Raven?” Catherine calls out.After a moment, the door creaks upstairs.“Yes, ma’am?”“Could you come down for a moment?” She nods at me and I flip the switch, turning off the lights.There’re footsteps on the stairs, and then Raven walks into the living room.“What’s with the lights...oh?” He stops in front of the little table with the round cake decorated with rows of candles that provide the only illumination in the evening gloom. He stares at the cake for a moment, then laughs. “Oh, how cute.”“Happy Birthday,” Catherine shouts, pulling the cracker. We all jump at the banging sound, and then a surprisingly dense cloud of confetti fills the center of the room.“Oh wow.” She steps forward to protect the burning candles from the flying pieces, and looks around, shaking her head. “It’s
Raven is all attentive looks and polite nods as Catherine gives him her last instructions, standing by the car. He ’uhu’s and ’aha’s and ’yes ma’am’s in all the right places, while I throw our backpacks in the trunk. The amount of things she made us pack is more suitable for a week of camping rather than going out for a few hours to see a rock show. Still, if us packing warm coats and winter boots in this heat makes her feel better, it’s not worth an argument.As soon as we leave the driveway and her figure grows smaller in the rearview mirror, Raven drops all pretense and starts bouncing up and down in his seat.“We’re doing it!” he squeals. “We’re actually doing it!” He leans over, wraps his hand around my neck, and says into my ear. “I want to kiss you on the lips, you bugger.”“I’m driving, for fuck’s sake!” I pu
I sip my coffee, looking out of the diner’s window at the cars crawling along the highway. Even considering the bad traffic we still have enough time, but Raven wanted to be there before they open the gates, so we better get going. I squint up at the blinding afternoon sun, then down at the brown liquid in my cup, and finish it in one gulp.“Anything else?”The red-haired waitress is standing next to me again, smiling.“No, thanks,” I say. “Can I get the check? We’ll leave when my friend comes back.”It’s then that I see behind her back the door to the restroom open. At first, I don’t even identify the person coming out as Raven, but then I recognize the black backpack with the red stripes he carries on one shoulder. I gape at him, and the waitress turns to looks, too, following my gaze.I expected for his ‘special outfit&rsquo
Strictly speaking, running after the gates are open shouldn’t be necessary. We are waiting right in front of the barriers surrounding the section before the stage, so we’re sure to get in first. Still, Raven starts bouncing impatiently the moment the security guards begin to remove the chains linking two barriers together. The crowd around us is getting restless, pushing us forward. We only pause for a moment to have our green paper wristbands checked, proving our eligibility to enter the Golden Circle, and then we are past the barriers, and the stage is just tens of feet of barren ground away.“Run!” yells Raven, sprinting ahead, along with the other fans that trickle in through two more entrances.I grab my backpack and take off after him.The excitement of the running, cheering people rubs on me, and by the time I reach the barriers in front of the stage, I’m grinning from ear to ear. Raven is there al
The moon stands high in the sky above the crowd exhausted by waiting when something starts changing on the stage. A good half an hour has passed since the warm up band has left, and their instruments have been replaced by new ones, including an impressive drums set with ‘Fake Drug’ printed on every surface. The air is filled with muffled music coming from the dynamics and the noise of thousands of people talking and shifting, stretching their tired muscles.First, I notice the lights. Instead of crawling lazily around the stage, they start moving in jagged patterns. The music from the dynamics gets replaced by a whining of a guitar, its volume gradually increasing. The crowd gets louder as people notice. Then, the screens over the stage light up, displaying what looks like still images from ‘Fake Drug’ videos and album covers. The crowd cheers, and, a few seconds later, four men walk casually onto the stage, waving at us.
