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“Okay.”

David
and Annie jumped up and hugged each other then turned around to hug me. 
David grabbed my hand and started dragging me back to Annie’s room to begin my
ultimate makeover with Annie following closely behind.  My error in
judgment was apparent to me when we entered Annie’s room and David immediately
went for the tweezers.

Oh
god.  What have I gotten myself into?!

“I look
like a five cent hooker!”

The black
haired, red lipped woman that stared back at me from the mirror was a sight to
behold.  Somehow, Annie, David and Matt had found a way to turn me into
one of the tramps that typically hang out at Tomb.  Annie’s collection of
past Halloween costumes turned out to be a treasure trove of the most god awful
skin tight clothing I had ever seen.  David was delighted with the
collection and I griped and complained every time they pulled an article of
clothing out of it.  Most of it was your standard ‘sexy nurse’ or ‘sexy
cop’ or ‘sexy fairytale character’ and was unusable, but David had the
brilliant idea of mixing and matching and throwing together an outfit that I
wouldn’t be caught dead in normally.  Unfortunately for me, I was
outnumbered.  By the time Matt arrived and had also became thrilled with
the project, there was no way I was able to back out.

Once
the three of them had finished poking and prodding and plucking my body into
submission, I was dressed in a skin tight black leather skirt that barely covered
my ass and a bright red halter top that should have been considered illegal to
wear in public.  My body could barely squeeze into the material and I was
shocked that Annie, with her ample curves, had been able to wear them at
all.  They accessorized the ensemble with a pair of four inch stiletto
heels and round silver earrings that I believe could pick up satellite
reception if aimed in the proper direction.

“Oh
shut up, Paige.  You look great.  Daemon will never know it’s
you.”  David stood behind me as he took in my reflection in the mirror.

“I’m
supposed to be inconspicuous, David!  How the hell am I going to blend in
wearing this?!”  My eyes couldn’t take the sight of me anymore so I walked
away from the mirror and sat on Annie’s bed.

“Well,
Matt did an excellent job on your makeup and it’s only for a few hours. 
Everything will be fine.  Now get up and practice walking in those heels
before you go in there and embarrass yourself by breaking your
neck.”   David pulled me off the bed and I almost fell over when my
legs refused to balance on the spiked heels.  The heels made me 6’2” and I
developed vertigo from the added height.

“This
is such a bad idea, David.  There is no way I’m going to be able to pull
this off.”

Annie
gave me her hand to balance me when she said, “Don’t worry so much,
Paige.  You’ll be in and out of there before you know it and you’ll have
your answer about Daemon.  Nobody will know it’s you, so there’s no point
in worrying about looking like a tramp.  Just have fun with it. I’ll be up
there at eleven and I can take over until the bar closes.”

My
nerves were working my body over pretty good and I felt like I would get
physically ill before it was all said and done.  I cannot believe I went
along with this.  I made a mental note to seek counseling as it was
obvious that I hadn’t been myself lately.  First, I agreed to date Daemon,
and now I’m practically stalking him due to my fucked up trust issues. 
This is the exact reason I don’t date.  I’m not cut out for it.

“Look
at the time, you need to move it along, Paige.”  David grabbed my purse
and shoved it in my hand.  I couldn’t take the motorcycle because I was
wearing a wig, so David loaned me his car for the trip.  He handed me his
keys and practically shoved me out the front door.  When the door slammed
behind me, I knew that this was going to go down.

~

Tomb
was unusually busy for a Thursday night.  I glanced at the marquis on the
way into the club and noticed that a band I had not heard of was playing
tonight.  Thankfully, the front line moved quickly and I was able to make
it into the bar without any problems.  I noticed Logan working the right
bar so I went to the left and sat at a barstool in the darkest area I could
find.  My purse sat in my lap as I scanned the crowd in search of
Daemon.  The dance area was packed and the pit was as busy as it had been
the night I met Daemon.  I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to keep
an eye on him due to the amount of people.  The bartender approached me
and I ordered a cranberry vodka drink.  I’m not normally a liquor person,
but the added alcohol content would be useful to calm my nerves.

