Page 68 of Hunt for You
It was a play on the club’s motto,Live your dreams, live happilywhichwas writtenin latinon the napkins and anywhere else Valerie printed the logo,but I knew what it meant.
The industrial nature of the building was unrelenting when you first walked in. Security kept a gray box of a room just inside the door from the street. The only doorway into the club was locked with a code, and it wouldn’t be opened unless you were on the list. That door opened to a long, narrow, black paintedhallway with no lighting except strips of purple LED lights along the concrete floor.
But it was when you opened the door at the other end that the magic ofVigorícame alive.
On its other side was the main lounge of the club. A massive, wide oval room wallpapered in red-velvet, lit by dim but sparkling chandeliers, and peppered with thick, brass-riveted leather couches, solid wood tables, and discreet waiters who ran back and forth between the patrons and the bar at the end, making certain that everyone had any social lubricant they could want.
The secret menu atVigoríincluded every recreational drug known to man, including many things I’d never heard of before coming here. But at this time of day, only the die-hards were here. The men and women with serious money, and no jobs. And they didn’t need substance-assisted courage.Vigoríwas their life.
Even though this wasn’t my first choice for a playground, I got it.Vigoríwas a place where a person’s secret, internal needs could come to life without judgment.
And that thought made Sam swim to mind—that boyish grin in stark contrast to the tattoos and rugged strength. I wondered what he’d make of a place like this.
But it was impossible to know, so I put that thought aside and pushed back the hood on my cloak as I scanned the room and tried to decide what I was going to do first.
The cloak would look costumey anywhere else in the world. But it fit perfectly here. And it served the dual purpose of hiding my half-naked body from the men—who were almost always predators—and giving me a flair that was applauded in this place.
I started a slow circuit around the main lounge. I’d get a drink before too long—something to do with my hands. But first I had to decide if I was going to look for Sid first, or if I’d wander around a bit.
Vigoríhad five main dens, two more lounges aside from this one, countless shadowy alcoves, and a few lockable rooms for which only a handful of the patrons could retrieve the keys.
Over the years I was a frequent visitor here, I’d been inside every nook and cranny of this place—I thought—but the main dens changed Doms every few months, which meant the content of each Den changed too. If Sid was new, he was probably in the eastern quadrant. I started drifting in that direction, still unsure if I was going to look for him right away, or not.
I actually loved this place. The darkness of it suited me. And it was one of the few environments where I feltvanillacompared to most of the other regulars. I felt comfortable around dark people in a way I never felt outside these walls. Probably because I knew they were all more dangerous than me.
I had my skills—I could take care of myself when I needed to. But mostly, I enjoyed being forced into submission. A practice that was very common here atVigorí. Yet, whether I was playing the game, or just watching, I loved this place because no one would judge me here. I could be a silent observer, or an obnoxiously loud participant. Whatever I felt like—because I didn’t always feel like the same thing. And no one would bat an eyelid.
I used to spend a lot of time here for that reason. But then stuff happened and I got tired and… I hadn’t been back in almost a year.
Valerie was going to shit herself when she saw the security logs.
As I made the circuit of the room and got closer to the fifth den—the one that changed doms most often—there was a small cluster of people at the door, obviously speaking to someone inside.
I had Sid’s invitation secreted in a pocket inside my cloak, just in case. But I had challenged myself to see if I could talk myway in without using it. Just because I knew it would piss him off.
Domsalwayshated it when you beat them. In anything. Except the ones that liked to switch, and so were always looking for someone to best them, then take over. But Sid hadn’t struck me as that kind of guy.
I pulled my hood back up as I got closer, dipped my chin to keep my face shadowed, and slipped up behind the people standing in the doorway.
“…shows at five, eight, eleven and two. But we’re full for the late ones, and you have to be screened.”
I smiled when I heard that voice and sure enough, as I took a spot behind two women in bondage gear, and a man in a wrinkled but clearly expensive suit, David, one of the Protectors here, looked at me suspiciously, then his eyes lit up.
“Hey! You’re back!”
I nodded, smiling wider. “Good to see you.”
He wouldn’t use my name—no one inVigoríused names, except in private. This was supposed to be a place where anyone could come and remain anonymous. A trait that was necessary because it was frequented by a lot of politicians and celebrities.
“You said there’s a show at five?”
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve been in before?”
The others' heads kept turning back and forth between us as they watched this conversation. I considered lying for their benefit, but that would make it too easy. “Not this show in particular, but Valerie—”
“Oh, even Val is saying you have to be assessed. You can’t get in unless he’s talked to you first.”
I frowned. “He? Sid?”