It was dark in the hotel room when Liam pushed it open, and he told himself there was nothing to worry about. That there wasn’t a chance the vampires could’ve figured out what room he was staying in.

“What are you waiting for?” Olivia asked.

“I keep thinking about how Tori was able to get into that room like it was nothing,” he said. “What if the vampires can do the same?”

“If that’s the case then they could find you anywhere in the hotel,” Olivia said with a shrug. “What’s the difference if you’re dying in your room or down in the main lobby?”

Liam rolled his eyes. “If that’s supposed to comfort me then you’re not doing a very good job of it.”

“Sorry,” she whispered.

And he noted that it was a whisper. She was trying to sound all nonchalant about the possibility of their impending death, but it didn’t seem like she was all that eager to meet that impending death.

He pushed the door open. It creaked ever so slightly. Darkness waited inside. Like there wasn’t anyone in there. At least he hoped there wasn’t anyone in there.

A shadow moved in the darkness. His heart threatened to pound out of his chest, and he immediately went into fight or flight mode.

“What the hell are you doing?” a voice said.

Liam frowned. That sounded a lot like Rick.

He glanced at Olivia.

“This might…”

“Seriously,” Rick growled from inside. “Either come in or out, but make up your fucking mind.”

“Friend of yours?” Olivia asked.

“More like someone I’m forced to stay with for the weekend,” Liam said. “He’s that guy in our group.”

“Wait, the one from earlier at the front desk?” she asked.

“None other than,” Liam said.

“Great,” she said. “You’re lucky you got lucky earlier in that room Tori commandeered. Because that wouldn’t be happening if that guy was around.”

“I’d hope not,” Liam said. “Because I’m definitely not into that.

“Seriously! In or out!”

“Yeah, a real charmer,” Olivia muttered.

They moved into the room. Liam flipped on the lights, and sure enough Rick was lying on the far bed. The one closest to the air-conditioner, because he loved piling blankets and comforters over himself at night and cranking up the AC which always left Liam freezing his ass off.

Rick blinked a couple of times in the light, and glared at Liam. Then he turned to Olivia and seemed just a touch surprised.

“What are you doing bringing a girl back here?” he asked.

There was all the accusation that there usually was when Liam was having success with the ladies around Rick. Which had always been one of the more annoying things about having him around.

“It’s our room, remember?” Liam said. “And we’re sleeping in separate beds. It’s none of your damn business what I do in here this weekend.”

“Well you can’t do anything like that now,” Rick groused, flipping over. “I’m trying to nap.”

Liam thought he sensed a touch of satisfaction in Rick’s voice. There was nothing he liked more than to be a cockblock. Liam always figured it was because the dude figured if he wasn’t getting any then at the very least he could take pleasure from making sure no one else got any either.

“So what are you doing back here this early in the day?” Liam asked, not bothering to go into how he would’ve been more than happy to pay for a room on his own since his job allowed him to do that, and that Rick had invited himself along. “I’m surprised to see you up here considering the con is still going strong down below.”

“I got a headache from avoiding all the assholes squeeing at the top of their lungs for stupid fucking Sparklefang,” Rick said, seeming even more annoyed now than he’d been earlier in the hotel lobby. “Plus I figure we’re going to have a long night of partying, so why not get some rest and relaxation while I can? Though I see you decided to start the party early.”

He looked over his shoulder and glared at Olivia. Like the fact that there were people getting laid at the con was a personal affront to him.

“Well if you don’t mind I’m going to use the room I’m paying for,” Liam said.

That earned him a sharp look from Rick, but Olivia giggled.

“Not like that, don’t worry,” she said.

“You look familiar,” Rick said, sitting up and narrowing his eyes at her. Then he reached down and grabbed his glasses and put them on, and his eyes went from narrow to wide as he realized who he was looking at.

“You!” he said.

“Me,” Olivia said in a tone that was clearly meant to mock Rick’s.

“From the front desk,” Rick said, suddenly smiling, looking her up and down in her tight leather getup. “How you doing?”

“Could you please not?” Liam said.

“What?” Rick asked.

“I brought her back to our room, not you. Please don’t violate bro code by trying to hit on a girl who isn’t interested when your buddy brought her back,” Liam said.

“You don’t get to say what the lady does or doesn’t want,” Rick said.

“I don’t want you, that’s for sure,” she said, clearing that up in case there was any doubt. Though from the way Rick looked at her he still had his doubts. The idiot.

