The Lear Library

This was just a little something I whipped up for a Halloween a few years ago.

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The dull throb of bass permeated Chas’ trainers as she stood at the bar. Tonight she and the girls had been going at it hammer and tongs. No-one had made a specific goal out of it; it was just… something in the air. Tonight was a good night to be blasted.
The cool air had been a nice thrill as they’d walked through the centre of the city as they headed for the Firestorm, their favourite nightspot. The music was heavy, the drinks were cheap and for some people clothing seemed to be optional, unless you counted bits of string with handkerchiefs attached.
“More Human than Human” throbbed over the speakers as bright lights swept the dance-floor, illuminating figures here and there as they gyrated and bounced and Chas couldn’t help a grin as she spotted Seph hauling herself onto one of the makeshift podia dotted around the dance floor. She was usually a little more reserved than this; she must have been having a whale of a time.

With a start, lest she lose her place, she turned back to the bar. To her surprise a bartender was waiting right in front of her. He smiled, and Chas thought predatorily that it was a good smile. His lean face lit up when he smiled, even at just a customer.
“Oh, uh…” Chas blinked in the strobing darkness, then remembered her order and was soon handed her drinks. “One for yourself too, man.” She said carelessly, catching another glimpse of his roguish smile. With a pretty rejoinder of her own she strutted back to her friends, being sure to keep her poise as she walked from the bar and the man behind it.

“Someone looks happy!” Grinned ‘Tash,’ whose name was not Natasha.
“Yeah,” Chas took a drink of her saccharine alcohol. “Seph is really going for it!” She had to shout over the thumping drive of the song, grinning widely. ‘Tash’ smirked.
“Yeah. I was talking about Seph alright.” She said wryly, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Chas pretended to ignore her.

The music had buoyed them along on a wave of percussion, White Zombie leading to the Misfits, leading to a smattering of Tool. As “Aenima” began to wind up slowly the DJ began to bring up a perennial favourite of his, Metallica’s “Sad But True” mixed with Kid Rock’s “American Badass.” Rather badly, too. Chas went for a drink, much to the apparent amusement of ‘Tash.’
She slid the empty bottles across the bar and leaned on the bar in studied nonchalance. Back came the smiling bartender and she smiled briefly at him.
“Hey!” she greeted him over the music and received a small nod in return, his smile widening imperceptibly. She leaned across the bar to shout her order at him, vaguely aware that this’d expose just a hint of her modest cleavage and finding that she didn’t mind this in the slightest.
“Bit of a line, I’m afraid.” The barman said, indicating another bartender carefully mixing shots, grenadine and vodka moving back and forth across a line of small glasses. “I find patience is a great asset, don’t you?” He smiled once more, and it was infectious. She waved at the crowded bar.
“In this dive?” They laughed, and the bartender moved off to fetch her drinks.

‘Tash’ gave her a shrewd smile as she returned. “Aye-aye…” She nudged Chas in the ribs, and Chas glared at her for her efforts.
“Oh, shut up and get that down your neck.” She muttered, embarrassed, as she handed ‘Tash’ her drink. She was either too drunk for her liking or not drunk enough to still be observant, and it irritated Chas. The amateurish mix ended, to her infinite relief, and something more palatable came on.

Time wore on, during which Chas kept catching herself casting stray looks towards the bar. Here and there the man moved, serving and mixing. ‘Tash’ grinned cheekily and slapped her lightly on the shoulder.
“Wanna go get drinks again?” She said, though their drinks were less than half-consumed. Chas gave her another look, then said in a voice that was only just loud enough to hear over the churning noise;
“Careful, you, or I’ll broadcast why you’re really called ‘Tash.’” She pointed a warning finger at ‘Tash’ and her meticulously hairless upper lip.
Unsurprisingly, that shut her up.

After a while she was back at the bar. It was getting quite late, encroaching into the small hours, but her party weren’t flagging yet. She hummed along to “Song Two” by Blur, rocking gently on her heels until the man showed up.
“Ah!” He said as she smiled. “I had faith that you’d be back.”
Emboldened by the glow of alcohol, she smiled slowly and admired his face; dark and young, all white teeth and brown, brown eyes.
He shifted a little as she just stared, and then she suddenly said,
“When d’you get off?”
“When we shut up.” He said amiably. If being propositioned by the young woman had given him bragging rights, he wasn’t cashing them in while still talking to her. This, she felt, earned him a few points.
“Cool…” She smiled prettily. “I’ll hang around.”

The night was paling when the club really began to wind down, and the girls were beginning to slur about leaving. Chas hummed to herself, “Elegantly Wasted,” feeling a little anticipatory thrill run through her. The girls began to file out, and ‘Tash’ gave her a little look that said “Don’t worry, I’ll sort it.” Chas grinned, winked lopsidedly, and stumbled to the bar.
After a minute or two the barman walked out and curved his hand around her waist, leading her out into the pre-dawn grey.

They ambled through the city streets, her happily humming, alcohol fizzing happily through her and masking the cold. She didn’t spot which direction they were travelling and, frankly, she didn’t much care.
“Just a little further.” He promised intermittently. And soon enough they turned down a side-road that led her to a small, slightly dishevelled-looking house, tucked back from the business of the front of the street.
He let her in and she stumbled to a chair, sitting down and wriggling into the deep cushion. He smiled slightly and asked in a slightly sardonic tone “Cup of tea?”
She smirked a little. “Hardly…” She was about to continue, but a warning informed her that before trying anything it might be a good idea to empty her drink-heavy bladder. “Uh… one sec. Toilet?”
He nodded graciously and smiled, motioning her through a door. “Second on the left.”
Trotting a little urgently, she pulled open the door to the toilet.

Inside, resting in the bath, thier limbs at awkward, unnatural angles, were two girls. They stared at her blankly from dessicated eyes. They were naked, long scoring cuts across their necks, stomachs. The stench of decay washed over her as she stood, trembling with shock and revulsion as a soft step sounded behind her. The barman’s voice whispered in her ear.
“I have Hope, I have Patience, and now I have Chastity.”
Her eyes widened, and she was shoved roughly into the bathroom.

The door slammed.