Renova

01 ; beast

"Annie. What the fuck. I was so excited to go to bed; I was in my new pj's Andrew gave me and I had all my new candles lit and everything was perfect! Why are you so dead set on going to this club? Seriously, it's one in the morning and you killed my baby!" Molly whined from behind the girl as she hiked to a dim club off of Greene Street.

Molly's 1999 Suzuki Forester was broken down a block behind them, smoke billowing from the engine. The thing had been on its last leg for years and now she was getting blamed for its demise.

"This is important; I had another dream. I recognized the pattern on top of the building. It's the snake pattern with the huge fangs and shadows," the blonde girl made hand gestures, "so we have to check it out. This could finally help me figure all this out." She spun around 180 degrees so that she was walking backwards and looking at her friend.

Molly threw her hands up in exaggeration, her chestnut hair bouncing with her body movements, "So that's reason enough for you to make me leave my house, kill my car, and get in illegally to a club that has no importance and is seriously creepy?"

"Yes! I'm so glad you understand." Annie gave her a sardonic smile and turned back to walking down the street.

She heard Molly's distinct this-is-a-stupid-idea groan, "Do you even have id's for us?"

Annie grinned further, pulling two fake id's that she had gotten from her brothers friend out of her high heeled boot, "I sure do, Miss Mary White."

Annie stopped and waited for her to catch up and handed her an id into the club. Annie's was 22-year-old Lucy Freeman from Detroit. Her brothers' friend told her he got the names from ex girlfriends after he mismatched their names. 

"There it is!" Molly squealed, happy to end the outdoor trek.

Annie's eyes immediately fell on the sign hanging above the door. The markings were unmistakably identical to her dream earlier that night. There was a dark red snake with blood-stained fangs hanging down to the threshold, with dim red lights casting odd shadows on the snake's backside. The resemblance to her dream made her shiver and almost wish she hadn't come. But something was there and she could feel it pulling her like a magnet. 

Annie took Molly's hand and walked up to the bouncer whose face held a look of such solemnness it made the girls halt in front of him. His eyes never broke from staring straight ahead to glance at Annie, and he held his arms across his chest, a fine rope keeping them from the inside.

"I don't need to look at you, you're not 21." His deep voice and menacing tone caused Annie to take a step back, knocking into a person behind her, who she thought was Molly.

"Watch out!" She said as she whipped around, but not to Molly who was standing out of the way.

"Feisty little girl, aren't you?" Said a man likely in his late twenties, with dark black hair and pale skin. His dark gold eyes seemed to sparkle with delighted amusement in the dim light. 

"Oh I'm so sorry, I thought you were," she struggled to remember Molly's fake name, "My friend Mary."

He slung one muscled arm over Annie's shoulder, and then threw his other around Molly who was giving a death glare, "Well no worries! Is Davis giving you trouble..." he trailed off, as if waiting for Annie's name.

"Oh, I'm Lucy." Annie stammered, almost giving away her real name to the handsome stranger.

"It's lovely to meet the two of you. Shall we go in?" His eyes met Davis, who flashed a dejected frown towards the girls before unclipping the rope anyway.

They walked steadily down a long and dark hallway only lit by a single red bulb hanging from the high ceiling. The walls were cool brick, and they could feel the pulse of music beneath their feet as they walked. The man still had his arms around the both of them, and Annie thought about how they didn't know his name.