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be nice to me or something? You work for the hotel, right?”

“And I’m off the clock,” Olivia said, glancing to Liam. “Not to mention I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be employed by the hotel.”

Liam moved over and sat on his bed. Olivia sat beside him. The bed was firm, but the comforter was the usual scratchy stuff he expected from a hotel that spent the bare minimum on comfort because they knew they could pile people into their establishment thanks to the convention center attached to the place.

“Maybe you guys could go back to her room?” Rick said. “I really do need to get my beauty rest.”

“I drove in,” Olivia said with a shrug. “My manager would’ve killed me if I tried to take a room with my discount when we had other customers paying full price. They don’t take kindly to that kind of thing.”

“That sounds like a bullshit policy,” Rick said.

“It is,” Olivia said.

“So why do the two of you look weird?” Rick asked.

“What are you talking about?” Liam asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Rick rolled his eyes. “You have that look like something’s going on, and I don’t think it’s that you were sneaking a girl into our room.”

Liam bristled, but stopped short of reminding Rick it was a room they were sharing because Rick wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise.

“Nothing’s going on,” he said, thinking about all the craziness and the very real alien vampires running around the convention center looking to seduce and destroy.

Not to mention a girl who appeared as a semi-solid hologram who might or might not actually exist, though Olivia had seen her too so he figured that was probably a mystery solved. Not that he felt any better now that he knew she was totally real.

Rick was the last person he wanted to talk to about any of that under any circumstances, though, and so he kept his mouth shut.

“Come on,” Rick said. “If there’s something good going on then you need to tell me. You never come back to the hotel room with one of your girls this early.”

Liam looked to Olivia who arched an eyebrow. He wanted to reach across and pound Rick a couple of times with his fist. The asshole had totally said that on purpose. He was doing his whole cockblock routine, but Liam knew it wouldn’t be a good look if he started beating on someone who was ostensibly his friend in front of the nice girl he’d just met and… bonded with.

He sighed and tried to think of a version of the truth that would satisfy Rick to the point that he’d stop bothering them, but he was having trouble coming up with anything.

He thought about leaving the room, but that would mean leaving the illusory safety of being behind a door with a lock. Not that he thought that door or that lock would do them a damn bit of good if the vampires really wanted in.

“I met someone at the bar where we were having lunch,” he said.

“Yeah, she’s right there,” Rick said.

“Actually Olivia wasn’t the person I met at the bar,” Liam said.

“Seriously?” Rick said. “Aren’t you not supposed to talk about girls in front of other girls or something? I don’t know much about that kind of thing.”

“Of course you don’t,” Liam said. “But it’s cool. Olivia knows about her.”

“The Galactic Enforcer?”

He hit Olivia with a significant look, and she nodded in understanding.

“A Galactic Enforcer?” Rick asked, suddenly interested. “The one you were with after that movie showing? Like from that movie? Was she hot? She sounds hot! The one you were talking to earlier was hot!”

“I mean she was okay,” Liam said, shooting a nervous glance to Olivia who was hitting him with a look that said she didn’t for a moment buy his downplaying of how attractive the Galactic Enforcer was.

“It sounds like you had an interesting morning before we ran into each other,” Olivia said.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Liam said.

“So was she into you?” Rick asked, hitting him with an appraising look that said he didn’t believe it.

“She was something,” Liam said. “She wasn’t even the only woman who was into me in that hotel bar.”

He thought back to the vampire who’d definitely been into him, for all that she’d been into him in the same way he was into a plate full of Crab Rangoon at a Chinese buffet. Then he thought about Katie who’d seemed like she might be into him in a different way entirely were it not for the whole alien enforcer thing.

Not that he thought there was a chance of anything working out with either Katie or a vampire.

Things wouldn’t work out with the vampire because, well, she was a fucking vampire from another planet who was looking to suck his blood. Things wouldn’t work out with Katie the Galactic Enforcer because she wasn’t from this world, and it’s not like she had much incentive to stick around once the vampire menace had been scoured from the world.

“Wait, are you talking about those two hotties who got into a fight at the bar?” Rick said, belting out a laugh. “You expect me to believe they were arguing over you?”

“You saw that?” Liam asked.

“So there was a fight at the bar?” Olivia asked. “I heard some of the security people talking about it, it sounded pretty serious, but I wasn’t sure since they make everything sound pretty serious to preserve their jobs.”

