Chapter 5 Come To Me

The hive was a local bar in Newark and an hour away from our home in Milpitas. It catered mostly to blue collar clientele. I've only been there once before with Grayson. Well, not with exactly.

The thing was, Gray's dad was a construction worker, not the owner, just a regular employee and his mum was the daughter of a congressman. Many people -mostly his mum's parents- had been against their relationship because of the huge difference in their social class. Unfortunately, theirs was not a love that could withstand the derision from society. On more than one occasion, my mother had referred to Grayson's dad as 'that bum that's leeching off Louise'. Let's just say that my mum was one of the few people who put their condescending thoughts delicately, others were as blunt as a sledgehammer and uncaring if he was within hearing distance. By the time Grayson was four, Mr Callahan couldn't take it anymore, especially when he lost his job and Mrs Callahan wanted to move into the house her daddy bought for them. So he packed his belongings into a rucksack, filed for a divorce and moved to Newark.

His mum kept him after the divorce -thats how we met actually. We were next door neighbors. Life only went down hill for me Callahan and it turned him into a drunkard. On one particular night when Grayson was over at our house - he was seventeen and I was fourteen- when he received a distressing call from his father who was out of it and mumbling about ending it all. He'd panicked and ran out of the house, and naturally I'd followed him all the way to a tiny dice called 'the hive'.

The car hit a pothole and I yelped. Glancing around wildly, I realized that the road the driver was taking was completely unfamiliar to me. "Where are you taking me?"

"To the hive ma'am." He replied shortly.

"But this is not the way there." At least I didn't remember taking this route when I'd been trailing Grayson ten years ago.

"There's construction work happening on the usual route, so we got's take a detour." He explained in a monotone.

Feeling a bit calmer now that I knew he wasn't a serial killer in disguise, I hummed in agreement but paid more attention to the passing scenery. I spotted it's neon colours a short while later, and something else that literally made ny heart skip a beat.

Thanks to the detour, we approached the hive from the East rather than the west, which meant the car had to go through one more junction before we got to the bar. Standing next to his car at this junction was Grayson.

We were stopped at a red light so I had a bird eye's view when a black, sleek Tesla pulled up next to him and a guy in a white tank top and jean got out. They exchanged a bro hug, then Grayson took out his phone and showed him something on his phone. Dude in white nodded in comprehension and they exchanged car keys. They got in the other's car and drove in opposite directions, the dude now driving the truck heading towards the hive.

I gasped as it all clicked. Trickery!

Of course he knew that I would follow him and he had made a plan to deceive me. Well, not today Gray. I was going to find out what he's going to great lengths to hide.

"Follow that black car." I ordered my driver.

Immediately, he did as I ordered and for the next hour, we kept following his car. We drove for so long, we left the city and ended up in a heavily wooded area. I was getting spooked by the time he drove up a well traveled road that ended with a stone Manor house that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. I was pretty damn sure I wouldn't be able to find my back here.

Talk about a haunted house. I waited until Grayson left his car and went up to the house before alighting. On second thought,

"Stay here until I come back."

"Sure. I don't think I can find my way out of this jungle." The driver replied in a small voice.

I walked up to the creepy Victorian style house with trepidation. The door was blood red and didn't have any handle or pull, so I did the only thing I can do. I knocked.

A smartly dressed man opened the door and stared me down coldly. I would have assumed he was a butler even though he had their haughtiness down pat and was the palest being I'd ever met, like, it didn't seem as though he had any blood in his veins at all.

"Welcome to the house of Pulé. Your colours?"

What the heck? "Um, green?" I mumbled.

"Whose your sponsor?"

Were we still speaking English? " Grayson?"

"After you." He stepped aside and let me in.

I didn't know what i was expecting, but it certainly wasn't a normal living room with an actual fireplace! A woman clad in green dress and stilettos walked toward me with a smile that most definitely didn't reach her eyes.

"Afternoon. I'm Ivy. You must be new here."

Where's here?

"Yes, I am."

Before I could ask any questions, a man dressed casually walked in. That wasn't what had me tripping though. This man held a leash but on the end of that leash instead of a dog was a woman wearing puffy dog ears and something only a generous person would call clothes. What the hell was this place and why is Grayson here?

"Master Audrey, it's a pleasure to have you back with us."

"It's a pleasure to be back Ivy." He replied affectionately.

"Would you like me to book you in for a section?"

"Yes. We'll be using the gold room today."

She nodded and they went in deeper into the house and no one batted an eye that the woman crawled after them on hands and knees.

Another man was sitting next to the fireplace -I hadn't seen him earlier- and there was a man wearing a choker and leather pants kneeling on all fours next to him. When the man was done with his drink, he placed it on the man's back. He was using him as a footstool!

"Josie!" Grayson yelled from nowhere.

I turned and found him marching to me angrily. Uh oh.

"What are you doing here?" He whisper shouted at me, gripping my elbow roughly.

"Wrong question. What are YOU doing here?" I yelled back quietly.

"What I do with my time is none of your business!"

"So this is what you're into?" No wonder he'd never been interested in my advances. No one was going to make me play pretend on use me as a footstool.

"You know, when a person tells you to stay out of their business, it usually means they want you to STAY OUT OF THEIR BUSINESS."

"Gray" A short man in blue slacks who looked to be italian strolled towards us, effectively ending our argument.

"Yeah?"

"Who are you?" He turned light blue eyes on me.

"His guest."

"Okay." Grayson pushed him away from me and they spoke in hushed tones.

The only thing I heard clearly was, "I've spoken to Sedof's right hand man and he will be back in two weeks. Nothing can be done until then."

They spoke for a long time but then dispersed a while later, a fuming Grayson stalking back towards me.

"Let's go." He muttered, his rage barely repressed. He didn't wait for my reply before dragging me out of the house of iniquities.

"You can't keep doing shit like this Josie. When I tell you to stay out of something, it's for your own good. Do you have any idea the amount of danger you could have put yourself in just now?"

"Isn't it just a fetish house?" I've heard of those and this seemed like the perfect example. "What's the worst that can happen? They'll ban me for life?"

"You have no idea what you're stepping into. So please stop following me."

"Fine. What was that man saying about Sedof?" He glared at me and I raised my brows at him.

"That we gotta wait. He really isn't in the country and nothing can be done unless he comes back."

"Can't we just travel to the country he's at?"

"No. I've made contact with him and I can only see him when he decides to see me. Vladimir has to come to us. For the last time, Go home and let me do my job."

He stormed off and disappeared into an area behind the house. Damn, he was real pissed at me.

Walking back to the car, I focused on the information I'd gleaned. Vladimir would be back in two weeks. Problem was, I couldn't wait two weeks, so I would have to take Grayson's advice; I had to make Vladimir Sedof come to me.