It was a chilly and thick night, the feeling of the rain hanging in the air, and giving the surrounding area a bit of a mysterious aura. The few streetlights along this part of town made me fel unsafe, but I knew this area well. Too well, actually. The wind blew harshly in my face, slapping me with an icy hand. My hoodie's strings were pulled to keep my hair from being screwed up by the wind, and it was long enough to cover the outfit I was wearing. Mother would kill me if she knew where I was headed, but I was eighteen now. It didn't matter if I snuck out after ten anymore.
The shoes I was wearing were impractical for walking in, but I knew that after I got down to where I was heading, it would all be worth it. I checked for cops, and slung my bag over my shoulder to readjust it, and kept walking. Police officers were trying to find us, but never could, and we would keep it that way.
Moonlight bathed the alley that my feet led me down, bathing the buildings in a strange and serene kind of silver glow. 'Beautiful.' I thought, as I peered into a slightly ajar door. The most faint whisper of music could be heard from somewhere, and my lips curled into a sly grin. I slipped into the vacant lot, and headed towards the staircase.
They say this place has been around since the Prohibition, but it was just a myth. A thick, heavy cement floor-door barricaded the outside world from what lay below, and extra insulation had been added to help keep sound from escaping. The door blended in almost perfectly with the cracked floorboards with the way it was designed, and it was hard to find. Most of us found it by following a rather large and deep crack that ran all the way to it from the outside door.
With some feeling around, I slipped my fingers into the hidden handle, and lifted the extremely heavy door up. It dropped down into a very small cement room, and the door dropped as soon as I stopped supporting it. I began to crawl to the end of the space, and pushed open yet another trapdoor. After doing this about four times, I finally made it to the stairs.
The music was louder now, but not by much. There was a single light for every flight of stairs, and as I descended, there was no light at all. This prevented snitches from describing what the place looked like in full, and it kept the weak of heart out.
Countless steps downwards later, my light-depraved eyes caught sight of an extremely faint glow. I turned right, and followed it to the end of the hall, where a very tall and massive door stood, flanked by two muscular men. Their looks were deadly, and I gave a sexy smile, and stripped my hoodie off to reveal my real outfit.
"Evening, gentlemen." I cooed while flipping my hair back. They exchanged glances and squinted. The taller one spoke up. "Is that you, Hummingbird?" My code name felt so unfamiliar to me after so long. "You got it, babe." Porcelain broke out in a smile, and gave me a big hug.
"It's been a damn long time, babygirl. We thought the pigs got ya. Come on inside, you look hot as usual." He motioned for a man I have never seen before to step aside so he could open the door.
"Who's this newbie?" I asked, looking him up and down. He gave me a wave. "This is Ink. He's been here for a month now. Good kid, doesn't say much." Porcelain responded cheerfully.
"Sweet." The smell of perfume, cologne, pot, booze, and a twinge of sweat permeated the air as I walked into the lounge-room. The history behind this part of the area was that it used to be a mine. This whole town used to be one big mine. After it was abandoned, filled up, and built over, some poor sap found out the hard way that not all of it had been filled. Some people long ago had dug their way to the mine's entrances, and built upon them to make this place an underground hotel and restaurant, but nobody wanted to walk this far down for a resort or whatever. Historical or not, it was still a damn long trip to get down here.
Hotel Whothehellcares had been about a mile or two underground, and had six stories. The first one was a lounge that people came in to roll on whatever drugs they were on. Couches, beanbags, papa chairs, hanging couches, sunk-in couches, and an old marble check-in desk were just a few things in this large chill-space.
Many of us bought and supplied furniture and lighting for the old hotel, and had turned it into a massive club for people like us to come and have a good time. The sixth floor is where the real fun was at, and Porcelain was leading me right to it.
As we both went aboard the old elevator, Porcelain began to speak.
"You know, Hummingbird, there's a new kid here. He filled your spot in real nice when you were gone, but we didn't keep him ignorant." I scoffed. "Did you let him know who the head bitch is here?" Porce nodded. "You bet your cute ass, babygirl, but he is a very tough competitor. I expect you to get your spot back in this old place, you hear?"
