((Alright everyone! Here is the repost of Chapter 1. I decided not to split it up into diffrent parts this time, so now it is a non stop read for chapter 1! It's a little bit longer now as well though.))
Chapter 1: The Club
Music throbbed through my veins making me alive and free. I was here in my now. The past was through with and all that was left was me. Here in this room full of music that had saved me so many times; rocking out to my music, being myself. And even allowing the mask that had taken such a firm grip on who I was to slip and to be free for these beautiful moments of beat and rhythm
I was jumping up and down to the beat of the song, allowing all the other people in the room fade into nothing. Just blurs and I could even make that disappear if I closed my eyes; a club full of people so easily forgotten and made to vanish right in front of me by just letting go.
Chicago, a large city with very many people. I knew only one person out of the thousands that resided here. Leaving my small hometown to meet that one person, in person for the first time, had been a mistake. I had left my family, friends, and home only to come here and find it was nothing more than a big scam.
"Ana! Analiss!" I heard someone call out to me through my veil of rhythm. It could only be one person. Corey. I chose to ignore him and stay in my world where there was nothing but me and the music.
Another cry of my name broke through the veil. Would he ever leave me alone? To let me recover from what I had hoped for but was not real? No, I was stuck here. In this city where I knew no one but this man making his way toward me. Pulling me away from everything that I needed. Light Up the Sky by: Yellow Card was now playing; one of my favorites, and he had come to ruin it.
Corey grabbed my arm, saying my name again; pulling me completely back down to earth now. I opened my eyes and whirled around to meet his pleading face. I said nothing as I glared at him, not even the trace of a smile on my face.
"Ana. I hoped I'd find you here." he smiled keeping his hand on my arm. I kept my face blank. I wanted nothing to do with him, especially speaking to him. He could go to hell for all I cared. "Listen, what you saw back there... In the apartment. It was nothing! She's the one who came onto me!"
I may have just only turned nineteen but I wasn't nieve. I couldn't help but jerk my arm from his grasp and glare at him even more furiously than before.
"You sure didn't seem to mind one bit." I snapped, "It didn't look like it was nothing."
He didn't say anything for a moment. He should be speechless, he had been caught cheating. I haven’t even been here for three month and he already was chasing skirts.
"Babe... I didn't feel anything for it. Not one single emotion. I wasn't even touching her!" he finally managed to stammer.
Did he really think that I was so blind? That I didn’t see almost anything before running out the door, even though the tears were already pouring down my cheeks and blurring my vision? Of course he did. After all, he felt no “emotion” for her. I wasn’t stupid, I knew how men could be.
“You had your hand down her pants and up her shirt you bastard! I’m not blind!” I yelled at him, tears blurring my vision once again.
He was stunned, speechless once again.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.” I said more calmly and turned to walk away again. The music was no longer helping me, not with him in front of me. I needed to leave, and now.
Corey grabbed my arm again, trying to prevent me from leaving the club. Yes, I was in a club; me, nineteen year old Analiss Trinity. I had gotten a fake I.D. before I had come to Chicago; plus I could easily pass for twenty-one because I looked much older than I was. Corey didn't need a fake I.D. He was already twenty-five.
I turned around attempting to wrench my arm from his grip, failing this time. When I looked at him his face was still pleading, but his eyes were on fire. He wasn't going to let me leave so easily. I could tell I wasn't going to get my arm away from him without a confrontation first either. Bracing myself, I raised my hand ready to slap him...
"Excuse me. Can I help you sir?" someone said from behind gently taking hold of my raised right hand and lowering it to my side not releasing it.
The man that had grabbed my hand had kind of a smile on his face. Almost as if he was mocking us. He still hadn't let my hand go and Corey was still holding tightly to my arm. To a bystander it looked almost like I was being fought over. Who was this guy? Why did he care if I just slapped Corey and left anyway? Pacifist I guessed, preferring no violence over all else.
Corey was mad now, "No I'm just fine. Now will you kindly release my girlfriend's hand and let us be on our way. Right Baby Girl?" I spit in his face, "You little-"
"Watch your mouth around a young lady." the man cut Corey off, "Seems she doesn’t quite agree with you."
