The Truth About Club 33

I was hired as a maintenance worker in 2006, before they decided to close the waiting list to the public. My job was making sure everything was in working order, and sometimes I’d be asked to perform some janitorial duties. I’d come in every night, so that things were all set and ready for the following morning. There was an interesting training program. I was already trained in maintenance beforehand, but they wanted to make sure that I was going to keep things to myself; they wanted me to prove I was trustworthy. This was understandable, considering just how private the club really was, so I didn’t question it. 

I’ve never really gotten the chance to tell my side of the story before, so forgive me if none of this makes sense. But, it’s all true. I can promise you that. I never forgot, and will never forget, the things I heard and witnessed while I was working at that club. I’m a changed person because of it.

Things seemed to be normal at first, there was nothing to raise any suspicion. I kept my head down, I did my job, and I occasionally got invited to parties. The owner liked everyone to feel included. They wanted to make sure everyone was being compensated for their loyalty. I only ever made it to one or two; they weren’t really my thing. The place itself looked pretty magical, though. There were glass chandeliers, a long curving staircase, objects from movie sets, and of course a bar. The flooring was all marble, and I swear the wallpaper had gold in it or something. It was classy. They wouldn’t even allow people to have cell phones on them if they wanted to enter. Which I found a little strange. 

I think the first thing that threw me off was the smell. I only noticed it about a month after I started. I came into work just after a party ended, as I always did, and whenI was headed to the basement I walked past a room I wasn’t that familiar with yet. The door was closed, and locked — I didn’t think much of it. But, the smell was horrid. I really don’t have much to compare it to; maybe a pile of rotting meat and fruit. It made my stomach churn. I spent the rest of that shift trying not to throw up. I was so thankful to be out of there when it was over. The following night I arrived a little earlier than usual, because I wanted to mention the smell to the club owner. I figured he would want to know about something like that. So, I used my card to get into the club (every member had one, and every card had a different code that couldn’t be replicated) and made my way to the owner’s office. I knocked on the door, and as I did this I realized that the smell from the night before seemed to have disappeared from the hall. While I was in mid-thought, a very large man opened the door. I didn’t recognize him, but I assumed he was some kind of security. 

“Can I assist you with something, good sir?” The owner spoke from the back of the room. He was an odd character, sometimes I thought he took his job too seriously and played into the fairy-tale persona too much. 

I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, “Hi, uh yeah, actually… when I was working last night I smelled something real awful outside one of the hall doors, and I tried to see what it was but the door was locked, and —”

“Ah that’s no problem, we’ll get it sorted. Thank you, you may leave now.”

“Oh, but I didn’t tell you what room…”

“Yes, yes, go on then, do tell.”

“The room right before the basement, the one —”

“I understand, yes, thank you again. I’m a very busy man, you see.”

“Of… of course, sir. Sorry to bother you.”

That was the end of the conversation, and I left the room. I remember that moment so clearly because I thought it was strange how he seemed to already know what I was talking about before I mentioned any of the details. I tried to be logical and think that maybe he found it that morning when he came in, but then my mind would wander off and question why he wouldn’t just say that in the first place, instead of telling me he would get it sorted. My mind was cluttered, to say the least. 

That night, things were quiet. Nothing was out of the ordinary. I did my job, and I got out of there. The next day I got a phone call from the owner. This is where things started to get really weird. He told me to come in early again, because he needed to speak to me in person. I agreed to meet him and hung up the phone. When I got to the club it was empty. There were no guests to be found. I walked to the owner’s office and without knocking to let him know I was there, he opened the door and pulled me into the room. The door slammed behind me.

“What’s going on, sir?”

“Have you smelled anything else?” He sounded like a different person, his tone was unusual. 

“Excuse me?”

“Have you smelled anything else?”

“No? Uh, no I haven’t.”

“Excellent!” His voice was back to being chipper, “Another thing, I have some very… important work to do tonight, so you will not be needed on the premises, but don’t worry! You’ll still get paid.” He started nonchalantly easing me out the door.

“Oh, alright, I guess. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yes, yes, very well. Now goodbye, and goodnight!”

I left the club curious. I’m not usually one to impose or go rummaging through someone else’s business, but I had this feeling in my gut that needed attending to. I needed to find out what he was up to. So, I left the club through the main door, but I decided to stick around. There was a door in the back of the building that I knew I could get into without him noticing. 

