Chapter 19 Steven's PoW

"Hi, Jef!" Steven greeted the bouncer. He took the last breath of the night city's air before entering 'The Enchantress'. It was a popular nightclub. Its location was remote, but not far from the city centre, it was not expensive, security was strict and had plenty of room for all who came.

But above all of that, the biggest reason for the nightclub's popularity was the different fragrances released in the air on rotation. Some people were even claiming that there was no same fragrance used twice. As the name hinted those who came here once would almost always return.

All in all, it was a very nice nightclub, at least better than the last one his friend had frequented before. At least here smokers had a separate room and security took care of any hot-headed idiots who had drunk too much. He also had not seen any dealers of the heaver stuff. It made Steven's job much easier, then again, it was only temporary. He was sure that Benjamin would get tired of this place soon enough.

After going through the hallway he entered the hall. Right now he smelled a strong strawberry aroma in the air. Steven was dressed in simple jeans, hoodie and sneakers. He habitually corrected the black scarf that covered part of his face.

It covered the lower part of his face leaving only his eyes revealed, with his hood covering the rest of his head and, frankly, it all made him look very suspicious, but he really did not want people to find out about his late-night job.

As for why no one was bothering him apart from the occasional bewildered look was the fact that he was acting as Benjamin's bodyguard of sorts. “I wish he would always choose places like these.” Steven thought that to himself as he drew in the scent lingering in the air, but knew it to be a wish that will never be granted. His friend was too adventurous for his own good.

Ben was a politician's son. His father was now in some kind of an influential seat at the cities hall. Steven had not bothered to clarify what exactly was that Ben's father was doing, but whatever it was, it allowed Ben to have a substantial amount of pocket money and free reign at most places they visited. And regretfully those ‘most’ places were not Ben's favourite ones to visit. And that was where Steven entered the picture. He was keeping Ben safe and Ben was ‘sharing’ his hefty allowance with him for that.

At first, Steven had wanted to refuse the money, but after some afterthought, he had accepted it. He hoped to save up enough to at least be able to afford to rent his own place. And being able to occasionally spoil his siblings was too precious to pass up. Their father would never do that for them as he had not done it for Steven either.

“And speaking of Ben...” Steven noticed him at the back of the hall, next to the doors leading deeper in the building. He was currently trying to chat up a girl that was almost desperately scanning the room. Steven knew this look, she was looking for an escape route.

Benjamin was one of the rare friends Steven had. While Mika was his number one friend Ben would be his number two. He was a good deal shorter than Steven and even shorter Silva, only reaching about 1.62. And had a horrible hairstyle. He had semi-long hair, which was fine, but he also had his hair bleached and half of his face was covered by them. He was wearing a gaudy white suit, which would have looked fine on any other person, but somehow Benjamin made it look unsuitable for the atmosphere in the nightclub.

Steven decided to give the poor girl an out as he approached Ben and greeted him. He used the chance to move in between them

“Hi, Ben!” While they shook their hands the girl took the hint and was gone in a flash.

“Hey, ah, damn! She was about to give me her number!” Benjamin almost shouted when he noticed that his target was gone. “Ah, whatever, how are you doing Steven?”

“Not great. Yesterday I got reminded of how weak I actually am.” Steven honestly replied as he recalled the giant wolf and that Esha guy. “And now I find my idiot friend without supervision getting into trouble.”

“Someone even you can't beat? Must be some kind of a monster then.” Ben was surprised and ignored the verbal barb. While he did not know the extent of Steven's strength, he still had relied on it much more than once.

“Yeah, a real one.” Steven nodded. “I thought I told you to pick me up before coming to this place.”

“No worries, I can handle myself. Besides, this place is too tame anyways. I think it is about the time we find something more fun.” Ben started to count on his fingers the bar's, nightclubs and underground places he had heard about from his wide net of connections.

While Ben was terrible at speaking with girls the same problem did not extend to the opposite gender. He had his reputation of not divulging secrets, had an influential father and he had money. It opened many otherwise closed doors.

Steven listened to his friend rambling for a while before interrupting when he started to mention strip clubs. “Ben, where is she? She is still here, right?”