“That’s where I was coming from when I was running away from our friends and ran into you earlier,” Liam said.

“What are you talking about?” Rick asked. “What friends?”

“Forget that,” Liam said. “You saw the fight earlier?”

“Of course I did,” Rick said. “I was there at the bar, though I got the hell out of there when it became clear they were pulling more of that stupid vampire vixen role-playing bullshit.”

Liam opened his mouth and was on the verge of telling Rick that it wasn’t role-playing bullshit. That it was all too real. That everyone in the convention was in serious danger, and he was seriously considering picking up stakes and getting the hell out of there while the getting was good.

Only he could think of a couple of good reasons to keep his fucking mouth shut.

The first was that no matter how much the flight part of his hardwired fight or flight response was screaming at him to get the hell out of there, he still had friends in the hotel he didn’t want to abandon. Plus there was Olivia standing right next to him looking at him eagerly. Like she thought this was all some grand adventure and she couldn’t wait to get on with it.

He didn’t want to leave her behind either, even if that meant being dragged along on whatever adventure she was trying to have here.

He still wanted to try and find both Tori and Katie. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Tori really did need his help, for all that she seemed like she was more than capable in a fight, and he simply wanted to see Katie again.

Plus a conversation with Rick was never pleasant, even when it was firmly rooted in reality. He always figured the best he could get out of Rick was the condescending annoyed nerd routine, and he’d grown tired of that years ago. He really didn’t want to get into a conversation where he’d come off as the crazy person.

“Yeah, the demonstration was pretty crazy,” he said.

“But I thought…” Olivia started.

Liam hit Olivia with what he hoped was a significant look. She seemed to get the point, because she shut up.

“The convention is really going all out with the cosplay stuff this year,” he said.

“Yeah,” Olivia said, picking up on what he was doing. “Some of the demonstrations they have planned for tomorrow when people start really showing up will blow your socks off.”

“I’d like to get something blown this weekend,” Rick muttered, giving both Liam and Olivia a significant look that seemed an awful lot like jealousy to Liam.

“Smooth, Rick,” Liam said, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, it’s not my job to impress the girls you bring back to our hotel room,” Rick said.

“So is that something that happens a lot for you at these conventions?” Olivia asked, suddenly seeming interested in how many girls he brought back to his room at these conventions.

Liam opened his mouth to try and stop the inevitable assholery he knew was going to come from Rick, but he was too late. Rick, totally unable to read social cues or totally able to read social cues and doing this on purpose to embarrass Liam, had already launched into his diatribe.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Rick said. “It’s like every woman at these conventions throws herself at him. And it’s not even because he’s some big fancy celebrity on the stupid VR streaming circuit. You should see what it’s like when he’s at a convention that’s actually focused on that stuff.”

Liam glared daggers at Rick, but he knew it wasn’t going to do any good.

“I don’t know what’s more unbelievable,” Rick said. “That they expect us to think those women in those costumes are really Galactic Enforcers and vampires, or that you’re trying to get me to believe both of them were into you.”

Liam opened his mouth to tell Rick exactly where he could shove his attitude, and his attempts to fuck things up with Olivia, when there was a knock at the door. Liam jumped, and then frowned.

Olivia glanced at the door and then back to him, and it was clear she was wondering what might be waiting on the other side and thinking that whatever it was, it couldn’t mean anything good for them.

“Am I going to have to get that?” Rick asked.

“No!” Liam said, perhaps a little too quickly and a little too loud. Rick hit him with a suspicious glare, but whatever. He needed to get to that door first.

Though as he walked to the door it occurred to him how ridiculous that thought was. After all, it was still pretty unlikely a bunch of interstellar vampires would operate under Bram Stoker rules where they couldn’t come in if they weren’t invited, so it’s likely that wasn’t them knocking and looking for an invite.

It still made him nervous that there was at least one other person at the convention who could invite someone into their room though. Not to mention Rick was very susceptible to the fairer sex, for all that he had a lot of misogyny going on, both internalized and externalized, because he couldn’t get laid.

He stared through the peephole, half expecting to see a vampire standing on the other side ready to kick the door in, with him on the other side in a perfect position to get impaled on the splinters. Then he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Anna and Michael standing there.

“Who is it?” Rick shouted. “Another one of your new cosplay girlfriends?”

“It’s Anna and Michael,” Liam said. “And you can go fuck yourself.”

