Chapter 2 cont'd: you can find me in the club
More novel-y goodness
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Meanwhile, this week on The Thorn show, Terrah starts her perspective on the story. As with Eden’s, Terrah’s starts in a performance space, and you may not be surprised next week to find that in a way, Cid’s does, too.
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Now here’s Terrah.
TWO
Terrah
I guess it started with the music.
I knew something was off as soon as I stepped in the club. Or that’s what I would tell myself later, when this was all over. My spidey sense had been tingling all along, is what I wanted everyone to think, maybe what I even thought myself. Ain’t that the way it always is in stories? Everything is normal in the space right before something is about to happen, something that sets it all in motion. But when you look back, everything wasn’t normal. It can’t have been. And what the fuck is normal, anyway? In this world? Shit.
Sure felt like a normal night, though. Just a job, just some drugs and a bit of protection for this DJ. She ran the bleakhouse night down in this new-old Central Square place ain’t been a club since it was a speakeasy or some shit. They blew the walls out and opened up into this warehouse type deal, super retro. Shit’s huge. Three floors, different vibe each one. We were ground floor that night, and I was keeping one eye on the door and the other on this white-ass DJ, just making sure nothing went wrong. The music was actually not bad: dark, had a deep bass to it, not that speed freak shit. Also to be fair the white-ass DJ was an old friend, Kara, but she was going by DJ Girlcrush. It was cute.
Anyway, I was leaning against the bar, sipping at a weak gin and tonic. I like to not look like I’m working if I can manage it. From time to time I pretended to stare at my drink in fascination as it glowed under the black lights.
I’d clocked these two dudes hanging near the door. They were just a little off in their dress, and lounging too casually. They weren’t doing anything yet but I had an eye out. To be honest I was kinda bored and looking to roll some heads. I was still scanning the room and checking them out on every pass when something truly weird happened.
The lights changed, first. It was kinda subtle, just a shift to a bluish or sort of purple. But they also stopped flashing and changing so often, like someone had taken over the light board and just switched everything to one deep color and left it there. It only lasted for a few seconds before it became clear the music had also stopped. I looked over and Kara looked like someone had dumped their noodles on her soundboard.
Then, the music started.
It was mad eerie. This blown-out guitar with a ton of reverb. Nothing like what she’d been playing. Then this kinda howling vocal line, something so weird and beautiful I felt like. I mean, I don’t even know what I felt like. Like the world was ending or something. But also like...well, I guess sort of like everything was maybe gonna be okay.
Yeah, it seemed fuckin’ stupid to me at the time, but now. Yeah. Now. Goddammit.