Ashes of Night
by Robert M. Velkym

  It seems like yesterday there were no cares in the world, life was rapt in the love of lost nights wings. I know now looking back on the events that lead up to that fateful day the experience was both the most enticing and eerie all at the same time. That few things could have slowed or even stopped the madness, the black inky darkness that now eats at me is consuming my mind, confusing my life, and leaving me empty inside. Begging the question, were the drugs quick and twisted, or was I on my own spiritual quest.

  It has been nearly a year since that day. I was just newly turned 21, the world opening up, as I moved into the new nightlife that my age did entail. I was like a child lost in the world of toys. Endless experiences, endless girls, endless drinks, life was turning for the better, that is until the madness crept in.

  It was a this time that I had met a girl, we shall call her… Jezebel. A beauty in her own right, and dark and subtle as the new night around me, I loved to embrace it, in doing so taking her into me. We will get to that in time…

  Now I was going out each night, out to Hollywood, out the scene that was entrancing. I loved the music of the night, the torrid pulse of the music, the captivating lighting, the orgy of sweat and flesh, and it became my drug. I remember going to the Garden, my favorite club, the music was pumping, the liquor was flowing…

  I was just getting into my funk as my glow sticks whirled around me. The blue and red trails spinning and bring life to the crazy techno beats. The whirling of the sticks hypnotizing me into a lull of beats. The base of the music moving my soul, and removing me from reality.

  I had just finished spinning and twirling across the room. My arms were tired and the music moved to a much quicker pace than the trance I loved so much. I determined that a cigarette was in order and I needed to rest my complaining arms. The doors to the dark club giving way to the brisk night air. I sat down on a large velvet chair adjacent to a heat lamp that purred in the night as it warmed its own small bubble of air. I had just lit my cigarette, the smoke filling my lungs as the nicotine mixed with my alcoholic blood. My head spun for a minute and I looked up at the lamp to focus. Instead, my vision fell upon a female form.

  This was the Jezebel I have spoken of; she stood smoking a clove staring at me. As our eyes met I knew that this night had much more in store than I had hoped when I left my house. A chill moved through my skin, I took another hit. She was very interesting, her hair short and wavy, her make-up dark, giving her the appearance of someone who slept little and lived too much. She wasn't beautiful, or more than average, but her constant stare and dark demeanor was quite striking. She moved closer, I admit I was enthralled, her big brown eyes smothering my mind, bringing nothing to mind except dark peace.

  She moved close and whispered into my ear. "Dance with me," and who was I to deny a request of such an alluring woman? I finished my smoke, dropping it onto the floor and crushed it out with the heel of my boot. We moved to the dance floor, twisting through the crowd of people, to settle into a room full of smoke and lasers. She beckoned to me, her hand exploring my back as she ground her self into me. The smell of her perfume, the look of her eyes, and the pulse of sound - all made me drunk with excitement. Hours past like minutes, time moved with out me… I was lost to myself, and she was intoxicating.

  The lights of the club came up as the music died. A voice boomed over the speakers like might Zeus on high, "Goodnight and get the fuck out." 2 am already?

  She grasped my hand and led me out the back, down into a small dank alley. The steam from the sewer, and the piles of trash sharply contrasted the warm, crowded, contained area inside of the club, but who was I to complain…

  She pulled me along, down the alley the right onto Le Brea Avenue, she moved so quickly that I nearly tripped over my self many times, but still she lead on. Down another dark alley, then left, the right, into a small doorway we passed, then up a rickety set of spiral stairs.

  "Come with me," she said, her eyes pull on my subconscious.

  "Where are we going?" I asked. God knew where my car was or my friends whom I had abandoned at the club.

  "We are going to see the ashes of night," she replied and then she added, "You and I are going to enjoy the show."

  What was I to think? This girl, a total fascination, had simply over powered me. I complied. After all I think that I was ready to enjoy her, and the show. So I followed on. It was about this time that I noticed a few things I hadn't before. In the flickering light a tattoo was visible on the small of her back, a small five pointed star, with the point leading down her tight vinyl pants. I immediately recognized the star, and I stopped in my tracks, terror welling up inside of me. What is going on?!?

"What is it?" she asked.

  "Where are we going," I asked again, this time with extreme force of voice. I needed someone to explain this too me soon, and that little tattoo had brought me back to reality.

  "To see the show, I will take you to the most amazing experience." She cooed, moving close to me bringing her lips to mine as she explained, or did she? Her eyes were again so big and brown the warmth and peace in the bringing me in and comforting me. I felt safe lost in those beautiful eyes. She led on.

  Winding and spinning we raced though the myriad of decaying walls and condemned apartments, constantly moving up towards to room, moving as if on winged feel. After what seemed like hours, we burst through the door to the roof. Out before us stretched Hollywood, and the lights and flow of the night abounded. She led me to a pile of rage near the edge of the roof and then pulled me down. I did little to stop her I admit, but under the same circumstances I think I would have done the same. I fell into her arms, kissing and exploring, and into the sweet moist warmth. Our sounds played off the hills, and one again time defied us. Our rhythm and heart beats over turned time, which is until a thunder shook the building.

  I looked up from her, not knowing if the tremor was from us or if it had come from somewhere else. Then the heat came, a searing blast ran over my back, adding to my ecstasy as I finished in triumph. She squirmed against me to look behind me. A smile widened across her face, "It is time for the ashes" She said, her own rapture boiling away into calm, sweet contempt.

  I turn to look, the heat licking at my ears as the building across from me was engulfed in flames. The bright light of fire hurt my eyes, but I could look away. Another explosion rippled though the night, this one was a large ball of blue flame, which quickly expanded into violet and red as it blended into the wall of fire. I turned to my new friend, with one question on my lips… "How did you know?"

  Nothing. She was gone, right out from underneath my body! In her place was a pile of trash, and to my disbelief, ashes began to rain down on me. This was the show, the ashes of night she had spoken of. And as they fell on me I could feel her all around me… her perfume drifted through the smoke, her touch on my lips and her face in the flame. I sat in disbelief as the ashes blanked everything with a soft white coat, like the devil's snow flakes.