It was 7:00 at night, and the girls and I began to get ready to go out, each one in a bathrobe and sitting on their respective beds, debating about what each one should wear to go out today. Fortunately, the location for the dance had been determined, and Deimos, the guy Remina had met days before, was present.It seems that the owner of that place had to use a lot of legal loopholes to open that club and not run into the laws of protection of historical heritage, which seemed unusual to me, but we were in Belencia, where I discovered that the unthinkable could happen. Mina got up from her bed and walked over to her closet and looked at it up and down and left to right.
"I know what I can wear!" Remina expressed high spirits as she pulled the clothes out of the closet.
"I have something in mind," Anetta said as she began to sort through her wardrobe.
"I saw something I can wear today," I said as I pulled out the clothes from the closet.
Remina was the first one to show us from her closet a white blouse with cleavage next to a short red jacket and a short dark-colored flouncy skirt; she looked very cheerful with her choice for tonight. I, on the other hand, decided for a short blue suit, and Anetta chose a pair of black leggings and a flouncy top of the same color.
"Good! " "Now that we've solved the clothing issue, we can start getting dressed so we can finally go out, my friends." I commented to my friends as I put the clothes I was going to wear in order on the bed.
"Mera, would you help me with the makeup?" asked Anetta.
"Of course, count on me," I answered, smiling. "Besides, we have a makeup kit donated to the group by an anonymous benefactor." I looked at Remina without disguise.
"Hey," Mina mumbled before joining us in laughter."I kind of bought it for the three of us to wear," she commented as she adjusted her skirt after closing the clasp at her side.
When I was doing Anetta's make-up in front of the huge wooden dresser near Remina's bed, we suddenly heard the song of a crow, which gave us a big scare; the little animal was behind the window and didn't seem to want to leave.
"Craac, craac, craac!" the annoying crow sang.
"Chooo!" "Get out of here, you annoying bird!" Remina shouted at it, tapping her fingertips on the window pane.
The bird left immediately as if it had understood my friend's words, and the three of us tried to raise our spirits again. We finished putting on Anetta's make-up and picked up our bags from the rack where we always put them, gathering what we were going to need tonight, and then we left the apartment. Remina grabbed the keys to her Spark that were lying on the living room table, and just before we walked out the front door, my cell phone started ringing. It was a call from my mom. Mina closed the door after I walked through, so I pulled out the phone and answered the call.
"Hi mom," I said, "I'm fine, and how are you and Kevin and Dad?" I asked her cheerfully.
"We are fine, daughter. Your brother is very dedicated this year; he has made a lot of good grades in the last quarter, and your dad has made great progress in our sales company." And how are you doing in college, my little girl?
"If you saw ma, these t" "Yourmonths in college have been pleasant; the professors are pleasant, and my classmates are pleasant as well."I answered happily.
"It's good tMat you feel comfortable with the change of environment, but if that's the way things are going, we can stop worryingwell." Mirena, Marissa, and me every time we get together to have tea and talk about how they are doing in their studies," I exclaimed cheerfully.
I was surprised to know that Remina's mother still remembered the friendship she and her sister Marissa had with my mother. Since her divorce with my friend's father, she has stopped being the smiling woman she inherited from her daughter to be a cold and distant businesswoman. Sometimes Mina would stay at either of their houses because she decided to stay more days than agreed on her business trips.
"The girls also say hi, mom," I told her as we headed for the elevator.
"Hello, Aunt Damaris!" they said at the same time.
"We love you, aunt!" expressed Netta in a tender tone.
Anetta pushed the button for the first floor, and Remina folded her arms and waited for her to come down with her while they joked with each other.
"I guess you have plans for today, don't you, daughter?" She said it in a curious tone.
"We thought we'd go out and have some fun around town, the three of us." I answered cheerfully.
While I was going down the elevator, my friends were talking about the TV program we watch at night, which often makes us discuss which topic is the best of the week.
"When Mirena, Marissa, and I were your age, we used to go out dancing once a week on weekends," I heard my dad call her. "Well, today I plan to go to dinner with your dad; we are already going out; tomorrow, tell me how your girls' night out was; take care, daughter, and I will send you a kiss," she says in a very loving voice.
