If She Falls

"Talia, where the fuck are we?" I asked, my nerves shot as the sick twist in my stomach got worse every second. The alley she'd turned into only made it worse, and I stared through the wet glass at the rain. I heard my older sister say, "You were the one begging to come along, remember?" I shook my head. "That still doesn't answer my damn question." From the driver's seat she shot me a look and took another shadowy street. "Relax… it isn't anything bad. Well… kind of. But it's not dang..." She cut herself off and shook her head once. "You'll see soon enough." "Why won't you just tell me?" "Because I can't." "Why not?" "Because you'd probably try talking me out of going, and I have to show up tonight." I went silent, wondering if I was about to end up in some horror movie while Talia kept creeping along. My eyes kept skimming the street, and when we finally reached a block with parked cars instead of empty pavement, I silently thanked God. A minute later she eased over, parked, and looked at me. "We're here." I glanced around. "What exactly is here?" She rolled her eyes. "Just… come on, Cori." I climbed out and followed her down the dark sidewalk toward a building that felt wrong the second I saw it. For half a second I thought about texting somebody our location just in case, then remembered I didn't have the slightest clue where we even were. I shoved my hands deeper into my jacket. "What is this, some underground club?" She gave me another bullshit answer. "Something like that." Talia brought me up to a building with a couple people hanging around outside, which honestly made me feel a little better. It was still sketchy as hell, though, and not only because it sat in some forgotten part of town after dark. We stopped at a door guarded by a huge guy I immediately tagged as a bouncer or bodyguard. He glanced at Talia, gave a short nod, and let us through without saying anything. I kept thinking, What the fuck am I about to walk into? We went through the door and down a set of stairs. Rock music was pounding through the walls, and at first I figured club was still the obvious answer, until we crossed through the basement door and I realized I was wrong.