A.N. Be warned rape references in this chapter.
Aliyah walked in to the smell of Chinese. "Dad!" She called. "I'm home."
Her father trundled out of the living room. "Hi honey, I hope you don't mind, I prepared dinner." He said as they went into the kitchen. Aliyah's jaw dropped; there was everything from spring roles, to egg fried rice, to chicken cow-main.
"Dad, you really didn't have to go to all this trouble." She protested, as he led her to the table.
"It was no trouble. Pleas sit, eat."
She sat down and filled her bowl with Noodles. It was delicious, Chinese had always been one of her favourites, she finished of another bowl of noodles, followed by two bowls of sweet and sour pork with rice. After she had finished they washed up together.
"Dad, do you mind if I go out tonight?" She asked rubbing soapsuds onto a dish.
"No, just remember your phone, and don't stay out too late, it's a…"
"School night." She finished flicking soapsuds at him.
"Hey, any more of that and I won let you go out!" He said flicking water at her.
"Ok, ok." She said hiding behind a dishcloth as he flicked yet more water at her.
A short while later Aliyah was waiting on the corner for Merry. She was wearing a pair of tight black jeans, and a white spaghetti-strap top topped off with her black leather coat, to keep out the cold.
She looked around nervously, looking for her friend. The sound of a car horn made her jump. She whirled to see a couple of boys in a convertible.
"Hey babe!" One called. "You want us to show a good time?"
"I don't want what you got!" She called back, backing away slowly.
"Don't know what you're missing!" The other called as his friend started driving of.
As they drove off Merry came running, her skirt and trench coat flapped behind her like a cape. "Sorry I was late. I hope they didn't disturb you." She said gasping for breath.
The two girls walked off down the road, talking about the day's events.
"So what is 'The Basement' like then?" Aliyah asked.
"Oh, it's an old underground car park that was converted into a night club. It will be really fun, Randy's ban is playing a set." Merry replied as they turned a corner. Neither of them saw the car following them.
"Randy's band? Who's Randy?"
"Oh, year, he's and old friend from junior high. They call themselves Audio Axiom."
"Funky name, where'd they get it from?"
"It means 'generally accepted sound'. Hey look here we are." She pointed to a small boxy building.
They both walked up to the ticket office paid and walked in Aliyah expected to be met with a near solid wall of sound, but she was pleasantly surprised by the soft undertones of the music.
"When's Randy's band on?" She asked.
"Oh, they should be on in a few minutes." She said absently.
Markus stood in the upper level of the club and looked down at the thronging masses.
Over half of them are vampires, of that I'll be sure. He thought, then looking over to the door he saw the Whitehead girl walk in with her friend. He turned to see a young man walk up and look over the railing. Markus followed his gaze and saw him looking at the two girls who had just entered.
Merry cam over with two glasses of Coke and sat down, offering one Aliyah. She thanked her friend and poked the straw into the corner of her mouth.
"Hey, there about to start." Merry whispered urgently. Aliyah turned to the stage to see Randy and some of his friend's pickup their instruments.
The silence was broken as the guitar music steeped out across the room, shortly followed by Randy's voice.
"Maybe it's intuition,
But some things you just don't question,
Like in your eyes,
I see the future in an instant,
And there it goes,
I think I've found my best friend…"His voice was lovely, for a time they were just lost in the gentle rhythm of the music.
The next band up was heavy rock, Merry dragged her to the front and they moshed.
As the night wore on the girls both had a good time, and Aliyah had forgotten about the two men in the car, but they had not forgotten her.
Aliyah was sitting on one of the bar stools talking to John whilst Merry was off getting drinks.
"So how long have you live here?" She asked.
"Oh, most of my life. My parents moved here when I was younger." He sipped his coke. "What do you think of the place?"
"It seems nice enough." She replied looking over to where Charity was chatting up some bloke. John followed her gaze.
"Yes, don't let her put you off." He was about to say something more, but Aliyah gasped, clutching at her chest. "Are you Ok?" He took her arm to stop her falling. Her hand convulsed and she shattered the glass.
Merry came running. "What happened? Are you ok?" She asked. Aliyah had stopped shaking and felt a bit better.
"I'm fine?" she replied. "I think I need some air." She turned toward the exit.
"Wait, are you sure?" Merry called. She just nodded and carried on walking.
The cool air on her face made her feel better. She took a deep breath. There we go much better.
"Hello there girly." A voce said from behind her. She turned to see the man from the car approaching her slowly. "Do you want some help?"
She turned to leave but his companion blocked her path. She tried to run the other way but he grabbed her. "Let me go!" she yelled struggling against him; the other man began to walk slowly up to her.
They are going to rape me! It ran over and over in her mind. With an almost physical effort she calmed herself, and tried to think back to her Ti-Quan-Do training. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and centred herself as best she could, the man put his hand on her chin and began to lift her face. Now! She thought, and with all her strength she slammed her elbow back into the man at her back, he staggered backwards clutching at his side, but she had didn't even notice as, using her, momentum she launched a reverse side kick, the man in front of her had a moment to look surprised and then he was airborne with the force of the kick, he careened into a pile of rubbish and lay still. At that moment Merry and John came running.
A.N. Audio Axiom is the name of my friends band, and the song is Savage Garden: "I knew I loved you".
