The Match

If you just met me, then you would think I had the perfect life. I smile my perfect white teeth, play in a band, and go to parties. This is a dream life of most people right?

But…if you really knew me like Danny did, then no, you would think the complete opposite. I, James Cassells, do not have the perfect life. If only you could see behind my eyes.

After we got done singing in a town not to far off the city Carlin, Danny and I headed to some party in one car while the others was in another. When it was just the two of us, the air felt thick with tension and was uncomfortable. Danny knew everything. Knew that my life which was good in the early stages of life, but as time grew on the shadows seem to dim the light of fires.

“Lighten up, and enjoy the party when we get there man!” The words from Danny sounded happy if you really didn’t know him, really he was worried. Instead of just wasting energy to talk I just smiled.

When we got there you could smell the alcohol before getting out of the car.

“Oh man! This is going to be good!” Danny excitedly expressed. I really didn’t see why. I mean the parties are all the same. Sexy girls getting drunk, guys getting drunk and getting laid by the end of the night and then there’s the dancing involved. Yea it’s all fun when you don’t do it all the time. That’s when I felt my phone vibrate.

“Danny, I have to go…”

“Why? What happened?” His expression became serious.

“He hurt Jenna again; I gotta get her out of there.”

“Then I’m going to help.” I felt Danny’s hand grab my wrist as I was walking away.

Danny took some dirt roads which seemed like hours. Every once in a while I checked his speedometer which read between 70 and 75. It had started to rain a little making the roads very muddy. I kept asking my self if we were going to get there in time and how the hell did I end up having a life like this.

“So, did you tell your mom yet?” His voice cracked the silence that was engulfing us for a while now. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Yea. She didn’t really care that I love my twin sister.” I sort of lied. She did sort of care. Told me that it was wrong to love my own sister. We had argued a little bit about it but she suddenly replied that there’s nothing we can do.

“Well, that’s good.” Danny glanced at me for a second then back to the road. I just replied with a yeah.

“James, is that you?” I heard my mother ask from the living room.

“Yea…Why?” The words came out hesitant. The fear rose up in my throat.

“Ooooh Doggy! Come give Sammi some sugar!” Oh great, Mom’s gay guy friend is over tonight, which means he isn’t here at the moment.

“I’ll pass on that.” A horrid look crept across my face. I started to walk away as fast as I can. When I got to my room I locked the door as soon as I shut it.

“James…” I heard my twin sister’s voice whisper my name.

“Where are you Jenna?” The room was dark with a little bit of moon light shinning through the window. After I flipped the switch I knew she had to of been crying. I walked over to her; sitting on the floor on the side of the bed with her forehead on her knees, and sat down next to her. I waited for her to look at me. Once Jenna finally looked at me, I kissed her softly on the lips. “What are we gonna do?” Jenna just shrugged.

I got up off the floor and started walking back and forth.

“We gotta Run away from a past once known. Now Get up, get up Get on your fucking feet. We can’t lose any more time.” I looked at her sweet innocent eyes. “ Follow me now I could use some company.” I gently took her by the hand and lifted her to her feet. I then hugged her for what seemed like ages.

That’s when we heard the door open and slam shut. We began packing. I packed all of her clothes, while Jenna packed other necessities she needed. While Jenna was in her bathroom grabbing all of her stuff, I could hear them fighting in the living room. I cringed at the loud smack he delivered to my mom. I started packing her clothes faster now, glad I had Danny park a street over.

Before Jenna and I climbed out our bedroom window, I texted Danny saying we were ready. I made sure the door was locked, closed the window, and headed to the car. I sat in the back with Jenna to hold her close.

“It’s going to be alright.” I kissed the top of her chocolate brown hair covered head.

“You two can stay at my apartment for a little…” Danny glanced into the mirror for a second.

“Thanks Man.” I ran my hand through my hair. It’s going to be a long few days.

“When are you going back to get your mom out?” I stared out the window to an early morning sunrise.

