Chapter 1

The lights pulsed and lasers flashed. My heart pounded in time to the rhythm of the music. I had arrived wearing my brand new outfit, a silver tube top and matching bottoms. I was wearing big hoops and platform sandals, too.

I couldn’t believe I had actually made it into the Vagabond Bar. My aunt and uncle, the cool ones from SoCal, had been telling me about it for months. They told my mom they were taking me to a concert. Little did they know, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Linda had been busy making me a fake ID.

Tonight, I was Elizabeth Morton and I was 22 years old. I didn’t stop to wonder if this Elizabeth really existed or if my aunt and uncle had invented my new identity entirely.

I remember how Linda had smiled, almost like Mom except prettier, as she put a big pair of silver hoops in my ears in some convenience store bathroom. My mom was strict and she never would have let me wear an outfit like this, let alone sneak into a bar. But for some reason, my mom trusted her sister and her sister’s new husband to take care of me that night.

“You look gorgeous, honey. I could just eat you up.” She said, with a giggle. I shyly took the compliment as she smeared the black eyeshadow on my eyelids to achieve that smoky look I’d wanted.

“You think so?”

She nodded and patted me on the shoulder. “Now, remember, Jessie, tonight you go by Liz, ok? This is very important.”

“Right, Auntie Linda.”

We got back into Jeff’s old truck where he was already drinking a can of beer. That should have tipped me off that the evening wasn’t going to end well, but I was naïve and believed him when he said he drove better a little buzzed. To be honest, I was probably just too afraid of him to argue. One time I’d asked him not to blow his cigarette smoke in my face and he’d pushed me against a wall pretty hard and staggered away. But Linda said it was just depression and after a while I got used to his moods.

So maybe that was why I still got into their truck that night- because I was naïve. Or maybe I just wanted to have a little fun. Jeff was blasting the Grateful Dead. I found their music a bit boring, but not horrible, I guess.

We pulled up to this place in the middle of nowhere- all around was sagebrush and night sky. On the outside, the place was pretty small but Jeff and Linda had told me the underground part was expansive. That was where all the fun happened.

We went down a dark, steep staircase and then came to the ballroom. There was a small bar on the first floor but the basement had a huge one. I had never had alcohol before so I asked Linda what I should get. I expected her to recommend some girly cocktail or maybe a wine cooler, light beer, something like that. But no- she went straight to tequila.

“Will you come with me to order it? What if they don’t believe I’m really Elizabeth- Liz?”

“Oh trust me, sweetie. The bartender won’t give you any trouble. He’s my ex-boyfriend, he knows not to mess with me and my family.”

That caught me off guard. Hadn’t her ex gone to jail a few years back on assault charges? Well, at least Linda was coming with me. For whatever reason, she seemed to think he was trustworthy so I just followed along and didn’t argue. Looking back, I wish I hadn’t been so trusting.

We walked up to the bar and Linda ordered me a shot of tequila. The bartender smiled at me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. “Hey sweetie.” He said. Looking at Linda he asked, “Who’s this, a friend of yours?”

All Linda said was, “Oh, Liz? She’s new here.” I thought that was a pretty weird answer. I was sure he would be confused, and maybe have some follow up questions for his ex-girlfriend, but as soon as she’d said it, his face changed. It went from curious/flirtatious to completely blank. The dark eyes which nested deep in his fleshy bald head betrayed nothing.

“It’s on the house.” He said in a flat tone, pushing the shot glass my way. I was about to thank him when I noticed Linda had disappeared. I made my way through the crowd to try and find her and noticed most of the people here seemed to be around Jeff and Linda’s age. I wondered where Jeff was. I hadn’t even seen him since we walked in. There were a few young people scattered about and I swallowed the tequila quickly, hoping it would make me brave enough to try and socialize.

I immediately regretted it. I choked and coughed from the sheer strength of the drink. Why had my aunt Linda recommended this stuff to a total beginner? I shook my head and a nice-looking young man came up to me with a glass of water. He introduced himself as Nathaniel.

“I’m Liz,” I said, awkwardly putting out my hand. Were you supposed to shake hands? Was I being too formal?

“Nice to meet you Liz.” To my surprise, instead of taking my hand, he softly stroked my bare shoulder. For a second, I clammed up, wondering what to say and then he just laughed. For some reason, his sweet melodious laugh put me at ease. “Sorry, I think I drank a little too much already.” He said, taking his hand away again. I nodded as if I understood but I really didn’t.

Then he leaned in close and whispered in my ear. It gave me that tingly feeling down my spine and I shivered a little. “I’m not actually old enough to drink but don’t tell anybody.” he said.

