The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (17 page)

A lascivious spark struck in Nero's eyes for a moment, and he rolled the toothpick over to the other side of his tooth-free mouth. “Damn, Charge, you sure do know how to pick 'em.” He extended a stubby hand that Kathryn didn't want to take but was afraid not to.

“Hi,” she tried to say confidently.

“Nero.” His hand was cold and sweaty as he shook hers. “Nice ta meet 'cha.”

“So what's been going on?” Charge continued, and Kathryn was glad when Nero released her hand and turned his flinty gaze on Charge.

“Things 'round here are tense, man.” Nero shifted from side to side and glanced down the empty hallway. “I know you heard that shit is on lock down.”

“Yeah. I heard.”

Nero glanced at Kathryn. Suspicion hid behind his dark brow. “So don't be surprised if backroom gives your girl a once-over.” He paused, the toothpick hanging perilously between his clamped lips. “She's legit, right?”

“Absolutely, man. One hundred percent,” Charge said a bit forcefully. “She's down.”

“Okay.” Nero finally tore his gaze off Kathryn and focused it back on Charge. “I'm just saying, man. We've had some . . . issues. But if you say she's down —”

“She is.”

Nero paused and then flashed his toothless grin. “Cool, man. Cool.” He stepped to the side to let the three of them pass. “Go on in, man. Folks'll be happy to see ya.”

Without saying anything, Charge reached down and opened the heavy metal door. The hallway was flooded with techno music, and the blue spotlights from the club danced their way into the corridor. Charge grabbed Kathryn's hand and lead her inside. Susan followed behind them and pulled the door shut.

The club was larger than Kathryn expected. The dance floor was submerged a few feet below them. It was packed full of people writhing to the beat of the music. Blue spotlights hung from the vaulted ceiling and flashed around the room. In their intermittent light, Kathryn could make out a network of beams and catwalks that crisscrossed overhead. Tables and chairs were placed sporadically around the dance floor. Every seat was taken and every table was overcrowded with bottles and cups as people huddled around them shouting and straining to be heard over the music. A large green light illuminated a bar at the left hand side of the room. Women dressed in tight white shorts and matching bustiers glided past each other behind the bar as they frantically tried to fill the mass of orders yelled at them from a crowd of thirsty customers. Beyond the bar, on the other side of the room, and elevated one level above them was the dj booth. Kathryn saw a shadowy figure moving to the beat of the music behind a smoky glass.

Charge pressed on through the crowd. He parted people like waves, and Kathryn and Susan easily trailed behind. Charge made his way past the bar, where several of the waitresses smiled and waved at him. He briefly acknowledged them with a smile and a nod but continued moving through the mass of people. Kathryn's senses were overwhelmed by the pulsating music, rotating lights, and drunken bodies swirling around them. Charge passed underneath the dj booth, and she thought she saw the dj nod. Charge reached the end of the dj booth and abruptly turned and went up three stairs. To the left of them was a door, which looked like the entrance to the booth itself. Charge, however, went to the right and headed towards what looked like a solid wall. He knocked sharply four times and the wall opened to reveal another hallway.

Charge, Kathryn, and Susan stepped through the door, which swung closed behind them, muffling the beat from the dance floor.

“Shit, bro! Where the hell you been?” a voice squeaked. The three of them turned around, and from behind the door emerged a small, lanky man whose wide grin revealed a full set of gold teeth.

“My man, Herc.” Charge greeted him with a pat on the back that almost knocked him off his feet.

“Sexy Susan. Sexy Susan!” Herc held out his arms.

Susan gave him a brief hug. “Herc. Good to see you.”

Charge stepped to the side and placed his hand on the small of Kathryn's back. “Herc, man, this is my girl, Kathryn.”

“Well, all right!” Herc surveyed Kathryn. His eyes jumped all over her body, but unlike her encounter with Nero, Kathryn didn't feel threatened by him. He was a small man, maybe 5'6” at the most, and frail looking. His long white t-shirt almost hung down to his knees and engulfed his thin frame. His jeans looked two sizes too big and his white gym shoes were untied. He looked like he had been playing in his big brother's closet. “It's really nice to meet you, pretty lady.” His gold teeth flashed when he talked.