“Shit. Do we have to let them in?” Rick asked. “I was trying to take a nap!”

“We’re going halfsies on this room, so that means I can let anyone in I want to,” Liam said.

He figured if he had to worry about someone inviting vampires in then Rick could get some of that treatment in the opposite direction.

“Who are Michael and Anna?” Olivia asked, coming up beside him. She still looked nervous. “And how do you know that’s really them? What if this is some weird mind thing the vampires are doing? Couldn’t they do that in the movie?”

“Watch this,” Liam said, looking through the peephole again. “Hey Michael!”

“Will you just let us in?” Michael said, turning to Anna. “I told you I heard them in there.”

“What was the name of the girl who turned you down back in fourth grade when you asked her to be your girlfriend?” Liam asked.

Michael glared at the peephole.

“Do we really have to do this?” Michael asked.

“Answer the question,” Liam said.

He glanced at Anna who was laughing and not doing a very good job of hiding it. She knew this story, but he needed to hear it from Michael to be sure.

“Miranda Talbot,” Michael said. “And thank you so much for bringing up those bad memories. Why don’t you give me a paper cut and squeeze some lemon juice in it while you’re at it?”

“Hold on,” Liam said.

“What was that all about?” Olivia asked.

“Michael knew the name of the girl who shut him down in fourth grade, and he used a Princess Bride quote,” Liam said. “That’s definitely him.”

“Oh,” Olivia said. “Good thinking.”

“I do have good ideas from time to time,” Liam said.

“Says you,” Rick called out from his bed.

Liam opened the door to a glaring Michael and Anna barely holding it together.

“I totally forgot you asked Miranda Talbot to be your girlfriend,” she said.

“You say that every time Liam brings it up,” Michael grumbled.

“Sorry about that,” Liam said. “But I had to make sure it was actually you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Michael asked. “Why would you not be sure that I was me?”

“It’s a long story,” Olivia said.

Michael and Anna turned to her. They’d been so focused on being annoyed with Liam that they hadn’t noticed Olivia standing there.

“Who’s this?” Michael asked.

“Come on,” Anna said. “She’s the girl from the front desk earlier? Remember, Liam got her number?”

“Oh yeah,” Michael said, grinning and sticking a hand out. “Nice to meet you. Or nice to see you again, I guess.”

Now it was Liam’s turn to suppress a laugh. Michael was trying so hard not to give Olivia and her costume a once over with his girlfriend standing right there that it looked like the effort was going to pop his eyes right out of his head.

“Nice to meet you too,” Olivia said, taking that hand and giving it a shake.

“You’re certainly moving fast,” Anna said, winking at Liam.

“Please,” Liam said. “I’ve already been getting shit from Rick.”

“And the sky is blue and the day ends in y,” Anna said in a singsong voice.

“I wouldn’t be dealing with that if you hadn’t opened your big mouth and let him know we were going to the convention,” Liam muttered.

“I heard that!” Rick said.

“What’s up Rick?” Michael asked stepping into the room. “Did you find that anime body pillow you were looking for??”

“Fuck you,” Rick said.

“Oh come on,” Michael said. “You know I’m not judging. I know your body pillow is actually a five hundred year old dragon so that makes it okay somehow.”

“They were all ridiculously expensive,” Rick said, rolling his eyes. “Not worth it.”

“Whoa,” Michael said. “I was just making a joke. Are you telling me you were really looking for a body pillow?”

“Her name is Midori from Boku wa Baka Gaijin,” Rick said, biting off every word. “And those pillows are art!”

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself,” Michael said. “But they usually tell you to take it outside if you try to hump the Mona Lisa while you’re visiting the Louvre.”

“Whatever,” Rick said. “They’re price gouging because of all the Sparklefang people at the convention this weekend. That’s the only explanation.”

“Or they know they’ve got you by the balls, literally, and so they jacked up the price because of all the time you spend jacking it to Midori,” Michael said.

“Plus I seriously doubt any of those teenyboppers or college girls looking for Sparklefang merchandise give a shit about your anime sex pillows,” Anna said, rolling her eyes.

“Those booths always creeped me out,” Olivia said, rubbing her arms and shivering.

“There’s nothing creepy about those booths,” Rick said.

“What about your creepy dolls?” Michael asked.

“They’re collectible figurines,” Rick said with a sniff. “And for whatever reason they’re price gouging those too. It’s like they think they can charge whatever they want because the people at the convention are a captive audience.”

