Angel Switch

Chapter 5 – The Ticket

"Where do you want to hang out?" asked Nina after we stashed the stuff we shopped for today. She slumped on the sofa then massages the back of her neck.

I raised my brows thinking what ways of 'hanging out' does she still want when we spent long hours together. If I were to ask, I wanted to flee to go after the demons and find the ticket, but I had to do what I have promised, but where and how she wanted to spend it is the next question, and it's quite helpful reading Nina's thoughts.

'Hidden Tree would be nice,' she was thinking of just sitting down and relaxing.

"How about Hidden Tree?" I suggested, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. I don't even know where the hidden tree is, but if Nina liked to go there, the ambiance must be great.

She blabbered once again about the place, the drinks, and the good-looking staff and customers coming to the place. 

From the apartment, it took us fifteen minutes to reach the place. Nina parked her car in a large open parking space, and I had to remember the spot. She seemed to be forgetful at times and I don't want to spend the whole evening following her around just to look for her car.

I look around and from where we stand, I don't see any restaurant or bar. As soon as Nina locked the car, I followed her as she walks to this Hidden Tree, but it's not within my eyesight. We walked into a dark passage and stopped in the middle of the alley where there was a flickering wall lamp beside an unusual red door. A man, in his forties, was leaning on the wall, probably bored, and smoking a cigarette stared at us then knock on the steel door.

Nina grinned as we enter the building, and as we got inside, my lips parted in surprise.

"Oh!" It has become my favorite expression since I possessed Nathalie's body.

It is Hidden Tree because it is out of sight, and when you get inside, the bar has LED video-walled with a forest-like design, making it more magical. The façade of the bar has an interior of a big tree, which reminded me of the oak tree in the garden, only this one wasn't real. The soft music made the ambiance more friendly and relaxing, and the furnishing is decorated with a combination of real and artificial plants which brings you to another part of the world.

Aside from its magical interior, the guests caught my attention. I must be well-hidden in Nathalie's body because when we entered, nobody minds us. The place is jam-packed, not just with humans but other supernatural beings. No wonder Nina couldn't stop herself from talking about how godly and beautiful the customers coming in and out of the bar. They disguised themselves as humans to enjoy their drinks.

I sat quietly on the barstool and looked around. The customers seemed to have no problem being mixed together in this place. If I will give Nina the power to see beyond human eyes, she would be horrified to see vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, and other creatures enjoying their night together with human customers. As long as they follow the rules, keep the equilibrium between good and evil, then the perfect balance is maintained. Everyone can carry on with their lives and can live peacefully among humans.

'The loss of balance of good and bad. Darkness. War' Haamiah's words echoed.

"The usual," I heard Nina say to the bartender, with a name tag 'Mike' in his uniform.

After a short while, Mike came back with a martini and gave it to her and pushed the glass of lemonade to me. I raised my head and saw him grinning at me. Nathalie must be his regular customer.

"Finally, a change," he said, still grinning at me. "You look good in that color,"

"I know, right?" Nina chimed in, "but come on, Nathalie, one martini won't hurt," she raised her eyebrows as she looked at my glass of lemonade.

"No thanks, Nina," I said, taking my glass and sipping a little on the straw. I wanted to read Mike's thoughts, but a spell was cast, perhaps for the protection of the customers.

"So," Mike again, "Have you gotten your ticket?"

"What ticket?" Nina asked, then took another sip from her glass, staring at me. She's also waiting for my answer.

Only if I knew. Only if Nathalie left more clues.

He shrugged. "I didn't know exactly." He moved his head closer to me, "I just overheard you talking to someone on the phone last time, and you said, you're almost there getting the ticket. It seemed to be important. Is it for a VIP?"

"Nathalie?" A call that saved me from answering Mike.

Nina and I turned to see where the voice was coming from.

"Yummy," whispered Nina, that I almost chuckled.

I felt relief that finally, I saw someone familiar to me. He was smiling at me as he sat down on the vacant barstool next to me.