“Yeah.” Kathryn was grateful that Herc didn't try to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“So what's been going on, man?” Charge's question pulled Herc's eyes off of Kathryn.

“Oh, man, some serious shit.” Herc glanced nervously at Kathryn.

“Oh, don't worry about her, man. She's legit.”

Herc raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah?” He paused again and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Uh, damn, Charge, I hate to do this, but . . . uh . . .” He paused. “I'ma have to ask her to prove it.”

Charge seemed taken aback. “For real?”

Herc's hand went to the back of his neck and scratched there nervously. “Yeah, sorry man. It's just . . . we've had some problems. Shit was almost compromised. So . . .” He shrugged to finish his sentence.

Charge was silent for a moment and then quickly regained his composure. “That's cool man. No problem.”

Kathryn stood there entranced by the conversation, trying to interpret what was not being said. It was only after a few seconds that she realized all of them were looking at her. “What?”

“Show him what you can do, baby,” Charge said.

“What? Wh—”

Charge cut her off. “Just do it. It's okay.” Something in Charge's eyes made Kathryn stop her protest.

“Okay.” Kathryn teleported from one side of Charge to the other.

Herc's jaw practically hit the floor. “Shit.”

Charge beamed. “Told you, man. She's legit.” He affectionately grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. Kathryn almost melted.

“Damn. I guess she is.” Herc let out a breath between his plated teeth. The sound was a low squeak. “Okay, then. Go on back.”

“Thanks, man.” Charge again patted Herc on the back, throwing him off balance. “Good to see you.” Charge turned and headed down the hallway; Kathryn and Susan were close behind.

“Yeah, you too!” Herc called after them. “See ya, Sexy Susan!”

“Bye, Herc!” Susan waved back at him. As soon as they got out of earshot, Susan whispered to Charge, “I wonder what happened?”

Charge frowned. “I don't know, but I'm going to find out.”

They continued down the hall until they came to another door. Charged opened it without knocking. The room was fairly large, but the black walls, black ceiling, and black floor made it seem smaller. The furniture in the room was eclectic. There were groups of chairs and folding tables, bar stools surrounding high, round tables, and couches. Waitresses dressed in their tight, white uniforms were skirting around the room, carrying frosty bottles of beer and colorful shots on their trays and removing empty cups and glasses from the tables. Kathryn guessed that there were about 50 people in the room. Everyone was dressed in their best club-going attire, and everyone looked just like they did—normal. Everyone was also looking directly at them.

After a second of silence, the room erupted. Swarms of people came up to them and greeted Charge and Susan warmly. There was a lot of back slapping, hand shaking, and hugging. Charge introduced Kathryn to everyone as “My Girl,” a title that made her beam. She knew she'd never be able to remember everyone. Some had regular names like Steven and Annie, while others had nicknames like Pinch and Dozer. By the time they had made their way around the room, Kathryn's head was spinning.

“You two are like celebrities.” she said when they finally got to the far side of the room and sat down on an available couch.

Charge laughed and waved at one of the waitresses. “Nah, it's not like that. I told you. I used to work here.” Kathryn had a lot of questions, but at that moment the waitress came over to take their drink order.

“Hey-ya, Charge.” She put her hand on her hip and winked at him. Kathryn didn't like it. “Missed you around here.”

“Hey, Bea. I want to introduce you to my girl, Kathryn.”

Bea's green eyes narrowed down to slits as she gave Kathryn the once over. “Humph. Nice to meet'cha.”

Kathryn flashed her an icy smile. Charge pushed the conversation along. “Could you bring us three beers, babe? Thanks.”

“Yeah, sure.” Bea turned abruptly on her heel and walked away.

“Ex-girlfriend?”

