A/N: Hey, guys! This is my fist fanfic, I hope you like it!
Prologue
"I'll have another shot" slurs the drunken man in front of me. I oblige silently, pouring him what has to be his sixth- or was it seventh?- shot.
"I don't get what a pretty girl like you is doing working at a bar like this. I'd rather see you dancing on a stage with some other showgirls" he rambles.
" Just piss off and enjoy your drink, sir" I reply, annoyed.
"Aya~me... Don't forget about customer seeeeeerviiiice~!" Yells Bill from the back room. I take a deep breath and smile brightly. It isn't fake, not like it used to be, but I wouldn't call it sincere either. The drunk man, around his mid twenties with a thick build, smiles idiotically as he tries to mimic me.
Suddenly an enraged man storms into the bar. He approaches the idiot smiling and picks him up by his shirt collar. I jump in surprise when the door slams into the walls by the force of him opening it. I scowl and berate myself. Quit being so skittish, it isn't going to get you anywhere. Even though this small bar is on the outskirts of Vegas, it's always fairly empty so violence isn't constantly a threat. Once in a while there were the crazy psycho guys, but just because this bar is small doesn't mean it doesn't mean it doesn't have security.
Then again, could I really call it security? It's really only one skilled guy hired a year ago. His hair is blond, a vibrant blond on the brink of being yellow. Like mine, his eyes are blue. But unlike mine his are the blue you'd see during a summer afternoon on a cloudless day. I envy his eyes, they always twinkle in amusement. It's like he knows something we don't and finds humour in our ignorance.
Contrary to his friendly appearance, he doesn't interact with the staff that much. Well, more like he avoids interacting with me and it really gets on my nerves sometimes. He acts like a normal person with everyone else. He jokes. He flirts. He lounges around. He may be talkative, but all we really know about him is his name. Jesse.
But when there's a whiff of danger, Jesse's all business. There is no smirk on his face and there isn't any twinkle in his eyes.
Jesse lazily gets up from the lounge seat and walks up to the two men. He grabs the enraged man's wrist; the one holding the idiot who stopped smiling. "We don't tolerate violence here. Kindly let go of this man." He says calmly.
"Bastard, you can't tell me what to do!" Shouts the man to Jessie. I look at the drunk man, and he looks back at me. His eyes are pleading me to do something fast. I can tell that he's never been in a situation like this before. All the while, the enraged man does let go of him but only to throw a punch at Jessie. I find it ironic how he said he wouldn't be ordered around yet he still let's go of this poor man.
The man throws punch after punch at Jessie, all of which he dodges. I know Jessie'll be alright, who I'm worrying about is the drunk man. I ask him if he wants some water to which he answers yes. I grab a glass and fill it up to the brim in water.
As I'm walking over to give the poor man some water, I realize too late that the mad bastard has noticed me. I don't know what's wrong with this guy, but he charges straight at me with his fist raised up to punch. By instinct I drop the glass of water to shield my face. I expect the glass to shatter, I expect the water to spill, I expect to hear some sort of clatter but I hear nothing except some sort of whooshing noise. I don't even feel the punch hit me.
What?
I open my eyes slowly, not knowing that I closed them. Cautiously, I lower my arms. By this point Bill, my boss, comes out from the back room to see what all the ruckus is about. I don't know what he sees but it cannot be what I'm seeing. I must be going crazy. I blink my eyes a few times to make sure what I saw isn't just my imagination.
There, right in front of me, a few thin metal pieces are floating. They're rectangular and engraved with lines and shapes. On a closer look, they look like cards from a deck. Not only are they floating but they're forming a shield in front of me, blocking the mad bastard's fist from hitting me. I look down to see what happened to the glass of water and see it perfectly upright, not a single drop of water spilled. More of these strange cards are holding it up. Slowly, the cards lift the glass and pass it to the man now slumped on the floor. I wonder if he'll remember what happened tonight. Surely he can't be that drunk.
The mad bastard- that name just stuck- pulls his fist back and cradles it in his arms. He yelps in pain and mutters other sounds of pain under his breath.
