poemtry and prose

The next day was rough on Lexi. She had a hard time focusing on work and did not really feel like going to what little classes she had. The thought that her reading had caused the death of her Dorm Mother's child haunted her and no matter how much she threw herself into her work or all the studies, she just could not get it out of her head that the cards could actually cause the death of someone else.

Her friends were a great support to her however, even Claudia put off all the boy chasing and phone calls that she was famous for to walk over that evening.

"Dude, Lex," she said, trying to pull her friend from out of the tons of covers she had thrown over herself. "I know you miss him and I am trying not to put this off or belittle it in any way, but you really need to pull yourself together. It is not the end of the world. I know it feels like it right now, but you cannot just hide under the covers for all eternity. Come on, let us go outside or do something. I refuse to stay here and watch you waste away to nothingness. When was the last time you ate? I am almost positive that it was not today or even yesterday. So what do you say we go out and grab a bite to eat? I will bet admission to a nightclub or sushi bar of your choice that you are starving and want to be treated out."

Lexi the lump under the covers shifted her weight a little bit. She poked one small corner of her head out of the covers and met Claudia's gaze with one teary blue eye. "Yeah, I am hungry but I just do not feel like going out and doing anything. Claudia, a little boy died... maybe because... well, he is dead and there is nothing I can do to save him or bring him back. He is dead and will never discover college and the real world. And you expect me to eat?"

Lexi sat straight up in her bed, the blankets covering her and protecting her completely. She blinked at Claudia and started sobbing.

"Sweetie, I know. I know you hurt but to answer your question, Yes. Yes I do want you to eat because if you do not eat then you, too, will fade away into the mist and there are a few of us, me, Michele, your mom, this Meghan person, um... the people you work with and all your Professors and students who will be really sad that you cannot join them in their own triumphs and accomplishments if you are dead. So, come on... get out of bed, get on some sexxy black, gothy mourning clothes and come out with us. We miss you and want you here to be with us on the living side of life. Please."

Claudia held her breath for a few seconds in anticipation of Lexi's answer. She had no idea how her friend was going to respond but stayed motionless. A battle waged behind Lexi's eyes as she struggled to win the fight to not let the depression consume her whole. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Lexi slowly pushed the covers off her and said, "Okay. You win, I give up. Let us grab Michele and we can head out to that The Velvet Kink you guys are always wanting to go to. I guess, you do owe me a night on the town and some food."

"Well then, girlfriend, time to get you all gothy looking and let us grab some sushi and head out to The Velvet Kink," Claudia said as she pulled her pink cellphone out of her bag and dialed the number for Michele, the third of their trio. She then made plans to have them meet her at SushiBinge for a small dinner of raw eel and salmon and California rolls before they got their grove on inside the club that catered to the town's darker side of life.

Lexi pulled on a warm pair of black pants and a black hoodie sweater. She decided to wear her Doc Marten's Mary Jane slippers this time as they were more conducive to dancing for long periods of time. Fifteen minutes later they were out in front of the SushiBinge where Michele was waiting for them. All together they walked into the conveyor belt sushi bar and ate their dinner. Lexi did not have a whole lot, the food was very good but rich to her stomach and she feared she would get a bit sick from it. Conversation was light and they all tried to stay away from the most depressing of recent events. The delicate Japanese waitress came by to count up their plates and then hand them their check and they were on their way out to the nightclub.

Claudia played gothic favorites in her car, like London After Midnight and The Cure as the girls tried to get into the mood of recapturing their high school gothiness. Lexi even tried to sing to some of the songs, even though she did not know them too well. Finally, after a few more minutes of navigating the city streets and locating a suitable parking spot that was close enough to the club to walk to and in a well light area, they were ready for their night out on the town.

The Velvet Kink was in a newer part of downtown, nestled between two tall brick and stone business buildings. It was three stories tall and most of the windows were opened as smoke drifted out from windows that had no screens on them. Silhouettes of bodies swaying and bopping to the beat appeared in and out of the window's view as a steady thump, thump. thump beat rushed out from the door to great them.

The bouncer had a Mohawk and snarled at them as they crept up to the door shivering in the cold full moon night sky. "IDs please," he said monotonously as he held out a bare knuckled hand that grasped a heavy flashlight. They handed him their driver's licenses and he placed a stamp that read, "t3h scene is dead," on the insides of their right wrist.

