Spellbound
Chapter 1
Ebony was a drifter.
Moving from place to place, town to town, city to city, state to state, never staying in a place for more than a few months tops at a time. She was a living breathing nomad, an adventurer and found ways when there wasn't any to survive. From the time she left the orphanage at eighteen, Ebony had traveled all across the United States, going wherever her instincts lead her.
The orphanage had no choice except to kick her out on the streets once her eighteenth birthday arrived, not having enough room to house her. Ebony had been moved to fifteen different homes throughout the first eighteen years of her life. She'd been left as a crying infant on the doorstep of the New York City orphanage, in the middle of winter, and was lucky to not have frozen to death.
Ebony didn't get along with anyone in the orphanage, which is probably why she never found the 'perfect' family. Everyone she went with sent her back within a three month span because they couldn't 'handle her' or she was 'too hyper' for them. Uncontrollable was also a word that was frequently used throughout her adolescent years.
She had one girl who was as close to a friend as one could get and her name was Ashley. They were known as the terror twins, constantly getting into trouble and bailing each other out, watching each other's back. When one got in trouble, they both did because neither would fess up nor rat the other one out.
Ashley was four months older than Ebony, so when she turned eighteen, Ebony was forced to watch them toss her only friend out in the cold snow. Ashley's birthday was in January, so it was freezing and it made Ebony realize just how cutthroat the orphanage was. It also made her realize that in just a few short months –Ebony's birthday was in May- they would be doing the same thing to her.
And they did.
Two months before her eighteenth birthday, the middle of March, Ebony found out through the grapevine of the city that Ashley had been brutally raped and murdered. Her body had been brutalized with huge bite marks all over, her neck completely snapped and she'd been completely bled dry. Ebony didn't cry often, but that night all she did was curl up tightly in her small twin sized bed and mourned her only friend's death.
One thing Ebony and Ashley did was make a pact with each other that, once they left the orphanage, they would live life to the absolute fullest. So for the next month and a half, Ebony prepared for her inevitable departure. She had already planned where she was going, which was far away from New York City, having stolen from the orphanage's donation box, so she had a small amount of cash to get her by.
There was no way she was going to end up dead like Ashley.
After all the hell the orphanage put her through, Ebony didn't feel one ounce of remorse stealing from them. She would probably go to hell since the orphanage had been funded by the city's Christian community, but Ebony didn't care. Her pact with Ashley was to live life to the fullest and that included breaking a few rules every now and then.
On her eighteenth birthday, Ebony didn't bother waiting for the orphanage's staff to 'dismiss' her and left on her own, catching the first bus out of New York City. It took her to Pittsburgh, which had to be the most boring city on the planet because all she saw there was steel. They didn't call it the Steel City for nothing.
Ebony stayed there for maybe two weeks, sleeping under a nearby bridge that was on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. She bussed a few tables to get some more money for a local restaurant, before catching a bus to the next city. Some jobs were not as glamorous as others, but Ebony did what she had to do, having the body to do it.
One thing she never did was prostitute, having a few limitations.
That didn't count out stripping though, which paid outstanding money compared to busting her ass bussing tables for worthless nobodies. Her first stripper job came on the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, surprisingly, at Martha's Vineyard. There was a very small strip club that offered to pay three grand a night, plus tips. The technical term was called the gentleman's club and Ebony found out exactly why that was.
It wasn't just stripping required for the three grand.
Sleeping with a few old farts had been worth it because she made nine grand in the span of three nights, sleeping with three men. The company paid her, not the men, though two out of three did leave her a several hundred dollar tip. Ebony felt low and knew she had broken her vow to never prostitute, trying to rationalize what she was doing.
After that, Ebony only stripped for clubs that didn't require 'extra services' and she was blunt with the owners. She outright asked them if sex was required with how much she was getting paid. Ebony didn't mind flashing her tits and ass for money, but as far as letting men have their way with it, that was a deal breaker.
