by LM. Preston
“What’s the torture chamber?” Shamira asked.
“You don’t want to know. Just know you don’t ever want to go there,” Valens said, and then started walking toward the stairs with Shamira and Mitch in tow.
Arriving two levels up, they walked out the door. Mitch stood in front of what appeared to be an office door. The only door in the hallway, it was wooden with a metal plate on it that said “New World Technologies.” She couldn’t believe how bold they were. Why hasn’t anyone put two and two together? She closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds and smells around her. The faint scent of dream tickled her nose. She heard nothing but their breathing. It was definitely too quiet.
Valens slid in his key, and they followed him into what appeared to be an ordinary office. She looked at Valens and started to say something, but before she could speak, he raised his hand up to his mouth to tell her to be silent. Listening now more intently for hidden sounds around her, she heard the very faint beat of music. Her hearing was more sensitive than that of the average person, and she was sure the boys did not hear the music. She looked beyond the walls in front of her and pushed her eyesight behind the reception area. Seeing the elevator beyond the door on the left of the receptionist desk, she wondered if that’s where they were heading. Looking up at Valens to see him pointing in the direction of the elevator, she nodded at him.
Thinking for a moment, she wondered how they planned on getting out of there. She’d brought some of her gear, but these walls were thick, like they’d built this place with the intention of it staying hidden from any device that may try to see beyond the obvious, like some kind of bunker.
The elevator took them up five floors. Shamira turned to Mitch and whispered in his ear, “Do you have a way to get out of here if we get in trouble?”
Mitch turned to her and smiled for the first time, then winked at Valens. Valens smiled and tapped his fist against his heart. She placed her hands in her pocket and looked through the elevator doors to see completely empty levels of floors, realizing the entire building was nothing more than a front. She zipped up the form-fitting leather jacket and adjusted its bottom over her tight, shiny black pants. Bending down, she pulled up her boots to prepare for whatever waited for them at the end of the elevator ride. What have we just walked into? Shadow Hell was definitely starting to fit its name.
The elevator opened to reveal an entirely different world spawning out before them. Music, loud and throbbing, filled the elevator. They were drenched in the dark purple hue that was Shadow hell. The smell of smoke and fire drowned out the faint smell of sweat from the crunch of bodies before them. She noticed the built-in fire pits on several walls that had videogames playing. The players were on platforms just above the built-in flames in the walls, obviously using scream to give them an edge over the games they played. She sniffed for dream, and it was so faint she realized that for this high status club, dream was not the poison of choice. The smell of stale burning flesh filled Shamira’s nostrils, strangely mingled with the scents of flowers. I’m going to be sick. Unconsciously, her hand went to cover her nose, and Valens grabbed her wrist before she could complete the movement.
“Act natural, like you can’t tell what you smell,” he whispered in her ear.
“Can you?” she whispered back.
“We can’t smell like you. I smell flowers. C’mon,” he said and followed Mitch.
As they walked through the crowded floor, Shamira noticed a muscular pale blond man dancing with three gyrating females on the floor. The man stood several inches above all the people on the floor, brawny and ripped. She figured he was about the same height as her dad, if not taller. If she were a betting girl, she would say he was in the gang in some way, and from his looks, he could be this Thor that Valens had mentioned.
Looking ahead, she spied Mitch slipping in a side door on the right of the bar. The bar extended the length of the club. It had open spots for tables and large, comfortable chairs for mingling. She glanced up at the ceilings to see women in cages suspended by chains from the ceiling, held just high enough that they could not be bitten by pit-tigers nipping at their toes. One woman had streaks of tears falling from her eyes while she struggled to keep her legs bent and out of the jaws of the vicious pit bull/tiger male. Shamira’s eyes watered in frustration. One day I’ll end this, she swore.