Charge laughed heartedly. “No. Absolutely not.” Satisfied with that answer, Kathryn leaned back comfortably on the couch and surveyed the room. The music from the dance floor was barely audible, so she could catch snatches of conversation. The topics all seemed perfectly normal. Complaints about work, talk about the current sports teams, arguments about politics, and flirtatious complements. This was the “underground deviant scene?”

Kathryn slowly scanned the room again. This time, she began to notice things that she had missed in the flurry of greetings when they initially walked in. In one corner, three young women were chatting with a thin, dark-haired man with a large jagged scar carved into the side of his face. They were huddled around a tall round table engrossed in a conversation. All of them were perched comfortably on bar stools—except for the man. He didn't have a seat at all; instead, he was levitating about three feet off of the ground, his legs folded neatly under him. Kathryn tried not to stare, but the man caught her eye and smiled. Kathryn smiled shyly back and turned away.

Along the far wall, a man and women huddled closely together on a couch. He said something funny, and she threw her head back and laughed. Kathryn watched as she reached for her packet of cigarettes sitting on the table in front of them. She took one out, put it to her lips and took a drag. The tip of the cigarette suddenly glowed red without the use of a lighter.

A flash across the room caught Kathryn's eye. A tall, lanky blonde man stood talking to a table full of people. As they chatted, he moved from one side of the table to another, only with such speed that Kathryn could barely keep up with his movements. He zoomed around behind a blonde woman and playfully poked her in the ribs. She squealed in surprise.

“Here are your drinks.” Bea's return refocused Kathryn's attention. In front of them hovered three beers.

“Thanks, Bea,” Charge said. “You can just put them on the table.” Kathryn watched in amazement as the bottles slowly lowered themselves to the low table in front of them.

Bea smirked as she watched Kathryn's reaction. “Anything else?”

“Nah, we're good. Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Bea winked at him again before turning to go. Kathryn’s emotions rose in her— jealousy mixed with anger—but they quickly dissipated when Charge put his hand on her knee.

“So, what do you think?”

Kathryn put her own hand on top of Charge's and squeezed it lightly. “I think it's pretty cool.” She grabbed her beer. The bottle was cold, and she took a generous drink.

“Yeah? I thought you'd like it.”

Kathryn scanned the room again, trying to take in all of the amazing things she saw. She glanced at Charge, who was watching her with a bemused expression on his face.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just like looking at you. You’re so damn sexy.” He put his hand on her hip and drew her close to him. Kathryn’s heart fluttered. He kissed her lightly on the side of her neck.

“Hey,” Susan interrupted. “I see Roz. I'm going to go talk to her. If there's any gossip going around, Roz will tell it.”

Charge released Kathryn, much to her dismay, and took another drink. “Good idea.”

Susan picked up her beer and disappeared into the crowd. There were more people in the room now, and the atmosphere was lively.

“So,” Charge turned his attention back on Kathryn, “tell me what you see.”

“Um . . . a lot of people?”

“Yes,” Charge pressed on, “but what kinds of things are they doing?”

“Oh.” Kathryn looked around the room again for the people she had noticed earlier. “Over there is a guy levitating. That's some cool ass shit.” She looked around for the blonde guy. “Oh, and that guy moves so fast it’s making me dizzy. And . . .” she looked for the woman who was on the couch, but the couch was now occupied by a different group of people. “Well, there was a woman over there who lit a cigarette without a lighter, but she's gone now.”

“Yeah? Anything else?”

“Um . . .” Kathryn thought for a moment. “Oh, the waitress.” She frowned a bit at the thought of Bea. “Floating beers.”

“Good start.” Charge threw his arm around her shoulders and put his head close to hers. “Do you see those three people over there?” He gestured to two men and a woman against the wall to the left of them.

“Yes.” Kathryn studied them and noticed nothing unusual about them.

“What do you notice?”

“Nothing.”

“Look closer,” Charge urged. Kathryn did but still saw nothing. She just shook her head. “What are they talking about?” Charge hinted.