Lucid Nightmares - Fated Flowers Saga

Ch 23: Searching the Crowds

The screams of the club shift into a constant static in my ears. It's white-hot noise echoing inside my empty mind. My eyes are bloodshot as I stare into the sea of leaping crowds. My feet shuffle across the sticky floor as if they had a mind of their own. I walk to the mind-numbing beat of the bass.

I trip over nothing and stumble forward. I inhale shakily as tears stream down my face. I continue to walk along the domed walls surrounding the massive club. Alcohol sprays down on me from the sky, soaking my clothes, and making my skin feel hot and sticky. Glitter clings to my sweaty skin and colored dust dyes my skin a strange shade of blue.

I have to find somebody... they need me... I have to keep going...

A swell of people creeps closer to the walls. The drunken young bloods are shaky on their feet. Strangely shaped drinks are raised in the air with their claw-like nails clicking on the colored glass. Their nails glow vibrantly in the dark and appear to pulse with various colors.

A boy stumbles away from the swell and locks eyes with me. He lurches forward with open arms. "Come," he begs with misty eyes, "come on, you're Rosie... You're her, aren't you?"

I keep walking and avoid him and his babbling confessions of love. He's practically screaming over the music.

"Rosie!" He bursts into tears and screams like a madman. His tongue glows eerily inside his mouth. "Come back!" he screams hysterically. He falls over and spills his glowing green drink on the ground. He twitches violently as his sobs as if he were having some kind of an attack.

Before I could approach him, a few other boys gathered around him. Two help him to his feet while the others look on with worry.

"I knew coming was a bad idea," one shouts, "We came to keep his mind off of Rosie but that isn't working."

"Romeo come on," one of the boys urges, dragging Romeo forward. "We need to find the girls before they call in love with the strippers. Casey was really eyeing the blond one..."

"Hey!" a man steps in front of me and blocks my path. He stares at me with a clear gaze, as if he had a plan in mind. "You shouldn't stay here," he warns seriously as he brushes past me. I stumble back in surprise and watch him wrap his arm around a short girl with elf-like ears. She looks up at him with wonder in her starry eyes and giggles at him. He holds her close, appearing concerned, "This place is crazy. We shouldn't have come here. Let's go back to our room, Lilly."

The couple disappears into the crowded darkness.

I spin around in a slow circle at a total loss of what to do. The haziness in my mind begins to lift as I press myself against the wall. Lightheaded, I slowly lower myself to the ground and hold my head in my hands.

I shouldn't be here. Why did I think I could find Orferio?

The music's upbeat pace mellows out into a sexy bassline and a wispy voice meant for lofi songs. The lights shift to darker tones of magenta and deep reds and highlight the smoke and spraying alcohol in the air. I watch as a few more color bombs explode over the crowd and paint them in deep shades of violet.

My headache worsens just watching them.

I struggle to my feet and manage to find a door along the wall. I whip it open in hopes of finding the hotel again but come face to face with a strange hallway.

Behind the doors, there are sweeping veils of blood red and ivory that fall from the ceiling. The walls are stained with gold shimmer and splatters of something shiny. The floor is made of white marble and patterns of lotus flowers. The air is choked with the smell of overripe lotus flowers making it difficult to breathe.