Part three

Someone like me Third chapter of Audrey's story :)

PART THREE

 

Time is a curious phenomenon… It passes you by quicker than the blink of an eye, leaving you wondering… Did those events actually happen to me? Maybe they did, but maybe they didn’t. After all, who are we to know? The mortals… The tiny insignificant pawns on Time’s chessboard.

It felt like it was only yesterday when I acquiesced to my aunt’s decision to find me a job. And now there I was in my third week as a personal secretary of Mr. Elijah Swayze. I was sat on my desk, in front of his office, arranging the never ending documents. Putting tons of paper into folders, checking mails… constantly yawning. Suddenly I heard the glazed door click open. Elijah walked slowly to me, but I did not pay him any attention. He stood silently behind me, the sense of his close presence tickling me, making me feel uncomfortable. I continued my work and desperately tried to ignore him… but maybe he wanted to be noticed.

I flinched slightly when I felt the rough fabric of his leather glove caress the side of my neck. His hand moved slowly under my chin, tilting my head back, so my eyes met his. He was smiling. That sweet, almost innocent trademark smile, that was far from what his personality actually was. His eyes sparkled with mixed feelings, which I dared not figure out. His deep, soothing voice broke the silence:

“You are doing such a wonderful job, Audrey. Sharon was right when she said you work with great perseverance and dedication.”

I swallowed hard and said nothing. I felt strong desire to push that man back and run away… But I couldn’t… I wasn’t allowed to. So I just kept blinking confused at him, hoping he would step back and leave me be. Swayze had been acting strange around me ever since I got employed here. He would stand close behind me, so close that I could almost hear his heartbeat… He would look at me from under those thick eyelashes, as if he caressed my whole body with his gaze… But he would never touch me. Not until now. And the minute his fingers slid over my neck and under my chin, I felt burned. His touch was feather-like, gentle, but it stung greatly.

I cleared my throat: “Mr. Swayze… I believe my work time is over…” my voice sounded so close to whisper.

 

That seemed to get him out of his reverie. He pulled his hand away and stepped back, checking his watch: “Yes, you are right, Audrey! You may leave now. Have a nice day tomorrow and I’ll see you on Monday.”

Oh, thank God!

* * *

Driving back home, I felt more and more at ease with every mile that was left between me and the bank. I was so glad the week was almost over… And whatever was left of it was time only for me. How I longed to go home, throw away that uncomfortable uniform, dress up and have a night out… Just me and my closest friends in my favorite bar on the outskirts of town. It was a small abject place full of strange people and cheap alcohol… But I liked it. I liked the great contrast between the atmosphere there and in the fancy places I used to visit. No one there cared where you came from or how did you look like. To them you were nobody. And I liked being nobody once in a while.

The apartment was empty when I arrived. I sighed with relief. I wasn’t going to be bothered by the time I had to leave and that made me happy. I took my time changing my clothes. The outfit for tonight I found in the darkest corner of my closet… The clothes my aunt abhorred the most. I watched myself in the mirror as I turned from a princess into a dark Victorian woman. I put on a white cotton shirt and corset from coarse leather. Even the smallest details were able to change me completely… After them came the dark-brown short ruffled skirt which fell perfectly over my hips and ended right below the edge of my stockings. I smiled at my reflection… Steampunk was definitely the style for me… I just wished my aunt could see that.

I sat in front of the dressing table to add the finishing touches. I released my hair, which was made into a tight bun, letting the ginger curls spring free in every possible direction. A hair band with a peacock feather to keep my fringe out of my eyes… two coats of mascara and a lake red lipstick… I was ready. Even though I looked dark and distant… I still held that hint of innocence.

The night was quiet. So quiet, I could hear my own breathing. The sky, for the first time in several months, was crystal clear… revealing the million stars glistening brightly above the vast town. Like the eyes of the people that were no longer among us. I so much loved gazing at the night sky… listening to the story the clouds, stars and moon told me. About the past, present and future of a world I was never meant to be a part of. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that faraway place, where happiness overcame sorrow and people’s hearts were not yet tainted. I wished I could stay like that forever, not having to open my eyes again to see the misery and darkness that had embraced us all, choking the very last breath out of us.

But I guess I wasn’t allowed to. And as a reminder came the loud horn of an old car parked in front of me.

“Daydreaming again, huh, airhead?” I heard a voice call me.

I opened one eye to see the old Chevrolet with peeling off paint and the faces of my friends staring at me from behind the dirty windows. A smile twisted my lips. My little gang, without which I couldn’t possibly survive. Behind the wheel, as always, was Cedric, although he was so short, he could barely see the road. Yet again he was leather-clad from top to bottom and had eyeliner smudged under his black eyes. Next to him, waving vigorously at me, sat Nona, whose dark-red hair and clothes, undoubtedly stolen from her father’s closet, were often an abuse for my eyes. But I loved her nonetheless. And on the back seat were Michele, Sylvester and Lucas. Michele dressed as always in one of her little black dresses with laces, her hair falling over her shoulders like a golden waterfall. Sylvester, so tall, he had to keep his head tilted to the side in order not to hit it in the ceiling of the car. He looked angelic and casual in his own unique way.

