Prologue: The Contract
It may have been another moonlit night in Domino, but at the nightclub The King's Haven, things were anything but quiet. Outside of the place, as one stood in the practically mile-long line underneath the flashing gold and blue neon sign which bore the club's name, the faint sound of rock music could be heard even with the glass doors underneath the silver awning closed and blocked by the large, beefy bodyguard. Inside of the place, only the most attractive teenagers, young adults, and even a few celebrities were dancing underneath soft white lights to the band's rocking music or sitting at the booths scattered around the place, chatting and drinking their sparkling bottled water.
A man stepped out of a back office of the shop. Just by the way he walked and his rather expensive grey suit with black buttons, a white shirt and black tie, one could tell that he was the owner of the place. He ran a hand through his short, spiky black hair as he gazed around the room with his blue, rather cold eyes. Eventually they fell upon one girl in particular with chestnut hair pulled into a messy bun, wearing a pink baby doll dress with strappy white heels and a pink necklace who watched the band with dreamy eyes. She appeared to be strangely alone at the place, indicating that perhaps she didn't really have anyone to hang with around here. He stroked his black beard as he watched the guys around her steal quick glances at her beauty. Hmm…I believe that she would do quite nicely…he thought to himself.
He walked up to the girl and gently tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, miss," he said.
She looked up and gazed at him with lovely hazel eyes that almost sparkled in the light. A small smile crept up onto his face. Yes, she will most definitely do, he thought to himself. "I was just wondering if perhaps you were looking for some place of employment."
"Oh, yes, as a matter of fact I was," the girl replied, her eyes lighting up with delight. "I've just come here from America to attend college in an exchange student program. I've been looking for somewhere I could work to earn some yen and practice my Japanese, but thus far my search has been rather fruitless."
"Well, my dear, you are in luck," the owner replied. "I've recently been looking for another young woman as pretty as you to work in my night club full-time. Would you by chance be interested?"
The girl turned pink at the compliment. "I…I'd love to," she grinned.
"Wonderful," he said. "Would you come on back to my office, please?"
The girl practically floated on air as both she and the owner walked to the back of the club and entered a small office. Posters of bands that had performed at the place were plastered all over the walls and a small desk with two chairs at the front and back and a computer on top was sitting directly in the center. The man sat down behind the desk and motioned for the girl to take the seat in front.
She sat down with her foot tapping impatiently as the owner reached into his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper with the word Contract written on top in flowing, elegant letters and a black pen.
He pointed at the bottom of the sheet with the pen and said, "All you have to do is sign your name here, and you'll pretty much have the job."
In her excitement of getting a job at last, the girl quickly took his pen and signed her name without even glancing at the terms of the contract. She slammed the pen down onto the desk and cried, "Done!"
The owner took the paper and gazed down at her signature. "Hmm…Charlotte, eh? Quite a pretty name."
"Thank you," she giggled. "So when do I start?"
The owner set the contract down on his desk. A strange smile crept up onto his face. "Now."
Suddenly, a bright white light started to emit from the contract. The girl felt a sort of wrenching sensation in her throat and clutched at it as a mysterious pink orb flew out of it and right into the contract.
She tried to scream out in horror-but absolutely no sound came out. Stunned, she tried to say "What the-", but all she could do was move her lips.
"You can't speak anymore, Charlotte," the owner grinned. "It's part of your contract-your voice has been removed; that's what that orb was. From now on, the only talking you'll be able to do will be through pre-recorded tapes that shall be provided for you as part of your job-none of which will pertain to you being forced to work in some other world against your will, I can assure you."
He snapped his fingers and a round, white portal appeared by the side of his desk. Out of it stepped two large, strong men dressed in black suits and sunglasses who most definitely looked like they couldn't be messed with. "Boys, take Charlotte here over to my night club in the Dimension of the Gods. Get her a uniform, a recording device, a training manual-all that necessary stuff."
Charlotte tried to get up and dash out of the room, but lightning-fast, the two men had one of her arms each in their grasp. She struggled and kicked them in an attempt to get away, but the two barely even felt her attacks.
"One more thing, Charlotte," the owner smiled as his flunkies dragged her towards the portal. "Don't even bother trying to escape. The contract prevents you from so much as getting even one foot out the door of the restaurant without experiencing some very dire consequences which you wouldn't even want to hear about. So, Miss Charlotte, do enjoy your stay in my home world-because as of now, it's yours, too."
With that, Charlotte was yanked into the other world kicking at her captors and silently screaming. Once they were through, the portal slammed shut behind them, leaving the owner to smile nastily at where it had been.