“Because people at the convention are a captive audience,” Anna pointed out. “And you’ll gladly pay the prices they’re charging for your works of… art.”

“I will not,” Rick said.

“Catch me on Sunday and we’ll see what you have in your bag,” Anna said, earning a glower from Rick that wasn’t too intense because this was Anna, after all, and he wouldn’t want to do anything to insult her since he was playing the long game of waiting for her to break up with Michael so he could swoop in.

Though Liam figured it was going to be a very long game indeed.

“On the bright side, if you’re not walking around with your favorite work of art that totally has a pillow inside it for unrelated reasons then you probably have a better chance of finding a girl at the con this weekend,” Michael said.

Olivia snorted, and that earned her a glare from Rick. Meanwhile Liam was doing his best to hold it together, but his best wasn’t that great.

“Someday I’ll meet a nice girl who’s into all the same things I am,” Rick said. “And on that day my art collection is going to be the way I know she’s the one for me.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Anna said. “Listen, you all chat in here for a little bit. I’m going next door to get ready for tonight.”

“Tonight?” Liam asked.

He exchanged a nervous glance with Olivia. They’d had plans to go out tonight, but that was before he’d realized there were actual vampires hanging out at the convention looking to drain him of his blood.

“We’re staying in at the hotel so we can go to con parties,” Anna said. “That’s still the plan, right?”

“Ain’t no party like a hotel convention party!” Michael said, opening the door to their attached room and coming back with a backpack that rattled. He pulled a couple of beers out and then put them back in the bag. “Especially when you’re smart enough to bring your own stuff so you don’t have to rely on a hotel minibar!”

Liam hesitated. On the one hand, the thought of going out and having fun at parties with his friends was tempting. On the other hand, though, there was the very real worry that there were literal vampires running around who could seriously fuck up someone’s night.

He had a feeling they were going to do more than fuck up a few people’s nights before everything was said and done.

Though it’s not like he was going to find Tori or Katie by staying in his room all night. Not to mention if those vampires wanted to get into a room he had a feeling they could make that happen. It’s not like he was any safer behind the deadbolt in his hotel room than he was anywhere else in the hotel when he was dealing with aliens who were strong enough to turn the door into splinters with their bare claws.

He wished he could have a talk with Michael and Anna alone. He wanted to level with them and tell them the truth.

Like the whole truth. That there were vampires and Galactic Enforcers out there looking to mix it up at the convention. That there was a serious worry that if they went out to parties tonight they could wind up in the middle of a situation that would end their lives.

Though they’d probably have the time of their lives before they reached that end of their lives. The vampire vixens were well known for showing people a good time before they slaughtered them, after all. Or at least that’s what the movie made it seem like.

“What’s wrong?” Anna asked, pausing on her way into her room.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he said, sharing a significant glance with Olivia.

“There’s got to be something wrong,” Anna said. “You have that look.”

“Later,” he said, his eyes darting to Rick.

“You say so,” Anna said, also glancing to Rick and then back to Liam, her curiosity clearly piqued.

“So are we going to do this or what?” Rick said. “And are you bringing your new piece along?”

“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk to my friend like that,” Liam said.

“Or what, you’re going to frag me like one of those assholes you play against in your stupid VR games?”

“I seem to recall you have a kill death ratio that makes you about as dangerous as a declawed kitten, Rick” Michael said. “Maybe you shouldn’t go casting stones at people who are good enough to get paid to play that game.”

“Whatever,” Rick said.

He shouldered past them and out into the hallway.

“I know I’m new to your group and I don’t understand your whole dynamic or anything, but I’m having a hard time understanding why all of you are still friends with that guy,” Olivia said.

“You wouldn’t be the only one,” Liam said, hitting Anna with a glare. She blushed and looked away.

“So I let slip that we were going to the convention this year,” she said. “Aren’t I suffering enough?”

“Not nearly enough,” Liam said. “But it’s not like we have any choice. We might as well try to make the best of it.”

“We can have fun tonight,” Olivia said, hitting him with a significant look. “We’ll just need to be careful.”

“The two of you are acting weird,” Anna said.

Liam opened his mouth and was on the verge of telling them what the big problem was, but Rick stuck his head in again.

“Come on! What are you all waiting for?”

Liam shook his head. He’d have to wait until later to tell them about the danger. He just hoped they managed to avoid that danger until they found Tori and Katie.