"How'd it get to be only me?
Like I'm the last damn kid still kicking
That still believes
I will defend the faith
Going down swinging
I will save the songs
That we can't stop singing
No, No
Wherever I go, go
Trouble seems to follow
I only plugged in to save rock and roll, rock and roll"
Save Rock and Roll - Fall Out Boy
Leslie sprinted through the forest, her pants and cries could be heard from her grandmother Ji-Hae who sat on the back porch of their home. The fifty-five year old woman who considered herself a calm, collected gal nearly lunged to her granddaughter who had collapsed onto the pale grass. Ji-Hae kneeled beside Leslie, who's face was streaked with tears and neck was oozing with blood, and held her close to her toned body.
"Honey, what happened?" Ji-Hae hurriedly questioned Leslie, who had nuzzled into her grandmother's touch.
Leslie's dark eyes trembled and her body shook with adrenaline, but her voice didn't waver. "I… I went to the river and went swimming, but my sketchbook ended up in the water. That's all I remember."
Ji-Hae helped Leslie stand and they walked into the house. She sat Leslie on one of the kitchen stool while she rushed to where she kept her medkit. The middle aged woman always kept a fully stocked medkit in her home; what kind of doctor would she be if she didn't have one? The slender woman hurdled back into the kitchen where Leslie was- her granddaughter hadn't moved since she was placed down.
The dark haired woman set down the medkit on the small island in the kitchen and opened it, receiving the peroxide, a needle and thread, bandages, and gauze. She stepped back to Leslie and moved to lean Leslie's neck to the side, giving Ji-Hae access to the wound. Nimble hands cleaned the wound, and her brown eyes widened to see teeth marks on her granddaughter's fair skin. Holding her shock in, she continued to clean the injury that marred Leslie's neck.
Ji-Hae took ahold of the brown bottle and uncapped it, positioning the opening of the bottle over the bite mark. "This is going to hurt, but it'll be over soon." she calmly told the black haired teenager as she poured the peroxide on the open wound.
"Holy hell, Halmeoni!" Leslie hissed, instinctively bringing her hand up to cover where the burning had began. Her grandmother smacked Leslie's hand away.
"Don't curse your elders, Leslie, especially when they have a sharp needle near your face." said Ji-Hae as she wiped the peroxide from the punctured skin.
Just as Leslie was about to say sorry, her grandmother had shoved the needle into her skin and started suturing her wound, and instead she screamed, "Holy mother of piss-wizards! Grandma, warn someone next time! Dear God!"
Ji-Hae ignored her granddaughter and instead mused, "You'll get to show all your friends your fancy new stitches at school this monday. You'll be the talk of the school."
As Ji-Hae stitched up the teenager like Frankenstein's Monster, she couldn't help but think, what the hell happened in those woods?
Three days after the incident in the woods, Leslie was back to her sarcastic and upbeat self, and has even gone back to the river in the woods more than once. She tended not to dwell on the past and their events, but she has been more cautious in the depths of the wilderness, and everywhere in general. Leslie shook her head away from thoughts and continued cleaning a table that was particularly sticky. Once she finished with the table, she walked over to the counter where she picked up food orders and waited, keeping a content look on her face.
"Leslie, order at table four!" hollered one of the line cooks, Mickey, from behind the counter.
The black haired girl smiled at Mickey and grabbed a hold of the tray piled with food. The Grill was busy today, but Leslie couldn't complain. She enjoyed working and having her own money- she hated having people buy her things when she could just pay for it herself.
Leslie held the tray tight as she maneuvered to table four, skipping over spilled water and passing chattering elderly women. After she gave the couple at table four their burgers and refilled their drinks, she went behind the bar and quickly served a woman a shot she had asked for ten minutes prior. While she technically wasn't supposed to serve alcohol, the owner, a nice man named Greg, let her work at the bar when they were short staffed; which was every other day.
The only other server that was in today, Vicki, worked hard to make sure every table had everything they needed while Leslie worked behind the bar. Leslie liked Vicki, she was cool to work with and they even hung out outside of work. Leslie even knew her younger brother, Matt, who was in her grade. Her and Matt were on good terms, even though her friend Elena had broken up with him.
"Hey, dollface," said a familiar, gruff voice. "Give me the usual, please."
Leslie lifted her head and saw Victor, a Russian man who was frequently seen there, sitting on one of the barstools, leaning against the counter. She gave him a happy smile and pulled out a whiskey glass and poured the glass half full and then put two ice cubes in it. She handed over the glass to the tanned man and went to serve the man who had just sat down.
His black hair framed his face perfectly and his deep blue eyes made his skin look paler than it was. Adorned in a black leather jacket, his whole appearance screamed hot and deadly. Leslie, with a friendly tone of voice, asked, "Hello, sir, what can I get you today?"
He smirked, "Aren't you a little too young to be working at a bar?"
Leslie rolled her brown eyes with a smile, "Aren't you supposing to be ordering a drink?"
The man scoffed playfully, "You're right. Give me a shot of whiskey, but be generous."
The teen nodded, pouring his glass to the brim with the dark alcohol. She placed the glass in front of him and was about to walk off to seat a couple of teenage boys who had just come in, but the mystery man stopped her with a question:
"Do you draw?"
Such an odd question, but she was interested. The black haired girl held up a finger as an indication to wait as she went to seat the loud boys. She quickly handed them a menu before going back to the bar, a sly smile on her face. She leaned against the counter, her face a little closer to her new companion.
"I do draw, what set you off? Do I have have paint on my face, or could you just tell I pour my heart and soul into drawing crying hearts?"
The man chuckled, making Leslie's cheshire grin turn into a genuinely happy one. "No, you just look like the type to be good at art. You have the whole, I put on a happy face but I'm really dying inside look about you."
Leslie snorted before looking the man up and down. He didn't look so bad, so she felt safe sharing a little bit of information with him. The brown eyed girl stood straight and held out her hand, waiting for him to shake it. "I'm Leslie Harthgrow, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
The blue eyed man gripped her hand and shook it, "Damon Salvatore, and the pleasure is all mine."