He shakes his head and sits back as one of my people attach a mic to the collar of his shirt. They do the same for me, and then I wait for everyone to disappear into the shadows, the spotlight centering on my comfortable little setup.
“Is there something you want to tell me, Dec?” Ren drawls, his amused gaze focused on me.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“You wanna branch out into talkshows or some kind of interview host?”
I laugh then shrug. “I mean, that is not my intention here, but never say never, right?”
He rolls his eyes, the audience claps, an occasional laugh and whistle. I turn my attention back to the crowd, waiting for them to quiet before stating, “I only remember so much of what I’m about to tell you, which is why I need to Ren here to fill in the blanks because even though he has explained it to me many times, it’s more authentic coming from the person whoremembers it firsthand,” I pause, turn to Ren and add, “You good with that?”
“Whatever you want, Dec. It’s your story.”
I nod, sighing as I sit back in my chair, suddenly feeling painfully serious. The audience must sense it because an eerie hush falls over them, extending into seconds as they wait for me to speak.
“Many years ago,” I begin, enjoying the hush that falls over the room. “Per usual, I was out on a random bender and ended up hanging out with a group of strangers. Now, to be clear, these strangers weren’t what anyone would consider questionable at a glance, and this wasn’t some dive bar in a dangerous part of town. If anything, most people would consider them to be fine upstanding citizens in their business wear, and this swanky hotel bar was frequented by the elite of the elite in Los Angeles.”
Ren snorts beside me then says, “Sadly, demons don’t wear their horns out in public.”
The crowd hoots and stomps, and I nod, wait for them to hush before stating, “That’s for sure, and not something any of us hotheaded twenty somethings would’ve believed back then.”
“Anyway,” I go on, once again peering out at the crowd. “At some point in the night I realized something wasn’t right. I started to feel off, at least far more off than I should have given the amount I’d drank. I tried to call for a ride, but I couldn’t find my phone. I asked these strangers for help, and they laughed it off, called me a lightweight.”
I look to Ren who leans forward in his chair. “And that’s when I showed up,” he pauses, looks to me with a far off pained expression as he adds, “I was seated at the table next to them. I noticed you looked out of it, which isn’t an unusual sight, but this time it was different.”
“Different how?”
“The glazed over disconnect without being truly passed out. The whites of your eyes spoke what your lips could not. Fear.”
I frown then ask, “And how did you know this wasn’t right? It’s not like me being fucked up in public wasn’t a relatively normal occurrence at that point in my life.”
“Because it happened to me shortly before this, so the onward signs were prevalent in my mind.”
The crowd gasps and I find myself staring at him in horror. It’s bad enough when shitty things happen to you, but to then hear the same thing happened to someone you’re close to, slaps you in the face even harder.
“Wait,” I respond with an uneasy laugh. “What?”
Ren sighs heavily, shakes his head. “I still have no idea what exactly happened, but I was fortunate that I had my buddy Dave with me. He immediately noticed when things shifted and got me out of there.”
“Do you know who…” I let my question drift off, watching the kaleidoscope of emotions on his face as responds, “We had our suspicions, but we couldn’t prove it.”
“But you’re sure that’s what happened?”
Ren levels me with sardonic look, presses his lips together before responding, “Yeah. Dave took video and everything. That’s how I knew something wasn’t right with you. And the fact the people who were with you acted like it was just normal was a huge red flag, but then I heard them talking, and I knew.”
A chill runs down my spine. “What were they saying?”
“I couldn’t make out all of it, just the odd phrase here that no matter how I tried to rationalize, didn’t sound right,” he pauses, his eyes staring off into nothing. “Break him. Keep him useful. Get a high price,” he pauses, his expression twisting slight before adding, “Limitless resale value.”
He drifts off then blinks, turns his focus back to me. “Do you remember anything?”
“I remember how things felt,” I respond honestly. “The sounds. The smells. And then nothing.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” he states then turns his attention back to the audience who’s standing there, silent, waiting. “I waited for them to leave because I needed to know what I thought I heard and what they did was the same. So, when they immediately headed toward the elevator, half-carrying, half-dragging him because he’s just a big ass guy, I knew I had to intervene. I knew, without a doubt, that I could not let him disappear onto that elevator with those people.”
He turns his attention back to me, his eyes locking with mine. “I caught them just as the door was closing. You were being held up between two big guys who were not seated at the table, so they must’ve been waiting in the lobby. I just managed,” He pauses, his hand coming out in front of him as he continues, “to shove my hand between the closing doors, and the look of surprise on their faces when they saw me was all alarm bells. Panic and fury.”
“What did you tell them?” I ask, my voice a whisper.