"The usual Mike," he said, staring at me. "Wow," he exclaimed, and he just couldn't take his eyes off me. He also waved at Nina.

"Nina," she introduced herself, and whispered, "You didn't tell me you have a boyfriend,"

I smirked, but surely, I would know if Maxon is my boyfriend, but clearly, he's not. I have never seen him with Nathalie nor with other women unless he arrested them, or he was praying for Anne, his sick sister.

Maxon, or should I call him Detective Maxon, isn't your average guy. He's a Chris Hemsworth in the police department, only his eye color is dark brown, and his hair color is black, but they're both tall, handsome, and muscular.

"Detective," I said, and it should have been a good start.

"I went to your office, but Anton said you're on leave," he said, taking his glass of whisky. Still, his eyes were on me, and it starting to make me uncomfortable. No one has ever looked at me that long before then I realized, technically, no one can look at a blinding light that long.

"What were you doing in my office? I mean, in my boss' office?" I remembered Sophie saying I was her dad's secretary. And who is Anton, by the way? Though I didn't add that. I put the straw on my lips to sip on my lemonade to stop myself from talking.

"Just a regular visit to my cousin," he shrugged, and took a sip of his drinks, too. "Although it's a kinda lame excuse because I just wanted to see you," he said, almost whispering, flirting.

 The small number of my drinks went on a wrong pipe in my throat making me cough. I wasn't expecting him to say that.

"Sorry," I said as I turned to Nina who is suppressing a laugh at the moment. I rolled my eyes at her and made a face. She just winked at me.

"You wanted to see Wednesday Addams?" I turned to him again.

He laughed, enough to get the attention of others sitting at the nearby tables. "Wednesday Addams?" I guess he knew what I meant because he shook his head and gazed at me.

"Yeah, the one with pale skin, long braided pigtails and generally bitter... and the girl who loves to wear black dresses," I don't know why I had to describe her to him.

Maxon chuckled, "I know Wednesday Addams, Nathalie, and you don't look like her. You may love to wear black, and yes. on pigtails too, but for me, you're adorable,"

My face surely blushed. I raised my eyebrows, making sure I am hearing him right.

"Come on, my nieces love you, especially Sophie," he was shaking his head in disbelief of my idea of Nathalie. "Liam sometimes complain why she's so drawn into you,"

"Oh," Now I understand what he meant by cousin. Maxon is Liam's cousin.

"Nathalie, maybe detective Maxon knows," interjected Mike, who made us look at him.

"Knows what?" He asked, then turned on me.

I stared at them, then waited for someone to speak up. I wasn't really sure if it's right to talk about it now.

"The ticket," Nina cut in, "was it for a concert or something?"

Maxon grinned, "Ah! that ticket," he nodded, "Yeah, Anton picked it up yesterday. The twins must have bugged you about getting that concert. We had to get another one for next month. You know, they couldn't go last week because their mom died," he furrowed while saying the last words.

"How's Liam? I mean, how's Mr. Johnson?" I asked, trying not to sound so interested in him. I saw his lips twitched but then he answered my question.

"He's trying to be okay. You know how much he loves Corynne, but she got really sick after giving birth to Zion,"

"Oh, the baby," Nina chimed in. "He's so cute,"

Maxon tilted his head to see Nina. "You've seen them?"

"Yeah, this afternoon. Nathalie thought she has an appointment with Dr. Lee, which apparently, she hasn't. There we saw Zion crying, and when Nathalie held him, he slept like an angel," she blabbered as she signaled one to the bartender. 

"So, it was a VIP ticket, no wonder you're so stressed about it," Mike beamed, giving Nathalie another glass of martini.

My forehead furrowed. I'm sure the ticket I was looking for wasn't a concert ticket.

'Find the ticket, where's the ticket?' Those words crept once again to my mind. This ticket is something precious, and whatever it is, Nathalie had talked about it to someone.