Sweet Whispers in the dark

June 12, 2021 8:32 p.m Downtown, New York City "Yo, Koa! Over here!" A tall, muscular, tan man with Asian features sits near the bar signaling for his friend to come sit with him. On the back wall above the drink shelves are 3 50" flat screen tvs streaming the latest football and basketball games. The TV in the center has a music video from the latest boy group playing on it and coming out the speakers throughout the building, drowning out the games beside it. "Leo!" The man named Koa calls out, making his way to the bar with his friend. Tall, muscular with tan chiseled features and emerald eyes, Koa was one handsome specimen and every girl there had their eyes on him as soon as he walked in. He sits down beside Leo and calls to the bartender. Tonight their friend Reggie as working. Reggie has baby blue eyes, blonde messy hair and tan muscular features like Koa and Leo. Reggie's real name was Reginold because his parents had hopes he'd go to med school but instead he chose bartending. However, he didn't start going by Reggie till after he dropped out of his freshman year of med school when he discovered he loved smoking and drinking more than examining human hearts. "Hey Leo, Koa. What can I get you guys to drink tonight?" He asked coming over to them and resting his hands on the bar. "I'll have an old fashioned tonight." Answers Leo. "I'll just take my usual, buddy." Answered Koa, shooting his friend a smile. "Got it! One old fashioned and a whiskey sour coming right up!" Reggie disappears for a few moments then returns with drinks in hand. "So, what you guys up to tonight?" "Well~" Leo began after taking a sip. "Our boy Koa here landed an interview with one of the biggest clubs here in the city." "Not club Dax?!?" Reggie shouts out of shock and excitement for his friend. Luckily the music was loud enough to muffle his enthusiasm. "Will you keep it down!?" Koa shouts in playful annoyance. "Yes, club Dax." He responds taking a sip of his drink. "But that's one of the most elite clubs in the city. You gotta have a gold card just to get inside the club. How on earth did you manage to land an interview there?" Reggie asks. "What can I say, I've got friends in high places~" Koa smirks. "More like fans who's daddy happened to own the club." Leo laughs. "Hey, not my fault they liked what they saw." says Koa. "Dude you're so gonna get the job. You know, I heard it's basically a wealthy b**m club. Rich beautiful women come from all over the country just to have their fantasies played out." Reggie says as he's cleaning a few glasses. "I heard it's a male escort club where older rich women pay for the company of young handsome men." Leo puts in. "I don't care what it is so long as the money's good and the women are beautiful." Koa laughs setting his glass down with a thud. "here here!" Leo shouts chugging the last of his drink. Reggie laughs at the two of them and walks away to take care of another person. As Koa and Leo continued talking, the clock ticked on and the place got quieter. Midnight rolled around and Koa was the first to speak up. "Alright guys, I'm heading out. I gotta be up early in the morning. I'll see you guys tomorrow night, hopefully with some good news." He says, giving his friends a quick 'bro' hug before making his way to the exit to leave. June 13, 2021 5:45 p.m Club DAX "Hi, I'm here for an interview with Damon." Koa says to the bouncer outside setting up. "Alright. Go inside and wait by the bar. A tall woman with blonde waves and blue green eyes will be over to take you to Damon. Her name is Alysa." says the bouncer. Koa walks inside and makes a right toward the bar. Koa looks around then looks at his watch, 6:02 p.m. The club doesn't open for another hour. Koa looks back up. Though the building doesn't look like much more than another bar from the outside, once inside its breathtaking. The bar sits to the right of the dance floor with bottles of the most expensive alcohol money can buy lining its glass shelves. Gold trim runs its way along the shelves and the countertop of the marble bar. Behind the shelves of alcohol is crystal paneling that refracts the multicolor lights that line the underneath of the shelves making the bottles look like their glowing. Diamond light fixtures hang from the ceiling above the bar. The seats alone were black leather with diamond studs running along the seams and the legs were made of gold. Apart from the bar itself, the whole place looked like it should've been inside a millionaire's home. From the marble flooring with gold culking to the crystal paneling that ran halfway up the walls that finished off with a Matt black paint job with gold specks. The two smaller stages off to the right and left of the club had long gold poles that stood center and behind them were black curtains that would lead off to what was probably dressing rooms. In the middle of the two smaller stages sat a much bigger stage with a chair centered in it. black leather straps appeared along the sides of the chair and towards the very back was a podium with a mic attached to it. Black curtains lined the wall in back of the stage and