Grim, but Interesting

“What do you think?”

Thomas Norton stared at me with a mischievous grin. I sighed, then finished my tequila martini.

“About what?”

“The place is freaking dope!” He insisted. “You can bring in all the weed vaping and magic mushrooms you want.”

“Come on, you’re feeding me a load of crap,” I finally told him. “Nobody gives nothing away unless you have to do something. Seriously, are you into necrophilia now?”

Scowling at my response, he cursed me.

“Damn it, Nate. You always act that way when you don’t have an answer. You know that’s freaking gross. I was there and there were no corpses around. It’s a crypt and the atmosphere that gets the place so freaky. You know, I believe your answers are part of your cognitive dissonance.” He pulled out a cigarette and started tapping it on the table.

“You hate psychology, and this place is non-smoking,” I reminded him.

“I’m not talking about death,” he ignored me and put the cancer stick to his thin lips. “Well, not really. I tell you the stuff is so great. Scarlett claims its souls intertwining with one another. Or at least it feels that way. It’s a fucking high you can’t believe. You’ll see when you experience it.”

I held up my hand in defense since I know his sister.

“Seriously, you want to believe that, and Scarlett will buy into it as well,” my reply remained cordial. “We both know how much you’re into the supernatural. It makes for interesting stories. But your story makes no sense. Sure, you can smoke pot there and drink. So what? You can do that in a lot of places.”

While I focused on the scores I didn’t care about. Tom drunkenly shook his head.

“You don’t get it. It’s not like that lame shit lying around while smoking trees. Sure, it’s weird as hell hanging out in a crypt. The woman that runs it is creepy. But the experience is worth it. Scarlett calls it the Amanita Club, but it’s really just us. I swear you go into another world. I mean, the stuff I saw and experienced was unbelievable.”

He gave a knowing smirk.

“The ladies are awesome and so into it. Think of it as an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ combined with ‘Deep Throat’ while riding on a trippy roller coaster from hell.”

I rolled my eyes again, then I remembered a terrible movie.

“Yeah, I saw the porn version, a terrible plot with lame actors. The only thing that saved it was the fine cinematography and musical score from the 70s.” My lame chuckle followed my quip, but I saw Tom didn’t get it.

“I will not spoil it, but you won’t believe it when you see them,” Tom kept going. “The place makes 20s Berlin look like children’s play.”

“What do you know about the 1920s?” I looked back at him. “Last I heard, you’re a philosophy major.”

“That’s not the point,” he sighed.

I waved to get the bartender’s attention. She’s a cute lady, probably with a couple of kids, when I look over her body again. Still, I’m not a MILF hunter, so I’m using her to redirect the conversation. Tom is a nut for paranormal crap. He’s the type to get the entire bar mad by asking them to change the channel away from the game to watch a stupid ghost hunting series. Yeah, I’ve seen that before.

“Anyway, you have too much of a fascination with death.” My fingers started drumming on the counter. “You’ve talked about this place for a month. I really get it now. It’s a creepy place with plenty of shrooms to make it look like you’re hanging around spirits.”

“Anyway, you’re a damn skeptic,” my friend said again. “I got to knock some sense into you. So we’re going there.”

“What? Now? I haven’t finished my drink.”

Besides, Tom’s terrible about finding hot spots for pretty women. I’m thinking this place he’s pushing is full of old emos still trying to live like it’s 1989. The easiest way to deal with him is to buy another round. That’s what I did with my hand signals. While I’d have trouble translating, my hands flapping around like a wounded duck, she appeared to understand.

“No, we can’t go tonight. I’ve got to set it up. The owner doesn’t want liability,” he continued on the same track.

“That’s good. Just don’t you get us arrested for stupidity. I’ve got more drinks incoming. Can we move on?”

Of course, Tom wouldn’t let it go. He gets like that when he’s sure of the answer. I respect that, but he’s also changed majors about a dozen times because he jumps from one scheme to the next. That’s why I’m staring at the television screen, trying to get him to change gears. The idea sounds pretty damn sinister to me.

“We’ll go there this weekend,” Tom interrupted my viewing when he cuffed me on the shoulder. “You won’t believe the people we’ll see. Just you and me, partner.”

In my defense, I was pretty looped. So, when I nodded absently while watching a guy win the game on a buzzer beater shot, I didn’t realize Tom would hold me to it.

Sure enough, the weekend rolled around and I’m standing in an empty parking lot with Scarlett and Tom. You’d think that it would be just the two guys heading out to this special place, but Tom mentioned our outing to his older sister. Scarlett decided to tag along. I guess she’s playing that side of the field this week. Tom tells me she likes to keep her options open. Besides, he informs me it’s all a social construct anyway. Of course, he’s paying for me to come along and it’s not my sister to worry about. So, I just shrugged and let her glare at me.