"I more than disagree with him!" I tried yanking my arm out of his grasp but hurt myself instead. Cringing at the sudden pain in my arm I let it go limp and increased me grip on the man's hand. In a way, I was happy he still hadn’t let go. It was both comforting and making Cory pissed off to the point of no return.
"Well then, I say you let the girl go." he said with a small smile at me and squeezing my hand back a little.
"Go to hell!"
"After you."
"You got quite the mouth on you, buddy," Corey snapped, "I'm almost tempted to fix it for you. Who the hell are you anyway?"
The guy looked at me and smiled, "Names Shawn. Shawn Break. Nice to meet you miss....." he trailed off still smiling.
"For the love of-" I cut Corey off.
"Trinity, Analiss Trinity. Nice to meet you Shawn." I half smiled back raising and shaking our hands, "You can call me Ana."
"Well then Ana, what would you like me to do?" his smile widened, "Leave you in the hands of this idiot so that you can take care of him yourself.... Or I could take matters into my own hands and help you out a little."
Corey didn't wait for me to answer. He threw a hard right punch at Shawn with his free hand. Quickly, not releasing my hand, Shawn ducked and threw a punch of his own right back at Corey, nailing him right in the jaw!
My arm slipped from Corey's grip and I scrambled to stand behind Shawn, taking my hand from his and holding my arm where there was now a red mark. There would probably be a bruise there later even though I didn’t bruise easily. His grip was that far from being gentle; especially when Shawn had taken hold of my hand.
Corey recovered holding his jaw and throwing another punch, this time landing it in Shawn's left arm, throwing him off balance and giving him the chance to tackle him. Stepping back I saw the whole scene unfold in front of me. Everyone had stopped dancing and the band that was playing had stopped also; it just happened to be open mice night.
Bouncers ran into the room and separated them. Shawn backed down happily, where as they had to restrain Corey and throw him out. Shawn turned to look at me again and smiled. He had a bloody lip, and without realizing it, my hand came up brushing lightly across his face from an old worried habit of mine. I blushed and immediately took my hand away.
"Um... thank you for that. You didn't have to."
"But I wanted to. You looked like you needed help back there. And besides, he's the one who asked for it. I think I did a good number to his pretty boy face." Shawn grinned at the thought of hitting Corey.
"I think I could have managed."
"Well with that little outburst of yours, I'm sure you could have. The spit in the face was a nice touch by the way." He said laughing lightly.
"Hm," I laughed along with him, "He deserved it. Bastard cheated on me and had the nerve to say he didn't even touch her when I walked right into the front room on them."
"I see." His face turned serious, "Do you live around here? I could drive you home."
"No, I was living with the ass hole. I just moved here about three months ago. I came as soon as I finished school and had the money."
"Damn."
"Yeah, but I'll be fine."
"Where you stayin'?"
"......" I was quiet for a moment. I honestly had not the slightest clue, "Um... my truck?"
"You're kidding, right?"
"Uh... no?"
"Okay. You are stayin’ with me for at least tonight."
"Okay, and why would I do that?"
"Because I said so."
"And I say you're on drugs."
"Wait..... What? No!"
"It's called sarcasim smart one." I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah. I got that." He grumbled a bit.
He may have been nice enough to help me, but he didn't get my sense of humor at all. Why he would try to get me to stay the night at his place was beyond me. Maybe he was being nice, or maybe he was just some guy looking for a booty call, or even one of those rapists you’d hear about on T.V. back home. Either way, I didn't know him, I wasn't going.
"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm out of here." I turned from him and began walking for the door, making my way through the crowd that had started dancing again. Shawn grabbed my arm and I whirled around ready to sock him in the face. He instantly released my arm and raised his hands slightly almost as if to signal his surrender.
"Look. I'm really not in the mood for this," I snapped at him, "I'm leaving and I don't want to have decking the guy who just saved me on my conscience."
"Wow, calm down fire cracker." He half smiled, "I was just going to say don't go just yet. That guy..... What was his name?"
"Corey...." I said his name with disgust.
"Yeah, Corey. He might still be waiting for you. I was kind of watching you before. You seemed totally into the music," He motioned around him. The bands were playing again; a good upbeat song was filling the room, "Why not stay? Dance a bit more, cool off a little, and then leave."
