Ladies & gentlemen, welcome to shock dark

A story about having a friend drive me to a house in phoenix.

Written: 9/1/2016

 "Do you play tetris?" I asked my friend "Dolph Digger" as he weaved in and out of traffic.
 "Nothing but. Best export the USSR gave us. When I get the honey dips in my room and have them play I just sneak in a tongue and they don't fight it." Dolph said. He's Tucson's heart throb.
He found me on the side of the road listening to death metal and treading along to get my morning coffee. He stomped on his breaks in front of a green light.
 "Jerry!" He yelled with the windows rolled up. I saw him taping on the glass with both hands. Popped my headphones off and yelled: "What are you doing?!"
As he rolled down the window he was revving his engine. Cars began piling up making a line behind him with horns blazing.
 "Hey ya dumb caucasian devil! Move ya car before I slap ya with my tire iron!" Yelled a robust man sitting behind him.
 "We're going to Phoenix, I have the scoop of a lifetime! Get in the car!"
10 cars lined up in unison forming a congestion. I ran up to his car fearing the man behind him was going to bust his skull open and I slid into the passenger seat.
 "YEEEEAAHH!" Dolph yelled and then started blaring his horn as he took off chanting: "USSR! USSR! USSR! USSR!"

***

 "Tetris is fantastic, yes."
The sun was in the middle of the sky. Cosmic forces floated around the heads of the dead-eyed homeless people. The vehicles all in line going off to their jobs or girlfriend's apartments. As I was untangling my headphone chords I asked:
 "What exactly is your scoop?"
Dolph began rubbing the steering wheel back and forth with a twisted smile on his face. The grinche's wicked smile was coming out of the bottom being filtered by whatever perverted thought.
 "Shock dark, this is it dude." He giggled.
 "What is that?" I asked as I stuck my headphones into my sweater pocket.
 "It's this s**t we're doing right now up in Phoenix. We'll be there tasting the flavors in approximately 2 hours."
The drive was nice and steady. I had no clue as to what we we're driving to but I had been unemployed for the last 4 months or so and needed a little slice of action.
We drove past thousands of trees and dozens of farms along with the abandoned missile silos tucked away under the dirt and brush. We talked about what was going on in our lives at the time to kill the time. Haven't seen the man since my divorce proceedings. Spoke of taking care of my cat and having to rely on my father to get food for the week. Dolph was telling me how he'd been banging tons of women all over the great city of Tucson with funny horror stories of escapes from boyfriends wielding baseball bats and how he wants to start up his own escort services. I had a feeling to whatever this thing is has to do with sex in some kind of way.
We drove past Tempe and after 3 converges and exits we we're in Phoenix.
 "It's on a private street on the south side. You won't recognize it."
 "Is it a rave in some abandoned house? A pin ball factory? steak and eggs lunch? Help me out, here."
 "If you want to look at it anyway you wish, you may." Dolph giggled again.
We got to the street to where ever this shock dark thing was. 1 pm and I don't know if their was an eclipse happening, occurring but everything looked a little dark. I would make an observation that the light was definitely off.
Dolph parked his car on the side of the private street and we got out. He didn't bother locking his door or even turning it off when I thought he should have. I pushed the button down locking the passenger door. I followed behind as we walked to the side of the house.
This house looks broken down and dilapidated. A house for society's neglect, that's wonderful, we're scoring coke. If we walk into the back and find a drug den i'm pulling Dolph to the side and demand he drive us somewhere else.
We go to the back where there was a white door with paint chips folding off. A couple of pentagrams and stickers laid up against the door uncomfortably.
Dolph knocked.
We waited about a minute when the door finally moved and slightly opened. Whom opened the door looked to be a middle aged man. One eye peered out with shaggy black hair and from what the sunlight shown was half a busted up face.
I grabbed Dolph and whispered: "What the hell is this place? Can we go?"
 "Are you here for the party?"
 "We're here to make a bust."
 "Got D****T! SHUT UP MAN! No, no sir we are not here for that." I said as I was trying to pull him away by his shoulder.
 "What in the rotting heaven did you say??" The strange man behind the door yelled.
Dolph pulled out his wallet. He played around fingering the tops of the dollar bills. Placed his thumb and index finger on something square shaped in his wallet and pulled it out. It was a folded up black card. He held it up to the man. The man took off the latch and took the folded card. He looked at us then the card then back over to us and repeated.
 "What did you give him?"
 "My invitation, my little buddy. You listen to all that black metal s**t and your freaking out right now? You'll never feel a better orgasm that you're about to feel."
