Darkness Within Light

***REVISED EDITION: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8337350/2/ ***

“DUDE!”

“I know, RIGHT?!” Holly shrieked over the speaker-phone. She had just called to inform me that she had won tickets to a huge concert in Austin, Texas… and I was going to be accompanying her whether I liked it or not.

Fortunately for her, I definitely liked it. I was dancing around my tiny apartment, doing that annoying girl-squeaking shit. Sadie started jumping up and down with me, knocking over a TV tray with her tail.

“Okay listen, so I am still coming to visit you in a week. Are you sure you don’t want me to book us a hotel to stay in while I’m in town?”

I frowned. Holly is my best friend, currently living in Las Vegas. She’s rocking along in life while I’m still in my ghetto 500 square foot apartment and living paycheck to paycheck. I appreciated her offer, but it still stung.

“If you want one, but I don’t want to have to board the beast while you’re here.”

She laughed “Oh no problem, we can bunk it. I’ll stay with you.”

“I gotta go. Sadie is doing a dance” I grabbed her leash as she pussy-footed over by the door

“Later lover”

“Bye sexy”
4
I clipped Sadie’s collar on her and we headed out the door.

I’m a pretty unspectacular woman. Almost 30, poor as dirt. I go to church on the weekends. I visit my folks at least once a week to mooch dinner. I work in the semiconductor industry designing circuit boards. I drink dark beer and I eat too much junk food. I have an '88 (10th Anniversary) Mazda RX-7, and it is my baby. I live with a 70-pound pointer/boxer/pitt/lab mix freak of nature in a tiny efficiency apartment located in a complex that has the cops visit at least twice on weekends.

At least the local entertainment is free. Nothing like watching Cheaters or Intervention live and uncut from your patio.

I tried college years ago, I went in for Music Education, and came away from that town 5 years later with a PhD in street pharmaceuticals and metaphysics/paranormal. I did not get tied in with nice people. I did not get tied in with nice things. I was a hustler, the best breed to have in your crew - blunt, sexy, and could party like one of the guys – but I also was vulnerable during that time. I basically flipped the bird at the Heavens and started digging into “metaphysics,” which I can only describe now as playing with wimpy demons.

However every once in a while a powerful one shows up…

That’s why I left West Texas.

I'd had my ears gauged to a double-zero. I've had my septum pierced, as well as multiple surface-piercings. Even a princess albertina, (which was the only piece of metal I still wore on a daily basis... probably not what you're thinking. Look it up.) and my hair has gone from it's natural reddish-brown to I-Love-Lucy-Red to black to green and blue, finally an awesome epic purple before I grew out of the crazy-hair-color phase. All in all, I've been there. Done that. And my T-shirt has holes in it.

Sadie and I got back from our "adventure" and I went to the bathroom, turning on the hot water. As I undressed in front of the mirror, I reached down and very gingerly traced the scars that ran from my ribcage down to my left thigh. I can almost still feel the burn. As I turned around to grab a towel from the cabinet, I saw in my reflection the other matching scars that drew lines across my back and my shoulders. One of these claw marks is still visible on my neck despite my attempts to hide it.

I shuddered. This has been a man repellant over and over again. They can “handle anything” that these scars tell stories of, but they are always proved wrong. I have started thinking that possibly it’s the same demon that tormented Paul in the Bible… that the only way to survive was to pour himself into Christ so he could survive the creature that kept everyone at arms length from him.

Maybe I’m supposed to stay single.

* * * * * *

As I checked into the parking lot at DFW Airport, I took a deep breath. The last time I had seen Holly was when I was helping her pack to move to Las Vegas. She’d been married for about a year when her husband, who had stuck with her since I’d known her back in our partying days, seemed to just go off the deep end.

Long story short, this is my sister, my only good friend who lived remotely close by, and she had to move to Vegas to escape the damage from her failed marriage, the dangers of her violent now-ex-husband. I’ve missed her so much since, it’s hard to live in the Dallas metroplex without any close girlfriends. She keeps trying to talk me into moving there with her, but I haven’t come up with a real good reason yet. We talk on the phone at least once a week, however it’d been almost two years since I last saw her.

Safe to say, I was ecstatic about reuniting with her again.

I hiked through the parking garage and found the luggage carousels and wandered until I located the particular one for her flight #.

“HOLLY!!!” I screamed as she walked out from the gates. Her whole flight from Vegas was working their way through and wow… people from Vegas are weird. Lots of strangeness and beauty all rolled together.

“Hey Bitch!” She hollered and dropped her bag on the floor, running for me. She tackled me and slammed me up against the wall, laughing.

“I missed you too!” I giggled, rolling my eyes at the looks we were getting from other people in the bay.

We walked to the edge of the conveyor and waited. I zoned out while she was telling me all about her flight. We were joined by others waiting.

I caught a whiff of an excellent cologne as a couple of men came to stand beside us. I took a deep breath and choked the urge to ask the stranger what it was that he was wearing, but I cut my eyes over to see who was wearing something so delicious. I almost fell over trying not to laugh aloud. It was a bicep as big as my head.