"OK, mom, tell me how your dinner with Daddy went; I love you."I replied with a smile.
I hung up the call smiling, and the elevator door opened towards the first floor where the parking lot of the building was. Mina pressed the button of the car alarm control on her keys to deactivate it, and we approached the spark, each of us opening one of its doors. Anetta sat in the passenger seat, Remina in the driver's seat, and me in the passenger seat. After we settled into our seats, Mina started the engine, and Netta pressed the button to open the sliding gate at the exit of the parking lot.
When the red sphone left the building and the chosen driver tonight put the floor,ss of the place in the GPS of the car, it was already 9:30, and my friends played some lively music to give atmosphere to the trip through the district. It was the first time we dared to go out together and drive through the city. We headed towards the historic part of the city, and the bright lights of the city gave a flashing light show. From time to time, the three of us sang our favorite songs, and at a time when the three of us were silent, Remina started the conversation.
"Something happened between you and that boy named Zeylan, right?" She asked me unexpectedly. As much as I tried to hide it, I couldn't help blushing because of her question.
"What? No! "Not at all; I don't know that boy." With a disguised laugh, I said.
"You're as " "Notas a tomato, Mera!" Said Anetta.
"When Kiara introduced us to Erick and him, you made that face you make when you are upset with someone." She fixed her gaze on the rear-view mirror that pointed to where I was. "Are you sure you didn't know each other before?"
At that moment I started to remember the conversations I had with him, what we talked about yesterday, and the fact that he made me stay away from everything that was going on, which still made me angry. I took a deep breath to clear these memories from my mind, and I thought it was time to tell them what was going on, but I had to take into account how unreal everything I was going to tell them was going to sound, so I decided to back out of it.
"No, I omoment,t him yesterday when Kiara invited us to have lunch with them." I was aware of my lie and felt bad about it. "He just seemed smug to me, and I don't like him."
"Well, for a very wealthy and attractive guy, he is a bit simple in the way he talked and behaved yesterday." Remina answered.
"It's strange," said Anetta.
"What do you mean, Netta?" I asked my friend.
"Yesterday morning, just before I went to my locker to get what I needed for class, I saw Kiara and Sharin in the parking lot. I wanted to approach them to say hello, but I realized that they were having a serious conversation with Zeylan and Erick; it seemed that they were talking about finding a person." she answered me.
Maybe that was another reason why they had entered the university; I couldn't help but wonder who that person might be. and how"Iimportant it was for them.
"Could it be that they are part of some ancient cult and are looking for some virgin to sacrifice in the name of a pagan god?" Remina spoke in a tone of mystery.
"Remina!" said Anetta and I at the same time.
"This could be serious, Mina." I answered worriedly.
Excuse me, girls, for not taking the matter seriously, but don't you think it's more likely to look for a person in the whole city of Belencia than just at the university? "Maybe they were talking about someone who is bothering one of the girls; you know how Sharin is; maybe someone started to harass her." Remina made a remark to us."At lunch, they seemed very calm; maybe her boyfriend and Zeylan were in charge of keeping the guy at bay."
"That could be the reason why they were so serious while they were talking," said Anetta.
"Maybe that's it and not something as serious as a missing person," I also told them, so as not to talk too much about Zeylan again.
If Remina were aware of what is really happening in the city, maybe she would understand the concern of the new classmates; maybe at this moment they are saving someone who has been attacked by that mysterious cult of darkness.
"You have reached your destination!" said a robotic voice on the GPS.
"We have arrived, ladies," said Mina after stopping the car.
"It looks pretty exclusive, don't you girls think?" Anetta observed the scene through one of the Spark's windows.
"I just hope they let us in because it doesn't look that easy," I said as I looked out from my side of the car.
"Don't worry, my incredulous friends, your precious and very dear friend used her influence to get into the club," Mina answered us while showing us her smiling face as if she was proud of herself.
