Chapter 3
Since Chloe had managed to wreck her truck and the car, it was lucky the place was in walking distance. Chloe had been amazed to learn that The Hive was just off the main suburban area and pretty much right in plain sight. The area that used to house the park had become so overgrown that the tarps and cage were naturally concealed from everyone's eyes. Yet another notch on the scale of impressiveness to the whole thing, right up there along with the fact that the shower she'd taken had actually been hot. And with adjustable temperature. She'd been bracing for the only temperature to be one so cold it seized her up on the spot and had everyone else wrapping her in tinfoil to stave off hypothermia. Yet again she was reminded just how lucky she'd gotten to end up there instead of rough sleeping in her truck. Even if the trade off for that meant her main method of transport needed repairs. She'd fix it once. She'd fix it again. That Buick on the other hand... That was another challenge entirely.
As Ana led the way, she stopped on a corner and handed Chloe a duffel bag she was carrying. Chloe had accepted it and shrugged it onto her back, guessing there was some ulterior motive to giving it to her. She was right. When Ana started walking again and rounded the corner, she instantly saw where they were going. There was what could only be described as the most high-end night club that Chloe had ever tried to gain access to right in front of them. The neon 'Heaven's Night' sign blazing in the night sky above them, Ana led the way up the steps to the front and past the queue, making sure Chloe was with her all the way. The crowd started protesting, but Ana totally ignored them. Something about that gave Chloe the confidence she needed to keep moving as well and not rise to the insults or shouts that were thrown her way. And before she knew it, she was through and right at the double doors to the entrance. That was when the bouncer held up a hand to stop her.
"Sorry, Miss. I'm gonna need to see some ID."
"Ana Nagakawa." Ana said, stepping in front of Chloe to put herself between them. "This is Chloe and she's my assistant. I've put my back out so she's carrying stuff for me."
"Maybe, but I still need to see an ID." The bouncer held his hand out expectantly and Chloe fished her ID card out. She hadn't brought her fake with her, so she only had her real one. And she knew what the answer was going to be. "Sorry. Can't let you in at seventeen."
"But she's carrying my stuff!" Ana protested. "She's working for me right now and she's not going near alcohol while she's working! She's completely housebroken and everything!" Chloe fought to suppress a laugh at that. Ana was really fighting to get her in and she didn't want to ruin it. Just then, a man with grey hair in a blazer- and wearing sunglasses even though it was the dead off night for some reason- appeared at the door. His skin looked almost oiled in the light of the night club. It was as though he thought that the greasier his skin was, the slicker he was as a person. An assumption that was only reinforced when he turned to the bouncer.
"Jimmy, my man." As he spoke, he reached into his top pocket and pulled out a lighter before pulling a Cuban cigar from his side pocket. "You're not giving our performers trouble, are you?"
"She's brought a plus one, Vic." The bouncer gestured to Chloe and 'Vic' removed his sunglasses before looking her over appraisingly. Then Jimmy showed off the ID he was still holding.
"Ana, what's the meaning of this?" Vic asked. His tone was friendly, but Chloe had heard it from his type of slime ball too many times and knew exactly how deceptive it was. Undeterred, Ana gestured for him to offer a hand. He did so and she placed it in the centre of her back. Chloe watched the scene play out in front of her and felt her hand drift towards her back pocket where the knife was stashed. She doubted she could win if it came to it, but if this bastard tried to do anything other than what she allowed, she'd make him pay.
"Feel that?" Anna asked gently, her voice carrying the same soothing note that Chloe had heard Ana use on her. "That's supporting my back where I injured it earlier today. I just got out of the ER. I would have called ahead on this but it was a very last-minute thing. She won't go near the alcohol. I can promise you that. She's just here to carry my bag for me."
"Ana, you've been performing here for about five years now." Vic said, taking his hand away and stepping back to a respectable distance. "I don't appreciate you not calling ahead, but your reason is understandable and you've earned a good deal of my trust. But I don't know her. If I don't know someone, I don't trust them. She can come in because I trust you and you trust her. That's as far as it goes. If she betrays my trust in you, it's on your shoulders. Okay?"
"It's always been on me, Vic." Ana replied. "I wouldn't have it any other way. She'll make me proud. And you."
