Chapter Nine: The Siren's Song (Part One)
A.N: The songs Xander is singing when Brooke arrives at the club and when she goes upstairs won't be incredibly obvious to those who don't listen to them, but they're Nickelback songs called Midnight Queen and This Afternoon respectively. When April/Angel sings, she sings a song from a local artist down here in Australia; Jen Lush, who transformed it from a short poem by Kevin Brophy into a beautiful song. She is amazing. Anyway, the song is called The Night's Insomnia and with her permission I have added it here. Check out Jen Lush on YouTube! Please enjoy Brooke's first try of alcohol. ~CtS.
When Brooke stepped into the lobby, Willa immediately burst into a fit of laughter that made her spill her wine. Ramona clapped a hand to her forehead as she attempted to stop her girlfriend from flailing her arms wildly. Brooke blinked and looked down at her outfit.
She'd had to look up the definition of 'slutty' and the images she saw were definitely not her style. So she'd chosen a slightly less provocative red off-shoulder t-shirt that showed off her belly with black torn jeans, her fishnet tights peaking through the holes. The knee high boots she wore with her black moto jacket finished the look. Looking back at Willa, she smirked.
"What exactly is so funny about my outfit?"
"That was the outfit I picked for you," Willa slurred, steadying herself against a wall. "James said he thought you'd look hot in red so he said all red clothing."
"Good thing you bought her wardrobe and not Daniel or she'd be wearing vinyl pants everywhere she goes," Ramona added, curling her fingers around Willa's. "Come on, let's go. The Star de Lune is gonna be packed tonight because the Rejects are playing and I don't want to miss it. Plus there's a cover charge. Let's go!"
Brooke grinned as she followed them, reminding herself that because she technically worked there, she didn't have to pay and could use the side staff entrance, a fact that was pointed out to her by Cooper when she arrived at the doors.
"Even if you don't work in the club part, you're still staff. Use the side door." He swiped his ID card on the scanner and pushed the back door open, raising an eyebrow as Willa left a sloppy kiss on his cheek, dragging her girlfriend into the club. Brooke watched them and shook her head.
"You're not meant to be working tonight, Cooper. Why are you here?"
"My girlfriend is the drummer in the band. Come on."
Brooke followed Cooper into the club, following the ever-winding corridor into the main club where Xander was on stage, guitar in hand, screaming into a microphone about someone being his 'midnight queen'. Willa and Ramona were on the dance floor, bumping and grinding to the powerful rifts emanating from the stage. April was sitting near the bar chatting to someone with dark red hair. She waved to Cooper as he wound his way through the throng of dancing people. She bobbed and weaved her way over to the bar, popping out behind April, her palms pressed against the bar. A woman with long brown hair grinned at her as she looked up.
"What can I get for ya?!" she called. April turned and looked at her, spinning in her seat to notice Brooke looking sheepishly up at the board, eyeing the different drinks she could get. She'd apparently gone to the cocktail bar, as opposed to the sports bar on the opposite side of the club.
April leaned towards the bartender.
"Anne, this is Brooke. She works in the cafe."
Anne nodded, turning away from the two girls.
Brooke blinked at her boss.
"But I didn't order anything."
The red-haired male that April had been speaking to laughed a hearty laugh and raised his glass. It was half filled with an ember liquid, several ice-cubes making it look a lot more full than it was.
"House rules, baby-doll. People who work for April drink the Xan-man Special their first time in the club."
April laughed as Anne returned with a blood-red cocktail in a v-shaped glass, the rim sprinkled with white chocolate. A strawberry had been carefully pressed onto the rim as well, a raspberry sitting beside it. Brooke looked at it with interest, not sure exactly what to do.
Anne raised an eyebrow.
"This is where you pay for it, sweetie. Cash or charge?"
Brooke reached into her pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to Anne.
"You were right, Angel, she is like a new-born deer," the red-head said, taking a swig of his drink, the ice rattling against the side. Brooke peered at him, holding her glass with both hands. This was a very different situation to when she'd been here previously. Xander had ordered the drinks last time and he'd only gotten her a raspberry soda. She hadn't paid for it either.