“Come on, Audrey! Let’s move!”

And, of course, last but not least �" Lucas, our personal bodyguard. He was as tall as he was wide, wearing the same old denim jacket and white t-shirt, that were threatening to burst. I let out a quiet sigh and, with a smile on my face, got in the Chevrolet.

It took us fifteen minutes to get to the ramshackle hovel “The Limp Jellyfish”… I’d spent so many nights there, I couldn’t even recall the exact number. There was no security. Any kind of trouble was more than welcome there. The minute we walked inside my vision blurred and my eyes watered from the thick cigarette smoke, filling up the whole place. Tables and old metal chairs were scattered everywhere, having drunk people literally rolling on top of them. In the middle of the crowded place was a rusty pole and a chubby, middle-aged, semi naked woman danced around it. The dreadful smell of sweat, pot and alcohol burned my nostrils.

Holding my breath, I rushed over to the bar. I ordered myself a cocktail “Zombie”, two “Outerspace” shakes for Nona and Michele and three beers for the boys. It took me a while to find the table they were sat at, as it was at the very end of the club under a ripped poster of some unknown metal band. Everything went as usual. First drinking, the dirty talk and dancing until our feet went numb. I was truly enjoying the night. At least there I did not have to think about good manners and being polite. These things were already a part of me, but I sometimes felt the strong need to just act like a fool, not caring about a single thing.

I was dancing alone, lost somewhere in the crowd, when I noticed Cedric walking towards me. He gave me a smile that undoubtedly indicated the vast amount of alcohol he had consumed. I felt a little tipsy myself so I answered him with an alluring swing of my hips. He came closer and, wrapping his arms around my waist, started slowly grinding against me in rhythm with the music. My fingers curled in his raven locks and pulled his head back so my lips found the short cut to his.

I had kissed Cedric many times before, but the way he worked with his tongue never failed to excite me. He made me lose myself, turning a simple kiss into an unforgettable experience. I moaned softly into his mouth, pulling him closer and closer so I could have more of him. I only pulled away when I felt my back starting to ache. Cedric was much shorter than me and every time we kissed I had to bend down, literally folding myself in two.

The minute my lips left his, gaze fell upon a group of people entering the club. The first one to walk inside was a tall girl with spiky blue and black hair, a loose top and short jeans. Despite the fact that the sun had long ago went down she wore a pair of sunglasses with white frames. She walked with fast heavy footsteps, bumping into people, pushing them out of the way. After her walked another young woman with dark curly hair, long leather coat and a bowler’s hat. Her lips were twisted in the most disturbingly cunning smile I had ever seen… On both her sides walked two men. One large as a colossus, dressed in black jeans and a military coat, the other tall and terribly skinny with long hair tied in a ponytail and dressed in white from head to toe.

They walked over to a table that was right next to ours. I didn’t remember seeing them in the club before. I knew all the people visiting “The Limp Jellyfish”, but they… they somehow didn’t fit in the whole picture at all. I felt how Cedric slapped my butt lightly. When I looked at him he shrugged and arched his thin eyebrows as if asking me ‘What are you staring at?’.

Waving a hand at him, I sighed: “Nothing. It’s nothing… Let’s sit down to relax a little.”

We sat, we drank, talked, laughed… and not even once did I move my gaze away from the adjacent table. The four of them didn’t even talk to each other. They just sat there silently, looking at four different directions as if they weren’t there at all…

“Audrey… Audrey… Look at me, God damn it!”

I felt a hand grasping my jaw and turning my head away from the silent four. Cedric, as well as the others, was looking at me… only that time not exactly curious. He looked annoyed.

“What got into you? You just keep staring at those guys. They’re just freaks like everyone else here! What so amusing do you find in them? ”

I smacked his hand away. He had that despicable habit of acting like I belonged to him and didn’t even have the privilege of having different interests than his. I puckered and drained my second cocktail. He was well aware of how easily amused I was by people. I couldn’t help it, the interest just came naturally. If I had to be honest, though, that time even I had no idea why I found the new guys so interesting. There was something about them… I looked over to them once more and the minute I did that Cedric jumped from his seat. I blinked unbelievingly as he walked to their table and started talking to the four blokes, pointing constantly towards me. The girl with the sunglasses looked up at him, but not a single muscle on her perfectly still face moved to indicate she was actually listening to him. The one with the bowler’s hat, however, burst out with laughter. A terrible high-pitched cackle that sent chills down my spine.