Valens tugged her by the jacket, and she walked forward. She followed him through the doorway. Mitch was standing in the hallway, which was painted black and had video walls with pictures of people burning in the fires of hell on them. Some had music videos and flashed the dancing and gyrating bodies on the dance floor. Shamira blinked, and a tall, brown-skinned boy with a light mustache came up and hugged Mitch, then punched him playfully on the arm.
“You came! I can’t believe it,” the boy said, and he easily lifted Mitch from the ground then shook him like a ragdoll.
“Put me down, you giant. Hey, this is Anthony. He and Hedi are going to join us in the private viewing room. We can see the action from there and get a feel for where everyone we need to know about is,” Mitch said with a smile.
Humph, Shamira thought, Mitch really does have friends I guess, though I can’t see why.
“Hey, Valens, I’ve seen you around. Glad you saved Mitch. He’s a good kid,” Anthony said and slapped a huge hand on Valens. Valens was caught off guard by Anthony’s strength and jutted forward a few inches with the force of the friendly slap.
“Well, Shamira was the one that initiated the rescue,” Valens said and looked at her. She looked at Anthony, unsmiling, and then shrugged nonchalantly.
Anthony sized her up, and then a look of disbelief crossed his face before he said, “Thanks, Shamira. Follow me. It’s not safe to hang out in the hallways here.”
They followed him to a private lounge. It had large, comfortable couches and viewing screens on the three walls that sat across from the couches. Each screen had a real-time video of all the rooms that were obviously hidden and not on the main floor.
“Shamira, I guess you haven’t been to this place before. This room is called the sanctuary. It’s a place for high paying customers to voyeur through the secret rooms of the club while they select a victim for their night of private fun—a place where we sell memberships to the atrocities that can be enjoyed only by high paying customers. You’ll be shocked to realize that even some of the Security Elite have paid to enjoy some of Monev’s merchandise,” Anthony said with a look of distaste visual on his darkly handsome face.
Shamira directed an angry gaze at Anthony and asked, “What are you talking about, some of the Security Force Elite? That’s impossible.”
“I didn’t stutter. I said some of the Elite have been here. Not obvious, but I would know them. If you are looking for some of Monev’s most influential, check out Thor down on the dance floor.” Anthony eyes turned to the screen in the middle of the wall, “He’s the head of the drug trade division. He doesn’t personally touch the stuff, but he markets it to the people of influence here on Mars and on Earth. People of influence seem to go for scream. They like the edge it gives to their gambling. Little do they know that Monev laces it with highly addictive byproducts of dream. His cronies, Kip and Stan, run the sales to the average guy here on Mars.”
Anthony pointed them out, “There they are—those guys in the body exchange room, picking out a new face for Kip’s girlfriend. Kip is known for his fetish of having a different woman every couple of weeks or so, and his current girlfriend, Flame, indulges him by changing her look anytime she sees him searching out a new woman.” A look of digust clouded his face.
“Let’s go after this Thor. He will have the information we need. I need to find out where they may be holding the kids and who their leader is,” Shamira said and followed Anthony’s gaze to the screen that showed Thor dancing and kissing the women glued to his large frame.
Anthony looked her up and down. “He’ll be easy for you to catch. He likes them young, beautiful, and
shapely, and you fit the bill perfectly.”
Shamira didn’t like the way Anthony inspected her. She stifled a squirm, and moved her gaze from his head to toe.
He smiled in appreciation of her grit, “If you want to play bait, we can trap him alone,” Anthony said.
“We’d rather not use her as bait. Is there another way? Hedi is more experienced at luring men and a bit older. We can ask her,” Valens said. Shamira turned an irritated gaze on him.
“He’s had Hedi, and she barely recovered. Trust me, she doesn’t want to go anywhere near him. She’s been through hell here over the last year. We just want out,” Anthony said. He crossed his arms, indicating to Valens that Hedi was off limits.
“I can do it. I can handle him,” Shamira said evenly, glaring at Valens as if to dare him to say anything.
“You can do what?” asked a tall red haired girl with flawless skin and full lips when she entered the room. She closed the door behind her.
