After the cab went out of sight we looked at each other and giggled for no reason other than we’d had too much to drink.
“He has it bad for you!” RJ said and I groaned as this was the last thing I needed right now.
“We’re friend’s RJ, that’s it,” I told her making her black lips pout.
“But I want a new sister and I have my sights set on you, so please just marry my brother already so I can move into your garage and get away from my bitch of a mother,” she said making me laugh and I decided it was best to let her have this drunken moment to believe it would happen one day.
“Okay, I will get right on that, but first let’s get home and our asses into bed, Chaz was right, it’s freezing out here.”
“Hell, yeah and my fishnets do shit…seriously what was I thinking! Unicorn PJ’s next time I come out…they’re fleece lined,” she said as if picturing them now.
“Unicorn PJ’s…isn’t that a little…well, colourful for you?” I joked looking at her Goth attire and thinking little cute magical ponies was the last thing that metal spikes, black makeup, skimpy netted dresses and big ass leather boots, screamed she wore behind closed doors.
“Tell anyone and I will kill you,” she joked back making me laugh. I held up my hand, crossed my chest and said,
“It dies with me, cross my heart and hope never to die.” She laughed and nearly fell over doing so. In fact, if I hadn’t caught her then she would have.
“Right let’s get back inside and…oh…” I said turning around and not realising it until now that the doors were closed and all the lights were off.
“Oh shit, well it looks like we will just have to wait for our cab out here then,” I said pulling my jacket closer to my neck but then I looked to RJ and realised that she would bloody freeze dressed like that. So, I shrugged out of my jacket and wrapped it around her.
“Mmm, that’s soooo nice,” she said snuggling down into it. Okay, so I was freezing but with trousers, long sleeved top and my gloves on I thought I would survive…at least until our taxi arrived.
“But what about you?” she asked and I gave her a smile and said,
“Warm blood, I will be fine.” But then she frowned at me and said,
“But you always wear gloves and say it’s because you’re cold…bad circulation or something.” I inwardly cringed at that damn excuse I had to give everyone. Thankfully though, RJ was drunk and wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow so I knew I could get away with it.
“I hope that taxi comes soon, warm blood or not, it will be frozen by the time it gets here,” I joked which was when RJ decided now was a good time to inform me we were waiting for nothing.
“What taxi?” I turned to face her and said,
“What do you mean, the taxi that’s coming.”
“Oh, you mean our cab that was stolen and never rebooked?” I turned back round to face the exit of trees that made a living tunnel to see that she was right, there was nothing…and nor would there be.
“Bollocks!” I said making her giggle.
“Alright, we will just ring another, have you got your phone on you.” I asked and RJ’s eyes opened wide and said,
“Good plan batman!” I smiled as she rummaged through her sugar skull bag, making a ‘Tada’ sound when she found it.
“Oh…shit.”
“What?” I asked as she dropped it back into her bag as though it was garbage, which it might well have been for all the good it would do for us when she informed me,
“It’s dead. Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have used my battery life taking all those pictures of the drummer.”
“Never mind, we can use mine…what is it with you and drummers anyway?” I asked as I started going through my bag trying to find my own.
“What’s the matter?” RJ asked as I started muttering.
“I can’t find it,” I said resorting to bending on one knee and tipping the contents of my bag onto the frozen ground.
“Any luck.”
“Shit!” I said instead of answering her.
“I will take that as a refined no,” she said and I looked up at her and corrected,
“You can change that to a ‘Hell no’ and then added ‘we are screwed’!” Then I stuffed all my stuff back in my bag and said,
“I must have left it on the bar or something, shit what are we going to do.”
“Maybe someone is still in there?” RJ suggested, at least sobering enough to think clearly.
“We can give it a try but I already saw the doormen leave and now thinking about it, I’m sure Mike has left as well,” I said thinking back to the bar being all closed up just before they left their table…could he had left early too? Either way I needed to give it a try, so I walked up to the door and hurt my cold hands by knocking them on the door. Unsurprisingly there was no answer.
“Well shit outta luck with that one,” I said turning back to RJ.
“If only we had a phone,” RJ said blowing into her cupped hands to try and keep them warm enough not to lose a finger to frostbite. Okay so it wasn’t that cold but it felt close enough to lose at least a toe or two.
“It’s a shame they never gave you a key,” she said looking around as if a window might be open or something, which was a joke in this place but then something hit me.
“Say that again,” I said as my first day came flooding back to me.
“You mean about having a key.”
“RJ you’re a genius!” I shouted and started walking the other way, knowing she would follow.
“I am...? Well of course I am,” she said running a little to catch up with me.
“So, what are we doing?” she asked as I walked around to the other side of the building.
“Oh no, tell me we are not planning on spending the night in a dumpster right…’cause you know how long it would take to get that stink out of my hair.”
“Nope, not dumpster diving tonight honey, just plain old breaking and entering,” I said nodding to the door as soon as it became illuminated by the security light.
“Oh, hell yeah!” she said nearly running up the steps.
