All characters engaged in sexual activity are above the age of consent.
I have found the city at night somewhat livelier than it is in the light of day. The veil of mystery and never-ending possibilities shrouding millions of lives in its wake. When things go bump and you tell yourself it's just a stray cat. How would one know with all the shadows about? And yet still one's mind persist that it must be a stray cat, nothing more.
When asked about the world today, you'll hear that it is the age of rationality and logic, that the old beliefs are dead and gone. That there is nothing that goes bump in the night.
And yet I tell you otherwise.
There are places in the world that the human mind could not truly comprehend. Veils in which rationality and the rule of logic could hold no ground. The laws of the universe set by mortals simply fade away. Places where primal emotion rules and draws in any souls that wished to be lost. To surrender the control of their fates to these places of power in exchange for bliss, pleasure and debauchery.
One such place is Club Delirium.
And one such soul wished to be lost is me.
The moon was up and high, lighting the world in its ethereal glow. The doors of Club Delirium lies within the maze of the concrete jungle of the city. Twists and turns of alleyways that more often than not lead to dead ends. It was a solitary door of rich ochre hue. It had no business of being there and yet here it was. The only light strong enough to bat away the darkness was the neon lights of the club itself. Written in cursive are the words
Club Delirium
.
The silence was deafening. Here I was, smack right in the center of the city and yet not a sound came. No faint sound of the distant traffic, the general hubbub of thousands of people that still walk the city streets at night. Nothing. It was as if the rest of the world was shut out.
I reached with a trembling hand towards the door only to stop halfway. Sweat rolled down my chin.
"Ah, Mr. Clements, you came back." A woman's voice sounded. I did not need face her to see the Madame's smile on my back, her shadow loomed where there was not a soul mere moments ago. I have given up trying to figure out how she did that. My throat ran dry. Even now I am not sure of where I stand.
"I don't need to remind you the price for our membership," She ended with a smile that sent a shiver down my spine. She was an old woman, yet towered over me at seven feet. I had to look up to meet her in the eye. The smile never faded from her lips. High cheekbones and brilliant emerald eyes seemed to gaze down every fiber of my being. She exuded an energy that I did not want to test. As if she had no issue dispelling violence on those that deems it. She bore a contained malice with every breath and glee as if she knew of a joke she did not wish to share.
"I know," I simply said, meeting her gaze.
"And also that there are no cancellations allowed. Lifetime membership only," Her grin, if it were possible, stretched ear to ear. Literally. The stretch of her lips went past her nose till it reached on each ears' end. The hair at the back of my neck rose. She wasn't human. Merely a caricature of one.
All the senses of my body told me to run! To leave this place and don't look back!
But go back to where? That single bed room apartment? It was a lonesome prison of my own making. To be condemned in a lifetime of repetition that's killing me from the inside, little by little:
Go home. Sleep. Wake up. Work, Go home and rinse and repeat.
The thought of doing that over and over again for the rest of my life, gripped my heart in fear and despair. I needed to get out of that desolate shell I call my home.
And thus I wandered the night. To be lost in it. Anything to not go back to that cold lonely room that would have been my living tomb.
Then I saw it. The Club Delirium.
It beckoned me, enticed me to enter into its domain.
And make a slave of me. And the worst part was - -I won't be able to resist as it wraps its chains around me.
I would have traded one chain for another. Either way I would have been a slave of something. It was only my choice which.
This place did not care for the wellbeing of any soul that dare walk into its maw. It only cared of satiating a never ceasing desire. The creature that was the Madame stood unmoving, watching me as I make a decision. Then I heard it. The faintest sound of horns honking, the murmur of a crowd. The reminder of the world I'm leaving behind. And my thoughts went back to that lonely apartment. I looked to what was in front of me and what am I leaving it for.
No. Not what, but for who.
Evelyn.
The Madame's smile was so palpable I didn't need to turn to see it, as I reached for the door.
Another soul claimed.
Inside, a hallway stretched and stretched on to the ends as far as I can see. It might as well have been as long as a football field. And the Club Delirium had its door at the back of a small abandoned bodega outside. I gulped. This was not here the first time I came. The light cast a faint lavender glow that shifted slowly from blue to red and lavender again till the cycle repeated. Something sweet but not heavy drifted the air, which reminded me of chocolates and berries.
There were doors on each side of the hall. I could hear moans and giggles and various sounds that barely concealed whatever sexual acts were made within.
And then I saw stairs, heading up and heading down. Nor were there any stairs the first time I came, for looking from the outside this place did not have a second story. This place had a reality of its own.
I have yet to see where they lead. But I returned here for someone. Someone special.
Evelyn.
Her name bounced off the walls of my mind. A flash of golden hair, the scent of her nape. The heat of her skin against mine. Eyes like that of a cat, pupils slit. The memory of her stirred my loins burning.
The other floors will have to wait.
"So you came back." A woman's voice said. I turned towards one of the doors. It wasn't my Evelyn. She bore a toothy grin as she leaned in against the frame of the door. Her hair was brilliant black as midnight to the point it glistened and glowed. Sharp features and a gentle yet firm jawline, one look from her and you know she'll bite till she drew blood. Sweat drenched her body and all her flesh was for all to see save for a leather crop top that hugged her succulent breasts. My mouth watered the sight. Her skin a luscious tan. Her midriff toned and slender and she wore a black frilly skirt that did a poor job of hiding her delicious smooth thighs paired with black stockings. I had to wrestle my will to avert my eyes from them. She gazed on me from head to toe. A flicker of amusement flashed in her hazel eyes. My gaze lingered on those eyes of hers, horizontal slits like that of a feline. Not the foremost of the oddities I have seen here.
"I did," I simply said.
I saw a glimpse of who was inside, two other people were with her. Men. One seemed to be in pain, having difficulty catching his breath. The other passed out in the bed. The lighting was just enough for me to see scratches and bruises all across their bodies.
"Come and find me if you have the time," Vivian said with a wicked grin as she closed the door. It did not take long for the moans and groans to start.
"Well, it seems dear Vivi had taken a liking to ya. I can't say if that's good or bad," said an amused voice behind me.
