28italics are flashbacks
/italics/ are thoughts...
"Do not dwell in the past,
do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment."
-Buddha
A girl wandered the grungey, bar filled streets all by herself. She flung her shoulder length sunflower blond hair onto her back as she looked up at the darkened skies. The skies were even darker with the fog making things hard to see. Small raindrops began falling to the ground; soft at first, then harder and harder. The girl ran for cover in an alleyway, on the back door step of one of the bars. She balled her self up and cuddled in her jacket, looking through her now damp golden locks with her strong emerald eyes.
She watched a group of boys steal multiple parts from a car and walk off as if it were nothing. The man came back to get his car and just let out an exasperated sigh and proceeded to walk home. She could hear the screams of a woman in the distance, probably being beaten by her pimp, or being attacked by the same boys who stole the car parts. Or possibly she could be one of the many who lost all of her senses completely after Leonce Magato took over, 2 years ago.
The girl stood up and ran towards the sounds of the screaming woman. Indeed, a woman in her early twenties was being attacked by the 4 teenage boys who stole the parts to the car.
"Please! God, someone help me!" she screamed as the boys tackled her to the ground.
"Shut up, bitch and suck on this!" One of the boys grabbed the woman by her raven black hair and unzipped his pants.
"Please, leave me alone." she began crying as she pleaded, searching around with her eyes for anyone to help her.
"I said shut the fuck up, bitch." The boy whipped out his manhood and proceeded to shove it into her mouth. The other boys held her arms and legs down and laughed in anticipation.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
The boys looked up to see the tall, attractive blonde girl looking at them menacingly.
The boy who seemed to be in charge pulled his pants back up and grinned as he walked towards the new girl. "Oh, and what would ya do to me if I don't, sweetheart?" He stood inches from her face. She looked expressionless at him. He stepped closer. So close that she could feel him breathing.
click
The boy looked down at the gun now aimed at his most prized possession. He looked up at the girl and held up his hands. "Hey, now, babe. We can talk this out."
BANG"
He jumped as the bullet flew past his foot. He looked back up at her with wide eyes, "Hold on! We'll let her go!"
BANG"
He jumped away as the bullet flew past his other foot. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
The girl scoffed at his ridiculous question. She looked at him with disgust, "It's bad enough that your libido is only satisfied by picking on an innocent woman, but you don't even have the courage to fight me." She said as the boys released their victim and took of running. The one in charge looked at her nervously, balling up his fist.
"You gonna fight me, boy?"
He swallowed hard and looked the girl up and down. She was armed with a gun and he was armed with nothing but his fists. He slowly unclenched his fists and awaited her next move.
"Get the hell out of here." She waved him away and put the gun in the side of her jeans. "You're just another coward that somehow survived it all. You're not worth my time."
The boy ignored the comments and was grateful for his life being spared. He immediately ran off after his friends.
The girl shook her head and looked over at the woman who lay on the street, in shock. She quickly ran over to her, "Are you ok, miss?"
The woman looked at the girl with her terror filled eyes. "M-my husband told me not to come here, b-but I had to find the cat...the cat...I had to find the cat." she sat up, looking around. The woman looked like she could've been attractive - probably was - when she still maintained her normal state of mind. She had long, raven hair that was in a frazzled braid that reached to her midback. Her eyes were large and blue. But there was something missing. When the young girl looked into the woman's eyes, she saw that something was gone.
The girl just looked away from the woman, unable to bear the woman's forlorn face. This woman had been one of Magato's victims. One who he tortured. The girl had heard that Magato torutured family members of the soldiers at Fort Sorn. He did worse to the soldiers. The girl hadn't realized that the refugees of the old Fort had come this far north.
The woman stood and started walking and mumbling to herself about her cat. The girl got out of her kneeling position and sat flat on the sodden ground. She closed her eyes and raised her head up to the sky.
/This is all my fault./
"Another rainy, day, eh?" A boy around 19 looked towards his friend who was only 2 years younger than him. He put his hair back into a short blond ponytail and sighed as he closed the blinds.
The girl smiled a small smile at him and nodded. Her bluish hair casting a blue tint to the room. "Rainy...yes."
"What's wrong, Cat?" He sat down next to her and pushed her hair behind her ear.
"It's been two years, Roy. Two years since..." she stopped and looked down.
"Since...The Adolpha incident, yeah I know." He looked up, "And almost a year since Alex ran off. "
"Not that I can blame her. We have to live in secret now." she looked up at him, "Roy, I think we should go look for her."
"What?"
"She's got to be in the city somewhere, Roy."
He looked into her bright blue, begging eyes and he softened, "Cat...do you know how impossible it will be to find her?"