“She’s going to lure Thor away so we can find out where they’re hiding the kids. Hopefully, he can give us the name of the leader of Monev,” Mitch said.
Hedi caressed a hand down Mitch’s face and turned to Valens. Her face turned to look at Valens, hungry while she gazed at him. Shamira took a deep breath and reminded herself he wasn’t hers anyway. I don’t want him, she tried to convince herself, but jealously filled her blood, and she turned away.
“He’ll like her, but he’ll hurt her. She looks too weak.” She flipped her long hair back, and touched Valens arm. “Valens, it’s good to see you again. Thanks for saving Mitch for us,” she said sincerely to Valens.
Valens replied with a smile and crossed his arms. He looked at Shamira and subtletly moved out of Hedi’s reach.
“Hmm. Well, I’m impressed. Maybe she can handle Thor. I couldn’t,” Hedi said, her voice lowering as she looked Shamira up and down.
“Don’t worry, Hedi. We aren’t leaving without you two. I have a place for you to be safe—a place they won’t find you,” Valens said.
Hedi leaned closer to him and hugged him, her face buried in the crook of his neck. Shamira’s fist balled up. She took a deep breath and reminded herself again that he wasn’t hers. Valens stood still and hesitantly returned Hedi’s embrace.
“I’m sorry. I had started to give up hope of ever escaping. I’m too afraid to wish it. They have recaptured others so many times. What they did to those others… I can’t even begin to get the nightmares out of my dreams. It’s what has kept many of us from fighting. Kids don’t last long in this place, but I refuse to die here,” she said with tears in her eyes then she turned out of Valens’ weak embrace. Mitch came over and took her in his arms, and Anthony patted her shoulder.
“Is there a place I can lure Thor that’s near an exit? You know… a place where we can get out undetected and fast?” Shamira asked in order to refocus on their purpose.
“I know the perfect place—the employee exit. The only problem is, there may be guards there. If there are, we have to go down the side of the building, and since none of us can fly, that’s not possible,” Mitch said, scratching his jaw in thought.
“I have something we can use if we have to go through that window. If it comes to that, one of you has to take Hedi down. I can take Shamira. Here, put these on your hips. I brought them in case it got sticky getting out of here. Just push this button and it will do the rest,” Valens said. He handed them a metal clip that they hooked into the belt loops of their pants.
“Let me put some makeup on you so Thor will think you are more mature,” Hedi said to Shamira, then dug in her blouse.
“I won’t need it. I have my own way of luring him, and it’s not for what you’re thinking,” she said, refusing to put on the makeup. “Valens, I need you to be my dance partner. The rest of you wait by the exit. Redirect anyone from entering and speak out loud to each other if there is danger,” Shamira said. Walking to the door, she opened it.
Anthony took the lead. Shamira unbraided her hair on their way down the hall and ran her hands through its silky, wavy brown and gold spun curls that fell to her curved hips. Sucking at her lips to darken their hue, she unzipped her black form-fitting leather jacket and straightened her spine, pushing out her chest. Valens glanced back at her with a shocked but appreciative look on his face. She winked at him and smiled as he opened the door to the club entrance for her to walk through. Valens followed. The music pumped, and they stood for a moment near the doorway.
“Look, you go straight to the meeting place. Open the windows in case we need a quick exit and call the cycles to come out of the parking garage and park on the street. Shamira, can you tell your cycle to follow ours?” Valens asked.
She put her hand in her pocket and pushed a button on her remote. It vibrated in acknowledgement of her request. “Done,” she said and spied Thor with the three gyrating women she had seen earlier. She started to dance toward him, and Valens followed. Finding a spot where Thor could easily see her, she started dancing seductively with Valens in front of Thor. Rubbing her hands down her chest and then to her hips, she looked at Thor and commanded him to return her gaze. Noticing Thor was becoming interested, she pouted out her lips, and coyly lowered her eyelids framed in dark, curved eyelashes. Then, she slowly raised her gaze to his and smiled.
