Chapter 6

Pulling up to the curb, I hopped out of the limo. "Where are we?" I asked, forgetting that I probably wouldn't know where we were even if I was told.

"We are in the middle of London, where all the best clubs are. The one that I'm going to take you too only admits special people, so you are going to meet some of the best people in the county." Michael said, starting to walk down the street. I had to jog to catch up to him because he was walking so fast. Turning down a side street, we stopped at a door in the side of a building.

"Password." the bouncer said as we walked up to him.

"Jester." Michael told the very big, very tough looking man. The bouncer opened the door for him, but tried to stop Tristan. I guess he was assuming I was with Michael. "He's with us, you can let him in." The bouncer glared at Tristan, then shrugged letting him pass.

"So, what was with that password?" Tristan asked.

"In the old days, there would be a jester in every royal court to entertain the royal family and any nobility that came to court. The jester was full of jokes and pranks and stories to make people laugh. He is the symbol have having a good time, like this club. It is a place of fun." Michael replied.

Five steps in from the door, we were presented with the option of walking up a set of stairs, or down a set of stairs. It sounded like music was coming from both up and down, but the downstairs was much louder. "Which way do we go?" I asked confused.

"Either way really." Michael said. "The club owns the whole building. Going down will take you to the dancing room. Basically, there is either a DJ or a live band playing, and you dance and have fun. Upstairs is the lounge. Come on, I'll show you!"

Walking up the steps, we came to a large room. Against the left wall, there were about twenty computers where young adults were talking to friends on-line. Against the right wall were about twenty gaming systems such as play station, play station two, Nintendo 64, and X-box, where more young adults were playing games. On the back wall was a video screen with a projector. There was just enough room behind the screen for a person to squeeze behind it without bumping into the screen and moving it. Michael walked over and being the screen, motioning for us to follow. It turned out that there was another room back there, but this one was much smaller. The lights were all black lights, making my purple shirt and my sneakers glow. On all of the walls, there were windows where people could look down on the dancers in the dancing room, or just listen to the music. It was not as loud because the glass muffled the noise, but you could still hear with no problems. From what I could see, the dancing room had a raised stage where there was a band, or where a DJ could set up his stuff. On another wall was a bar with stools, where one could get a soda and/or food. On either side of the door in the corners of the room, there were several couches set up so that people could take a break from dancing, chat with friends, or enjoy their refreshments.

"This is quite a place!" I said in awe.

"I agree. Who are all these people?" Tristan asked.

"Most of them are the sons and daughters of lords and ladies, dukes and duchesses, counts and countesses, earls, chancellors, you get the gist. Others or just rich,

with no nobility in their blood, but somewhere through their family history, one of their ancestors came into some money; normally fairly recently." Michael replied.

"How old are most of these people?" I asked. "None of them are really old, but none are terribly young either."

"In order to be allowed in, you have to be at least sixteen; old enough to be responsible for what happens while you are here. The oldest you can be is twenty-four. By that point, most are graduated from college, so they can find a more mature club to go to."

"Michael, is that you?" a boy said from the entrance.

"West?" Michael asked, shielding his eyes from the bright lights behind the boy.

"Yeah! What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be on a date tonight." West said, walking over to us.

"Yeah, well, my cousin flew in so I had to go have dinner with my family instead."

"Pity, you have a hot girl man. Is one of them your cousin?" he asked, indicating Tristan and myself.

"West, I'd like you to meet my cousin Kitiara, or Kit as she prefers, and her friend Tristan. Kit, Tristan, this is my best friend Weston, but he normally goes by West." Michael said, giving us all introductions.

"Well, it is my pleasure to meet you lady Kit! And your friend, Tristan?" West said, taking my hand and kissing it, then shaking Tristan's.

"Pleased to meet you, West." I said, blushing at his action. From what I could tell in the black lights, West was about six feet tall, had sandy brown hair that fell to his shoulders like Sean in Boy Meets World, one of my favorite TV shows back home.

"How do you do." Tristan said.

"Oh, there's Lily! I'll catch you guys later. I'm going to dance with my girlfriend if you need me." Michael said, rushing down to the dance room.

"Well, I guess I'll go get something real to eat." Tristan said.

"Yeah, sure." I told him confused. He never leaves me alone, so I though he might have another reason for leaving than just food.

"Is he always that stiff?" West asked from beside me. Startled because I had forgotten he was there temporarily, I nodded. "So, where are you from?"

"Washing…America." I told him, leaning against the window sill. "I'm visiting for the summer."

"I have family in the states. Where about?"

"Washington D.C. It's pretty nice there if you like lots of rain and a little snow."

"Sounds like here." West said laughing. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Um, thanks, I'd love one."

"What do you want? Is coke alright with you?" I nodded my head, smiling at his generosity and kindness.

