Sam waited in line as a bouncer slowly pushed party goers inside the club. The front door was draped in a white sheet, the same as the front of the building. Sam looked around as she grabbed her left arm, rubbing up and down the sleeveless appendage. She felt naked without her axe by her side, even more so in the dress she had donned.
The bulky, bald-headed bouncer wore a black suit without a tie and a red turtleneck underneath. His thick jaw was outlined in stubble sharp enough light a match.
He took the invitations of the guests ahead of Sam and waved them through, politely turning away those who failed to meet the expected attire.
Sam stepped forward and looked out into the street. The Raven was gone. He disappeared shortly after Sam had turned her back on him. The thought of him stealing her axe, mostly the talisman attached to the axe, always worked itself to the front of her mind, eating away at her brain like an unquenchable parasite.
“Next.” The bouncer glared down Sam with his unwavering poker face.
Sam was too distracted by letting the worst thought come to her mind. She bit her lip as she wondered if she had done the wrong thing coming here alone. She should have brought Tentin at least.
“Next!” The bouncer spoke loudly, pulling Sam from her thoughts. He shifted his hands together in front of him. “Invitation please.” As Sam neared him, he held out his hand for the small paper invitation.
Sam held up the invitation for the man to take. She didn’t know how the Raven was able to acquire an
invitation to this club. It was most likely not in a good way.
The bouncer looked the invitation over, and then he did the same to Sam. “First time here?”
Sam nodded. She wasn’t sure what to expect at this sort of place. Clubs weren’t her usual scene. She guessed it was loud electronic music that everyone loved these days. Dub-step, EDM, or whatever it was called. She thought of her favorite rock band and started to play one of their songs through her head. She would need this to get through tonight.
He placed the paper in his coat pocket and waved her through. “Enjoy yourself. It is a unique treat after all.” He smiled deviously as he turned back to the line of people gathering for the club. “Next.”
Sam moved past the white curtain as the faint sound of music could be heard through the outer walls of the club. The bass was rattling her eardrums as she approached another bouncer standing guard by a dark doorway. He held open the door for Sam.
She stepped into a dark hallway, following the growing sound of music. She stepped up to another sheet, lit with the ghastly white lights as the outside was. She pushed the sheet aside and stepped inside the club.
Her senses were assaulted by the sudden bright light and the blasting of a live band playing new-age, nineteen-twenties, jazz-swinger music. Patrons thrashed about on the dance floor, waving arms and swinging their legs about as the band tirelessly played their instruments without a fault. The band was led by a female in a short dress, a headband with a long feather striking sky high, wrapped around her perfectly cropped hair. She sung fast and loud as the dancers kept beat with her vivacious lyrics.
Sam headed down to the dance floor, one step as a time. The floor was lit with white light as ancient iron chandeliers illuminated the club with dingy, yellow light. Several men sat around a bottle, gambling away over poker. Sam moved around to the bar, set against a sitting area right off the dance floor. Sam went to order a drink. She glanced around, taking in the new scenery with ease. There was no electronic music. She smiled, it was a jazz club she could get used to.
She saw into a side room where some patrons where smoking something out of a hookah, polluting the air with the release of their breaths. Their eyes were glazed and hazed over as they sat back, their minds taken off to wherever they pleased.
Sam grabbed ahold of the bartender, “Two shots of rum please.” She held up two fingers and turned around to face the dance floor. She gazed around the club, looking for someone old enough to fit the description of an old, world war two businessman. She spotted some bouncers standing on either side of a doorway at the top of a flight of stairs. That was most likely the place he would be hold up in.
She turned back to the bar tender as he slid the shots down to her. He set his palms down on the table and smiled at her, “First time here?” He spoke English in a thick German accent.
“Yeah, I’m enjoying what you have going on here. I can never find something like this where I’m from.” Sam put back the two shots of rum. “What do I owe you?”
“It’s on the house.” He pointed up to a window next to the door upstairs, “He has taken a liking to you.”
Sam smiled and turned to the window, “Really? Well that was easier than I thought.” She looked back at the bartender, “Thanks for the drinks.” Sam stepped onto the dancefloor. The fast paced music had ended and the band switched over to a slow song. Couples grabbed each other and started to sway back and forth on the dance floor as the band lightly played their song.
Sam looked about as she dodged through the crowd. Her eyes landed on a man in a white suit in the middle of the dance floor. His eyepatch sat over his right eye. A cane was resting in his hand as he smiled at Sam. She froze for a second. Was Bartlett really here? It couldn’t be true. She quickly moved to the center of the dance floor, trying to keep sight of the man she had loved. A couple stepped in front of her, and before she could sidestep them, he had vanished yet again.
