The silky music flowed under the door.

  "I'm lucky," she began, her voice soft but deliberate. "But not in the way you're thinking. I wasn't born this way, and it didn't just… happen." Ayla hesitated, glancing at the door as if to ensure no one was eavesdropping. She leaned closer. "Your bodyguard, Kashi—you guys are close, right?"

  "Sure." Ethan nodded cautiously.

  Ayla glanced to the door as if afraid someone would hear, before looking back. "He's told you about energy?"

  "Sorta kinda. I don't know how to use it or anything, but I know kinda what it is and does. Like a representation of 'you' and," he pointed around himself, "The light around you is basically your soul."

  "Yeah," Ayla nodded. "I think he uses energy to kinda re-route reality to make me lucky."

  "He?" Ethan gave her an odd look.

  "The Energy-vampire," she said as if it were a dumb question. She looked around the room, "Usually, if I call on him he'll appear, but I also noticed he will begin to form if I'm in a heightened state. Like if I'm scared or," she grinned mischievously. "Aroused."

  "Ah," Ethan nodded.

  An annoyed look crossed her face as she turned around the roo with her arms out in an exaggerated manner, "Well, come on out." Ethan froze. His eyes widened as he watched 'nothing' make an indent on the bed. As if an invisible person were sitting on its corner. "Ah! He's here!" Ayla said gleefully, clapping her hands together.

  "HELL NO!" Ethan jumped to his feet, ready to sprint toward the door, but Ayla moved quickly, blocking his path.

  "It's okay." she said, grabbing his arm, "You won't be able to see him since you don't have energy, but he can still affect the physical realm."

  "O-oh. So you can see…him?" Ayla nodded in response. Ethan stared at the indent. "So, what is an…'Energy-Vampire?'"

  "I would call them demons."

  Ethan gave her a shocked expression.

  "When I say the word 'demon,' I don't mean a fallen angel or anything like that, but like a consciousness in this realm. An entity. And that entity has energy, the same type of energy we can use. The entity isn't in our realm per se, but can interact with it." Still seeing his expression hadn't changed, she tried to calm him. "They're nothing to be scared of. Just think of them as people you can't really see—or, well, you can 'sometimes' see. Each demon is unique; they each have their own personalities, likes, and dislikes. And like people with energy, they can also have abilities. So, an Energy-vampire is when a demon attaches itself to a person, object or animal—anything that has energy. Some demons will choose to be malicious and siphon a person's energy, but depending on their nature, they will grow an attachment to the person or thing, choosing to protect them. Like a symbiotic relationship instead of a parasitic one."

  "This one here," he pointed to the corner of the bed where Ayla's Energy-Vampire still sat. "It's the only demon that's attached itself to you? Your only Energy-Vampire?"

  "Yeah. I'm pretty sure it'd be impossible to have more than one. A trait that's consistent with them is that they're jealous and territorial. They don't share people."

  "And you said it uses energy to make you lucky? Like all the time?"

  Ayla nodded. "I'm not a million percent lucky with everything I do. You know how I have a terrible memory and am really forgetful?"

  "Painfully aware."

  "For example, I can never lose anything. Like the amount of times I've accidentally left my phone at a restaurant, it always somehow finds its way back to me. Same thing with people. I always get back what's mine."

  "Ah…"

  "So, you know how shamans and fortune tellers can see the future, but may not know exactly when an event will happen? How they're just able to see an instance or a moment in time separate from the time that is happening right now?"

  "Yeah," Ethan nodded.

  "They're able to do that since, in my opinion, time is circular, reality is circular, it's constant. Every moment in time is happening at the same time in the same place, relatively speaking. You follow me? There's this idea about the flow of this realm or an information highway. Think of the information highway as like the DNA of our realm, for everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen, right? Like it has the code of all of reality. Like, your thoughts and images in your head are all being transmitted from this 'place,' as well. Maybe it would be part of the spirit realm, I'm not really sure. We each have our own channel that we tune in to, like car radio frequency. I think my EV is able to manipulate that on a small scale to my benefit."

  Ethan stared at the ground for a while. He looked at the spot Ayla's Energy-Vampire sat. He then turned back to Ayla, who stood expectantly. "What's it like?"

  Ayla smiled at the question. "He's an odd duck for sure. Y'know, from what I've heard about this kind of stuff, they can be hundreds of years old. Some speculate that some demons have been around before time ever really existed. Whatever that means."

  "And it just, what? Found you and decided to be your best friend?"

  Her smile faded, "My father, Alder…he did this to me when I was really young. I'm not sure what he had to do or give up for something like this, but I'm sure it wasn't…legal. But it's how he made his true fortune. We were always 'rich' but this is how we've managed to do it, and why we're going to Stygian Tower. That's the only reason why they care about me anyways…"

  "How do you know all this? About these vampires?"

  She gestured at the spot on the bed, "He told me."

  "It talks?"

  "Ok, it's 'He.' You just kinda- I don't know, you just 'feel' what they're trying to say. Your souls are basically connected. You just instinctively know what each other are thinking."

  "He can't tell you how your father got y'all linked?"

  "I don't think he remembers…." Her grin returned. "My dad hasn't told me yet, but there're rumors floating around of what some of the items will be for the auctions, and the different raffles will be. But whatever he wants, I'll win it for him! Because, y'know, I'm lucky."

