Excerpt 1:
A tremendous gust of wind came out of nowhere, blowing the umbrella out of her hands. She debated whether she should run the rest of the way home or chase after it when there was a sudden pull at her core in the direction her umbrella went. The sensation was strange, but her legs strode of their own accord toward the umbrella. She would usually fight this kind of enchantment, but her curiosity got the best of her. She wanted to know where it was leading her. It had to be an Allure of Soul’s charm, similar to the one found on the website, except this felt different. The pull was stronger than any charm she had experienced before.
She let the compelling force at her core lead her to the front of the double doors of an old industrial building. It looked like it was a nightclub. Picking up her umbrella, she saw a sign above the doors that read: Moarte.
Interesting. So this is Moarte. Club Death. Typical of vampires to name their club “Death.”
Strange creatures.
Realizing it had stopped raining, she folded up the umbrella. She must have become swept up in the enchantment because of the storm. Magic had a mind of its own sometimes. The weather constantly messed with enchantments, especially with lure charms.
Turning to walk away since the allure had done its job and got her here, she found her feet wouldn’t leave.
“What the hell?” She struggled to leave, thinking it was a fluke. She tried moving toward the door instead of away, and it worked. Then she tried to turn away again. Her feet wouldn’t move forward.
Fighting the enchantment became harder the longer she stood, so she gave in. Stepping up to the doors, she touched the handle. An image flashed through her mind.
It was too quick for her to see. A warm, familiar sensation washed over her, pulling at her memory. It ran through her body, brushing against her soul, then vanished as quickly as it came. She pulled on the door. It wouldn’t budge. She could unlock it, but there was a magical ward, and she didn’t want to risk drawing attention to herself by blasting off the door to a vampire club.
Vampires and witches were still mortal enemies. Even with the law outlawing the killing of witches in place, vampires were to be avoided.
This time, when she turned to leave, nothing stopped her. Her feet moved forward without incident.
Her thoughts traveled in a million different directions.
The first being, what the hell kind of enchantment was that if it wasn’t a lure charm? There were other enchantments that vampires used specifically to lure their victims into their clubs. It shouldn’t have affected her, at least not this strongly. She could blame it on the rain. Another possibility was something else was leading her there.
Following clues to her past wasn’t always easy. She went into many of her leads blind and knowing she would come out with disappointment. She always told herself she had at least had to try. Her instincts were telling her there was a clue in the club.
Walking up the stairs to her apartment, she knew they would go to Moarte tonight.
No… I couldn’t let that happen. She had followed too many clues already. Tonight was going to be about fun and doing something different. Remember: new energy in the air.
Though this differed from her dreams and nightmares, she had never seen a glimpse of memory before or that warm sensation. It never happened when she was awake before.
No, she wouldn’t think about it. Tomorrow was another day. She would chase it tomorrow.
She did this to herself all the time. All it did was add to her stress.
She promised herself she wouldn’t go anywhere near the club tonight