Remina parked the spark in the parking lot of the place, and I could see from the window of the vehicle a three-story building apparently made of granite; it had huge glass windows and wooden frames ending in four gargoyles perched on the roof. On the front wall of the place I could see the sign in neon lights with the phrase "Nocturna" and next to the name a symbol of a totally black moon that was above a white sun, and around it the phrase "Tenebrosis per orbem, luna in a eternis tenebris" that enclosed the symbol in a circle formed by those words. It seemed to me a pretty strange sign for a nightclub, but it was a pretty crowded place full of young people of all kinds, and we ran into the line of boys and girls who wanted to enter the site. At the entrance, there was a strong brown-haired guy regulating the entrance of the place. The three of us got out of the car and secured the doors before approaching the line.
We approached the Sparknce after about 15 minutes, and we could hear the lively music from inside as well as the cheerful voices of those who had already entered. Remina was in front, waiting her turn to speak to the intimidating lookout, Anetta was in the center, and fplace,y there was me. The strong guy checked a list every time someone approached to ename,, and I was still wondering how we would enter the place with such strictit,ccess, but Mina was more than calm.
"Smiling girl," she said as she folded her arms and waited for the reaction of the astonished guard.
"Are you the DJ's girlfriend?" asked the guy, giving a last check to the list he was consulting on a tablet.
"You said it yourself, sweetheart," concluded Mina, approaching us.
"I guess the other two are your bridesmaids, aren't they?" He commented, directing a look of reluctance towards where Anetta and I were standing, "They can come in; that annoying boy had been insistently requesting their entrance since 9:00."
The burly guard removed the clasp of a security cord that held a couple of small metal posts. Standing in front of the entrance, he proceeded to open the door by touching a command on his tablet. The door opened, and we entered the building. We could hear the electronic music animating the atmosphere and the voices of those who danced on the dance floor.
"Who was that guy referring to?" I asked to see Remina before crossing the threshold of the door.
"Take my hand, and you take Anetta's; you'll see when we go in," Mina said cheerfully.
I didn't understand what she wanted to tell me, but I listened to her, and the three of us went through the entrance. When we were inside, the fluorescent lights of the light show flooded a huge dance floor with a glass floor and people dancing to the sound of electronic music. The place was spacious; the huge dance floor occupied most of the site, and there were rows of furniture at each end of the place that surely were for socializing, and in them we could see people very animated in conversations unintelligible by the sound of the loudspeakers. Remina pulled me out of my meticulous observation of the nightclub; she pointed to a spot in the place, and I could see the DJ mixing the songs we were listening to.
"Is that Remina?" I asked out loud so she could hear me.
"Yes, Deimos Phoenix, Mera is him, and he is the official DJ of this club," she replied proudly.
I fixed my eyes and ;tarted to remember the description that Mina gave me of him, and it couldn't be closer to reality: the boy with an athletic physique and blond hair was wearing a white shirt with the symbol that was at the entrance of the club on the chest and a reddish jacket.
"Not bad, Mina," commented Anetta while starting to dance to the music in the background.
"You'll have time to talk to him," I said to Remina, taking her hand to go to another side of the club together with Anetta. "Let's find a place where we can leave our stuff and dance for a while."
The girls and I agreed to show a group choreography to the rhythm of electronic music from the club's sand that in our schoolgirl days we liked to dance, we laughed when we forgot a step, then each one did her individual dance demonstration, where the most outstanding was Anetta, it seems that the Moroccan ancestry in t
"Best girls' night out ever!" I exclaimed as I hugged my two friends.
"Yeah, best night ever, girlfriends, group photo!" Remina said as she took out her phone and snapped a few photos of us.
At that moment, we noticed that Deimos had gotten off the console where he was doing his mixes, and another guy had taken his place; Remina's breath seemed to shorten when she noticed that the charismatic guy was approaching where we were, and my friend tried to hide her excitement at seeing her attractive suitor again.
"Beautiful Remina, how happy I am to see you again," he said happily, then kissed her cheek.
My friend's face blushed when she received her suitor's kiss; for us, it was more than evident that she was interested in him and that her goal tonight was not only to hang out with her best friends but also to conquer the Deimos.
