Undecided

2.

Alice pulls her jacket close to her to brace from the light wind. She has always been one to get cold rather easily, and the night's weather is on the frigid side as the winter weather is still haunting over into the spring. The women stands on the sidewalk, the downtown area of Portland is bustling with people ready to spend their Saturday night with a similar plan in mind as the girls. Anna scrolls through her phone looking at the bar options presented on Google. She perks up as it seems one has captured her attention. "We have to go here!" She gasps, and turns her phone toward Elena and Alice. The bar presented on her phone was called Hell's Gate and had quite the unique atmosphere. The picture displayed captured it's Gothic architecture which contrasted greatly to the other buildings in its immediate proximity. Alice and her friends have always been more alternative, so this bar was right up their alley.

"Wow, the building is breathtaking," Alice comments, "How far of a walk is it?" She watches as Anna taps a few times on her phone screen to pull up navigation.

"Just a five minute walk from here!" She says, relief evident on her face. The two women wearing heels were delighted by this because the short distance meant that future blisters were hopefully avoidable.

"Yippee!" Elena cheered, making a dorky face as they began their walk.

Anna and Elena chat and ponder over what drinks they want to start out with when they get to their destination while Alice disassociates a bit. She remembers the times they would all go out, and Aidan was by her side. Aidan was the first man who even cared to get to know her friends, nonetheless, create a bond with them. She thinks back on one time in particular where they were at a club before they were even of legal age to drink, and Aidan had bought the most massive mug of jungle juice imaginable so they could all share it. Alice also remembers the fight they had that night, when he was flirting with a girl sitting at the bar and how he had made comments asking Alice to pretend she was a stranger so he could play out some fantasy in his head. She never understood it when all she ever wanted was what she had in front of her. Maybe she had overreacted, but she was so easily wounded by his wandering eyes and desires. He had already done an amazing job at making her feel insecure constantly in the relationship, and she had always been the one to apologize for her hurt at the end of any conflict they had. It didn't matter as long as she had him, and she couldn't bear the thought of not having him in her life. She felt she ruined everything with her anger, but that kind of pain burns in the pit of your stomach. The words she spoke to him were coated in it, and she can't say she didn't take things too far sometimes, but it was hard to choke down the flames. If she thought about it for too long, she could still feel the heavy weight of the aching it left in her chest.  It was always silence with him during their fights, and to her, that was worse than anything. He had never let her inside his mind, never even confided in her. Looking back, maybe he had never been who she thought he was. Maybe the intimacy she thought they shared was one-sided. She chastises herself for groveling at his feet like she did after she ended things, and he moved back to his hometown. After all the constant infidelity she endured, she still only wanted him and it makes her sick to her stomach to this day. She couldn't even say in confidence that she would deny him if he came back into her life, even though she knows better.

Alice is snapped out of her thoughts instantly, and all the air leaves her lungs when her eyes focus on a stranger on the other side of the street. He is a rather tall, lean man dressed in a long black trench coat with a white button up, and dress pants held up by a leather belt. His face makes her heart twinge with yearning. He resembles Aidan an uncomfortable amount, but his features are more sharp and angular. The phrase, 'Speak of the devil and he shall appear' pops into her mind, or in this case, think. She tries to shake off the unease the stranger had caused her.

The stranger notices the woman's stare from across the street. He smells the pain, and unease leaking from her aura. The man takes a deep breath in, savoring it. Oh, how he loved the smell. It was a sweet, musky scent that he could never get enough of. The form he had taken was purposeful, but he took liberty to adjust it to his own preference. The foundation had been laid for the night simply by catching her attention. His vision is cat-like and crystal clear, without flaw; he can make out the freckles that sprinkle across her cheeks even from his current position. He waits for her gaze to avert to the ground, it seems she is trying to avoid staring now. The corner of the handsome man's mouth crooks up in a smirk, he had accomplished what he set out to do. His feet quicken, he moves so lightly that the people he moves past hardly even notice his presence at all. Not that it mattered, he could easily erase his existence from their minds with just a thought if it were necessary for him to do so. He slips into the nearest alleyway, and becomes one with the casted shadow from the two buildings that create it as if he were the shade itself.

Alice holds her breath without even realizing as she fights with herself and loses. She gives in to her internal struggle and allows herself to take one more look at the man across the street. However, when she finally manages to rip her eyes from the sidewalk, she finds that he is gone. Her eyes trail further down the street in the opposite direction, but there's no trace of him. Strange. Her eyebrow quirks up a bit, and she wonders about her sanity just slightly. She knows without a doubt that she saw someone, but maybe she was simply projecting her thoughts onto some poor victim that vaguely resembled the person that she can't seem to shake free of. Honestly, she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit it wasn't the first time she has seen her past lover in the faces of other men she has encountered. Alice decides to just let it go, he was gone anyways. She didn't need, nor desire, the emotions seeing him would stir in her anyways. The woman had put so much work into moving on even if she wasn't completely successful yet. She ponders bringing it up to Elena and Anna, but it was honestly for the best that she doesn't give it any more energy.

Alice finally takes in the rest of her surroundings and finds that they have made it to Hell's Gate. The name fits incredibly well as the establishment excels at imitating an eerie, ancient energy. She marvels at the building, it's even more beautiful in person. The women approach the tall, red oak double doors that rests under an arch of dark gray bricks. Stained glass lines the top of the doors, and from the doorframe lines of wood carve up to create diamond patterns within it. The structure was like a compressed castle, created to fit between the other buildings lining the modernized downtown strip.

"This place is gorgeous," Elena beams, taking the words out of Alice's mouth. Anna is also gawking at the bar's exterior while she snaps a few pictures on her phone. Alice wonders how she has never seen this place before. They had all been downtown many times before, but somehow this place had eluded them until now.

"I can't wait to see the inside," Anna squeaks. She pulls open one of the doors to expose a short, wide hallway. The girls pile in and they all can't help but take in everything around them. The floor of the hallway was made of checkered marble, and the walls had intricate patterns protruding from the wood. White columns ran up the walls in the corners of the hallway, and at the top rested small gargoyles that loomed over them menacingly.  At the end of the hall, there was a second set of doors and a man standing at a small counter. He wore a simple, but sophisticated black suit and his blonde hair was neatly slicked back away from his face.
They approach the man who asks them politely to present identification.
The three girls all flash their ID's just long enough for the man to see they were all of age to enter the bar.
He gave them a nod, and moved around the side of the counter to open one of the doors for them.
The girls share a quick glance before heading through the door. None of them expected this type of formality at a bar, especially one that seemed to be of the more alternative type by the name. However, safe to say, they were collectively curious to know just what kind of bar they had stumbled into.