Chapter 1 ~ dreaming in the woods
Walking through the streets of Ramsa, the evening settled in as the sun set, a golden globe of light disappearing over the forlorn mountains. Pastel pink clouds dashed the sky, melding with the deep blue of the darkening scenery. Shadows of birds flitted across the pinks and oranges, only to fade away as the light left.
I gazed up at the sky, a vast tomb of secrets that lay buried, awaiting someone to discover the knowledge that it kept hidden from prying eyes.
I had been walking for a while now, the only thing on my mind was getting somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was away from people. People had always been a problem. I just never seemed to be accepted among them, somehow they regarded me as different.
The only people I got along with were my best friends: Erik, Jason, Jason's sister Nita and Nick. They had been like family to me, the only ones that seemed to understand me or except me. Once we had gotten out of high school we had decided to make a band: the Partners in Crime. The band had become my life, a kind of insane obsession that kept me from worrying about my differences. Only tonight, it hadn't worked.
We had a great time together, even when we were trying to find clubs to hire us. Well that was part of the time. Money of course was eating at us, the scarcity of it really.
Tonight though, my mind had been elsewhere. That's why I am here, walking alone on the streets. To get away from it all. I love the guys a lot but at times we can all get on each other's nerves.
At last I reached my destination. A forest at the edge of the city. I walked into the cool nights breeze, shadows excepting my existence. Here, as I had felt many times when I walked through the woods, I felt at peace. I had never been afraid of the woods, even when I was little. It was another thing that seemed to except me.
Shadows loomed over the forest floor as I walked up a steep hill, reaching its edge, I looked down. I sighed, looking at the bright city lights I could see before me. An occasional honking of a horn could be heard from were I stood, otherwise, the night was silent.
The animals of the darkness were all prowling around in search of their evenings meal. Birds were sleeping silently, and the people down below were getting drunk off their asses.
Sitting down below a large tree I wondered silently if it sometimes would be better if I could just drift off in the wind, like mist, and slowly disappear. I pushed these foolish thoughts out of my head, nothing like that would ever happen, I shouldn't try to avoid life, shouldn't avoid the problem. But was the problem itself really life? Would death be better? Silently I wondered, falling asleep under the stars.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~Dream
Nick, Erik, Jason and I were hauling our guitars and other equipment into a large dark looking building. Stepping inside the building I was blinded with red flashing lights and head pounding music. Staggering I blinked a couple times trying to get used to the dizzy lights reflecting off broken mirrors that covered the walls. Erik signaled me over to help with his speaker set. Strolling over, I helped him lift it up, propping it on its stand and tuning it to the right set. For some reason I had a feeling that everyone was giving us strange looks, greedy, hungry stares. 'I am just nervous' I told myself.
But not even that could stop me from noticing dark figures everywhere, in the corners, sitting at the bars, all staring viciously. Too late to say anything, we had already started to get our positions. The speakers had stopped their obnoxious music and we had started our own heart-pounding rhythm. Throughout the night I felt uneasy, and I couldn't help but wonder if we were safe here.
Shaking my head I continued to beat my guitar, my fingers running elegantly along the strings. Usually nothing got me this shaken up. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we stopped. 'Thank god' I thought as we loaded up our truck outside. As we were putting the last of the equipment in the truck, I noticed a group of people all dressed in black heading towards us. Oh the whole black wearing thing didn't bother me, all of us were wearing black, it was the way.well their very existence seemed threatening and somewhat dark.
"Great music," I heard one of them saying to Jason as the others ascended on us. I looked at the person in front of me, and I couldn't help notice he had deep black eyes. In a moment I felt dizzy and disoriented, I couldn't break my eyes away from his. Suddenly he went for my neck, and I saw a flash of elongated, canine-like teeth. ~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I awoke with a start at the feel of someone shaking me. I opened my eyes, seeing a blurry figure in front of me. My heart quickened as my vision focused and I saw the figure clearly...Nick. I let out a long sigh of relief. Nick had been my closest friend since the time we had met.
"You ok? You look a bit shaken, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, concern etched in his features.
"No I am fine. How did you know to find me here?" I asked him, looking up at him suspiciously. " I've been stalking you and taking notes on your every movement and taking them to a secret underground organization: the Stalk Kiera Club." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. "You've been coming here ever since I knew you. Come on we gotta gig."
"Hm? Were?" I asked, getting up and following him. "Some club called Las Nochas." he replied. "Oh." Las Nochas? Never heard of it before..oh well.