Turning around, I looked out the window and watched all the people dancing. There were of course other people in the room that I was in, but most were out in either the lounge or the dance room. Looking at the bar, I spotted Tristan talking to a pretty red head. Just as I thought, a pretty girl to keep you occupied. Roaming the dance floor, I spotted West making his way over to the bar, occasionally stopping to say hi to some

friends. Over at the couches, I spotted Michael and whom I'm assuming was Lily sitting down with drinks in their hands.

All of a sudden, the room started spinning, but all I could see were flashes of color coming from all directions, forming into a picture. As the picture focused, I saw that it was a room with lots of dust and boxes. The picture moved to a set of spirals steps leading down. At the bottom of the steps was a small door, and beyond the door was a room, but the room was too dark to see anything clearly other than black shapes. Then everything started to spin again, and all the colors seemed to be dispersing back to wherever they had come from. I was suddenly aware that someone was shaking my shoulders and calling my name.

"Kit, are you alright? Kit, can you hear me? Kit!" The voice sounded familiar. It was West! Moaning, I tried to sit up. Opening my eyes, the room started to spin, and my head started to pound, so I quickly closed my eyes and put my hand to my head.

"What happened?" I asked feebly. Then I noticed that I wasn't standing anymore. "Why am I on the floor?"

"Hey, someone get Michael Ellington!" West called out to some of the people in the room.

"I thought you were getting drinks, I saw you at the bar; how did you get up here so fast?" I asked, opening my eyes again. The room stayed where it was thank goodness, but I still had a terrible headache.

"I've been trying to wake you up for about two minutes now." West said, looking worried. "Are you okay? What happened to you?" he asked.

"I believe I asked you that one already." I said, trying to laugh a little, but it ended up making my head hurt worse.

"What's up West? Why does my cousin look like she got hit over the head?" Michael asked, rushing over to my side.

"I'm fine, just a headache." I said, trying to get up, but both boys pushed me back on the floor.

"I think she passed out Mike. I went down to get us some cokes, and when I came back up, someone was saying that some girl collapsed onto the floor in the black room (what the room with the black lights and dance floor overlook is called.). Walking in, I saw that it was Kit." West explained.

"I think we better go home. Kit, you can meet people tomorrow. I think you are just exhausted from your long flight." Michael said.

"And the fact that she was almost run over today by a car at the airport." Tristan said, walking into the room. "What happened?" he asked, noticing that I was not standing, then also came rushing to my side.

"I told you, I'm fine!" I said, again trying to get up, but had three sets of hands pushing me down this time.

"You should stay here and rest. I'll go get the car." Michael said. Walking over to the entrance, he whispered something to West, and then disappeared out of sight.

"I knew this would be a bad idea. Why don't you listen to me?" Tristan fussed, ignoring Michael and West.

"Hmm, did you say something?" I asked.

"Kit, I'm not kidding! You could have gotten a concussion or something!"

"Tristan, you're not my baby sitter! I'm fine! Must I keep repeating myself?" I protested, once again trying to get up, got pushed down, then pushed Tristan aside and stood. Once up, I wobbled a bit, but West caught and steadied me while Tristan got up.

"Let's head down to the street." West suggested. Once we made it down, we saw that Michael had been able to find the limo, and was waiting outside for us. With the three young men surrounding me like they were, you would have thought that they expected me to keel over any moment again, and all were ready to catch me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you though. I appreciate it." I said smiling from inside the limo.

"Hey, why don't you ride with us? I can drop you off at your place after we get Kit home." Michael suggested.

"That'd be great. Let me run back inside and get my jacket." West said. A minute later, he came back out wearing a brown leather jacket over his black T-shirt and jeans. Wow, he looks like Danny Russo from Grease, just without the greased hair and leather pants!

Once back to Nana, Grams, and Aunt Sophia's house, we all got out of the limo and walked up to the front door. "Michael, I didn't see a room for you in the house. Where are you going to sleep?" I asked.

"Oh, I have a flat down town. I just eat and do my laundry here." Michael said laughing. "Now you're sure your okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for taking us out. I promise, it won't happen again." I said smiling. "West, it was a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm sure that we will be seeing each other more often, if you don't have a problem with that." West said smiling as well.

"I would, though you might have to find a nice red head for Tristan to hang out with." At the mention of a red head, Tristan's face went bright red. He mumbled a quick good night, and then ducked into the house. Michael, West and I shared a good laugh at that.

"I'll see you tomorrow, now go get some rest!" Michael ordered.

"Yes sir!" I teased. "Good night."

"Good night." they both said at the same time.

Walking up to my room, I went to my dresser without turning on the lights, put on my night clothes, then turned to hop into my bed, then froze. I recognized those shapes!