ChapterThree: Saturday Night in Hellfire

Sebastian Shaw was Charles' ex. They had been 'together' in the very loosest of terms two months, until Charles had woken up to Shaw's controlling behaviour, and moved just out of his grasp. He was the only man Charles had ever been in a relationship with, that had lasted more than a few days, and then he'd only agreed because he hadn't known how to say no. Shaw was a frightening man, and it was only after Charles had agreed to see him again, that he'd realised Shaw had wanted to hook him in, and consider him property. Charles realised he hadn't been treated any differently to anyone else that Shaw was interested in, but when Charles had refused to commit, rather than turn Shaw off, it had only made him more possessive.

What Charles had learnt about Shaw, was that he liked to collect people, taking them out only when he wanted to play with them. He seemed to view life like a twisted game of Monopoly, advance to Go, collect Charles, play him round the board, pass Go, and collect someone else. But the thing that terrified Charles most was, that if he remained in Shaw's world, the weekend would never end. It would have been very easy to forget who he was, what he wanted, and in the end when he was a creature of Shaw's making, Shaw could have taken it all.

But unlike so many others before him, Charles had seen the trap. Experienced game player that he was, even Charles knew this was way out of his league, and knew that this was one game he couldn't win. He had been in way over his head, and recognised that the only thing he had been still free to do, had been to run.

But it was too late to escape and unwittingly Charles knew he had made himself into the one unobtainable thing in Sebastian Shaw's life. He had set the challenge, being unable to be bought with money like so many others had been before him. Shaw couldn't impress him with flash spending, gifts or taking him to expensive places. In that way, Charles had been in control, he could have called the shots had he wanted to. Had Shaw not terrified him right down into his very soul, Charles knew they could have been an interesting team. But Charles had wanted out, and Shaw couldn't forgive him for it.

By the time Erik managed to free himself from Shaw's clutches, he felt sick. His mind was racing with all possible scenarios. Why the hell had Charles never given him his phone number? And why the hell had he never asked for it? They were both in some stupid stand off, where neither would now make a move towards even real friendship, let alone anything else. Hanging out for a few hours on the weekend just wasn't enough. All this secrecy was going to get someone hurt, and it seemed as if that someone was going to be Charles.

Erik didn't know what Charles had been playing at, involving himself with someone as scary as Sebastian Shaw. How had they even met each other anyway? All the while Erik rode the Tube back to the flat, he ran through possible scenarios. But knowing so little about Charles gave him nothing concrete to go on. He couldn't imagine Shaw being nice enough to anyone, long enough for them to think spending time in his company would be a good idea. Then again, Shaw didn't need to be nice to him, so maybe Erik had only ever seen one side to him. But that side was enough.

The worst-case scenario that crossed Erik's mind with a shameful creeping was that Charles was some kind of high-class rent boy. He seemed to have a lot of money to throw around, and never mentioned where it came from. In fact, Charles was shady about a lot of things. The thought made Erik uncomfortable, but the more it swam around in his head, the more plausible it seemed. Where exactly did Charles go all week? Did he rent rooms all over the city? It would make sense that Charles was always buying clothes, and always looked so well put together. Erik had never stayed in all night on a Saturday when Charles had been around, so there was no way he could be sure Charles didn't invite people back to the flat.

The idea was crazy, but it gripped Erik and wouldn't let go. He tried to shake the image of Charles meeting Shaw from him mind. Had it been in a bar? Did Shaw find Charles through another client? And did Raven know? Surely she wasn't happy about this? No, she couldn't know. Erik shivered as his imaginary Charles left with Shaw, a fake smile on his face.

By the time Erik reached home he felt frantic. He burst through the door calling Charles' name, but the place was empty. Erik felt his heart sink, it was too late, and Charles was already out. But whilst everything else was quiet, the computer was blinking, as if it was still on standby. Erik knocked the mouse, and the machine started whirring back into life. The screen quickly turned from black to colour, and a message appeared. Windowshasrecoveredfromanunexpectedshutdown.Restoretoyourlastsession?Erik clicked yes, and the screen returned to it's last opened internet page. It was an email account, and one email had been opened already.

Can I make an appointment with you soon? Hank.

"What the hell?" Erik asked. Was Charles conducting his business through email? Was this the modern way to solicit clients? And who was Hank? A regular?

Erik closed the page down. He had no desire to go reading anything else. He felt angry. Why did Hank have Charles' email, and he didn't? He was willing to bet Hank had Charles' phone number too, and he was really starting to hate Hank. Marching into Charles' room, he stared at the unmade bed, and wondered how many people had been in there. Not that they had ever made any rules on bringing 'guests' home, so Erik could hardly complain, but he was starting to make a list. Then he paused, as he checked himself. He hardly had any right to be annoyed. Charles was a grown man. He had the right to make money however he chose, and apparently according to his wallet, he was pretty darn good at it.

But what stung was that Shaw had been allowed to touch Charles, where as Charles had spurned Erik's advances. Had he lost out to Charles because of Shaw? Was that the person Charles had been 'involved' with all those months back? The one with the powerful friends not scared to bury a man? Had Charles just been trying to protect him then? Maybe there was a chance for the two of them? Maybe… maybe a lot of things. But on thing was for certain, Erik was going to lose Charles to Shaw again if he didn't get a move on.