 "What?!"
That odd man eyed the card. He then unlocked the rest of the locks on the door and then walked away from the door into the shroud of darkness.
 "What are you talking about? An orgasm?"
Dolph started walking in. I had no other choice but to follow behind him. I've never been to this place in Phoenix before and I ain't stealing this man's car. I slightly pushed the door opened and walked inside. With swift haste a pale skinny white woman whom was standing behind the door snapped it closed like shark jaws. I turned around and saw her. Black face paint like a lot of the bands I listen to with jet black hair wrapped up into a long pony tail. She was strapped in bondage with her arms and legs still able to move freely. She smiled with some crazy smile. Just like what Dolph was doing in the car a couple hours ago.
The air was thick. Like wearing a puffy jacket filled with rocks. I could smell iron in the air.
 "Who's this?" That man asked.
 "My friend, Jerry. He'll also be partaking in the shock dark ritual." Dolph said as he slipped 10 bucks into the pocket of the strange looking man. I pulled my eyes off of the woman at the door who wasn't saying anything and then said to the strange man:
 "What ritual?"
 "Follow me, boy."
It was a 3 bedroom house with most of the light-bulbs broken out of their sockets and blankets nailed to all the windows. I watched Dolph walk up to the room on the left standing adjacent to the bathroom.
 "Hello there cutie..." He walked in and kept the door opened.
When walking down the hallway following this man I noticed a pentagram drawn on the floor from what looked to be blood or deep red marker with a chair in the middle covered in cut up duck-tape. The smell was foul and unbearable. The strange man noticed me staring into the room Dolph walked into seeing him sitting on the bed watching a strip tease. The strange man grabbed the door handle and shut it then he licked his fingers after letting go of the knob.
 "Room 3, you'll be resting here." He said as he opened the door which was the last room in the hallway.
 "Ok?" I said out of fright.
 "Start disrobing now." He said then walked out of the hallway. I walked into the room and saw the same woman who slammed the door behind me lying on the bed completely nude.
 "What in the hell is this and why is this place called 'Shock dark'"?
At that moment I heard a devilish scream coming from the room down the hallway. What sounded like a banshee.
 "My name is Carmella."
I spread myself against the door.
 "Can you please answer my question?"
She sat up on the bed and reached out grabbing onto the front of my belt. Pulled me over with great strength that didn't make any sense to being that she was as skinny as a rail and tried undoing my belt buckle. I threw her hands off and turned around making my way back to the door.
 "Honey, why would your friend pay for you not to f**k me? I can merge my soul with yours."
 "We ain't merging s**t!" I yelled.
I grabbed the door knob to leave but it felt like someone stuck a blue flame from a blow torch on it. I let it go immediately. Carmella got up and wrapped her arms around me then after puckering up her lips next to my ear she said:
 "All walks of life pay to have sex with a succubus."
I turned around and with my boot kicked the door a couple of times. Carmella retreated to the corner behind the bed and placed her arms over her head. I broke that door off the hinges, I had never been so scared in my life. Let alone pass up the opportunity to make intercourse. Ran out of the room and ran up the doorway I saw Dolph walk into. The door-knob had fallen off and showed little black lines of soot in the floor where it hit and rolled around.
I pushed the door opened and saw one of the prostitutes drinking blood from my friend's neck.
 "Oh LORD! D****T YOU DEVILS!" I yelled as I was trying to grab a hold of Dolph.
He turned to me. I stopped trying to reach out when I saw that his face was making ripples and distortions. His left eye was at the bottom of his chin, the lips on the right side of his face, and his nose at the top of his forehead all moving around like liquid as if a raindrop hits a stream. That strange gatekeeper who let us in tried grabbing me. As he slowly leaped forward he dropped a syringe.
I ran out the door we came in. That gatekeeper slapped the keys out of my hand. I continued running thinking there could've been bigger men in the backrooms. I ran out the door and up to Dolph's car sitting in park with the engine purring. MY God the gift of the Father! He left the car on and his door unlocked! When also getting to the car I saw that all the tires we're slashed. Jumped in and as I put my hand on the clutch that strange gatekeeper feel out of the front door tripping on his shoes and falling down the small row of steps. The keys flew into the weeds and dirt. Pulled that clutch and whipped it into drive and got the hell out of there.
Sparks we're flying like a torment of rain around all the windows as I was hitting 150 mpr down I-10.

Author's Note

None