As Her World Falls Down

Chapter 2

I nearly turned around twice as I drove further towards my destination, getting farther and farther from anything vaguely familiar. Apartments and glittering busy streets turned into warehouses and hooded figures lingering in the shadows. I could only hope that my source wasn't leading me straight into a death trap, and frankly I had been running low on hope for weeks now. I was becoming more weary about the case as more and more people vanished, no leads for weeks, cryptic witnesses, and no one else seemed concerned that 11 people had gone missing so far. All claimed as runaways or homeless or suicidal... all people that were unlikely to be missed... except the last girl Amelia. A 22 year old computing science student at the local college, she had fit the category except that she had had a stalker that reported her missing. Disgusting but helpful as he had been the most vigilant witness throughout any of the accounts, apparently his paranoia won out and he contacted the cops a few days after he hadn't been able to sight her. Didn't turn out well for him with the restraining order that was on him but I wasn't going to complain. I shook my head in disgust.

But I had a good feeling about this lead, even as creepy and disturbing as it was. The rain began to drown out my thoughts as it crashed into my windshield, the wipers barely being able to keep the road visible. It should be somewhere around here I thought looking at the water damaged note and back up again. I glanced around at the quiet dock and ran my hands through my still wet hair in frustration, snagging on every tangle that had suddenly appeared. That's going to be a b***h to brush through later I thought miserably, wallowing in my own melancholy.

I debated just trying again tomorrow night when a bike went whipping past my stationary car. I cursed and nearly jumped out of my skin but reflexively drove after the bike, a bike with a destination is what it looked like... just hopefully the same destination as me. Can't be too many places to be hang around down on an abandoned dock I tried to reassure myself.

I made turn after turn following the bike, nearly losing it once in the process, until I finally ended up in front of a large warehouse with lights streaming out of the windows and music that I could hear blaring from inside my car. Resisting the urge to happy dance at my burst of good luck I moved my car around to the cluster of parked vehicles and made sure I was further away with easy access to drive the hell out of here if things turned sour like my source told me they likely would. I pulled down the visor and attempted to fix my makeup that the rain had smudged and nearly washed away entirely. Not much luck but enough that I didn't look like a drowned raccoon, I swung out of my car and towards the beckoning lights before me.

I ran towards the warehouse with a group of people that had arrived a minute ago and tried to blend in with the drunken Saturday night club goers. I didn't quite fit in with the group but I was hoping to pass as the slightly awkward friend that people just invited not to be rude. Accurate enough. A large man stood by the entrance,as we approached he didn't say anything not even ask for ID, only a dark smile crossed his features as we passed by him. He looked like someone who had seen a lot of people pass through these doors and someone to question if I couldn't find out anything inside, though I could say I honestly hoped it didn't come to that as I looked up at him.

I broke off from the gaggle of giggling girls I had entered with as soon as we hit a crowd and I could leave without arising suspicion of anyone that might be watching. I made my way through the large space scoping out for anything out of the ordinary, any potential victims or mention of any of the missing people. I let out a breath, wishing I had pushed the man in the alley further about what or who exactly I was looking for in this place. It seemed like your average club, illegal definitely but otherwise entirely normal... or as normal as any club can be. I made a round around, even dancing for a song to keep up the facade of being there to party. By the time I had finished dancing and made my way to the bar to listen in on conversations I could feel eyes boring into me. s**t I might need to try again another night I growled and started to turn towards the exit only to find someone directly in my path. Damn! Not a coincidence I cursed as I looked up to see a tall, nearly ethereal looking man standing before me. His blonde hair pulled back into a lazy bun, and caramel eyes glowing passionately holding me to the spot.

"Now that was some dancing" he said voice like silk, like a snake with fangs laced with venom, poised and ready to strike.

"New" I managed to spit out flustered as I was just from his presence. Every molecule of my being was itching to run, out the door and never look back. But I needed answers and as much as every warning sign was going off I had a job to do.

"Always nice to see new faces in my club, let me buy you a drink." I couldn't believe my luck and tried not to let the surprise show on my face. But that wasn't a request I realized as he turned and gave the bartender a look, the bartender turned and began mixing bottles. A moment later the bartender placing a shimmering drink onto the counter. He picked up the glass and waved it over to me, tempting me to take it, offering me the unknown.

His eyes glittered caramel littered with gold, a silent challenge was issued just from that look, a dangerous challenge. I held his gaze and took the shimmery drink from his hand holding that strangely menacing gaze with my own steely grey eyes. I held the glass up to my mouth and began to tip the glass but stopped just as the liquid brushed my lips. Don't drink anything. Don't drink anything. Don't drink anything. Whispered frantically through my head, like a alarm I couldn't tune out.

"Not much of a drinker actually, but thank you" I countered placing the foreign drink on the counter once more. Something dark crossed briefly in his eyes that I almost didn't catch but it was gone as quickly as it came.

"A fair decision during such trying times" he spoke his voice an octave lower than before, barely even said.

"I beg your pardon. What do you mean by that?" I asked playing dumb. Hoping he might be dumb enough to do my job for me, I even put a doe-eyed look in for good measure. I licked my lips hoping that maybe a dumb, floozy approach might ward off any suspicions he might have.

"And I thought the girl investigating all those disappearances might know why she had found herself in the middle of the lions den" he said, smooth venom dripping from each word. It wasn't going to be worth it to try and dissuade him, adrenaline pumped through my veins and I turned to make my escape through the crowd. A dark chuckle sounded behind me but no force stopped me from running into the pulsing crowd behind me. And I moved blindly through the bodies of grinding, dancing, pulsing people hoping I was headed toward an exit. Why didn't he stop me? He could have, I know he could have. I shivered at the possibilities but refused to dwell to long on it until I got the hell out of here. The club began to blur and sway in time with the music and my body began to move with it. Not exactly a good time to feel the rhythm Kiara I scolded myself as I struggled to keep my course. Dark laughter echoed from everywhere I turned, taunting me as I tried to regain control over my body once more. I made the rhythm work for me and danced through the crowd and towards what looked like an exit to my left, I nearly cried in relief.

As I moved my ever reluctant body down the dark hallway, that I prayed led to freedom, I found myself slowly growing increasingly exhausted. Whatever had entered my system was weaning out and while that meant I was no longer dancing, it was also getting harder and harder to move forward. My legs gave out beneath me but I kept on moving, using the wall as my guide, as footsteps sounded behind me I knew it was ticking down to seconds before I was found. One of those rare moments I actually wished I worked with a partner, that I wasn't so damn stubborn as to refuse every partner. I grew heavier with each sluggish inch I made and the footsteps were upon me as evident by the silence that now permeated the air.

"Here to gloat?" I growled out with my remaining energy trying to spot whoever had stumbled upon me. It remained silent for what felt like so long I was half sure I had imagined the footsteps.

That hope was crushed like a dried flower as a venomous voice echoed out into the hallway "No need to, your state is sad enough it's not even necessary".

"Faerie wine has that effect on mortals, I'm surprised you were able to get this far even with the minuscule amount you ingested" he remarked even sounding mildly surprised.

"Faerie wine? You have got to be kidding me, what kind of drug was in that drink?" I demanded, I hated to idea of this jerk toying with me with folktales when there are so many lives at stack.

"No joke precious, but you'll find that out soon enough" he promised and those caramel eyes appeared before me with whispers of violence speckled in them. And the world swirled into an abyss.