A/N: This is my first story in ages. I've had this piece of work stored on my computer for ages and have finally decided to post the darn thing up. Hopefully this first chapter will give you a grasp of what its about. Sorry but the boys do not appear until chapter two.
"On other news, Police have still yet to find Crystal Murez, who yesterday, escaped from Long Hollow Asylum. Detective Leon Gray has been assigned to the case and has asked that all citizens that are out, to walk in two or more. A picture has still yet to be released of the patient-" Crystal tuned out the news reporters voice that was buzzing on the small television and concentrated on her breathing. She took one last look around the almost empty Diner before closing her eyes and sinking lower into the leather booth, hoping that somehow it would swallow her up and she'd finally be forgotten.
"I sure hope that they catch this Crystal girl; we have enough nut jobs roaming around as it is." A small balding man complained. He sat on the other side of the diner from Crystal, on a bar stool, casually sipping away at his coffee.
The waitress that was behind the counter, whose name tag read Claire, flirtatiously slapped the bald man's arm and laughed. "Yeah and you are one of them, Frank." She winked and placed her small hands on her hips.
Frank growled momentarily before pulling out a silver flask from his jacket pocket and pouring yet another half of whisky into his coffee, "I just don't understand this generation of people today, with the crazy hair and ripped up clothes that look nothing but disrespectful. And another thing, what's with the music these days, have people gone insane or something. That's another thing, Claire-" Frank slurred slightly, feeling the effects of the alcohol.
The waitress sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Not this again, Frank." She mumbled under her breath. It wasn't the first time that she'd heard this speech about new and forth coming generations; in fact, it was becoming a daily thing now. "Frank, I think it's about time that you go home," She placed her hand gently on his arm and plastered her infamous fake smile on her face. "Why don't I call your wife and get her to come and pick you up, does that sound good?"
Frank sighed, feeling completely defeated, "I'll just walk home, Claire. You know the wife hates having to pick me up." Frank downed the rest of his 'coffee' and stood up.
"Frank." Claire said in the disapproving tone.
The old man sighed yet again and fumbled around in his pocket before pulling out a set of car keys, "You keep me right, Claire, you really do." He threw the keys at the waitress and stumbled his way to the exit.
"See you tomorrow, Frank."
He grumbled something unintelligent before slamming the Diners door behind him.
Claire sighed and cleaned up the coffee stained counter, that's when from the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a lump in the corner. She looked up and saw a small girl lying on the booth, she had messy blonde hair, a definite under fed body and ragged clothing. Claire felt somewhat sorry for the young girl, she had seen this sort of thing time and time again; a typical runaway with nowhere to go. The waitress shook her head and grabbed the coffee pot from behind her. She walked cautiously over to her and smiled sweetly when she heard the faint sound of snoring pass through her ears. "Honey, wake up." She said in her sweetest tone. Claire flinched back slightly when the young girls eyes snapped open, but still, she kept that sweet smile plastered on her face. "Honey, sorry but you aren't allowed to sleep in the diner."
Crystal grumbled for a moment before pulling herself up into sitting position. Her cheeks grew rosy, one thing that Crystal hated doing was letting her guard down even for the slightest moment. She could feel the rage build up inside her, but on the outside she kept herself at calm. "Sorry." She whispered mainly to herself, she bowed her head and looked at the coffee stained table.
"That's okay, honey. Do you want some coffee? It'll wake you up a bit."
"No," Crystal looked up and read the waitresses name tag, "Actually, Claire. I need some directions to this place." Crystal fumbled around in her leather jacket pocket and after a few seconds she pulled out a small folded piece of paper. It was something that she had picked up on her journey, a poster advertising a band that would be playing in Santa Carla in a few days, to Crystal; it seemed like a good place to hide out for a while. She handed the bit of paper to the waitress.
Claire put down the coffee pot and unfolded the paper. She examined it for a moment before looking up with victorious eyes. "I knew it," She exclaimed, "You're a runaway, aren't you?"
The young girl's body froze up in panic. How does she know? Crystal thought to herself.
"Don't worry, honey, I'm not going to rat you out." Claire placed the poster on her table and pulled out her notepad and pen that she uses to take orders. "So what are you running away from then?" Claire couldn't contain the curiosity from her voice. She had always envied these girls that passed through here on a weekly basic. Claire was your average American Joe, she slept, worked and slept some more. She could never imagine herself just getting up and leaving this dump, she never had the courage to do so and that's why she envied them so much.
"I'm running away from my bitch of a mother." Crystal laughed; she was half lying to the waitress. Well, she couldn't exactly tell her that she's the girl who escaped from Long Hollow Asylum.
"Here, Honey. These are the directions to Santa Carla..." She ripped off the piece of paper and quickly handed it to the girl.
She hesitated on the spot for a few moments before speaking up again. "You do know that Santa Carla is the murder capital of the world, right?"
Crystal snorted while pocketing the piece of paper that had the directions to the place she would like to call, freedom.
Claire frowned, "Between four and ten people go missing like everyday... they haven't even found the person or people who is doing it all." She gasped slightly at her own story.
"How do you know all of this?" Crystal laughed nervously.
