3. CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3
“ Y ou got fired, you’re in a craptastic mood, and you’re totally down on yourself,” Margot said earlier in the day while laying out the clothes she demanded Lexi wear for their night out—a flirty sundress with a neckline as low as the hem was high, which was to say, very, and a pair of stupidly tall spike heels. “You’re in need of some serious ego boosting, and a little bit of male appreciation couldn’t hurt.”
Lexi’s visions, however, had become so frequent that her biggest goal for the night wasn’t finding a good-looking guy, but merely staying conscious on her barstool.
“Besides,” Margot had added, “You’re not going to believe what I’ve got in store for you tonight. Get ready to have your mind blown.” Her bestie knew exactly how to hook her.
An Ivy-League-educated, real-world-hardened, entrepreneur, Margot was a platinum blonde bombshell with a gregarious personality who wasn’t above wearing a low-cut blouse if she could parlay her cleavage into a better rate of interest—financially and otherwise.
“And don’t cover up your boobs with that sweater.” Margot tossed aside the lightweight cardigan Lexi had selected, and then bounded out the door to get her hair blown out for their big night.
Now several hours later, and an unusually early start at only seven o’clock, Lexi paced the sidewalk at the corner of Fourth Street and Market. The neon sign of a Mexican restaurant cast a bright pink glow about her. Apprehensive but excited, she searched for the face of her best friend among the throngs of people out for the night. Lexi could hardly rationalize spending money on an evening of fun, but her attempts at avoiding the plans had been unsuccessful. It was, as everyone knew, nearly impossible to say no to Margot.
Still feeling raw and vulnerable from the previous day’s events at the office, Lexi now tugged on the sweater as she waited in front of the bright sign advertising five-dollar chorizo taco plates. She pulled out her phone, wondering what was keeping her friend, when she heard the familiar sound of stiletto heels clacking on cobblestones.
Margot waved as she trotted up. “Hey, doll. Sorry I’m late.”
The epitome of a femme fatale, she wore six-inch spiked-heel patent leather pumps, close-fitting suit pants, and a finely tailored black blazer, worn with nothing underneath. Well, nothing except her perfect Barbie Doll double D’s that barely kept themselves from being fully revealed.
Lexi pulled her friend in for a hug. “So where are we going tonight?”
Margot pointed at the dive joint behind them, called Taco Shots. When Margot had said to meet in front of it, Lexi figured they’d grab a cab to whatever new whisky bar or private rooftop club her friend had decided was the current “mind-blowing” hot spot. As it turned out, the hot spot they were gracing was Taco Shots itself.
Lexi pulled open the door to the tiny shop. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I’m not kidding, but it’s also not what you think.” Margot led the way as they whizzed right past the few tables, the ordering counter, the small, greasy-smelling kitchen that Lexi really didn’t want to stare too hard at, and straight toward another door that looked for all the world like the back exit.
Then they stepped through it, and…
“Holy shit. It’s like the freaking Tardis.”
The tiny diner was just a front for a spacious, elegant, and at the moment, subdued nightclub. The walls were a deep charcoal gray, though they shimmered in spots as if embedded with dark gems. Interspersed every ten feet or so, floor-to-ceiling panels looked as though they flowed with liquid gold. Lexi walked up to one and touched it. The panels were covered in gold leaf with water streaming ever so gently down them into shallow pools at the base of each one. Groupings of dark leather sofas and tiny coffee tables were gently illuminated by tea candles and wall sconces. A huge room, it nevertheless felt… cozy.
A well-stocked bar filled most of the length on the right wall, and at the back of the lounge, a space of about thirty square feet was roped off. If it were a VIP section, it was an odd one, since there were no furnishings filling the space. Like a strange little queuing area to nowhere.
Lexi glanced back at the door they’d just come through from the restaurant’s kitchen. So, this was one of those secret clubs, a speakeasy-type place that had become popular recently, where you had to be in the know to get invited.
A little too secretive perhaps.
Less than a dozen other patrons milled about, mainly professorial types in khakis or business suits, with a smattering of the boho artist variety. Definitely not your trendy Philly club-goers. Of course, at just after seven o’clock, the extremely early hour could easily account for the low body count in the otherwise spacious room, but Margot’s early-bird call time only added to the mystery.
Above the quiet jazz playing in the background, the guests spoke in hushed tones, and there was a distinct air of anticipation filling the room. Most of the guests held briefcases, musical instruments, or portfolios. Lexi’s apprehension began to abate as her curiosity piqued .
“It’s definitely not about the chorizo tacos,” she mumbled, mostly to herself.
“For most people it is, actually,” said a male voice over her shoulder.
Startled, she spun to see an attractive man with gel-spiked blond hair, a diamond stud earring, and startling baby blue eyes. Dressed in an impeccable custom-fit pinstriped suit, he had a baby face that didn’t quite fit the rest of the picture.
“Most people don’t know we’re here,” he said, “and most of those who do aren’t allowed past the grease fryer. You probably didn’t notice, but the 250-pound cook you passed on your way in was actually Jimmy, our bouncer.” He offered his hand. “I’m Matthew McCabe. Call me Matt. You must be Lexi.”