Two years after Martha's Vineyard, Ebony found herself in Chicago and worked at a local diner during the day while stripping at night. She was making quite a bit of money, but Ebony knew sooner or later her assets weren't going to be her meal ticket and that terrified her. She asked some girl named Chelsea what she did to keep herself in shape and that's when Ebony was introduced to drugs.
Cocaine, crack, marijuana –the green made her extremely hungry, which was definitely a downside-, but Ebony did stay away from heroine. She couldn't afford to scar up her arms while stripping, keeping it strictly smoking or snorting. Another drug she'd been introduced to was alcohol, an addiction that outranked everything else.
Luckily, Ebony only did cocaine and crack once in a blue moon, the green more often than not, but the drinking was constant. She ended up sleeping with a few guys outside of the strip club, going out with a few girls that she worked with. Ebony didn't care about the consequences of her actions, partying until the early hours of the night and sleeping wherever she could.
Surviving.
One night in Chicago, Ebony walked inside the strip club with a cigarette dangling from her lips, rolling her eyes when she was forced to put it out. She flicked it out of the door, wearing three inch shimmery black stiletto heels that strapped up her ankle. It was like any other night, though Ebony had taken two shots of Jack Daniels, her personal favorite, before walking here.
Tonight was also her birthday, which marked three years since she left the orphanage, and turned her twenty one. Ebony had spent most of the day sleeping off her hangover to prepare for work, already having plans to go out and properly celebrate her twenty first birthday. Chelsea had it all planned out and all Ebony had to do was show up, which she was looking forward to.
Slipping her long black trench coat off, Ebony hung it on the back of her chair, staring in her personal vanity mirror. Chicago had been her 'home' for the past six months and Ebony didn't plan on leaving it anytime soon, loving the city life and the money she was raking in from stripping. She had quit the diner several weeks ago, after getting into a spat with the owner about her late attendance.
Ebony snorted at the thought of actually bussing tables and sat down, starting doing her makeup. Her grey eyes had a smoky dark color to them, black eyeliner making them pop even more, along with her fake long black lashes she applied before arriving. Her long waist length raven black hair was already done, left down with banana curls, knowing her hair was one of her physical traits that raked in the dough.
Tapping her chin in thought, Ebony decided on doing a Goth look tonight and colored her lips a dark crimson red, dabbing them once on a napkin. She already had foundation to hide any blemishes, which she didn't have any and began clipping the black choker around her neck. Pulling out huge thick black hoops, Ebony fastened them in her ears before fluffing her hair out over her shoulders, nodding in satisfaction.
Her outfit was a sexy black spandex buckle mini dress that barely covered her perfectly round ass. Small black buckles ran all the way down the front of the dress, forcing her breasts to push together tightly, the halter part also a buckle style. She winked when Chelsea whistled at her, rolling her eyes heavenward and plucked a few hairs from her eyebrows with some tweezers.
"Girl, you're gonna knock'em dead tonight!" Chelsea crowed, nudging another woman named Vanessa. "Don't you agree Nessa?"
"Goth look tonight, eh?" Vanessa commented somewhat snidely, folding her arms in front of her chest. "You really need a boob job, Ebby."
"Thanks, and you need that double chin fixed." Ebony said sweetly, refusing to let anyone get under her skin on her twenty first birthday of all days.
Chelsea sighed, glaring at Vanessa. "Be nice, it's her birthday."
Vanessa snorted and flipped her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder, turning on her heel. "Like I care." She stalked away to get ready for her own performance.
"She's just jealous, you know that." Chelsea assured Ebony, knowing better than to touch the young woman.
Ebony shrugged nonchalantly, looking in the mirror again. "She doesn't bother me, I already told you that, Chel." Ebony replied indifferently, finally satisfied with her look after plucking one more hair. "There we go."
"You're still coming tonight, right?" Chelsea asked, once Ebony turned to look at her again, grinning. "We're going to have SO much fun, just you wait!"
"I'll be there." Ebony smiled back, hearing her cue and knew it was time to go on stage. "Gotta go, its show time."
"Knock'em dead!" Chelsea crowed, giggling and went to finish her own look while Ebony headed for the stairs that lead out to the stage.