I
continued to scan the crowd when I spotted Daemon sitting on the speaker where
I had met him.  It appeared as though the band was about to go on stage
and I determined that Daemon was helping himself to a front row seat.  A
trashy blonde was sitting next to him and my body instantly tensed.  She
appeared to be talking to him and he smiled every once in a while in response. 
I gulped down my drink and then caught the attention of the bartender to order
a second one.  I had the feeling this was going to be a long night.

The
band came on as the bartender was handing me my drink and they started to play
a fast paced song that had a dark quality to it. The female singer’s voice was
haunting and melodic and her words invoked a dark sense of desire and intense
need.  I would have thoroughly enjoyed the music if I wasn’t so focused on
Daemon and the wonder-slut sitting next to him.  They weren’t touching or
openly flirting and they had pretty much stopped talking by the time the band
had started playing, but I still couldn’t shake the jealousy that was
tormenting by body.  Homicidal ideations flooded my thought process and I
attempted to calm my reaction by remembering that this was his club and he was
probably just being polite.  It would be ridiculous of me to expect that
Daemon wouldn’t talk to other women while at work and I couldn’t comprehend why
I was freaking out to this extent.  I started employing deep breathing to
calm my nerves and begin to think clearly again.

I
continued throwing down drinks as the band played their set and before I knew
it, an hour had passed and I was tipsy.  My bladder started screaming and
I ventured to the bathroom to take care of that need.  My gait was
extremely unsteady due to the amount of alcohol coursing its way through my
system combined with the four inch heels strapped to my feet.  I somehow
managed to make it to the bathroom without falling and I was proud of myself
for the accomplishment. As I was walking back to the bar, I noticed that Daemon
was no longer on the speaker and I made my way back to the chair I had
previously occupied.  My eyes scanned the crowd again and I located Daemon
standing near the left bar.

He
looked absolutely amazing tonight in a button down slate grey shirt with dark
jeans that hugged his muscular thighs.  His shirt sleeves were rolled up
to his elbows and the shirt was pulled tight across his chest and
shoulders.  He crossed his arms over that broad chest and it burdened the
material of his shirt that much more.  His brown messy hair was perfectly
framing his face and the lighting in the area where he stood created shadows
that accentuated his square jawline and high cheekbones.  I bit my upper
lip just looking at him and heat ran through me when I thought about the night
before. 

“Well,
hello there, Beautiful.  My name is Mark, what’s yours?”

I
turned to find a man who looked to be in his early twenties standing to my
right. His dirty blond hair was worn in a military cut and his clothing was
preppy and appeared to be expensive.  His eyes roamed over my body and his
mouth formed an ‘o’ as he took in my state of dress.  Rolling my eyes at
his attempt to pick me up, a scowl came over my face and I worried that this
could get out of hand.  Ending this encounter quickly was crucial before
my cover was blown.  I plastered my most innocent smile on my face before
I responded.

“Hi
Mark.  Wow, you are cute.  Listen, here’s the deal, I have a really
nasty case of one of the worst STDs known to man, so I’m going to do you a
favor and be up front with you about it before you agree to talk to me any
longer.  My doctor says there’s a one percent chance that I could still
have sex without infecting my partner and I’m here looking for someone who is
willing to take that risk.”  I winked at him. “What do you say,
Mark?  You feeling lucky?”

Mark’s
face instantly dropped when he processed what I finished telling him and he
practically ran from me without another word.  I snickered as I watched
him bump a table in his retreat and disappear from view after taking the stairs
down into the pit.

Score!

Due to
its effectiveness, I filed that line away for future use.  I straightened
up in my chair and looked back towards the left bar to where I had last seen
Daemon standing.  The crowd had become thick in that area and I had to
push up from the chair to look over the mass of people.  Daemon wasn’t
standing in the same location and I hastily looked around to try and locate
him.  The last thing I needed was for Daemon to get close and recognize
who I was.  I continued my search and located him walking over to the
right bar.

