Another night of hell. And I ran away from it. I knew that I was running when I went to that club across town. It was on the outskirts of the city, and it had a reputation for being somewhat...unsavory.

I, unfortunately, didn't care.

What I cared about was forgetting everything about Daniel. I stalked past the writhing Gothic and raver dancers up to the bar of Bad Blood, ordered something random off the drink list, and proceeded to get blind, stinking drunk.

An hour or three later, I stumbled out into the chilly night and found myself in a dirty alley with a few Goth rent boys milling about. It gave me the nicest idea. I walked over to one and struck up a bit of a conversation.

"Hey, you're the bloke they call Lestat down at the Plaza, aren't you?"

Red-rimmed brown eyes swung in my direction. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

Shrug. "Just wondering if you'd help out a renter in need. I can't show at the Plaza for a while, got a bit of a tailer, and I need somewhere new to work till things cool down."

"Exactly what do you want here?" Lestat looked terribly suspicious.

//Didn't I just say that?// "Like I said, I need a place to work until I can start show at the Plaza again." I tossed my hair out of my face and bounced in place a bit. "Look, can I kick here or not?"

"Whatever, mate."

Lestat made no other move to speak to me, so I took it as an okay and picked a spot on the wall.

It wasn't long before I got a customer. He was tall and too skinny, with paper white skin and fire red hair. His black duster billowed out behind his legs as he walked along the row of Goth hookers. I knew immediately that he was heading for me.

"How much, bitch?"

"Two hundred, but I'm worth it."

Hey, no harm in upping the price if he would pay it anyway, right?

"Come on."

//Man of few words.// I shrugged and followed him to another alley a couple of blocks away. He turned and looked me up and down with glazed yellow eyes, and I fought back a shudder at the sickening inspection.

"Get me hard, bitch."

Right to the point, eh? I automatically reached for his fly and pushed his pants and briefs out of the way. I was just starting to touch him when the first one came.

His fist connected with my head. There was a nauseating burst of light and pain on the side of my face, and I jerked back. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me back to him. His hand over mine, I resumed my previous activity and he resumed his.

It was a long night.

Still, I went back to the alley behind Bad Blood every night that week. I never saw that first guy again, but all the others I turned tricks for were just as bad. I had the cuts and bruises to prove it.

When I got home on Monday morning, my answering machine was blinking. I pressed the play button with stiff fingers.

"Darren, it's Kai. I just wanted to let you know that there's a concert you might be interested in."

Kai. I knew her from the Plaza. I could see her blue-gray eyes sparkling with excitement and her curly blond hair bouncing about her shoulders as she took a dramatic breath before the message continued.

"*Savage* is playing the Tavern this weekend. You have to come - I managed to get tickets from a client who's got connections. I really hope you get this soon. Call me!"

I stared dumbly at the machine for all of two seconds before rage penetrated my stupefied haze. Ignoring the pain from my most recently inflicted injuries, I seized the machine from the table, ripped the cords from it, and threw it across the living room.

"Damn you, Daniel. Damn you!"

Daniel was playing the Tavern? What the hell for? I couldn't understand why he was doing this, unless it was just one more way for Fate to laugh in my face. That had to be it, cos there was no other reason for him to be at the place where it all started.

Was there?