Wednesday, November 2, 2011

innocence

Hello Karen! I wanted to say thank you for the lovely gifts. I was so impressed with keychain--I still have the batman one, you know. :) You're such a thoughtful person. Everything really meant a lot to me. Your card's wonderful. Absolutely perfect. You've always had a way with words. I was really happy when I read it. I'm glad we're still friends after all this time. Even meeting up once in a while is good enough for me. Hopefully we can continue to maintain our special little friendship despite whatever comes our way. I only wish I could be more of a help to you, but if my sitting there like an idiot works for you, it works for me? Haha. Please don't let things get to you so much. Things get better. You must believe that. There are so many nice things in the world...really...and I'm saying this as someone who couldn't care less a lot of the time. So. That was my little gush of happiness. Current state of things: couldn't be better. Or maybe it's just that I'm so content, I wouldn't want anything to be different. Please be good to us, November. ...because months are totally like people.

I was inspired, and so, I wrote this...alternate universe type thing? It's still E4, but it's...different, as you shall see from like the first sentence. I'm trying really hard to write. I'm going to try to continue this story too, and not leave it open-ended and hanging. Unless I really hit a wall. But yeah. I have no idea what I'm doing half the time. Anyway, I hope you like it. c: ...yeah I shouldn't re-read things or I'll never post them. So here it goes!

Her name was Daisy, and it was Halloween night. She was a small girl with long hair. It had been dyed many times over the years; she hadn’t ever fully grown it out. As a result, it was a mixture of black and brown. She remembered a time when she had only been blond. Everyone complimented her then. But she had grown tired of looking at her golden hair. On a whim, she had dyed it a darker honey colour which suited her better. The one colour she wouldn’t go back to was the hair she had been born with. Jet black. Daisy looked up at the sky. There were no stars out, but maybe she wasn’t trying hard enough to look for them. All she had to do now was wait.

The cold air felt refreshing after the stuffiness of the club. Daisy wore the shortest shorts she owned and a tank top beneath a heavy bomber jacket. There had been many jokes about daisy dukes in her lifetime. Lately wearing black was her thing. All of her dresses were shoved somewhere in the back of her closet. She never did her laundry because she was rarely home. Daisy pulled a cigarette out of her clutch and lit it before bringing it to her lips. This came naturally to her now. A faint smile crossed her face as she inhaled the smoke. The first time she had tried smoking had been rather embarrassing. Her eyes had watered and she felt like she would choke to death. But that was only the first time.

She stretched her arms over her head, enjoying the way her muscles felt. Daisy could still hear the heavy bass pounding in her ears; she could still feel the bodies pressed up against her. She leaned against the wall of the building, inhaling ashes, blowing out clouds. This was a dark part of town. There weren’t many street lights. Hardly any cars. No children wandering around with pillowcases full of candy. Daisy tried to remember what candy tasted like, but all she could think of was the flavour of cigarettes. Had it really been so long?

“Are you Daisy?”

She turned to her left, expecting to see someone she knew, but it was a stranger who stood in the entrance to the alleyway. That would make it easier. A girl stood there, or a boy, she couldn’t tell from this distance. She liked the androgynous ones. They were roughly the same height, but the stranger had much shorter hair and dressed in a casual fashion, wearing a hoodie and jeans.

“That’s me,” Daisy said. “Unless I have a twin I don’t know about.”

The stranger moved closer and Daisy could make out fine bone structure and large, dark eyes. The girl—she was certain now—blushed. That was kind of cute, considering she hadn’t said anything embarrassing. Daisy took a final drag on her cigarette before crushing it beneath her foot. All the while, the girl watched her, looking as if she wanted to speak. But neither of them said anything for a few seconds. Daisy wondered if she should say something, but decided not to. Sometimes it was fun having them make the first move.

“I like your costume,” the girl finally said.

Daisy patted her cat ears. “Thanks. I put a lot of effort into getting a headband.”

“You know what I mean.” The girl’s face reddened even further. “I don’t even have a costume, so you tried harder than I did, at least.”

“Some parties aren’t worth dressing up for.”

The girl looked back at entrance to the club, then back at Daisy. “I’ve been having fun.” She fidgeted with the edge of her jacket. Black. Daisy approved. “Actually, this is my first party. Well, Halloween party. It’s way better than trick or treating.”

“You don’t sound too convinced.” Daisy studied her. “Let me guess: you’d rather be doing kid stuff. There isn’t anything here besides drugs. No tootsie rolls. No lollipops.” She laughed. “Okay, there are lollipops. You’ve seen girls with them all night, right? The guys are thrilled, if you know what I mean.”

The girl averted her eyes. “I’m not a kid.”

“You can’t be older than eighteen.” Daisy tapped the girl on the shoulder. “I bet you can’t even drink legally. Who invited you here?”

“That guy with the weird name. Sounds like “Night” or something.”

Daisy wondered why he had chosen such a naive girl. “Noctis?”

“Yeah.” The girl stared at Daisy’s hand, which still rested on her shoulder. Daisy left it there for a moment before removing it. The girl stepped back as Daisy brought her face close to hers. “What are you doing?”

“Do you like my eyes?” Daisy asked. “Do they suit me?”

“What?”

“I wear contacts. Gray ones. ” Daisy sighed and turned away. “I’m really fond of light coloured eyes. I guess you could say I have good memories. Blue ones especially.” She glanced at the girl. “Yours are pretty, though.”

