“We shouldn’t fucking be here,”Bo muttered, and I had to say, his fearful tone didn’t exactly inspire me to continue.
But in the end, I knew that I had no choice, as we had come this far, and I wasn’t giving up my blood for nothing. So, ignoring Bo’s uneasiness, I took my first steps inside, looking around in awe as the place opened up before us.
The room was huge and far bigger than I would have believed capable of fitting inside the old brick building I had seen from the outside. The ceilings rose four floors high, and the whole place reminded me of a demonic church. Its walls were all made from black stone that looked porous, like it was built from millions of fist-sized basalt blocks, all cemented together.
The only break in this unusual style was the large black igneous rock that had been carved into giant pillars, as if they had been made out of much bigger pieces found at the bottom of some now dormant volcano. These pillars were situated around the room like featureless sentinels standing guard. Each clearly supported the higher levels that I could see, thanks to the wrap-around balconies that framed the main floor of the club.
Of course, I could see people up there, so I knew there must have been a staircase of sorts, but as for where one was, I had no clue. But stranger still was what separated the upper levels from the one I now stood on. A sinister decoration of hundreds of antlers that looked more demonic in nature. Each entwined with gnarled, dead tree branches that twisted between the pale bone of skulls and spiked horns. It actually made the room look more like some sinister entity had taken over pieces of it, and I half expected to see it start to slither down the walls.
The holy influence came into focus along one side of the room, where an enormous black church organ stood in stark contrast to its pipes, bright white and towering like oversizedpillar candles set into the dark, carved frame. They climbed toward a domed glass ceiling that revealed the depth of the night beyond, more reminiscent of a Victorian greenhouse than any sacred hall. And in keeping with this aged theme, gothic candelabras hung down from their metal frames like giant glass diamonds were caught within a cage of twisted black spikes. A yellow glow beamed out of them like a kaleidoscope of light.
They hung from the ceiling in central lines and ran down the middle of the room, leading to another pair of doors directly in front of me.
“I wonder what’s in there?” I questioned as I walked inside and decided to try to mingle inby taking a seat at one of the free tables. However, the second I turned to face Bo, after having received no response, I sucked back a worried breath as he had disappeared. I started looking around frantically, hoping to catch sight of him somewhere…but he was gone.
I wondered briefly if he had gone to try to find someone with information on where we may locate this Wyedari Oblivion. But then I doubted that, as it was more likely that he had left me altogether. It was obvious he was afraid of what might happen to him within these walls.
I shifted my focus back to the main floor, which was split into several sections. A bar sat beneath the left-hand side tucked under the balcony. It looked capable of serving hundreds of different drinks, with endless rows of bottles in every imaginable shape, size, and color. None of which carried a single recognizable label.
This section contained most of the seating, where gothic high-backed chairs with spindled frames gleamed in high-gloss black, their deep burgundy leather seats adding a rich contrast. The surrounding tables were crafted from dark, polished wood, supported by wrought-iron legs that ended with demonic, clawed feet.
Along the wall dominated by the gothic organ, the space softened into a lounge of sorts, filled with black leather Chesterfield sofas and narrow side tables. Each table held a teardrop-shaped wooden surface, little more than a resting place for drinks and a black-and-red Tiffany lamp, its hanging beads forming rows of crimson tears caught in mid-fall.
Now as for the club’s occupants, it had to be said that most of these looked quite normal. Or at least, they did to a girl who grew up being dragged to witches’ conventions and parties that included a wide array of characters. People that all believed in the supernatural, as well as looking part of the same cult.
Which meant that I didn’t bat an eyelid at the gothic attire, nor did it faze me to see so many people dressed as if they had just been to a medieval ball or walked straight out of a Renaissance fair. Shit, it looked more like some fantasy movie set than an actual place for people to come that practiced magic.
However, the moment an actual, real-life demon walked past me, I swear to the Moon Goddess, I was close to crapping my pants! I actually squeaked, and I had no idea I could even make that sound or where it had come from.
Fear, Eliza, that’s where it had fucking come from!
I quickly scurried back in my seat, but the second it tipped back to the floor and made a loud enough bang, I knew my hopesof lying low and fitting in were well and truly over. Especially when the demon stopped walking and turned his head, now sniffing at the air.
He looked half-animal, half-man, with demonic elements thrown in for good measure. First, the being was huge, with the rust-red cloak he wore only managing to make his form appear bigger. Two horns peeked out beyond the hood he wore, covering the back of his head, and these were thick and jagged around the bottom. The tips, however, looked almost worn away, making them blunt and rounded.
As for his face, which was by far the most disturbing aspect of him, it held nothing but threat and lethal malice. His burning orange eyes were set unnervingly deep into his skull, swallowed by shadow, while the absence of eyebrows left only heavy waves of wrinkles that deepened as he snarled in my direction. Those same creases gathered at the bridge of his nose as he scented the air, sniffing like a wild beast tracking prey through a forest. His upper lip peeled back completely, exposing long, deadly fangs, saliva coating them before dripping thickly onto his lower lip.
“Human flesh,”he snarled, making me squeak once more… as clearly, squeaking was my thing now.
Then he found what he had been looking for, facing me head-on and telling me without words what was coming next. I quickly scrambled to my feet, and before he could lunge for me, I ducked out of his reach and ran through the chairs and tables.
“Excuse me! Coming through… don’t mind me… just being chased by a pissed off demon… fuck my life!” I said all of this as I snaked my way through the busiest section, banging into the backs of chairs as I went by. I didn’t really know where I was going, but I knew my options at this point were certainly limited.
“Erh… security! Is there any security in here? SECURITY!” I shouted this time in hopes that someone would take pity on me and rush to my aid. However, after seeing most people’s reaction was to just start laughing, I did the only thing I could think left to do.
I ran for the double doors directly ahead.
There were seven steps leading up to the entrance, and beyond that, well… the Goddess only knew where it led to. At that point, I didn’t care anymore, only that something built with such deliberate grandeur had to lead somewhere important. The steps climbed toward a tall, arched stone frame that looked less like a doorway and more like the entrance to a church. Unfamiliar symbols were carved into its border, each onesandwiched between the same rose-and-thorn design that had marked the pillars in the entrance hall.
However, it was only when I reached the bottom of the steps that I could see the black, charred double doors beyond. The details of which were lost as the door was slightly set further back from the arch, casting its details in shadow.
Well, not for long, I thought, as the demon was still chasing me, making me fuck off any hesitation I should have had as I practically threw myself into the double doors, praying they would open. I had no idea why the room all gasped the second they did, I just cared about getting the fuck away from that thing!
I slammed the doors shut behind me and wasted what I thought were precious seconds looking for a lock of some kind.
“AHH!” I shouted when I heard the meaty fist banging from the other side, making me realize they must have locked automatically.
I didn’t exactly know what that meant, I was just glad I had managed to escape the crazed beast. I was also starting to think that Bo had been right, the idea to come here was nothing short of foolish and idiotic. Oh, and potentially suicidal, depending on what happened next.