"Well, I'm taking your word on that." Vic said, putting his sunglasses back on and turning to Chloe. Did he think it made him look intimidating or something? "And as for you, young lady, Stick close to Ana, do as she says and keep it civil in there. We're a respectable establishment. I'll let the bar know you're here and they'll set some stuff aside for you. I think we have some Kool Aid or orange soda or something. Or we can just get you some water. It'll be from the tap but it's better than nothing. But you abuse my trust on this even once, getting thrown out will be the least of your worries. Am I clear?"
"Crystal." Chloe nodded as she hefted the duffel bag to make a point of her own. Vic clearly got the message and turned to the bouncer.
"Jimmy, let them in. She needs to get set up." Jimmy nodded and stood aside, opening the doors for them. Ana moved through and made sure Chloe was with her as she did. She needn't have worried. After seeing the person running the joint, she was sticking as close to Ana as possible.
"That didn't happen in the crash, did it?" she asked as she fell into step with her.
"Nope." Ana said, not offering any more information.
The two of them walked on, heading towards what looked like some sort of staging area by the dice tables. There was a full dance floor setup off to the left and a DJ in tacky golden headphones going to town on the most basic deck Chloe had ever seen. And there weren't even any turntables on it. Looking at the dice tables, Chloe could see they were pretty packed out. But something had caught her eye there. There was one guy looking quite nervous and fervently rubbing the back of his neck. He was black and wearing a purple basketball vest with a hoodie tied around his waist. She decided to keep an eye on him. If she got chance to speak to someone on security and he was still there, she'd have a word. But the lack of knowledge about what they were there for was unnerving her, especially since they were heading in the rough direction of the dance floor and the staging area.
"Please tell me you're not gonna dance on that stage or anything." Chloe muttered to her as they neared it.
"A lot of the guys here have asked." Ana told her. "If I actually did it, they'd have nightmares for the rest of their lives. Trust me on that one."
"Really?" Chloe wondered aloud, giving her the side-eye. "But you've got a really amazing figure! And you're really young too. I mean the bouncer didn't challenge you, so I'm guessing you're old enough that something like that isn't creepy. What the hell would give them nightmares?" Ana only sighed at that.
"If you must know, I'm twenty-three." That shocked Chloe. When they'd first met, she'd assumed Ana was younger than her. The maturity she carried herself with made her second-guess that. Then she hadn't needed an ID to get in. But there was no way Chloe would have guessed twenty-three.
"Damn." For a second she wasn't sure what to say. "I mean... You're looking great for it?" That got a splutter of laughter from the other girl. By that point they'd reached the stage. Ana led Chloe back behind the scenes and to a bank of dressing tables.
"You can set that down by the chair." She sat down and hooked her hands behind her hair, shaking it out to make it look more layered. Chloe set the bag down and opened it out to start passing stuff to Ana. The only in there was a single two litre bottle of water.
"What the fuck?" she hissed angrily, holding it up. "You could have literally carried this in with you!"
"Yeah, but then you wouldn't have looked important and you'd never have got in." Ana shrugged. "I even put some scrap metal in the side pocket to make it rattle a bit more." Once again, Chloe found herself impressed by this woman's cleverness. And her natural beauty. Just shaking her hair out like that was all she seemed to need. It made her more than a little jealous to say the least. And somehow, it made her look even younger. Looking at her now, Chloe would have thought she was some sort of avenging angel crammed in the body of a fourteen-year-old. Only her height gave her away.
"Okay, so what do I do?" Chloe asked, standing up again and looking around for something to keep her occupied.
"Whatever you like." Ana shrugged. "I usually go on in about twenty minutes. This area is essentially your safe zone. The worst thing you have to worry about is bitchiness from the pole dancers. Out there, you have to be careful of pretty much everyone."
"Oh, I get that." Chloe nodded. And it was true. In Arcadia Bay, you had to be careful. With fewer people around, that meant more opportunity for assholes to get creative with what they tried on the off chance they spotted someone who looked vulnerable. And if someone fell for one of their schemes, it left them at their mercy. But the more she thought about that, the more she realised that it didn't have to be that way. If anything, there was no reason why someone else couldn't be at her mercy tonight. She'd been through a lot in the last forty-eight hours and she decided she really wanted a chance to get even with the world. "Actually, I saw something that caught my eye. I'm gonna check it out."
