Read Online Magi Saga 1: Epic Calling by Andrew Dobell - Free Book Online Page A

as something desirable. The cracked concrete and black girders, shattered glass, discarded crack needles and shadowed alleyways between steel towers with graffiti tattoos. It’s an ugly kind of beauty that the youth see as just too cool. It had rained that afternoon and the streets were slick with the aftermath of the downpour creating a black mirror shine that reflected the neon signs selling you sex and death for a quarter. The street kids were out in force, tripped out cars with fluorescent decals and chrome alloys bass thumped their way along the back streets, the faces inside giving the passers by their mad dog stare that few could meet. Into this miasma of oil slick cool and black promises slipped Amanda, heels clicking their way towards her patch and the Dark Side of the Moon Nightclub within it. Just another crimson lipped whore making her way to her next trick of the night. Behind those towers of pitch, the steadily darkening sky changed to a stunning purple and indigo, the last moments of daylight passing into memory once again.
    She walked through streets of obsidian asphalt, over steel grates that thundered with the sound of the underground trains passing beneath her, through the rising plumes of steam from the manhole covers that dotted the streets like acne and past the wolf whistling gangs of homies camped out on the stoops of their tenements. She played the games, giving as good as she got from the teasing men. They knew her anyway as she passed this way often, they called out to her, teasing the new guy in their pack to whom she would wink, make sexual gestures towards as she left them to their whooping and cat calling. Some of them had been Johns of hers anyway.
    A few more blocks of neon and brick and she turned a corner to see the nightclub before her. The Dark Side of the Moon Nightclub had once been an old church. Years ago as part of its refit into a club it had been painted black but it hadn’t been re-done since so that its facade was now one of faded cracking paint. This huge gothic edifice had been laid out in a cruciform plan and covered in spires and flying buttresses that reached like daggers into the night. The glowing neon sign above the main entrance advertised the name of the club to all and sundry in bright purple shades while spot lights in the fake graveyard lit up the walls. The light from inside made the stained glass windows that now held images of Vampires and Demons, glow and shine in the dark. Amanda could hear the deep bass of the music even now as she crossed the street towards it.
    She wondered, as she approached the building, if she would see Howie there on the door tonight. He had befriended her when she first entered America, getting her off the streets and giving her the chance she needed. It would have been fitting to see him one last time before she left New York, but as she approached the door, she could see he wasn’t there.
    The night was young, so there wasn’t yet a queue to enter. Amanda knew many of the other bouncers anyway and never had any trouble getting in, she glided inside and felt the industrial music wash over her. Dry ice hid the floor while coloured lights created a cavernous feeling inside.
    The club was divided into several levels, each almost a club unto itself. The basement area catered to the Goth and Heavy Metal music, the main floor had more of an industrial and dance feel so that a more mainstream crowd came in here while upstairs held the VIP lounge which Amanda had yet to visit. Amanda headed over to the bar and bought a shot of something stiff while settling onto a stool cross legged. She made small talk to the guys behind the bar who knew her as she passed the time waiting for Stuart to arrive. Ten Minutes later he came in, wandered over to her and leant on the bar.
    ‘Hi Mandy,’ he said.
    ‘Hi,’ she replied and kissed him on the cheek while offering him a smile. In a few days she would be leaving, taking another percentage of his