A Sacrifice to the Tiki Gods

"It's pretty loud in here."

"What?" Josh put his hand to his ear as he yelled.

"I said, it's loud in here!" Anna yelled back, her own voice barely audible in her own ears amongst the din of the bar. The room was stuffed to the gills with near-clones of her boyfriend, boisterous late 20-somethings cheering along to the game playing on all the screens. "I think I'm going to get some air."

Josh squinted and nodded like he understood. "I'm good, babe." He wiggled his finger at his ear. "Super loud in here!"

She sighed and went outside. Patrons from various other bars and nightclubs stumbled on the sidewalk, occasionally peppered with a frustrated local just trying to walk their dog. A few cops kept an eye on the revelry.

Anna leaned against the brick façade of the bar's building, trying to decide what to do next. Go back in? Fuck, but it was so loud. She could go back to the hotel, fall asleep to a true crime doc or something. No, that felt too pathetic. Just a walk around the block, then. The game was only in the first quarter, anyway. Plenty of time to gather herself before Josh even noticed she was gone.

As she walked down the street, she lost herself in questions of whether or not she was acting too much like the bitchy girlfriend, if Josh was being a jerk boyfriend, neither, or some combination of the two. All she knew was that the farther she got from the sports bar, the better she felt, until she realized the crowd had thinned and the street was mostly quiet. There was an eeriness to the silence, but Anna realized that for the first time that night, her jaw was unclenched and her shoulders weren't tight.

She assessed her surroundings and saw a woman in the distance, smoking a cigarette and chatting with a bouncer in front of a bar called the Volcano Room. The woman laughed as she dropped her cigarette to the ground and crushed it with the tip of her boot. She had a loud, twinkling laugh that Anna could hear from across the street. Then she patted the bouncer on the shoulder and went inside.

Anna didn't realize she was walking towards the bar until the bouncer said pointedly, "ID?" She blinked, showed it to him, and walked in.

If the sports bar she'd left Josh at was Mercury, the Volcano Room felt like Neptune. Or the Andromeda galaxy. As far removed from the raucous beer-drinking sportsball-watching crowd as possible. It was small, dimly lit by colored globes lined with fishing nets, with soft island music piped in. The walls were lined with kitschy pictures of hula girls and vintage postcards of island beaches. All the chairs, including the barstools, were cushioned. There were no high tops, no pitchers of beer. The few TVs, only two behind the bar, played a movie with a young Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze on silent.

Anna looked around. While it wasn't nearly as crowded as the sports bar, the smallness meant there wasn't much free room. She was about to leave when she saw the woman again, sitting at a couch by herself in a corner, her feet resting on a shellacked wooden coffee table.

The woman smiled, showing bright white teeth. "Lost?" she said.

"No," Anna said automatically, and the woman laughed.

"If you want a place to sit," she said to Anna, patting the spot on the couch next to her, "you can sit."

Anna thought about saying no thanks. Despite its kitschy, touristy décor, this didn't seem like the kind of place that catered to newbies. Everyone here seemed to know each other.

But what did that matter? Josh seemed to be the life of the party no matter where they went. Any bar they stepped into, within fifteen minutes the regulars were calling him by his name. Why couldn't Anna be like that?

She sat.

"I'm Katie," the woman said. She had a deep voice, almost husky. Could be from the smoking, though she didn't smell like cigarettes. Her long black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. She wore a tight, deep-colored red top with dark jeans, and her nails were painted to match her top. Carefully applied makeup accented East Asian features, giving her eyes a smoky look and her lips a beckoning burgundy depth.

Anna had thought she'd done a good job getting herself ready for the night, but now she felt like her own blonde hair resembled straw, her makeup reminded her of an early 2000's pop diva, and her floral midi dress looked like something she'd wear to church. "Anna," she said, limply taking Katie's firm hand.

"This your first time here, Anna?" Katie asked.

"In this bar?" Anna asked to clarify.

"Oh." Katie clicked her tongue and grinned. "This is your first time in a Tiki bar period, isn't it?"

"She a Tiki virgin?" a patron at the bar turned to ask, and Anna felt herself blush.

"I think she is," Katie said, her grin widening. "You know what the Tiki gods do to virgins, don't you, Anna?" she asked.

"I..." Anna took in a breath.

"That's racist, Katie," the guy at the bar said.