"My aunt and Grandpa live there... yeah, about ten years they've been down there. I'm surprised that they aren't dead yet to tell you the truth."
The young girl nodded her head, but quite frankly, she was bored with this story, so she zipped up her leather jacket and said, "Thanks for the directions, Claire, but I better be going now... I've got a long journey ahead of me." She stood up and side stepped her way passed the waitress, god forbid anybody that touched her.
Claire didn't take the hint though and she placed her small hand on Crystals shoulder.
The young girls eyes glazed over and her whole body tensed up, she was no longer in the room but in a vision of the future.
Claire carelessly wiped away the sweat from her forehead. She glanced around anxiously at each Doctor and nurse, but she still couldn't see her baby. The nurses flew by each other, binning the bloodied sheets before washing their hands. The Doctors had formed a circle around the small baby that Claire had just giving birth too.
One Doctor, whose name tag read, Doctor Edward Rhinestone, wrapped the baby up in a blue sprawl and picked it up. He smiled as the baby opened its eyes. The Doctor walked slowly over to the anxious mother. "Would you like to see your son, Miss Austin?"
Claire nodded her head in anticipation.
Doctor Rhinestone placed the baby in her arms and stood back and watched the newly formed bond blossom.
A nurse stopped beside the Doctor too admires the pleasant view. "Have you decided on a name yet, Miss Austin?"
Without even looking up Claire answered the eagerly asked question, "I'm going to call him... Laddie."
Crystal snapped out of her vision and immediately fell to her knees. Beads of sweat had formed on her face and hands; she never had gotten use to these damn visions. Crystal hated the gift that she had, well; she doesn't exactly call it a gift... more of a curse than anything else.
It was this curse that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. She hated what she was and she knew that everybody else did too.
"Fuck!" Crystal screamed out, she balled her hands into fists and gritted her teeth.
"Are... are you okay?" Claire had no idea what the hell just happened, she stood several feet behind the young girl, whom in a matter of seconds seemed to have crumbled into pieces. "Do... do you want me to get you a glass of water?" Claire stuttered slightly.
"Please!" Crystal waited until she could hear footsteps; she jumped to her feet and ran. The waitress had seen too much for Crystals liking, she knew that if she had stayed any longer, she might have blown her cover. She slammed the Diners door behind her and ran heavy footed while searching through her pockets, a smile sprang to life on her face when she found a set of keys, and those keys belonged to a Triumph, a god send as she called it. When Crystal finally escaped from the Asylum, she ran and never looked back. Only once did the girl stop and it was when her eyes laid upon the beautiful red bike with the keys still in the ignition, she couldn't believe her luck.
Crystal jumped onto the Triumph and stuck the keys in the ignition and kick started the bike to life.
The waitress watched as the strange girl fled away on her bike, leaving nothing behind but a dusty trail... well so she thought. The waitress glanced down to the leather booth where the girl had been sleeping. And on that leather booth seat sat a small black bag. Curiosity getting the better of her, she sped walked over to it. She picked up the dirty old bag and examined it, after feeling satisfied, she quickly unzipped the bag and tipped out all the belongings that it held.
A toothbrush, bra, pants, a lighter and a pack of smokes, a picture of a middle aged woman who she could only assume was the young girl's mother, and last but not least, she picked up the last remaining item from the pile... a purse. Claire couldn't help herself; she was always the nosy type so she ripped open the purse.
He mouth fell open and her eyes widened in fright. Claire dropped the purse onto the floor and ran over to the phone that was behind the counter. She picked it up and slammed it onto the counter and dialled 911, after the third ring a woman answered.
"Hello, 911 emergencies."
Claire took a deep breath, trying to steady herself and her voice, "I think I have some information about Crystal Meruz... the girl who escaped from Long Hollow Asylum."
"Could you hold on for a second?"
"Of course." Claire couldn't believe what she had encountered today. He emotions were on a roller-coaster ride; she felt frightened for her life at the fact that that nut job had been here in the Diner that she works at, anything could have happened, she could have been killed and that's what scared her the most. But at the same time she also felt excited, no longer did she feel like the typical average American Joe.
"Okay, I'm going to put you through to the Detective."
A few seconds passed before a husky, bored voice sounded on the other end of the phone. "Detective Leon Gray speaking."
"Hello Detective. My name is Claire Austin...," She took a deep breath and clenched her shaking hand, "I saw Crystal Meruz today."
The Detective sighed, "Are you sure about that? You wouldn't have been the first person to phone up and tell me that. Let's cut to the chase Miss Austin. Do you have any evidence?"
Claire smiled from ear to ear, "I have her wallet with picture ID and probably CCTV evidence." Claire had asked the manager to put cameras on the outside of the property after the fifth robbery that had taking place at the Diner.
"Holy shit, Tim! We have a fucking break through," The Detective called to his partner in crime, "What's the address?" Claire gave the detective all the needed details, "Hold tight, Miss Austin! And whatever you do, do not touch the evidence any more than needed." And with that the Detective hung up.
The waitress put down the phone and placed her hands on her hips. Yes, this in fact was the excitement that the waitress had been looking for.
A/: So What did you think? Do you think that its worth carrying on? Hopefully you enjoyed it enough to review.
Peace out, readers