Waiters dressed in white zig-zagged through the crowds of people in the club, their white masks with elongated noses stuck out amongst the dark wood of the clubs walls and furniture. They carried small glasses of champagne, dispersing them out to the inhabitants of the club.
Sam looked about again, she was sure she had seen Bartlett here. She looked back around and she stopped, her breath left her body. A few feet in front of her stood the man she had been searching for. She wasn’t sure what to do now that she had found him.
He took a step forward and stopped. He looked up to the window where Sam figured Johan was hiding out.
Sam’s eyes left Bartlett for a moment to see what he had been looking at. A waiter crossed between her and Bartlett, brushing Sam as he did so. Her attention was drawn back in front of her. Bartlett was gone. Sam wasn’t sure if it was a ghost, or if he had really been here. Maybe he was guiding her on her quest for the Institute.
“Champagne ma’am?” A waiter held out a silver tray with several drinks upon it. Sam took one out of habit. She looked around again, knowing that she wouldn’t find Bartlett here again. She knew the message he had given her. She had to get to Johan.
With one adjustment to her dress, Sam raised the glass to her mouth, her eyes never leaving the window above the stairs.
“Don’t drink that, you fool.” A waiter had moved in front of Sam, a white mask plastered to his face.
“What did you call me?” Sam lowered her drink, her brow furrowed. She was about to knock some sense into this waiter.
The man lifted his mask and a familiar stench rolled over Sam. Black stained teeth smiled back at her, “Look about the establishment.”
Sam wondered what he was talking about. She looked about the club and soon found out. Everyone who had taken the champagne had slowed down remarkably. Their eyes had rolled backwards as they swayed back in forth on instinct. Looks of euphoria spread across their faces like a plague infecting everyone.
The Raven pulled the white mask down onto his face, “If you haven’t grabbed their attention yet, you soon will.” He took the drink from Sam and knocked it back down his throat.
“Where’s my bag?” Sam worried about the talisman the Bartlett had given her. It wasn’t just her weapon against evil, but it was a priceless heirloom.
“It’s safe. I hid it out back. Don’t worry about it, just get up there and get what you needed. I’ll wait for you out back.” The Raven pushed her onward and disappeared into the crowd.
Sam mad her way to the stairs. The guards gave her a strange look as she approached them. She wished she had a weapon, anything really, even a pocket knife. She was headed into the unknown, naked, so to speak.
“I’m here for Johan Fleischer. I have business with him.” Sam crossed her arms over her dress. She figured it would make her seem somewhat aggressive, but the dress was all too effeminate.
The guards looked at each other again.
“So you can let me in, or I can let myself in. Either way, I will see Johan.” Sam stepped forward.
One of the guards nodded at the door, “Go ahead. He would love to see you too.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Sam looked surprised, “Oh, okay.” She pushed past the men and stepped inside the room. She stood there baffled as she faced a stone wall. The smooth sound of stone grinding on stone filled the small room. She reached out and placed her hand on the wall. It pulled her hand to the right as she pressed against it, like the stone was turning.
A gap soon appeared in front of Sam, the stone ended and light crashed down upon her. Her eyes squinted as she adjusted to the light. The guard who spoke earlier shoved Sam in the back, launching her into the room beyond.
She almost toppled over as her legs struggled to stay upright. Her knees wobbled for a few seconds, adjusting to the spinning room. She did not expect this from an old man.
A slow clap soon filled the air, echoing deep into Sam’s mind. She looked across the white floor to a step up platform, where a younger man sat sprawled out along a black leather sofa, his hands clapping methodically. His short beard covered the lower half of his face, while a thick mane of dark-brown hair sat atop his head. Robust furs were draped across the back of the couch and leaked down onto the floor in front of the man, where a half-naked lady lay, a thick brown fur covered just barley past her chest. Her sharp features radiated the beauty of a model, someone who would be regularly placed on the front of a magazine.
Several armed bodyguards stood in various places along the circular room. Sam noticed a door opposite of the one she had entered. There were only two ways in and out. She noted the escape routes if anything went wrong. She had no weapons, so escape was the only viable plan, no matter how much she hated the idea of running from a fight.
She was slightly amazed at the construct of the room. As the room spun, it passed the window overlooking the nightclub. The hexed patrons inside were still zoned out, their eyes rolled back while bliss took control of their faces.