"It was nice to see you again, Deimos Phoenix," Remina replied. "Did you already know my friends?" "They are my cousin Anetta, and this is Mera," she said as we gathered near her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you girls, I'm Deimos," he said as he shook hands with each of them, and I noticed a striking tattoo on his bare forearm, similar to the entrance symbol, but this one had a torn eye in the center of the dark moon and the white sun.
"What a curious tattoo," I express;d to him, full of curiosity.
He made a smile, hiding how sorry he was.
"It's one of those crazy things you do when you drink for the first time when you turn 18 and you think of celebrating it with your college friends," he answered, embarrassed.
When I looked at him from the front, I noticed something strange on his face: for a few seconds, the right side of his face was covered with a very blurry dark outline, and I could see a reddish glow where his coló hazle eye used to be; perhaps the drinks had taken effect and I had seen that because I was dizzy and doubted what I was seeing.
"I think I'm a little dizzy, guys," I said as I rested my hand on the bar so I wouldn't wobble.
"Are you okay?" Anetta asked me worriedly.
"I'm sorry, mana. I think what I asked of you was too strong," said Mina apologetically.
"Don't worry, girl"I, I'm going to sit down for a minute while you keep talking," I said to both of them.
"I'd better come wi;h you," suggested Anetta, taking my hand; then she turned to Remina and said something in her ear, to which she laughed.
I guessed that was what she had told her, and I was sure she had suggested she continue with her plan to conquer Deimos. Although she was worried, I helped her not be discouraged by making gestures of "Don't worry." Anetta took her bag and we went to the seat where we were before. When I was walking, I turned my eyes to see Remina. I bumped hard into a girl who was in the direction I was heading. I looked at who I had bumped into and saw a girl with very white skin that was an approximation of albino but still had a slight faint pink in it. Her hair was blue in color and cut short on one side more than the other, but in a professional way, it didn't seem to be cut on purpose.
"You should be more careful, girl," she said, resting her hand on my shoulder. She was about 10 centimeters taller than me; she was wearing a black leather top and tight pants in the same material and color, along with high heeled lbag,-up boots, and finally a short coat.
"I apologize! "I was distracted," I said apologetically.
"I apologize! "I was distracted," I explained.miling, and following her step to a dark-haired boy a little taller than her who was dressed in biker clothes.
Anetta and I stared at each other without knowing what to say.Wanting not to make a big deal out of what had happened, we approached the seats to see Mina's conversation with her suitor in the distance.
"I'll bet you a dessert that Anetta asks her to dance," I proposed to my friend.
"I'm sure she's still talking to her to break the ice," Netta answered me very confidently.
At that moment, soft music started to play, and the couples on the dance floor started to get together to dance to the rhythm of the romantic melody. We saw that Deimos took the first step and asked her to dance, extending his hand in a gentlemanly way, and she smilingly nodded, taking his hand.
"I told you, Netta, that you owe me a dessert for lunch time tomorrow," I commented cheerfully while Anetta looked uncomfortable.
"I'm going to the bathroom, Mera; if something extraordinary happens, you can record it to watch it later; maybe Mina would like to see it," she said as she hurriedly got up from her seat.
"All right, my friend, but you're in a hurry, so you won't miss the kiss," I replied, smiling at her as I took out my phone.
"Oh no," she exclaimed as she made her way to the restroom.
When I started to touch the cell phone in the direction where Deimos and Remina were dancing in a romantic way, at that moment the boy looked her straight in the eyes and she returned his gaze, exchanging smiles with him, and that's when that magical moment happened for every couple. Deimos leaned his face forward and kissed Mina in a tender way; this was like a scene from the end of a Valentine's Day movie. I saw when she crossed her arms over his neck, and I had to put a hand on my lips to avoid screaming from the emotion of the moment. Everything looked perfect until... I couldn't believe what was happening; my eyes watched as, a few seconds after their kiss, Remina collapsed in Deimos' arms, and he didn't even flinch; his gaze was empty and emotionless; he looked at her unconscious and leaned down just to lift her in his arms, and he was lost with her in the tumult that the couples made on the dance floor.
"Remina!...Remina!..." As I stepped up from the hundred, dropping my phone on the floor and sprinting in the direction of where she and Deimos had been, I yelled desperately.