Status: Part I and II- Complete!
All That I've Got
chapter 14- Always Keep Your Guard Up
The plan was to take place in a nightclub. It was a scoping ground of Jury members, and Frank had a sneaking suspicion the reason the activity here hadn’t been detected was because of the chaos the club exuded.
Natalie flashed her ID at the bouncer and was inside in less than a second. Frank, however, had a harder time, seeing as he looked like a large 7 year old. After some persuading, Natalie managed to get him through the doors, though.
The second they stepped across the threshold, the muffled pounding of house music that they’d heard outdoors became a living and consuming beast. It was as if Frank had had his vision clouded his entire life, and now was seeing the sterling night sky for the first time. Frank wondered why he’d never been into a club before.
The air vibrated with the shimmering beat of a thousand hearts, all in time to the music. Frank could breathe in the mixing emotions of desperation, triumph, life, elation and mindlessness in the nightclub.
The two combined made for the oddest sensation of having stepped into a different world. A place where it was okay to leave your bodies and strip down to the skeleton of what you really are.
When they reached the end of the entrance hallway, they came to a balcony and two sets of descending stairs.
Below them Frank could see the heart of the beast: a whirling tide of bodies, moving together as if linked to each other by fate’s puppeteer-strings. They were the blood and bone and nerves of the beast, and Frank wanted in.
Natalie pulled him from his dance-lust for a moment with a look, then she motioned to her pocket. Frank understood. Before they’d left she’d given Frank her phone and had borrowed Alex’s so they could stay in touch.
Frank gave her the thumbs up, then watched as she dissolved into the beast’s body, slinky dress engulfed by all the others.
It was his turn now, and Frank didn’t know what to think about the excitement that rose up into his throat. He merged with the stream going down the stairs, and found himself on the dance floor. Or at least where the dance floor would be, if it wasn’t painted with feet and legs and hypnotic strobes.
Frank knew what he was supposed to do then, he’d seen the picture of the man he was looking for, and he knew how important this was. But none of that could reason with this beast. Frank was out of his league, out of his territory, and the heartbeat of this place filled his head with nothing else.
He let himself be washed between people, finding the only way to move was to stop fighting the riptides. He bounced between leather-clad men and devilish women, finding himself dancing back to them more than once.
There was something completely captivating about knowing he was seeing the souls of these people- that they’d left their shields at the door, and were sharing this madness with him.
The music peaked into chaos and the notes shook themselves out in Frank’s veins. He let himself bask in it, moving and dancing and thoughtless- until the main strobes picked up. In the lightening flashes Frank suddenly began to pick out the little pills flowing around him.
When one of them ended up in his hand, curtsey of the sequin-skin woman to his left, Frank knew he had to wake up and start fighting again. He had something he needed to do, and no white pill would help him achieve it.
The lights went black, music swelling again into a new song, and Frank dropped the pill at his feet, and stepping on it on his way to the edge of the mass.
He felt the shape of it etched into the sole of his shoe for the next few minutes. But then he finally regained his sanity and wiped away any thoughts of going back into the beast’s heart for that little escape.
Natalie flashed her ID at the bouncer and was inside in less than a second. Frank, however, had a harder time, seeing as he looked like a large 7 year old. After some persuading, Natalie managed to get him through the doors, though.
The second they stepped across the threshold, the muffled pounding of house music that they’d heard outdoors became a living and consuming beast. It was as if Frank had had his vision clouded his entire life, and now was seeing the sterling night sky for the first time. Frank wondered why he’d never been into a club before.
The air vibrated with the shimmering beat of a thousand hearts, all in time to the music. Frank could breathe in the mixing emotions of desperation, triumph, life, elation and mindlessness in the nightclub.
The two combined made for the oddest sensation of having stepped into a different world. A place where it was okay to leave your bodies and strip down to the skeleton of what you really are.
When they reached the end of the entrance hallway, they came to a balcony and two sets of descending stairs.
Below them Frank could see the heart of the beast: a whirling tide of bodies, moving together as if linked to each other by fate’s puppeteer-strings. They were the blood and bone and nerves of the beast, and Frank wanted in.
Natalie pulled him from his dance-lust for a moment with a look, then she motioned to her pocket. Frank understood. Before they’d left she’d given Frank her phone and had borrowed Alex’s so they could stay in touch.
Frank gave her the thumbs up, then watched as she dissolved into the beast’s body, slinky dress engulfed by all the others.
It was his turn now, and Frank didn’t know what to think about the excitement that rose up into his throat. He merged with the stream going down the stairs, and found himself on the dance floor. Or at least where the dance floor would be, if it wasn’t painted with feet and legs and hypnotic strobes.
Frank knew what he was supposed to do then, he’d seen the picture of the man he was looking for, and he knew how important this was. But none of that could reason with this beast. Frank was out of his league, out of his territory, and the heartbeat of this place filled his head with nothing else.
He let himself be washed between people, finding the only way to move was to stop fighting the riptides. He bounced between leather-clad men and devilish women, finding himself dancing back to them more than once.
There was something completely captivating about knowing he was seeing the souls of these people- that they’d left their shields at the door, and were sharing this madness with him.
The music peaked into chaos and the notes shook themselves out in Frank’s veins. He let himself bask in it, moving and dancing and thoughtless- until the main strobes picked up. In the lightening flashes Frank suddenly began to pick out the little pills flowing around him.
When one of them ended up in his hand, curtsey of the sequin-skin woman to his left, Frank knew he had to wake up and start fighting again. He had something he needed to do, and no white pill would help him achieve it.
The lights went black, music swelling again into a new song, and Frank dropped the pill at his feet, and stepping on it on his way to the edge of the mass.
He felt the shape of it etched into the sole of his shoe for the next few minutes. But then he finally regained his sanity and wiped away any thoughts of going back into the beast’s heart for that little escape.
♠ ♠ ♠
continued!