I was in the security room, my eyes scanning the camera feeds of Club Desire’s main floor, when the sound-system went haywire. The throbbing bass was suddenly pierced by a blast of ear-splitting feedback. I winced, the sound grating like nails on a chalkboard.
“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath as I sprinted from the security room to the sound booth.
Rick, the audio engineer, was frantically making adjustments, his fingers flying over the equipment ably.
“What the hell is happening?” I demanded.
“I don’t know, man. The whole effects system is going nuts. It might be a software issue. I’ll figure it out.”
“Get it fixed. Now.”
As I let my gaze shift back to the stage, my eyes locked onto the woman standing at the edge of it. She was gripping the mic stand like a life-raft. Her smooth brown skin gleamed in the spotlight. Long, intricate locs framed her face, highlighting her delicate features. Petite but curvy in all the right places. Just a stunning beauty.
Her nervousness was evident, even from all the way in the booth. But it did nothing to dim her shine. She shrugged and shook her head in an exchange with a member of her band and the way her shoulders rose and fell sent her hair swinging captivated me completely.
I barely heard Rick behind me as he announced that he’d found the problem. Some bullshit about firmware. I didn’t care as long as it worked. I muttered something at him and headed over to the stairs, drawn towards the girl on the stage.
The buzz of my earpiece pulled me back to reality. My boss Benjamin’s voice came through, checking in for an update.
“Things are running fine down here. No security issues with all these new people inside the club. The system we came up with for the Halloween Party prep is working.”
“Good. What else?”
“Few tech problems earlier, but we’re on top of it,” I added.
“Good,” he replied tersely. “Just make sure everything stays in order. I’ve got something offsite that needs my attention. The club’s yours tonight. Keep it tight.”
“You got it.” The brief conversation sharpened my focus to where it needed to be and headed backstage.
I passed the line of dressing rooms and offices in the back hallway when my boot landed in a puddle.
“What the hell?” Water was streaming from under the bathroom door, pooling on the floor. I fumbled for my phone to call maintenance.
“We have a situation in the staff area. Water’s leaking from the restroom and flooding the hallway. Get someone over here ASAP.”
“Got it, Gabriel,” the voice on the other end replied. “We’ll be there shortly.”
“Hurry, we’re not hosting a pool party tomorrow,” I added before hanging up.
Jesus, what next?
I turned around and headed back to the club. By the time I reached the end of the hallway, there was already a team from maintenance heading in the opposite direction. At least something was working right. As usual, the staff of Desire was on it immediately.
I nodded to the crew, directing them where to find the flood.
With that taken care of, I turned my attention back to the club. The moment I stepped onto the open floor, I was stopped dead in my tracks. The girl on the stage had started singing, and her voice was like nothing I’d ever heard before. It was warm and full, evocative and soul-stirring, filling the club with energy and emotion – something I’d never experienced through music before.
Suddenly, she stopped singing. She tapped the microphone. Nothing happened. The girl threw back her head in frustration.
She looked down and saw me. “Um, do you know what’s going on? We’re having a ton of audio issues and now my mic is dead.”
“The engineer is working on fixing the problem from before. I don’t understand any of the tech stuff, but Rick knows what he’s doing. Shouldn’t be more than a few minutes.”
She smiled, the expression making her already beautiful face absolutely killer. “Thanks, uh, Gabriel, right?”
I nodded.
“I’m Naya.” She stepped back from the mic and gestured at her band, who’d moved to huddle by the drum-set. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Of course.”
Naya climbed down from the stage. We walked together towards a corner booth in front of the VIP section.
“What can I do for you, Naya?” Even just saying her name felt wonderful. What the hell was this girl doing to me?
“Look, I know it sounds silly,” she began hesitantly. “And I’m sure you’re very busy. But with the power issues and everything. Um, some of my band’s equipment has gone missing as well.”
“Missing as in lost or missing as in stolen? Anything misplaced should be reported immediately. I can put someone on locating the… what is missing?”
“A keyboard,” she replied. “But uh… well, I just wonder if it’s something more… I don’t know. Do you believe places can be haunted?”
I barked out a laugh. “Are you joking?”
She looked down, clearly embarrassed. “I don’t even know if I believe in that stuff, but my grandmother was Haitian, and she told me some stories and… never mind. I just think something weird is happening.”
Feeling a little bad for laughing at her, I shrugged. “I guess anything is possible, but I don’t think so. We’re just doing a lot of things to get this party ready in a short time. Tech issues and confusion are to be expected. But I don’t think there’s a supernatural reason for it. Besides, even if ghosts exist, why would they haunt a nightclub when there are so many cemeteries and creepy old houses in the city to hang out in?”
Naya smiled, but this time the expression was tense and tight. “I guess you’re right.”
“Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.”
No sooner had the words left my lips than the entire club plunged into darkness. A full blackout.
Shit.