Dancing her way gradually in front of Thor, she glanced at his hand, noticing a deep red ruby ring. Deciding how she would lure him away, she shimmied closer to stand in front of him. His hands were on his hips, and she gently placed hers on top of his and tapped softly to the beat of the music. He smiled, and she tested his ring to see how loose it was. She smiled back, stepped closer to his moving hips, and danced in rhythm with him. She lightly tightened her grip on Thor’s lax hand, and then slid it easily off his ring finger without his knowledge.
Her hand dropped from the top of his, and she turned away from Thor seductively. Throwing a smile back at him, she danced quickly past Valens, who was watchful of her while he danced with a curvy brunette. She danced to the meeting place and knew Thor would follow. When she reached the hallway, she stopped dancing. Her heart raced, knowing she would be able to get the information she came for. Adrenaline started to pour into her blood, and she turned to look for Thor, who was slowly, helplessly making his way toward her. She held up his ring for him to see and kissed it. He thought she was playing a seductive game with him, wanting him, but the look of hunger in his eyes sickened her. Valens followed slowly behind him, and the others were hidden in dark corners of the hallway. She didn’t need them there. He was manageable; she knew she could handle him on her own. I have been waiting for this moment since I laid eyes on you, scum, she smiled.
She walked deeper into the hallway and stood midway in its dark depths. Thor approached. He was a large, muscled beast and a great opponent. Definitely worthy of my full power.
He came closer, not saying a word. She heard his heart beating slowly. He was convinced she was the prey, and he wasn’t even slightly agitated, but he was mistaken. His pale blond hair and gray eyes sickened her further, but she wanted to laugh out loud because she could tell he thought he was in control. He stopped the pretense of smiling as he stood in front of her. She waited. He placed his hands on her shoulders and jerked her toward him for a kiss. She sped up the pull and yanked back her head to land a head-butt to his nose.
Blood splattered as his nose cracked. Power built in her, and she landed an elbow to the side of his head that brought him to his knees. She yanked the truth tick out of her belt, and Thor roared. He jumped up with such force that he threw her against the wall. She shook her head, dazed for a moment. He charged her and went for her neck, then dragged her up the wall. Lifting his hand to punch her, he frowned as he saw her smile. She licked the drop of blood off her lip.
Her hate poured out, and her desire to hurt him rose. Awake, she reminded herself. He had to be awake in order for her to get the information she came for. She lifted her legs, grabbed his pale, spiky
hair, and pulled his head down to connect with her knee. He staggered back and quickly recovered to stand. Dropping, she landed on both feet to the floor. She heard scuffling in the distance and knew the others were fighting off guards. She had no more time to play. Running to him, she pushed him against the wall. He fell back against the wall with a bounce. In perfect time, she threw her metal ball at him. His head slammed against the wall as the net held him in place. She put the truth tick in his neck, forced his mouth open, and pushed in a pill that would help him to forget this when it was over.
“Where are they holding the Security Force’s kids. Tell me!” she said and punched him to force the pill down his throat.
“I ain’t telling you nothin!” Thor grunted in a choke as the net tightened.
“Yes, you will. I don’t have time for this!” Shamira took out a syringe of the poison that was in the truth tick. It would speed up the effects since Thor was so large. It was taking longer than she had to work. She jabbed it in his neck. He roared and quickly recovered. Then a sick smile formed on his face and he licked his lips suggestively at her.
“I had some plans for you, pretty girl. Big plans,” he coughed. The drug finally took effect, and his tongue thickened.
“Where are they holding the kids?” she demanded again.
“Olympus Mons, deep within,” he coughed out while he fought the poison.
“Who is the head of this? Monev? What is his name?” she said, then jerked his face toward her.
“Re-nu,” he said, as if he were in pain from fighting to hold back the words.
“Where is he?” she yelled at him.
“No one knows. I… I don’t - know,” he slurred. The poison was thickening his tongue to the point it was difficult for him to speak, even to breath.