She stood up, "It's worth a try."
"I think it's dead."
"IT is a she, I think. And she isn't dead. I think..."
The blonde girl opened her eyes to see two girls standing in front of her. She looked around and noticed that she was now inside, laying on a bed, probably in one of the bars.
"See? I told you she was alive!" one of the girls giggled. She had pink hair and bright green eyes that complimented her perky smile. She was a short little thing. She extended a hand, "Hi! I'm Claire Aimston!"
The girl took Claire's hand and shook it, "Rhebal...Saria Rhebal."
Claire smiled. She looked to be Saria's age but a little more well endowed in the chest area. Saria looked over at the other girl who had curiously purple colored hair. She was taller than Claire and had violet eyes. She wore overalls, which struck Saria as odd, being that this was a bar. Claire greatly contrasted to the other girl with her low cut, tight short sleeved shirt and mini skirt.
"HI! I'm Bianca!" The purple haired girl grabbed Saria's hand and shook it rapidly. Saria smiled as she tried to take her hand away.
Bianca wasn't what you would call beautiful. She didn't wear makeup and her clothes were very unflattering. Upon closer inspection, Saria realized that Bianca was rather plump. Her hair was in two braided pigtails that hung over her shoulders. She was pretty. A girl-nextdoor kind of pretty.
Claire smacked Bianca's hand away, "Hey, we just found out she was alive, don't kill her now." She smiled widely, "People don't kill people, just guns, wars, and famine!"
Claire was very well-endowed and very pretty. Saria could see fire in Claire's every movement, but she was quite puzzled at the pink-haired girl's cute perkiness at the same time.
They were certainly different.
"What are you doing around these parts? Don't you know we're in turmoil around here? You should go further west, the bomb didn't hit there." Claire sat down next to Saria.
"Uh, well...I..just.."
"You need a job right?" Bianca chimed in happily.
"Um well-"
"Welcome aboard!" she shook Saria's hand once again.
"Um..."
Claire smacked Bianca's hand away once more, "Stop it, ya whore."
"...I'm not a whore. I've never even been kissed." Bianca lowered her head.
"No one asked." she turned to Saria, "Do you need a job?"
"Um...well..." she got up and exited the room with the bed, Claire and Bianca followed behind. She looked around the bar. She hadn't really intended on staying. When she left...she just ran and kept on running. She didn't care where she ended up. She just wanted to get away. She had been without a home for a week and she was tired of defending herself against the stray people roaming about. But, this place didn't feel right to her. She was just about to decline when the stage caught her eye, "...do you use that?"
Claire followed Saria's gaze and smiled, "Yeah, a long time ago we did. It's been pretty dormant though." she titled her head, "You an entertainer?"
"If I said yes, would it mean I can work here?"
Claire put a finger on her chin as if thinking, "Well, seeing as we currently have no entertainers and the only people who work here are me, Bianca, and Charlie. mmm yes." she smiled widely at her.
Saria returned the smile. "…Do you happen to know of anywhere I could sleep?"
Claire shrugged, "Sure. This place has plenty of rooms. Me and Bianca live here, you may as well too."
Saria smiled, relieved.
"So how do you entertain, my blonde friend?" Claire asked as they walked back to the bedroom. Saria sat down on the bed.
Saria cracked another smile, "Well...I've been told I can sing."
"Great! Welcome to ou-"
Claire covered Bianca's mouth, "Go, go now. Go get Charlie to interview her or something. Just don't pester the girl. For crying out loud." she rolled her eyes as Bianca reluctantly obeyed.
"Um, how old is she?" Saria asked as Claire sat back down beside her.
"17." she smiled.
"Oh. She seems…"
"Dumb."
"Very…"
"Immature."
"…yeah…"
"So what are you doing around here? This is a pretty messy part of town to be in." Claire inquired.
"...Yeah...I'd really rather not talk about it." she looked around the bar once more.
Claire looked at her curiously but smiled again, "That's cool. If you wanna keep your secrets, go ahead. How've you been getting by? Did you run away from home or something?"
"Something..." She lay her guns down on a table as she stood from the bed.
Claire's eyes went wide, "Wow, honey, you have been taking care of yourself."
"It's been tough times."
Claire nodded, "Indeed they have been." she looked over Saria's solemn face once more. The blonde girl just looked off blankly and seemed to be off in another world. Claire decided that she should leave the girl's past where it was best suited; in the past. She grinned and took Saria's hand, pulling her out of the room and into the bar area. "Welcome to Charlie's Bar!"
Saria stumbled as Claire whipped her around in front of her and let go of Saria's hand. Saria looked around at the large room. The stage was apparently unused but it wasn't beyond help.