Raven,” I say. “Listen, regarding the...regarding what happened...”“What happened?” He frowns at me; then understanding dawns in his eyes. “Ah, that? It’s no big deal.” He turns away and continues to peer at the closed doors to the backstage area. Apart from us, there’s only a couple dozen people waiting by the barriers along the path from the back exit to the parked minivan with tinted windows.“No, I...I don’t know what’s gotten into me,” I say close to his ear so that others wouldn’t hear. “It was...I don’t know...loud and hot and I got... I don’t know...I got...”“Horny,” he offers helpfully. “It’s called horny.”A couple of girls waiting next to us glance at each other and burst into giggles, covering their faces with the magazines they hold ready for autographs. I look away, my fac
Raven, talk to me,” I say. “This is getting weird. Just say something.”I glance at him, unwilling to take my eyes off the road for too long. He’s still sitting with his head rested against the window, gazing at the night highway illuminated by the street lights and topped by the black cloudless sky. He’s been quiet since his brief encounter with Jared. He’s allowed me to usher him back to the car without a single word, buckled in when told to, but ignored all my attempts at conversations.At first, I assumed he just needed some time to digest the events of the evening, but now his state is beginning to bother me. He’s never struck me as a particularly stable person. Could the emotions of tonight have unhinged him even more?On the other hand, how much of a shock could an encounter with a washed-out rock band be?“Come on,” I say. “If you don’t talk to me now
Despite my resolve to concentrate only on the game, the moment I enter the field, I find myself scanning the crowd filling the bleachers. That’s when Catherine usually jumps up and waves at me—one of our little traditions, equally reassuring and embarrassing. Today, she’s not here, but Raven is—at least, he’s supposed to be.I finally spot the familiar black hoodie and a mop of long black hair in the left corner of the top row, away from the other spectators. I can’t see his face from so far away, but I guess he’s noticed me, since he raises a hand and waves. I can see no pom poms, thank God. I look away and proceed to my place, trying to empty my head of all thoughts unrelated to the game, to allow my instincts to kick in.Once we start, I don’t check the bleachers anymore, ignoring the crowd, their noise fading into background. It does linger at the back of my mind, though, the knowledge that he&
So thirsty....my lips felt so dry as I lash out my tongue over them. I opened my eyes slowly to a bright room and a biping sound that I noticed was coming from a machine beside the bed.My eyes travel to my left hand that was hooked unto a bag of blood hanging over the bed. I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder as I struggle to sit down.Where the hell are the nurses when you need them...I threw the sheets that was covering my body and dropped my bare legs on the tiled floor.So cold...“You shouldn’t be up, sir” came a voice by the door. A lady dressed in blue pants and top rushed to me dropping a clipboard she was holding unto the bed to push me back to lay down slowly.“Th-thirsty...”“Right!...that’s why you have that thingy. See? Just press that next time you need something okay?” She motions to my left hand with a smile. A little remote thingy to my reac
So thirsty....my lips felt so dry as I lash out my tongue over them. I opened my eyes slowly to a bright room and a biping sound that I noticed was coming from a machine beside the bed.My eyes travel to my left hand that was hooked unto a bag of blood hanging over the bed. I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder as I struggle to sit down.Where the hell are the nurses when you need them...I threw the sheets that was covering my body and dropped my bare legs on the tiled floor.So cold...“You shouldn’t be up, sir” came a voice by the door. A lady dressed in blue pants and top rushed to me dropping a clipboard she was holding unto the bed to push me back to lay down slowly.“Th-thirsty...”“Right!...that’s why you have that thingy. See? Just press that next time you need something okay?” She motions to my left hand with a smile. A little remote thingy to my reac
I have never seen anyone so determined. Aiden was driving like we were the only ones on the road. I stole a few glances at him but couldn’t find anything to say. I mean what can you say to a man that is about to loose the only thing that matters in his life. Loosing Estel will be like loosing Sandra once more. There was no words to console him at this moment. I felt his determination and all I want at this very moment is to put Estel into his arms.I was monitoring thegpsthingy and directing him on which route to turn. We soon came into view with his car and before we could overtake him a truck crossed us.“Fuck! Fuck!” Aiden cursed heating the wheel and stepping hard on the breaks.“Calm down, please. We are no use to her dead, alright?” I reasoned frightened shitless.“Look, there is a turn around here. If we take it we will catch up to him right ahead” I inform pointing to my right where
I walked slowly with Aiden hanging onto me back into the house then straight to my room. I sat him down on the bed and went back to the kitchen to get him a glass of water.“While we wait for Ash, am gonna call the police.”“No don’t!” He stops me while I was reaching for my phone to dial the emergency line.I knew something was wrong when his first instinct wasn’t to call them.“Why not?” I asked surprise, “I heard the first hours are the most important times. We can’t miss that window, baby.”He shook his head slowly and took my hand in his while I just stared at him calmly.“He-He said not to call the police...”“He? What does he want? Money? You can’t be serious about not calling the police.”“He doesn’t want money. He just called to tell me he was taking her away...forever.”