It’s not like I ever got along with Scarlett, the witch. I thought of that because of her attitude towards me. However, she looked like the part with her frazzled looking hair in assorted colors along with a form fitting red dress. If it was a black dress and I squinted really hard, I might imagine she was Morticia from the Addams Family. Tom and I wore casual clothing, long sleeves with khaki pants, so we definitely appeared like an oddball trio.

We took a rideshare out to the edge of the city in a section of old industrial buildings. After the car pulled to a stop in front of a building filled with dark windows, I heard the heavy beat of dark psytrance music. I stepped out of the car after Scarlett and followed the brother and sister up the stairs. Inside the old warehouse, the loud music overwhelmed the senses. I looked around to see plenty of hot women with their dates, both men and women, jammed together near a stage. On the stage was a DJ jumping around to the music. Shaking my head, I reconsidered coming to the place. I wasn’t into raves and Tom knew that.

“What the hell, Tom!” I yelled out as he headed to the bar on the other side of the room. “This isn’t what you told me!”

He just grinned at me and waved me along. I noticed Scarlett disappeared into the crowd as we got to the bar counter. Over the pounding noise, Tom ordered us beers.

“Drink up,” he hollered to me. “Club Amanita doesn’t open for another hour. We go through there to get inside. Scarlett’s already working on dates for us. They’re special ladies.”

I looked over to where he pointed and saw the dark passage next to the restroom signs. Suddenly, an icy breath touched the back of my neck, and I jerked around to see Scarlett with two women standing by her. They looked me and Tom over as Scarlett introduced them.

“This is Albina and her sister, Annie Angel.” She announced during a lull in the music.

The two women had pale complexions, with Albina slightly taller and fuller figure and long black hair. However, her pale green eyes made me stare like an imbecile. Scarlett laughed at me and kissed Albina on the cheek.

“She’s not your type,” the witch chastised me.

Tom stepped over to Annie, offering her a beer as I stared at Albina. The music started again, leaving Scarlett to lead Albina into the crowd. Tom followed Annie, who held his hand.

Well, that was quick, I thought as I turned back to the bar. While I cursed my luck, I drank another beer while watching as the staff brought food from the back of the bar. A huge jar of mushrooms on a cart came by me as the ingredients swam around in a clear, stringy liquid. The staff placed a plate with crackers, cheese, and those sour mushrooms pulled from a pickle jar before me. Apparently, the free food was a staple of the club as the patrons hurried over to get plastic plates from the servers next to the cart.

The mushrooms weren’t to my taste with their heavy aromatic herb taste, so I only had a couple, but piled down the crackers and cheese. I overheard someone mention magic mushrooms as I watched the crowd. Even getting high on shrooms is alright, I just don’t like the taste. Plus, I don’t like loud music. Content to nurse my beer, I glanced out at the dance floor. Tom and Scarlett were having a good time as they jumped around, so I left the bar and headed over to the tunnel next to the restrooms.

Out of curiosity, I looked along the dark tunnel, which headed down to another level. Movement caught my eye amid the shadows at the other end. Still, I figured the change came from the multiple flashing lights on the ceiling and the stage around the dance floor.

A few minutes later, I felt lightheaded and looked at my beer bottle, which remained half-full. With a smirk, I shook my head.

Man, I’m turning into a lightweight!

Enjoying the buzz, I leaned up against the brick wall and zoned out for a while. As I stood there, the music finished for a bit. I noticed Tom coming toward me with—Annie? Yeah, that was her name. Tom carried an empty plate.

“You enjoy those magic shrooms?” he chuckled as he held Annie in one arm.

“Is that what they are? You should have warned me,” I replied. “Good thing I only had a couple.”

“Yeah, they serve those before people go into the old plant. The owners claim it gets the spirits going. I guess plenty of people died in the machinery of that factory. Still, Annie knows where we’re going. Didn’t you notice the place is open now?”

To my surprise, I looked over and noticed a thin line of patrons heading down the tunnel. Wondering how I missed the place opening, I pulled myself away from the wall. Tom took his plate and dropped it into a nearby trashcan. Suddenly, I felt a tug on my hand as Annie pulled me toward the tunnel. Her scent emitted a biting, almost musky odor. I almost sneezed as I followed her.

As we passed through the tunnel, a distinct chill came upon me. The slipperiness of my hand mixed with the woman’s own, but somehow, she never lost her grip. Darkness around us only brightened when we stepped by old flickering lights embedded into the half-dome ceiling above us.

“Why didn’t you dance with me?” Annie asked.

I looked down at her hand in mine, trying to understand the sudden question. I let out a breath as my buzz receded.

“I’m not into this music. Too loud for my taste,” I replied as we neared two massive steel doors opened at the end of the tunnel.

“You should learn to live,” she scoffed at me. “Nothing comes from regrets.”

“I thought this place was invitation only?” I felt the need to remove her hand from mine, but still followed along.

“It is,” she stated. “That’s why I’m taking you inside.”

