I did not think I was going to get inside from the front entrance. The club Jenna worked at as a server was one of those fruity-tooty, no sign outside, joints you had to know was there to notice it. I'm pretty sure Jones had gotten her the job too, one of those gigs where you had to wear a full face of makeup and sky high heels to butter up the patrons. I however, looked and smelled like I hadn't bathed in days and had a crazy look in my eye from the even crazier night I had been having.
But the bouncer's face lit up when I flashed a large dollar bill in front of his face and the door sprang open before me. For a second I felt like a big shot, I guess money will do that to you when you aren't used to having it.
Inside, I felt like I had stepped inside the decadent fever dream of a club kid. The walls vibrated from the sheer volume of the music, dancers in glass shaped pillars shook their asses to the beat as pulsating neon lights roamed across the intoxicated crowd. Tones of blue and red were thrown into the air. Lines crossing, people in the crowd with their hands in the air and slumped over in the corner. All things were shiny and new. Heaven and hell.
I crept through the apathetic crowd like the spectre of death and rot. They parted before me with looks of disgust at my out of place attire. Of course I was insanely jealous of them. How I wished I could be like them again. But was I really different now? Or had I been like this all along?
Turning my focus back to the task at hand, I made a beeline towards the bar where I could see Jenna mixing a drink. She looked up and saw me first, then her eyes bugged out as she took in the state of my appearance.
"Whoa, Lucy, what are you doing here!? Is everything okay?" She shouted at me, handing the guy slouched over the bar his drink.
"Yeah, well, no! Can we talk somewhere quiet!?" I leaned towards her, shouting right back at the top of my lungs.
"Sure! Amy, I'll be right back!" Jenna turned to the second bartender standing a few feet away, then she motioned for me to follow her. I avoided eye contact with the other staff as I trailed after her, through two glass double doors and into the smaller, quieter, VIP section that was conveniently empty for the night. "What's up?" Jenna asked, plopping down on one of the couches. I remained standing.
"Jenna, something bad happened to your uncle." I took a deep breath.
"What do you mean? My uncle texted me a few minutes ago asking how work's going." Jenna frowned at me as she crossed her legs then pulled out her cellphone to check the messages.
"That's impossible, I went by his place an hour ago and he, well, someone shot his face off. Red was shot too, they're all dead. Whoever ordered their execution, Jones said something about one of his bosses, is after me, too. That's who sent those guys after me last night, and they came to your apartment looking for me not even an hour ago." I tried not to sound so cut and dry about the whole thing, but there was a sense of urgency. Jenna's face turned several shades lighter, and she gave this weird vacant stare before opening and closing her mouth several times.
"B-but, that can't be right." She stammered out then turned to look at me with wide open eyes. Her voice was distant, far away. Afraid.
"Who's he? Do you know who your uncle worked for?" I asked a little too intensely, grabbing Jenna by her shoulders.
"Lucy, you need to go to the cops. Or ask your mother for help. If it's true and you aren't fucking around with me, then we are screwed-" Jenna reacted just as crazed as me, placing her hands on either side of my face like we were saying our last goodbyes.
"Is everything okay in here?" One of the bouncers leaned into the room. When I turned to look at him from behind my long hair and hood he looked surprised. Then he gave me a wide grin of recognition like he knew who I was.
Then it hit me. Jones got Jenna her job here through his 'connections' in Gotham, said her pretty face would be put to waste in his dive bar. She had to rub shoulders with the big boys, in the glitz and glamour at the top of the criminal hierarchy that ran the city. Me coming here was the most foolish thing I could have done.
I am in the lion's den.
"Oh yeah, we're fine. My friend here needs to get going." Jenna jumped to her feet, dragging me up with her.
"I can show her out." The bouncer offered.
"No thanks, I know the way." I dismissed him quickly, but he moved to block my path through the door. I looked up with an irritated expression while his had turned to one of stone.
"I'm afraid that's not an option."
