I put the code in. Eight. Two. One. One. The screen flashed green, the door hissing slightly like a seal had been released.
It opened to a concrete hallway, long, straight and sloping gradually downward to another door. It was blissfully well lit, with more security cameras in each corner. The next door revealed more stairs to go down.
It’s fine. This is fine. You’re an MMA fighter. You can fight your way out if you need to. You’re not going to be murdered. Everything is fine.
I was already extremely doubtful that I’d ever come back here again, no matter how much Rikky talked the place up or what kind of club awaited me. I probably should have turned and left at the cashier stage, but it already felt like I was in too deep.
The stairs continued down for what I guessed was four or five flights, cameras placed periodically, until I reached what I really hoped was the bottom. Another door.
It’s fine. This is fine. Rikky knows this place. You’re fine.
I reached for the handle, only for the door to open before I could grasp it, a firm hand meeting mine instead.
“Greetings,” said a very large man with a very wide grin.
“Uhh… hello.”
“Welcome to The Veil. We’ve been expecting you. Come inside, then.”
He pulled me through the doorway, and it was like stepping through a portal. The concrete hallway became black marble walls and plush crimson carpet, and the harsh, cold lights were now alternating between warm white and deep red as the space opened up.
“Just a few quick things and a Shadow will take you to The Master.”
“A what?”
“Shadow,” he repeated, gesturing to where two women and a much smaller man stood off to the side. The women were dressed identically, wearing fitted black silk floor-length gowns, their hair braided intricately and a barely transparent veil over their faces. The man wore a veil too, his shirt the same black silk and open to expose his chest. They stood motionless, with their backs to the wall, staring straight ahead.
“Place your electronics in the box,” he instructed as one of the “Shadow” women handed him a small black chest. “I promise I’ll keep them safe for you during your time here. Phone, smartwatch, anything else you might have. Into the box, please. We can never be too cautious with protecting our valued members.”
“Right.” I pulled my phone hesitantly from my pocket, the man snapping it out of my hand before I could hold it out to him. The other two Shadows moved away from their places, busying themselves around me as the big guy took up my immediate attention.
“And the watch.”
I unfastened my smartwatch, and he took that too before closing the lid on the box. The male Shadow patted me down, brief and efficient, as the other woman scanned me for electronics with a metal detector wand.
“Enjoy your stay,” the big man said, gesturing to the first veiled woman as she started walking down the hallway.
What thefuckwas this place?
The fear of being murdered in a basement dissipated, only to be replaced by the newer and much stronger feeling that I was about to be sacrificed by a sex cult instead.
“Hey, so… are you like,okay?” I spoke quietly when I was sure we were out of earshot of the man who’d greeted me. “You’re choosin’ to be here, doin’ this?”
“Of course,” she answered in a soft voice. “I enjoy serving The Master. I’d be free to leave if I wanted to.”
Was this a kink thing? I knew for some people it extended past being sexual and became a lifestyle. Maybe she really did want to be here. My head was spinning, and I barely took in my surroundings before we stopped out the front of a large set of double doors.
She knocked once, dipped her head to me, and then turned to go back the way we’d come from. I watched her until the heavy doors swung open.
It was an office, with the same intricately patterned carpet, the same black marble walls, but these were lined with dark wood bookshelves and filled with books that had a language I didn’t recognize on the spines.
“Benjamin Forrester,” came the smooth voice from a man seated behind a dark wooden desk. His hair was peachy pink and swept back out of his face. This had to be Shady.
“It’s just Benny.”
“Take a seat, Benny.”
The doors closed as I stepped inside—automatic, it seemed, because there was no one here but us.
