Hit 03
Kidnapping is against the club rules
Arriving early Pete and Josie called in at a cafe for a coffee. They browsed the menu but were too nervous to eat.
"It's open but I don't fancy being the first in there," Pete mused.
"Yea, I hate being first at a party," Josie added. She looked at him wondering if he was as nervous as she felt. It was their first time to such a place and the challenge of facing the unknown was daunting. She appreciated he was thinking up challenges to keep her interest but wanted to tell him not to bother.
He was always so much under control it was difficult to fathom what he felt or thought. It left her with a sense of freedom and was partly the reason she stayed. She watched him staring out of the plate glass window; he seemed to be watching the evening streets darken. She wondered if the big old hunk of a man was in love with her for she was falling for him and that was usually enough to find her packing.
"What's going on over there?" he asked.
Josie looked across the street to see a young girl sitting in a doorway. She had a blanket around her knees with a battered old metal mug in front of her. The young woman was begging. "Her?" Josie asked, pointing with a coffee cup. She watched a young guy slap her face and with an automatic reaction Josie winced. It wasn't hard, just meant to emphasis whatever he had told her.
"The bastard!" they both said in unison. The sad way she looked into the battered metal mug said it all. Whatever pitiful amount earned he had pocketed. He ruffled her hair in a demeaning manner and strode off.
"What kind of bastard robs a beggar?" Pete exclaimed.
"He's working her. Probably has several others working the area," Josie proffered.
Pete looked at her with a tight lipped mouth. "He's like a pimp?" he eventually asked.
"Probably is a pimp, running other girls for that too. Begging earns a good sum in the right area. He probably supplies them with drugs and somewhere to sleep," she opined, with a shrug and an unpleasant grimace.
"I was going to ask why they work for someone. So its drugs as well as protection," he surmised. "I hate cities," he sighed.
***
They crossed the road avoiding the sad looking young woman as most passers by did. Pete couldn't help but look her over wandering what brought someone so low as to beg on the streets. Had she run away to the city from a normal family life only to fall on hard times?
They entered through an ordinary looking door, no lurid signs, no metal studs. It simply opened onto a dark corridor with a set of stairs at the end leading down to a basement. With her stomach muscles churning Josie felt as though she were about to tumble down into hell. She said she would try anything once, but the only thing keeping her going was the fear of failing or making a fool of her self.
Before she could descend the steps Pete grabbed a wrist. The sudden movement startled her. A door set to one side was the entrance not as they assumed down the steps to the basement. A sign was screwed to the door - it cautioned all who entered to leave their prejudices outside and to always obey the club rules.
"What are the club rules?" she asked.
"I guess there's only one way to find out," Pete said and banged on the door with a hard workman's fist.
"It's open," a high pitched friendly voice shouted.
They looked at each other with weak smiles. Pete turned the large ornate gothic style handle and pushed the door open. It creaked theatrically as though it were a horror movie prop.
"Sorry about that, must get some oil, you're not members, are you?" the old chap with a high pitched voice enquired.
"No. I emailed and they said to come on up and look the place over. Thinking of becoming a member," Pete explained.
"Well that's fine for Monday to Thursday, quiet evenings, but not on Fridays. Besides, this is the last Friday in the month, means its slave night," he told them.
"Does that mean we can't get in?" Pete asked. The mixed look he returned spoke of relief not to face the unknown and frustration at driving all that way for nothing.
The old man looked them both over. He could see that it had taken them some effort to make it this far. If he turned them away they may never come back and that would be a shame. They always needed more members and newbie's usually added a touch of excitement in the club.
"I can sign you in as a guest. The only thing is, its slave night. You have to bring a slave, one of you willing to go for it?" he asked. He was looking at her with the assumption that Pete wouldn't be up for it, and he was right.
Pete gave her a big wink. "You up to being my slave tonight?" he asked, with a voice that tried to sound as though it were a perfectly normal question.
"Yes master," Josie said, while bowing and trying not to laugh.
"Well, in you go. Masters in that door and slaves the other," he said.