Chapter 2: Predators
Golden brown eyes swing back and forth across the street, feet padding on the pavement as she keeps moving forward. She feels nothing but the sense of danger as the brutal wind numbs her burning, aching legs. Cold. Cold is something she's not too familiar with, so when her mind catches up with her body, it cripples her stance and she falls onto the ground. The loud creature that was once at her heels is nowhere to be seen, but it is what she is seeing that distracts her. The world looks so much bigger, so unfamiliar. And her body, It's not hers anymore. It looks more like it belongs to one of the things that fed and watched her. But it moves to her actions, a little shakily now that the high of adrenaline has faded. The wind howls and she is reminded of the state she's in. This body is weak, with no protection against the elements.
She looks around the street and is lured in by the glowing warmth trailing from a doorway. A high pitched ring sounds off as she enters but pays no mind and tries to sit in the nearest dark corner. From a small stage, a man with shoulder-length, curly hair holding a guitar stops his strumming to take in the sight before him. His stare stalls on the end of the coat that barely reaches an inch down her thighs the color of rich coffee. He stands up and steps off the stage, blocking her path. Blank eyes take in the half-smile he displays for her and she tilts her head curiously.
"My, my, quite the dress you got there. What brings you here, besides refuge from the night?" Not understanding a word he said, she tries hissing at him to show she wanted to be left alone. It always worked on the other spiders after the creatures returned her to them, but it seemed these things didn't think like her for he only moved his head back to smile even wider.
"Woah. I was only trying to be friendly, that's no way to treat a man being nice. I'll forget about it if you join me, just for one song? Come on." He takes her hand and leads her up the steps, into the blinding light shining down on the center of the stage. From here, she notes how the room seems smaller than the one she was kept in. There were round tables filling the open space, with some along the wall and lights hanging down from the ceiling. One long tabled engulfed the left side with strange glasses littering its surface. The inhabitants of the bar stop sulking in their drinks to look at the newcomer on stage. Some of them whistle appreciatively to the view while others simply stare and go back to their own thoughts. The man on stage takes a seat on a stool, picking up his guitar and moves his mouth to the mic.
"Quiet please. My lovely friend has joined me here today, because I have a very special piece I'd like to perform tonight." He moves back to look down at his instrument and positions his hands to begin. Once he's found the rhythm, he turns his gaze toward the girl who is too captivated with the guitar to take notice.
"I remember feeling so cold in my core, but that was long ago.
In the before. No light to lead the way or tell the time of day.
Lost my map, I was going in circles.
Oh, what a life I strayed."
Some of those words she recognized and she looked up to his face, which was looking pointedly at her mis-buttoned coat. He glanced up and made eye contact, a grin returning to his face, making her feel strangely uneasy. The sense of danger clouded her mind again, but she couldn't see why. She was warm, inside a place with no bigger predators to chase her away. She was the same size as this thing, even a little taller, and it showed no signs to attack her. The next words he sung though caught her attention.
"Gazed at a figure so dreary, she looked so small and helpless.
Help a lost soul, maybe get some more than I was looking for.
Together we could find the light.
I want to hold that heat, and never let it go free.
Lock it in my heart, close the door to hide this star from the dark.
Keep her here, with me
I want to keep her here, with me."
And with those last notes, she felt frozen on the spot with fear. Those men in the room. They kept shouting, advancing on her, after her. Close the door….lock….keep it here….don't let it escape, close the door. No, she did not want to be in a box again. Cramped, cornered, and watched by predators. That's what they all were. Her glassy eyes lift up to lock with his expecting ones. He reaches a hand out to grab her by the waist, bending them both forward for a bow. His hold on her tightens more once they begin walking down the steps, out a door she had not noticed before. They stand face-to-face in a hallway with one way leading to the kitchen, the other into an office next to a staircase and an exit.
"Look, I know we just met and I introduced you as my friend out there, but it looks better when I have someone to sing to, especially someone as divine as you," he pauses to rake his eyes up and down her figure, "these moronic men don't appreciate a good musician such as myself, but I am…familiar with women. How soft you all are," he steps closer, "delicate," she feels her back hit the wall and he continues, "just what it is you want."
He grabs her arms before she could think of lifting them to push him away. She struggles in his grasp while he breathes into her neck, opening his mouth to speak then is stopped by a large hand on his shoulder. The curly haired man is thrown onto the ground, banging his head on the wall on his way down. The woman gasps in air, trembling once she processes how close she was to being, well, she didn't understand what the man was after but she was still afraid. The man on the ground groans and slowly gets up to find himself back face first to the floor by one powerful kick. A large, bulky man with spots of white and dark gray hair looks down on him, scowling. His face wrinkles up in disgust at the sight before him, but softens when he turns toward the still shaking woman.
"Miss," his deep rumbling voice immediately calms her nerves, "you alright?" She simply steps behind him and down the hall to get far away from the musician while still being able to view the confrontation. The bulky man turns back to her attacker and roars at him, "How dare you defile this poor lady?! She was fightin' you for God's sake! Have you no shame?"
The man on the ground releases a quiet, breathy chuckle at that and receives another kick to the side. He groans again and says, "well I figured that's what she wanted, just look at her attire. If she wasn't here to find a man, then please tell me what she came to a bar for while dressed like that." He grins a cocky smile which earns him a fist in the face. Blood drips from his mouth and nose. The larger man leaves without gracing that statement with an answer.
He walks down the corridor to stand a good distance from the woman. He smiles gently to her and asks, "I wager you'd want some warmer clothes, hm? My wife could help fix you up. We live just down the street. Here," he shrugs off his brown worn out coat to place it on her shoulders, effectively covering her down to her knees, "that should help just for a bit. What d'you say?"
His smile is different than the other man's. It makes the skin around his eyes crinkle and the crooked teeth of his mouth make him less menacing. In this moment, she doesn't understand this feeling that makes her heartbeat calm and senses clear away, leaving something open and inviting. She smiles back at him, one that reaches to her sparkling eyes. "I take that as a yes?" he nods questioningly and she nods back, "Okay. Well, if you will follow me please." They walk out the door down the hallway and onto the street with the lamplights shining a bit brighter than when she had first seen them. Later, the girl would realize this is where trust was born in her. The first time she felt really safe after feeling overwhelmed with fear and confusion. She hates those two things more than anything. Except, that man with the guitar. Horrible instrument.