Miranda turned down a corner and to my left, I could see Zihao’s bar sitting there. A lot of those rough-looking people that were at the bar the first time I arrived were heading into the building. It still looked run down and unkempt, contrasting against the number of people heading in, if I didn’t know any better I would’ve assumed someone had just died.

Miranda pulled into the parking lot and stopped the engine. She climbed out of the car and Lai and I did the same. Lai hugged her coloring book and package of crayons as she stepped out. Once our feet touched the ground, some of the men called out to us, welcoming us. One even commented on Miranda’s exposed cleavage, which she didn’t seem to take particular offense to, but her face flushed red.

Lai walked ahead of me, and a few of the men waved and greeted her as she walked through the door. When Lai walked in, the sound of people chattering drowned out all other noises. The door closed, and I could finally hear the whiz of bugs again.

I walked on the dirt path toward the door, my footsteps crunching beneath my feet. Someone had died near here. My mind couldn’t let that go, and I knew that I was partially responsible for it. Someone I love will die because of me. Those words continued to echo in my brain. 

I entered the bar, and cheers called for me. Men sat at the majority of tables, drinking their night away. Women scattered sparsely among the crowd, but there were a few that I saw. One sat with a group of men, drinking with the others. She looked to be in her mid-twenties but wasn’t bothered as she was groped by men twice her age. In fact, I’d go out of my way to say she relished in it. I hadn’t pegged humans as people enjoying that type of contact, but just like cubbi, there were many different types of humans. I was still getting used to that.

Zihao and Lai were stationed behind the bar. Zihao cleaned and made drinks, occasionally dipping to the back of the building and appearing with trays of freshly cooked food. Lai colored in her book while Miranda waited for her drink to come to her. 

The smell of the place, though rancid of alcohol and sweaty middle-aged men, was somewhat homely. Almost as if I had been transported to the broken down house with an arguing family that couldn’t stand being around each other, but were comfortable enough to hold on as the other one falls from a bridge.

“Harmony.” I looked to the bar and saw Miranda waving at me. “Over here.” 

I approached her and sat in the booth between her and one of the many leather jacket men that crowded the restaurant. He turned to me and did his best cool man smile. I held in a chuckle from how hard the guy was trying.

“How’s your day been, my fine mistress.” The man so attractively said in a heavy German accent.

“I’ve been doing fine.” 

Before the man could say anything else, Miranda bumped into the conversation.

“Not now, Jan.” Miranda said.

Jan shrugged his shoulders and went back to talking with his buddy next to him. I looked over at Miranda who had let out a hefty sigh.

“You okay?” I asked.

I knew that was a dumb question, but I didn’t just want to be silent and let her think I wasn’t thinking about her. I cared for her too much for her to think that. 

“I’m doing better. I just have a lot on my mind.”

After Karina’s trip to the hospital, she just hadn’t been much of the same. In some ways, she became a shell. A shell so tough on the outside that even my strongest punch couldn’t shatter it. 

“So then,” I started speaking in a more gentle voice. “Want to drink our feelings away?” 

Miranda pouted for a second then called over Zihao. “Sure, why not.” 

She ordered a couple of beers and some meals, and Zihao went into the kitchen. Only five minutes went by and he came out of the back with two full meals. He set them in front of us and made our beers. When he gave them to us, we clinked our glasses together and drank like no tomorrow. 

***

“Come on man. It’s not that far.” Thomas said, pushing me on. 

“I haven’t walked this far in years so cut me some slack,” I said through wheezing breaths. 

As soon as we left the restaurant we had begun making our way toward the bar. Talia followed alongside us for a time, but as soon as we hit the Poorman district of Juxten, she split off from us in the blink of an eye. One second she was there, the next she wasn’t. She just had that tendency, and by this point, I just came to expect it.

Thomas hummed to the tune of a song I vaguely recognized. It was so recognizable that my brain hurt itself in trying to remember where the song came from. Wherever it was, it probably wasn’t anything special if I couldn’t remember it. 

“You know, I’ve been wondering something since we met,” I said. 

“What is it, dude? You can ask me anything.”

“Why do you have those get-togethers in Zihao’s bar? Any special occasion or is it just because?” 

Thomas hummed to himself for a second longer before answering my question. He looked in all directions before coming too close for comfort. His face was so close to me that I could feel his breath on my lips, and strangely enough, it didn’t make me feel as uncomfortable as I would have thought. We stopped walking for a second, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the bar. 

“Keep this on the down low. Twice every week, me and everyone else in my gang get together and fuck like wild.”

My eyes widened. A few questions came to my mind in that instant, and none of them gave the best picture, but to say my interest wasn’t peaked would be dishonest of me. 

“So you have gay orgies?” 

Thomas laughed and shook his head. 

“No, we have girls too. Some of them just like to drink while getting plowed rather than before. Though if you’re into that stuff, as long as it’s consensual, no one’s gonna stop you from doing the homies.” His eyebrows lifted as he looked at me. “You could come with us and have as much fun as you want for the night. You could use the stress relief.”

It was the first time anyone has ever told me they were planning an orgy, much less being invited to one. My heart beat even faster than the time I nearly lost my virginity in high school. If I could measure my heart rate, the machine would break from the sheer velocity my heart pumped at. 

I very much wanted to go, but at the same time, I wanted to finish my book as soon as possible. Even though my headache nearly killed me, I didn’t regret staying up all night in the least. Because of it, my book is nearing completion. All I needed to do was come up with that ever elusive ending, and once that’s done it just needs heavy editing. Then get in contact with my agent, then a publisher, and I’m essentially done. 