"I've never drank before," she confessed. April gave her a sweet smile and gestured for the red-head and Brooke to follow her.
The doe-eyed waitress followed the black-haired woman through the crowd and up a spiral staircase that lead to the glass platform that was above the dance floor; the VIP loft. Sitting in the corner was a brown-haired woman with a bright pink streak in her hair, sitting with a very large man with short brown hair. They waved at April as the owner of the club sat down. She smiled in return.
The red-head flopped down into a beanbag not far from April and rested his leg on the arm of her seat.
"Why does it feel quieter up here? What magic is this?"
Brooke felt her blood run cold as she sat down beside April on the sofa.
"Acoustics, dear brother, acoustics," she replied, looking over the railing as Xander switched out his electric guitar for an acoustic one, inadvertently emphasizing her point. He began playing a playful melody that got everyone on the dance floor on their feet and dancing. She waved at him before turning her attention back to her companions. "This is my brother, Gunner. Gun, this is Brooke."
"Ah, the famous Brooke. Nice to meet you," Gun said, taking another swig of his drink. He raised an eyebrow at Brooke over the rim of his glass. "I'd at least take a sip of your drink, kid, or Xander will be offended."
Brooke scowled.
"Why does everyone in your family call me kid?" she asked, looking between the Calaways. "I'm twenty-one!"
April smirked.
"Because to us you are a kid."
"Yeah," Gun added, placing his empty glass on the table in front of him. "We turn thirty-two in August."
"It's not meant to be an insult; more like a term of endearment."
Brooke nodded and looked over the railing at the crowd. Willa was spinning Ramona around, giggling all the while. Neither of them seemed to have noticed she'd gone missing. Maybe Willa knew Brooke could get them in through the side door and had used her. She wasn't surprised if that was the case; people used her a lot. Her mentor had used her to elevate his status in Caina to the point he'd gone from lowly demon to lord of a domain. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a large sip of the drink she'd been given. It burned against her throat, as if tearing away at the flesh on its way to her stomach. She coughed, putting the glass on the table. Gunner laughed, throwing his head back as the full-bellied eruption took hold of him. April giggled, putting down her glass and handing Brooke a napkin.
"Why would you give something that strong to someone who hasn't drank before?!"
April smiled that sweet smile again and leaned back in her seat.
"If you can't handle one drink, you can't handle Xander and I's constant teasing. It's called a hazing, kid. You'll get used to it."
Brooke scowled again as Gunner handed her an ice cube from his drink.
"Suck on that; it'll help with the burn."
As the watery cube melted in her mouth, Brooke heard Xander's voice echo through the speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you're all in for a special treat tonight. For one night only, coming out of hiatus, please welcome to the stage; the one, the only... Angel!"
April rolled her eyes and stood. She left her two companions and wound her way downstairs, stepping onto the stage. She sat on a stool and pulled her neon green acoustic guitar onto her lap, raising one of her long legs up. Brooke stepped to the edge with Gunner and watched as April adjusted the stand and smiled, waving her fingers to someone in the crowd.
"Good evening everybody," she said into the mic, adjusting it again so it sat near her mouth. Behind her, Xander was setting up another stool and mic. April tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and scanned the crowd. "This song is called The Night's Insomnia and it was originally a poem written by my little sister."
A spotlight flooded the crowd and landed on a red-haired woman sitting in a booth, her features exactly like April's; full lips, high cheek bones and long fluffy lashes. Her cheeks flushed red as the crowd cheered, hiding her face behind her hands. The man next to her laughed and grabbed her wrist, making her wave. The crowd laughed.
April grinned from on stage.
"I'm sorry, Bunny-Boo, but it had to be done. So, as I said this song is called The Night's Insomnia."
April gently began to pluck at the strings of her guitar, soon joined by her husband. Her voice, echoing with melancholy and serenity, moved through the crowd, as if entrancing the audience like a siren song.
