What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,1

downtown area of Chicago. DelVecchio owned the entire block, as well the other side of the street, too. He'd built the club in a large, sprawling, stately manor – a mansion, really – then had the inside completely renovated fit his needs.

The top floor was his personal living quarters, the second floor was full of changing rooms and break areas and his office, and the ground level was the main entrance to Caché and its infamous “Fun Rooms”.

Caché was all about providing fantasies. “Keep 'em guessing” was Del's motto, so the Fun Rooms were always changing. On Friday, maybe there'd be a movie screening of a yet-to-be-released blockbuster in one room, and body painting in another room. But come back Saturday, and a person would fine a gigantic ball pit in one room, and an unlicensed boxing match in the other.

That was Valentine's favorite thing about the club. A person would show up thinking they were just going to take in a private show from a famous opera singer, but then two hours later, find themselves randomly involved in a game of high stakes strip-poker.

It was like Willy Wonka's factory, but for adults. You never knew what you were going to get, but you always had a good time, regardless of what activities were available.

Of course, for people who did appreciate a bit of structure, there was the sub-level.

Once upon a time, the manor had its own basement, but Del had ripped the whole thing apart. He'd had it dug deeper and built wider, and that's where the Dance Room was – essentially a small night club under a house, and it was where Valentine spent most of her time. There was also a Music Room down there for live acts, and a very special room for other various ... acts.

As Val left the dance club area, she moved down a narrow, almost pitch black hallway. Drunk revelers snickered and snorted as they scooted past her, and eventually the thumping techno bass gave way to softer sounds. Piano. A snare drum. A gentle voice, crooning into a microphone.

The next room Val entered was the Music Room – she had to cross in front of a small stage. On it stood a short, curvaceous woman in a red dress that looked like it had been painted on her. It was completely covered in rhinestones and even when she stood still, she twinkled like a star. Her platinum blonde hair was curled into suicide rolls on top of her head, completing her pin-up look, and when Val passed by, she held out a gloved hand, gently stroking the side of her face. Valentine blew her a kiss, then continued on her way.

Down another hallway – this one covered in day-glo paint and lit with black lights – and up a steep set of stairs, and she was finally above ground. She pushed a buzzer next to the door, and a moment later it swung open. She stepped through it and found herself in a giant cooler. She smiled as she turned to the bouncer.

“I thought you were still downstairs,” she laughed at Serge.

“Duty called,” he sighed. “You come to keep me company, doll face?”

“No. Duty calls,” she mimicked him. He sighed and shut the door she'd just come through. Once closed, it looked like a regular wall, complete with shelving in place.

“Anyone gives you any shit out there, you call me,” he said, and she waved at him as she headed out of the cooler.

“Got it.”

She emerged in a tiny shop of sorts. There were chips and sodas and condoms and candy and lube and bottled water, but no register. No one had to pay. The price of membership covered everything on the ground floor – it was all inclusive at Caché. Of course, at any point in time during a guest's evening, they could ask an employee for anything. Literally anything. But some people enjoyed a more “hands off” experience, and others were simply too shy to ask their waitress for edible strawberry lube or cotton candy panties.

As Val made her way down a long hallway, she crossed in front of several open rooms. In one, there was a huge, larger-than-king sized bed, done all in the French Victorian style. A very large woman knelt in the middle of it, laughing loudly as the several half naked men and women around her engaged in a pillow fight. She wore a jeweled corset that stopped just under her bust line, and diamond