“When ever I know when my dad won’t be home for a long time.” I stared hard out the window.

“Any idea when that will be?” I shook my head no. “You know that a couple times, when you and Jenna are out he keeps coming here…” That’s when I broke my stare out the window and looked at him.

“When was the last time he showed up looking for me?” He was quiet for a while.

“Yesterday, when you two were at the movies. But he hasn’t been here in a few weeks since then.”

“I’m going out for a little, make sure Jenna is safe.” I grabbed my hoodie and walked out of the door before he could reply. I went to my old house to see if his car was in the driveway. When I saw it wasn’t, I snuck in through the back door. My mom was cooking something on the stove when I peaked around the corner of the hall way.

“Mom.” I whispered. But of course she didn’t answer nor acknowledged I was there. I walked up quietly behind her and placed my hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t scream.

“Shhh. It’s just James.” I whispered into her ear. After I took my hand away from her mouth and she turned around to hug me. “Has he hurt you?” She shook her head no. “Good. Is he here?”

“No. He went to work today.” Good, that means I can get her out of here before he gets back I opened my cell to make a phone call.

“Danny, he isn’t here. I’m gonna get my mom all packed up, if you get this please please call back.” I left a message. It wasn’t like him not to pick up his cell. “Now, we are packing up all your clothes and what ever else you need and getting you out of here.” She sort of looked frightened but she followed through.

As we were almost done, Danny still hadn’t called back so I called another buddy of mine just in case he saw us on the streets.

“Thanks so much for picking us up.” I said to Allan, one of my high school friends from back then.

“Yea no problem.” We watched as he drove away before we went inside. I looked at my cell and it was only about 8 in the morning.

As I set my mom’s stuff on the floor of the living room, I heard a scream. That’s when I saw the blood on the walls and them lying on the floor with blood circulating his figure. The color from his face had gone white; his lips were blue while his eyes were closed shut for the rest of time and I knew exactly who did this. I saw the bullet hole through his lower torso and the multiple stab wounds.

I couldn’t clear my head, I had mixed emotions. I was too sad to cry from the fact that person is dead but too angry knowing who did this. He, who did this, was a very sick person. I grabbed a dark red sheet from the closet to cover Danny’s body.

“Mom, call 911.” I whispered. I couldn’t talk from the horror of this scene. I heard the door open down the hall. I ran over to her and hugged her. That’s when the tears started flowing down my face and into Jenna’s hair.

“What’s wrong Hun?” Jenna pushed my away to look at me.

“You…you can’t go out there.” I whispered. I kissed her on the forehead then hugged her again.

“Why?” She asked so cute, which made me laugh. She only expressed words like this when she couldn’t get her way but she knew it always made my smile. That’s when I heard the sound of sirens fill our ears. I hugged Jenna closer.

“James, she’s gonna find out sometime soon anyway.” Mom said behind us in a small voice.

“No! What I saw out there was a Nightmare! I’m not letting her see that!” I yelled.

“What is going on!?” Jenna yelled. I picked her up and put her over my shoulder and went into the room she was sleeping in and our mom closed the door behind me while the sirens got closer and louder.

“Just stay in here with me.” I quietly pleaded with her as I layed her on the bed. “I’ll explain…” Even though I didn’t want to at all.

“Fine…” I layed beside her on the bed. It was quiet for a long time beside the faint voices in the living room. “When are you going to spill?” I heard Jenna ask.

“What if I don’t want to right now?” I turned to look at her.

“Please?” She kissed my lips softly. I gave in so easily with her.

“A single action brings this city to motion.” I started. “When you were sleeping…” I ran this through my head a thousand times before she asked. I knew the girl I loved would be crushed by the time I end my little story. I couldn’t come up with away to tell her where she wont be crushed by the actions that happened. “That man, we once called our father a really long time ago, has killed our best friend for sick reasons.” I finally whispered. She was quiet for a long time. I kept looking at her but I couldn’t read her expression.

