Iana POV
I looked at my half empty bag, trying to figure out why it wasn't full to bursting as it usually would be. I scratched my head thinking; it wouldn't do good to get all the way to Lorraine's house and find that I've forgotten something… I searched in the bag, scanning through a mental checklist. Nighties… check; toothbrush and toothpaste… check; clothes… plenty of them! CD's? Yep; CD player… Can't go anywhere without that!
I span around slowly, taking in my bedroom. The dressing table? Nope, I had all the make-up and jewellery I needed in the bag. I turned slightly and the window came into view. I had the only bedroom in our house with a large bay window; Silver and I usually sat on the window seat to spy on people in their gardens and to talk together without my nosey brother Kurt and his mates, Chad and Jared, seeing us. I smiled as I thought of the things they got up to in the garden when they thought no one could see them… Mainly lighting each others farts and stuff like that... But no, nothing on the window seat I needed to take. The full length mirror? No, nothing near there… The wardrobe? No; all the clothes I needed were in my bag neatly folded, along with a pair of Converse… The computer? Nah; my iPod was in the bag… The bookcase? No, I… hold on a mo…
I clicked my fingers happily as I realised what I had left out; I strolled over to the huge pine bookcase, scanning the titles as I went.
"There they are…" I murmured to myself, pulling out a couple of books… Well… when I say 'a couple', I mean around six or seven… it's just the way I am. I carried the pile of books over to my bed and started packing them into the bag. I grabbed the zip and tried to close the bag over, but I had too much stuff in there. So what did I do? Did I do the normal thing and get a bigger bag? Nope; I sat on it! After that things went a lot more smoothly… I twirled around once more to check I hadn't left anything important, which was nothing as far as I could see. I turned back to my bed, picked up the bag and slung it over my shoulder.
"Whoa!" I cried as I fell over backwards, landed on the bag and gave another cry as one of the books stabbed me in the back. I got up hurriedly and hobbled over to the mirror, rubbing my back. I turned around and lifted my top slightly. It didn't surprise me at all to see a huge red line appearing across my ribs, showing up horribly against my pallid skin. I sighed and let my top fall back down; it wasn't the first time I'd been injured. I and Silver always seemed to get into all kinds of scrapes without trying to; thankfully nothing ever serious… yet…
I sat down at my dressing table and looked at myself, trying to understand why people hated the way I looked. Okay I'm a Goth and everything, but why do people fear us? I frowned and checked my make-up. My eyeliner was fine, not even the slightest black smudge. The dark grey eye shadow was okay, as was my black lipstick. My ears ached a bit; I'd just had them pierced again at the sides. I now had three on each ear at the normal places on the bottom of the lobe, one at the top on my left, three on the top of my right and now another at the sides on each ear, all in silver… I have this huge thing about silver…jewellery that is… not my friend… ewww!
I poked my new piercings experimentally, earning myself a nasty jab of pain. I hissed and rubbed them gently. I looked in the mirror at myself again. My eyes stared at me, bright blue, stark contrast to my white skin. My eyes were strange, as they seemed to change depending on my type of mood. Varying from pale for scared, tired, dark for angry, annoyed etc. I looked at my hair, hanging before my face. It was almost down to my bottom now, a long tumbling mass of dark brown hair. It was so temperamental; straight at times, wavy at others, sometimes a mixture. No matter what I tried using on it, it never calmed down, always slightly wild and trying to get away. Silver's hair never did that…How did she do it? Even at the age of 24 I still couldn't manage my own hair… What's wrong with me?
You'd never guess I was a Goth by looking at my room. Alright, the jewellery and make-up on the dressing table might give you an idea, but not the bedroom itself. My room is decorated in creams and earthy colours with gold fixings and dark pine furniture. I'm into all that medieval stuff with four-poster beds with white hangings, long flowing curtains and luxury sheets. But I express myself behind closed doors, literally. All my posters are tacked up behind the doors of my cupboards and my wardrobe. Pretty scary if you're not used to it… I mean, when you open the door… and these faces stare out… Well, you get the picture…
I stood and walked over to my full size mirror to check my clothes. I was wearing a marbled velvet dark purple and black top with long, black silk bell sleeves and a cobweb motif on the chest, and dark grey/silver jeans with white graffiti on one leg. I brushed myself down and picked up my boots from beside the mirror. They were flat soled, black leather with laces and buckles around them, my favourite pair. I grinned and began lacing and strapping them up, keeping my jeans tucked inside. That done, I opened my wardrobe to get a coat. I doubted Silver would like it if I turned up in a huge black leather coat looking like a bat, so that narrowed my options. I frowned when I remembered Kurt had borrowed my long black cardigan to go to a 'Good Charlotte' concert which he decided he wouldn't take me to even though I like them more than him and I had all of their posters and merchandise and… I took a deep breath to calm myself down before I blew up… I carefully picked up my bag and left the room, closing the door and locking it with a key that hung around my neck.