I felt a weight on my back as I try to turn in my sleep. I stire awake realizing where I was. The play room. My hands were in bondage while I layed flat on my stomach. Aiden’s head was right on my right butt where he slept soundly. I chuckled dropping my face back into the pillow while the images of last night came flooding my mind.I didn’t know it was going to be this fun. I always knew there was an air of dominance in Aiden but actually being dominated by him in bed tops it all.He moved and placed a kiss on my ass while I giggle rising my head from the pillow, “how long you been awake?”He replied nothing but got up hovering over me to lay flush on me knocking the air out of my lungs.“Are you trying to kill me? You monster” I asked trying to breath trough my mouth.He chuckled, “why would I do that?” He licked my earlobe and I moaned.“I wanna see you”
I was woken up by the infernal sound of a phone ringing.“Babe?”I turned over and stretched out my hand to tap his cheek lightly.“Your phone.”He mumbled in his sleep and stirred awake. He stretched out his hand tapping blindly on the dresser to pick up his phone. He stared at the screen squinting his eyes at the brightness. He answered bringing it to his ear.“Hello? Who is it?” Silence. He sat up slowly, “I think you dialed the wrong line” he brings the phone back to his face to stare at it again, “hello?”“Strange.”“What’s wrong, babe?” I call for the second time surprising myself.“I don’t know. Something about they are coming for her?”“That’s creepy.”“I know” he replied calmly running his hand trough his messy locs. He turned b
I can’t remember the last time I saw my mom in the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and found her humming.“Mom? Everything okay?”“Hi baby! Remember these?” She motions towards a plate of cookies. I took one and munched into it humming.“You made these?”“Of course! I know they are your favorite” she grinned happily.“These are delicious!” I praised with my mouth full.“I know!”“Esther?” I asked after swallowing.“She came home late last night. She is still sleeping. You should get ready for work.”I was reluctant to leave her alone in the kitchen but it was nice to see her being her old self for once.“I will see you tonight, mom. Love you” I kiss her head while she sat on a stool with her hands securely around a cup of coffee that rested on the kitchen co
The ride to wherever he was taking me was in silence while we stole glances at each other.For fuck sakes! We are two grown men but look like two high school boys on their first date.Technically it is our first date.“Are you okay? You look nervous.”“Yeah... yeah sure. A little too excited maybe” I chuckled and he nodded taking my hand surprising me. I look at our entangled fingers and back at him. He winked and my mouth went agape with a huge blush creeping on my face.He chuckled, “you are too adorable, Tyler.”Heat rose to my cheek and I tried snatching my hand from his but he gripped tightly and I gave up smiling at my own embarrassment and look away from his dominating eyes.“Let’s go inside” he informed after the car stopped infront of a huge classy restaurant. I nodded and got down feeling all of a sudden out of place.We were directed by somewhere t
Mom fell asleep on the couch with us and I got up picking her up bridal style to her room.“I like her.” Aiden says with a smile when I came back and sat down.“She likes you too” I chuckled.We stayed silent while I try to focus on the tv-screen which seemed impossible with Aiden’s eyes on me. We shared a few kisses and touches and I must have fallen asleep because I woke up at dawn with a blanket covering my feet up till my hips and no Aiden.I fell asleep while he was here! That’s definitely not cute.The next couple of days at work was with us kissing whenever and wherever we found ourselves alone. He didn’t seem to care about privacy though. I couldn’t risk it. I know he is the boss but we were still at work.I arrived at work and after chatting with my colleagues as always I walk up to my desk to find a card. I look around like it was a bomb. I picked it up and slowly