Burrowed: Chapter Five

Through the hills to the outskirts of Davens, the rain started to come down lightly. Tiny drops slowly coursed down the now-cracked windows, as I relaxed into the seat letting the cool air dance over the humid, sticky feeling clinging to my skin. I looked over at Apollo driving quietly, watching his cigarette smoke slowly drift between us in the occasional splash of sporadic lighting on the old road. Some electronic-instrumental song played from his mp3 player and it fit right into this perfect setting.




The crunch of gravel broke my thoughts, as we pulled into a lot next to an old, forgotten warehouse. "This should be the place," Apollo said quietly as the car settled to stillness. Each peering through a window, we watched a couple of people drift by the car. Talking and laughing excitedly, they entered a door to a small building near the warehouse. We got out of the car and followed after them, as if we knew our way around. The doors led into a small, dark room with a staircase descending into the ground. I followed Apollo, with Drew and Elisa behind me. Apollo reached back and squeezed my hand for a second before quickly letting go. Now that we were here, our excitement was electric.



We joined a line of people in a stuffy, barely lit room that curved around into a small office on the right. There were signs everywhere reminding to keep your pass on you at all times and maps in case you were lost. A loud speaker crackled a 'Welcome to Underaan' but was drowned out over the chattering people in front of us. Our turn to enter the small office came, as we walked up to an old woman sitting at a desk. We were all given a pass card for the gates, and a stamp on the hand after paying a small fee. The woman barked out not to get lost and pushed folded maps towards us. Apollo grabbed a few and we exited the office to descend a second set of stairs outside.



We came to an old, metal gate with a scanner for our passes. More loud speakers and now there were cameras. Apollo swiped his card through the machine, the gate opened, and we all went through. On the other side were two small guard stations though there seemed to be only one guard and he eyed us from behind the window as we walked by.



A sign post up ahead led our way to the bar, Hades. The underground streets were barely lit here as well, paved with cracking stones and gravel. In the dark, the dream from this morning came back to me again and again. While this place looked slightly different, it seemed eerily the same as well.



Drew, walking briskly in front of us, found the place, and waved us up before going inside. Hades had a small lit sign that just said "Bar" outside. The place was hazy with smoke and darker than the street. We stumbled our way inside, bumping into other patrons as we made our way to the bar. Music thumped loudly in our ears and Drew and Elisa immediately went in search of the source, leaving Apollo to find a table. Alone, I found a seat at the bar and started fiddling with a napkin left there before me.



"You want something to drink?" A husky voice asked me. Startled I looked up into a pair of deep blue eyes. There stood the bartender, a scruffy guy with tattoos covering his arms, and a cigarette tucked behind his ear. He didn't appear to be much older than me at eighteen, I'd say early twenties. My stomach fluttered because he was rather good looking, in a rough way. Coming to my senses, I realized he was waiting for my reply.

"Uh, I-I don't really drink, I'm kind of waiting for my friends," I stuttered.

He eyed around the bar then looked back at me, giving me a cocky half smile.

"We have soft drinks, if you'd like," He said.

"Really? Um, just a coke then I guess, if you have it?"



"Sure thing," and he walked off farther down the bar. Apollo came up and pointed to where Elisa and Drew were now sitting. Yelling, I told him I was waiting for a drink and he gave me an odd look. When the bartender returned handing me the soft drink and winking at me, I heard Apollo chuckling at my side. He asked the bartender for a beer and some girly alcoholic drinks for Elisa and Drew. I made my way to where the girls were sitting and noticed a man had joined them. Not so surprisingly, Drew was all over him, giggling and speaking into his ear.



I scooted into the booth near Elisa. "This is fun!" She said over the music. I nodded lifting the straw of my drink to my lips.

"Only Clair would come to a bar to drink a soda," Drew giggled.

Apollo came back and set the drinks down and we all settled in and began talking and laughing. The guy with Drew was apparently named Chris "spelled K-R-Y-S" and was visiting from our neighboring town of Clark Pointe. He had a blue mohawk, several piercings and made a living as a tattoo artist. He had lots of crazy stories and I just soaked them up, along with the ambient. Every now and then my eyes would stray back to the bar and once I caught the bartender looking our way. I was sure he couldn't see us back here, because it was dark and smoky but it seemed he was looking our way with hard eyes. Apollo noticed me and nudged my arm.