"Good?"
Saria nodded, "Perfect."
Claire smiled and looked at Saria, "I just want you to know that you can stay as long as you want. I understand that times are hard and we don't mind the company. Especially since the main company we get are icky men lately."
Saria nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate you helping me. I promise to entertain as best I can."
"Yeah yeah. "
Bianca burst into the room, "I got Charlie!"
Claire laughed, "Wonderful."
Saria had a lot on her mind. More than she wanted to have to deal with as she was practicing her songs. She was grateful for the new talent she had discovered in herself. Singing was her way of letting her emotions out and just forgetting everything else. /Yeah...forgetting. If only I could forget everything. But I guess what we do with our lives is what makes us who we are...even if who we are is something we hate./ She looked across the empty bar. She never actually got to meet Charlie. For it being his bar, he never came around. Bianca and Claire made her feel well at home for the past week that she had been there. Saria and Claire became immediate friends, while Bianca was still growing on her.
"Hey, blondie, you ready? This is your debut." Claire yelled across the room.
Saria smiled and sat down on the edge of the stage, looking around, "Yeah, I suppose so."
Claire made her way over to the stage, "Welp, after you sing, you're gonna have to help me serve drinks and shit."
"Who'll do the entertainment?"
"We could let Bianca strip!"
"What?!" The two girls looked over at Bianca who had heard the last sentence as she entered the bar. "No way!"
Claire laughed, "Hell, of course not. We want to attract customers not scare them away."
Bianca glared, "Funny." she went to the back room to unload some glasses.
Just then, the door opened and a rugged man wandered in. Claire giggled and whispered to Saria, "Here comes our first customer." she skipped over to the bar and stood behind the counter. "How can I help ya, sir?"
"Just wondering what you got around here." He had chocolate brown eyes and blonde hair that hung in his face, almost completely covering his eyes. He looked like he slept in the streets often with his ragged brown coat and torn pants. He sat down on a stool and looked at Claire expectantly.
She put a hand to her mouth and coughed, "Mmmm, what do you want?"
"Don't care."
Claire just stared at him, annoyed, but smiled. "Alrighty!"
Saria giggled and shook her head, making her way backstage until more people made their way in, which Claire assured her that as soon as a bar opened, it would be more crowded than a roach motel.
Sure enough, hours later, there must've been at least 100 men in the bar. There were a few women here and there, but mostly men. Poor Claire and Bianca rushed around to serve them. Saria felt the time was right.
Suddenly, the lights went down and the only illumination in the room was the spotlight on the blank stage. A loud murmur arose among the men as their attention was caught by the gorgeous blonde teen that stepped out from behind the curtain. Her hair was up with a few stray tight curls that hung down to her shoulders. Her long legs stuck out of her tight red dress that showed enough cleavage and legs to make the men continue their stare on the girl.
Claire looked up at her, amused.
Bianca walked out from the back room in a rush to deliver more glasses and abruptly dropped them all as she stood, staring at the stage dumbfounded.
Saria smiled, with a sparkle in her eyes. This was the reaction she wanted. "Welcome to Charlie's Bar." She winked as music began playing. /Wow, good timing with that music, Saria./ She giggled, being very pleased with herself. She had written the lyrics just a few hours ago and hoped that they would work.
Their opinion of her shone through when they began cheering for more as soon as the music was off.
She smiled widely and blew a kiss out to the audience, "Hey, if ya want more, we need more customers as well as employees. So why don't you help us out, huh?" She winked and went backstage.
Claire laughed and resumed helping her customers.
"Holy shit, where did that come from?" Claire asked as Saria jumped behind the counter to help serve drinks. Saria had to wait until most of the people had left, or else they would've hounded her all night. She was now clad in the regular Charlie's bar T-shirt and tight jeans, with her hair back in a pony tail.
"Where did what come from?" Saria grinned and grabbed a glass.
"That whorish act." Bianca came up from behind her and playfully hit her arm.
Saria laughed, "Well I don't know about a whorish act but the lyrics came from my head and the costume came from some old trunk backstage."
"What about that voice of yours?"
Saria turned to become face to face with a man, or well, boy around the age of 18. He was rugged like the rest of the men, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.
She flashed a warm smile at him as she refilled his drink, "We're all born with a voice. So I would guess my mother gave it to me."
He nodded and looked her over, with a questioning face.
Saria tilted her head, "What?"
He shook his head and smiled, "Oh I'm sorry...it's just that, I was trying to figure something out. I can't decide which is more beautiful; your voice or you."
"Oh for the love of god, Mark." Claire hit the man with a rag. Bianca just shot a menacing glance at Mark.
