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 A good half an hour has passed since the warm up band has left, and their instruments have been replaced by new ones, including an impressive drums set with ‘Fake Drug’ printed on every surface.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&
It’s about 11 PM when Catherine retreats to her room after a surprisingly cozy evening the three of us have spent sitting in the kitchen, talking about today’s game. She wanted to hear everything about it. Even though I strongly suspected she understood the rules even less than Raven did, I enjoyed telling her nonetheless, adding some explanations for Raven here and there to clarify a few things.I was most likely lecturing two people who were nodding and asking questions simply to make me feel good, but it did make me feel good, so I guess everybody got what they wanted.I go upstairs to shower, leaving Raven to take care of the dishes. The hot water is a treat, calming my sore muscles. The nervous tension that has carried me throughout the day is dissipating, too. By the time I climb out of the shower, dry myself and put on my pajama pants, I feel half asleep.In my room, I remove the damp towel from my head and spread i
I park on the sidewalk in front of the two-story grey building, the large gleaming “Greenroad” sign its only exterior decoration. Its first floor is occupied by a nightclub or something, judging by the muffled booming music, and the few people smoking outside who are clearly dressed for a party.I slam the car door shut and head for the entrance, fully expecting an unpleasant interaction with a bouncer or a manager. Yet there’s nobody looking like security personnel, even though there is a stand outside clearly meant for one. In the meanwhile, the smokers begin to trickle back inside, and I enter with them without encountering as much as a single curious look.The corridor inside is almost completely dark save for the two rows of spotlights running along the floor. The music comes from behind the black drapes at the far end of it, louder now. I pause, looking around, and my eyes fall on the door with a stairs sign upon it.
When I open my eyes, there’s too much light. One lightsaber of it after another cuts into my vision as they fly over me. People’s heads appear and disappear, unfamiliar faces peer at me worriedly, hands and shoulders clad in identical blue scrubs occasionally block the light. Their mouths keep opening and closing, and I wonder vaguely why I can’t hear them. It feels like I’m watching a movie, and someone has pressed the mute button.Then I notice a familiar face, wet with tears, her hair hanging loose. I’ve never noticed how much grey she had in her hair. I want to call out to her and tell her to calm down, to not worry about me, but the stretcher I’m apparently lying on takes a turn, hits double doors and enters another room, and then I can’t see her anymore.Then, there’s more light, straight in my face, so I squeeze my eyes shut, and listen to the muffled voices coming through the fog. Then some
They keep telling me it’s going to be a slow process. That it will take months of physiotherapy to regain the full use of my arm and my leg. The man with “Dr. Frank” on his name tag gives me a detailed explanation, with pictures of muscles and bones and my X-rays. He pats me on my good shoulder and says that since I’m so young, I’m likely to recover well. The arm will probably be fine, but the damaged tendon in my thigh might cause a slight limp that is unlikely to ever completely go away.I sit in my bed and nod and ask questions, even though it doesn’t feel quite real to me. I’m still weak from all the blood loss but it feels good to at least be able to sit and talk, so I don’t care nearly as much as I should about the meaning of the conversation. I don’t grasp the most important thing, not until he leaves, and Catherine sits down on my bed, and then she tells me.“What do you mean?&r
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