She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Matt. But you have me at a disadvantage. This is all a surprise to me.”
He cocked his head, confusion on his face. “Oh, I’m sorry. Margot didn’t—”
“Didn’t what?” Margot said as she came up beside them, putting her arms around his neck and planting him with a kiss that clearly cut off his train of thought as he responded with not only pleasure, but apparent familiarity.
Margot always told Lexi about every man in her life, often in more detail than Lexi cared to know, but she was pretty darned sure the name Matthew had never come up, which bothered her more than it should have. Perhaps because it was one more thing throwing her off balance since the evening began.
“Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” Matt reached into an inner coat pocket and pulled out two clunky digital watches, strapping them quickly onto the wrists of both women. “We’re already late, and you know Gideon is over there tapping his foot wondering what the hold-up is. ”
Lexi stared at the timer on her wrist—the one she’d seen several times in her premonitions—and blanched.
So here we go , she thought, the fight or flight instinct screaming in her brain, forcing adrenaline through her limbs, yet rendering her stuck to the spot.
She’d known the actualization of her recent visions would be imminent, they’d been coming so quickly and relentlessly, but it never crossed her mind that it would happen like this, on a night out with Margot.
Then again, she had no idea what she’d expected.
She reached for the timer with her other hand, her fingers fiddling with the buckle. If she yanked it off now and ran right back out of the club, would that be the end of it? Had she been given enough warning to be able to walk away from this destiny? Probably not. She knew better than that. She couldn’t remember ever having changed her fate once a vision had shown it to her. Delayed it maybe. And maybe with everything going on in her life right now, delaying wasn’t such a bad idea.
Then she thought of the man from her dreams, the image of his penetrating gaze, his sensual touch. Lexi dropped her hand from the buckle and let the timer stay.
She studied the object sitting heavily on her wrist. It was counting down from four hours.
“What is this?” Lexi pulled Margot to the side. “This timer… it was in my visions.”
Her friend’s easy smile pulled into a shit-eating grin. “I know.”
“What do you mean you know ?” She glanced back and forth between the timer and Margot’s face. “You want to clue me in?”
Eyeing the exchange, Matthew interrupted them. “Christ, Margot. You should’ve filled her in long before she got here. I assumed you had when I vetted her.” He raked his hands through his hair, causing a few of the gelled spikes to skew out of place. “Crap. ”
Lexi lifted her chin. “Vetted me?”
He eyed the other guests, mumbling something about this Gideon person again before returning his gaze to Margot. “I don’t need another visit from him bitching about some small misstep or another. The last time he crossed over to lecture me, he got so worked up all the damn liquor bottles exploded.” Matthew took a breath when he caught Lexi’s stare, reaching to fix his hair. “That shit’s expensive to replace.”
The bartender came out from behind the bar, holding out a small wicker basket full of cell phones. “Ladies, I need your cells before you go. And any other recording devices you may have on you. They’ll be waiting for you when you return.”
Whoa. Okay. Lexi had no idea what was going on, but now she was to hand over her phone? Yeah, no. Whoever Mr. Grey-Green Eyes was, he wasn’t worth all this weirdness. “Margot, I’m not comfortable with this. Whatever this even is.” She started to remove the timer, but Margot gently stopped her.
“Okay, wait. Let me get you a drink, baby doll, and explain. I guarantee not only is it going to be okay, but it’ll be the night of your life.” She turned her attention to Matt. “Can you give us a minute, babe?”
Matthew relented and waved them toward the bar. “You’ve got five minutes.”
As soon as they sat down Lexi’s questions flew with the speed of a machine gun. “What is this place, what are these things on our wrists, why did they take our cell phones, and who the heck is Matt-the-Charmer who you obviously have some kind of thing with but never mentioned to me?” She continued at lightning pace. “Who, for that matter, is this Gideon guy who explodes bottles when he’s upset?” She had to be turning blue because she hadn’t taken a breath since they sat. “And what, for the love of God, did Matt mean by crossed over ?” She finally drew some air .
Margot smiled, completely unflustered by Lexi’s rant. “Okay, let me start by saying that it’s really all because of you that we’re here.”
Lexi’s eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline. “What?”
“Just hear me out. First off, you’re the one who’s the woo-woo after all.”
“The woo-woo ?”
“You know what I mean. You’ve got the sight . As matter of fact I’ve been saying all along you need one of your own TV shows, like that Long Island Medium woman or something,”
Her lips twisted into a frown. “You know it doesn’t work like that. I can’t just call things up on demand.”
“I still say you need your own show. Do you have any idea how much money those reality show people make?”
Lexi loved her friend, but this wasn’t at all amusing. “So anyway…”
“So anyway, when you told me about your most recent visions, I knew it was time to bring you here. It was meant to be.”
She shook her head, ready to reach up and pull her hair out. Or pull Margot’s out. “Bring me where ? Can you make some sense already, please?”
