Crimson Time by Emily VanderBent

Author:Emily VanderBent [VanderBent, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641377201
Publisher: New Degree Press
Published: 2020-07-27T04:00:00+00:00

7

No Man’s Land

Adelaide now understood what Alice must have felt like after her trip down the rabbit hole. The chute had spit them out onto a pile of elaborate throw pillows, hand-stitched and made of fine silk. Adelaide was still sprawled on top of them waiting for the world to stop spinning.

Elise, her pale skin tinted a light shade of green, groaned next to her. “Well, I am not doing that again.”

Adelaide agreed. She struggled to her feet and reached a hand out to help Elise. The girl took it gratefully and worked her way to a standing position. Elise, color creeping back into her cheeks, looked around the room. “Whoa, looks like Gatsby threw up on the place.”

The real Liberty Tree was a stark contrast to the cover upstairs. Deep cherry-wood booths ran down the farthest wall. They seemed to extend below the boarded-up buildings along the entire city block. Beneath Adelaide’s feet, black veins webbed the floor like spider webs, stark against the pale marble. Tables, the same deep cherry oak as the booths, dotted the center of the room. They were polished to a sheen, reflecting the glow of crystal chandeliers overhead. The crystals of the chandeliers bounced the light around the room, bathing it in a warm, yellow haze. On the wall opposite the booths, floor-to-ceiling mirrors reflected the room back on itself. The effect made the already large space feel even bigger.

A few people occupied the booths and tables farther down the room, just out of earshot, but Adelaide caught an occasional word as the men and women raised their voices at one another. The animation in their movements and facial expressions livened as the moments passed. A man stood at the head of the table. He flicked his eyes around the arguing crowd. The glow of candlelight reflected off a gold medallion around his neck as his body swayed with the movement of his eyes. He closed his eyes against the sound and clasped his medallion, running it back and forth along the chain in a steady religious movement like the hand of a metronome. Suddenly, his eyes flew open and his fist smashed down on the table in a single fluid motion. The reverberation on the table sent the nearly empty mugs teetering from impact. The crowd fell silent as the mugs settled, a single soft clink from the man’s mug still resounding as it teetered. He reached out with a firm hand and steadied it. His mouth opened to speak, but the words got lost in the air as Adelaide felt a tap on her arm.

Elise pointed to a booth in the opposite direction of Adelaide’s gaze. “Looks like everyone is over there.”

Adelaide and Elise moved to join the others. The marble floor beneath them was a welcome change from the warped floorboards of the bar overhead. Still, Adelaide found herself nostalgic for the worn floorboards. They reminded her of the farmhouse she had grown up in. The ancient floors had creaked with every step, leaving only a select path around the house free from any sound.

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