Stepping meekly into a dark alleyway, Adrienne approaches an unassuming door against the side of an old building. Taking a breath to steel herself, she closes her right hand to make a fist and knocks firmly against the cold metal door. After a few agonizing moments of silence, she hears the sound of metal sliding against metal as a set of eyes appears to size her up through a small slot in the door. "Can I help you?" A deep voice asks from the other side. Adrienne straightens her back, doing her best impression of confidence as she gives her answer: "I come here for sanctuary".
The pair of eyes wordlessly vanish, as Adrienne hears the sound of the figure unbolting the door. The door suddenly swings open, revealing the figure to be a tall heavyset man. The man, clearly a bouncer, wears his button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing thick dark curls of chest hair. He wears his sleeves rolled up, betraying hairy arms to match. On his face is a thick full beard that has been neatly groomed, giving him a refined look despite his animalistic features. The man greets Adrienne with the friendliest look such an intimidating man is capable of, and gestures for her to enter. "Welcome to sanctuary" the man growls in his baritone voice "I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for here tonight". "I hope so too." Adrienne replies, the shakiness of her voice betraying her nervousness through the cracks in her confident facade. "This is a safe place, where all kinds are welcome, and no harm can come to you" The doorman reassures her, once again gesturing for her to step inside, clearly not wanting to draw any more attention from passersby on the street. Adrienne takes the hint, and steps into the building, smiling sheepishly at the doorman as she does so.
Stepping past the doorman, she walks down a flight of stairs, and approaches yet another door. She can hear the sound of jazz music gradually getting louder as she approaches the bottom of the stairs. Above the door resting at the bottom of the stairs, are neon letters spelling out the name of the nightclub 'Sanctuary'. Before entering, Adrienne briefly looks down to assess her appearance. She is wearing a black button up dress that goes all the way down to her knees. This dress is her favourite item of clothing, as it accentuates her newfound curves while still giving her an overall refined appearance. On her feet, she wears a pair of heels that she is still getting the hang of wearing for extended periods of time. She pulls out her cellphone's camera to check her makeup. She has made sure not to go too overboard, applying just enough to smooth out the more rectangular features of her face, giving it a much rounder appearance. It helped that her face was framed perfectly by dark curtains of shoulder length hair. Satisfied with her looks, she opened the door and stepped into the club.
This was her second time visiting the club, but her first time seeing the inside of it. The previous Saturday evening she had been walking along the sidewalk on her way home to her apartment, and noticed an unnaturally pale dark-haired woman pass by in the opposite direction. She was not entirely sure why, but a part of her had become enamored by the sight of this woman. This was not the first time Adrienne had found herself attracted to a woman, but she had never been quite as desperate for another woman's attention like she was that night. She turned around to see where this woman was going, keeping her distance so as not to come across as a stalker, and watched as the woman turned into a dark alleyway. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Adrienne had peeked around the corner, and spotted the woman talking into the door. Doing her best to make out what the woman was saying from around the corner of the building, all she could make out was the word 'Sanctuary'. The door swung open and the woman walked inside.
After what felt like an eternity, Adrienne, unsure of herself, stepped into the alleyway. She approached the same door that the woman had been speaking into, and reached out her hand to knock on it, before suddenly getting cold feet. She practically ran out of the alleyway and then continued the walk back to her apartment, dejected.
Since then, she has not been able to get the thought of this mysterious woman out of her head. So, the following Saturday, which was tonight, she had managed to work up the courage to go and check out the door the mysterious woman walked through, promising herself this time she was going to see it through no matter what.
Snapping back to the present, Adrienne looks around the club to assess her surroundings. Adrienne sees a number of strange looking people, with strange tattoos and clothing unlike she has ever seen before. Some wore leather harnesses, collars, and restraints, although many opted for more casual clothing that you might see at a normal social club or lounge. She gathers this must be some sort of fetish club, and briefly considers taking her leave but instead musters the courage to head over to the bar.
As she approaches, the bartender, a bald headed dark skinned man greets her with a smile. "Welcome, we don't get many newcomers here, so it's always a treat to see a new face. What can I get you?" "I guess a gin and tonic would be nice." Adrienne replies, returning his smile nervously. "Coming right up." The bartender replies, and with a flourish, he pours her drink and slides it across the bar. "How much do I owe you?" She asks. "Your first drink is on the house. Consider it a welcoming gift." This strikes Adrienne as odd, but she isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. So she thanks the bartender and carries her drink to an empty seat at the edge of the bar. Her eyes drift around the crowd, searching for the woman she had seen the previous night. As her eyes drift around the room she brings the drink to her mouth and takes a sip. "Holy shit this is good" she says out loud, catching the eye of the bartender, who had been watching her drink, waiting for her approval. "Seriously, I don't think I've ever had gin and tonic this good, what kind of gin do you use?". "Now now" The bartender replies, with a satisfied grin on his face, "I can't go giving away secrets like that, or I'd go out of business."
Adrienne is about to come up with a witty reply to the bartender, when suddenly the door to the club opens, and through it steps a familiar figure. None other than the woman from the other night. The woman smiles to the bartender, who waves a greeting back to her in response, and then she turns to meet Adrienne's gaze with an inquisitive expression that churns her stomach. She strides right past Adrienne, taking a seat by herself at a table in the corner of the room next to the bar, not far from where Adrienne is currently seated.
The bartender wordlessly pulls a bottle of red wine from under the bar and fills a wine glass, before handing it to a server, who delivers it to her table. She drinks it contentedly while looking around the room, before yet again meeting Adrienne's gaze. "Well, are you going to come talk to me, or are you content to just keep staring?" The woman speaks softly, yet Adrienne can make out every single word, as if the woman was speaking directly into Adrienne's ear. Adrienne briefly considers cutting her losses and making a run for it then and there, but instead downs the rest of her gin and tonic, and strides over towards the woman's table, managing to pull together the tattered scraps of her false confidence.
For the first time Adrienne gets a good look at her up close. She is even more beautiful than Adrienne remembers from that night. Her deathly pale skin shimmers with an otherworldly glow in the violet neon light of the club. Her crimson red dress perfectly accentuates the curves of her body. The woman leans forward as Adrienne approaches, the low cut of her dress leaving little to the imagination. She smiles almost lecherously as Adrienne fails to resist openly staring at her cleavage. "I must say, you look familiar, but I can't quite place where I've seen you before." The woman breaks the silence, and Adrienne meets her inquisitive gaze, stammering out an answer: "I uh, umm, I uhhh". Sensing Adrienne's panic, the woman reaches her hand out to touch Adrienne's. "Dont worry about it, my name is Selene, why don't you take a seat." Selene's touch causes a feeling of calmness to spread throughout Adrienne's body, and she obliges, taking the seat next to Selene.
