BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) (19 page)

Audrina found her
friends in a small seated recess, and she pranced down the steps to squeeze in
between two girls on the circular bench seating of their snug. River being her
rearguard as usual followed her and sat at the end of the line. The guy beside
him turned and introduced himself as Todd. He then went on to introduce the
other six people in the group besides Audrina. River found it hard to hear him
and difficult to remember many of the names. He recalled that one girl was
called Sam, but he wasn’t sure which one of the three girls she was. 

Todd tried to strike up
a conversation with him but he couldn’t find any common ground. He asked him
where he worked, meaning for which bank. River replied that he didn’t work.
Todd seemed taken aback but asked him instead what he had been up to today, and
River truthfully replied that he had visited Holly Bush in District 18. That
was a conversational breaker; Todd had no interest in what transpired in
Downtown, and after that he found an excuse to talk to someone else. River
instead gazed up to watch the people dancing in a tight pack around their
sunken circular snug. Most of the dancers were moving and gyrating in very
suggestive and erotic style. This seemed to be the prevalent way. He thought it
not too dissimilar to the table dancers in that bar in District 18. Of course
the girls in that Holly Bush bar were only wearing thongs, but here due to the
positioning of the dance floor, he couldn’t help but see up girls skirts as
they danced. This felt inappropriate to him particularly as these girls were
not paid exotic dancers. So he returned his attention to the table and to
Audrina. She was acting gaily and was obviously having a good time. He watched
her taking large sniffs out of an inhaler that was slowly passing around the
circular table. When it reached River he declined knowing it to be a narcotic.
River knew that the effect of any narcotic on his body would be similar to that
befuddled state he found himself in when he had the alcohol. Right now, he had
some expensive alcoholic cocktail in front of him which he daren’t drink. It
pissed him off that Audrina knew him so little that she would have bought this
for him. He was partly annoyed because he was thirsty and wanted a soda. He
realised that he was getting testy. There was a lot going on that was not right
for him. The music was too loud and although tuneful, it was most obviously
tuned in the wrong pitch. He could feel the amplified vibrations unsettling his
sacral chakra. River made sure that he meditated every day to balance and
correctly align his chakras. He also conducted a set of breathing, posture, and
body movement exercises daily. These were all pertinent exercises which enabled
him to attune his mind, senses, reactions, and body movements. As a result of
his daily regime, he was aware of his body in ways that people here seemed
ignorant. He could palpably feel the chi energy that flowed through the
invisible infrastructure of his chakras. Therefore he felt that this alone
constituted enough reason for him to leave.

He wasn’t sure how he
was going to leave; whether it would be with or without Audrina. She had gone
on to the dance floor with two of the girls. They were all getting excited and
carried away. River wondered what effect those drugs were having on her. She
was definitely acting sexually excited. She had steered her two friends over to
dance literally a couple of feet above him where he was sitting and she was
gesturing to him. When he looked up, what he could see was so sexy it was
almost pornographic. She was raising her hemline with one hand as she gyrated
and grinded on the dance floor above acting as his own private dancer. This was
erotic and exciting for River because he still found Audrina so very
attractive. However, she was also dancing intimately with both of the other
girls. As each girl pressed themselves frontally into each other, Audrina was
reaching behind to raise their skirts and show River what they hid underneath.
Of course he found this little display both sexy and erotic, but this behaviour
didn’t feel correct to him. He wasn’t liberally minded sexually and he only
wanted Audrina; she seemed intent on enticing him with her friend’s bodies.
When she beckoned him to join them up on the dance floor, he had reservations
because he was concerned about moving rhythmically to this loud music which was
tuned to the wrong pitch. Audrina noted his rejection and glanced angrily at
him. She then beckoned another of her male friends who was sitting at the table
and he very quickly climbed the few steps to join her and the other girls. That
guy wasted no time stepping in the middle of the three whilst they all railed
up against him. It made River angry to watch Audrina in particular rubbing
herself against the man’s hips and then spooning him from behind. River racked
his brains to recall the name of this guy. He remembered it was Stannis and he
considered climbing up there to deck the man, but he realised that it was nothing
personal and that in truth it was Audrina who was making him see red.