“Okay, okay, the business first then. Then, after that, we can grab some drinks.” Ben started to lead him deeper into the building. He proceeded to go through one of the hallways leading away from the main hall which led to a more secluded part of the place.

Steven noticed a fresh citrus smell wafting out behind them until it was cut off by the closing doors. They were now in the deeper parts of the nightclub, where people who did not want to spend all of their energy dancing and prefered more subdued atmosphere gathered. The aroma in the air was also different, now Steven could feel a light peppermint taste on the tip of his tongue.

He still considered Ben’s offer, “I assume it will be your treat then?” Steven felt like he could use some stronger cocktails to soothe his mind. Not that the alcohol worked on him, but the atmosphere while drinking was still good and worked well at calming him.

“Yes, yes! When has it not been my treat, I know better than ask you to pay for anything.” Ben waved Stevens concerns away. And indeed, Benjamin was clear on the situation Steven was in. It was him that had offered Steven the pay after he had found out. “Why do you need to meet that girl anyway? You can definitely do better. Actually, I have seen you do better.”

“I have a few questions I want to ask her about Silva.” Steven sighed. He did not look forward to the conversation with the girl.

“And that is all? If Mika finds out won't there be hell to pay?” Ben wondered.

“That is why it is so annoying,” Steven grumbled.

“Well, suit it yourself. I will reserve you a nice place in a graveyard where Mika can bury you.”

Steven knew Ben was only joking around, but he still shuddered while imagining how Mika would react if she were to find out that he was investigating Silva’s past.

“I can't help it. The way Silva met us was unusual and made me curious and I just want to be sure she has no dark past.” Though Steven said that he did not really hope to achieve much. But despite that, he wanted to make sure that she would not break Mika’s heart. If Silva had a past love life the girl he was about to meet should know about it. And if Silva did have an ex-boyfriend he could at least try to clue Mika about it. “And I already consider her my friend.”

“That's surprising. Till now it was only Mika that you have managed to befriend from the fairer gender. Maybe I should meet her. Is she sexy?” They passed by several other passages until they saw a man standing by one of them. “Here!” Benjamin motioned as they greeted the man while passing him. Steven knew that the man was someone Ben had gotten to look after his target while waiting for him. There seemed to be countless henchmen at Ben’s disposal.

Steven started to remove his scarf and hood. For all that he wanted to avoid being recognized, he could not walk up to his target while looking like a criminal with a hope that she would listen to what he had to say.

Steven considered Silva's looks for a moment. “I would say she is pretty plain personally. But I got punched the last time I said that, so what do I know.” He decided not to elaborate more, knowing Ben’s personality he would lose interest as soon as he said that Silva looked plain. Steven could see the interest in Ben's eyes vane proving him right.

“Never mind then. Plain and violent is not in my taste, you still should introduce me to one of your hot acquaintances instead.”

Steven did not correct Ben's error on who the violent friend was. “And I will remind you that I don’t want anywhere near Mika. This now also extends to Silva.”

Ben visibly grimaced. “Hey, you are speaking as if I am some kind of disease. I only want to meet my best friend's best friend. How is that wrong? What have I ever done to warrant such a cold attitude from you.” Ben managed to look offended. For a second and it made Steven snort.

“How about that time when you broke in the school to answer for the next test, got stuck in the classroom and had me to get you out. And when I finally managed to sneak in and break the classroom door I was caught, while you were nowhere to be found.” Steven reminded Ben.

“Well, the window was open so…”

“Or the time when you drank a bottle of that vodka. How old were you, sixteen? And then you flirted with that old hag. Man, was she ugly...” But before Steven could continue he was stopped by now pale Ben.

“Okay, you can stop! I get it, and thanks again for stopping me back then. The thought that I could have lost my virginity to that monstrosity still haunts me to this day.”

“She looked really flattered by your attention though.”

“Please stop,” Ben begged. “I don't want to remember, let this matter rest.”

“It is a small wonder you remember anything at all from that night.” Steven shook his head. They both have had a fair share of misguided ventures around the city for a few years already. With Ben’s glib tongue and his father's name, there had rarely been doors that remained closed even when they both were only fifteen years old.