"If the night is long and there can be no sleep,
If the lullaby is nowhere in your heart,
If the morning comes to its new day exhausted,
Exhausted,"
The echo of Xander's gravelly voice against April's sent waves of emotion through the crowd, piercing Brooke's heart. She couldn't help but think of James and how very little sleep he got due to chronic nightmares. He always looked exhausted and no matter what she did, his grief still cast shadows on his face. He could have the brightest smile on his face, but his eyes were dark and clouded with memories of times long past.
"If all your novels strike wrong tones,
If your waking dream is always of oblivion,
If those cold coins of regret buy nothing now,
And some high court sits in sleepless confusion.
If the night is the one who won't leave you,
Exhausted.
Close your eyes,
Close your eyes,
And put your head just here where my own poor heart has learned,
That the night, poor night, wide eyed and blind,
Must to cling to you, its only... companion."
April stopped singing, allowing the twin guitars to weave their melody. As Brooke listened, a lump built up in her throat.
James was out there somewhere in the night, alone and dealing with his demons. She needed to get back to him, find him wherever he was.
"Close your eyes,
Close your eyes,
And put your head just here where my own poor heart has learned,
That the night, poor night, wide eyed and blind,
Must to cling to you, its only... companion.
Exhausted.
Exhausted.
Exhausted."
As the melody slipped away, Brooke left her glass on the table and bolted down the stairs, barely sparing Willa and Ramona a glance as she dashed for the door. Into the roar of the LA Nightlife she fled, weaving her way through the sea of people. She was almost tempted to let out her white feathered wings but chose against it; she could run faster in heels than she could fly, only slowed down mildly by running into people.
When she reached the overpass leading into Santa Monica, she stopped and leaned against the wall, catching her breath. She could feel her lungs burning and her knees quaking. She was about to collapse, and she had no idea where James could be. The silver ring around her left middle finger suppressed all of her powers so she couldn't easily track him, and she had no idea if he was back in Los Angeles or still in San Francisco. She had no idea where she was, either.
She slipped down the wall, curling her arms around her knees as she cried. Angry, ugly sobs ricocheted around her chest and up her throat. The sounds of passing cars barely punctured her brain as she curled tighter into herself.
How was she going to find James before something happened to him? She had no way of getting to San Francisco, and even if she did, how was she supposed to find him? He could be anywhere in the entire city.
These thoughts raged in her head, causing her to jump and fall when someone put their hand on her shoulder. She looked up, blinking away tears. Short brown hair, stubble across his jaw, tanned skin, kind eyes. She knew this person.
"Daniel?"
Daniel's smile quirked to one side.
"Why are you crying against a wall?" he asked, blunt as a sledgehammer. She sniffed and took the tissue he offered.
"I got a little overwhelmed at the club; there were so many people," she lied, wiping away the stray tears on her cheeks. There was still a tightness in her throat and chest but the sobs were gone. Daniel's kind smile made her smile softly in return.
"Come on, firecracker; let me take you home."
Brooke took his outstretched hand, grateful that a friend had found her and not someone else.
~X~
The door to James' apartment was ajar when Daniel and Brooke arrived, Brooke wearing Daniel's jacket. From inside they could hear sobbing and consoling; James and Sam.
"He's so close to the surface, Sammie. I can feel him clawing his way up again."
"We won't let him, Jimmy. You have to know that."
Brooke pushed the door open and sat beside James on the sofa, curling her fingers between his. Sam smiled when he saw her, nodding to Daniel as he flopped into the corner seat. James looked up at Brooke, tears streaking down his face. Red marks lined his eye, almost like paint, but they were slowly fading. His eyes were bloodshot and welling with a new batch of tears. His lip quivered as if he were about to cry. Her free arm coiled around his neck, pulling him close to her.
"Shh, it's okay, James. Nothing can hurt you."
Sam let out a chuckle.
"He's not worried about something hurting him," he said, leaning back in his seat.