I tried to be subtle as I looked beyond that giant arm. The man was as tall as my father and as broad... well, close. They'd be the same if my dad took steroids. Dark thick hair and piercing blue eyes. All in all, very handsome.

Before I realized how long I had been looking at him, he made eye contact with me. He flashed a smile… wow.

Shit! I blushed and turned quickly back to Holly, who had not stopped talking yet. I heard him giggle softly from my reaction. He was too damn pretty.

Soon the luggage started rolling in. The Hulk and the two guys with him kept picking up large black boxes, looked more like electronic gear than personal items. One of the guys was as tall as him, leaner, with slicked back hair and a 5-o’clock-shadow forming on his face. The other had a shaved head with a goatee, and he kept making goofy remarks about their luggage.

“Damn, Zak, you travel worse than a girl.”

The Hulk scowled, “Most of this is your crap.”

“Well at least I don’t have a man-purse like Nick,” Goatee said, looking over at the other man, Nick I suppose, who hoisted a black shoulder bag over his head and smirked.

“Just ‘cause I’m man enough.”

“Sure, whatever you say, G.”

They had a luggage cart with them that they loaded all of these black cases onto. Holly noticed this and cracked, “What, are you guys moving?”

Nick looked over at us and smiled a warm smile. “No, this is film equipment.”

I could still feel the Hulk’s eyes studying me. I fidgeted, nervous. I was wearing my grey pinstripe pants from work and a blue plunged-neck top that was kept appropriate by a white laced cami… and I was wearing my favorite shoes, 6 inch shiny fuck-pumps that were the same teal blue as my shirt. My makeup was better than usual and my hair was behaving today, more ringlets than fuzz, for once. So I suppose I was worth a looking-over, but still…

Holly’s pale green duffel bag and suitcase finally inched around the conveyor. Finally. I grabbed both and turned to her, “Is that it?”

“No, one more bag.” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry, you know me.”

A black and pink suitcase crept into view. She grabbed it and set it on it’s rollers. I pulled on the handle of the green suitcase and started to swing the heavy green duffel bag over my shoulder, when suddenly it was weightless. I whirled around to see the Hulk holding it, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Would you girls like to pile your stuff on this cart? We don’t mind. We’re heading out to rent a van.”

Goatee already had the black and pink suitcase in his hands. “It’d suck to have to drag these all the way out to the parking lot.”

“Wow, thank you,” I began to untangle myself from the duffel’s cheap shoulder strap, grateful of the giant arms that relieved me of Holly’s inability to travel light. He came closer to lift the strap the rest of the way over my head. There’s that damn smell again.

“No problem.” And there’s that smile again.

Holly handed him the other suitcase, eyeballing him suspiciously. Then she turned to Goatee. “Thank you, gentlemen. I’m Holly.”

Nick laughed at the surprised look on Hulk’s face. “I’m Nick.” He reached out and shook her hand.

Goatee strapped down the cart’s cargo and started to push it. “I’m Aaron! Where are you ladies from?”

“I’m Desiree. I live here, Holly’s just visiting.”

“I’m Zak,” said the Hulk, offering his hand to me. I gave him a nervous mechanic’s handshake, then blushed at his grin in reaction. I put myself on the other side of Holly from him.

I forget that most broads don’t usually deliver the strong handed approach… whatever, I blame my years as a mechanic back in west Texas. Old habits die hard, but I still embarrass myself from it.

We all walked outside and I smacked myself on the forehead. “Holly, all of this stuff won’t fit in my car!”

“What do you mean? I thought you had the Bravada.”

I used to have an old Oldsmobile Bravada, (think Chevy Blazer,) and it was the shit. Had more stickers on it and more memories in it than any other car I’d owned, but I had run the damn thing nearly into the ground, so I'd traded it in a year ago.

Plus my Rex was SO much more appealing.

“No, it was beyond being on its' last leg. I have an RX-7 now.”

The guys looked at each other, Zak finally spoke up, “What year?”

“88. Tenth Year Anniversary Turbo II.”

“’Nuff said!” He laughed as Nick sighed wistfully. “Well if we don’t creep you out, we can take your luggage wherever you need to go. We don’t have anywhere to be for the next few hours.”

Holly looked at me, winking.

“Where are you guys staying tonight? I don’t want you driving all over the metroplex to play Knight in shining armor for the car girls.”

“We’re staying at a hotel near here, This is just a layover flight, we’re heading out to Cali tomorrow afternoon.”

I winced. I lived about an hour from the airport, with the way Dallas traffic is.

“Hey, it’s no problem. Gas is covered.” Aaron said. “I personally don’t want to stare at a hotel wall all day anyway.”

Holly grinned. “Let’s go, then!”

Zak wheeled off to the car rental area and I set out to get my car from the lot before they charged me for another hour. Holly stuck around the guys to do some flirting. Her specialty.