Well... what could it hurt? I was pretty riled up still and really had nothing else to do. I had only lived in Chicago a few months, so I still didn't know it that well; and he did have a point. Mr. Corey could very well still be out there. After all, he was a very patient guy. He had waited about a year year for me to move up here. Of course for all I knew he was cheating on me then. Maybe that's why he had always been so "busy with work".
Oh, but I guess that didn't matter now! The music was calling to me! I needed it. It was my drug away from reality for a while. If I could manage to lose the world again, even if just for a minute, I'd be fine. I could survive the night.
So I stayed. I lost the world in the music. I even lost myself for some amount of time. I didn't think of how I was going to get home. No, I was gone again. The veil of music once again sweeping over me.
I don’t know how long I was like that, but once the final band announced their final song, springing me back down o earth, it came as a shock. It couldn't have been that late already, could it? There were still so many people in the club, and yet the final song was now playing.
Where was Shawn? I mean not that I really cared, but I had lost complete track of him. The last I had seen he was sitting at the bar watching me dance again. He must have taken off. Huh, oh well.
At the end of the song I began making my way to the door. I couldn't help myself; I scoped the crowd for the one friendly face I knew in this entire place as I began leaving. Sure this was my favorite club but I still didn't know a soul here.
I wasn't paying attention to where I was going when I got outside and not only tripped almost falling on my face, but ran into a girl who had stopped in front of me. I apologized and headed straight for my truck. I wasn't going to take a chance at embarrass myself again.
Sitting in my truck I leaned my head back and sighed heavily.
"HEY!"
"Holly sh-" I jumped at the sound of the voice I knew only from the club. Shawn. "Oh my god Shawn! You scared me! Don't you dare do that again or I swear to god I'll...."
He laughed and smiled, leaning against the door of my truck, "Oh sorry. I thought you would be a little more alert after that little dance session of yours."
"Ugh... You were watching me again?" I moaned watching him
"You really are a good dancer when you get into the music." he chuckled
I rolled my eyes at him and leaned back against my seat and sighed heavily again, closing my eyes.
"Too soon?"
"What?" I asked confused and opened my eyes glancing at him as he stood in the pale light of the lamp above.
"The music ended too soon," he said plainly.
"Mmmm... I guess... I'm mostly tired. Very annoying night it's been. But yeah I guess it ended way too soon. But no worries, I can just turn on some music when I get home and......." I trailed off realizing that my paper, paint, easel, clothes, pencil, everything was back at the apartment. That included most of my music.
"What?" He asked looking curious, noticing that I'd cut myself off.
I sighed and waited a moment before answering, "All my stuff is back at the apartment with Corey." I spoke his name with disgust once again. I had a feeling that I would never say his name regularly again unless it was referring to someone else.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My offer still stands if you’re interested...." He just wasn't going to give on that was he? Well, maybe he could help me. Maybe not tonight, but tomorrow. Corey had work and I had a spare key. Shawn could meet up with me and help me get my things, and then I'd be out of here for good. Never to see his dirty face again.
I politely declined his offer, but countered him with an offer of my own. To my surprise he didn't make a fuss or anything. He happily agreed to help. We were to meet up the next morning, or in this case later today, around 11 A.M. here in the parking lot. Until then I needed some rest.
I drove a little ways before stopping. My brain was still racing and I had absolutely no luck in getting any sleep for a few hours. When I did finally crash though, it was hard. No dreams, just a dark blank sleep; that’s how I remembered it anyway.
I woke earlier on that morning, much too soon to be fully rested. What it was that had woken me from such a deep sleep was a complete mystery. I was a hard sleeper, and it was almost impossible to wake me unless something or someone touched me. The sun was still very low in the sky and it was just barely dawn. Ugh, my hair was a mess, I was dirty, and I definitely could have slept better and longer. I was in no condition to go meet up with Shawn. I tried to go back to sleep for a few more hours, but after laying there with my seat back, I finally gave up after those few hours had passed and gave up.
Stopping in a nearby rest stop, I brushed out my long blonde hair, which reached just below my waist, and washed my face of the small amount of makeup I had put on the day before. Soon I was officially decent.
Not much later I pulled into the parking lot of the club. The place was deserted; not a single car, except for my own.
