Chapter 6 Benny
six
Benny
A VERY STRANGE CLUB.
Rikky
Nightshade Cellars.
I looked up from the text to the sign. The storefront was all black and windowless, and Rikky had given me a specific set of instructions on how to access this place.
Frankly, they seemed a little ridiculous, even if this was some super-secret sex club for the filthy rich and famous.
But I was already here. I might as well go inside.
Rikky
Find the bottle without a label.
The interior was dimly lit, warm amber spotlights hung over carefully spaced bottles like they were art pieces, with price tags high enough to explain why there weren’t any other customers. The register was unattended.
Feeling like I’d entered a museum rather than a wine store, I looked through the displays, searching for the bottle without a label. The silence was heavy, amplifying every footstep, every rustle of clothing.
I was about to text Rikky that I couldn’t find it when I spotted it—below one of the other displays, in the shadows, a bottle with a matte black label.
Rikky’s next instructions were to take it to the register and say the phrase he’d given me. I jolted when I turned around to find an attendant now stood at the counter, watching me closely. I hadn’t heard him come in.
“Oh. Scared me.” I laughed nervously. “You move quietly.”
He didn’t smile. Alrighty then.
I cleared my throat and took the bottle over to him, placing it on the counter. “I uhh…” Such a stupid phrase. “I hear this one is Harborview’s best kept secret.”
“One moment,” he finally said, turning away from me to type something on his computer. Then he turned back to me and stared.
His gaze was so intense I had to look away, my eyes seeking anything else to focus on instead as I waited for him to say something else. There was a security camera above him, its red light blinking steadily.
“It’s really quiet in here.” I spoke again after long seconds that felt like minutes. I was never good with silence or awkward pauses in social interactions. He said nothing, though, just kept staring.
Was I supposed to do something else? I’d read Rikky’s messages a few times, but now I was blanking under that incessant scrutiny.
I was almost sweating when he finally looked away, something on his screen snapping his attention up. “Your total is eight thousand two hundred and eleven.”
Rikky
The total will be the door code. Go down the stairs at the back. Don’t pay for the wine, if that isn’t obvious.
This guy was certainly looking at me like he expected me to pay, and I almost would just to get him to stop staring at me like that.
“Thank you,” I said instead, taking a step back.
“Thank you,” he imitated in what I could only assume was an attempt to mock me, his voice dropping and speech altered to copy my accent.
Fucking weirdo.
Feeling very much like I shouldn’t be turning my back to this guy, I did just that, making my way to the back of the store, which was even darker than the main room. As soon as I descended the stairs, I let out a sigh of relief.
I pulled my phone out, glanced over the rest of the directions once more, and shot off a text before putting it back in my pocket.
If you never hear from me again, it was the cashier.
A joke, but something about that guy set me on edge, so just in case.
The storeroom was what I’d expect the storeroom of a wine cellar to look like. Crates, barrels, boxes. Nothing out of place. No other door. There were two fridges, though, with shining silver doors, one of which had a keypad next to it.
I put the code in. Eight. Two. One. One. The screen flashed green, the door hissing slightly like a seal had been released.
It opened to a concrete hallway, long, straight and sloping gradually downward to another door. It was blissfully well lit, with more security cameras in each corner. The next door revealed more stairs to go down.
It’s fine. This is fine. You’re an MMA fighter. You can fight your way out if you need to. You’re not going to be murdered. Everything is fine.
I was already extremely doubtful that I’d ever come back here again, no matter how much Rikky talked the place up or what kind of club awaited me. I probably should have turned and left at the cashier stage, but it already felt like I was in too deep.
The stairs continued down for what I guessed was four or five flights, cameras placed periodically, until I reached what I really hoped was the bottom. Another door.
It’s fine. This is fine. Rikky knows this place. You’re fine.
I reached for the handle, only for the door to open before I could grasp it, a firm hand meeting mine instead.
“Greetings,” said a very large man with a very wide grin.
“Uhh… hello.”
“Welcome to The Veil. We’ve been expecting you. Come inside, then.”
He pulled me through the doorway, and it was like stepping through a portal. The concrete hallway became black marble walls and plush crimson carpet, and the harsh, cold lights were now alternating between warm white and deep red as the space opened up.
“Just a few quick things and a Shadow will take you to The Master.”
“A what?”
“Shadow,” he repeated, gesturing to where two women and a much smaller man stood off to the side.
The women were dressed identically, wearing fitted black silk floor-length gowns, their hair braided intricately and a barely transparent veil over their faces.
The man wore a veil too, his shirt the same black silk and open to expose his chest. They stood motionless, with their backs to the wall, staring straight ahead.
“Place your electronics in the box,” he instructed as one of the “Shadow” women handed him a small black chest. “I promise I’ll keep them safe for you during your time here.
