The problem was really a lot simpler than that.

“These doors are quite heavy to open, right? Then shouldn't you be looking at the floor and not the doors?” Henry said.

“The floor? I don't know if you noticed, but there is a lip around the door. It would never touch the floor,” Gabriel said.

“I did, thanks, but Sabrina is a prostitute right? Well, just going by popular culture references, prostitutes don't wear flats and this floor is wooden.”

Henry crouched down around the bottom of the door closest him and then moved on to the next, “See, people are creatures of habit. I might not get how all the mushy stuff works, but the mechanics are simple enough. There are indents in the wood here. Guessing a stiletto or something as she lent back to open the door.”

Gabriel looked at the floor and smiled, “Clever... but, just to be safe and all that, after you.”

- Chapter 14 -

Dreaming of slumber

Henry pulled on the door and with a high pitched creak, it opened. He entered first, Gabriel following behind, noticeably no hand was placed on Henry's elbow to guide him. Had they gained some level of trust somewhere along the line? Perhaps.

If there was one thing Henry had had enough of that night, it was long and winding streets, corridors and alley ways. At the end of the one he currently traversed stood a red door, the first coloured one of the night. More peculiar than the colour of the door, were the vibrations emanating through the floor and pounding in his chest. It was music. He was standing in the middle of a sewer, surely it didn’t come with a thumping soundtrack.

Thoughts of his real father, of the lie he lived, of his fake parents, all rushed back into his mind. He had managed to suppress so many questions and emotions, would those feelings somehow find their way to the surface again? It didn't bother him if they didn't, in fact, he would prefer it that way. Elle once said that, one day, he would explode from trying to keep every emotion he experienced under control, that they would burst out like popcorn in a microwave. For his own sanity, Henry hoped she was wrong.

“Any idea where this goes?” Henry said.

“None, but I think we have done our share of running for today, you should be normal now. Well, you get what I mean. We were in with Sabrina a lot longer than I thought,” Gabriel said.

The door opened into dark hues of red, as the music grew considerably louder. They walked a way inside and were surrounded by people dressed in fashionable clothes, their sinewy forms dancing to the beat of the music. They were in a bloody nightclub of all places, the crowd slowing to a stop around them as the music paused, leaving all eyes on Henry.

“Gabriel, why is everyone staring at me? I thought the energy thing had reduced now?” Henry said.

“It's the smell Mr Fellows,” a voice said from across the room.

A man in a square cut red suit grinned at him like a Cheshire cat, his smile the only feature Henry could perfectly distinguish at that distance. He walked towards them, indulging in the falsest laugh Henry had ever heard.

“My friends! Thank you for gracing my humble establishment with your presence, but next time please take a bath first.”

He was Caribbean and his manner so care free and assured, Henry didn't know how to react.

“Hello Byron.”

“You know him too?” Henry said to Gabriel.