The cards all float together now that their "tasks" are completed. They arrange themselves into a neat deck and land in front of me. As they're doing so, they revert back into normal and ordinary cards. Looking at the cards closely I notice something I hadn't before. Are those my cards? I brought a deck to work today... Could it be them?
My thoughts are interrupted by Jesse as he clears his throat and says, "Well, I think you should be leaving now," he gestures the door to the mad bastard. He leaves silently while looking a bit dumbfounded. I can't blame him, I think we're all a bit surprised.
Jesse's words are followed by Bill's laughter. I don't know why he's laughing but he manages to break the tension. He starts joking about how serious Jesse can act and Jesse and him start joking and having a light conversation.
I feel a pang of sadness in my chest. Why is it that I can't be that close to him? He really is cute and funny and easy to talk to... Except he won't talk to me!
"Well, look at the time! I think we should be leaving now too!" Calls Bill's cheerful voice. He's right. The clock points to a little after 1 in the morning. I can also feel fatigue setting in my body. If everyone else didn't see the whole event happening with me, I would've thought that I dreamed it.
I awkwardly pick up the cards and hold them up so everyone can see them. "Um... So what should we do with the cards?" I ask.
"They're yours, aren't they? Keep them." says Jesse looking at me straight in the eyes. I don't think he's ever looked me in the eyes like that before. He says it nonchalantly, but his blue eyes just look so familiar for a second. Not that they aren't already, I've seen them enough times, but it makes me feel as if I have a connection with him. Just as fast as he looked at me, he looked away. I look away as well as I make my way to the back room.
My bag is placed on top of the many cluttered boxes here. This room is different from the rest of the bar. The walls aren't a dark silver gray but a welcoming pale green. The lights aren't flashing strobes but emit a warm golden light. The air doesn't taste of alcohol but of the tastelessness that actual air is. The room's soundproofed as well, so it's like a getaway from the business of the bar. No wonder Bill likes to hang out here.
I grab my bag and wait. Bill comes out of the back room moments later with the keys in his hands.
"Ready to go, Ayame?" Bill asks me. I give a nod and we both leave the bar together. Sometime when we were at the back, Jesse must have left since Bill locks up the bar for the night as if it was empty. We head for his car and I breathe in the fresh air. It's quite a relief after smelling alcohol for the past few hours.
There are few streetlights on and their light casts an eerie glow over the road and onto the car. We reach the car and I can hear the beeping noise it makes to indicate that the doors are open. I slide into my seat as Bill starts the car.
The car rolls into the deserted street and lit up buildings soon become an actual sandy desert. I think about how grateful I am to Bill. He's acted as a father figure to me. While my sister's off to University and my parents are dead, Bill's been there for me and taken care of me. He's my neighbour and the one who hooked me up with this job. Living near Vegas and trying to find a job for an underage teen that doesn't mean dancing shamelessly is hard.
Bill overlooked the fact that I'm only sixteen and offered me the job. I come here after school to work and leave late at night. Of course, Bill drives me home and now it's become a routine.
The roads in Nevada are long and while a normal person would've been lulled to sleep by the car's constant motion, not a wink of sleep comes to me. We pull in to a driveway tens of minutes later. We both get out of the car silently. The car doors quietly close and you can once again hear a beeping sound.
"Well, I bid you goodnight, my little princess!" Bill exclaims dramatically with an arm sweeping motion.
"Goodnight to you too, Bill" I say to him. There cannot be a person on Earth more dramatic than he acts sometimes.
Our houses are next to each other so I can easily see him walk up to his front door as I'm doing the same thing. At the same time both of our keys jingle while opening the door.
After another long and boring day I'm more than glad to practically pass out on my bed. It's really weird how I've never been able to fall asleep in a car but once you've gotten me in bed, I'm out like a light.
The next few days are normal but I've made a habit to take my special cards around with me everywhere I go. To school (where I don't have many friends) and to work. Not to mention that it's in my hands 24/7 at home.