Lexi blew on hers, hoping that the ink would dry faster as she walked through the main door. The room was dark and the loud speakers pumped Ministry's "Every day is Halloween" from them. She smiled as she tried to relax into the atmosphere and tried not to think about tarot decks or dead high schoolers. "Okay Lex. Breathe. You can do this," she said with her eyes closed as she paused before going into the darker part of the bar.

When she opened them however, she was astonished at the first thing her eyes laid on. Everyone was dressed in vinyl and strange rubber outfits. Some people had spiked collars around their necks and long dangling chains leading from a D-ring of said collar to a hand which held the other end of the chain. She could not believe her eyes. They had come on some BDSM Fetish night.

Claudia turned her head which had a very sheepish grin on it and mouthed the words, "Oops. I am so sorry Lexi. I had no idea this was happening tonight."

Lexi's body tensed up and smirked back at her friend. They brushed past her as they entered into the dance floor and tried to find a comfortable spot to dance for a few hours without acknowledging that everyone else around them were dressed even more freakily than they were. Lexi shrugged and thought about the humor that had to be found somewhere in the evenings plans. After not really seeing any, she took a few steps forward into the room herself. And then froze.

The club had a stage. She was not prepared for what was on the stage however. A man, dressed in tight, black, rubbery leggings and a very tight black-matching vinyl g-string underwear, with red, tribal-style body paint splashed all over his check stood in the center of the stage. He had red paint all over his face and a pair of long black and red blinking devil-horns on his head. His mouth was turned into a grimice and he held two sets of chains in his hand. Writhing on the floor to his right and left, were two nekid bodies of women who were writhing and slithering across the dance floor as far as their very short chains and collars allowed them to move. They feigned horror and pain on their faces as they blew twisted and bizarre kisses to one another and the audience. One girl, obviously delirious from the production had started masturbating as the Devil moved to hover over her and start rubbing his hard cock against her back.

Lexi's heart pounded as her body froze absolutely still. The sight of the sex-play on stage terrorized and repulsed her. But it was not just that. It was the fact that they looked like the figures on The Windchaser Tarot deck that she had left at home and moved from the bottom shelf of her bookcase to the farthest corner of her closet where it sat.

"But, but but..." her mind started screaming at the figures writhing on the stage.

Just as The Devil boy bent over to force the two girls to kiss and make out even more, someone bumped into Lexi from behind.

"Hey, care to stop gawking and move forward? Fuck," came a harsh and drunken voice from behind her. A boy with purple hair hovered over her, his breath reeking of drugs and alcohol. "Yanno some of us want to get closer to where all the action is?"

Lexi whipped her head from the stage to him and back again a few times, searching desperately for her friends. But they were no where to be found. Fear gripped her hard and she turned and bolted for the front door.

Tears streamed from her face as she ran through the streets of the city. The chill settled down from the air and into the hard, concrete cement tinting the ground in a very very thin layer of sleet and frozen dew. Lexi's feet made a short and sharp thudding sound as she raced away from the horrors inside The Velvet Kink.

"I cannot believe they took me there," her mind screamed at her, "What the hell was Claudia thinking. Scratch that, I know she was not thinking too much. She never thinks. Had she really thought this trip through then she would not have dragged me all the way out here."

Her body passed the thick glass window of one of the town's few local galleries. Inside the window hung paintings from wires. Lexi caught a few glimpse of the artwork as she breezed by and saw pictures of women dancing in old style Victorian clothing around rings of mushrooms that looked like cups. A cast iron sword sat embedded in a paper mache representation of a stone, its hilt, covered in jewels, glinted off the single spotlight the store's owner cast down upon it. There was even a photograph of a man laughing as he walked towards the precipice of a cliff, his focus pointed over his shoulder straight at the hidden photographer. A small dog yapped at his feet.

Even the street signs seemed to have some tarot significance. Instead of turning down 9th Street, she appeared to be heading down the 9 of Swords street. Lexi blinked at how close to the tarot cards she owned the artwork seemed to follow. She pumped her legs harder as she tried to get them to take her faster and farther away from all this symbolism and back to the security of her small apartment. She ran and ran until she was out of breath and then she ran farther past it. When she broke her body into running no further, she limped the last remaining miles to the warmth and the safety of her bed which awaited her arrival.