Crap!

I
jumped up from my chair and had to steady myself before walking off.  I
kept my head low and crossed through the tables and over the upper level dance
floor.  It was my intent to take a short cut by taking the stairs down and
crossing through the pit. I quickly changed my mind when I remembered I was
walking on stilts.  I took the long way around the pit and made my way
over to a dark area near the left bar.  I had to be careful to stay out of
sight of Logan.

Once I
was situated at a table near the back corner, I looked around to find out where
Daemon had gone.  I spotted him as he walked past the right bar and turned
to go back down into the pit.  He was walking in circles around the club
and I realized that he was just making his rounds as a bouncer.  I relaxed
somewhat at the thought and continued to watch him.  He made it through
the pit and was coming up the stairs to the left bar again.  Once he
reached the top of the stairs he moved back over to the area where he had been
standing previously.  I kicked myself for not having stayed at the right
bar because it was apparent his current location was a favorite place for him
to stand.

Within
five minutes of Daemon stopping, a group of five women approached him. 
Like last time, they were dressed provocatively and they were shamelessly
flirting with him.  Daemon didn’t appear to be interested but he wasn’t
stopping them from touching him and rubbing their hands down his arms as they
were talking to him.  My hands balled into fists as I watched the women
throw themselves at him.  Daemon continued to scan the crowd but smiled
every so often at something one of the women had said.  As his eyes
crossed my path they stopped momentarily and I panicked.  If Daemon
recognized me, I knew he would be pissed and would most likely think I was psychotic. 
It felt like minutes that his eyes were looking in my direction and I kept my
head down to prevent him from making eye contact.

Daemon’s
gaze began to wander again and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been
holding.  My shoulders slumped at the release of tension and I absently
played with the straw in my drink.  I looked back up at Daemon and noticed
that he was flirting with the brunette girl of the group.  She was
standing directly in front Daemon and had one of her hands placed on his chest. 
She twirled her hair with her other hand and the grin on his face made his
dimples pop out.  My heart fluttered at the sight of those dimples but
then dropped when I realized that he must still be seeing other women.  I
guess the whole ‘owning’ thing was a one sided requirement.  When he
leaned down to whisper something in her ear I was convinced and my body slumped
even more from the disappointment.  It was a bad idea to come here, but at
the same time I was thankful I knew the truth about him.  I couldn’t believe
I was foolish enough to think that anything he had said to me was
sincere.  It was apparent that Logan was correct in his assumption that
Daemon had only intended for me to be another notch on his bed post.

I
continued to watch as Daemon and the brunette were talking when he looked over
in my direction again.  I didn’t bother to look down since the likelihood
that he would see me was slim.  He scanned over the table to my right and
when his gaze met mine, his eyes stopped.  He held my stare for a moment and
then winked.

Not
good.

I
immediately broke eye contact with him and looked down as if I was interested
in something in front of me.  The water in my glass had formed a whirlpool
from the speed at which I was twirling my straw.  There’s no way he could have
recognized me and I was trying not to panic.  I looked up again. Daemon
was still looking in my direction but looked down again at the brunette who was
rubbing herself all over him. A smug smirk was on his face and I wanting
nothing more than to walk over there and slap it off of him.  The
brunette’s behavior was disgusting me and I didn’t know how she slept at night
without feeling ashamed of herself.

Since I
now had my answer, there was no point continuing to torture myself.  I
slowly got up from the table and started making my way to the front
doors.  Out of habit, I waved at Logan as I passed and his eyes widened at
the sight of me.

“Paige?” 

Apparently
my costume wasn’t as convincing as my roommates had thought.  I flashed
Logan a quick smile and then continued my path to the front doors without
stopping to explain myself.  I had almost reached the doors when I was
suddenly lifted and thrown over Daemon’s shoulder.