"Fuck off, Artie," Katie retorted. "Your wife still making you sleep on the couch?"

Artie snorted and went back to his drink.

"It is a little racist," Katie admitted to Anna with a whisper, and Anna couldn't help but laugh. "What's your pleasure?" She pushed a laminated drink menu that had been resting on the table to Anna, who examined it. It listed the drink names and notes about their histories, but not much in the way of what was actually in them. Another hint that this wasn't a bar for casual tourists.

"I guess a Mai Tai?" Anna said. It was one of the only cocktails she'd actually heard of.

"You guess?" Katie raised a thin eyebrow.

"I'm not much of a drinker," she said. "I usually just share a pitcher of whatever beer my boyfriend gets."

"If you're not much of a drinker, then a Mai Tai will knock you on your ass," Katie said. "Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it's a lot of drink for a Tiki virgin. May I?" She tapped a spot on the menu, a drink pictured in a large bowl. "Pele's Sacrifice," she said. "You can't get it at any other Tiki bar; it's a Volcano Room original."

"What's in it?" Anna asked.

"Rum. Lots of rum. And juice. But the point is, it's meant to be shared. It's Cory's take on a scorpion bowl, basically." Katie smiled at Anna's blank look. "Don't worry about it. The point is, you don't have to feel responsible for more than a few gulps if you don't want. I can take the brunt of it." She fluttered her hand to her chest, like she was pretending this would be some great burden. "Sound good?"

"Sure," Anna said, smiling. She liked Katie. Katie reminded her of the people she'd always envied in school, the kinds of girls who never wanted to be her friend. A suave, cool, charismatic party girl who could talk back to other regulars and down a drink meant for two people without flinching.

Katie whistled and snapped her fingers, and the bartender looked over at them. "Cory, I need a Pele over here."

"Another one?" he asked with clear skepticism.

"My last one was like three hours ago, I drank it with two guys, and then got a slice of pizza from around the corner." She flicked her hand dismissively. "So, whatever they say about glass houses. Turn off Point Break, by the way. We're all sick of it." She leaned forward and spun her index finger in a circle meant to represent the entire room.

Cory laughed, and started pulling out bottles and a large bowl. "She doesn't know what she's getting into," he said, pointing an ice scooper at Anna.

"She's getting into a fun night, is what she's getting into. Did you want to have a fun night, Anna?" she asked.

Anna felt her back press against the bamboo armrest. The answer should be yes. Who didn't want to have fun? Josh had promised her fun, and if he couldn't deliver, maybe Katie and Pele could. "Absolutely," she said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, adjusting herself back against the couch cushion.

"Excellent," Katie said with a grin that Anna felt like she'd been waiting her whole life to see. "So, while Cory works his magic, what brings you to the Volcano Room?"

"Oh," Anna gave a tight shrug. "Just looking for somewhere quiet, I guess. Quieter."

"Quieter than where?" Katie asked.

Anna shook her head. "Some sports bar my boyfriend wanted to go to. It's a big game night," she said, almost like she was apologizing for him. "I guess I'm getting old already, because I couldn't stand it in there after like half an hour." Her fingers tensed up as she gestured, already bringing her back to that uncomfortable place. "I went out to get some air, started walking, and...now I'm here."

"Now you're here." Katie smiled. "You guys don't get out much, I take it?"

"No, we get out too much, if anything." Anna let out a laugh. "At least once a month, he goes on a business trip, always asks me to go with him, promises we're going to have a great time, and we end up drinking at some crowded sports bar near the hotel and..." she shrugged again, "not much else."

"I hate sports," Katie said.

"I don't hate them," Anna said. "Well, I didn't used to hate them."

Katie laughed. Anna did too. A moment later, Cory came over with the bowl in his hands and a long-tipped lighter tucked under one armpit. "You tell her how to do it?" he asked as he set the ceramic bowl on the table. It was pale yellow, decorated with painted palm trees and hula girls. The drink was the same red as Katie's shirt, with two long straws sticking out of it, and in the center was a small raised platform with a few white cubes. Four other platforms around the bowl held small piles of brown powder.

"I don't do spoilers," Katie said. "Light it, please, thank you," she sang with a hint of eagerness to Cory, who ignited the lighter and used it to set the cubes in the center of the drink on fire, then gave the two women a smile and went back to the bar.

"What is that?" Anna said, pointing to the white cubes that were now on fire.

