Tristan

The next day was a lot better. My usually pissy boss seemed to be a in a good mood and Damien had packed cranberry pancakes for lunch. They were like little slices of heaven.

A beep signalled a new text message. I opened my phone to see a text from Damien.

"Will be late tonight. Eat properly. Love D."

I shook my head. The guy worried way too much about me. Ever since I had a bad attack of gastritis a few years back and ended up with an ulcer, Damien had never let me skip another meal. I understood his concern. He knew that more often than not I forgot to take care of myself.

I planned on leaving early today after yesterday's late night. As I was packing up my things, Marly stepped into my cubicle.

"Yo. Aren't you forgetting something?"

I frowned. "What?"

She rolled her eyes and looked at me with despair. "I swear Tris. You are so frustrating sometimes. We were supposed to check out that mysterious club remember?"

Ahh yes. I had completely forgotten about that. I almost started to refuse but then stopped myself. It had been a long time since I had been to any club or hooked up with anyone. It wouldn't hurt to have some fun and besides Damien was going to be late.

I nodded and Marly rubbed her hands in excitement. "Come on boy. Let's get the show on the road."

We soon found out that getting into Dark Fantasy was way harder than getting into any normal club. The bouncers stopped us immediately and asked for all kinds of identification. We were then given a full pat over and asked weird questions like "have you ever been arrested" or "do you have a criminal record".

They then asked for a membership card which we obviously didn't have. "You have to pay then," the unnaturally huge man in front of me declared.

"Okay how much is it?"

"200 for each."

I gaped at him. He had to be kidding me. 200 freaking dollars to get into a damn club! I was almost about to refuse but Marly shoved her card in their faces before I could say or do anything.

I glared at her while she motioned for me to be quiet. We were finally allowed to go in those red velvet doors into a darkened hallway.

"Marly what the hell. 200 dollars? Seriously!"

She shushed me. "All that formality has got me really curious. I want to see exactly what goes on in here."

I had to admit that I was a bit curious too. The hallway we were walking through was very elegant. It eventually led to the main part of the club.

It seemed like a normal club. People were dancing, kissing and some were very very drunk. The music was not too loud and yet not too low. The bar was in the centre and it was beautiful with it's sleek black table tops and expensive looking glasses.

"Come on let's get a drink and then hopefully a man," Marly winked. I looked at her weirdly.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Ahh yes but there's no harm in looking or trying out new treats ," she said while flipping her hair over her shoulders. The bartender asked us for our orders and I asked for a vodka. I couldn't afford to get drunk on a work night and have a terrible hangover tomorrow.

A group of guys and a few girls came over to the bar and gave their orders. They looked normal enough but as I looked closely there was something definitely off about their attire.

Most of them had a weird collar like thing around their necks. It didn't look uncomfortable, just a bit weird. They were all wearing similar clothes, tight pants with see through shirts.

"Marls," I whispered,  not wanting them to hear me. "Yeah what?," she said a bit too loudly.
"Shh not that loud. Look at those guys over there. Does anything about them seem off to you?"

She followed my gaze and peered at them closely. "Well not off I would say. A bit weird. Those things around their necks look like chokers but still not exactly chokers. It's like a collar or something."

It was confusing. I tried to listen in to their conversations though it was probably extremely rude of me to do so. But I couldn't help it.

"I had a session with Master John yesterday. It was so good I swear. I am hoping he claims me soon," a brunette boy with soft blue eyes said.

I almost knocked over my drink.

Master John. Claim him.

What the fuck.

I looked over at them with wide disbelieving eyes. Did I just hear right or was I completely misinterpreting their words?

The bartender must have noted my intense confusion and chuckled. I looked at him, bewildered.

"I see you didn't research before coming here," he said while pouring our drinks. I frowned. Of course we didn't research. Who the hell researched before going to a club for random hookups and drunk dancing!?

Marly looked a bit uncomfortable too before her eyes widened in realisation. "Oh my god," she exclaimed. "Is this.....," she trailed off , looking at the bartender meaningfully.

