Hand of Blood

I instantly groaned as my mind floated back to reality, my eyes clamping tightly shut rather than opening as a normal person should. My head was pounding like someone was physically hitting it with a sledge hammer from the inside, not putting me in the best of moods at this fragile time of day.

I let out a long sigh as I fumbled with the thin blanket over my body, pulling it off and dropping it lazily to the floor, allowing the cool air to wake up the rest of my figure. I moved my leg so it dropped down heavily from its location across the low back of the sofa. How it got up there during the night, I had no clue. I brought my arms down from hanging behind my head, across the arm of the sofa, to rub my face irritably. Only then did I attempt to open my eyes.

I slowly opened one eye lid and found the room was in a pretty low light, the curtains pulled closed and protecting me from the blinding morning sun. Happy that I'd be able to see well enough, I carefully opened the other eye and turned to face the ceiling, blinking a few times as everything flew into perfect focus. I sat up slowly and glanced around the living room, finding my shoes discarded randomly on the carpet, and a few objects out of place that I had probably knocked into last night. Right now I don't think you would have guessed I had been stumbling around last night as I had, as I didn't seem to have that bad a hangover. Well, there was the terrible headache, but I could deal with that. It wasn't like I had ever been a light weight, so I wasn't all that surprised either.

After a moment of sitting still and collecting what little memories I had, I swung my legs to the side and let them hang off the edge of the sofa. I stood up and rested my hands on my hips for a second, examining the messy room before taking a step forward. I suddenly let out a scream as the sensitive bare skin of my foot connected with a lone shard of glass, sending a painful shock through my body. I instantly fell backwards to sit on the sofa again and rested my foot on the opposite knee. I sighed and cursed under my breath at the cut going across the ball of my foot beneath my big toe. I really was too clumsy for my own good.

I shook my head dismissively, deciding now was not the time to worry about my bad habits. I started searching through my jeans pockets for a plaster, just as I realised I hadn't changed since last night. I pushed the thought from my head and paused as my fingers brushed some cold, metal objects amongst the rubbish in my jeans. I pulled them out of to reveal £5 in change, causing me to frown in confusion.

"I didn't have any change last night..." I wondered out loud as I continued to dig through my pockets. This time I pulled out a £10 note folded up with a small, torn piece of paper. I tilted my head as I realised £15 was the entrance fee from the venue last night. I frowned in confusion as I carefully unfolded the small piece of paper to find it was a note.

Brianne

So you've probably worked out by now that I gave you back your money, I'll apologise now for that.

I have no idea if you'll remember me, little sis, cause you'rekind of really out of it right now.i feel a bit guilty about what. I'll come and check on you tomorrow around 3, to make sure you're okay. It was my fault you got so wasted after all

Oh, and we've got band practice. You can come along if you want.

Mattie 'bro'

I smiled faintly as a few more memories fell into place. Matt... The guy who managed to pass my stranger danger test. Last night he seemed like a pretty decent guy. An honest guy. You don't get many of them around anymore, well, not that I had seen anyway.

I returned the note to my pocket as it struck me that it was my other trousers that had my plaster supply in them. I sighed lightly as I stood up again, hobbling on my foot that was still bleeding slightly, and carefully made my way to the stairs, watching out for any more glass. I struggled up the stairs, being careful not to get any crimson on the carpet as I finally reached the hallway. I then wandered carefully down to the bathroom, deciding that would be the best place for me at the moment; plasters for my injuries and tablets for my head.

As I got into the bathroom I looked around thoughtfully before turning my attention down on myself. I hadn't decided whether I was going to take Matt up on his offer to go to this band practice of his, but the least I could do was make myself presentable; especially after that crazy gig. A shower was desperately needed, I thought to myself.

Ten minutes later I picked up my dirty clothes from the floor as I wandered out of the bathroom, wrapped in my fluffy white towel, smelling much like a girl again and having lost the stench of smoke that had been following me since I left the venue.