As she explained, my eye caught the line of patrons heading to the main floor of a massive room filled with industrial equipment. From my vantage point, it looked like an old steel furnace. On top of one platform, a DJ dressed like a skeleton started playing another tune.

However, Annie took a hard left turn, which broke away from the crowd. We entered another tunnel, which led away from the noise. This passageway narrowed dramatically. The brickwork was no longer on the walls, leaving only compacted dirt and soon we had to hunch over as the ceiling dropped as well. Along the top of the ceiling were a series of newer lights with exposed extension lights staked into the dirt. To be honest, I grew more nervous as I thought this tunnel would fall in on us. While I kept asking questions about our destination, Annie barely spoke.

“Don’t worry, you’re with me.” Her statement didn’t leave me with a lot of comfort.

Finally, we reached another chamber, which allowed us to stand again. The room went out of sight in the blackness beyond. The smell of mold emanated from the damp floor, while the walls showcased a distinctive style of brick. In the middle of the place was a long marble slab. At first, I thought it was a table, then I finally realized what I was looking at.

“Man, this is the place!”

“Yeah, graves fill this place,” Tom’s voice came from behind me. “They refurbished that machine building when they discovered the tunnel to this underground mausoleum. Few people but staff know about this tunnel.”

My friend arrived with Scarlett and Albina. The brother and sister carried a cooler with them.

“Technically, we’re not supposed to be here since the club owner doesn’t own the land above us,” Tom whispered to me. “But she’s cool as long as we don’t fuck with stuff down here.”

Tom pointed into the darkness.

“Our spot is over there,” he said. “I grab another jar of the shrooms for us. It really gets things going.”

I stood there, trying to make sense of the creepy feeling coming over me as Tom walked past. He used his smartphone to light the way as he went deeper into the room. Turning, I followed Annie, who put her arm around Albina. Questions filled my head as I watched Tom reach a larger crypt. The light from the phone made the gray-white marble shine under the coating of dust.

Tom and his sister sat the cooler down at the base of the crypt. Several outdoor lounge chairs were already there. He pulled out a bottle and tossed it over to me. Then he sat in one of the chairs.

“Now we drink with the dead!” he said with a chuckle. “I saw a program about this stuff happening back with the Victorians. They’d have picnics in cemeteries.”

“Grim, but interesting!” I conceded, as I opened the bottle and took a swig. “Why an underground cemetery?”

“Oh, a women’s prison used to be on this land. After it closed, a steel company purchased the land. The plant which went out of business a decade ago. The owners of the club push people to use that old plant by telling people about the ghosts. Scarlett’s a sensitive so she says it bullshit. She’s the one who found this place.”

Scarlett put her hand down into the jar and retrieved several mushrooms, which she split with Tom. As they munched down on the pickled fungi, I looked over at Annie and Albina, who were slowly dancing arm in arm. They twirled around in front of us, out of tune with the beat coming down the passage from the machinery room far away. I asked why we were the only ones in the room.

“Nate, you’re too damn stubborn. You really don’t get it. I told Tom to leave you,” Scarlett snorted at me as she rose from the chair.

She joined in with the two women dancing. Soon, deep kisses started to be exchanged among the women. I watched it with growing fascination.

“Scarlett saw them first since she comes to the club a lot,” Tom explained to my questioning look.

“Well, I’m sitting here since your sister doesn’t like me,” I replied bluntly before I finished my beer. Tom laughed quietly with a nod. “Still, I don’t get what’s going on,” I told him. “How did you get a date so fast?”

“Albina and Annie are special,” he replied with a knowing grin. “They love the dance floor, and they bring out the others. You held her hand. What do you think about that?”

Thoroughly confused, I shook my head and stared at him. My friend ate more of the mushrooms, then finished them with a long swig of his beer.

“So, she held my hand. This ain’t middle school.” I snorted.

“You still don’t want to see it.” He sighed.

“Come on, you need to chug down some more,” Tom threw me another beer. “Let’s get the party started. Unlike the club, we have all night.”

Fumbling around to catch it with one hand, the bottle landed in my crotch. Luckily it wasn’t open yet, but it still hurt. After I glared at him, I unscrewed the cap and drank down half of it.

“What the fuck? I’m not watching you two mess around with dates all night,” my tone sharpened at the idea.

“Don’t worry, that won’t happen. You’ll see soon enough. I didn’t get this place at first either, but I’m not going to explain it,” Tom told me. “Go with your gut. All you need is to look at the two who brought us and figure it out.”

He got up from the chair with a drunken grunt.

“Just don’t disbelieve what your eyes show you. You got to go with the flow and experience living.”

He went to join the women. In skepticism, I stared at my friend, who took Annie in his arms and slowly danced. The long-distance beat coming from the rave in the other building did not match their rhythm, but no one seemed to care. A moment later, he gave her a passionate kiss. That’s when I finally understood what he was implying.