Chapter 34: (to be continued)

“This is the place,” I told my group of followers. Today we were all there; Magali, Paytin, Tak, and even Tess and Kolin had tagged along with us.

We stood outside a large, brick warehouse in the industrial sector of town. The same general area as before, but closer to a hard-working-class area, instead of what was very much the slums we’d visited last time. The structures were old, with faded paint wearing off of well-worn building bricks and sidewalks that had been swept clean for so long they had to be inches shallower than when they were laid down. The area was obviously well loved and taken care of with pride, with a strong feeling of history behind it.

After double-checking the freshly painted numbers over the front door of the warehouse—305 Mueller St.—I lead us around the side of the building to the back, as per Master Alric’s note. I tried, well, I guess all of us did (undisciplined young punks, pfft)—technically you’re younger than me, so can it!—to peek in the darkened windows, just to see what was inside. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? I could make out vague shapes of boxes of all sizes, and possibly some movement to indicate people inside toiling. There wasn’t even a name to go with the painted address above the entrance.

“Place must be so exclusive, it doesn't need a name.” Tess was thinking along the same line as me, it seemed.

“Yeah, one of those ‘if you know, you know, and if you don’t, then you don’t need to know.’” I…he-he, knew… that Tess would kno…understood what I was saying. The others? Nope, attested by Tak’s scathing comment.

“What are babbling about, now?” The fiery redhead was definitely in her non-professional role at the moment. I wonder if there is a way to find her trigger switch and toggle it manually (that’s just dirty, bro) to adjust her personality waffling. Maybe jamming it somewhere between the two extremes. Of course, nobody would ever want to adjust my personality! (hmmm, there is this thing called a lobotomy in these fleshy memories…interesting)

I stumbled, tripping over my own stunning. “Damn loose stones…careful of your footing, guys.” Sure, brilliant way of covering, I congratulated myself.

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“Oh, people back home like to say dumb-ass shit like that, like only the most elite could know of a place—bar, club, or something—that is so exclusive regular people are kept in the dark about it.”

Thank you, Tess, for coming to my rescue!

“Club? You need to carry a weapon to the bar?” Ah, Magali the curious. Of course, he’d pick up on that.

“That’s all you, dude.” I laughed at Tess.

“Yup, not like you’ve been in an exclusive club, huh Book?”

Ouch. Touche.

“A club is kind of a real fancy bar,” Tess went on to explain, after drawing blood on her jab at me. “Not a tavern—there’s no food—and there is every kind of alcohol you can think of. And some you could never. But the main thing is the music, loud heart-thumbing and mind-numbing, glorious music! And you drink, and you dance, completely let loose.”

“Don’t forget the glow sticks.” I may never have set foot in one, but I watched a lot of TV, OK?

“That’s right, you wave around these glowing sticks, and the lights flicker with the music. It’s…”

“Seizure inducing.”

“…awesome…”

“Brain damaging.”

“…and liberating!”

“Your wallet.”

“That sounds just awful!” Yeah, Magali would likely be by my side, not Tess’s.

“Honestly, it sounds kind of scary to me.” So, Paytin was with Magali and I.

“That…sounds incredible!” No surprise, Tak shared Tess’s enthusiasm. “We need to find one around here, I so want to go!”

“You know it, girl,” Tess let go of Kolin’s arm to shoulder bump our taciturn friend in solidarity. The adventurer just smiled and shook his head, the smart man that he was.

“What dances, though? I can’t imagine any fitting into that.” Tak was all in on the concept. No, the medieval style of dance that elves only knew were not a fit.

“I’ll show you sometime,” Tess said. How would you describe modern club dancing? And would anyone believe it without seeing? “First, we need to find a Bard we can corrupt.” She actually rubbed her hands together in glee, how about that?

While we talked like old friends—I was feeling familiar vibes, soothing me—we reached the back of the brick warehouse. It was…bare, to say the most. No door or windows were apparent on the ground level, but a pair of oversized, multi-paned, arched windows stared down at us like anime eyes on an animated barn. A wooden staircase led up to a deck outside of a singular door set between and below the eye windows. Obviously, the nose, while the slatted deck railings provided the teeth to complete a whole ‘look.’

I took the lead, leading my line of comrades up the sturdy steps and to a place on the platform. I rapped two hard knocks on the door, then reached for the handle. Too impatient to wait and see if there was an answer, I turned the knob and swung the door inwards.

TO BE CONTINUED…