Forbidden Fruit

Chapter 19

Vic's friends lived outside of town, down the town highway and out into a more rural area of California where trees outnumbered buildings. We drove for a while. As the wind whipped through my hair the anger from before rapidly disappeared until it was no more, and I felt at peace for the first time in the last couple of weeks. 

Finally the car stopped in front of a small compound next to the road we'd been driving on for the past ten minutes, signalling we'd finally arrived at our destination. 

It wasn't what I was expecting. 

The place was kinda...shabby. I mean all of Vic's supposed buddies at uni seemed to be very well off and put together, so it was a shock to see her go to a place that wasn't homecoming queen certified. But I didn't know why I was surprised. 

I should've learned by now that 'expect the unexpected' was Vic's whole deal.

She parked the car next to the solitude compound and we got out, before walking up a set of rusting stairs which looked fairly ready to collapse. She led me across to the only visible door and knocked four times. 

I looked around at the surroundings whilst we waited. The building seemed to be the only one around here: all I could see was trees going on for miles. If it wasn't for the road and the good amount of various cars parked beside the building, I would think it was abandoned, especially since the place itself looked in such disarray. There were a few broken windows and the walls definitely needed a fresh coat of paint, and the entrance didn't look too sturdy either. 

The door finally opened to reveal a tall girl who had short brown hair with purple streaks, garishly-striking edgy make-up and an outfit of complete black that left little to the imagination.

The girl grinned and pulled Vic into a hug immediately. I was surprised: this did not seem like the type of person Vic would be friendly with, but clearly they were. 

"Hey hot stuff," the stranger said after pulling away from Vic. "Took you long enough to show your face here. You should be glad I like you so much." 

Vic shrugged with a cheeky smile. "I know but at least I got here eventually." 

She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder, her gaze finally falling on me. She turned to Vic dramatically. "Did you bring someone?" 

I was glad to hear the surprise in her voice. Maybe Vic wasn't lying when she said I meant more to her than the others. 

The two girls seemed to have a silent conversation between them before the one I didn't know turned to me once again. "Well, aren't you gonna introduce me to this sexy piece of man meat you brought along?" 

I laughed and Vic turned around, looking almost sheepish. "Jack, this is my best friend Karla, and Karla this is my...uh...friend from Uni, Jack."  

I tried not to show any disappointment at being referred to as a friend, but I knew it wasn't her fault. We hadn't had that conversation yet. I tried to give a warm smile. "Hey, nice to meet you." 

"Damn what a nice accent, Vic you saucy minx." She gave her best friend a wink and...was that another blush I just saw glaze over her cheeks? I really needed to record whenever this happened. "Nice to meet you too gorgeous, come inside and meet the gang." 

She seemed friendly enough. I followed the two girls and as soon as I stepped inside I had to prepare myself for yet another shock. Wow would this night ever let up with these surprises? 

The outside of the building was grim and looked like a block of old, abandoned flats but the interior couldn't have been farther away from that. Instead of a set of different apartments the inside was just one massive room. The place had a dark and moody atmosphere and looked to be some sort of club, with a bar at the top of the stairs as well as various smoke machines and dim strobe lights giving a sordid, mysterious vibe. 

I strode over to the balcony and if my eyes didn't deceive me there also seemed to be some sort of hot tub, as well a tattoo parlour and loads of comfy sofas. The whole set up seemed pretty sweet. 

"What is this place?" I asked Vic as she came to stand next to me, looking mildly amused but also seductive in the dim lighting of the atmosphere.

She smirked. "It's one of the places we use as a hangout, as its much better than a club and not known by many people at all. We call it The Trip." 

"Why?" 

"Because of how cool but strange it is. It's like walking in when you're tripping on drugs." 

I laughed. "Yeah that's pretty apt." 

Vic said the place wasn't known by many, but there was quite a handful of people actually in the building and she seemed to know everyone. As we walked around a lot of them came up to talk to her. She introduced me to some but not others, and I wondered how she made the choice of who was deserving enough to know me or not. 

We had quite a long conversation with a guy called Justin, who was clearly someone Vic got along with very well. He was a musician with massive dreadlocks and was definitely stoned off his nut, but in all fairness he seemed chill and I could definitely understand why she liked him. He was funny too. He was telling me a story about how he'd almost ended up in a fist fight with the Jonas Brothers when, sadly as it was entertaining, we got interrupted. 

The disruption was a girl whom could have only been described as a blonde bombshell. Her hair was the colour of platinum and wore a bold outfit that showed off her massive boobs and thin waist. She had a lot of make up on and was clearly dressed to impress, and her attention was firmly on me. 

This was the kind of girl I was used to seeing Vic with. 

However, Vic herself did not seem happy to see her, and when the girl touched my chest to get my attention her expression turned into a full on glower. 

"Hey, you must be new. I'm Candy." She flipped her blonde hair carelessly over her shoulder and stepped close enough to me so that I could see her large and inviting bosom. I felt a bit uncomfortable. Sure she was attractive and I bet any guy would want to score with her, but I was here with someone else and she was way too forward for my taste anyway. 

I tried to be polite anyway. "Jack. Nice to meet you." 

"It's lovely to meet you, Jack. We've got a big place here. You probably need someone to show you around." She fluttered her eyelashes and leaned in even closer so that our bodies were almost touching. Wow was saying nice to meet you too much? I didn't intend to give her that kind of signal. 

I was about to respond when Vic came in to save me, although from the looks of it she was doing it as much for herself as she was for me. "I'm sorry Candy, but he's already got someone to show him around so you can leave now." 

Candy tore her gaze from me and sent Vic a scathing look, before turning back to me and touching my chest once again. "When you get bored of her come and find me. I'll be waiting by the hot tub for you." 

She walked off with Vic's fiery glare trailing behind her, and I took a large look around this bizarre club place, wondering what on earth connects all of these different people together. 

Vic's world was a strange one, but I wanted to find out more if it was the last thing I ever did.