Sui Generis – 51

 

Lew was stopped at the entrance by two doormen who wouldn't allow him inside until they'd seen his ID and patted him down. With nothing to hide—no drugs, no alcohol—he allowed it and paid the cover charge.

Once inside, he saw that there were several stages scattered around the huge room, DJs on each one. As if that wasn't enough, the place was packed with young men and women dancing while talking at the top of their voices to be heard above the electronic music spewing from each of the venues.

If you can call that music. The flashing lights, the noise, assaulted his sensitive eyes and nose. How the hell am I going to find her in this… mess? Nightclubs are a snap compared to this.

He moved his way through the crowd, deftly avoiding the dancers, searching for Alanna. For all that the doormen had patted him down, he figured they must have missed a lot on some of the kids because he could smell weed and alcohol and from the glazed looks on some of the kids' faces, there were other club drugs being passed around.

"Hey, handsome."

Lew looked down at the be-ringed hand on his arm and then at the scantily dressed young woman it belonged to and arched an eyebrow.

"Wanna dance?" she asked.

"Sorry, I'm with someone," he replied, lifting her hand off his arm.

"Bummer." She moved away, homing in on another male who seemed to be on his own.

::Any luck?:: Randulf asked.

::Not yet. This is like hunting for a needle in a damned haystack.::

Lew finally made it to the relative safety of one side of the room. Looking up, he saw a narrow balcony then located the stairs to get to it. He managed to make it up there with only two more young women coming on to him in the process. One of them called him 'Daddy', which he found vaguely amusing. He might not look twenty, but for sure he wasn't in the over-thirty range either. At least not visually.

Leaning on the balcony railing, Lew studied the crowd on the dance floor. He knew for a fact that Alanna wouldn't pass for a kid. Twenty-five, maybe, but definitely no younger. Unfortunately, interspersed in and among all the youngsters there were a small percentage of slightly older women and men. Reliving their college days. He chuckled in amusement.

"Depressing, isn't it?" a dulcet-toned voice said from beside him.

"Being one of the old ones here, relatively speaking?" he replied as he turned to see who was talking to him.

Blue-lavender eyes met his amber ones, glinting with amusement. "Yep. We're close to being old codgers." Even if he hadn't seen photos of her, he would have known it was Alanna just from the eye color. She used her hip to nudge him over enough so she could join him at the railing.

"Not even close, at least in your case." He raked his gaze over her and smiled.

"You're hardly in your dotage yourself," she replied, doing the same. "The question is, why are you here if you feel out of place?"

"A dare?" He chuckled, improvising quickly. "My younger brother was telling me about a rave he went to in LA and when I let him know I'd never been to one—well, as I said, he dared me to check them out. So here I am. I must say I'm not terribly impressed."

"I only come because I find them amusing," Alanna said. "All the kids—and they are just kids—trying to act so world-wise. For instance, look at that group." She pointed and for the next few minutes, they compared notes on what they thought of the rave attendees.

Finally, apparently tired of the game, she asked, "Do you smoke?" When Lew looked at her a bit askance she laughed. "Cigarettes, not anything else, although I'm sure we could get a joint or a blunt if we had a mind to."

"I don't, but if you're having a nicotine fit, we can go outside so you can indulge yourself."

"Exactly why I asked. I'd rather not stand out there on my own. You never know what sort of creeps are hanging around."

Like you.

"Too true, I'm afraid." He nodded toward the stairs and followed her down them, admiring the sensual sway of her hips. Too bad she's what she is. Or maybe… Maybe it's a good thing? His thoughts instantly went to Randulf and sadness overwhelmed him. If only things were different perhaps I could make amends. But—he sighed deeply—he hates me too much. He'd never believe I meant it, so it won't happen, Mag's wishes to the contrary. He smiled morosely, and continued down the stairs behind Alanna.