As the room continued to spin, the walls turned into an oversized fish tank. Exotic fish swam about nonchalantly, unknowing of the world going on around them. Sharks mingled in with the fish, their beady eyes darted about looking for prey.
With one final clap, the man occupying the couch held his hands together, “Congratulations!” He rubbed his hands together with delight, “You have found me.” He smiled and pulled his hands down to his lap as he sat upright, “Lucky too. I was thinking about visiting one of my clubs in Russia, but decided to stay an extra day here. I just love this country too much. We’ve been through thick and thin.”
He stood from the couch and bent down to kiss the woman on the floor. She leaned upwards to meet him halfway, the fur covering her fell down to her waist. Sam looked away, her face flushing with the open display of skin in front of her. Sam was used to monsters and aliens, but she could never get over the naked human body.
The man helped the woman up from the floor, “I love you, sweetheart, but you should get dressed. We have company.”
The woman wrapped herself in the fur and retreated behind the couch, disappearing behind a three paneled screen.
The man turned back to Sam, “I’ve been here since before the Romans tried to take these lands. Empires came and went. Napoleon marched through with his armies, cutting down my kinsmen. I was friends with Otto von Bismarck as well as Herr Adolf Hitler. I have raised men onto pedestals, and I have ripped them down in a tide of fury. Blood has rained down on these lands for time eternal, but alas, peace has become the reality of these parts, and I find it much too dull.”
The man gave a short bow, “Johan Fleischer, at your service.” He rose from his bow and stalked over to Sam. He looked her over for a short time while pacing in a circle. “And I believe you are?”
“Sam. You can call me Sam.” She remained stone faced as Johan approached her. This was no time for fear to muddle her mind. “Johan Fleischer. The same that helped finance the Nazi war machine, and all the while you got away without any punishment. Seems like you are quite the lucky one, not even age has caught up with you. What are you anyway?” Sam had thought to find a decrepit old man standing before her, but as usual in this line of work, nothing was quite as it seemed.
Johan chuckled. “Yes, luck would have nothing to do with it. Money, on the other hand, has everything to do with, well, everything, mind you.” He started to walk back to the couch, “Americans love money and will look the other way if you wave enough of it in their faces.”
The woman came out from behind the screen. A loose dress clung from her slender body, draping off her curves freely. “Sam. Such a small, ordinary name, but I have still heard of you. You are Bartlett’s girl, no?” Her thick German accent clung to each word she spoke.
“And you must be Galiana, a pleasure.” Sam hinted with a slight sarcasm, “I would like to think so. I’ve been looking for him this past year, but I can’t seem to find him.”
“He is dead.” Johan spoke up, “At least this is what I have heard through various contacts here and there.” He sat on the couch and waved over for Galiana to join him. “I would think that you saw him die, if I am correct? Then why would you be chasing him for a year? It seems a fool’s errand.” He waved over to one of the guards and clapped once. The guard raced off behind the screen and retrieved two glasses of wine. He promptly handed them to the Fleischers and took his post again.
“But that is how I found you after all.” Sam walked over to the aquarium as the room spun around again. “I found a place, a cave.” She paused for a moment, waiting to see if either of her hosts would release some sort of information. They both sat still, except for Johan’s fingers, which twitched a little. Sam continued her story. “I followed Bartlett’s trail here, to your club. I could’ve sworn I saw him on your dance floor. He pointed to your door outside and poof, I found you.” Sam turned back to the couple.
Johan was turning red. His hand clasped around the glass with such force he shattered the goblet, spilling wine over himself. A red aura started to glow around him as he took deep breaths. He let a curse slip from his mouth as his arm flashed behind him, leaving a trail of red misty smoke.
Sam winced backwards as she thought the man was about to draw a weapon. His attitude changed from calm to angry in an instant. It was best to not mention Mr. Bartlett around him for the rest of the encounter. She should try and change the subject back to the original reason she came here.
Galiana’s hand whipped down and grabbed Johan’s, leaving the same wispy smoke tail, only hers was blue. “You mustn’t do that.” She leaned into his ear and whispered something to him. Johan calmed down with a few breaths.
“I apologize. I know not what I do. I thank my wife for keeping me in line all these years.” Johan nodded to the guard who came and began to sweep up the glass and spilt wine. Johan became restless while he sat watching the guard clean his mess.
He started to twitch as his leg began to bounce up and down. He finally pushed Galiana aside and yelled out, “Ahhh!” He pulled a small revolver from the small of his back and shot it into the guard’s back several times. He then kicked the guard before he could topple to the floor, Johan’s leg misted red again and the guard’s body flew across the room, crunching against the stone wall behind Sam.