Phone, smartwatch, anything else you might have.
Into the box, please. We can never be too cautious with protecting our valued members. ”
“Right.” I pulled my phone hesitantly from my pocket, the man snapping it out of my hand before I could hold it out to him. The other two Shadows moved away from their places, busying themselves around me as the big guy took up my immediate attention.
“And the watch.”
I unfastened my smartwatch, and he took that too before closing the lid on the box. The male Shadow patted me down, brief and efficient, as the other woman scanned me for electronics with a metal detector wand.
“Enjoy your stay,” the big man said, gesturing to the first veiled woman as she started walking down the hallway.
What the fuck was this place?
The fear of being murdered in a basement dissipated, only to be replaced by the newer and much stronger feeling that I was about to be sacrificed by a sex cult instead.
“Hey, so… are you like, okay?” I spoke quietly when I was sure we were out of earshot of the man who’d greeted me. “You’re choosin’ to be here, doin’ this?”
“Of course,” she answered in a soft voice. “I enjoy serving The Master. I’d be free to leave if I wanted to.”
Was this a kink thing? I knew for some people it extended past being sexual and became a lifestyle. Maybe she really did want to be here. My head was spinning, and I barely took in my surroundings before we stopped out the front of a large set of double doors.
She knocked once, dipped her head to me, and then turned to go back the way we’d come from. I watched her until the heavy doors swung open.
It was an office, with the same intricately patterned carpet, the same black marble walls, but these were lined with dark wood bookshelves and filled with books that had a language I didn’t recognize on the spines.
“Benjamin Forrester,” came the smooth voice from a man seated behind a dark wooden desk. His hair was peachy pink and swept back out of his face. This had to be Shady.
“It’s just Benny.”
“Take a seat, Benny.”
The doors closed as I stepped inside—automatic, it seemed, because there was no one here but us.
I took a seat on the black leather seat opposite his desk, feeling very, very much like I was in over my head.
“I hear you’d like to join my club.”
“I think so, yes.”
“You think so?” His eyes narrowed. “It’s intimidating the first time, I’m sure. But you don’t have to worry, Benny. I’m very serious about protecting my members, and their secrets. That’s all.”
“Rikky mentioned that.”
“Yes, Rikky…” His lips pulled into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “He highly recommended you. There’s normally a whole process involved—joining fee, background checks, that kind of thing—but Rikky wants you in, so… welcome to The Veil.”
I knew Rikky and his family were involved in some messed-up shit, but if I’d just joined a cult because of him, I was going to be so fucking pissed.
“Paperwork first, shall we?” Shady opened the top drawer of his desk, retrieving a clipboard with several pages attached, and handed it over to me.
“Please answer as honestly as you can. No one but me will ever see it, and it’s crucial for me to find you the best possible matches to make your experience here a pleasant one. ”
I took it and the pen he offered, grateful when he turned his attention to his computer rather than watching me fill it out.
The first page was simple enough: sexual and physical preferences, boundaries, how I identified. I marked that I was open to being matched with either men, women, or other, and that I had no strong preferences for appearance. As long as we had the same interests, it didn’t matter to me.
Then the checkboxes: lists of kinks and interests for me to mark as yes, no, or only with the right person.
It quickly became obvious that this place catered to people far more extreme than I was in sexual appetite. There were things I hadn’t even heard of and marked “no” just to be safe. The clipboard felt heavier in my hands as I handed it back to him when I was done.
“Once you retrieve your phone, you’ll have a new app called V installed,” he explained.
“It will provide you with the door code, which changes daily, as well as an anonymous messaging system where you can message your matches. All messages are permanently deleted after twenty-four hours. If the club holds event nights that align with your preferences, you’ll be notified through the app. ”
I nodded, feeling like I’d just exposed more of myself on that paper than I ever had to another person. At least there was comfort in knowing I didn’t have to go through that charade upstairs every time I came here.
“Will you be staying any longer this evening?”
“No, I think I’ve had enough new experiences for one evenin’. Is there like… openin’ hours or somethin’?”
Shady smiled. This one seemed more genuine. “We’re open all night, and down here, it’s always night. A Shadow will give you the grand tour when you next come to play, then.”
“Alright.” I stood up, needing to get back outside to inhale some fresh air. This room smelled like incense, and sitting here this long had made me feel a little woozy.
“Your profile will be set up within twenty-four hours, Benny. Have a lovely evening.”
“You too. Um… thank you.”
“You can leave now.”
“Yep. Goin’.”
The office doors opened for me, and I made my way briskly back to the entrance, collecting my things and getting the fuck out of there.
Despite the facial recognition needed to unlock my phone, I found there was a new app already installed, like Shady said there would be. A silver “V” icon.
I also found that all the messages Rikky had sent me about how to access The Veil had been deleted.