Hand of Blood

I woke up slowly, rubbing my eyes as they were met by darkness. After a moment of coming back down to earth from my dream world, I sat up and glanced across to my window, confirming to me it really was that dark. I sighed to myself as I slowly climbed out of bed.

"There goes my evening out of the window..." I sighed as I switched a light on, instantly illuminating my room. My attention fell onto my wall clock above my bed. I tilted my head as I discovered it was only half nine. The gig night was going on until twelve, and knowing the venue it would probably stay open until at least one. "Maybe not that drastic, then," I mumbled as I wandered across to my wardrobe, deciding a change of clothes was at the top of my to do list.

After little thought over it, I quickly changed from my cut off-black trousers into some grey, lightly ripped jeans, and then removed my plain hoodie to swap my navy blue Deftones tshirt for a black Metallica one. I wandered over to my mirror as I grabbed my brush from beside my bed once again. I took my hair down from being tied back and brushed it quickly, adding some hairspray to keep it in place as I lightly messed up the layers. I then reapplied my once again smudged eyeliner, added some smokey grey eyeshadow and smiled at my final appearance. Perfectly presentable, in my eyes.

I took my keys and mobile phone from my discarded black trousers pockets and put them into my jeans instead. Taking some of the little money I had that was sitting on my dressing table, for the entrance fee, I left my room and headed downstairs, picking up my Misfit Draven shoes from beside my doorway as I passed them. On the way down the stairs, I pulled a hoodie that was over the banister and tied it around my waist, just in case it was especially cold on the way back. I sat on the bottom step to slip on my trainers before I finally got out of the front door.

+

I kept my arms folded across my chest as I walked along the slightly more bustling than usual streets, making sure I stayed well within the light of the street lamps. Not for one minute did I mean to say we had worrying locals, it was just that you never could tell, and I was one of those more careful, self conscious teenagers. My gaze wandered the streets lazily, watching crowds pass by as they probably all went towards their own Friday nights out. There was only the odd person alone, like myself. I wasn't at all surprised by this.

After about fifteen minutes of slow walking, I had made it to the venue that had been written on the flyer. Sure enough, there was a queue outside along lights pouring from the doorway with the dull thud of live music escaping into the open air. There were only about four other people in line, so I took my place and waited.

It took a little under five minutes for me to reach the main doors. I smiled lightly at the 'bouncer' on the door, looking more like a business man in his pinstripe suit. He returned it vaguely before holding out a hand.

"That will be £15 please," he said in a gruff tone. I nodded in response and took the money from my pocket, glancing back up to find his eyes burning into me. "Wait, how old are you?" He asked, his eye brows knitting together as he studied me further.

I paused from a moment, a little confused by his request as the venue wasn't one to usually have age restrictions. "Erm, 21?" I said in a sweet, way too obvious fake tone, causing me to mentally slap myself.

The bouncer laughed loudly before he simply grinned down at me. "Okay, sweet cheeks," he commented lightly. " Got any ID?"

I paused and couldn't hold his hard gaze. "Uhm..." I mumbled, pretending to search through my pockets, where I was perfectly aware I would not find anything confirming I was 21 years of age. I, in fact, wasn't even close.

After a lengthy delay, the bouncer smirked down at me. "I thought as much. Go on, get out of here, doll."

I frowned, not taking kindly to all his pet names. "But-" I started, about to argue my empty point.

"Look, if you haven't got any ID, you can't get in here," he said simply, in a slightly sympathetic tone.

I bit my lip, slightly starting to panic as I felt more people eagerly lining up behind me. "But, I-"

"Move," he growled down at me, causing me to be slightly taken back by such a contrast in his tones. I scowled at him as he easily pushed me to one side and out of the line, leaving me to stumble slightly, just able to maintain balance. I glared back at him as I shoved my hands into my pockets and wandered away from the queue, now feeling the eyes of the rest of the people waiting to get into the building following my every move with amusement.

After getting a good ten feet away from the entrance, I leaned my back up against the brickwork of the building and sighed. I certainly wasn't going home now, because I needed something to do. I just had to try and work out a way to get in. I could just try merging in with another group of people, keep my head low and hope that he didn't notice me. Or I could wait for the bouncers to swap shifts and try again...

"Hey, are you okay?"

I paused for a second before I turned upwards, tearing my gaze away from my shoes and onto some guy walking towards me. I frowned slightly as I examined him, soaking in his appearance and trying to work out whether I should feel threatened or not, despite his soft tone. You could usually tell a lot from someone by the little things, like what they wore and the way they carried themselves.

This one was pretty tall, even from the slight distance still between us, but that quite was average for me considering I wasn't the tallest of trees myself. He was wearing a black cut off tshirt along with some ripped jeans, leaving him looking startling similar to myself. This was enhanced by the fact his hair was black and only just shorter than mine. He walked confidently, but there was a slight air of honest nervousness about him. His expression was a light smile. So far, he wasn't doing too badly on my psycho scale.

I tilted my head as he stopped a few feet infront of me, leading me to believe he wasn't trying to seem too pushy, or intimidate me. That was a good quality, I decided. I smiled faintly as I came to the decision he generally couldn't be too bad a person.

"Uhm, yeah, thanks," I eventually replied, having finished my evaluation of this new face that seemed to have taken an interest in me.

He smiled at me warmly. "You didn't get in, did you?" He commented simply.

I couldn't help but allow myself a small chuckle. "No, I didn't," I confirmed, inclining my head slightly.

He laughed softly, running his fingers through his hair before meeting his gaze in mine. "Want some help?" He asked carefully, that smile never fading. My eyes travelled over him once more, studying him carefully before I responded.

"... Seriously?" I asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure," He said with a light shrug. "No offence, but I think you look like you need a good gig," he added with a nervous grin as he awaited my reaction.

I smiled back in return. "You know, you're right," I said with a light chuckle. "But how are you going to manage that?" I questioned, still slightly suspicious of his motives. I hadn't met a stranger who was so kind before, but didn't seem creepy at the same time. However, I already felt like I could trust this guy, at least for the moment.

I watched in amusement as the tall stranger pursed his lips, his narrowed gaze travelling over the queue. I laughed softly as I stood up from the wall, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited. His expression suddenly cleared, and he looked over to me with a wide grin, infectiously causing a smile to tug at my lips.

"I've got it," he said with a proud smile, hesitating for a second before holding out his arm to me. I bit my lip as I allowed my eyes to scan him again one last time before I took a few steps to close the gap between us. He smiled down at me warmly before I linked my arm through his and smiled back. He had already checked most of the 'I act like a normal human being' boxes, so what was the worse that could honestly happen?