This door led me to the basement. When I stepped into the room I tried to be as quiet as possible but all I could hear was noise from the floor above me. It sounded like furniture was being rearranged, which wasn’t all that suspicious, so I was tempted to just leave and go home. But, I remember hearing something that was pretty distinct. It was a sound that I haven’t forgotten, hell, I still hear it in my sleep some nights. It was like what throwing the insides of a pumpkin on a furnished floor might sound like. I had no idea what it could have been, and I was still curious about the whole situation, so I made my way up the basement stairs. These stairs led to the hallway where the smelly, mystery door was. As I got closer to it, my nose was instantly engulfed with the smell of copper. I just about lost my dinner then. I opened the basement door slowly, and noticed that there was a light coming from under the mystery door. I stood at the top of the stairs, just watching, and waiting to see if anyone was going to come out. I knew there was at least one person in the room, because I could see shadows moving in the light across the floor. At this point my heart was pounding, I remember hoping no one else could hear it, because if I got caught I knew I’d be done for.

Then as if my paranoia was sending them a signal, I heard someone typing into what I assumed to be a keypad, and the door started opening. I ran as fast, and as quiet, as I could down the stairs and out the back door. I didn’t want to risk anything. I went home soon after catching my breath. I spent the rest of that night with a million thoughts in my head, I think I only slept a couple of hours when I finally did fall asleep.

I arrived for my shift the following night anxious as hell. I thought for sure someone heard me the night before. I was waiting to be confronted, but everyone went home without saying a word, and I was left to do my job. So, I was all alone in this place, after what I heard the previous night. You can bet that I went snooping. Though, I didn’t smell anything unusual like I did before. I tried to get into the mystery room but there was no chance, the door was locked, and I didn’t want to cause any damage, because then people would really suspect me of doing something weird. I gave up snooping and went back to work. I really didn’t want to lose my job, especially as a result of my own imagination. The remainder of my shift was slow, and I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep, but the night seemed to drag on forever. 

As I was getting ready to pack up and leave when my shift was finally over, I heard movement coming from the second floor. When I first started they told me it was prohibited for me to go to the second floor. My job was to be done on the main floor, and in the basement. Now that I think about it, there were a lot of rooms I couldn’t get into, even on the floors I was supposed to be on. It was a secretive place. I didn’t bother checking out the noise, I just went home to sleep.

When I finally woke up my mind felt a little clearer. I took it upon myself to do some research on the club, because I never actually looked into it before. I didn’t think there was a reason to. But, when I did my digging I didn’t find anything, just some basic history. It was a dead end. I was really letting my imagination control me at that point, and I thought enough was enough. I’m a grown man for God’s sake. So, I left it. And for the next week, things were completely normal. My curiosity was back in its box. I convinced myself that it really was just my mind playing tricks on me. 

At that point, my life seemed pretty average. I was happy with my job, and I was happy just living my life the way I wanted to. Things were good. 

But, that didn’t last very long. About two weeks later, things began getting weird again. I got a call from the owner just before I was supposed to come into work. 

“Hello, hello! I just wanted to let you know that you are not needed tonight.”

He didn’t give me a chance to respond before hanging up. 

I didn’t want to go through this again, so I decided to confront him and ask him what was going on. I stopped what I was doing and left my apartment. When I showed up and tried to get in through the main door, my access card wasn’t working, and that never happens. It kept saying that it wasn’t authorized. I went to the back of the building and tried the back door. It worked. I got in. I kept quiet and I went up to the main floor. The lighting was dim and there didn’t seem to be anyone around.

I snuck around the main floor for a quick minute, and that’s when I heard a commotion coming from the second floor, same as the other night. I was tired of being left in the dark by these people, so I decided to walk up the stairs and find out what was going on once and for all (without them knowing of course). I crept up the staircase and the noise got louder the closer I was to it. It sounded like a party, which didn’t seem that suspicious but I still wanted to take a peek. The second floor was pretty open. There were a few closed doors, but it looked more like a dining hall than anything. I noticed the noise was coming from a few different rooms. I remember hearing some kind of foreign chanting coming from one room, and what sounded like someone was jumping on a bed in another room. It was so bizarre. And the smells were intoxicating — not in a good way. It was like a mix of chemicals and roadkill. My heart started beating faster, I was so scared someone would find me.

