Story No. 9 : Margerate (Inspiration from Story from French Collection)

It was the summer of my seventeen years. My parents once again got rid of me; they had paid me for a long and expensive linguistic stay in Margate, an English seaside resort. I was bored firmly, as always, between classes, cultural visits, sports activities and television evenings with my host family. Fortunately, one evening, when I had obtained midnight permission and joined my friends in a student club, I met Angelica. My life changed.
- Hey rocker, you seem to piss yourself off.
- I've known better.
- You're French, right?
- I can't hide it.

She looked like Siouxsie Sioux, the Gothic singer in vogue at the time; it was even the magnified version, studied. She was two years older than me and worked in a Pakistani fast food restaurant to pay for her studies as a fashion designer. I had a hard time imagining serving onion doughnuts dressed as the princess of darkness. My remark made her laugh.

* * *

I hadn't been asked when Angelica had offered to go to an alternative club. After a short taxi trip, we arrived in an industrial area, in the middle of nowhere. She showed me a dark building.
- It looks like a warehouse.
- During the day, it's a parts factory for shipbuilding. At the weekend, it becomes the ultimate in the alternative world, especially at night.
- And do you come here often?
- Only when I'm hungry. I bring a mortal whom I devour with relish.
- It's promising.
- If you are wise, I will keep you alive for tomorrow and the next day.


Entering the saint of saints of the British counter-culture should not be easy in view of the cerbères and the queue. Angelica slipped a few words into the ear of the bouncers then pointed at me. Without noticing it, I found myself inside the nightclub, in the middle of a colourful crowd mixing all the styles of the time, not only the Gothic ones. My beauty took my hand and drew me to one of the bars. At the touch of his fingers, I felt his desire to possess me, to bewitch me. This feeling excited me. The bartender offered me the cocktail reserved for new arrivals. She told him that I was a freedman, that he could serve me a triple dose. I was going to object but my princess of darkness shoved her tongue in my mouth. My little heart exploded.

* * *

I was in the centre of the dance floor. Angelica held me by the waist; we both moved to metallic music from the depths of the earth. Our faces approached then moved away, in a throbbing and exciting rhythm. Her hair had my body on each touch. I felt his volcanic breath when his mouth touched mine.

Suddenly I turned my head as if alerted by a sixth sense. A dancing couple was catching fire. The woman looked me straight in the eyes and then smiled at me with a toothless mouth. I looked to the left and saw other living torches. The rare flameless beings seemed as surprised as I was. They could no longer detach themselves from their burning partners. I wanted to stop dancing. My legs refused to obey. Angelica didn't seem to be affected by the blaze. She saw my confusion. I felt his hands plough my ribs.
- What's going on, rocker? I thought you were looking for thrills.
- These guys are burning.
- You don't risk anything in my arms.
- Let's leave this place!

I found myself elsewhere, in the middle of gigantic trees and quirky rocks, in a charged atmosphere. Angelica was gone. I tried to call him but no sound came out of my mouth. The air smelled more and more smoke. The sky was getting dark and oppressive. I decided to walk straight ahead, not really knowing where I was going.

* * *

We were now thousands of walkers, united by the same tempo and led by an invisible hand. The landscape gradually deformed, giving way to a desert with the cracked ground. The horizon was melting. The rain added to the darkness. I felt the cold drops penetrate my body and invade my being. I cried.

Suddenly the air became metallic. The sky froze. The landscape was industrialized, beams and steel wires embedded in imposing geometric structures. The cohort of walkers changed colour from a sinister grey to blue with dark reflections. I did not move anymore.

Time slows down. I saw the surrounding bodies decompose into fragments, silver filaments and projected into the sky by a breeze. I thought I saw the ultimate truth. I tried one last time to break my invisible ties. My legs obeyed again. I resumed my march forward. Heaven was cleared of its silver threads. The floor was transformed into white and black tiles. I walked without stopping, in a cold and infinite world. Angelica suddenly faced me.
- Are you far enough?
- I do not know! Am I dying
- Are you scared?
- Not anymore! I am tired of walking, running away without knowing why.
- We are alone now! Just you and me.
- Take me home!
- You'll get bored! Here, you saw the back of the scene, the end of boredom.
- I do not care! I had my dose of strong emotions. I want to go home!
- Do you think it's over? Like that, because you decided it?
- Angelica!
- There is always a price to pay.

She looked at me one last time before disappearing into the empty vastness. I do not remember the rest. I never heard from her again. My parents stopped sending me on a language study trip to England or elsewhere. Now they spend all their holidays with me. I'm going to be thirty. I am not bored with the other residents of this sanatorium.