Hallow Inside

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~OoOooOoO~

Dexter found himself wondering how the hell Jeremy knew about this club, but figured that was a question for later. He’d never been in this part of town before and was glad that it had stopped raining. A thin fog hung in the air. Last Chance was located in a sleazy area on the other side of town from where Tomes of Eden lay. There were all sorts of questionable shops; his eye landed on a shop with a saucy neon witch, Quick Jinx Voodoo shop. And of course and array of pubs, inns, gypsy trailers, clubs and what looked to be an apartment complex that had been transformed into a brothel. It’s every window shown with eerie red light.

They finally got to a small building that looked like it was once a factory. Neo-trance and grunge music leaked through it’s peeling and rusted doors. Colored floodlights decorated the building in neon hue and Dexter could make out some crudely scrawled letters in spray paint on the side of the building,

Last Chance.



Jeremy was in front of him. They both wore hoodies so they wouldn’t draw too much attention. They were supposed to be spying after all. That and Dexter didn’t want to be caught dead in this part of town.



Out of nowhere a whore approached him. He immediately noticed her appalling makeup and horrible breath, which smelled of cheap alcohol. She swung herself onto him and squeezed his butt drunkenly. Her hot breath ghosting his ear,



“Hey cuuutie piiiie! Wanna have a go? I’m on sale for youuu hun. Fifty bucks ♥!” Her high voice was as grating as a jackhammer.



“Uh, no thanks--” He said pushing her away. Jeremy grabbed his arm and Dexter could tell he was trying to stifle a laugh as he pulled him away. He pouted, getting dry molested by some floozie wasn’t funny. He pulled his hood down to better conceal his face as they entered the club. The boy hadn’t been to a club, so the music was deafening. How could people listen to music this loudly? Several people bumped into him as they made their way to the rooms in the back and threw him surprised looks when he got annoyed and nudged them buck in a none-too-gentle manner.



The small-looking building looked a lot bigger inside. Scarcely-dressed dancers slithered against each other in cages, the smell of stale alcohol wafted through the air and dozens of lights danced and pulsed through the darkness. Some scary-looking people were seated in the back next to a couple who were sucking face. Their unearthly eyes and gaunt faces were looking right at him and nothing else. A chill ran through his bones and he pushed closer to Jeremy. The people were still looking when they reached the back rooms.



Jeremy made a move to hide behind a corner suddenly and Dexter barely had enough to time to spot Shiest and look away, hiding his face under his hood. For a moment, the boy thought Shiest might have seen him. But the other just bumped into him, looking in a hurry to get somewhere.



“Watch’ur step, kid.” He sneered and slipped into a room with dingy numbers tacked onto it .



414.



The boy wanted to pounce, but Jeremy held him back and pressed an ear against the door. With an irritated sigh, he looked around to make sure no one was looking at them spy and did the same.



Inside…



“—better be good, Marcus! I haven’t gotten any closer to what I want. And some brat photographer is on my case too now! What am I paying you for??!” Shiest’s voice yelled through the door.



“Whoa man, calm down.” Came another nervous voice, probably Marcus. “”I got sumin’ big for ya’s. Couldn’t believe it, got pictures an’ everithin’.”



“What is this?! Some photo shopped malarkey??” said Shiest.



“No boss. No funny business. I’s don’t even own a computer. It was a scratch type thing. But in the air! A whacha-ma-call-it, a rift on 3rd and Magnolias.”



A long pause, then the sound of something hitting a flat surface.



“Hmm, very nice indeed. There’s ur money, Marco. And don’t be a stranger should anything else come up.”



The two boys eavesdropping outside the door heard footsteps drawing nearer. They slinked behind a corner as the man exited the room and made his way out. They waited a solid twenty minutes before following.



~~~~

They reached the doors to outside and Dexter dared to take a last look to where the creepy-lookers were sitting. They weren’t there. He sighed in relief and turned towards Jeremy, but instead of Jeremy it was one of the women who had been staring at him! He jumped as she was right in his face and seemed to be examining him with her sunken, beady eyes. They were slimy-looking and lined in yellow. He was rooted to the spot and small tremors ran through his body as a cold sweat formed on his back. What the hell did she want??! His mind screamed, getting his answer most unpleasantly. She opened her mouth to reveal two rows of razor-sharp teeth as she lunged at him. A blood-chilling shriek tore into his head. Her rotting, cracked face was all he could comprehend when his back hit the door. He frantically groped for the doorknob and found himself tumbling to the hard concrete outside at Jeremy’s feet. The door to the club slammed shut with a noise that seemed louder than it should be. His heart felt ready to burst from his chest and he struggled for breath between gasps.

A hand touched his shoulder and he let out a straggled yell.

“Whoa! Dex-” It was Jeremy.



The boy gazed at him with frightened eyes, his pupils almost blotted out by the blue.



Jeremy pulled his limp form up “You’re trembling…what the fuck just happened?” worry showed in his features.



“Y-you didn’t ssee it??! Them!?” He gasped.



“No, I didn’t. You’ve been freaking out a lot lately. Tell me what’s going on right now, Dex.



“I don’t know, myself! I touched this book and shit started getting weird!” He shook Jeremy’s hand off his arm and started walking back to the apartment, “I’ll show you.”



~OoOooOoO~



Jeremy was leaning against the crème tiled kitchen island while the other fished the book from its hiding space in the couch. Jeremy stood up. “It’s from work.” Dexter confirmed.



“But why is it here?”



“I slipped it in my bag by accident earlier this evening. Touch it. The embossed wings.” He handed over the book. Jeremy opened it and flicked though the pages while confusion played across his face. He ran his finger over the emboss on the front. After a long moment, he replied,



“What am I looking for? It’s blank.”



“Nothing happened??” He sighed irritably and slumped in a chair.



“What happened?” He said for what felt like the twentieth time.



“When I touched it, I went somewhere else. But I was still in the library…I think. There was a boy there and he was looking at me like he knew me or something.” He stared at Jeremy to gauge his reaction, noticing that his eyes had clouded. He at least expected amusement, but the other boy looked all serious-like suddenly. He continued,



“Then tonight, these people in that club were staring at me too. But, it didn’t feel the same, it was creepy. They looked like they were dead already. And then when we left, one of them transformed and tried to kill me.” He shivered recalling the woman’s sharp teeth and shrill voice.



“She wasn’t human, Jeremy.” The other looked speechless, probably debating on whether he should call for the mental ward. But then he shook his head, looking as though he believed what he was saying. Perhaps he thought that Dexter couldn’t have made this up.



“I’m not sure what to think.” Jeremy said, finally. Oook, so maybe he was a bit skeptical. Better than flat out disbelief. “But after what we heard tonight from Shiest, something nutty is definitely going on with this town.”



“You’ve lived here longer, is this the first time something like this has happened? Everyone I ask is tight-lipped on the subject.” Dexter inquired.



“No, they’re just cowardly and superstitious. This town has been relatively free of crime. People don’t just get plucked out of thin air.”



“I’ll have to do some snooping around town and see if I can find one of those rifts.” Dexter looked at the clock, which read 4:00am. Wow, it was late. “It’s really late already, you could stay here if you wanted.” He offered, not wanting to admit he was too freaked out to be alone right now.



“Cool, I’ll just lay down on the couch.” Jeremy smiled.



~~~



Dexter finally fell asleep in his bed around 4:30 ignoring his paranoia of seeing shadows on the walls. He was too deep in sleep to hear the lock click on his window, or to see it swing open while a dark figure gained entry to his room.