“Thank you.” Cash responded politely. “If you can wait just a moment, I will have someone escort you to the table your brother prefers.” The stranger responded. I had started to ignore them finally, looking around at all the Other’s that were coming and going. There were very few humans that frequented Chellos and I think it was because the building somewhat resembled a strip club full of Others, though it was much more than that. The club was run like a sexual fine arts gallery. The stage was massive, and because it was two floors, you could dance on the bottom floor to the Dj or visit one of the crazy themed areas on the second, each boasting their own taste of senseless debauchery. My favorite was the checkered floor room. It wasn’t basic black and white, but had bright checkered colors of the rainbow, with marshmallow seats and fluffy clouds that hung from the ceiling. A friend of Reggie and I worked there on the weekends and we’d come to see him in action. He was a dancer
I walked over to open one of the glass doors and the music’s bass caressed my ears. I could see down on the main floor tons of bodies bumping and grinding to the beat. Low smoky lights flickered around while servers navigated through the crowd. My eyes were drawn back to the second floor and I could see the Iron Velvet room directly across from us. I had visited a few rooms in the place but never that one. This angle gave me a better view then the marshmallow room. Instead of being directly by the wide stairs that led to the second floor, I was now where I could see all the rooms opposite us. The room was painted the same candy apple red as the hall ways we passed through and a large iron maiden towered against one of its walls. Swords crossed each other hanging here and there while chains hung an arm's length apart in several places. What caught my attention the most was not the large Victorian bed sized couch that sat in the middle of everything, it was the man lounging on it
“You know who we are, and you let this..thing in here? And you, Cash, how could you bring her here!?” Dandaline shouted at him. I couldn’t see her because I had stopped fighting with Cash to move and could only stare at the Vampire who was staring back. I heard a sudden smack against flesh and a soft whimper come from Dandaline. “Hush, I didn’t ask you to stick up for me!” Leif snarled at her, making me realize I didn’t kill him. Bummer. “I’m not one to intervene on family quarrels, but I ask you to keep the violence to a minimum. You may be guests here, but there are still rules I expect to be followed.” Zin said to us, never taking his eyes off me. “My apologies, we will be leaving shortly.” Cash said, loosening his grip on me. I finally was able to back up and peer around him. Dandaline had her head down while Leif was standing, straightening his pinstriped suit. I could see the damage I did punching him in the face and I winced. The right side was bloodied and his lip
“Well, I would be of no help sadly. It has long been a choice of mine not to interfere with the forever and ongoing bickering between Angels and Demons. Though true, our souls are damned, I find it not an obligation to assist the Devil. I asked him politely to seek elsewhere for help. If he is losing his grip on Oblivion then maybe he is getting too old, for the game?” his words were dangerous, but I didn’t dare speak up. Cash only nodded at him. “So now that you have our answer, we should be going.” “Ah, I ask for just one more moment of your time? Or rather, the lady’s time?” Zin looked at me a moment and got up, coming around the desk. Cash was already on the edge of his seat, watching the vampire. “May I?” Zin said, taking my hand. I glanced at Cash just expecting him to jump out of his seat. Looking back at the vampire, I nodded. Zin lifted my hand to his nose, and with his face, he caressed it like a kitten. I could see his nostrils flare, suddenly realizing he wasn’t s
Trixie walked back over to us. “They’re checking camera’s now,” he said to us. “I let Zin know as well, he won't be happy if someone one is messing around in his club.” He looked worried also. “I’m going back in to look for her,” Pheral yelled as he headed back to the entrance. I started after him knowing she couldn’t have just vanished. “I don’t think it's wise for you to go in, you will do better out here, especially with your emotions. It may be too much for you.” Cash said grabbing my arm before I took two steps. “She’s my friend, and I will burn the place to the ground if I have to, in order to find her.” I could feel my aura push and my franticness rise to the top. “Ayda, you will just make things worse. This is a club for Others, you will just draw attention, and it could cause chaos.” Cash pleaded with me. I had a feeling since Zin pointed out I was an abomination of sorts, Cash looked at me in a whole different category. The instrumental Ride to Hell came blaring
“Ah, sorry boss.” The words came out like domino’s being knocked over, one after another. The entire kitchen went silent other than the hum of the machinery and music blaring in the back ground. “Resume your work, I will speak with you all later regarding, how much time, you have and don’t have, to use manners.” The look on their faces when Zin spoke made me almost feel bad. “Now, Miss Ayda, would you please follow me, I have something to show you.” I turned back around, hopeful, as I followed Zin out of the double doors. The most impressive thing for the night happened the moment we stepped on the dance floor, the club goers parted, like the sea and the rip of a record was heard before the music stopped. Some of the Others were giving small waves, mostly women, and some were looking annoyed, mostly men. Was the Vampire in front of me that impressive? It took a moment to get across the large checkered floor, but the moment we did, the Dj’s resumed and bodies continued on wit
The candy apple red paint greeted us once again as we entered the inner hall ways. I realized this time it reminded me of red latex stretched tight over someone's skin. The door to the boiler room was plain and unmarked which made it even more odd that someone found it to use as an access point in kidnapping Reggie. “Are the floor plans for the club available at the records office downtown?” I asked Zin as we headed down a metal set of stairs. “Yes, I’m afraid, though I am unsure if the old tunnels would be included however. The club was originally a townhall, one of the firsts to be built amidst the mid 17th century. When I... acquired it, I was unaware the tunnels existed until our expansion in 1913 when we converted it into a Speakeasy before the ban of liquor and coming out of Others.” Zins words lost my attention as we descended, the boiler room’s massive size drew my attention. It smelled of damp and musk, reminding me of Lou’s dungeons below oblivion. The walls were rock
The vampire chuckled as I headed into the tunnel, using my phone. There was suddenly a click and then more light showing the way. I turned around to see Zin and his security guy both holding flash lights. “Might I suggest you stay between us, and save the battery of your mobile phone?” He said smoothly walking past me. I almost laughed out loud at his word selection, who said mobile phone anymore? I didn’t feel nervous being surrounded by a vampire, if they drank my blood, the Almighty would find out and they wouldn’t last a day, at least I hoped that’s how it worked. The faint drips along the walls of the tunnels echoed forward and the remaining silence was eerie. “So, you’ve never seen the end of the tunnels?” I asked either one. “No, we lost a lot of good people down here so we stopped sending them.” The vampire behind me responded. I nodded, wondering if they just got lost or if there was really something big bad and scary lurking around. Doing my best to not imagine