Page 31 of Disco Fever

My eyes remained on Dot as she stumbled back a little. “Angel?” I rushed to her, gently placed my hand on her lower back to stabilize her. “Angel, baby, you okay?” I frantically scanned her body, searching for gunshot wounds. Thankfully, there were none.

“Yeah,” she breathed. “I’m good.” When Dot turned around, I could see the rage draining from her eyes behind her pink mask. She held an Eden’s Inferno roller skate in her right hand,both it and the skate covered in chunks of blood and flesh. My eyes followed the blood trail up Dot’s arm, noticing it splattered across her chest and along her new mask. Her gorgeous golden hair was even stained. Something about the way she stood there, perfectly poised, drenched in blood. It was both terrifying andincrediblyerotic. “I’m perf.”

She is fucking insatiable.

My eyes glanced down at Lana, laying on the floor. Her clothing was drenched and soaked in blood. I could see various fluids pouring from the large gaping wound. The back of her skull was completely bashed in and her face was unrecognizable, the only tell of who she once was left by the bloodied name tag lying next to her body.

I carefully pried the bloodied skate out of Dot’s hand, setting it on the floor, and gently grabbed her by the side of the neck, pulling her away. “Dot, let’s leave Lana, okay? We need to go check on Dante.” She just quietly nodded in response.

The two of us walked through the club together, holding hands, noticing the disheveled and empty club. Numerous patrons were sprawled out around the dancefloor, injured or dead, thanks to this new group’s aggressive retaliation. It pissed me off, seeing the effect of their stupid actions. Despite the loud music, I heard what sounded like sirens growing in the distance.

Cops... fuck!

Dot and I stepped over bodies and searched for Dante. We eventually found him back by Patty’s office, unharmed. We both exhaled in relief. “I had to check to make sure they were safe. I put Patty and Jade back here when shit first started, but they must have left when everyone started running.” He brushed his hair back. “I’m just glad they’re not here.”

“I think I heard sirens, Dante. We can’t stay here any longer. It’s time to go. We need to go!” I tugged his arm, pulling them both towards the back door so we could escape and get to ourcar. “Let’s go!” I held Dot’s hand tight. I couldn’t lose her, and now that I had him, I wouldn’t lose him either.

Dante started looking around, searching like he lost something. “Wait. Where is my jacket?”

“Oh, fuck your jacket, Dante! I’ll buy you another one.” I tried to yank him toward the back door.

“I can’t just leave Dot’s present! Let me just go check on the floor really quick.”

“You got me another present?” Dot asked.

“Yeah.” Dante smiled. “Something special we picked out just for you, angel.”

When the three of us walked out to the main floor of the club, I noticed someone quickly move from the office to behind the bar with the phone. The long white cord bounced as they maneuvered around, giving them away. “Who was that?” I looked at Dot. She knew all the girls' names better than we did.

“It kind of looked like Mindy? But she was fired months ago, not sure why she would be here. She was good friends with Lana, though. Oh, Lana! She’s about to find her!” Dot started laughing and jumping up and down, obviously thinking about what this Mindy was about to see behind the bar.

Just a few moments later, the girl screamed, presumably finding what was left of Lana. “She’s fucking dead. There’s so much blood. Fuck. No…” She was frantically sobbing on the phone.

Dot and I approached from one side of the bar, while Dante went to the other.

The girl kept sobbing, speaking into the phone. “The Devils… ” Her eyes widened, tears falling from them as they soaked her reddened face.

Dot raised her hand and waved her dainty little fingers. “Hi, Mindy. It’s been a while.” Dante came up behind Mindy. She screamed as he snagged the phone cord and tightly wrappedit around her neck, pulling it from the wall as the line disconnected. He didn’t hesitate or budge as he strangled the life out of her.

Sirens wailed louder as cop cars began to whip into the parking lot. It was too late. There was no way we could all escape. “Dot. Dot, you need to go. You need to go right now!” I pulled the keys from Dante’s pocket and tossed them at her. “Take our car and get home!”

“What?! Fuck that! I’m staying right here or you two are coming with me!” She stomped her feet.

Dante dropped Mindy’s lifeless body and looked directly at Dot. “Angel, she’s right. They’ve been after us for too long. Even if we leave, they’ll follow. Trust us. We have a plan. It will be okay. But they don’t know about you. You have to keep yourself safe. Please, for us.”

Dot raised her mask, tears swelling in her eyes as she stared at us. “I can’t just leave you.”

Dante walked up to her and pulled something from his pocket, placing it around her neck. “Turns out it was never in my jacket.” He stepped away as Dot stared down at the necklace, her fingers tracing the cursive word.

“Angel,” she breathed. “Dante.” she sniffled. “Kat.”

“We’ll be okay. Find Patty as soon as you leave here. She’ll know what to do. Eddie’s got it under control, Angel.” She looked so confused and I kicked myself for not explaining the failsafe to her. We should have clued her in when she started going with us when we were making deals, but it’s too late now. Now, she just needed to trust us.

I pulled my mask off and slammed my mouth into hers, kissing her hard. Harder than ever before. I could taste her tears, forcing myself to release her. “Please, Dot.” My words stung. “We will see you soon. I promise.”

Dante followed suit, kissing Dot passionately. “Take care of these for us, will you?” He placed our masks into her hands. “I love you,” she whispered, hugging us one last time before turning towards the back door.

“And we love you,” Dante and I said together.

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