Saria giggled, looking at Bianca, then back at the man, "Well I'm very flattered."
"So what's your name, beautiful?"
"What's yours?"
"I asked you first."
"Yes, but I am a defenseless girl and you are a strange man in a bar. I'm not supposed to give out my name to strangers."
The man smiled, "Well, Claire just said my name was Mark."
"Yes, but I didn't hear a last name with that."
He smiled once more, "Axel."
"That wasn't so hard, now was it?"
"Now it's your turn."
"My turn? I wasn't aware we were playing a game."
Mark was about to say something to that when another man called for Saria to refill his drink. He watched as Saria immediately went over to the man.
"Bianca." Mark kept his eyes on Saria.
Bianca looked up from cleaning a glass. There were only about 10 people left and Bianca was grateful to be able to clean something. She walked over to him and looked to where he was looking and she rolled her eyes.
"What is her name?"
"Ask her." Bitterness flared in her voice
He didn't seem to notice "She wouldn't tell me."
"Then maybe she doesn't want you to know." Claire interjected as she walked past the two of them and promptly stood on the counter. "Ok! Listen up you drunk bastards!" They all looked up at her. "Charlie's bar is now closed for the night so get the hell out ...now!...Thank you!" She stepped down and went into the back room.
"She is evilly cheerful." Mark watched her walk back.
"Hmm" Bianca grunted as she followed Claire, casting a glance back at Mark. The others began filing out of the bar. Saria went over to the door to bid them all farewell. She looked on in amusement as Mark came towards the door.
"I'm sorry, I just can't leave without a name." he stood with his feet firm on the ground.
"But I was under the impression that you already had a name." She pretended to be confused.
"You think you're funny?"
Saria nodded and caught him off guard by pushing him out, "Thank you, come again!" She slammed the door in his face and giggled to herself as she walked into the back room.
"Your name."
Saria quickly turned to see none other than Mark Axel standing in the doorway. The man who was obsessed with getting her name the day before. He was now in her dressing room and she was wearing only her robe. She stood from her chair and walked over to him, "Um, how did you get in here?" She let her hand hover over her gun on her vanity.
He shrugged, "They know me around here."
"Oh..."
"So, what's your name?"
"You're weird..." she sighed, taking her hand away from the gun. He was harmless.
"What's your name?"
"Saria Rhebal."
"..."
She lifted an eyebrow, "What?"
"Uh, I just guess I thought it'd be harder than that..." he scratched the back of his head.
Saria went back over to sit down and finished doing her hair, "It was only fun yesterday. You're just getting dumb, now."
Mark laughed, "Ok, whatever."
"The bar doesn't open for a while now." She turned to look at him, to find that he was just inches in front of her.
"God, you are the odd one, aren't you?"
He didn't say anything. He pulled her into him and kissed her.
Click
Mark looked down at the gun that was pointed into his stomach and immediately let go of the girl. "Whoa!"
"What made you think you could do that?"
"I...uh, I just..um.."
"I..uh, um, Yeeeeah, that's what I thought." she put the gun back down and sat.
"You're a real spitfire, aren't you?" he chuckled.
Saria raised her brows and put a hand to her head, "Men and hormones give me a headache."
"I know how to get rid of a headache fast and easy." He smiled mischievously.
Saria looked up at him under her hand and placed her gun down, turning around to finish her hair. "Oh, would you just leave?"
"Ok, Ok, I'm sorry. Really. No more sex crap."
Saria remained silent and continued with her hair.
"Are you a virgin?"
"You are beyond random."
"Are you a virgin?"
"What do you think?"
"Yes."
"Good for you."
"Was I right?"
"Were you?" she glanced back at him.
"You like these stupid little mind games don't you?" He sat down in a chair across from her.
She nodded.
"Ok, look, I'll make a deal with you. You give me one night and I promise to leave you alone for however long you're here."
She looked at him and laughed, "You haven't even been bothering me all that long. I've only known you for less than 8 hours.
Mark shrugged, "Good way to get to know eachother?"
"I'm not a prostitute, sorry."
"What? You thought I wanted to pay you?"
click
"Ok Ok! I was joking."
"You're going too far."
"Sorry…uh…I'll just leave…" He turned around and headed for the door.
"You taught me that being alone is the worst thing to be! Why can't you understand that now? You don't have to be alone, Lexi!"
"Wait."
Mark stopped dead in his tracks. Saria looked over at him, "I don't mind talking though….We can do the talking thing…"
He turned and smiled, nodding, "Ok, we'll do the talking thing."
"I have to pay for my sins. This is my burden, not yours."