Reckless

Chapter 8 Part 3

Present Day

Character POV: David

1 day later

Reading Roxy's journal provided me the opportunity to study the pattern of behavior that this Ariadne woman exhibits. She is a hedonist, embracing pleasure in every form that she considers as pleasure. She's also a psychopath, a sadist, and disconnected from reality. She might even be a narcissist with how much she thinks Roxy's world centers around her, as though it hasn't been centuries according to the journal. As though Roxy hasn't moved on, and moved in, with someone else since they were last together.

All of that led me to finding a potential hiding spot that was essentially hiding in plain sight: Club Lamia. Before I just went marching in there, demanding to see Ariadne, I did some research. By research, I mean that I stole Roxy's log-in credentials to all of the government resources, which allowed me to see where Roxy has gone and track her phone. When she got close to this place, she turned it off. Then, it pinged a few minutes later just a few blocks away from here. It was enough proof for me to make my way over here to confront Ariadne, to try and get her to leave my girlfriend alone. Roxy was doing so well before Ariadne showed back up in the picture. Now, I fear that she's just one bad day away from picking up again. She's already drinking. I can't let it get worse than it already is.

By the time that I've made sure that Club Lamia is the best place to start, and by the time I've managed to build up my courage, night has fallen and the club is open to the public. That's probably for the best considering that I don't have any excuse or credentials that could get me through the door. It's not like I'm Roxy and I have a history with this woman. Coming in with all of the usual customers means that there's a smaller chance that I will be caught. I can go in there and tell Ariadne to leave Roxy alone, threaten to expose her. We might not have witch trials anymore, but she still has killed people. She can still be taken in by the authorities and spend time in jail. After a few years, when she doesn't age, they'll realize what she is and then they'd surely do something. It's hard to deny the evidence of your own eyes. That way I won't make myself look crazy by saying that the killer is a vampire. It's the best solution for everyone involved, but it might be hard for Roxy. She will have to relive the hell that this woman has put her through, so it's my last resort.

It takes a minute for me to confirm that the place is open until I notice the line of people waiting to get in that is wrapping around the building. It's then that I realize that the windows are painted black. There's no way that you can peer inside, that sunlight can get in-- except for the door, which is glass and you can see through, though it is severely tinted. Through that doorway that is open, I see flashes of purple and red light strobing. The doorway is blocked by a tall and broad-shouldered African American guy who is stamping people's wrists before admitting them.

I think about pushing my way to the front, but the man will surely not let me in if I did that. So, I resign myself to waiting in the extremely long line. It takes about thirty minutes of me shuffling forward an inch at a time from the back of the line until I am finally at the front door. The man at the front door looks me up and down, his mouth tightening into a thin line. Still, he takes my arm with surprising gentleness and stamps the club stamp onto my wrist. He releases me and nods towards the door, and I think for a moment that I spy a look of pity of his face, but that must just be my imagination. 

The minute I step inside, I am overwhelmed by the sight. There are side rooms branching off from the party room, blocked off by thick crimson curtains. I spy a scantily clad woman with long black hair, looking to be of Indian descent, leading a young twenty-something man behind one of this curtains. She smiles brightly as she sees me, winking at me, before she pulls the curtain shut with a snap. Something tells me they're not just going back there for a talk.

Suddenly, as if appearing from out of nowhere, the man at the door is at my side. His dark eyes fix on my face as he purrs, "Can I help you with anything, Sir? You seem a bit out of your element. Forgive my saying this, but this doesn't seem to be your sort of scene." A kind smile graces his face, so at odds with the harsh and dark party environment going on around me.

Sighing, I smile at him gratefully. "Yeah, I don't go 'clubbing' much." He smirks at that, and I think that if he didn't work here, he wouldn't be into the club scene either. There's something so kind and reassuring about this man that I feel like he might actually be able to help me. I smile my best at him, practicing my best people skills that I learned in my required public speaking and communications courses in college, and ask him, "Hey, I'm looking for someone named Ariadne. I heard that she frequents this club, so this seemed like a good place to look for her."

His entire demeanor shifts. His eyes darken, some invisible wall inside rising up to close me off. The charge in the air changes, a slight vibration of tension making the hairs on my arms stand on end. He arches one brow at me as he asks me, "What is your business with her?"

I swallow my apprehension down, feeling the clog in my throat forcefully dislodge before I smile again and say, "We have a mutual interest. There are things I have to say which she probably would be interested in."

"Such as?" he presses, his tone bored and disinterested.

I sigh through my nose, tapping my foot on the ground as my anxiety begins to build. He pointedly looks at my foot and back at me, and I stop tapping. I realize that there's no way that someone like Ariadne is just going to let people walk up to her, that this bouncer's sole job is to keep people who have no business around her away. Unless I come clean to some degree, I'm going to walk out of here empty-handed. I can't do that. I'm not going to let my girlfriend be undone by this woman. I stand a little taller, filled with new resolve, as I tell him, "I've come to talk to her about Roxanne."

It takes a moment for him to register the name, which makes me exceedingly confused. Then, it seems to click for him. His face falls, some flicker of sadness appearing in his eyes but it's gone before I can really be sure. He steps out of my path, holding out an arm in a gesture for me to step forward. My feet are moving before I am really aware of it as he turns his back to me and starts walking through the dark room towards a black door at the back of the room. I notice out of my corner of my eye that people are stopping what they're doing, watching us very closely as we near the door. No, correction, they're watching me very closely. My gaze darts around as I duck my head, trying to escape their attention. My blood runs cold when my eyes land on a brown-skinned woman with a trail of blood leaking out from the corner of her mouth. She arches a brow at my interest, reaching up with her arm and wiping it off of her face with her sleeve as some sort of concession to me. She winks at me, her golden eyes boring into me, but my blood is ice in my veins at this point. She had blood on her mouth like it was nothing in a crowded club. And this is the place where Ariadne frequents. What the fuck am I getting myself into?

The door looms ahead of me and some primal part of my brain tells me to turn around and run out of here and never look back. My palms begin to grow sweaty as my heart beats like a rabbit's inside of my chest. I glance down at my hands, seeing a slight tremor running through them. I clench them into fists at my side to still them, refusing to give into the fear. I came here for a good reason, and everything will be fine. What could this woman possibly do to me? I took karate as a kid and got pretty good at it. I won't hit a woman, but if her goons try to come at me, I should be able to handle myself.

The bouncer reaches the door and turns the knob, pulling the door open and holding it with his shoe for me to enter. He nods his head in the direction of the open doorway, telling me to go in. For one second, I hesitate, but when I glance over my shoulder and see the crowd looming around me, the partying having completely stopped, all of my reservations are gone. I'd rather take Ariadne and her bouncer over this group of people who are suddenly all-interested in me.