

“A few days back.” Max said and put his hand around my waist. “You’ll have to get changed, love. I’ll lead the way.”

I followed Max to a corridor that led to some rooms. Hannah was hot on her heels behind me. I didn’t know why everyone had to act like I couldn’t take care of myself. I wasn’t a child; in fact they were all quite younger than me in mermaid years.

We stopped in a room that looked like a dressing room. A girl with short hair in a bikini was seated on a half-naked boy’s lap. He looked a lot similar to Max, only the boy kissing had dark brown hair instead of silver but the face structure and the eyes were same. I stared at them mesmerized, the way they were kissing, it wasn’t like anything I had seen before. Hunter always kissed me like I was a doll who would break. This looked like they were literally committing a sin. The boy’s hands pressed both her breasts and she moaned loud in his mouth.

They didn’t seem to care we had interrupted them, and continued like we weren’t even standing here.

“What the fuck, Phoenix?!” Max yelled at the two, picked up a piece of discarded clothing and threw it at the couple. “And I’ve been wondering all evening where my waitress was hiding. I almost thought she left the job.”

The boy named Phoenix turned his glare towards Max, putting the girl back on her feet. “I was bored.”

“If you’re bored, there are plenty of women outside in the club who would be more than willing to be at the receiving end of your affections. I didn’t need you stealing my employees, too.”

The short haired girl began wiping her lipstick and putting on her clothes hastily. “I’m so sorry, sir. This won’t happen again.”

Max smiled. “Sure, it won’t, sweetie, because you’re fired.”

She appeared shocked, “Phoenix say something…”

The handsome boy just wore a t-shirt over that perfect set of abs, “What can I say, Holly, you knew my brother’s rules when you took up the job. You flashed me your super-hot body and indulged me. Can’t really blame me, can you?” He said it in such a cold way that I was surprised the girl hadn’t started crying. If Hunter kissed me like that and feigned indifference later, I would have broken down crying.

Holly’s face turned hot. “You…” she pointed an accusing finger at Phoenix and then rested it on Max, “You Lockhart brothers are fucking demons! You may be wealthy, but it’s no wonder none of you have any real happiness in your lives.”

The poor waitress stormed out of the room, closing the door with a loud bang.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” Phoenix asked wearing his clothes. “All this wealth, and power, and we still have absolutely nothing. The curse follows us everywhere. You may as well call her back.”

“I don’t need her. I need a waitress that’s immune to your charms.” Max retorted.

Phoenix’s eyes rested over me for a second before he passed me and walked out of the room. I liked to believe he went after the girl. Max followed my eyes and shrugged. “Sorry I couldn’t introduce you to my younger brother. He’s moody most of the time, but you don’t have anything to worry about. I will tell him you’re off limits.”

“You are a demon?” I asked.

Hannah laughed behind me. Again, I failed to understand the joke. Max had an amused expression on his face. “Well, not technically but that’s what people like to call us.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Trust me, love, you don’t wanna know.”

I made a mental note to ask Hannah about it later. Max handed me a cute apron and briefed me about what I was supposed to do as a waitress. I just had to serve drinks and chat with a group of boys.

Huh. That sounded easy enough.

When Max left us alone in the room, Hannah turned to me. “I don’t think you should have agreed to this, Blue.”

“Why not?” I asked her.

“Um…anyway, if Hunter finds out I brought you here, we may have a problem. I’m sure he won’t be here, but just in case you do see him, I want you to hide.” Hannah said.

I gave her a nod. “Alright. I can do that. I’ll hide under the table.”

Hannah laughed. “Also, I’ll warn you to keep a distance from the Lockharts, the brothers are a little toxic if you get involved. Max is nice, there’s the brooding one you saw before, Phoenix and the youngest, Travis, who is still a kid. They also have a cousin who is older than the three, he is Tyler Lockhart.” She looked around, as if making sure the walls weren’t listening to all the gossip. “The family is known to be cursed, you know.”

This was super interesting. My eyes lit up. I loved horror stories, especially after Hunter told me one about a cursed doll. “What do you mean cursed? I thought humans couldn’t be cursed.”

Hannah lowered her voice. “Well, for instance the women they date, something bad always seems to happen to them. People are easily attracted to the brothers, but it’s almost like there’s something dark residing within each of the brothers. They are one of the richest families around here and yet, they are cursed.”

“That sounds awful. Well, don’t worry. I’m not scared of them.”

“Well, Tyler is…”

“Did I just hear my name?”

The door opened all the way and in walked a tall man, early twenties with dark raven hair and blue eyes that kind of looked like turquoise. He was so handsome, almost otherworldly. Of course I thought Hunter was better looking, but if I hadn’t been so infatuated with Hunter, I could see myself liking this man. While Hunter was roguish, Tyler had a lean yet elegant built.

“I’m sure we’ve never met.” He said in an accent I couldn’t exactly place. “Is this your new friend that my cousins are gossiping about?”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “How many years has it been since you left to study in the UK?”

“Seven years.” He answered.

“Tyler Lockhart, this is Blue, and Blue, meet Tyler. I should warn you…” There was a teasing tone to Hannah’s voice. “Tyler is the most dangerous one out of the lot. I’d tell you to be very careful of this one.”

She was teasing but there was a serious undertone to it.

Tyler grinned and raised his hand towards me, giving me a smile. I placed my hand in his and his warm lips touched my knuckled briefly. “Delighted to make your acquaintance.”

“Lovely to meet—”

It was like I touched his soul. I saw darkness.

Pitch Black.