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  After another long pause, Ethan asked, "What's it like? To be you? To have the flow of this realm. Energy. What is that like?"

  Ayla’s grin softened into something more genuine. She locked eyes with him. "It's everything."

  Zheanni and John Doe stepped from the doors of the stairway, coming down from the rooftop, turning right into the hallway. Even from all the way down the hall, they smelled the smoke from the party going on in one of the penthouses.

  As they strolled down the hallway, the door opened, and a cloud of haze followed two kids as they staggered through the door, giggling.

  Both John Doe and Zheanni stopped in their tracks. He cocked his head to the side. Zheanni pointed. "That kid right there." She spoke quickly. A harsh whisper. "Bitch on the right! Recognize her? The Dizney star."

  "Yeah."

  In front of them, Ayla pulled her phone from her skirt pocket, holding down the power button until the screen lit up. The moment it came to life, the device buzzed incessantly, a flood of notifications lighting up the display. Ayla winced, muting it quickly. "My dad is 'bout to get pinged, freak out and send his guards for me whenever this fully turns on, so I'll just chill in the lobby till they arrive."

  "Alright, bet," Ethan said. "I'll probably chill with you for a few more minutes then. But then, my dad is gonna get worried."

  "Man, I wish I could just stay with you forever," she said. Silencing her phone as a million notifications went off at once.

  "Turn right up here!" Alder Park yelled, pointing forward. He was sandwiched between the front and passenger seat of the SUV, leaning forward, staring at the screen in the center console. Marcello drove, and Gemo was in the passenger seat. Zoe sat in back, nervously gripping onto the seat, watching cars fly by.

  "I know that! Driving'd be easier if you stopped screeching in my ear!" Marcello wanted to scream back. They had all been out just a few minutes prior when Alder got a notification on his phone, giving him the location of his daughter.

  The tires screeched as their SUV whipped between cars. The bumper barely missed other vehicles by an inch as it sped toward its destination.

  "Where'd you learn to drive like this?" Gemo looked at Marcello, impressed.

  "Life experience," Marcello grunted, as he cranked the wheel hard to the right, swerving around a slowing car and briefly mounting the sidewalk. Pedestrians scattered with yelps of alarm as the vehicle roared past, slamming back onto the street.

  In the rearview mirror, Gemo glanced at Zoe, whose face was paler than usual, "You good back there, Zoe?"

  Zoe felt like her eyes were about to bug out of her skull.

  A loud siren whooped, and red and blue lights blared from several car lengths behind them.

  "Marcello…" Alder said, his voice tense.

  "He's got it," Gemo reassured.

  Civilian cars moved to the side of the road as the cop car sped up. Marcello went faster, quickly gliding down several streets, maxing out the SUV's speedometer.

  "He's getting closer," Zoe warned. The sirens grew louder, the police car closing the gap. The red and blue strobes bathed the interior of their vehicle, illuminating Zoe’s panicked expression. Marcello slammed on the brakes. Zoe lurched forward out of her seat, faceplanting into the driver's chair. The pursuing cop car shot past them, its siren blaring in confusion. Marcello seized the opportunity, yanking the wheel hard to execute a 180-degree turn. The SUV disappeared into the chaotic sea of traffic.

  Their car slowed as Marcello approached the security gates of the building.

  "Why are we stopping?" Alder asked. Throughout the car ride, he kept glancing at his phone, seeing if Ayla had moved locations.

  "Sir, we don't have time to talk to security. Allow us to go into the building and retrieve her."

  "Okay. I'll just…stay here," Alder said, slumping back in his seat. "Just…make sure she's safe, okay!"

  "Of course, sir."

  The three stepped out of the car.

  "If we activate our energy, we should just be able to run past the security," Zoe said.

  "No," Both Marcello and Gemo said at once.

  "Oh."

  "We just don't know who all is around," Gemo reassured.

  "Like who? KTA?" Zoe looked at Marcello.

  "Yeah. Maybe." Marcello stared at her.

  Gemo glanced between the both of them, not sure what was going on. "Are we gonna go or not?"

  Silently, they moved, keeping in the shadows of the streetlamps as they approached the security booth. Trying to stay low, she couldn't help but peek her head up to look for the guard.

  "Marcello," Zoe whispered.

  "What?"

  "There's no one in the security booth."

  Marcello craned his head to look over, "Oh. That's…weird. But they may be doing their rounds."

  They walked through the parking garage toward the doors. It was pretty empty, littered with high-end cars and the occasional motorcycle. Gemo shifted, glancing around. "I don't like the feeling of this. It's like something in my mind is screaming at me." He got down on his hands and knees, glancing under some cars.

  "What are you doing?" Marcello and Zoe stopped, turning to watch him.

  "I'll catch up in a sec; I just wanna see something real quick."

  "Okay," Reluctantly, Marcello and Zoe continued toward the entrance. Meanwhile, Gemo moved deeper into the garage, his instincts screaming at him to investigate. He moved to the second floor of the parking garage, spotting a red convertible parked at an odd angle with its hazard lights on and the roof up. As he approached, he smelled a strong odor of gas. "Damn," he muttered, looking at the hood of the car, which faced the wall. It had been crumpled as if a metal pole had hit a light pole. "Oh shit," He breathed, squinting through the tinted window. The interior of the car was soaked with blood, dark and wet, pooling in the seats and smeared across the console. On the floorboard lay a severed head, its lifeless eyes staring blankly into nothingness.