I laughed, relieved. “Me neither.” I said, smiling. I didn’t tell him my real name. There seemed no reason to.

“Ok, that makes me feel better.” He said. “Wanna dance?” He was pulling on my arm like I didn’t really have a choice. The dance floor was huge. They were playing one of my favorite songs that I remembered from middle school. I figured Nathaniel might remember it, too.

“I love this one!” I shouted enthusiastically over the pounding beat. He looked at me blankly for a fraction of a second and then nodded as if in recognition. “Oh yeah, me too.” He said quickly.

After a couple of songs he asked if he could get me another drink and I was feeling bold so I said yes. He brought me another shot of tequila. There was something about the way the stuff made me feel that I liked, even if the taste made me feel like I was breathing in noxious fumes or something. It wasn’t until I’d gulped it down that he informed me it had been a double shot. At first I was scared, thinking he was trying to get me so drunk I wouldn’t know what was going on around me.

But he told me if I didn’t feel well we could go sit down. I felt fine but I agreed. Maybe talking was better than dancing for right now. We were about to sit at a booth way at the back of the room, which was really dark, when this other guy came up to us and interrupted. He looked to be about thirty. Turning to Nathaniel he said, “Hey buddy, are you the one with the white Pontiac Firebird- looks like a 90s model?”

Nathaniel said that was his car and the man told him he’d left his lights on. Nathaniel looked at me briefly and then he walked out of the building without saying anything.

This new guy didn’t try to touch me or pull me to do anything. He just said he had something important to tell me. We went and stood by a wall in the back. “This is really important.” He said, his dark eyebrows furrowing. “Don’t have anything else to drink tonight.”

“Who are you? My mom?” I asked, laughing in an almost giddy manner. At this point, I was starting to miss Nathaniel. This dude was kind of a drag.

He shook his head. “Look kid, I could care less if you get blackout drunk tonight. That’s not my problem. Yes, that’s right, I called you a kid. You’re not fooling anybody. But Nathaniel clearly fooled you.”

My ears kinda perked up when I heard the name but immediately my heart sank. “What do you mean?”

“He’s older than he says he is. He’s a regular here. I can’t tell you who I am or how I know but I’m sure you’ll be able to make some guesses.”

“How old is he then?”

“Nobody knows for sure. But if I had to guess, I’d say he’s at least 35.”

“What? No way! He doesn’t look a day over 20.” I thought back to his clean-cut look, neatly groomed blond hair, and winning smile.

This new man I was speaking to sighed. “I would just tell you to leave but I have a feeling you’re the type that wouldn’t listen without some kind of an explanation first.”

He was right, I wouldn’t. I was starting to feel pretty dizzy so I asked to sit down at one of the deeply shadowed booths. Dance music pulsed and pounded through my head. We continued our conversation. Nobody seemed to want to bother us. I could see my aunt and uncle leading another young girl on to the dance floor but I didn’t think much of it.

“You see,” the man said, “There are three types of people at the Vagabond bar.” I leaned forward deliriously. “There are?” I said, in mock surprise. I guess tequila made me sarcastic.

He shook his head in annoyance. “I’m serious. There are three types of people. Number one are Recruiters like your so-called aunt and uncle over there.” He nodded his head in their general direction.

So-called aunt and uncle? And how did he know that? Had he been watching us the whole time? I wondered.

“They bring new people in to the bar.” He continued. My mind flashed back to my aunt Linda telling the bartender how I was new here.

“Then- I’m not really sure what to call them, or what they would call themselves, but there are those like your friend Nathaniel who just try to get young people like you into the partying mood.”

I thought it was weird that this man felt the need to categorize the people who frequented the Vagabond Bar but nothing in particular seemed off about what he’d said so far. What he said next shocked me.

“In exchange for new blood, these people are given youth.”

I blinked. I was trying to remember if I’d been watching any horror movies lately. Maybe the tequila was giving me auditory hallucinations.

“New…blood?”

“That brings me to you. The sacrifices-“

Before he could say anything else, my uncle Jeff came up and started hassling the guy about something. My memory is really hazy here because I was stuck on the last word the guy with the thick eyebrows had said- sacrifices. I could see Jeff poking the dude in the chest and getting real angry but my aunt came up and swept me back up onto the dance floor. I had a bad feeling about it but at that moment I was like a little rag doll that about anybody could manipulate.

I could see now that Nathaniel was back in the building. He was pouring some type of liquor from a bottle down a redhead girl’s throat right in the middle of the dance floor. She started giggling and some of the amber colored liquid came spurting out of her bright red lips. When Nathaniel saw this, he lunged forward and slapped the girl hard right in the face.