Walking through the streets of Ramsa, the evening settled in as the sun set, a golden globe of light disappearing over the forlorn mountains. Pastel pink clouds dashed the sky, melding with the deep blue of the darkening scenery. Shadows of birds flitted across the pinks and oranges, only to fade away as the light left.
I gazed up at the sky, a vast tomb of secrets that lay buried, awaiting someone to discover the knowledge that it kept hidden from prying eyes.
I had been walking for a while now, the only thing on my mind was getting somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was away from people. People had always been a problem. I just never seemed to be accepted among them, somehow they regarded me as different.
The only people I got along with were my best friends: Erik, Jason, Jason's sister Nita and Nick. They had been like family to me, the only ones that seemed to understand me or except me. Once we had gotten out of high school we had decided to make a band: the Partners in Crime. The band had become my life, a kind of insane obsession that kept me from worrying about my differences. Only tonight, it hadn't worked.
We had a great time together, even when we were trying to find clubs to hire us. Well that was part of the time. Money of course was eating at us, the scarcity of it really.
Tonight though, my mind had been elsewhere. That's why I am here, walking alone on the streets. To get away from it all. I love the guys a lot but at times we can all get on each other's nerves.
At last I reached my destination. A forest at the edge of the city. I walked into the cool nights breeze, shadows excepting my existence. Here, as I had felt many times when I walked through the woods, I felt at peace. I had never been afraid of the woods, even when I was little. It was another thing that seemed to except me.
Shadows loomed over the forest floor as I walked up a steep hill, reaching its edge, I looked down. I sighed, looking at the bright city lights I could see before me. An occasional honking of a horn could be heard from were I stood, otherwise, the night was silent.
The animals of the darkness were all prowling around in search of their evenings meal. Birds were sleeping silently, and the people down below were getting drunk off their asses.
Sitting down below a large tree I wondered silently if it sometimes would be better if I could just drift off in the wind, like mist, and slowly disappear. I pushed these foolish thoughts out of my head, nothing like that would ever happen, I shouldn't try to avoid life, shouldn't avoid the problem. But was the problem itself really life? Would death be better? Silently I wondered, falling asleep under the stars.
~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~Dream
Nick, Erik, Jason and I were hauling our guitars and other equipment into a large dark looking building. Stepping inside the building I was blinded with red flashing lights and head pounding music. Staggering I blinked a couple times trying to get used to the dizzy lights reflecting off broken mirrors that covered the walls. Erik signaled me over to help with his speaker set. Strolling over, I helped him lift it up, propping it on its stand and tuning it to the right set. For some reason I had a feeling that everyone was giving us strange looks, greedy, hungry stares. 'I am just nervous' I told myself.
But not even that could stop me from noticing dark figures everywhere, in the corners, sitting at the bars, all staring viciously. Too late to say anything, we had already started to get our positions. The speakers had stopped their obnoxious music and we had started our own heart-pounding rhythm. Throughout the night I felt uneasy, and I couldn't help but wonder if we were safe here.
Shaking my head I continued to beat my guitar, my fingers running elegantly along the strings. Usually nothing got me this shaken up. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we stopped. 'Thank god' I thought as we loaded up our truck outside. As we were putting the last of the equipment in the truck, I noticed a group of people all dressed in black heading towards us. Oh the whole black wearing thing didn't bother me, all of us were wearing black, it was the way.well their very existence seemed threatening and somewhat dark.
"Great music," I heard one of them saying to Jason as the others ascended on us. I looked at the person in front of me, and I couldn't help notice he had deep black eyes. In a moment I felt dizzy and disoriented, I couldn't break my eyes away from his. Suddenly he went for my neck, and I saw a flash of elongated, canine-like teeth. ~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I awoke with a start at the feel of someone shaking me. I opened my eyes, seeing a blurry figure in front of me. My heart quickened as my vision focused and I saw the figure clearly...Nick. I let out a long sigh of relief. Nick had been my closest friend since the time we had met.
"You ok? You look a bit shaken, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, concern etched in his features.
"No I am fine. How did you know to find me here?" I asked him, looking up at him suspiciously. " I've been stalking you and taking notes on your every movement and taking them to a secret underground organization: the Stalk Kiera Club." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. "You've been coming here ever since I knew you. Come on we gotta gig."
"Hm? Were?" I asked, getting up and following him. "Some club called Las Nochas." he replied. "Oh." Las Nochas? Never heard of it before..oh well.