There's been an unusual increase in our amount of customers recently. I don't get why though because this isn't a big attraction. My cards haven't once turned all weapon like again- no matter how many times I've tried to make it go like that.
Today, there's been more customers than ever. They all seem to leer at me. Faces with similar expressions always angled toward me. Nevertheless, they were customers and I gave them their drinks at the counter with a smile plastered on my face.
One of the customers, a particularly nasty one, grabs my wrist forcefully as I hand him his drink. On instinct I jerk back in alarm but soon find out that he isn't intending to let go when he tightens his hold.
Suddenly he transforms into this grotesque... thing. Before I knew, most of the other occupants of the bar turned into monsters as well. They were identical and black and gray. Their faces look like masks. They also have these spikes protruding from various places in their bodies. This spikes are thick and have holes in them. Curious, they look like gun barrels.
These monsters don't have arms which makes me realize that no one's holding my own arm in place. Still, I can't move my arm away. I can't even move my body. I'm frozen. I've never felt fear like this. Fear that clutches onto me and holds me in place. My muscles are stiff and so is my spine. I'm suddenly reminded of a time when I was younger, I got called in the principal's office for the fact that I broke a rule. I was scared then but it doesn't even begin to compare with what I'm feeling now.
With all the strength I can muster, I suck in a deep breath and let it out in a blood curling scream. I hope someone hears me. They better. Even if Bill is listening to his iPod in the back room, he'll surely hear me... Right? What about Jesse? He'll hear me for sure.
The monsters advance on me. Pointing those gun like things at me, some type of purple light emanates from them. Are the guns charging?
Surprisingly, the monsters turn around. In horror I realize that that isn't a good thing. One demon shoots purple bullets toward the still human customers. My knees give out and I fall to the floor. I widen my eyes and automatically my hands reach up to cover my wide open mouth.
One of the purple bullets had hit a frequent customer. But no, he was more than that. He's a middle aged man with a heart of gold. His wife had died years ago so he lives alone and visits this bar quite often.
While I was younger and my sister used to work here instead of me, he always kept an eye on me since my sister couldn't leave me home alone. He is the one who taught me how to play poker and all sorts of other card games. Eventually I also learned how to gamble.
Now, I can slowly see the life leaving his body as black stars appear all over his body.
"No!" I yell. I scramble up to my feet and race towards the unfortunate people. Screams soon fill the place as more purple bullets shoot out of the monsters.
Most of the people here are people I've gotten to know over the span of my life here at this bar. To see them all hurt is crushing my heart. I stand before the monsters and spread my arms out. No. I will protect them. Even if it costs me my life.
Why does this always happen to me. My parents are dead. My sister doesn't care. And now those who do care are being taken away from me.
Bill is still in the back room. Good, I think, let him stay where it's safe. But where's Jesse? The thought's soon pushed out of my mind as their guns are charging up again. This time they point at me and don't turn away. I close my eyes and wait for the impact.
The impact doesn't come. Seriously? This is the second time this week. First the punch that was supposed to hit me but never did and now this. Wow. Not that I mind that it didn't hit me. I'm grateful.
I feel wind whipping my midnight blue hair all around. I open my eyes, but they sting from the force of the wind. Once the wind stops, everything goes still and quiet.
Finally I can open my eyes properly only to see a man with black slicked back hair and one strand of hair sticking out. He wears a black and white uniform with a sort of cross on it. His right arm looks like metal. It resembles a weapon. Could that be the source of the wind?
"Hello, I'm Suman Dark. I'm an exorcist. Would you like to join the Black Order?"
A/N: Hi there, fanfiction readers! How did I do? Would you please sacrifice a moment of your precious time to review and comment on my story? It would mean the world to me. I'm not much of an experienced writer so constructive criticism would help. But please, no flames. Those might ruin the sorry excuse of a self esteem that i managed to make in the past few years (jk, jk :D) Should I continue this? I was planning on making it a long fanfic, but I guess it works as a oneshot.
- Le Chat Noir