I can tell Dion�s not happy but when I show him my arm, black and blue under the lace arm-bands I managed to dig out of my closet, his eyebrows raise up into his head and he orders me to go home. I don�t argue with him. Maxis the mysterious already suggested/demanded I ride back to the apartment in his aircar before dropping off me at the club. It�s a sweet offer and one I really can�t refuse. With his connections and obviously busy lifestyle, he can certainly find better things to do with his time than babysit me. But since he�s going so far out of his way, the least I can do is be polite and let him.
I�m working my way to the entrance when I hear someone yell, �Stop right where you ghhh!�
I look to see one of the bouncers fold in on himself. New guy, Allesen I think his name is. But there�s three other bouncers around him so I�m not too concerned. Occasionally some drunk starts a fight, but the staff always finishes it. The music doesn�t even skip. So I hardly slow my pace, not until I hear three grunts and thuds that sound like bodies hitting the floor.
Then the music cuts and I know this is real trouble. Rob, one of the veteran bouncers is falling back beneath a rain of blows from a guy in an all black gi that looks like he stepped straight out of the Dreamscape. His motions are spare enough to make my Sifu proud but all I�m thinking is this is way too much of a coincidence.
Right now most of the people are frozen, watching the fight. I�m in reach of the bar so I throw myself over and behind it, my bad arm twinging as I hit the floor. Birdie, the bartender, is too busy loading his shotgun to pay too much attention to me or the other two girls that have taken refuge here. Annette, one of the waitresses, waves at me and and smiles. Then I hear another loud crash, a low hissing sound and people are screaming fire. Birdie leaps over the bar shotgun in hand, and his yell is almost lost in the noise of the crowd, �Fire! Get the hell out of here!�
The worst place to be in a fire is next to a storehouse of gasoline, oil, or of course, alchohal. I watch Annette and the other girl struggle back over the bar but I stay put because I�ve never heard of a fire that starts with a hiss but doesn�t end with a crackle. I know, my only friend through my disasterious attempt at middle school was far too interested in fire. And explosives. A part of why I was schooled over the net after seventh grade.
So the fire doesn�t sound right, and the smoke fills the room way too quickly but there isn�t any heat. And I know someone is hunting me. Likely that same someone set this up and wants to catch me while I�m running out the door. So I won�t give him the satisfaction. If I just lay low for a while, whoever it is will think they missed me in the crowd. I stay quiet, breathing shallowly and close to the floor.
The ventilation fans are still going. In less than a minute the smell of smoke is gone. I stay put at least another five minutes. Nothing. I decide to give it another few minutes or so before I get moving. Paranoid. No. There�s video footage that proves someone is out to get me. I just wish I knew why. Scratch that, I wish I knew who they were and how to get rid of them. The muscles in my legs are cramping up, but I�m afraid to move.
Then my cel phone starts ringing �Heart�s of Forge� and I�m squirreling around the bottom of my bag frantically trying to find and turn the thing off. The caller ID says Jess. I�m really going to kill her this time. Or at least make her buy me lunch at the Che La Flame when I see her tommorow. If I see her tommorow.
�You know it�s not the most original idea, hiding behind the bar.�
I hear a thump and crunch, like glass being crushed beneath a foot. I�m almost holding my breath. Not here, I�m not here, I�m thinking. I don�t believe in God, or the Gods, but right now I�m sure whatever�s out there has got to be laughing it up at my expense.
�Well reinforced, yes, and all those nice bottles. But thoroughly predictable.�
I can�t hear his footsteps anymore but his voice is clear enough. He�s getting closer. Closer and arrogant; my Sifu would mark him severely for this.