a chill ran down Koa's back the more he stared at that chair. "Hi, you must be Koa." The silky voice of a woman pulled Koa from his thoughts. "Oh..uh, hi yes I'm Koa" He said, startled. "I'm here for the-" "The interview, yes I know. I'm Alysa. Please, follow me." She gestured for him to follow her up the marble staircase leading to the floor above them. Once to the top, Koa was able to see that the floor opened up in the center of it to reveal the lower level dance floor and stages. There were railings that went all the way around to protect from falling forward he assumed. "Right through that door you'll find Elias Dax, the owner of the club. He is who you will have your interview with." With that she turned on her heels and walked away at a quickened pace only making Koa more anxious and worried of what this place was. He paced forward a few steps to the Golden door that lay ahead and turned the handle to enter. However, once inside he noticed the room was mostly empty but for a single desk and two chairs. He took a seat at the one in front of the desk and waited. Suddenly part of the wall behind the desk opened up revealing a hidden door and a tall broad man walked through and sat in the seat behind the desk. "You must be Koa." He said, his voice was gruff and seemed to almost echo in the practically empty room. "Hi, yes I-" Koa began before he was cut off. "You'll do perfectly." Elias said after looking him up and down. "Alysa, please come show Koa out." A few moments passed as they sat in silence and then he could faintly hear Alysa's heels clacking toward them. As she opened the door and ushered him out, Elias spoke once more. "Until tomorrow~" when the words left his lips, Koa felt a shiver run down his spine. They made their way downstairs and to the exit, Alysa turned to him and gave him a black card with a single gold emblem on it with something written in another language on the back of it. 'Σε έναν νέο κόσμο θεών και τεράτων'. "Tomorrow come here at just after midnight. Hand that to the bouncer and he'll call for one of our dressers to come retrieve you." Just as she was beginning to head back inside she paused and looked over her shoulder and spoke again. "Oh and one more thing, you'll do well to be on time. Our guests pay for punctuality." With that she disappeared into the crowd that flocked to the dance floor, the exit door slowly closing until the images of inside dissipated. June 14, 2021 11:45 p.m Outside of club DAX ring. ring. ring. Koa took his phone from his pocket, the contact said MOM. Great, mom always chooses the perfect time to call doesn't she. He thinks to himself giving an eye roll before answering with an exasperated tone. "Hey..Mom." He says. "Hey honey! Just wanted to see how you're getting along in the big city! I know it's only been a month or so since you left home but your father and I just want you to know we love you and can't wait to see you around the holidays." His mother said, he knew she meant well but sometimes he wished she called him earlier in the day and not at the most inopportune times. "I know mom, I love you guys too. I'll be home around Christmas time. I gotta go mom, it's my first night at the job.." He trailed off before telling them what the job was. "Oh did you get that job at the hospital that you were wanting? I knew you'd get it! After all, that was the plan." His mom and dad had planned for him to go to the best medical school and one day work for a big hospital. It was the only way he could get them to help him move to New York City. He didn't want to ruin her hopes for him or disappoint her so he lied. "Yes, it's just the medical records department for now but maybe one day.." He trailed off trying to sound positive so his parents wouldn't suspect anything. "One step at a time. You'll do great sweetie! We love you and we will talk to you soon." and with one last goodbye they hung up. He sighed and made his way to the door of the club and handed the bouncer the card he had received yesterday. The bouncer looked him up and down, then back at the card, then smirked. He muttered something into his earpiece and a tall blonde woman appeared wearing a thin black lace mask and a short black dress that stopped above her knees that she paired with black heels. "Right this way." She gestured as she made her way toward an all black door near the bar. Koa hadn't noticed the door yesterday when he was here, why, he wondered. As he followed her behind the door, an eerie feeling set in and he couldn't understand why he felt this way. Then, it hit him, literally. Someone hit him in the back of the head with something hard causing his vision to blur before fading to black. "Welcome Ladies....to the after-hours of club DAX!" A distorted voice said, Koa was fading in and out of consciousness still but he could just barely make out the images of people around him. His vision went dark again and when he woke once more, he found himself tied and bound to the chair he saw the other night on the center stage. He felt not only his wrists restrained but his ankles as well. A leather strap found its way across his forehead and into the