“You know how many people are in the group?”
She shrugs. “There’s about twenty in Ward’s house.”
“House?”
“Coven, house, clan. It’s what they call themselves.” Cheryl ducks under the side of the bar. “You ladies want a drink? On the house of course.”
“Water, if you’ve got it.”
She smiles. “Guess you’re still on duty, huh?”
“Yeah.” Sloan lets out an exaggerated sigh. “I’ll have a water, too.”
“Two waters coming up.” Cheryl bends down into a fridge directly beneath her and places two bottled waters on the bar. Sitting on the bar stools, Sloan and I open the drinks.
“Are there lots of vampire houses?”
“Sure.” Cheryl pauses, looking around the bar. “Sugar syrup.” She grabs a bag of sugar and pours some into a jug, and then takes out a kettle and plugs it in. “I guess there’s about four bigger houses that I know of for sure. But even two or three vamps just hanging out might call themselves a house.”
“You got any names?” Sloan leans forward in anticipation.
She shakes her head. “The others are small fry compared to Anton’s house. After Dark’s the most well-known because of its elite nature.”
“So tell us about Ward.” I take a sip of water.
Cheryl starts cutting lemons. “His group’s been around for ages…longer than I’ve been here.”
“How long have you worked here?” Sloan asks.
“Four years.”
“That’s a long time,” I say in between mouthfuls of water.
“Yeah. For this place and bar work in general. But it suits me. I live down the road and can pop back home to say good-night to my little girl, and the tips are good. And the boss…well, I know I said before he should be here, but I like it that he’s not on my back all the time.” She shrugs. “No reason to move on.”
“So four years ago…” Sloan takes a quick glance around the room. “Ward and After Dark much as it is now?”
“Uh-huh. Maybe a few more members, but that house is pretty stable.”
“Good leadership?” I ask.
“Guess so. Ward’s certainly…charming. And good-looking.” She stops chopping lemons for a second and looks up. “There’s something about him, he’s got…what’s that French expression?”
“Je ne sais quoi?”
“That’s the one.” She gives us a wink. “A great ass, too.”
“Sounds like you’re smitten.” Sloan smiles.
“No.” She shakes her head. “He’s not my type. Way too sure of himself. I like my men a little more submissive.” Another wink.
The kettle clicks off and she pours the boiling water into the jug and stirs while she talks. “But lots of women do like him. He’s got a few from his clan, of course, plus…well, pretty much any woman who comes in here would jump at the chance to get into bed with Ward.”
“I see.” I’m getting curious now. I know from the photos that he’s good-looking, model good-looking, but obviously there’s more to it than that. Then again, as the leader of a large group, cult or not, he’s bound to have a charismatic and magnetic personality.
“Many people leave After Dark?” I ask.
“No, not really. Like I said, it’s a stable house. And Ward’s wealthy, real wealthy, so I think the members get lots of fringe benefits.”
“Such as?” Sloan stands up and for the first time today gets out her notebook, pen and reading glasses.
“I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard he buys them clothes and jewelry, plus he’s got a standing tab here for drinks. And I think the group meets at his house once a week and the whole thing’s catered.” She stops stirring the sugar syrup and puts it in the fridge before moving back to the last two whole lemons.
I watch her making quick, exact slices. “Does it cost money to become a member?”
“I don’t know.” She pulls out a basket of limes and a few cartons of strawberries.
“Anyone left After Dark recently?”
“Yeah, actually. Damien Winters. Used to be close to Ward, too, but he broke off a little bit ago.” She cuts the limes into quarters. “He hangs out with a different bunch of people now.”
“What’s Damien Winters like?”
She shrugs. “He’s okay. Both he and Ward have very strong personalities and I presume that’s why he left—a house with two alpha males just doesn’t work.”
Sloan stops scribbling and looks up. “Either of them ever violent?”
“Not that I know of.”
“You know who’s in Winters’ group?”
“There are twin brothers from Texas. Real thick Texan accents, and they are rough.” She finishes the limes and moves onto the strawberries, cutting little slits in them. Presumably they’ll be decoration for cocktails tonight. “Security always keeps a close eye on them. And there are a few girls who hang around Winters, too. Don’t know their names, but I assume they’re girlfriends or donors.”
“Donors?”
“The ones who like having their blood drunk by vamps.”
Sloan grimaces. “The vamps that come in here, are they more about the look, or do they really believe they’re vampires?”
“There’s some that have this romanticized idea of the Goth culture and think vampires are sexy…cool. But there are lots of true believers, too, including After Dark. And you don’t want to question their beliefs. I learned a long time ago to keep my mouth shut on the subject.”
“They get angry?”
“Not angry, defensive.” She looks up. “You walk down the street like this and you get looks, you can get picked on. Vamps often feel persecuted. Most of them believe they were born vampires, with some sort of need for blood, and that nobody understands that. Nobody but other vamps.”
I nod. “What about the other houses in L.A.?”
“Like I said, even two vamps who are friends can call themselves a house.”
“You must have some names? Some records?”
“Credit card receipts, I guess. And we’ve got a mailing list and a few of our members have bar tabs. But you’ll have to talk to the manager about that.”
Fair enough. Realistically we’d need a warrant for that information anyway.
“There’s also our MySpace and Facebook pages. Most of the friends on there are regulars.”
“I was on the club’s pages this afternoon, but I’ll take a closer look. Thanks.” I take a final sip of water. “Any of your other customers ever violent or dangerous?”
“Mmm…there’s one guy that gives me the creeps. Don’t know his name, but he’s big and always seems real aggressive—even just in the way he demands a drink. He’s always here with his girlfriend and two other guys. I don’t know if they’re a clan or just hang together.” She finishes the strawberries and stretches up to take a small blackboard on the bar’s corner off its hinges. “I’ve heard they’re really into the whole mythology. And that they’re convinced they must feed off people and turn them to increase