“So, what’s the code?” she asked rubbing her hands together as if getting ready to put in the code but needing to get some feeling back into her fingertips first.
“Ah, well this is the tricky part.”
“You don’t know!?” RJ screeched.
“Ssshh, someone might hear you,” I said feeling guilty just thinking about what we were about to do. Then she cocked a hip and placed her tapping fingers on it.
“And that would be a bad thing because…?” she said and I wanted to smack myself.
“Okay, good point.” I admitted it was a stupid comment considering that would have solved all our problems right then.
“So, what now, we gonna climb the damn ivy next?” she asked and we both looked up to the VIP balcony slowly.
“No.”
“No.” We both agreed at the same time.
“Let me give it a go,” I said trying to think back to that night when I had felt that strange guiding hand come over me. Mike had told me the number but if I could remember it now it would be a miracle, not considering I hadn’t been able to only minutes after he first told me. But then I hovered my hand over it and let my mind go blank, as if trying to replay those few strange moments over and over again in my mind.
“Oh, my God, you did it!” I heard RJ’s voice and opened my eyes to see she was right.
The door was open…
We had broken into Afterlife.
Chapter 29
Intruders
Book 1
NEW
How the hell had I done that when I didn’t even realise I had pressed a single button?
“Come on, what are you waiting for?” she asked running in and I followed her in there.
“Oh wait, you don’t reckon there will be an alarm or anything right…?” RJ asked now looking cautiously around her as if she half expected there to be a
big red flashing warning light or something.
“Again, I think if anyone turns up they should guess we aren’t here to rob the place,” I said this time taking her views on being found.
“True…I mean if I was going to rob somewhere I certainly wouldn’t wear heels!” RJ stated and looking down at the height of hers I couldn’t help but add,
“No, you wouldn’t get far in them.” She giggled and said,
“Yes, but then dreamy Dominic Draven could capture me”, making me roll my eyes. Just the thought of him finding us and seeing us both drunk and sneaking around his club after hours had me close to bolting. I was already in his bad books after all, and that was just for being a few minutes late! So, I didn’t think that I could get away with breaking and entering with just a mild warning and a small wag of his finger.
“Yes well, let’s not mention him right now,” I said as I let go of the door, forgetting about its heavy weight. We both jumped and shrieked when it slammed behind us, making us jump.
“Ooops…sorry,” I said seeing RJ had her shoulders bunched around her neck like I did.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” I said moving through the back room where we stored boxes of mixers and soft drinks that I had spent many a time having to haul to the front of the bar at the end of the night. Well at least I didn’t have to do that job anymore, not with working in the VIP. For starters, I didn’t think they had anything that didn’t have a high alcohol content, other than water and most of the time I think that was only put there on my account. It certainly wasn’t ever ordered by anyone.
We both walked gingerly around the bar area as if we were half expecting someone to jump out at us any minute. I was just surprised to see that even the VIP looked dark, and from down here, even more menacing.
“Well it looks pretty closed to me,” RJ said squinting in the dark like I was.
“Yep,” I muttered just to take the edge of the eerie sight of Afterlife after hours.
“Look this is stupid, we will never find anything in the dark like this…let’s just hit the lights.” She had a point but why did the thought have me running my sweaty palms down my trouser legs and me biting my lip with anxiety.
“I guess so,” I said knowing where the control box was situated and heading tentatively towards it. I left RJ where she was as it was probably safer that way. She could barely walk straight as it was and I didn’t think it was on account of the heels. Then I took one more look around and pressed on the small plastic door letting it release off the latch. There were so many switches I didn’t know which ones did what and I didn’t just want to light up the place like Blackpool Illuminations! Of course, RJ must have been getting impatient because the next thing I knew her hand was coming past me and flipping the master switch. This time lighting the place up like bloody Vegas!
“RJ!”
“What? We needed light didn’t we and besides, not a bad thing if people coming running…right? I mean we are still rolling with that theory…yeah?” I bit my lip again and then said,
“I guess so.”
“Well we have no choice now, I think the only thing we are missing in here is a bloody Christmas tree with twinkling lights,” I said making RJ giggle.
“You’re funny, you know that?” she said and I gave her a wink and returned,
“English wit, my dad calls it.”
“Well it’s fucking awesome!” RJ shouted making me want to smack my forehead for like the millionth time tonight. Well scrap that, I had also wanted to smack someone else around the head first. I thought looking up to see that even the VIP was now lit.
“All right, let’s find this stupid phone.”
“Oh, I know, let me ring it!” RJ said as if coming up with a brilliant idea and I gave her a pointed look until she realised what she’d just said.
“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Yep, and there it was I thought silently. After all, if her phone had some battery life instead of forty pictures of a drummer she could probably stalk online anyway, then we wouldn’t be in this position.
“Jesus, what happens when they close the doors, does it suck all the hot air out with it?” RJ complained and I had to agree with her…it was strangely cold in here.
“I’m going to check the booth we were sat at, you check out the bar,” I said thinking it easier if RJ didn’t have to go too far.