He nodded. She whistled lowly. "Damn. Should have expected it I guess seeing the amount of security you have got here."

I was utterly confused. "Okay what's going on?". I looked at Marly severely. "Tell me what you know woman."

She grinned evilly. "My dear Tristan. It seems that this place is even more exciting than what we expected. This is a bdsm club my boy."

I almost choked on air. I had heard of bdsm but never taken an active interest in it. It wasn't my thing at all. I couldn't see myself as a Dominant and neither did I want to be Submissive.

I looked towards the guys again. They were clearly the Subs. And those really were collars of ownership around their necks. I expected to feel disgusted or afraid of being in a place like this but surprisingly all I could feel was intrigue.

This was something extremely different from my daily monotonous life and a part of me was interested to know more.

We grilled the bartender for information, Marly seeming as interested as I was. He told us that the club had a strict screening process for both Doms and Subs. They had to go through a series of tests to prove that they were capable of handling their roles.

"The Doms. How many are they?," I asked.

"About fifteen of them. Not all of them are same though. Some are more to the vanilla side whereas others are straight up hard-core."

"Are the Doms here," Marly asked while looking around.

"No not yet. They will be here soon though. They don't mingle with the normal crowd but observe from a distance. Then they choose which sub they would like to play with."

"How do they know who is a sub"

"Every Dom gets handed a list of all the Subs the club has along with their likes and hard limits. Also most Subs wear a collar around their necks and a bracelet on their wrist. "

Suddenly the music stopped and a soft beep sounded before resuming again. The subs seemed to become alert and their eyes shone with excitement.

"I guess the Doms are coming now"

"Yep," the bartender whose name was Nate said. "Let me give you guys info on them."

He pointed to a tall man with brown hair and matching eyes. The man was wearing simple enough clothes but his stance was extremely intimidating. His eyes swept the dance floor, stopping on someone for a few seconds before continuing their journey again.

"That's Master Christian. He is very strict and one of the hard-core ones. But he is rumoured to be good at his stuff."

I looked at him closely before Nate told me not to. Apparently it could be seen as a sign of disrespect. "You aren't a sub but if you disrespect a Dom you can be punished too."

His words made me shiver. I did not really understand if it was fear or excitement or a weird mixture of both that was coursing through me at that moment. The man was definitely appealing but it was his intimidating stance and the look in his eyes that interested me more.

I wonder how it would feel to have someone look at me like that.

The thought was a fleeting one but it scared me. Hardcore wasn't really my thing. I hadn't tried being rough with anyone before and I was sure that I wouldn't like it if someone were to belt me. It was just the idea of a  Dom sub relationship that intrigued me. I knew that it was based on absolute trust. The sub trusted his or her Dom to take care of them and do what's best for them.

It seemed really nice in a way. It took away the stress of making decisions knowing that whatever the other person does is for our own good. It was like having another parent though obviously not the same.

I turned my attention back to my neglected drink and began to sip it slowly, ignoring Marly who was having an animated conversation with Nate.  The subs beside me were all silent now in apprehension of which Master would choose them for the night. Apart from Master Christian I noticed a few other men walking about and watching who had the same aura and stance. It made me nervous but they never even looked at me. They obviously knew who were the subs and who weren't.

I watched a brunette smallish guy be beckoned by Master Christian. He happily made his way to his Master with his eyes down and hands behind his back. The other subs watched him go while winking and smirking at each other.

Master Christian led him away from the dance floor and further into the club. "Where are they going," I asked unable to control my curiosity. "To the Playroom. Some Masters have their private playrooms though most don't. It's expensive and takes up a lot of space and so is given only to the most experienced of Doms. Others just use the common rooms. And if they want to get real dirty they go down to the dungeons. "

The way he said the word dungeon left no doubt that it wasn't a very pleasant place. The dungeon was usually the place where the hardcore shit happened in stories and porn and I guess this one was no different.

I looked at my watch. It was pretty late. I was just about to suggest to Marly that we should be going when it happened. I was not someone who got easily shocked or shaken. It usually took a lot to surprise me. But as I saw the man who had just walked out, I got the shock of my life.