The girl in a short white dress holds the man's hand as they walk into the Tavern of Sand. She smiles a bit too much at the gigantic man at the door as the man shows their invite cards. The gigantic man does not smile back, his eyes on the little cleavage her dress couldn't cover. She feels the man's hand grow tighter around hers even though he doesn't look at her.
Heads turn to look at the two. A man in a long black coat and a hat that hides his face from the light and a girl in a revealing dress who never stops smiling. Even as they walk conversations turn to whispers to silence as they watch the two take their place at the bar. A moment passes ere everything returns to normal and the bartender appears before the man.
"What can I get you...erm...sir?" He asks.
The man takes off his hat, pulls back his mask and smiles at the bartender. A young man, the bartender. Probably not more than twenty years. A great feat just as it is surviving so long in this wretched city, and with no visible scars either.
"Two things my good man," he looks to the girl who now stares at the table," three actually. A bottle of wine for the beautiful lady, whiskey for me and a bit of your time."
He stares back at the bartender.
"Can you do that er, sorry I didn't get your name,"
"That's cause I didn't give it sir," the bartender says.
"Of course my good man. Do tell your name as you pour the lady her wine eh,"
For a split second, the table at the right corner of the club comes into view as he adjusts himself on the chair and he gets a good look at the group seated there. He takes a look at his watch, thirty past eight.
"My good man, pour the lady some wine as I excuse myself for a bit. Be a kind man and keep her entertained for me."
With that he gets off the chair ,headed for the doors on the left and taps the girl on the shoulder as he goes. He pushes the rusty lock on the door, walks into the bathroom and stops at the sink. Though he knows better, he looks at the mirror and sighs. It's been a long time since he saw his face in anything other than the holos and photos in his room.
The voice comes as it always does, when least needed, the air becoming significantly colder. It's like metal dragging through the walls of his brain as it speaks.
"hello my darkness."
"Please for the love of the Second Cross go away," he says.
"but why my darkness. Is it because of the girl you brought here? Is she the reason you refuse my love right now."
He scoffs at it. The word and the voice behind it. Two things that are impossible for him to understand.
"I need your help tonight. A lot of it Gomaa."
The voice chuckles. He can feel it moving in the air as it does in his head making him grasp the sink harder.
"i thought you wanted me gone Sirius. i thought you wanted to spend more time with the girl and have peace. you refused my love my darkness why should i help you?"
Sirius stares into the blank mirror thinking. Why was he even in this room? Why was he in this city full of condemned and corrupt creatures who do not seem to understand virtue.
"he thinks himself holy and the world a mass of evil."
The voice laughs even louder now, the hairs on Sirius' neck standing. He shouldn't be here. He should be back home taking a nap waiting for his shift so that he can patrol the streets of his beautiful cities. He should be picturing Mbi's beautiful face and the smile she'd have as she talked about her baby. He should be thinking of names as he walks past a mixture of biomes and humans chatting or selling something.
"ah the past. a drug for the regretful man my dear darkness. the very thing that you will never touch no matter how much you try. yet you try."
"I need you to keep me alive tonight Gomaa," Sirius says.
He takes off his coat, folds it in two and slings it over his shoulder. He pulls out his two favourite things in the world, his longshots and takes in a deep breath.
"by alive you mean..."
"Yes Gomaa, I need the darkness tonight. All of it. The creature I hunt loves the dark and I intend to show him its truth,"
The voice does not speak.
"Gomaa will you grant me this favour tonight?" Sirius asks.
Nothing.
"Gomaa I need your..."
The girls screams tear through the air. Before the voice can answer, Sirius is already past the door longshots in the air. A lot more people yell out in fear when they see him pointing the things at them as he looks for the girl.