While I was lost in my anxious thoughts, one of the doors began to open. I ran as quietly as I could into what I knew was a closet.  I could hear whoever it was roaming around the hall, they seemed to be alone, because there was no talking. Once I thought the coast was clear I snuck out of the closet. Before I could make it down the stairs, something caught my eye. The door the person came out of was still open. I took a peek into it, and what I saw made my heart instantly drop. I didn’t even know what to think. I can’t describe it without feeling sick to my stomach. There were about a dozen beds, two dozen naked men, and women dressed in princess costumes. The sight was something you could only find if you dug deep enough into the internet. I was backing away from the room, not even thinking about being caught. As I was trying to process what I just saw, I bumped into something behind me. I turned around and sure enough, it was a person. 

They were wearing a dark gray cloak with a hood, so I couldn’t really see their face. They put their hand on my shoulder and suddenly I couldn’t move. That’s when I noticed there was a small symbol on the breast of the cloak — it was a Mickey Mouse head.

“Come with me.” The person said.

I obliged. 

They took me into a dimly lit room, not far from the princess room. There were about 10 other people in the room with me, all of them wearing that same cloak. The door was closed behind us and locked. The person who brought me there kept a tight grip on me — I couldn’t move at all — I was trapped. I noticed there was a glass case of some kind in the middle of the room, but from where we were standing I couldn’t see what was in it. 

I remember yelling at them, “Who are you people? What’s going on here?!” But I didn’t get a response. They all just stood there in a circle, looking down at the case. At that point, I was in full-blown panic mode. I didn’t know what to think or do, or how I should react. I wanted to run out of the building screaming and never come back, but part of me needed to know what I fell into. 

The person who brought me into the room spoke up.

“Mr. Disney, I brought someone for you.”

I thought, Disney? As in, Walt Disney? 

“Everyone, please welcome our guest of honor, don’t you think he will make a wonderful sacrifice?”

I felt my mouth dry up and my tongue swell. I remember thinking, what the hell did they just say? That voice though, I recognized it. It was the club owner. I tried to get away from the owner’s grip, but once everyone else saw me struggling they helped him. They took me over to the glass case, and I could clearly see what was in it then.

It was a body; a man. I thought, this is mad. These people are delusional. There’s no possible way this body belongs to Walt Disney. They must have kidnapped a poor old man and put him in a coma. So many different things were bouncing around my head. I tried to think logically, but in the midst of everything, it was difficult to keep my imagination from getting away from me. 

At that moment everything felt like a dream. I was so sure that I was just sleeping after a long shift. But that wasn’t the case. It was all real. I tried to escape again, but they were holding onto me so tightly. They started walking me out of the room. They picked me up and carried me down to the main floor. I struggled to get free, but again, it wasn’t going to happen. We were headed to the room where the smell came from. Now I understood what they were using it for. I was so sick to my stomach, I could hear it gurgling. 

Before I knew it they were shoving me into a wooden chair in the middle of the room. The place was covered in clear plastic, and there was a table with different types of tools on it. My head was spinning then. I kept thinking, I need a way out of this; I needed an escape plan. There were only two people in the room then, not including myself — the others had left. They hadn’t tied me up or anything yet, so  I was thinking that I could probably make a run for it without them catching me again. I waited anxiously for them to be looking away. The door was still open. I could taste the freedom. All I had to do was get up, run down to the basement, and get the hell out.

One of the people left the room. I think they mumbled something to the other guy, but I didn’t hear what they said. So, now it was just the two of us. One on one. My chance of getting away was even better. I kept my eyes on them and waited for my opportunity. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time. As soon as they weren’t looking I was ready to go. 

After about a minute of waiting, they finally got distracted. They were getting ready to get the job done. I got up from the chair as quiet as I could, and sprinted towards the doorway. But, I didn’t make it very far before I ran into the person that left the room earlier. We were both speechless, but before they could get a real grip on me, or even say anything, I kicked them right between the legs. I then ran as fast as I could down the basement stairs, and out the back door. It all happened so fast, I wish I could explain it better, but my adrenaline was pumping and all I wanted was to get home and never come back. 

Not much of an ending to a story though, I can imagine you might be disappointed — sorry about that. But, now you know. You know everything I saw and heard. After what happened I left the country for a while. I was too terrified to stick around. I spent a year in Canada, worked a bit, had some fun, but my thoughts always dragged me back to my time at Club 33. I moved back to America when I thought it was safe. Though I started over in a different state, and I’ve been doing well ever since. 

I really try not to think about it anymore. But I just needed my story to be told. You said this was going to be anonymous though, right? 

Ah, okay. Okay good. 

I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I just hope they finally get shut down.