They exited the hallway and found themselves in a large room. The music was calm and relaxing. There was no dance floor here, instead, the room was filled with many scattered tables and a bar at the far end of the hall. The aroma in the air was much lighter as well, reminding Steven of a spring.

“How did you find her?” Steven finally asked as he overlooked the hall looking for his target.

“I have my ways.”

“She walked into the club and you happened to see her?”

“Don't be so inquisitive.” Ben chided. “I even told you which school she was attending. Why did you not go there to meet her?”

Steven spotted his target seated with two other girls chatting with some drinks on the table. He did not mention that the school's name Ben had given him was the same that the one Silva attended.

“Had other things to do. For example, actually studying. You should try it sometime. May turn out useful in life.”

“Eh, I have already all of the test answers in here.” Ben patted his pocket where, as Steven knew, was Ben’s phone. “What now?”

“Now we go get some drinks and then go to them and chat.” Steven paused. “And please don’t try to flirt with them. At least until I give you a sign don’t. We came here for a reason.”

As they closed to the table where the girl who was in the same class as Silva a year ago he noted that the girl did have a nice smile and a delicate face enclosed in a blonde hairdo, her friends also were good looking, though not as good looking as his target was, which only made Steven dread the moment where Ben would open his mouth.

The girls noticed them both closing in and a shower of giggles met them both before they finally stopped at the table.

Steven put on his best smile as he greeted them. “Good evening, I noticed there are a couple of free spots at the table, mind if I and my friend join you?”

Another shower of giggles, an affirmative answer and short introductions later they were happily chatting with the trio of friends. As per Steven’s instructions, Ben was mostly only giving a blinding smile and staying out of the conversation, letting Steven do the most talking only now and then adding an out of place phrase or two.

Half an hour and several drinks later Steven was getting tired of the constant signs from his target - Mandy, that she wished to go somewhere quieter. He had no interest in her and he had already learned everything he had wanted to, which as he had expected, was almost nothing. The girl affirmed that Silva did go to the same school as her, though now they were not sharing classes.

When Steven had inquired about it the girl only shrugged her shoulders saying that Silva was avoiding her after she had tried to talk to her. As for the past, she remembered that Silva never really talked to anyone, nor had there been ever any bad rumours about her, but that was as far as it went.

While chatting he had also snuck in questions he thought Mika would like to know answers to. After all, he had to get some kind of a bargaining chip in case he got caught, but there was nothing. It was admirable how Silva managed to go through school with nothing sticking to her, if a bit sad because of the lack of interaction with others.

Seeing that there was nothing more to be gained from the conversation he kicked his friend's leg giving him a sign.

Benjamin did not need to be reminded twice, his smile became, even more, blinding his white teeth shining in brilliant light as he opened his mouth. “Eva, Rita, I think it is time that we left these two lovebirds alone, how about spending the rest of the evening with me?” Ben proceeded to wink in a manner which he undoubtedly thought was attractive.

Steven was left speechless, he should have known better, he knew better, so how could he make such a huge mistake. Ben, somewhere along the line, had totally forgotten why they had come here. He immediately scrambled to stop Ben. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was already too late as Ben continued his speech.

“Did you know, there are actually really cosy beds upstairs?” Ben almost innocently asked.

Steven almost grunted in pain which suddenly overcame his heart. While Mandy looked at Ben with her mouth agape her friends, Steven could tell, were getting angry very quickly. He wagered that on Mika’s scale they were fast approaching ‘Throwing sharp objects at the offender’ point.

Ben once again opened his mouth, “Or we could go to my-”, but then he suddenly slumped over the table with Steven’s hand in a chopping motion hovering behind Ben.

“Ahaha, sorry, my friend is so tired! No! Actually, he drank too much and fell asleep. Let me help him get to a cab so that I can send him home.”

Under the bewildered looks of the three girls, Steven hoisted Ben’s limp body over his shoulder and bolted to the closest exit. Despite everything Ben did his job and gave Steven reason to leave the table. Even if the reason would give him an earful of complaints a bit later tonight as Ben would tell him of his grievances over the drink at a different place.