Page 40 of Dark Truth

“You’re right. It’s time to let it go. Besides, I have a very beautiful woman here with me, an equally beautiful woman dancing on stage, and a peaceful night ahead of me. If you choose to keep it peaceful.”

I liked the way he teased me and grinned at him. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

I had slowed down a little in the sex department, but not by much. Something about being pregnant kept me constantly in the mood, though, even if I was always too tired to be as adventurous as I normally was. I stroked his hand and watched Roxie perform.

When she finished, she joined us at our table in the dimly lit room that was only a small part of the larger facility that was Elmo’s.

“How are you guys? It’s great to see you!” She sat across from me after a peck on the cheek and looked at us. “What’s up?”

“We have news,” I answered and waited for her to respond.

“Oh, and what’s that, Queen of Mystery?” She gave me that smug look she sometimes had on, and I had a feeling I wasn’t about to surprise her at all.

“I’m going to have a baby,” I announced without fanfare and waited.

“I thought so. Congratulations!” She leaned over, happy and excited, despite her intuition. “That’s just perfect. Really, I’m so happy for you.”

She squeezed my hand then gave Dylan a kiss on his cheek too. “Good for you, sticking around and being a man. Not a lot of men do that anymore, it would seem.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

I gasped at his response, and I knew that somehow this baby would finish the healing that Dylan needed to get on with his life. He would give it all the love he was denied, and to me, that was perfect.

“Good. Now, there’s a new girl coming on that you might want to watch. I found her in a club not far from here. She’s very beautiful, and almost has my skills.” She had on a smirk that made me giggle.

“We’ll watch her then. Oh, can I talk to you for a minute?” I said as she made to stand up.

“Sure, you can come back with me while I change. What’s up?” She blew Dylan a kiss goodbye, and I followed her to her dressing room.

“Nothing, I just wanted to find out if you were still on for that trip to the mountains. Jessi has it scheduled for the middle of August. We thought you might need to ask for time off.”

“I do, and that’s the perfect time. I won’t miss the money I’ll lose being gone for a week, because, um, Nathan’s moving in with me.” She had an expectant look on her face, and I squealed with happiness for her.

“Oh my goodness, Roxie! Are you serious? I’m so happy for you.”

“You’re pregnant, that’s so much better!” She did her own bout of girlish laughter as we hugged and bounced gently together.

“It’s great, but you have love! I’m, fuck, I’m so excited for you!” I hugged her tight around her neck, and we were both talking over each other when I felt something. A rumble beneath our feet, followed quickly by a boom and the smell of smoke. “What the hell was that?”

I froze in fear, and Roxie did the same thing. “I don’t know what the fuck that was, but it can’t be good. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“Put some clothes on first! We have to leave the building, and you can’t go outside in that; you’ll be arrested!” She only wore a robe covering her stage costume. She kicked off her heels, put on a pair of jeans over the thong, and threw on a t-shirt over the glitzy bra she had on. I started to cough as smoke filled her room, and she reached for me. The power went off in the building just as she slid her feet into a pair of flip flops, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out of the room.

“Put this over your mouth and try to breathe through it.” She handed me a tablecloth she’d grabbed from one of the tables, and she did the same thing. I could barely stop coughing, even with the cloth over my face, but I reached up to tie it in place. I needed my hands to stay upright.

We pushed forward, out of the stage area, and into the bar until we were close to the right wall leading out to the entryway. I’d heard the sounds of mayhem outside her door, but I’d tried to ignore it as she quickly got dressed. Now, the screams and sounds of running feet were hard to ignore. Screams filled the air, and some loud, shrill, beeping noise added to the den inside the small bar. That must be the fire alarm, I thought stupidly as my feet stumbled, and I fell into a woman in front of me.

People rushed around us, screaming words that we couldn’t hear, but I didn’t hear Dylan’s voice. I tried to look for him in the small bar area, but it had filled with young adults from the dance club portion of the place. They were everywhere and blocked most of my view as we slowly moved forward, one body length at a time. I felt parts of people I never wanted to feel on strangers as I fought to stay standing up. Roxie was behind me, and she pushed at anybody who got close to me, if she could. Her hands were planted on my waist, and I was thankful to have that support. Chaos erupted further when another explosion rocked the back end of the building. I tensed and tried not to add to the screams that reached a new peak of intensity.

I’d fought the urge to scream for Dylan in the smoke-filled air. I knew he wouldn’t be able to find me, and I hoped he was already outside. I hadn’t seen him in the bar area, but then, the place was full of smoke. When the explosion rocked the building, I tried to scream for Roxie but couldn’t because my lungs were on fire and gasping for fresh air. I screamed her name harshly through a throat that felt as if it was on fire, as the crowd behind me surged forward.

I was knocked to the ground, torn away from Roxie’s supporting hands, and I hit my head on something hard and solid. At first, the noise disappeared, and everything was quiet. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my stomach protectively and curled into a ball. I felt as if time had slowed down around me, and my brain screamed at me to protect the baby. I tried to avoid the feet that tripped over me and the hands that caught at my body as those that fell stood back up. I tried to flatten myself against the wall, but that didn’t help as bodies streamed by, and I wondered, stupidly, how many others had fallen.

It was utter madness, and all I could do was wait there for my chance to get up and get out of the place. The air was cleaner down here, though it still stank of smoke, and I inhaled it with greed. I shut my eyes and tried to remain calm, but I could feel the wetness of tears on my face, and I started to feel dizzy.

The world began to swirl around, and I fought to stay conscious. Another foot, not as big and with less force, banged my head against the wall again like a racket ball, and a buzzing started in my ears. I whimpered out a sound of pain, of fear, and tried to call out for Roxie again. For a moment, I thought I heard Roxie screaming my name, but it was carried away as the crowd rushed like rampaging bulls to get out of the burning building. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my head increased, and nausea made me stop.

I brought my hand up as the crowd started to thin and felt something wet dripping down my hair. I felt pain in a hundred places, and my head throbbed, as if I was still being kicked. I tried to right myself again, and I pushed up from the floor, but the world tilted on its axis, and I fell over, unable to fight off the swarm in my head.