There’s no allowance for that anymore as the hood is ripped off my head and a guard in a black-tinted mirror mask gestures for me to walk ahead. The UV lights only allow me to see a foot in front of me, which my mask doesn’t help since I haven’t removed the films distorting my eye color.
We’re in a cavernous space, echoing the steps of the four other people in my group as we’re kept further apart so I can’t see who they are. They’ve made an effort with their appearance, as though this is a trip to the opera rather than some perverted event with their dress shoes and heels tapping behind me.
We walk deeper through the humidity, down a narrow passageway, then the entire space opens up as soft string music plays. I slowly step to the side, taking in the cushioned walls separating each section lit up under different colored lights.Some red, blue, pink, orange, yellow, one section has a blacklight so I can’t even see the people in it. But the others…
“Welcome to the family,”Asher whispers as he places his arm around my shoulders.“I told you I was protecting you.”
“You saw this shit?” I spit as I turn to him.
“Happy hunting, little brother,”is all he says.
A woman stands on a circular table with her wrists bound in leather cuffs above her head and thick metal shackles around her ankles as the patrons in the booth take turns cutting her skin. The next booth under the red lights is the same as a young man, no older than twenty, stands in the exact same position. A thick plume of smoke rises from the booth as a masked patron puffs on a nearly dead cigar. Instead of allowing it to burn out in an ashtray, he pushes the thick, glowing cherry into the man’s calf without breaking conversation with the person beside him.
At first glance, the blue section appears normal, with tables set up to mimic a restaurant. Luxurious linens covering the tables, cutlery neatly bracketing their plates. But a waiter leads a woman to the tables by a chain around her neck. They rise one by one, marking her body, writing their orders—picking their meat.
Thankfully the pink, orange, and yellow sections are too far away for me to see anything other than silhouettes as they enact their abuse.
“Scared?”Asher asks.
“No.”
I’ll be fine as long as I keep moving, keep looking for Rowan. I’ll get the location for Helene’s island. I’ll exchange the information about the people who want to kill him for Delilah. Then tell Decker and Vlad where he is. While they’re busy trying to kill each other, we’ll be fucking free. It’s all easy, in theory. The reality is searching a room full of perverse cunts asthey commit sadistic act after act while wearing masks to find someone who will most likely also be wearing a mask.
“You’re not very loyal,”Asher notes.“You’ve promised his death to anyone who could help you. Now, you’re planning to sacrifice them.”
I’ll sacrifice anything to get Delilah back. Some stupid dickheads I have no bond to mean fuck all in the grand scheme of things. I’d happily give up my life for the opportunity to hold her again.
“Stand in the middle of the room so you can see everything,”Asher says, gesturing to the curved bar in the middle of the room.“Or you could stay here so they can all see poor little Kane is still scared of everything.”
“Fuck you.” I step out of the shadows and go to the bar. I don’t have any money since the rules stipulated I wasn’t permitted to bring anything with me, but as I watch everyone else, I notice they don’t put their hands in their pocket to pay for the drinks slid in front of them. Instead, the black-tinted mirror mask behind the bar presses a small card reader to the band on their wrist.
The rubber cuff matches the one I was given when my $200,000 buy-in was accepted. If the cards I skimmed ever find out I used their money to get into a sadistic club, it will probably add salt to the wound of being stolen from. That’s another problem for another day though as I take the small tablet on the bar top, expecting it to be a menu. It is, of sorts, although it doesn’t contain drinks or food items on the black screen as it repeats the welcome in white text.
Welcome to The Rainbow Rooms.
An inky array of colors slowly drips from the top of the screen, erasing the words as it travels down. They aren’t bright like what would be expected from a rainbow. They’re all the worst shades of their respective colors. Yellow so murky it resembles urine, orange reminding me of bile, the green of a swamp. It’s like someone decided to ruin it when the normal world uses it as a symbol for happiness, places it on children’s toys to stimulate their minds with bright colors, or a sign of hope that light will always come after a downpour.
Multiple boxes fade up on the black screen.
The Red Room Offers:
Weapons to satisfy every curiosity.
A specially curated subject to explore your desires.
The Blue Room Offers:
A cold body with a fully stocked bar.
The Pink Room Offers:
Birth to twelve.
Must be booked in advance.
The Black Room Offers:
Only available with DIAMOND membership.