He looked away feigning
disinterest which seemed to be effective at inducing Audrina to return to the
table along with Stannis who didn’t seem to want to leave her alone now. River
glared across the table and when he saw Stannis offer her Audrina a pill after
having taken one himself, River reached across the table to stay her hand
before she could take it. She pulled her arm back in recoil, and glared at him.
Still maintaining her angry stare, she now took the pill from Stannis and
popped it in her mouth washing it down with some alcohol.

River had had enough
and he got up ready to leave, but before he left he made a point of circling
the table so that he could whisper into Audrina’s ear. He bent down and leaned
in aggressively in between Stannis and Audrina making sure that his shoulder
knocked Stannis to whom he turned his back.

“Please come home NOW
with me,” appealed River but in an assertive tone.

“You are boring me,”
Audrina replied as she now also turned her back to River. By the time she
turned back around, he was gone.

River exited the first
floor club and bounded down the marble stairs past the doormen and then out
through the main doors. He groped around in his pockets to find his glasses.
Putting them on, he opened up a travel app on the overlay display so that he
could get some information on the best way home. He was still making a choice
when he felt someone rip the glasses off his face. In a confrontational mood,
he turned around quickly to find it was Audrina who was standing there holding
them in her hand.

“I don’t want you to
leave,” she said demurely like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.  

“I am tired. I am
hungry, and I am angry with you,” River declared as if each reason trumped any
reason of hers to stay.

“I know sweetheart.
Lets go and get something to eat over at that fried chicken shop, and hopefully
you will stop being angry with me.”

River glanced at the
fast food takeaway across the road and considered that the food maybe unclean,
but Audrina was once again leading him by the hand and now smiling sweetly at
him. He followed her as usual and allowed her to choose from the menu. She
bought two chicken boxes which contained a mixture of different cuts of fried
chicken with fries. River probed through his box picking only what pieces he
felt looked edible. He decided not to eat the fries as they looked very
processed. Audrina on the other hand picked at a couple of her fries and then
discreetly discarded her box of fried chicken on the pavement. She didn’t have
any particular reservation about the food. She just wasn’t hungry. River
watched her and figured that this was another effect of the narcotics she had
taken.

“Give me back my
glasses,” appealed River. “I want to find out how to get home.”

Audrina ignored his
request and placed his glasses on her face activating the communicator device.
River didn’t want to forcibly seize them from her and he waited patiently while
her hand movements indicated her to be making selections on the display
menu.   

“Hello Mum. It’s
Audrina. Yes I have borrowed River’s communicator. He is with me right now. I
just wanted to call you and tell you that we are having a great time at a club
and we are about to head on to a party. It’s going to be an all-nighter at some
rich guy’s apartment. So we won’t be home tonight,” Audrina was listening to
Valerie but smiling at River like a Cheshire cat. “No don’t worry about me mum.
You know River will protect me and make sure that I am safe.” Again Audrina
fell silent as she listened to her mum, and then she removed and handed the
glasses to River, “It’s Mum, she wants to talk to you.” River put on the
glasses and saw Valerie appear on his display.

“I want you to take
good care of my daughter. Make sure she behaves herself and doesn’t do anything
stupid.”

“Yes Valerie,” River
replied obligingly, and the call was ended.

River pulled off the
glasses to lecture Audrina, “That was dishonest of you. You are acting manic
and I know it is those drugs. You think you can force me to do what I don’t
want to do. Well I won’t be going back in there, and I am not going to any
party. You can phone your mother back.”

“Don’t fret so much. I
am not taking you back in there. I am going to take you somewhere else so you
can rest up a little and feel better. Then we might go to the party but only if
you want to. Come on honey.” Audrina leaned forward to sweetly kiss River on
the lips and her hand interlinked his so that she could lead him by the hand to
the taxi rank.

