After watching for a few minutes, chin on hands, Summer pushed herself away from the counter and slipped out into the crowd. She moved through the dancers and drinkers, the smokers and singers, easily, barely disturbing them. Sound beat at her ears and skin brushed hers. Someone’s hand touched her shoulder, and an anonymous voice hissed in her ear, “Come play, pretty thing.” She flashed a bland smile and slipped from underneath the fingers, moving deeper into the crowd.
The owner of the club gave Summer a nervous glance as she made her way out of his sight, meshing in with the rest of the crowd. A part of him wanted to follow her, wanted to ensure that she was safe here, but he quickly reminded himself that this was a party; Summer had every right to mingle, just as anyone else here did. And so, he leaned back against the bar and finished his latte before making his way into the crowd. He kept an eye out for her, but he didn’t purposefully follow where she may have gone either; he just sort of wandered around the crowded club, enjoying the atmosphere.
The first few times, it was easy to slide away, letting the momentum of the club sweep her apart from whomever tried to grasp her. Then the invitations began to turn more into demands, until she was having to flare a spark of her disinterest at them. That rapidly ceased to be effective.
She found herself hemmed in, in a darker corner of the club. Only a few of the Fae in that corner were paying attention to her, but it was a type of attention she really didn’t like. Hunger danced in their gazes, and she was not at all sure she’d come out the other end sane — or alive.
The best thing, she found herself thinking, about being intoxicated by people was that there was no need to sober up. Her actions were still hers to control. So when one of the Fae pinned her in grabbed her wrist and smiled, all teeth, she was able to smile back just as sharply and say, “You don’t want to do that.”
But, “I think I do,” came the reply, before she was bodily pinned, and someone bent to bite at her throat.