James, with what little strength he had, raised his arm and flipped Sam the middle finger, resting his head against Brooke's shoulder.
"Shut up, Sammie," he croaked. Sam smirked, only for Daniel to interject.
"Sam has a point, Jimmy. Eventually you're gonna have to come clean about everything. Firecracker has to know what's going on with you so she can help us to help you."
"You don't help me at all, Dan," James retorted, leaning up. He sniffed indignantly and looked at Brooke. "Do they?"
Brooke blinked and reached up to tuck his wayward hair behind his ear. He was still distraught, but he'd managed to compose himself enough to have a coherent conversation.
"Not everyone's method of assistance works, James. They do what they can, but you have a wall up to stop them getting too close."
James blinked at her. He looked down at his hand, fingers still intertwined with hers, and smiled. Warmth was flooding into him from her hand and he could feel Jeritza's claws fading from his mind. Brooke was holding him back, even if she didn't know it. Her proximity was pushing the demon back.
"The wall is to protect them," he murmured, hoping only Brooke heard. She smiled.
Sam and Daniel, on the other hand, let out bellowing fits of laughter. James' head jerked to look at them as they unleashed waves of pure ecstasy.
Once he'd regained his composure, Daniel wiped away imaginary tears.
"No, Jimmy, no; the wall isn't to protect us. It's to make sure you don't make a damn mess."
Sam nodded in agreement and James pouted, resting his head on Brooke's shoulder again. She smiled and rested her head against his, squeezing his fingers between hers. He squeezed back, eyeing Daniel and Sam. The shaggy blonde grinned as he leaned forward.
"Jimmy, you have to tell her. If something happens and Brooke is left out of the loop, something even worse could happen."
"Yeah, but how do you broach that subject?"
"Broach what subject?" Brooke asked. Daniel and Sam looked at each other before the brunette swung his legs over the back of the sofa and flopped backwards, letting his head hang off the edge.
"Well, lemme ask you this, firecracker; you believe in demons?"
Brooke blinked and glanced at Sam who smirked. Sam had warned her that his friends weren't as they seemed, and she was smart enough to do the math; four friends, four Horsemen. Even the names and genders matched up. Sam had already confessed he was the Horseman of Famine and Pestilence, Saturius, so being around the other Horsemen at all times made sense. There was no way she could be wrong. She smirked and raised her free hand, removing her ring.
A ball of fire appeared in her hand, called up from Hell itself, and flickered, momentarily shifting shape. It turned into a Chinese dragon, coiled around her wrist and lowered its head onto the palm of her hand, coughing up a tiny flame.
James starred wide-eyed. When the dragon disappeared from her hand, Brooke looked down at him, her eyes pleading with him not to be frightened. Slowly, his lips curled into a semi-smirk.
"You're an elementalist?" he asked, staring into her eyes. She shrugged.
"Sort of. The other elements are a little harder for me to control than fire."
"She's a pyromancer from Heresy, James," Sam said, resting his head on his hand. Brooke nodded, leaning slightly. James sat up and looked at her.
"Why did you chose to come here?"
"I felt as if I wasn't reaching my full potential in Heresy and wanted to see what the human world was like."
She placed the silver vine ring on her finger again, feeling her powers be crushed under the weight of an unknown force. Her mentor had given her the ring to protect her and keep her from her mother's view. Removing it and using even a minuscule amount of power could immediately tip Queen Iremia of her daughter's whereabouts. Brooke waited with baited breath for the tornado announcing her mother's presence to destroy the street.
The only sound heard were the usual sounds of Santa Monica; screaming from the pier's roller coaster, traffic and the clubs.
She exhaled in relief and looked at James.
"Does the She-Bitch know you're here?"
She shook her head.
"The ring I took off makes me appear human to everyone, including m- Lady Iremia." Brooke coughed to cover herself, earning herself a snicker from Sam. Daniel smirked and sat up, spinning to look at her.
"Alright, firecracker. We know who you are... who are we?"