"Just stay out of trouble." Ana cautioned her. "You cost me this job, it'll cost you your life. And I have some diabolical ways to make you beg for death beforehand. Believe that."
"I do." Chloe nodded. With that, she left the stage; making her way out from the back and heading for the dice tables. But just as she was halfway there, she got heavily bumped into from the side. She recovered quickly and raised her voice to be heard above the pounding music. "Watch it, asshole! I'm way too sober for- Oh, hey there, Vic."
"Hello, young Chloe." Vic said in his way-too-friendly tone that told Chloe she needed to pick her words carefully. "I hope you weren't thinking of trying to gamble now, were you?"
"I'm gambling you've got a cheater in the house." Chloe told him, pointing to the man she'd spotted before. "Want to grab a security guy and I'll help you bust him?"
"You'd better be right about this." Vic said, pulling a radio from his belt loop. "That's a very serious charge you've just made." Chloe knew he was glaring at her through his sunglasses as he clicked the button on the handset. "Security to the dice tables. Potential cheater spotted. Track towards me and get ready to make a move." That done, his focus lasered in on Chloe again. "Lead on, girlie." Chloe let the belittling remark slide as she led him to the dice tables and took position on a corner next to the guy she'd clocked. He was still there and still rubbing his neck at frequent intervals.
"Sorry, Miss. This table is already full." The man who was overseeing the game was giving her a similar appraising look to the one Vic had when he'd first seen her.
"No worries." Chloe called to him. "I'm just observing. I love watching these things." As she said that, she turned to the guy she was after. He'd just rubbed his neck and was rolling the dice again. "And this guy seems to be on a real winning streak!" Sure enough, the dice landed on a number he needed. He'd bet small this time, just going for a five dollar chip on the high llama. That meant he needed any number above six. Nothing too complicated. He rolled a ten and collected his money.
"Thanks." He turned to her and flashed a ten-kilowatt grin. "Just my lucky night, I guess."
"I guess." Chloe nodded. "I used to play a lot back in Oregon. I know a few things." With that, she let her gaze wander to the person on her left. She deliberately let her eyes linger on his chips for a few second before tapping him on the shoulder. "Can I see that top one?" she asked, noting that security had just arrived. "That five-hundred one?" The man looked uncertain, but he handed it over anyway. After all, it technically wasn't real money until he had to cash in at the end. Chloe held it up and inspected it, running her finger around the edge of it.
"What you got there, Chloe?" Vic asked, almost impatiently.
"Do you know the best way to tell when a chip isn't perfectly round?" she asked in equal parts to him and the guy on a 'lucky' streak. Both of them shook their head. "Funny story..." She waited until the man's attention started to inch back to the dice. "The best way is to roll it on your neck!" Before the man had even realised what was going on, she'd slapped the chip against his neck with the resounding crack of plastic. He yelped and staggered back as the security guy tensed, not sure who he should be throwing out yet.
"Ow, bitch! What the fuck?" But his anger turned to horror when he realised what she'd done. The chip was now stuck there and everyone gasped in horror as Vic's face turned from caution to fury.
"He's got a blob of clear resin on the back of his neck." Chloe explained as the security guy grabbed him and pulled his arms behind his back. He tried to struggle but the man was built like a gorilla. He was going precisely nowhere until Vic or the security guy said otherwise. "He's been weighting the dice to land as he wants them, but he bets small on the wide bands because he's not subtle or good at it. Then if he loses, he hasn't lost much. He can't even cheat properly."
"You bitch!" the man spat furiously as he tugged against the security guy and almost popped his shoulders out of his joints. He let out a pained yelp and staggered back while the security guard didn't budge an inch. Vic was quick to interject and calmly turned to the guard.
"Ben, I think this young man and I need a word in my office. See him delivered safely, will you?" The guard nodded and lifted the man off the ground by his arms. They were still in the reverse locked position and it looked agonising as he was effortlessly picked up and carted off in the direction of the stairs. Chloe guessed that was where the offices were and decided she'd be in no hurry to ever go up there. In the meantime, she noticed Vic had started counting the chips that were in the man's space. The counting done, he turned to Chloe. "You know, young lady, someone could really flush their lives away with money like this. There's enough to buy drugs, enough alcohol to keep someone mellow for a year... This guy had racked up nearly fifteen hundred. Now if I were to give you even a share of this as my thanks, what would you do with it? Honestly?" Chloe didn't even have to think.