My head dropped in my palms. I felt so ashamed… Cedric was prone to doing all kinds of disrespectful and humiliating things, but that one went far beyond the limit. I had no desire to look up and see what he was doing now. But at that moment I heard Nona scream and when I looked over my shoulder I saw how the muscular guy grabbed Cedric by the collar and threw him back. He landed on a table where quite a lot of people were sat, knocking down all the bottles and glasses. I watched with horror how the tiny bluish flame, Cedric so senselessly lit, turned into an uncontrolled infernal fire, engulfing everything within its reach. The mass fight that started managed to get out of hand for less than ten minutes. Words could not describe the event as it was. Men, women… all jumped against one another, throwing bottles, turning tables over, punching and kicking… completely out of their minds! Adrenaline took over, turning humans into animals, having them eat each other alive!

Michele pulled me down, saving me from a flying piece of broken glass. She looked terrified. I saw a scratch on her forearm and my eyes followed the tiny trail of blood that was dripping from it. I heard her say something… but her words just got lost in the sound of madness, filling the club. I made her a sign to stay quiet and pointed in the direction of the exit. While we crawled towards it my mind raced back to all the times I had become a witness of mass fights in “The Limp Jellyfish”… Violence wasn’t a stranger there… It was perceived more as a… an old friend on a visit. But this time it was something else. I couldn’t remember seeing people fight with such aggression… with such twisted pleasure clouding their eyes.

We were half way through the bar when I felt a hand grasping my ankle. I turned around and saw Cedric. He had a black eye and a broken nose… He looked terrible!

“Don’t you dare leave this place, woman!” he shouted, completely startling me “This is all your fault!”

I gasped. How could he say such a thing?! Even knowing his personality, I would have never assumed he was capable of doing something like that to me. For the three years of our relationship I had let him do many horrible things and get away with it. It was time for that to change!

Yanking my foot from his grip, and finally gathering enough courage for performing such action, I hit him. I smacked him across the face, making him lose his balance. Unfortunately, he managed to put himself together rather quickly. The minute he gave me the feral look that was a sure sign he would jump at me at any moment, a gunshot was heard. I turned around terrified, my heart pounding with force that was strong enough to rip it out of my chest. My eyes fell upon a shining black gun, quickly trailing over the hand that held it, and moving up to see the face of the same woman I bumped into few weeks ago. I would never be able to forget that face. How could I? After all… it was mine. She towered above me and Michele, glaring angrily at the now quiet crowd.

“If I hear one more sound, the next bullet is going to find a new owner!” she barked, her black curls bouncing from the vibrations of her voice.

Nobody moved. No sound was heard other than that of a scared rat, running right in front of me only to have the heavy boot of the woman drop over it. Fear and disgust mixed in me, making my head spin, preventing me from even feeling the hand that grasped my shoulder and roughly pulled me up. When I came to my senses I was on one level with the mysterious woman, looking her straight in the almond-shaped blue eyes. Her beautifully curved eyebrows puckered as she dragged me towards the exit and pushed me out on the street.

“You don’t belong here, child.” She said with a deep calm voice “And be wiser next time you choose your company.”

With that said she closed the door leaving me hurt and confused beyond words. With shaking legs I managed to go to the curbstone and sit down. I wasn’t able to understand what happened at all. It was so fast, so… sudden. My life had just taken an unexpected turn and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. I looked back at the shack. My bag, money and phone were still there, my friends too… But I did not dare go back inside. I was afraid to face the result of my curiosity. I was afraid to face… her. What if Cedric was right? What if it was all my fault?

My vision blurred and I felt the hot rivers of tears flow over my flushed cheeks. I looked up at the sky and the stars… so distant, so unattainable… not caring at all about what happens down here. I spoke, my words addressed to the only one who wielded the power to control my fate:

“What have you done?” I whispered, my words getting lost in a quiet sob.

I got up and headed for my home. Alone. On foot. Looking, but not seeing. Not caring about the large distance between the bar and the apartment… I only wanted to get in my bed and forget everything that happened that night.

… Little did I know that was only the beginning…

Author's Note

I hope you enjoy it :) It took me a while to finish it and it turned out longer than expected, but this is where the real story begins. :)))

Reviews

[Forest Green]

...rough fabric of the leather glove...

This line is powerful..! Excellent...might add the scent of it too. Man I could feel that touch...might want to keep it...the insensitivity of that touch, and not dilute it with 'feather-like' later on..

...my words getting lost in a quiet sob...

This is also great. Others too...you have a special knack for bringing in the essence of detail and this is a favorite for that reason. This chapter does build the story greatly.

Very enjoyable reading...!!

[Eagle Cruagh]

Part three is a little long , but interesting
and the girl is safe for the time being.
I took too much time reading and re-reading
this part. It is amazing and a very exciting
read.
---- John

Nice

-I'm tired so the commentliciousness has dissappeared... :O1