chair. He could taste the sour metal of the gag in his mouth. He looked out from the stage again, this time his vision clearer. Rows of women in black and gold masks lined the balcony above staring down at him, permanent grins on their faces. He wanted to scream but nothing came out when he tried. On the floor in front of him stood six hooded figures in white masks, their faces fixed on him as well. He glanced to the right of him and saw a large chest and beside it a table with different medical tools on it. To his left he noticed a mirror that reflected what was on the wall behind him. To his horror there was a projection of numbers and beside them a dollar sign. He looked back at the crowd and noticed they each had a device in their hand, a 'tablet' he thought. On the back of them were numbers as well, matching the ones on the wall behind him. "Please welcome our young recipient tonight. If you look to the left of your screens you'll find his information. To the right of your screens you'll see the choices we have prepared for you tonight as well as their bidding prices. Take a moment to look and make a selection when ready." the voice behind him paused for a moment as if giving time for it to sink in. "As usual, the amount will appear beside your number here on the wall for our young male to see." The room was quiet, eerily quiet as each masked individual looked over their screens. Then a bell chimed and a large number appeared beside a dollar sign on the wall behind him, #5. Walking out from behind him, another hooded figure wearing a golden plage mask stepped toward the chest. "Number 5, your selection as been made." The figure unlocked the chest and pulled out a small hammer and 12 small, sharpened bamboo sticks. He walked over to another figure in a white mask and handed them to him. "Please proceed." He instructed. Koa watched on, unable to scream, his eyes wide with fear. Sweat beading on his forehead and trickling down his face. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his feet as the figure began to hammer the sticks under his toenails and moved to his fingernails. Blood rushed from the punctures and tears formed in Koa's eyes. As he looked out at the crowd, the figure stepping back after all the sticks ran out, a sudden realization hit. This was not an escort club or a fancy live orgy thing, it was in fact a regular club for wealthy women before the hour of midnight. After midnight, the wealthy women would pay to see torture inflicted on young handsome men who were new in town. He began to struggle only to give up as his efforts were pointless. ding! A new number popped up with another amount beside it. #12. "Number 12, you've made a wonderful selection." The figure once again walks toward the chest but turns to the instruments on the metal tray instead. Picking up a scalpel, they motion for another white masked figure to come forward and hand them the instrument. Koa watched them with his eyes, drool and blood running from his mouth over the metal bar gag from where he struggled to scream for help. A sharp throbbing pain raced from his head as the scalpel cut into his skin. He felt it slide from his brow to just below his eye and again on the opposite side. More crimson liquid flowed down his face mixing with the sweat, some of it leaking into his eye and bluring his vision. A few more hours went on like this, torture from multiple weapons and instruments, money adding up behind him, and each figure in white masks coming to inflict the pain. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Golden masked figure stood in front of the wall with the projected numbers on it and spoke. "My lovely wealthy women, it has reached that point in the night where we must make one last choice. On your screens there are two choices, the one with the highest bids is the one that will bring our evening to an end. Please, input your choices now." The figure moved back out of sight and Koa could just barely make out the two choices on the wall behind him. He struggled to read them, his good eye straining hard in the dim light to see what it said. The totals on either side continuing to climb till at last, 'DDDDIIIINNNNGGG', a loud bell went off and Koa was finally able to make out what the choice was as it came into bold view on the wall. LETHAL INJECTION OF ACID TO MAIN ARTERY IN NECK. Koa didn't cry, he didn't scream, he just stared at the wall in shock and then looked into the balcony of masked faces. These women gathered here, paid large sums of money to watch him be tortured and eventually murdered? Finally his gaze came to rest on the masked figure in front of him. This figures mask was different than the rest he'd seen all night, it was solid black with a painted red smile on it, there were two small slits where the eyes would be and a gold tear was painted beneath one of the slits. In the figures hand was a syringe with clear liquid. Koa closes his eyes and waits for what's about to come. He feels a pierce in his neck and a rush of what feels like burning metal coursing through his veins, his body spasms and then his vision fades to black. His torment was finally over.