"Sugar," Katie explained. "And this," she pinched some of the brown powder between her fingers, "is cinnamon." She threw it onto the flame, which turned blue, shot up, and threw sparks onto the liquid in the bowl.

"What's it for?" Anna said.

"Fun," Katie said simply. "And it gives the drink a nice kick, if that's what you're into. Give it a try."

"It's safe, right?" Anna asked, feeling dumb as soon as she asked it. Even if Katie hadn't laughed. Which she did.

"Yeah, don't worry, the fire marshal's on speed dial."

Anna took some of the cinnamon and threw it onto the fire herself, with markedly less finesse than Katie, but it had the same effect. She felt a small thrill, a sense of satisfaction.

Finally, she was making something happen.

"Cool," she said.

"I know, right?" Katie said. "I love this drink. It's so...kitschy and silly, but I absolutely love it." She curled her fingers with a repressed squeal, and took a sip from one of the long straws. "You ever seen anything like that, Anna?"

"No," Anna had to admit.

"Never seen a drink on fire?"

"Not in real life."

"Oh, I thought so." Katie's voice had smoothed into a purr. "It's so crazy, isn't it, what a little bit of cinnamon can do? Did you even know cinnamon could do that?"

Anna looked at the flame, trying to recall if they'd ever gone over that in high school or college chemistry. "I don't think so."

The flame shot up again, and Anna realized that Katie had thrown another bit of cinnamon on it. She gave an involuntary gasp.

"Fuck, it's gorgeous, isn't it, Anna?" It sounded like Katie's mouth was right behind Anna's head, her lips a breath away from her hair.

Anna didn't answer. She assumed the question was rhetorical.

"Anna." Katie sang her name in a way that made it sound like a distant but persistent chant. "Do you like looking at the fire?"

This time, Anna understood that Katie wanted an answer. "It's nice," she said.

"Isn't it? You'd think one little flame wouldn't be so captivating, but I think the littlest flames are the most fun to look at. Give me that over a campfire any day. Try to predict how high it'll go, which direction it'll flick at any given moment, what'll happen when you make it spark." Another burst as Katie threw on another pinch of cinnamon.

Anna's breath caught in her throat. She felt her knees and thighs press together and wasn't sure why.

"Do you want to do it again, Anna?" Katie asked. Before Anna could respond, Katie pressed some powder into her fingers and guided her hand to the bowl. "Throw it," she said, her voice holding an air of authority that Anna had yet to hear. Not the way she'd called her drink order to the bartender. Not the way she told the other patron to fuck off. It was calm, smooth. Something not to be questioned. Something that burrowed in Anna's ear, and seemed to block out all other sounds in the room.

Anna threw the powder, and her lips quirked into a light, dopey smile as the flame shot up again. It was exactly what she knew would happen. But somehow, she was absolutely delighted by it. She heard a small squeak of a giggle, and it took a beat to realize it came from her own throat.

"You can see so many colors in just one small flame too," Katie said. She shifted on the couch, positioning herself behind Anna, who moved forward on the cushion to accommodate her without even thinking about it. "What colors do you see, Anna?" She grasped Anna's shoulders, running her long nails lightly against her skin, and Anna's spine straightened in response.

"Red." Anna swallowed, squinted. "Orange...yellow..." Her voice sounded syrupy. Had she taken a drink yet? No, not from the bowl. "Blue..."

"That's good." Katie sounded so pleased, and pressed her fingertips into Anna's shoulder. Anna smiled again. "That's really good, Anna. So many colors. Almost all the colors, really. I bet if you look longer, you'll see even more. Do you want to see more colors, Anna?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Anna thought it was strange that Katie was saying her name so much. That there was a reason she was doing it, and it was the same reason she was sitting behind Anna, and the same reason she kept making the flame dance. She made another noise, like a substitute for a question, if she'd been able to ask one.

Why couldn't she ask one?

Her shoulders shifted, made some effort to cast off Katie's hands. Not nearly enough to work, but enough that Katie reacted, easing off just slightly. Her palms lifted, but Anna could still sense them, mere centimeters from her shoulder blades.

She should say something. She should tell Katie not to act like Anna was just moments away from letting Katie touch her again.

But though a small voice in her said that Katie was doing something wrong, touching her without her permission, another part of her squirmed once Katie's hands were no longer on her. Like that part of her missed it, though she couldn't vocalize that either.