Ebony walked up the steps, quickly telling the light technician to dim them for a start and nodded when he did. "Thank you." She whispered, patting him on the shoulder before starting her performance.
Chicago was very kind to him as he sipped his tumbler of scotch, watching the stage somewhat in boredom. He'd been in the city a few days to visit a friend of his before heading out on his journey to Virginia. Little brother had been left alone for fifteen years and he decided it was time to pay him a personal visit.
That and this was the year everything was going to change for the better.
The second she stepped out on the stage, using the entrance curtain as part of her performance, he was no longer bored. He leaned back in his front row seat and slowly took a long sip of his scotch, his eyes slowly running over every curve and inch of her gorgeous body. More importantly, her scent wafted in the air, completely surrounding him, making him drunk with lust.
The way her hands moved down her body and how she undid each buckle of her dress tantalizingly slow made his jeans instantly tighten. He could just imagine her beautiful raven locks buried in his hands while he took her for his own, wondering what she tasted like. His aquamarine eyes glowed with sudden need, hunger overtaking him, but he couldn't just snatch her off the stage.
What fun would that be?
Once the final buckle was undone, the only thing preventing that dress from coming off was the halter part of it. Ebony smiled wickedly as she turned her back to the crowd, slowly twisting her body down while undoing it, and placed her hands over her breasts as the material floated to the stage. She wore a black shimmery thong that showed her luscious ass, the rest of her completely nude.
Looking over her shoulder with teasing grey eyes, Ebony continued grinding, not turning around, and released her breasts to hook her thumbs into the very thin waistband of her thong. Straightening her legs, the material slowly slid down as Ebony bent all the way forward, her fingertips brushing the stage and showed the crowd her smooth clean shaven sex briefly. Ebony stepped out of the thong and finally turned around, tweaking her nipples as the music reached its peak, using the pole to do her usual spin, spreading her legs in the process.
It was official, he wanted her. He would have her. The music ended along with the performance and he could only watch as she made her way backstage, after picking up her articles of clothing. That was his cue to leave as well, though he did left something for the raven haired beauty that he knew she'd appreciate. Swallowing down the rest of his scotch, he exited the club without another thought.
"That was OUTSTANDING!" Chelsea crowed as soon as Ebony was backstage, clapping her hands excitedly. "You really shine out there, you know that?"
Ebony nodded, trying her best to ignore the bubbly personality Chelsea possessed because it irritated her to no avail. She wasn't the bubbly type, never had been and never would be. While Chelsea went to do her performance, Ebony walked into the dressing room to get dressed. Before she did though, Ebony began counting the bills that she'd picked up from the men, raising an eyebrow when she noticed a wad of cash hidden in her dress.
It had to be over a grand and Ebony immediately tucked all of her money away, wondering how she'd missed someone tucking that into her dress. Oh well, she wasn't going to look a gift in the horse's mouth or however that old saying went. Pulling on a short jean skirt that was a little longer than her stripper outfit, Ebony left her makeup the way it was, only changing the lipstick to clear gloss instead of the blood red.
Pulling on a black spaghetti strapped tank top that had a sweetheart neckline, Ebony slipped out of her stilettos and exchanged them for a pair of socks and white tennis shoes. She removed her fake lashes and redid her mascara quickly before finally heading out, brushing past Vanessa. Neither woman spoke a word to each other, the competition between them incredible tense, though they hadn't come to blows yet. Ebony was begging the bitch to throw one punch because she would end up snapping her in half, a little more muscular than the other girls for obvious reasons.
Waving goodbye to everyone, Ebony walked out of work and let the warm night air flow over her, sighing gently. She turned around and nearly ran into a man who was standing right in front of her, not even hearing him approach her. Was Ebony really out of it that badly?
"So sorry, didn't see you there." She said, not able to help staring into his beautiful aquamarine eyes that seemed to entrance her.
"My fault completely, no apology necessary." He replied, smiling warmly at her and extended his hand. "I'm Damon."
Ebony squared her shoulders and took his hand, shaking it gently. "Ebony."
That was the night Ebony died.