“Thanks.” The girl hesitated. “Actually, there was a reason I came to talk to you.”

“Oh.” Daisy offered her the pack of Marlboros. “Go ahead. I get these for free. Connections.”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t smoke.”

Daisy raised her eyebrows. “Then you’re hanging with the wrong crowd, kid.”

“My name’s Catherine. But I like Cat better.”

“What a coincidence.” Daisy tucked her smokes away. “Two strays like us meeting in the night. And people say magic doesn’t exist.”

“You’re shaking.” Cat stared at her. “Maybe we should go back inside.”

Daisy shook her head. “I’m all right.”

“But you’ll get sick or something—”

“It’s too late for me.” Daisy tapped her pocket with the smokes. “Promise me you’ll never take up this bad habit. There are better things you could be doing.”

“Why don’t you take your own advice?”

Daisy ignored the question. “So, Noctis sent you to get me, right?”

“Yeah.” Cat blinked. “He told me that you promised to do something for him.”

“Did he?”

“He seemed pretty pissed that you left.”

“Oh, let him sulk.” Daisy stared at the sky again. Clouds filled the sky, threatening rain. “He doesn’t have to get his way all the time. This will be good for him.”

“I don’t know. He’s been drinking a lot.”

“Noctis tends to do that. We all have our vices.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“His opinion differs from mine on that subject,” Daisy said. “Anyway, I’ll go back inside soon. You’re a cute gal.”

Again with the blushing. “You’re really nice.”

Daisy smiled. Nice was the wrong word to describe someone like her. But she let Cat think that. The girl didn’t know anything. Daisy didn’t want to ruin her pastel fantasy. If Cat thought the girl in black had a heart of white, why not let her? It was harmless.

“Listen, you should go home,” Daisy said. “Things are only gonna go downhill. Trust me.”

“What do you mean?”

Daisy took Cat’s hands in hers and gave them a little squeeze. “I’m only telling you this because I like you. Really. Go.”

“But...we could...you know,” Cat stammered, her face red. “Since you like me.”

“Oh, Cat.” Daisy saw him coming and sighed. “I tried. Really.”

Cat opened her mouth to speak but the words never came out. A gunshot rang out, and she crumpled to the ground. The last thing in her eyes had been confusion. Daisy stared down at the lifeless body, and watched liquid seep out onto the pavement. It was too dark to tell what colour it was. As always, the low thrum of bass was the soundtrack to violence. Daisy wondered why things had to end like this. But Cat’s death didn’t matter. She had been a sweet little thing, but she was too young, and Daisy didn’t want a kitten. Daisy wanted jade, she wanted diamond, she wanted someone who could protect her, someone who didn’t care so much about the world. Daisy wanted selfishness. That was all she knew.

Noctis stepped over the dead girl. “What the hell was that?”

“Nothing.”

“You were flirting with her.”

“Are you jealous?” Daisy laughed. “Come on. You know you can have me anytime you want. Even right now, if you’re up for it. We both like it outside.”

“Catherine was supposed to die the moment you met.”

“I know. But they’re usually so ugly. I couldn’t help talking to her.”

“You could’ve fucked everything up.”

Daisy shrugged. “But I didn’t.”

“I’m a fool for working with someone like you.”

“Then don’t.” Daisy nodded at his right hand. “You better get rid of that.”

Noctis skilfully concealed the gun in his jacket. He looked at the body, then scanned the area. No one had come to see what the noise was. They probably hadn’t heard a thing. People were useless in situations like this. Drugs and alcohol ruined minds that were already closed off to reality. Daisy suddenly hated the partygoers for not stopping Cat from leaving the club. If they had, she would have survived. Noctis had many other people he had to dispose of. But Cat had been fated to die, or so it seemed.

The two of them started walking away from the corpse.

“Why her?” Daisy asked. “She was innocent if I ever saw it.”

“Hardly.” Noctis seemed distracted. “The girl was—”

“What’s wrong?”

Noctis shook his head. “Nothing. Just keep moving.”

“Tell me or I’ll stop right here.”

His voice was low. “We’re being followed. I think someone heard us.”

“Then get rid of them.”

“Out in the open? Use your head, Daisy.”

“Fuck you.”

Noctis smiled, but it was grim. “We’re going to run for it. Count of three. One...two...”

“Daisy?” someone called out at the same moment Noctis said three.

She stumbled at the familiar voice, making Noctis fall back with her. He cursed under his breath, calling her every filthy name under the sun, but she barely heard him. Daisy turned back, unable to make sense of what she was seeing. How had he found them? Why now? Noctis wrapped an arm around her, to protect her or to keep her from falling to her knees, she couldn’t tell. The young man sauntered up to them, a grin on his face.

“Long time no see, friends. It looks like you’ve been misbehaving. I don’t know if I approve.”

“Joshua.” Noctis’s voice betrayed no emotion. “This isn’t a good time for reminiscing.”

Joshua’s eyes skipped over Noctis and went straight to hers. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so guilty. Daisy tried to remain calm, but her heart beat frantically in her chest. She couldn’t help but look away. His violet eyes, normally sparkling with mischief, were so judgmental they shamed her.

“Daisy, Daisy, Daisy. What am I going to do with you?”

Daisy closed her eyes and the world went totally black.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Behave yourself, now. ;)