Baldwin Has Fallen

Part 3 The Revelation of the Underworld

Helen's night club featured a lot of purple and red neon, the smoke machines and stobe lights added a surrealness to the otherworldly building.  Although, the windows were so high up most of what was visible of the interior was swirling mists and track lights.

Tori walked up to the tall, muscled bouncer who stood rigidly, checking IDs of patrons. As he approached, the person, who was apparently one of the few females in her profession, removed her sunglasses. "Hold it, sir." She said. "You can't just cut in line! You gotta wait!" Her piercing black eyes seemed to stare straight into Tori's core. Summoning his equanimity, he began to speak. "My name is Tori Asheir;" he stated. "I have an appointment with your boss, Helen."

Without visibly changing expresions, the body guard nodded. "Mr. Ashier;" she intoned. "Helen is waiting for you in her office on the second floor. You'll find the stairs at the back of the club. Go on through." She lifted the velvet rope to let Tori inside.

It was hard to see through the maisma. Silhouettes danced in a free form, pulsing manner. Some dark figures sat at tables in groups or alone, imbibing various intoxicating substances. Tori only managed to navigate the club by moving carefully and straining his eyes to catch sight of the tempered glass that made up the steps on the free hanging staircase. Unsettling as it was, he managed to walk all the way to his cousin's office.

Tori knocked loudly on the door. Helen answered it herself. "Come in;" she invited. "Please make yourself at comfortable." She perched herself gingerly on her black office chair. Tori was not ready to trust his cousin yet. "I'll lean against this wall here, then." He said; refusing to sit in either of two arm chairs opposite Helen. He noticed a picture of Baldwin and their grandma sitting on the edge of her desk. "Funny;" Tori commented. "I thought you shared your father's opinion of our family."

Helen picked up the photo by it's frame and tenderly touched the glass cover. "Trust me;" she said. "My dad didn't give me a chance to get to know any of my Ashier cousins. He said that you were all stuck up...pigs. It wasn't until I was an adult that I began admiring your side of the family from afar. I managed to talk to grandma, she's the one who gave me this photo. Thats not what I invited you here for." She sat the photo back on the desk.

She looked out her office window, peeking through the mini blinds. Helen seemed to be scanning crowds on the street below. When she turned back to face Tori, she relaxed. "Sorry for the rudeness;" Helen apologized. "I had to make sure daddy and Jerry weren't coming to visit. If they found out you were here, things would not end well for either of us."

When she had resettled herself, she looked earnestly at Tori. Speaking as clear and distinct as possible. "Now, I know daddy murdered cousin Baldwin;" Helen confided. "He has more planned though. Everyone is in danger from his sick vengance!"

Tori's blue eyes searched the obsidian depths of his cousin's irises. It was hard to tell if she was being serious, yet something in her face and posture conveyed earnestness. "What do you mean 'more'? Who is in danger?" He prompted. Helen leaned closer,  bringing her face extremely near to Tori's. "My father is chaos, his motives make sense only to him;" she wispered. "He is plotting the mass murder of the Ashier clan and the decimation of Ashengrad. With the help of my brothers, Fin and Jerry, The Frost Giants,  Sergy The Destroyer and whomever else he can recruit. This city will burn, Tori, unless you can stop daddy."

A cold, dense uneasiness fell on the room. Helen's news was so shocking, so frightening, it was hard for Tori to voice his thoughts. "How do you propose I do that?" He asked. "Do I warn my dad? Or are you okay with me going vigilante and shooting Uncle Logan?!" Tori rose from his seat and began pacing the office, from one wall to the other. His cousin got up, intercepted him and gently grabbed his arms to still his anxious movement. "Please don't misunderstand, cousin;" Helen said. "I love my family, but I don't agree with what they want to do. I had to warn you, Tori, because I know--I hope--you can stop this madness before it ends us all...even if that means daddy dies."

Gradually, Tori's heart slowed from its frantic gallop. He had not expected his own cousin to give him so much information. This had to be terrible for Helen to even consider the death of the only parent she knew as a solution. There had to be a way to get Uncle Logan to stop without killing him. A loud knock interrupted their contemplative silence. A voice, probaly belonging to one of the club's employees, came through the office door.

"I just saw your father's car pull up outside;" the voice said. "You might want to get rid of your current guest before he comes inside." Helen let go of her cousin and ran over to one of her filing cabinets. She easily pushed it out of the way, behind it turned out to be a   secret escape route. "If you go down these steps and hang a right, this will lead you outside the back of my club;" Helen said. "Make sure you see daddy come in before you go out on the street."

Tori thanked Helen quickly before carefully descending the narrow, dimly lit stairs. As he waited, watching from a shadow in an alley, he thought about what his next move should be.