I put the truck in park and turned it off, leaning my head back against the head rest. Thoughts raced through my head. Did Corey go to work today, or did he call in sick and take the day off? Would he really take a sick day just to see if I'd show back up today? Crap, even If I did manage to get my things where the hell would I go? I couldn't go back to my family. I'd left too abruptly and hadn't made any contact since I'd left those few months back. For all they knew I was dead.
Well, there may be one person I could see about going to, but if was bound to be quite the drive even if he did say he'd take me. When I was younger we always did talk about me going to see him when I was old enough. So maybe, just maybe, he'd gladly take me in and I could be the little sis to him we'd always talked about. That was actually one of the most appealing ideas that I had had in quite a while. He had disappeared on me, but with some hope and a little bit of stubbornness/persistence, I could find him and his number. That settled it. I'd see about getting a hold of Tyler in Florida and see about going there. That was the plan....
"HEY!" I jumped at the loud greeting just outside my window.
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed turning to see Shawn grinning like a mad man just outside my window.
"Hehe did I scare ya?" he snickered as I rolled down my window.
I sighed and glared at him, "I swear..." I cut off. I wanted to smack him so bad, but I had to be good for the moment. I didn't know him well enough to be doing that; I didn't plan to get to know him that well either. The sooner I got all my things and got a hold of Tyler, the better.
"Come on, let's get this over with," I finally sighed starting my truck again.
"Okay, where to?... You know what don't answer that. I'll just follow you there," he said, his smile fading a bit but still clearly there.
"Fine. Whatever."
I rolled my window back up and waited a few moments for him to get back to his car before pulling out. It was maybe fifteen minutes later when we reached the parking lot to Corey's apartment complex. His car was nowhere to be found, thank god. This was a very good thing on my part; he wouldn't be home for quite some time. We had most of the day to get my things.
As we entered the apartment, I pointed out what little was mine. The entire time we packed I had a knack for zoning out and thinking back to all the times I had talked to Tyler when I was younger. All the times we stayed up all night texting and talking on the phone; how no matter what, he could always make me smile and laugh. He had been such a huge part of my life back then, but I hadn't heard from him or tried to contact him since I'd left home. I hoped he was okay.
"Ana, is this yours too?" Shawn asked pulling me back to reality again for maybe the fifth time. He seemed to enjoy doing that as well. In his hands he held a small binder of my drawings. It contained some of my old drawings and quite a few new.
"Yeah, those are mine too," I smiled taking the binder and pressing it to my chest. These had been my sanctuary for so long back home. I would lose myself in drawings, writing, and music whenever I could. All of this was my life; it portrayed my soul and imagination.
"They are all quite good ya know."
I pressed the binder against myself more, if not a bit protectively, "You saw them?"
"Well yeah, I had to be sure they were yours as well."
I sat down setting the binder on the floor in front of me and opening it. There was a mixture of things in it actually. There were drawings from when I was about sixteen years old, lyrics to some of my favorite songs, stories, poems, and even a few sheets of flute music. All of this was from about three or four years ago, meaning it was my oldest binder of drawings and writing.
"Hmm..." I thought for a moment as I flipped from picture, to story, to poem, and back again. The poems were hidden behind a few of the pictures, so I paused every now and again being sure they were still there, not that they really mattered to me like my drawings did. I hated the poems that I wrote, but I still felt they were significant in some way or other. So I had kept them.
"You are a very good writer too. I glanced through a few of them, hope you don't mind."
"No... These are just quite a few years old. I'd forgotten I brought them with me."
"I see. Well that was the last thing that I could find, and the trucks full too," he said watching me as I went through the pages over and over again, “Soo.... Where do you plan to go now? Home?"
"Huh? Oh... Um yeah. I'll head home from here. My family is probably pretty worried about me by now, so that would be the best thing to do actually," I answered quietly
"Liar."
((And thus end the first chapter! I'll post Chapter 2 again soon just for you guys! Oh and an update on how much I have typed up, I am now on chapter 4. Let's hope I can keep up the pace! So please read, comment, and enjoy the magic!))
Now this is a very long thing. I'm splitting up the chapters up a little bit, but all in all it should be good and I'm hoping it doesn't get confusing.