As I heard car doors slamming shut outside I looked at Jenna again. I whipped the tears from her face and hugged her. Then our mom walked in.

“They left.” She whispered and walked away. Jenna got up from the bed and took my hand to lead my out into the dreadful place which was once our living room. As she walked into the living room she let go of my hand and stared for a minute until running into my arms and crying harder this time. “This is going to be very hard to fix.” I heard mom say into the open air.

~Changes back and forth between scenes~

I knew I was going to be late but I didn’t care. I walked all the way to his house knowing he was home with a gun on the inside of my hoodie. The autumn air felt nice against my face as I passed each house on the sidewalk.

“Today we are gathered here to give our blessings to forever loved Danny Worsnop.”

I didn’t knock, or give anything away that I was there. I just walked straight into the house. He was sitting there drinking from a whine glass.

The air was filled with sadness while the preacher said words of wisdom. “Danny had many friends and fans. He made it big in the music industry. Who would have thought…”

“Well well, you would be the one to miss your friends’ funeral.” A smirk was placed on his face. I wanted to bitch slap that smirk right off but I knew I had to play this by far well.

“At least I’m not a murderer. At least I’m not a sick man who hits their family for no god damn reason!” I was starting to get angry. “At least I actually know how to love people and make myself something instead of nothing.” That’s when he punched me. That’s what I was getting at all along. While I was on the ground he kept kicking me and punching me but that gave me all the right reasons to wound him with a shot. “And with that of a bang would have fallen the stars in the sky.” I casually said a loud as he fell to the ground in pain.

“…Who would have thought that the lead of Asking Alexandria would be murdered? What a sad sad tragedy to have something come to this. Danny will be missed by a lot of people throughout the world who loved him and his music.” The preacher bowed his head down. “Do we have anyone who wants to say a couple words?” A Man, Sam Bettley to be exact, joined the stage.

“Hey everyone.” There was a couple of hey’s and hi’s from the crowd. “I’m Sam, one of the members from our band Asking Alexandria…”

“I must say. I know you know why I’m here right?” The man on the floor shook his head. “Are you a dumb ass?” He didn’t respond to the question. “Well it is of course to avenge my best friend’s death and the fact that the world doesn’t need a sick man like you…”

“My dear son-“

“Don’t call me your son!”

“There are a lot of other people in the world like me.” He started to laugh. I just looked at him.

“Danny was one of my best friends after starting the band in 09. He was kick ass as the singer of the band. He always knew how to make you laugh when you were down…”

“I need a match and only one match I need a match to light your ass on fire.” He was now helpless. Soon enough the man would be unconscious. I went to the kitchen to find a match and lighter, knowing exactly where he kept them for when the power went out. I got the alcohol out and pored some around the house and on the one man I refuse to call my father.

“Before you end me…Well, I got nothing.” The cold bastard he was, that was no surprise to me.

“ I'm turning my back on this city and I'm not looking back. You'll never hear my name without your chest in flames.” I lit the match and dropped it next to him. I then left the house.

“Would anyone else like to add a few words?” The preacher had asked the crowd.

“I would like to say something.” Everyone looked at me. I saw Jenna smile and the rest of the band smile back. As I went up to speak I looked around the whole area. Everyone was wearing black; some were crying or just really sad. “There’s a lot I could say about this man. A lot of stuff that you probably have heard. I'll make my own mistakes. Even though I never learn. I'm running from myself. If only you could see behind my eyes.

What I’m saying is, is that we all make mistakes. Most mistakes are never learned and we try to run away from our problems. Did this man ever run away from his problems? No! Danny did not run away from his problems. He tried to fix them. Danny was always happy always trying to make others smile. So, instead of making this a funeral of dreadful memories, let’s make it one of one of the most memorable one. We always knew that Danny would become history.” I sort of laughed and smiled. “Oh yes, Danny has made history alright.”