Praying For Love and Paying in Naivety

Quatre

hi-its-lefty I stole your boy and hid him in this chapter

It was busy downtown, but like before, nobody noticed the flashing lights and faint music coming from Titania's. I had the weird feeling that I shouldn't have been there. The place had an air of abnormality, an almost inhuman energy. I put my hand on the doorknob. It was golden and carved with vines. I took a deep breath and pushed it open. When I got in, the door disappeared behind me, sealing up into the rest of the wall.

I was in a fairly large room, low-ceilinged and dimly lit. It smelled like flowers, and something else that I couldn't place, something deep red and glowing. There were tables lined up across one wall, with a bar on the opposite side and a churning dance floor in the middle. In one corner was a small stage, lit with smoky candles. It was just a burlesque club- until you took a closer look.

The woman in front of me had blue skin and three eyes. Behind her, a tall, handsome man with a blue hydrangea in his white-blonde hair watched the dancing with deep, knowing eyes. The bartender had horns and a tail. A dark-haired man in black slacks with off-white pinstripes and a white shirt with a red bow tie sipped a dignified-looking cocktail, surrounded by impossibly beautiful girls (and a few boys) in eccentric orange butterfly costumes. The wings on their costumes were so thin and fluttery, they couldn't be anything but real. Everyone there was acting like they were trying to seduce each other.

What caught my eye the most was the dancing girls on the stage. There were six of them, and each one wore a translucent, fluttering dress that changed color depending on how you looked at it. They were all doing a mesmerizing burlesque-style dance, slowly twisting and turning to a jazz song that came from everywhere and nowhere. I stood staring at them, open-mouthed, until someone tapped me on the shoulder.

It was the man in the pinstriped slacks. He had seemed normal from a distance, but up close, I could see that his skin was shiny and iridescent, like an opal. He cocked his head at me. "What are you?"

I was unsure what he meant. "Um... I'm white?"

The man shook his head. "No, what are you? Elf, Unseelie, fae... you don't look like a dwarf..."

"Uh, I'm a human?"

His eyes widened in shock, and the winged pretty people scatter back a couple steps, whispering to each other. "How..? You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have been able to get in."

I had meant the "I'm human" thing sarcastically, but the man (was he a man? Was he a "he?") didn't seem sarcastic. "I'm just looking for my girlfriend...I thought she might be here."

The shimmery person giggles. "Oh, you're a silly boy. Silly, pretty boy. Honey, if your girlfriend is here, you might as well give up."

"Yeah... what is this place?"

"This night club belongs to the Fair Folk. You know, like the fairy tales... hmm, don't believe me? Look around. Does this look normal? Feel normal? No, of course it doesn't. You'd better watch your step. It's not safe for you." With that, he clapped his hands and disappeared.