I dumped my clothes in the corner of my room, after I decided against putting them in the washing pile as Id probably end up putting them in the washing machine with the pockets still full of junk. I'd get round to sorting that out later. I wandered across to my stereo and flicked it on, selecting the second CD in the inbuilt changer and clicking play. I then moved across to my bed and laid down to stare at my ceiling, just a moment before my ears were met by the sound of Killswitch Engage. I smiled faintly to myself, enjoying the music while allowing my mind to float away into dream world for a moment.

Band practice? It sounded like a lot of fun, and it did mean Id meet some more new people, while passing the day in which I had nothing better to do. I was slightly concerned that they might not match up to the same standards as Matt did on the suitability scale, though. Hell, I didn't even know how much I could really trust this guy as it was! I sighed irritably and mentally scolded myself for being so suspicious of people. That was another bad habit of mine; I had some major trust issues. But this Matt did seem like a generally nice guy, so his friends were probably the same, right? I had nothing to worry about. That's just what I had to keep telling myself...

I glanced across to my window, the curtains slightly apart and allowing bright light to stream through onto my carpet. This was enough to tell me it was a nice day, and I think we probably deserved it after the terrible rain that we had yesterday. I sighed as I glanced sidewards to my left arm, not feeling comfortable with having it out on show while in broad daylight. I scratched the pale scars in my usual frustration as I decided I would wear a hoodie today, despite the nice weather. It would be horrible if I was to make a bad first impression with Matt's band. Who knows? I might even get some of my own friends out of it.

+

I clumsily made my way through the living room from the kitchen, as the doorbell rang for the second time. I bit my lip as my converse scuffed on the carpet and caused me to trip over my own feet.

"Hold up! I'm coming," I shouted out in slight frustration as I finally reached the hall, and dragged my key from the pocket of my black cut off jeans I had eventually decided on wearing, considering the weather. They went along with a grey tank top, that was covered by my Misfit zip up hoodie. It would be stupid to wear a tshirt, as I would have just got too warm.

I quickly pulled my hair back with the band around my wrist, before finally unlocking the door and opening it, allowing sunlight to flood into the shadowed room. I pursed my lips and folded my arms across my chest, as I looked into a familiar smiling face.

"You're early!" I pointed out with a frown as I stood in my doorway, my eyes exploring my visitors face as I hadn't managed to get such a good look of him in the darkness last night. Not that he looked that much more different, but his features were a little clearer in the strong light.

Matt's smile didn't fade in the slightest at my comment, and if anything it grew. "Good afternoon to you too," he said in a smart tone, causing me to smile lightly back. "Sorry, we had to move the practice forward. Our bass player likes to complain," he added with a chuckle.

I grinned at him and nodded. "That's cool, not like I'm busy," I said lightly, rolling up my sleeves to my elbows as the warm sunlight had already began to beat down on me. I sighed lightly as I took a step out into the fresh air, Matt taking a step back down the short cement path almost in sync.

"Someones keen," he said lightly as I turned to lock my door, causing me to chuckle softly. "I wasn't so sure you'd want to come out," he added, as I turned back to him with a playful glare, it fading slightly at his comment.

"Why not?" I asked, tilting my head as I suddenly thought he might be reconsidering asking me to see his band. It wouldn't surprise me, after all he had been drinking too last night. It could have been something that he regretted, promising to come and check on me today. I didn't even know how out of the way I was from wherever he had come from, though logic told me it would have to be close by for him to have found my address in the first place. He had to be really familiar with these streets to be able to get here without any instruction from me.

He shook his head dismissively. "No real reason other than we've only just met," he said lightly. "You just strike me as the very careful type, when you're not drunk and want to tell the world where you live, of course."

I laughed lightly, my interest growing as this individual seemed to be as analytical of people as I was. Interesting. "I am," I said lightly, as I rose my gaze to lock with those ocean blue eyes. "But I think I can trust you, just this once," I said with a grin, as Matt laughed softly.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said in a sly tone. "So, ready to go?" He added, that soft, gentle voice returning in seconds.

I nodded in response. "Ready to rock and roll," I said with a grin, placing my key back into my pocket. Matt chuckled at me before he walked down the short path and out of the front gate. I followed him down and grinned as he held out his arm to me, just as he had done the night before. He smiled at me fondly as I linked my arm through his, and he started to lead the way to my new source of interest; this band of his.