"Give it to Ana." The response was instant. "When I arrived here in Seattle, I got in an accident and put her car off the road. I owe her. For that money, she could junk the one she's driving and get herself something better."
"So you pay your dues." A proud smile crossed Vic's face. "I'm liking you more and more. Tell me: what's she driving right now? What car did you wreck?"
"A 1989 Buick LeSabre." Chloe told him. Vic's eyebrows shot to his hairline in alarm.
"Well that was automatically ruined when she got it." As he muttered it, Chloe fought the urge to burst out laughing. "You get back to that girl and you tell her I want to see her as soon as her performance- Oh, no time! Looks like she's starting." Chloe looked up to see Ana making her way out onto the stage as everyone started applauding her. The regulars clearly knew who she was and were excited.
"It seems she has a fanbase." Chloe joked looking up at Vic. But his face had taken on a much more stoic yet earnest expression.
"You just relax and listen. That girl's voice has the power to soothe the fiercest rage. Just sit back and lose yourself. You've earned it." What did he mean? Chloe knew Ana had a powerful voice; and a very relaxing one when she used it right. But Vic would probably have heard it many times over the five years Ana had been working here. Whatever he knew that she didn't, Chloe was clearly about to find out.
Ana started singing. There were no lyrics yet, but the sound she was able to produce was euphoria given physical form. It seemed to drip down everyone like honey and several of them had to sit down. One of them even took a knee so that he could just sit and listen, although he looked ready to pop the question the instant she finished. And then the lyrics started.
"I'm falling
Down into my shadow,
Grasping onto every breath
As I await the deadly night.
So scary,
But you can't give in to this
Fear of pumpkin carriages,
'Cause all the witches see it in your eyes.
See you in your dreams, yeah...
Baby...
Your nightmares too.
That's where I'll find you..."
Chloe was struggling to stay on her feet. She had to grip the edge of the dice table and lean against it to stay upright. She tried to look casual but she knew it was a losing battle. Vic had been right. Ana's voice had the power to instantly quell her rage. And her rage had been pretty fierce. In that one instant, she wasn't angry at Max for leaving her and saying nothing. She wasn't angry at Joyce for bringing David home and she wasn't even angry at David for being such a tool twenty-four-seven. It all melted away in an instant.
For the first time since coming to Seattle, she thought to check her phone. She pulled it out and saw that she had over twenty missed calls and eighty texts from Joyce. She didn't bother scrolling through. The ones she could see as soon as she loaded her messages up were alternate threats, bribes and pleas for her to return home or at very least let her know she was safe. She closed the messages down and booted up the Voice Recorder app. She had to capture this or there was no way Joyce would believe her. By this point, the song was wrapping up.
"There are times when no one believes
In me and
There are times when I feel like
I'm degrading.
But even in those times,
Your words always echoed
Within my heart!
This is my promise!
Fairy Blue, it is only for you,
That I would smash the stars
And use them as a sign
To guide you home.
And any time that you're lost or afraid,
Or you can't see your dreams,
I want you to look up.
Fairy Blue, kimi ga kureta
Ikiru akashi,
Kizuna to iu "shinrai".
Kimi wa hitori Janai,
When you're lost, here I am...
Forever with your soul.
Tadoritsukeru kimi ga,
Shinjiru nara..."
Ana's voice had been incredibly soft throughout the whole thing, yet her voice had sent shockwaves throughout the entire building. There had been no instruments with it. There hadn't needed to be. Chloe stopped the recording just as the applause hit the air and loaded her texts back up. Attaching the file to the message, she typed out two words and instantly hit Send before she could second-guess herself.
'I'm safe.'
Author's Note: Well, that wraps up the third chapter. For anyone wondering (and for full disclosure) the song Ana was singing there was Paper Moon from Soul Eater Season 2. Soul Eater for me was one of those Anime shows that I desperately wanted to like but just found dragged too much after the first three episodes. Which makes it doubly annoying that the music is so good. I'll get through it eventually. I kind of have to since I own the entire Season 1 box set. Although I can't even remember where I got to on it. If you haven't at least looked up the music for it though, I recommend the song Paper Moon. Easily the best one in the soundtrack.
With that being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday for the next one.