I felt hands covering my eyes. I smelled gardenia perfume. Aunt Linda. “Don’t worry about them.” She whispered in my ear. “It’s just a lover’s quarrel.” Then with one hand still over my eyes she led me to a different part of the dance floor. When I was allowed to look around at my surroundings again, I couldn’t see Nathaniel or his redheaded “lover” anymore.

I actually forgot about them for a little while. Some of my favorite dance music started playing and I really got into the groove. A circle of people formed around me and cheered me on so loudly I almost didn’t hear the screams. Yet there they were. It was coming from somewhere in the middle of the floor. I’m sure people tried to stop me somehow, but eventually I made my way to the place of the terrifying sounds’ origin.

There was a gaping maw in the center of the floor. When I say gaping I mean it was about 15 feet wide at least. Everyone was standing back and watching now. There was Nathaniel near the edge of the dark sinkhole (which I was pretty sure had not been there before) and by his feet I could see something bright red. He was kicking at it. I wiped my eyes and I could see he was kicking at that redheaded girl.

The bottom of her red dress was in shreds and I could see her black lacy underwear. The red lipstick was smeared all around her mouth. She looked like something out of a serial killer movie- like an unfortunate murder victim, but she was still alive. He wasn’t just kicking her, he was kicking her closer and closer toward that impossible singularity. I saw her foot drop partially into the hole and one of her black high-heeled pumps fell inside. Her foot still dangled just above the edge. She screamed a shrill, ear-piercing scream. “NOOOOO!”

I don’t know why I still stood there watching but I guess I just felt like I couldn’t move. People had different reactions to what was going on. Some people were laughing hysterically, as if it was just some kind of prank. There were some couples, like Jeff and Linda, who were passionately kissing- kissing like the world was ending and it was their last chance. Nearly swallowing each other’s faces. My stomach churned. Some guy was clapping. And there I was, glued to the spot, unable to move. I don’t think I even blinked.

As Nathaniel kicked the girl (not very hard mind you) she writhed and squirmed. I thought hopefully that maybe she could worm away from him somehow. Deep down, I knew it was impossible. She was in no shape to get away. Nathaniel had had enough of her resistance. It only took one swift, hard kick to the head with his patent leather shoes for the girl to hurtle screaming into the gaping void beyond. Yet, as soon as she had fallen in completely, the screams cut off like someone had just turned off the sound. Even the gaping maw itself had disappeared. The ground had a wavy appearance to it and then it stabilized again. It looked like nothing had even happened.

In the split second after she had gone in, I glanced at Nathaniel and noticed the smallest change in his face. His once well-defined cheekbones had morphed into something slightly fleshier, more youthful. He looked like a kid- almost, but not quite. Somewhere in between child and man.

Jeff slapped a strong, dirty hand on my shoulder. If I’d been sober, maybe I’d have bitten it and ran. As it was, my knees were knocking. They buckled and I could no longer stand. “It’s your turn.” He whispered, starting to drag me across the floor.

“No!” I cried out, tears rolling down my face and blurring my vision. It was too late. There was nothing I could do to save myself. I simply wasn’t strong enough. Instead of kicking at me, Jeff just pushed me toward the edge as I shook and sobbed uncontrollably. An image of my mother flashed through my mind. What were they going to tell my mother? Oh god, they would probably tell her there had been some kind of accident or something. Would she believe them?

I felt some indescribable force pulling at my leg, trying desperately to rend it from my body. I screamed as I felt everything below my left knee disconnect from that joint. I let out a blood-curdling scream. I couldn’t look. I didn’t want to see blood, I didn’t want to see bone, I didn’t want to see anything. “HELLLPPP MEEEE!” I screamed.

I felt another force, this time more tangible, pulling at me, and then flopping me over its shoulder like the broken ragdoll I’d become. After that I blacked out, from the pain as much as from sheer exhaustion.

I awoke in a cold white room with blankets covering my body. I noticed there were no windows. I was in some kind of hospital bed and I had IV fluids coming in through a vein in my arm. I couldn’t even feel my left leg. Or should I say that I couldn’t feel anything in that knee?

Whatever this place was, it wasn’t exactly a hospital. I recognized the man with the dark eyebrows sitting at a desk a couple feet away from the foot of my bed. “So you’re awake.” He said grimly.

I stared at him. “You- you saved me. Why me? What about the-“ I gulped. I couldn’t even mention her. That girl I’d seen. It hurts enough just typing about it now.

He shrugged his wide shoulders, which were covered by a well-fitting dark suit jacket. “Guess you just got lucky.”