What could she vocalize? She wondered this with a furrow of her brow. Her lips were parted, and she could let out small, whining noises, but words seemed to be lost to her in that moment.

That was frightening. Should be frightening. Even if Anna couldn't talk, she should be doing something to resist.

The fire sparked again, and suddenly Anna couldn't remember what she'd been thinking about, what questions she'd been silently asking herself.

"Relax, Anna," Katie whispered. "Just relax. You came in here all stressed, and there's no need for that."

Had she? Where had she been before she'd been in the Volcano Room? Where had she ever been before she was here? Had she always been here?

No. No, she knew that. It just seemed terribly unimportant right now. When had Katie stopped touching her? When was she going to touch her again? Anna was sure it would be much easier to relax, if Katie would touch her. She lifted her chin, rolled her shoulders back, tried to show Katie from behind that it was okay. That she wanted to feel her skin again.

Katie obliged. She placed her hands back on Anna's shoulders, but this time, one hand went to her throat, massaging the hollow with one finger.

When was the last time...the last time...whatshisname...Josh...when was the last time Josh had...

Anna sighed, and with that exhale, it felt like she was breathing out that thought, erasing it from her memory, letting its ashes land on the drink in the bowl.

She let out a soft moan, and Katie chuckled in her ear. "Aw, pretty girl, you like that?"

Anna hummed in confirmation. She liked that Katie thought she was a pretty girl. She thought that Katie was pretty, so it felt extra nice to be called pretty by someone she thought was pretty.

Katie began what felt like an earnest massage of Anna's shoulders and back. "So tense. We don't do tense in a place like this, do we, Anna?"

"Mmm-mmm." Anna attempted to shake her head.

"No, we certainly don't," Katie murmured. "Not allowed here. Pele doesn't like tense girls. I don't like tense girls."

Anna frowned, felt her face flush. Did that mean Katie didn't like her? She wanted Katie to like her.

"But here, Anna, here, all your stress can melt away. Even when it's the dead of winter, we're nice and cozy in the Volcano Room. You don't need to worry about anything except feeling as nice and warm inside as possible. Letting the heat from that little flame warm up every bit of you, starting with your face, and getting lower...and lower..."

Anna felt her body start to sway, as if Katie was the only thing keeping her from toppling sideways onto the couch cushion. But Katie did a remarkably good job at it. Anna knew she had nothing to worry about, as long as Katie was holding her.

"That warmth, Anna, where is it now?"

How could she answer that question? She thought she couldn't talk anymore. But she swallowed, and was able to speak, though her lips trembled with the effort. "My...my belly."

"Just your belly? Oh." Katie chuckled. "I bet you're a bit of a good girl, aren't you? Boyfriend doesn't get you to talk dirty too much. But it's not dirty; you can say it."

Anna knew what Katie meant, and she knew that Katie knew the heat had reached her folds. Her thighs quivered. "My pussy."

One of Katie's arms wrapped around Anna's waist, squeezing her stomach, making the arousal within Anna grow. "Does your pussy like it when I hold you like this, Anna?"

There were other people in the bar, weren't there? Anna couldn't see them past the flame. She couldn't see anything past the flame. Maybe some blobs, if she concentrated. But it hurt to concentrate on anything but the flame and Katie's voice and touch, so she abandoned that task quickly. There was only one thing that she could think about right now that didn't give her a headache, and that was the answer to Katie's question. "Yeah."

"Why don't you say it?" Katie made it sound like the most natural request in the world.

"My pussy..." she was swaying again, "likes it when you...hold me...like this." She couldn't make any inflections in her voice. She could only speak heavily and monotonously.

"What does it do?" Katie asked. "Does your clit get hard?"

"Yeah." The word came from deep in her throat, and she was glad it didn't require much movement of her stiff tongue.

"Do you start leaking some nice pussy juice for me?"

Anna could feel it, wetness against her thighs. "Yeah."

"Good girl. I think you get a reward for being so honest with me." Katie removed the hand that had been on Anna's shoulder, and a second later, the flame shot up again, then the hand went back to her shoulder. "You like it when I make the flame do that?" Katie's breath was hot on Anna's neck, her hair brushed aside at some point long in the past.

"Yeah."

"Like I've got all of you trapped in that little tiny flame, and every time I make it spark, it's like I make you spark, isn't it? Makes your little clit throb like a Tiki drum."