Brooke smirked and leaned back, still holding James' hand.
"The Four Horsemen. Well, three of them. I assume Wasteland is still at the club with Ramona."
James smiled.
"Damn, you are good. Which of us is which though?"
Brooke pointed at Daniel and Sam.
"Demyx and Saturius. Strife and Famine. So you would be-"
James covered her mouth before she could say his true name.
"I get it. Horseman of War. Please don't call me by that name though. I stopped being one of the Horsemen a long time ago."
He stood, pulling his hand free. Brooke's eyes narrowed as she followed his path. He walked around the sofa to the massive trunk under the window. He sat on top of it, letting out a sigh.
"Please don't tell your superiors we're here. We stopped working for the She-Bitch a long time ago," he said, looking over at Brooke. He silently pleaded with her, hoping they were close enough for his fear to sink in to her. Brooke had been staying in his room almost every night since that first night, and majority of the time they stayed up and chatted, getting to know each other until the sun rose through the window.
"Speak for yourself," Daniel said, folding his arms behind his head. Brooke looked over at him.
"You still work for Lady Iremia?"
"Two of us do. James and I don't," Sam added, staring at his friend. "But we're brothers-in-arms; we're not going to rat out our friend."
"Those who ride together, die together," Daniel said, earning himself a fist-bump from Sam and a smirk from James.
The dark haired man looked over at his room mate.
"Please, Brooke. Don't tell her I'm here."
Brooke smiled and stood, feeling her confidence building. James trusted her enough now to tell her who he was, though she'd had her suspicions from the start. The Horseman of War had betrayed Lady Iremia for unknown reasons and disappeared into the mortal world to hide. But she didn't see him as the wayward Horseman. He was James, her friend and roommate. He was Jimmy, Daniel, Sam and Willa's companion and partner in crime.
As she stepped towards him, her courage growing, she thought about the song she'd heard at the club. James spent his night's tossing and turning in bed, barely sleeping and driven to the edge by nightmares. He'd told her once that her companionship had all but gotten rid of them. His past still haunted him, but he was learning to let go.
Brooke stopped in front of him and put her arms around his neck. Out of instinct, or possibly a need to be close to her, James put his hands on her hips and pulled her close. She now stood between his legs, close enough that she could feel the tension in his thighs. He looked up at her, blinking.
"I promise, James. Your secret is safe with me."
She tangled her hands in his hair, gently tugging his head back. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips, slowly at first, only to be drawn in when he pulled her onto his lap. James' mouth opened slightly, allowing her prying tongue access. He pulled her as tightly to him as he could, feeling her nails digging into his back.
A wolf whistle broke them apart, followed by a set of musical giggles. Brooke jerked away, knowing that Willa and Ramona had returned. They stood in the doorway, one smirking like the Cheshire cat, the other rummaging in her nap sack for something.
"You've been here a month and you've already stolen James away," Willa said, her words still very slurred. Brooke felt her cheeks heating up. James laughed beside her.
"You saw this coming, Will?"
"From a mile away, sweetheart. Knew it from the day she walked in that she'd steal your heart."
Ramona finished rummaging in her bag and produced a twenty dollar bill, which she handed to Willa.
"How'd you know, though?"
Willa shrugged and kissed Ramona on the temple, the smell of liquor lingering in the air as she pulled her girlfriend away, disappearing into the apartment across the hall. Daniel snapped his fingers, causing the door to gently close behind them.
"Willa has a way of knowing things. We all do," he said, looking Brooke in the eye. Her cheeks flushed an even darker red. James smirked beside her and reached up to touch her back under her shirt. She shivered at his touch.
"Can you guys go? Brooke and I have a lot to talk about."
Daniel and Sam nodded and quickly left the apartment, leaving James alone with the blonde. He looked up at her, willing her to look at him. She blinked before turning to face him.
"What did you need to talk to me about?"
James stood and winked, kissing her forehead. He disappeared into the kitchen. Brooke stared after him.
Were all men this damn confusing?