"Looks like Clair thinks the bartender is cuuuuuute" he exclaimed, interrupting Krys. All eyes at the table turned my way and I couldn't stop myself from flushing red.

"Ohh, he's cute. I saw him when we walked in," Drew said. This caused a slightly angry glare from Krys.



"Really?" Elisa squealed and began craning her neck around to get a look. I sunk lower into my seat and told them to shut up. Everyone laughed. A hand covered fingerlessly in leather set a glass down next to me and I looked up to find the bartender standing there, setting another soft drink in front of me.

"I thought you might like a refill," he said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Wow, we were juuust talking about you," Drew said and I cringed.

"You were? Nice things I hope, doll," He leaned into the table.

"Oh, very nice things," she purred back. A slight wave of jealousy came over me. He motioned for me to scoot over and sat down at the edge of our booth.



"Hmm, and what would those nice things be?" He questioned her.

"Just what a cute butt you have!" Elisa gushed out. I shot her a look and we both laughed.

"Really? You can see it when I'm behind the bar all night?" he chuckled.

"Oh yeah, it's nice." I spoke up, going along with it. He leaned back and put his arm around the back of the booth, behind my shoulders.

"I'm glad you think so," he leaned towards me and said. His fresh breath washed over me as I was busy pretending my heartbeat wasn't speeding up. I never dated a lot, and was always nervous around guys, especially cute ones. Except for Apollo, who was my best friend and more like a brother, I wasn't use to being this close to that of the opposite sex. I was also terrible at flirting. I gave a nervous laugh and tried to look casual.

Drew started giggling and leaned across the table, trying to regain the bartender's attention. Seeing this, Krys just shook his head and disappeared back into the crowd, without Drew even giving him a second thought.

"So- Do you always tend bar here over the weekends?" She asked in a breathy voice, barely audible over the ambient noise.

"Sure do. I put in a lot of time, because I own this place. I have a buddy who comes in to take over for me sometimes, though, when I need to get away," he winked.

"Oh WOW! You own this place? It's only like the hottest spot around Davens!" She exclaimed.

"You own this place? Aren't you a little young to own a bar?" I asked, talking over the end of Drew's sentence.

Again he looked down at me and laughed. "We're encouraged to get a profession here real young. This is what I wanted to do, and it was a good way to bring people down here. Besides, I'm twenty three, darling. Not that young, and old enough to legally serve myself a beer!" He chuckled.

"This place is really .. interesting." I said.

"Yeah, how can you stand living in a hole?" Elisa questioned. His eyes shot up to her and he didn't seem pleased by that question. The sudden tension was pulsating.

"This is all most of us have ever known, we're a close-knit community. I don't think of it as a 'hole'," He almost growled the last part. Elisa shifted uneasily, and started talking to Apollo about something else. Drew smiled, obviously pleased that it didn't seem the bartender liked Elisa that much now. I sighed. Drew struck up the conversation again while I sat there -like a third wheel- as Apollo and Elisa got up to dance.



"So what's your name, mysterious bartender?" Drew asked, leaning over the table in such a way so we could get a clear view of her body.

"Jackson. Most people call me Jack,"

"I like that, it's a sexy name," She giggled.

"I suppose, if a name can be sexy," He laughed, "What about you? You guys have names?"

"Well, I'm Drew, and the redhead was Elisa, she's over there dancing with our friend Apollo now. Oh, and that's Clair," she pointed to me.

"Have you guys been here before? I don't recall seeing any of you around," He questioned. I decided to jump back into this conversation before I was completely forgotten.

"Nope, but we've heard about this place a lot. It was Drew's idea mostly, but I've always been curious," I leaned in towards him. Drew gave me a strange look.

"Yeah it was my idea, but if I'd known the bartender here was so hot, we would've come a lot sooner, or.. maybe I would have come alone," she continued.

Giving in to the loss, I excused myself to the restroom. No one stands a chance if Drew wanted the guy you were interested in. I met up with Apollo and Elisa on the crowded dance floor. I really didn't want to go back to the table. Elisa complained that she thought Jackson was rude, and I told her she shouldn't go around calling this place a hole to the locals. Apollo agreed with me and asked if I was okay.

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, I don't know, seems the man-eater got the one you liked," He rubbed my shoulder.

"Oh, that? Whatever," I tried to play it off. I wasn't interested in dating someone who lived underground anyway.

It couldn't possibly work, right?