After boarding the
first available taxi, Audrina tapped out the next location on the taxis
console. River noted that the verified address was not home but came up as a
local Box Hotel in the same district. Hence the ride was very brief, and
Audrina still holding on to River’s hand pulled him out of the cab and led him
through the entrance of a local branch of the ‘Rest Assured Box Hotel’. As they
found the self service reception point in the hotels small foyer, Audrina
scrolled through a menu selecting choices. She appeared to be familiar with
this company, and must have used these Box Hotels before. She swiped the
readout with her wrist one time and then asked River to do the same.

“Do you want me to pay?”
he asked.

“No stupid. It wants
your details,” she replied.

They took the lift to
the sixth floor and walked down a narrow corridor looking for room 610. When
they passed it, Audrina told River to swipe his bracelet on the door sensor and
it opened revealing a bright red sparsely furnished room. They both entered and
examined the room. There was no carpet just a hard red plastic floor. There was
one king size crimson bed in the middle of the room and four posts at every
corner each with a selection of buckles and small chains attached. There was dispenser
vending machine in one corner that offered a bizarre mix of refreshments,
sweets, narcotics, and all sorted sex toys. In another corner there was an open
shower and a slight well in the floor for drainage. There was no furniture,
except for the pull out drawers that were in the bed frame. River opened one of
them and pulled out a selection of whips, canes, restraining bars and shackles
asking “What the hell is this all about,” As if in reply, Audrina pushed the
door shut which made the sign on the back of the door visible. It read ‘
SEXual
Suite’
.

“It comes with the room,”
she said

River was now certain
that this was some familiar haunt of hers, “You said we were coming here so
that I could get some rest. I don’t know what you had planned, but I am tired.”

“No I said that I knew
what you needed, and I do. You can get some shut eye after we play a little,”
she said suggestively.

“What, with all this
stuff?” River gestured to the whips and canes.

“No; that’s not
necessary. As I said, it comes with the room. Don’t you want to sleep with me
tonight?” she enquired innocently.

“I do, of course I do.
I’m sorry, it is just that I am tired and little grumpy,” River felt that he
had misjudged the situation. “And you have been acting strange all evening; I
don’t like you taking those drugs.” River hoped to get a reaction from her, but
his comments didn’t even register. She had walked over to investigate the
vending machine and was checking out what was on offer. She swiped the reader
and tapped out a selection and two energy drinks rolled out.

“Try this,” she said
throwing him one of the cans. River scrutinized the label wondering if it was
healthy to drink. He took a chance because he was so thirsty. Audrina was still
busying herself tapping out other selections, and other items were dropping
into the tray.

River wondered when the
energy burst from the drink would kick in. Feeling no change in his tiredness,
he assumed it was another case of false advertising and lay face down on top of
the bedspread to shut out the light and to close his eyes. Audrina joined him
on the bed and began removing his shoes, and then tugging at his trousers to
remove them. “Don’t sleep in your clothes,” she reprimanded him, picking up on
his irritation as she continued undressing him; pulling his top over his head.
River didn’t complain now as she removed his underwear and left him lying
naked. She had also dressed down to her lingerie, but River saw nothing of this
as he continued to lay face down and was drifting off to sleep. He did enjoy
the feeling of her warm body pressing down on top of his as she lay fully on
top of him. She kissed his neck and shoulders and ran her fingers through his
hair. River moaned in comfort. She began to massage his back with long slow
movements all the way down to his thighs and then slowly up his body feeling
every curve up to his shoulders and then his arms which he stretched out to
accommodate her gentle movements. Once again he moaned partly in pleasure and
partly in comfort. As he felt her massage his right hand and caress between
fingers he stretched them out too. It also felt relaxing as the padded cuff
slipped over his fingers and was pulled tight over his right wrist. But as she
attempted to slip a cuff over his left hand, he jerked it free of hers and then
tried to do the same with his right. That hand was bound tight and despite
pulling again harder, he couldn’t free it. Audrina at first sat on his back
applying her whole weight to immobile him as she tried to force his left hand
back in its cuff. However, River was too strong for her and easily broke her
grip. Like a captured animal, he was getting more alert as adrenalin woke him
up, and he was clawing at the restraint on his right wrist with his free left
hand. He felt Audrina climb off him which allowed him more mobility but as he
tried to turn around he felt the first of five quick successive strikes to his
body with one of the short whips.