I knocked on Kurt's bedroom door and entered without waiting for a reply, looking around. The walls were plastered in posters of Punk, Rock and Heavy Metal bands; the desk and tables were littered with magazines, slips of paper, CD's and sweet wrappers galore. The heavy curtains were closed, plunging the room into total darkness. I found Kurt, Chad and Jared sitting on the floor, staring intently at the bright TV screen before them. Kurt was playing 'Soul Reaver 2' on the Playstation 2, one of my favourite games that he was trying to complete for a bet. Kurt had boasted that 'Soul Reaver' was an easy game; even without the cheats… He only thought that because I was able to wiz through it in almost five hours, allowing time for the videos. But here he was; still in the 'Sarafan Stronghold' at the very beginning of the game, being attacked by three Pike women, his 'Material Energy' gradually disappearing. I could see him getting steadily angrier, especially at Chad and Jared calling out hints to him.
"Go left!"
"Duck!"
"Watch ou… Ooo… bet that hurt…"
"Wait… wait… now!"
I grimaced as Kurt practically punched the pause button and threw the controller onto the floor, his head in his hands. I liked my older brother; he was 27, almost six feet tall, lightly tanned; muscular with a certain charm about him that always attracted the ladies. He didn't have the blue eyes and wild dark brown hair that I had; he had brown eyes with short, spiky blonde hair, kind of like one of the singers from 'Sum 41'. Come to think of it, none of my family had blue eyes and brown hair; they were all brown eyed and blonde… Why am I different?
Chad was 26, almost six feet tall again, but had almost white skin like me, long black hair, two different coloured eyes… To put it simply, the spitting image of Marilyn Manson, one of my favourite singers. Jared was 25, a bit shorter than the other two, with pale skin, ginger/red hair and green eyes. Both of them had a wicked sense of humour, but only Chad knew when to stop. The personalities of all three of them were exactly the same; funny and sensitive, but kind, caring and brave when the occasion called for it. Kurt always teased and played tricks on me when Chad and Jared were here, but he was always there to help me and protect me. I remembered a time when I was only 6. A group of boys around 9 years old were tripping me up and pushing me into a muddy puddle, when Kurt turned up. At 13, he scared the pants off those lads, before turning around to help me up. Watching this memory again, I realised that it was wrong. Kurt was only three years older than me, not seven… And this Kurt had long blonde wavy hair, and was wearing strange clothes; almost… armour…
"What do you want?" Kurt growled savagely, still angry with the game. I flinched; he hardly ever talked to me like that. Chad and Jared looked up apparently noticing me for the first time; well, either that or fresh air…
"I'm here for my cardigan…" I told him, stepping over a pile of dirty clothes and dumping my bag on his bed.
"What cardigan?" Kurt asked quietly, glancing at Chad and Jared, worried, "I don't wear cardigans-"
"Yes you do…" Chad butted in, "You wore one at that 'Good Charlotte' concert a couple of weeks back…" Kurt narrowed his eyes and reached over to him with both hands, ready to strangle… I cleared my throat.
"I need to leave within the next five minutes…" I hinted; Kurt stood up and walked over to his wardrobe, opening the doors and searching noisily through the junk at the bottom. I glanced at the TV screen where Raziel was paused mid-jump, sword in hand… claw… whatever… With Chad and Jared watching, I grabbed the controller and un-paused the game. My fingers a blur, I used the sword to kill one Pike woman, put the sword down, ate her soul, picked up her pike and proceeded to finish off the other two, filling Raziel's 'Material Energy' coil. I threw the pike away and picked up the sword, pressed the jump button and paused the game again, making it look as if I had done nothing…
"Cool…" Chad and Jared breathed together, watching me as I stood up again. I smiled at them and mouthed, 'I've completed it 25 times.' Their mouths dropped open in shock; Kurt returned bearing a reasonably clean black cardigan that I put on and grabbed my bag from his bed.
"Here… now leave us alone… I'm trying to play a game…" he muttered, pushing me in the small of my back.
"Got the 'trying' part right…" I told him before he opened the door and slid me out.
"Bye Iana," Jared called.
"Yeah, see ya later!" Chad cried, waving madly from behind Kurt's bed as Kurt closed the door.
"If I'm not attacked by a Mad Axe Murderer on the way to Silver's that is!" I laughed and looked inside the room again. It was weird; I could only see the top of Chad's head, his hands and Jared's hands waving at me from behind the bed. There was a roar of rage as Kurt realised I'd played 'his' game… So I slid down the banister and out the front door as quick as lightning.
"I'll kill you!" I turned around to find Kurt's head hanging out of our parent's bedroom window. I kissed my hand, turned around and bent over, slapping my behind in a rude gesture. Then I slung my bag over my shoulder before he could follow and ran down the road, a silent winged shadow in the brightness of the day…
