Lights Out Read Online Free PDF Page A

girls; all dressed in exquisite silk
Cheong Sam dresses. Not the demure kind like the traditional girls wore, with
just one small slit on one side, but the kind of dress that demanded attention.
The sleeves short and capped to show long slender olive arms with the dress
buttoned high into a mandarin collar, secured with individual fine silk knots.
The body of the fabric following the shape and contours of the figure beneath,
stopping demurely at the knees, but teasing the observer with high slits at the
sides revealing young firm tanned thighs. It was too much to resist for some
men. They would be lured easily with promises of drinks, dancing and more. Now
only snippets of the past were still visible, an old silk lantern here, a
secret covered doorway there, it felt a lot less glamorous and lot more seedy.
Neon strip lights flickered overhead, framing small door entrances with
brightly lit arrows pointing to hidden staircases. Ruby red velvet curtains,
that had seen better days, now hung heavily over windows, worn and faded with
the smell of old tobacco. Mamma Sans sitting on low stools with toothy grins offering pretty girls and massages,
dancing girls and drinks to anyone as they walked by. Rob and Ryan were fascinated by the
Tattoo parlors. Not brave enough to ever have one of their own, they would look
at the images that showed pictures of half naked bodies covered in intricate
tattoos of dragons and elaborate Chinese inscriptions that they couldn’t
understand. They spent many nights gracing the smoking lounges and the sleazy
and dingy back street clubs. It was a common end to their evening, tumbling out
of darkened nightclubs in fits of laughter over something that they would later
forget, squinting into the bright daylight and heading home to sleep.
    ‘I bought you a present, thought you might need something to calm you
down a bit.’ Rob leaned forwards and rummaged in his gym bag for a moment
before retrieving his gift. With a big smile he planted a bottle of 12-year old
Glen Fiddich Special Reserve on the glass coffee table between them.
     
    “Perfect”, Ryan said with a smile as he stood up to fetch two glasses.
‘On the rocks or straight?’ He asked as he walked through to his kitchen.
    ‘Straight. Don’t ruin the amber nectar with ice.” Rob countered back,
horrified at the suggestion.
    Ryan walked back through carrying two whiskey glasses. Rob was eager
to pour with the opened bottle waiting in his hand. They sat in silent
appreciation as he poured the dark amber liquid into the first glass, watching
it swirl in the bottom like liquid metal. He passed the glass to Ryan and then
filled his own.
    “Here’s to nine-lives.”
Rob said, clinking his glass heavily against Ryan’s.
    “I’ll drink to that.”
Ryan said as he took a large sip of the whiskey. He let the liquid trickle over
his tongue savoring the myriad of subtle flavors that merged into one another,
hints of smoke and wood mixed with fruit and liquorice ,
before swallowing it slowly. He felt himself relax.
    ‘This is good.’
    “Tough day at the office?” Ryan asked his friend.
    “No worse than usual, but pretty boring compared to yours. Tell me
everything.” Rob said sipping his drink.
    Ryan spent the next ten minutes without interruption telling Rob all
of the days events. Rob listened intently, nodding and
gasping at all the right moments. Ryan felt like he was living it all again as
he explained in detail about the gunshot, the man falling, the blood seeping
across the floor, the old mans distorted face. After he had concluded his story
Ryan could feel that his heart was racing. He took another sip of the whiskey
to calm his nerves.
    Seeing that his friend needed to change the subject, Rob switched to
a lighter topic of conversation.
    “OK, enough about Bank robberies and dead people, let’s talk about
girls. Have you called Lily yet?”
    “No, not yet”, Ryan replied, pleased with the sudden change of topic.
“I was planning