Santa Carla. Murder capital of the world apparently, according to the sign that was covered in graffiti. Dad wanted to start up a new karaoke bar in a place he thought would have good location. A beach, a theme park/carnival thing on the boardwalk, and tourists galore. I'm pretty sure on the face of each person all he saw was a dollar sign. Mom went along with it. Pay no mind to his failed attempt at a dive bar back home, up north, she would stand behind him through anything.
He kept talking on and on about the business opportunities here and mom just kept nodding. I couldn't here them though, i'd been plugged into my iPod for about an hour. Their conversations were always the same though. Was that love? A man only wanting money, a woman with no mind of her own, only a puppet at the hands of her husband?
I listened to the words vibrating into my ears as we pulled into the parking lot outside the boardwalk. Dad was going to go check out the new building, mom would follow like a lost puppy. Taking my wallet I decided to go enjoy some rides, some sights. I noticed a comic book store down the way and thought id pop in and see if they carried my comics.
Walking in I just started looking through books. Batman, Marvel, DC, other big names. "Can I help you?" I asked two boys peeking at me through the shelves.
"Actually maybe we can help you" the boy in the red bandana replied. "What kinda books you into?"
"Usually supernatural stuff" I replied to him. "Or fantasy I suppose. Elementals, Tales from the Crypt, World War Tales, The Witching Hour, Vampirella..." I listed off my top five comic list.
"They exist you know" the darker haired boy said, handing me a copy of Vampires Everywhere.
"Im Edgar, and this is my brother Allan. We hunt em." The other said.
"Yeah and im a soul reaper" I joked as I walked out of the store and toward the rest of the boardwalk looking at the comic. The name was familiar, I think it was a band or something I used to listen to, once upon a time.
"Laugh now, keep an eye out" they hollered after me.
I found a bench to sit on, and once sat I started taking pictures. I liked to take odd people and turn them into odd characters. Right now I could see a couple, a guy with gauges the size of my fist, a good sized mohawk, fishnet tank, and long flowing Tripp pants, and a girl, half her head shaved, dyed electric blue, a shirt chopped off halfway down and shorts that left some of her lower half hanging out for all to see. They'd make some funny characters. Or the fat soccer mom with her kid on a leash. So I walked around the whole night, Stopping in line for the Tilt o' Whirl. It wasn't that long of a line, worst case I'd get through in maybe two rounds. A group of guys gathered behind me, at a quick glance all I saw was hair color, a couple of blondes, a darker haired big guy. A couple in front of me, normal looking compared to me and the guys behind me. I felt a tap on my sholder, so i turned and as I saw the messy dirty blonde hair, and a black jacket with multiple safety pins. "This rides better with more people"
"And you are?" I asked him, giving him a look over. I didn't like strangers, or any people for that matter. I wasn't always so quiet around people, I used to be quite outgoing. Middle school changed that though, It's the common story of lies, betrayal, girl drama you always hear about. She insulted her, I stood up for that one, she hurt me, blah blah.
"Havnt seen ya around, I'll be your guide tonight" He said stepping beside me, looking me over.
"What makes you think I need a guide?" I stared up at him. Being 5"3 I was pretty used to not seeing at eye level with most people. I held his gaze for a moment, before looking down at my black gloves and playing with some of the many buckles attached to them.
"Murder Capital of the World. Everyone should have a guide. I'm Paul" He told me, holding hid hand out. I went to shake it, and he pulled me to a hug.
"Im Raven" I told him when he let me go.
"Like the bird?" A curly haired blonde asked, with a slight giggle to his words.
I nodded and Paul introduced me to the rest of the guys in his group. Marko was the curly blonde, and about my height. Dwayne was the big guy, dark hair, almost looked a bit Indian. The last was David, The platinum blonde with icy eyes. After introductions, we were front in line, all five of us walking to the the seats we were directed to. The worker strapped us in, with an odd cautious look at the boys. As the ride started, They began whooping and hollering. We started spinning almost out of control, Paul was right, the more the merrier on this ride.
Despite being with people I didn't know all too well, I had fun. Their cart was going the fastest and spinning the most, which was the best part of this night, I thought at least. After getting off the dizzying ride, I could tell my stomach was hungry. Had I ate today? I couldn't remember... My eyes started looking a diner or something.
"Haha can't handle a little spin?" Paul said patting my back, probably thinking I was looking for a trash can.
"I'll have you know my favorite ride is a roller coaster with spinning carts" I said sticking my tongue out at him. "I'm simply hungry is all"
"The cheese fries down the walk are the best!" Marko told me, grabbing my hand leading the way. We ended up buying a couple boats of them and sharing with the others. While walking around eating fries, my eyes caught on a piercing booth.
"Skittish of needles?" David spoke for the first time tonight. Silly question... I pushed my snake bite studs out with me tongue in a response. "Oh of course."
"I want more..." I looked longingly at the booth.
"Not clean" David said.
"Hey how bout we do it? You can come see our place, get comfy, and get stuck by your new favorite people" Paul suggested.
I chewed my lip. "I don't know... I'm not exactly the most trusting person in the world..."
"Come on pleaaase?" Marko pleaded. He stuck out his bottom lip and tried his best to make his eyes the biggest he could.
"Well... I do know you better than that guy" I looked at the piercer on duty. He was busy talking to this girl who was getting her ears gauged. I took that opportunity to pretend I dropped an earring and 'pick it up' only to raid his stall for supplies. I started walking away, the boys following me.
"So no then?" Paul looked so sad as he caught up to me. I showed him my score.
"Sticky fingers" I said. "It has to be one I want though, kay?"
"We woulda just stuck a needle through" Marko told me giggling with Paul.
They led me to their bikes, and Paul pulled me behind him. As we took off I hung tightly onto his jacket. Trying to get off proved a hassle when a buckle from my glove got stuck on his safety pins. David helped them untangle as he began talking about their home. "Used to be the hottest place in Santa Carla. Ground opened up and boom"
I stopped for a moment to take in the place. Posters stretched all over. A couple beds here and there, a couch, some chairs. A bean bag on a stack of books, a wheelchair, a fountain. A couple hallways, or tunnels more like, opened up, as I went towards one of them, Paul pounced on me from my back.
"Sticking time?" He asked
"All right" I said observing the book stacks.
I sat on the couch as Paul got on knees in front of me, naval forceps in hand. "What we doing miss" he asked
"Double tongue piercing" I poked where I wanted them to be. He placed the forceps on the first spot. My tongue hung there for a second, just dangling the odd metal contraption in the air. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as he pushed the needle through my tongue. I could feel my body tense up as I jumped a little at the slight pain. He put the stud through and took out the needle, twisting on the bottom.
AN/ First upload, trying to figure this out. This is also my story on Quotev, only on here, there are three chapters put into this one. I apologize for any format errors, and I hope all the characters are still in character.