Station, стр. 20

And with that, the crowd peacefully parted, allowingHadder, Jonny, and Reena an unobstructed path to the stairway onthe right. As they climbed, Monty the Mod continued his selectionprocess. When they were eye-level with the diminutive doorman,Monty looked from his eyeglasses for a brief moment to shoot Haddera curious look. Before Hadder could read into it, however, Montyreturned the glasses to his face and berated a man in the crowd forhis choice of footwear.

Reena spoke as they neared the top. "This is justpart of Monty's show. He'll make his dramatic selections for anhour or so before tiring and turning it over to his personalmanikin, who has a list of everyone allowed in. Almost everyonewho's waiting downstairs is on the list; Monty just likes to givethem shit. It's fun, but sometimes you just want to get in and geta fucking drink, you know?"

At the top of the stairs, an exceptionally tallglume manikin stood before the enormous open double doors, anancient parchment scroll held in its hands that must have beenMonty's treasured list. "Nice touch," commented Hadder as theypassed under the lanky manikin's white gaze.

Moving into The Soiree Noire, Hadder's breathcaught for the hundredth time that day. If the exterior of the Barwas beautiful, the interior was something no one word could aptlydescribe. The room they had entered was a colossus, with ceilingssoaring high above and the back wall beyond view. The floor was adeep, warm crimson that briefly showed footprints in lighter red asone walked. The walls surrounding the room showed beautiful scenerythat changed every few minutes. One minute, the room sat on thebalcony of an Italian villa that overlooked Lake Como. Later, itwould be at the center of the Roman Coliseum. The walls were notsimple LED screens, however, as Hadder discovered upon closerinspection. They were something else entirely, creating images soclear and vibrant that one could almost feel breezes coming off theMediterranean and smell the evergreens of Colorado's RockyMountains.

Globes of light floated throughout the room,providing illumination without impeding on ambiance. Comfortableleather chairs and couches could be found throughout the room, andHadder watched in amazement as one shifted to make room for a thirdoccupant as another melded to perfectly fit the form of the smallwoman who had recently sat.

Although there was no bar as far as Hadder couldtell, manikins were positioned throughout the room, some waitingfor a command and others carrying trays of colorful drinks. Jonnygrabbed one manikin as it passed and took three beverages, all witha bright green tint.

"Here you go, my friends. Don't worry, Hadder, thisis just a sweet starter drink to loosen our dancing hips. It's theNumber 4 for future reference. So tell me, my new friend, what doyou think of The Soiree?"

Hadder searched but was unable to come up with anappropriate metaphor. "It's amazing," he settled on.

"Indeed, but you haven't seen anything yet. Waituntil the Haela truly gets going. Let's mingle."

Deeper into the Bar they walked as more of Monty'sselections trickled in behind them. As before, residents greetedJonny and Reena as they moved, some even including Hadder in theirgreetings.

They meandered through the ample space for severalminutes before something caught Reena's eye, and she halted thegroup. "Over here, Jonny. Marlin needs to experience this." Reenaled them to a large, chest-high circular table surrounded byleather-ensconced bar stools. Two other residents were already atthe table, speaking together. Reena politely interrupted them."Good Haela, Benny. Sunrise. Do you mind if we join you?"

The couple Hadder recognized from outside answeredin the affirmative, and the three sat down across the table. AsMonty mentioned, they wore matching outfits, his an electric bluetuxedo, and hers an electric blue column dress. In line with whatHadder had already observed, both were extremely attractive, withblue eyebrows, lashes, and, in Benny's case, goatee that pairedwith their attire. Sunrise spoke first, "We were just about tostart. Hoping to beat the crowds."

"That's perfect," said Jonny. "As you both know,Hadder here is our newest resident, and Reena is eager to show himthe Ophidian."

"Of course," Benny responded. "Please, Jonny, do thehonors."

As Jonny's slender fingers slide along the table,Hadder noticed a square etching depicting a snake just off thetable's center. Jonny's index finger hung over the engraving.

"Now, Hadder, promise me you're not going to freakout, old chap. I swear on Reena Song's life that nothing bad isgoing to happen. Do you trust me?"

A knot formed in Hadder's stomach. "Of course," heanswered, hoping he sounded sincere.

With the answer he was looking for in hand, Jonnypressed his finger to the etching. Seconds passed, and a roundopening appeared in the center of the table. Hadder held hisbreath, which came out in panicked pants moments later.

From the hole emerged a kaleidoscopic serpent,slithering on the table before the five residents. Hadder attemptedto fall out of his chair but was held fast by Reena. "Trust,remember."

Hadder stamped down his innate instinct to run andsat before the snake. It moved gingerly around the table, takingnote of each guest. With part of its body still in the table'shole, Hadder couldn't tell how large the creature was, nor did hecare to find out. Having taken stock of guest arrangement, theserpent then rose up into the air, showing off a sizeableCobra-like hood, and drifted towards Jonny.

Hadder could barely contain his panic as theOphidian moved to within inches of Jonny's face and opened its darkmaw. Instead of screaming in fear as Hadder would have done,however, Jonny fully opened his mouth. From the Ophidian's mouth, ayellow smoke poured forth, and Jonny inhaled deeply, holding it fora moment before releasing the vapor through his nose. Almostimmediately, his features slackened, and a stupid grin dominatedhis face. "Next?"

Reena raised her hand and repeated the terrifyingceremony. "Your turn, Marlin."

Hadder froze as the Ophidian drifted from Reena andtowards his face. Reptilian eyes bore a hole through his soul asHadder stared down the snake's open mouth. Reena pinched his legunder the table, and Hadder opened his mouth and breathed in deeplyas a rope of gas briefly tied man and Ophidian together. Hadderfelt his pupils immediately dilate as the smoke poured down histhroat and filled his lungs. Music that was previously barelydetectable