The whole time that Erik showered, his mind kept drifting to places he knew it was wrong to be. He shocked himself with his own readiness to find paying Charles for all that he had wanted for so long, appealing. He half wondered in his shower induced madness, whether if Charles was to walk through the door now, he would be able to stop himself from asking: "How much? Name your price and I'll pay it." But it was just a fleeting fantastical thought. As soon as the hot water turned off, and the room chilled him, he knew that wasn't what he wanted from Charles. Erik was beginning to wonder whether this obsession was turning into something much more. There had to be something wrong with him. He had to stop before he turned into Shaw.

It was almost eleven by the time Charles and Raven arrived at Hellfire, as expected the line to get in was stretching around the block. Those who waited were looking over each other's shoulders excitedly, still optimistic that they would manage to make it through the doors. Charles could already tell that tonight was going to be a good one, the buzz in the air was full of people determined to enjoy themselves. He could hear music already, and as he and Raven approached the entrance, he tried not to notice that he was getting envious looks from those still queuing.

Charles could hear the heavy bass every time the doors opened, and as he stood and waited for the doorman to find his name on the list, he could hear Snoop Dogg wanting to make everyone Sweatinside the club. He could tell that Raven wanted to dance, since her head was already moving to the beat. After a few seconds that seemed like a lifetime, the doorman beckoned them in, and they were given plastic VIP cards on red glitter covered lanyards. Charles saw that his name was printed upon his, whereas Raven's simply said 'plus one.'

"Oh!" Raven exclaimed as they walked inside. "Woah, we're in a steel works!"

Raven's explanation for the décor seemed more fitting than anything Charles could think up. The main club area was covered in warped metal, which looked as if it had been wrenched down from the ceiling, and melted down the walls. The DJ was suspended above the crowd in a strange cage like structure, which looked as if it too had gotten too near to the fire. He was the reigning God over the dancers, on his head, a miner's hat; it's light flashing on and off. He was only stopped from falling to his death by the safety harness wrapped tightly around him. Charles supposed the theme they were going for was 'industrial dirt'. It was insanely clever, it made him completely forget that there was a world outside of this cavern of flashing lights and heavy sound.

"Come on, let's dance," Raven suggested, dragging Charles into the mass of people.

It was after a few shots of sambuca, and a Corona, that Charles realised he was dancing with people he didn't know, singing "I ride this mother****ing beat like a tractor." He'd lost sight of Raven, and didn't know for how long he had been dancing on his own. He was sure he had drunk too much when he appeared to be hallucinating, as he had just spotted someone unexpected. A few sluggish blinks into the blinding lights told him that the apparition was real. Erik was staring down at the crowd from an upper level of the club, leaning over the warped railing, unmoving like a statue. Charles wondered how long he had been there, and whether he had come tonight because Charles had suggested it?

Pushing himself out of the crowd, Charles searched for a way upstairs. Suddenly the club seemed like a maze, and he'd been drinking too much to make sense of it. But suddenly someone was demanding to see his pass, and Charles couldn't co-ordinate himself quickly enough for the man's liking. The man grabbed the pass from around his neck and inspected it, before shoving it back at him.

"Carry on sir."

Charles didn't know where he was likely to end up once he walked up these stairs, but now that he'd annoyed the bouncer, he didn't feel he could back out and go another way. There was no one else around, and when he finally reached the top, he quickly realised that this wasn't where he wanted to be at all. The walls slowly turned from steel to red, and the floor into soft carpet. It looked like a retro style gentlemen's club, and just as predicted, girls were dancing around poles at the far left of the room.

"I wouldn't have thought this was your kind of thing," someone said from behind him.

Charles felt a shiver run up his spine. He knew that voice. It was one that he'd hoped he wouldn't be hearing again… ever. Shaw had his hands on him before he knew what was happening, and he was being guided through a door, and into the backrooms of the club.

"How are you Charles?" Shaw asked. They emerged back into the main club; long enough for Charles to see he was now on the balcony he'd seen Erik standing on.

"I'd be better, if you told me where you're taking me," Charles replied. He tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice, but he owed Shaw, and he wasn't expecting to get out this lightly.

"Always the joker Charles," Shaw said, his voice was playful, but Charles knew how quickly he could turn. It was best to keep smiling, and pretend that seeing Shaw again was exactly what he had been hoping would happen tonight. "I just thought we could spend some time together, away from all the noise."

"I like the noise," Charles replied. He would never say anything, but he was sure there was more noise in his head than there was in anyone else's right now. It was deafening, a sign that he was frightened and losing control.

"I know, but just be nice to me tonight Charles, please," Shaw said. He might have spoken with a smile, but he squeezed Charles' arm so tight that it was painful.

Charles looked into his face. There was no mercy behind those eyes. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this mess. He didn't even know where he was, the club was like a labyrinth, and he couldn't understand how Shaw knew where he was going. Why was Shaw even here? Of all the places in London, why here?

Shaw led him into another room, which appeared to be a restaurant. It was pretty empty at this time; only a few people remained eating chips to soak up the drinks of the night.

"Why don't you take a seat? We'll can talk, you like to talk, don't you Charles," Shaw instructed.

Charles chose a seat where he could keep an eye on the door. He wanted to text Raven, the old SOS text of help. But the last thing he wanted to do was drag Raven into this mess, even if she might have been able to burst in here, cause scene and get them home. But then his mind went completely blank, and his blood cold, because had just Erik walked in, and Shaw had shook his hand.

Songsreferenced (in case you are interested) Snoop Dogg "Sweat", Wretch 32 "Traktor". Because those songs are brilliant to dance to.