At the same time, however, sex.

“I need some time to think about it.”

“Sure, no problem.” 

We continued walking down the road and finally came to the bar parking lot. After some time looking around at all the cars, I spotted a vehicle I didn’t expect to see. Miranda’s car sat amongst the group standing out from how much better it looked compared to everything around it. 

“Hey Thomas, what time is it?” I asked.

Thomas took out his phone and looked at the screen. “Five-Thirty.”

That was strange. She shouldn’t have been out of work for about an hour. Unless Miranda decided to leave Harmony in charge of the store, which I highly doubted, then she just decided that she’d close early. She’d be inside, so I could just ask her.

I walked to the door, Thomas nowhere in sight. He had already gone inside, and I could hear his boisterous laughter from outside. The wind picked up, blowing my hair and chilling my skin. Goosebumps sprouted on my arm as the chill air entered my pores and cooled my insides. I hugged myself, glad the wind finally decided to die down from before. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t have lasted walking over here. 

I opened the door, and the smell of middle-aged drunks’ sweat and beer breath reached my nostrils. My nose crinkled from the horrid smell to the point my stomach churned. Looking around for Miranda, I walked through the crowd of drunks to the bar where I could see Zihao talking with one of Thomas’s people. 

Right beside him, I could see Miranda gulping a beer as if it were the last beer she’d ever drink in her life. As I moved closer to her, I saw someone I didn’t expect to see here. Harmony sat next to Miranda, cheering her on. Her face was so red from blood rushing to her head that she could light up a Christmas night.

“Hey, guys,” I said. 

Harmony froze still while Miranda slammed the glass down on the bar. She turned to look at me, her head swiveling from her drunken stupor. 

“What’s it you want?” Miranda said. She was so drunk that her words slurred to a nearly incomprehensible degree.

“I’m just surprised you’re not at work.” 

“Hey, I’ssa can tke a brea any tim I want.” She hiccuped before drinking another sip of beer. “Hey! Zeehoo! Gimme nother beer!” She held up her cup which shook so much I could swear it’d shatter at any moment. 

“If I wasn’t living with you I’d give you another, but I don’t want to deal with you even more drunk,” Zihao said, dragging the glass away. 

“So what if kicked you oot?” 

“Then Lai would be homeless,” Zihao patted Lai’s head and it somehow didn’t bother her coloring. “Look at this face. You wouldn’t want her to be homeless, would you?” 

Miranda pouted. “You still have a home.” 

“Not really considering there are still people talking about a man walking the streets at night.” 

“How is that bad?” I asked. 

Zihao looked at me as if he didn’t even need to answer that question. “Down here, when people walk out at night, that’s not a good sign. It’s probably different in the side of town you’re on, but when people walk at night, they’re doing some shady shit. Either involving drugs, murder, or theft.”

That made sense at least, and it’s not like he could just buy a new house. Not only that, but that single experience from the alley kind of scarred me for life, so maybe I should’ve just put two and two together.

“Hey there Miranda. Harmony.” Thomas called out while walking toward us. “Are you coming with us to the party afterward Miranda?” 

Miranda hiccuped before answering. “Sure, why not. I need to destress a bit.”

“Alright, I decided,” I spoke up right away. “I’m going.”

“Nice to hear you’re coming,” Thomas said. 

“What’s this party you’re talking about?” Harmony asked. 

“An orgy,” Thomas said. “You wanna come too?” 

Harmony’s a succubus so if there was anyone wanting to go to an orgy, it would have to be her.

“Naw.”

And I stand corrected.

“Suit yourself,” Miranda said. “I can’t remember the last time I had sex with someone.”

Miranda stood up and approached a group of guys that were drinking several glasses of beer. She snatched one up and began chugging it down with her audience cheering her on. I sat next to Harmony, and she looked away from my gaze. 

“You need anything?” Zihao asked. 

“Not right now.” 

Zihao shrugged and went back to serving beers and cleaning glasses. Meanwhile, I tapped Harmony on her shoulder, hoping that’d get her to look at me. 

“Why wouldn’t you want to go to an orgy?” I asked. “Isn’t that like a succubus’ dream?”

“I mean, I’ve always wanted to participate in a normal orgy. The last time I went to one we had to leave quickly because an incubus died by asphyxiation from being sat on by a succubus.”

Note to self, if I ever visit the land of cubbi, try to get invited to their orgies. 

“Then why not go to this one?” 

“Because I can’t exactly hide my tail if I’m stark naked.” 

“Couldn’t you just say it’s cosplay?” I suggested.

Harmony sighed while sipping some more beer. “It’s not like it’s a butt plug tail. It’s attached just above my asshole, so if someone saw it, they’d freak out.”

She’s not exactly wrong, but at the same time, I did want to see her stark naked around other people. Exhibitionism and voyeurism are some of my favorite kinks, so there was some disappointment in hearing she wasn’t coming. 

“Alright, I get it,” I called out to Zihao to order my food, but before I could, the door to the bar slammed open. The entire bar froze and quieted, quite unlike how it normally would. 

I looked to see who came in and found out why the whole building turned silent. Standing in the open doorway were several police officers led by none other than Jessica.

Gryphon

Where the fuck have I been? A few things. Money is really important so I'm currently making a book I plan un publishing normally so I can get some actual money. So I became just as busy as I was when I was in school, and kind of got a little burnt out. I like this story and all, but there's a limit to how much I can write. But I also don't like to leave things unfinished, especially when I like this story so much. So what I'm going to do is just update this once a week. On sunday, sometime around noon, that's the new schedule. I hope everyone has some Happy Reading now that I've returned.