“Gotya!” she said snapping straight to her job. I walked over closer to the double staircase and shuddered as I looked up again. Well, if God was on our side then I might end up actually getting away with this without anyone knowing. Well, chance would be a fine thing I thought with irritation as I still couldn’t find my phone.
I looked back to RJ hoping to see that she had it but then panicked when I couldn’t find her. Maybe she had decided to look round the bar or try Jerry’s office. Well, as long as nothing creepy was inside like Gary, his creepy twin brother, then it should be fine.
“RJ?” I hissed her name, not wanting to be too loud as I was still convinced that I could do a snatch and grab without anyone being the wiser. Well that was until I had gone and lost my accomplice, I thought wryly.
“RJ! Where are you?” I asked the dark space behind the bar but again, nothing. I then turned around and slammed my hand on the bar’s top and cursed,
“Damn it!” Then I caught a flash of hot pink in my peripheral vision and looked up only to be left speechless…well that was unless a horrified gasp could be classed as speech. Because there was RJ walking up the last few top steps into the VIP area.
“Shit! RJ…what the Hell are you doing?” I asked myself as I legged it across the dance floor towards the staircase she had just sneaked up. I looked up at them as though half expecting them to open up into the mouth of Hell or something. Then I closed my eyes and took that first step. After I didn’t fall into the fiery pits I opened my eyes and ran the rest of the way up there.
“RJ! What are you doing?!” I said on a desperate whisper at seeing RJ stood by the top table and running her fingers along Draven’s chair. She didn’t even seem to notice I was even there as though caught in some other place that had captured her mind. Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole and coming out the other side not trying to get home but trying to find a way to stay in. I knew how she felt as I had been trying to do that ever since first setting foot up here.
The only problem was that Draven didn’t want an Alice in his world and his red roses could shred you to pieces with just one look.
“Come on RJ, we shouldn’t be up here.” I told her gently this time as I understood her curiosity but the saying it could kill was probably more a promise with these people, than just a harmless saying.
“Is this where he sits?” she asked and I nodded thinking back to who had filled it less than an hour ago. I also thought back to how intimidating he had been, sat there, master of his domain and commanding the obedience, compliance and demanding answers from his servants…and well, at the time, that servant was me.
“What are you doing?!” I asked in a panicked voice, as she started to sit in his seat and I nearly had a heart attack just witnessing the sure disaster that would bring.
“I am just trying it out.” she said innocently, yet the action was anything but.
“Come on, let’s just go,” I pleaded with her but she was already lost in her own fantasy. Then that disaster I predicted started to happen the second her ass touched the seat. Voices were heard from behind the big double doors at the back. I knew that was somewhere I had been warned more than once about even going near but now…well someone was coming from behind it and I didn’t know what to do.
“RJ run, someone’s coming!” I hissed and thinking she would follow me or leg it, I made a mad dash for the only place I thought to hide…behind the bar. I swallowed hard and waited to hear the doors opening but even preparing myself for it I knew my body would react when it happened. Because you felt their presence the second they stepped through those doors, like a wave of fog rolling
over the mountain peaks.
I couldn’t help but take a deep breath, hoping that it wouldn’t be long before they found nothing and decided to return…well that was until one of them spoke.
“Oh look, a lost lamb…I wonder how this got in here.” Someone said and I didn’t recognise the voice as being one I had heard before, so at least I knew it wasn’t Draven as I would know his voice from anywhere. But then I had to slap my hands over my mouth as it was obvious RJ hadn’t taken notice of my warning. I knew I had to look and only hoped that their focus was solely on RJ as I did so.
“Go get our Lord.” I heard the rough raspy voice that I recognised as being a growl just earlier tonight and when I looked I saw that I was right, it was the giant named Ragnar. He was talking to the pale, scary one, who looked like an albino and had a thick spikey black tattoo snaking through a wicked scar down one side of his face.
“Don’t eat her.” The pale one joked making Ragnar growl and the other one chuckle. Then I heard footsteps getting closer and whipped my head back round, waiting for him to pass. I didn’t know what to do but my inner turmoil must have been on overdrive. I could only assume that by ‘our Lord’ they meant Draven and that thought terrified me even more than the massive brute who stood guard over RJ. In fact, when I finally braved another look, the giant was staring down at RJ like he was waiting for her to move, so that he could simply knock her out again. One hit from him and he would be doing it for good, Keira thought with horror. He was a beast of a man and one Keira could understand anyone using as security as you would have to be out of your ever-loving mind to want to go up against that!
“What is this?” I heard a new man’s voice and sighed in relief when I knew it wasn’t Draven’s. I looked around and saw that wasn’t entirely true as it was a Draven, just not the one I secretly wished was mine. It was Vincent, his brother.
“We found it.” Ragnar stated and the pale man rolled his eyes as if what he said was obvious. The giant didn’t sound like English was a comfortable language for him to use.
The Forbidden Chapters Part 1: Afterlife Saga Page 10