He could tell I didn’t like that answer. “Nobody messes with Nathaniel. I’m telling you, I like a good fight more than anyone but even me and a couple of my guys wouldn’t dare try and take him on.”

I understood now that this guy must be some kind of special agent. “You saved my life- and I don’t even know what to call you.” I said shakily.

“Well Liz,” he said, knowing full well that wasn’t my real name, “I don’t really give out my name but if you must think of me sometime, you can think of me as Mr. Black.” The smirk he gave me was the closest thing I’d seen to a smile on his face at that point. But beneath the sardonic façade, I saw something else. I saw the black stubble which now grew on his chin, more than somebody could grow in just one night. I saw the dark circles under his deep-set yet wide brown eyes. Who knew how long he’d sat at that desk watching and waiting for me to wake up?

I didn’t mention it, knowing if I had he would’ve said he was simply doing his job.

“Well, now that you’re awake, I have some other things to attend to. But you have plenty of time to kill, so you might as well read this.” He flopped a manila envelope down next to me on the bed and left the room, closing the door behind him. I heard a clicking sound which told me he was also locking it from the outside.

I opened the folder and took out a thick packet of paper. Flipping through it, I noticed that some lines, paragraphs even, had been blacked out. I came to a picture of the people I’d been calling Jeff and Linda, printed in greyscale. Underneath it were their real names. I couldn’t believe it. Then I saw more pictures. In these ones, Linda looked completely different. A post-it note was stuck to the top of the last page. Mr. Black (I presume) had scrawled onto it in a slanting script, “Amazing what makeup can do, isn’t it?”

Not only that, but she was about 20 pounds heavier in this picture and her hair was different too. Jeff looked pretty much the same except he had facial hair and was completely bald. It seemed this phony Jeff and Linda had not only fooled my mother but had also been grooming me for months to come with them to this flesh-eating underground bar. Now that I thought about it, it was kind of weird that they’d decided to come and stay with us out of the blue when Mom hadn’t seen or heard from her sister Linda in years. I had so many questions and I really just wanted to see my mom again but I was exhausted.

When I opened my eyes again, Mr. Black was back. He’d had a shave and his face was just a little brighter, although by no means jolly. Even though he was a good 10-12 years older than me, he did seem kinda young to have so much authority, or at least such a secretive position. I kinda hoped somehow he’d been able to get a little rest himself.

But I didn’t spend too much time worrying about him. “These pain meds are really hurting my stomach.” I said. Mr. Black graciously grabbed a bucket from somewhere underneath his desk and placed it at my side.

“You know, if you need to barf.” He said, awkwardly gesturing toward it. Then he sat back down.

A wave of crippling nausea came and went. Then I had a question for him. “When can I see my mom again?”

He wasted no time or energy on sugarcoating things. “You can’t. You’ll have to stay here until your wound starts healing and after that you’ll probably need rehabilitation of some kind.”

“Do I get a robotic leg?” I joked groggily.

“I have no idea. That’s not really my department. But after that, we’ll have to place you somewhere and give you a new identity. You won’t be allowed to contact anyone from your old life.”

“You mean like Witness Protection?”

“No, trust me, we’re much worse than those guys.” He actually grinned when he said this. He clearly thought he was funny but I didn’t exactly get the joke. After that, he promised someone would come in eventually and give me some broth or something to keep my strength up.

And so here I am, in what I assume is some kind of government-funded top secret rehabilitation center, waiting on a prosthetic leg which I am told will take some getting used to. It kinda sounds like I may have to relearn how to walk. I’ve been getting around in a wheelchair for the time being. Mr. Black comes and visits me from time to time even though he has very gravely informed me he’s not actually the one assigned to my case anymore.

Once I actually broke down and told him I was scared to live on my own and never see my mom again. He just weakly patted me and said bluntly, “You’ll be fine.” It may sound unkind, but coming from the person who saved my life, it was almost comforting.

Well, there’s not much else to tell but I will mention I did change the names in here, even the fake ones. Well, except for Mr. Black. I don’t think that one is going to give much away. I’m almost afraid I’ve given away too many details of my story. I live in fear of one of the people involved finding out where I am. To be honest, I’m not even sure where I am. There is an enclosed courtyard here, but other than that I’m not really allowed outside. That’s fine by me, though.

If you guys wanna hear more from me, I might update once I figure out what’s happening in my life next. Oh and a couple more things- number one should be obvious: DO NOT GO TO THE VAGABOND BAR! Not even with somebody you trust, not even with a relative. Number two- I never want to so much as smell or hear someone mention tequila again.