Margot put her palms forward. “Okay, you know how you’re always saying you sometimes have the feeling there are other worlds out there, other dimensions that are right next to us, overlapping us? Well guess what? It’s true, baby doll.”
Lexi didn’t bother to respond. She was a statue.
“Look, I know you believe in far out stuff. I’ve seen your bedside table with books on chakras and astral travel,” Margot crossed her legs, getting comfortable against the bar. “You’re the one always dragging me into the Third Eye bookstore, or making me watch some documentary on quantum physics and string theory.”
But that was sort of the problem wasn’t it? Lexi may have read those books, and true, she was a Discovery Channel junkie, but when push came to shove, she wasn’t sure she really believed any of it. Multiverses and wormholes were exciting thoughts, but at the end of the day she pretty much always figured it was hogwash.
“Besides,” Margot continued, “you’re, well… you’re psychic . You of all people should know that strange things do exist.”
Good fucking point.
“And you know me,” Margot continued, “I butt my nose into everyone’s business, and for some reason people are comfortable talking to me. I always find out about crazy, secretive shit.”
Lexi gave a non-committal shrug, though she knew her friend was at least right on that count. Margot could probably bat her eyes at a member of the Secret Service and find out in five minutes who really shot Kennedy.
“Anyway, you were right, Lex. Other worlds do exist—at least one other world for sure—and we’re going there. Tonight.”
Her mouth had to have dropped open wide enough to catch a bug. “I still don’t know what you’re saying. We’re going where exactly?”
Margot took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “To a parallel universe, like you’re always dreaming about. Taco Shots is a portal.”
Lexi stared at her friend, her brain racing to make sense of that last sentence. She honestly thought her best friend had lost her mind. What exactly was the portal? The taco bar up front? The lounge they were sitting in? Was some crazy, blue, glowing doorway about to open up somewhere? Was something seriously, horribly wrong with Margot?
There was no denying the timer on her wrist, though, or the fact that everyone else in the room wore the same device. Or that the other patrons had all moved into the roped off corner of the bar, standing there with briefcases and musical instruments in hand, giving impatient glances across the room at her .
A wave of nausea twisted her gut. Her mouth tasted sour, her tongue dry. “A parallel universe?”
“I don’t understand it exactly.” Margot shrugged. “You know that science stuff is over my head. I’m a business girl. But there are people on the other side who can explain it to you if you want to know the details. Plus, I think they might be able to help you with your little prescience problem.”
“What?” Lexi shook her head, absent-mindedly rubbing the goose bumps that had appeared on her arms.
“They know about things like that over there.” Margot took a sip of her drink, and her eyes widened. “Wait until you see it. It’s like Philadelphia, but not. It’s kind of a crazy version of Philly. It’s still sort of Victorian… or… Colonial. I don’t know. But much more advanced, too. Honestly, it’s totally whack, but in a good way.”
The hair on the back of her neck stood straight up. She grabbed Margot’s forearm. “That’s definitely the place in my dreams. I saw that version of Philly in my dream! I thought it was some, I don’t know, amusement park or… one of those tourist places where they recreate a colonial village.”
Margot’s face brightened. “I know, as soon as you told me about the visions, I realized it had to be this. So, that means you’ve got to go, right? I mean, you’re supposed to go, aren’t you? Like… it’s your fate or something?”
Lexi paused. “But, fate doesn’t necessarily mean good and—”
“Stop worrying and let’s discover what your visions are all about,” she pleaded. “It’s safe, not to mention a blast. I’ve been a bunch of times before. Trust me.”
And that was another thing.
“Yeah, about that. Why haven’t you mentioned this to me before? Especially the part about Matthew. Obviously, you’ve got a thing going on with him. How come you never told me about any of this? ”
Margot blushed, which was a rare thing. “Look, it’s like the movie Fight Club . The first rule about the other side is that you don’t talk about the other side. With anyone. Which also meant not talking about Matthew. I’ve known for weeks I needed to bring you here, wanted to bring you here. I just needed to convince Matthew and wait for the right time.”
“And tonight’s the right time?”
Margot glanced at Matthew and Lexi followed her gaze. He was giving her a look that was beyond impatient. He drew a fast circle in the air with his index finger letting her know it was time to wrap it up.
“Yeah, it’s the right time.”
Lexi’s nerves pulsed. She couldn’t believe she was about to acquiesce. “Okay, so pretend I’m going to indulge you for a moment here. What exactly are these timers on our wrists?”
Instead of answering, Margot tugged her off the bar stool and over to the roped-off space with the other patrons, tucking into the group and giving Lexi’s arm a gentle squeeze right as the music came up.
It was loud, very loud.
Even if Margot had time to answer Lexi’s last question, which she didn’t, she couldn’t have made her voice heard above the noise. The thrumming, ambient tones were hypnotic and unusual in cadence. Nothing like Lexi had ever heard before. She wasn’t even sure she could rightfully call it music.
Suddenly, Lexi noticed a slight buzzing throughout her body, as if she were filled from head-to-toe with gentle, softly moving bees.
The whole world faded to black.