Johan ran his hand though his hair and paced back and forth. Galiana stood and embraced him, whispering to him until he calmed down.
Sam tried to accept what had just happened. This man was crazy. She had best get out while she could still do so. She opened her mouth to speak when an image of the cave pushed to the front of her mind, the drawing on the cave wall of the large black figure trapped by a red, blue, and green figure.
There was the reason the two lovers in front of her had not aged for all these years. It became clear to her now how they had escaped from any retribution over the centuries they had roamed the earth. They were powerful, too powerful for Sam to take on her own, especially without her axe. This was slowly becoming a bad situation. She would need to get the information she needed and meet up with the Raven out back.
There was an odd tension in the air. Sam decided to get on with it instead of delaying the inevitable. “The real reason I have come here today is for information on a man.” Sam stepped forward.
Johan turned his attention to Sam. His anger fit had subsided and he pulled Galiana tightly to him. “What information on what man have you come to seek.” His words were flat and emotionless. Not something Sam would like to hear in this situation.
“Hans Kammler. I have reason to believe the Nazi war criminal has surfaced from years of hiding. From some quick research, I figured he would come to the only man left on Earth who helped fund all those fun experiments over seventy years ago.” Sam positioned herself near the door opposite the one she came in on. She timed the rotations to make sure she could escape on time if anything were to go wrong.
“Hans Kammler?” Johan paced a little more before he took his seat back on his couch. “I think it would take a little more than some quick research to find out a connection between Kammler and myself, but, I will reward your tenacity in such ventures.” He waved to Galiana, “The project folder please.”
The long-legged woman smiled with pleasure. She pulled a file from the cushion of the couch. She placed it in Johan’s hand with care, “You are going to betray Hans Kammler?”
Johan took the file and ignored her. He waltzed over to the guest, her dress sparkling in the light, and gave her the file. “I do not know where he keeps his base of operation. I only gave him the revenue needed to proceed with his plan.”
Sam hesitated for a split second. She took the folder slowly, “Why are you giving me this?”
“Because,” Johan turned back to his wife, “I love this country, and those of the old Nazi era have had their chance.” He turned around once he stepped up onto the next level where his couch was, “And they missed it. I would hate to see another mindless war take place. It is not the time for one.” He grinned at Sam. “I would think you know the way out.”
Sam nodded. She held the folder in an iron grip as she backed up to the open gap in the stone doorway. “It’s been a pleasure.” She said as she dipped out of the archway at the right moment, disappearing completely as the stone spun onward.
“It was more pleasurable than she knows.” Galiana let a smile creep on her face, “I like her. What plans do we have for her, Johan? I see you sent her out back. You also sent Hans’ man out back.”
Johan slammed his fist into the wall. Blood trickled down his knuckles and into his palm. “We leave her be for now. If Hans takes care of her, then so be it. If not, then we will decide the next step in our plans.” He raced to the couch and grabbed his gun. He ran over to the dead body on the floor.
“Please, Johan, take it easy.” Galiana embraced him and rubbed his chest, “I know of ways we can calm you anger.”
Johan shrugged her off and held pointed the gun at her. Galiana didn’t move a muscle. “He was right here under our noses and we didn’t feel his presence. He could have snuck in here and slit our throats without us even knowing. He is more powerful now than he was centuries ago when we trapped him in that cave. Now there are only two of us left. Heng Chao is missing. We won’t be able to defeat him this time.”
Johan yelled out in rage. He fired the last of the bullets in his gun, one after the other, into the dead body. Blood spurted out with each shot. He stood there still firing after the gun was empty. Small clicks rang out across the room.
“Instead of going berserk, I think we should dispatch some of our agents to find out what Bartlett is planning before it is too late, hmm?” Galiana was the voice of reason, “We start by tailing this Sam girl. Bartlett has big plans for her.” She raised his hand holding the gun and brought it to her mouth. She tenderly wrapped her lips around the gun and pulled backwards. Galiana tugged him back to the couch.
“You are right. We must act fast. Our existence is at stake here.” Johan let himself be dragged over to the couch. “You there!” He pointed at a guard, “I want everyone to sweep the club. Kick out all the guests. I don’t care if the drugs haven’t worn off yet. I want this place swept clean.”
The guard nodded and all but the two lovers had left the room.
“I hope we don’t need to act too fast.” Galiana fell to the floor gently, her dress falling from her shoulders.
“Me either, my beautiful, German woman.” Johan fell on top of her and pulled a large fur over the top of them both.