I nodded, and felt the elevator slow to a stop. "Who is this kid, anyway." The big man beside me pointed across the crowd to the stage, where a man stood. He had black hair, and some kind of mesh outfit on, but that was all I could make out between the strobing lights, and odd shadows.
"His code is Sideswipe. I'd be careful if I were you, Humms. He's got a tongue of silver, and can talk his way through anything."
It was hard to hear the last thing Porcelain said to me over the music, but most of the crowd could feel over the music how the elevator vibrated and shook. Even Sideswipe looked. The song faded at a strangely perfect time, and people seemed shocked.
"Yoooooooo, it's Hummingbird, bitches!" I heard from the front, and a look of confidence and triumph overtook my facial features as people cheered. "Come on, Queenie, get your ass up here!" Someone over the microphone announced. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, or at least, the ones who were sober enough to process anything that was going on parted.
I made my way through the path as another song began to blast overhead. The kid on stage looked at me with amusement, and I stared back up at him blankly. "So, this is the legendary Hummingbird everyone's been talking about?" He asked, his voice dripping with some kind of tone I didn't recognize.
"That's the name. Wear it down, and I'll ruin yours." Sickly sweet tones inflicted my own voice, and he actually seemed a bit taken aback. Nevertheless, he helped me up on stage, and Juice tossed me the mic. He turned the music down, and I began to speak.
"So I hear this kid has been filling my spot." I motioned to Sideswipe, and they cheered, and I motioned for them to quiet down. "Alright, alright, but is he good enough to stay in my presence and help me run this joint?" More cheering, louder than before, and I turned to Sideswipe. "Congrats. You're the King, but don't get too cocky about it."
"Don't worry, I have plenty of that to go around." He replied evenly, his smirk making me want to kick him in the face. I liked him already.
"Just remember who the Queen is, and we'll be fine." Sideswipe's outfit was pretty sexy. His pants were made of leather, with red trim and accents. His top was mostly a fine mesh that left nothing to my imagination, and the wrist cuffs he had on were covered in rainbow spikes. The hair he had going on was something else with the way it was styled, which I had always thought normal black hair was too thick to do.
Juice turned the music back up, and people started dancing again. "So tell me Sideswipe, how'd you find us? Be honest, I don't like a liar." He shrugged and looked out to the crowd.
"I thought I heard music coming from this area, and I didn't stop searching for it's source until I found it." He explained. Was he telling the truth? It didn't matter. As long as we didn't get raided, and kept our people happy, it was no big deal how people found us.
"Well, it's good to have you, Sideswipe." My bag slid from my shoulder, and I carefully set it on the ground. Inside were... 'goods'. I personally didn't do drugs, aside from smoking pot and the occasional molly, but the people out there did. When I reached into the duffel, a handful of molly emerged, and I threw it over the crowd like confetti. Doing this multiple times was rather fun, really. People scrambled for it, and I emptied out the two bags I had of molly while saving a few pills for myself.
The night began to get a bit old, and I talked to Sideswipe a lot more.
"We don't usually see cuties like you here, a lot of it is the lanky and willowy people who just want to do a bunch of drugs, drink, and forget. Is that what you're here for?" Finally, the question was asked. He laughed, and shook his head.
"Oh, no. I come for the music and to dance the day away. It's pretty slagging fun." What did slagging mean? More importantly, who cares?
"Yeah, I get what you mean. I don't do anything too heavy. Just a few bowls and joints here and there. On really bad days, though, I do molly to feel a bit more free." I admitted. He nodded understandingly.
"Yup. I know how that goes. Used to know a guy like that back in the day." Sideswipe told me.
"So how old are you, exactly? I'm eighteen."
"Uh..." Hesitation. "Twenty-three." Sides finally answered. I chuckled.
"I wish I could say you're the oldest here. People's grandparents or whatever come in here a lot on the weekends. They're old, so they're probably just trying to have a good time before their time is up."
"Hah, that's mean." He smiled. I found myself talking the rest of the night away with him.
That was the first night in four years that I didn't turn to drugs to feel alive, and have fun, and that was also the night I do believe I felt something for someone in a long time.