The Shadows of the Danger Line

Dakota’s eyes slowly fluttered open as a sorrowful melody wiggled its way through her ears. She rubbed her eyes glancing outside and noticing that the weather appeared to be mirroring the melody as a thunderstorm roared. She was not fond of storms and decided to track down the source of the tearful song since she would not be getting back to sleep any time soon. Goosebumps rose upon her skin, and her heart rate increased as she knew if she got caught roaming the house she could get in serious trouble. She shuddered at the thought of the last time Syn caught her in his room cleaning; her ribs were still suffering from their last encounter. She shook her head as she carefully opened seeing as Jimmy did not lock it after leaving when she fell asleep after her earlier breakdown. She did not know why, but Jimmy was very easy for her to talk to and trust. She kept her footsteps as silent as followed the sound of the notes that created such an emotional tune. She paused as she found the source of the sound; she was surprised to see Shadows sitting in front of the piano as his fingers danced flawlessly over the keys. Dakota leaned silently against the door frame mesmerized as she watched him. Her eyebrows rose as he paused and a frustrated look crossed his features; it appeared that he did not know what to play next and she realized that he must be still writing the song. “You know roaming around the house can get you in trouble right?” his voice rang breaking the silence in the room. Dakota jumped clearly startled by his voice. “Well kid, I expect an answer what are you doing roaming the house?” he questioned as his hazel eyes locked on her small figure. She opened her mouth to reply, but the thunder outside decided to roar right at the moment causing her to jump again and a small squeak to escape her mouth. Shadow’s stern expression broke at the moment and a chuckle escaped him; he had to admit that the kid was sort of cute....though he would never say that out loud because he had an image to uphold. “Not fond of storms?” he questioned already knowing the answer. “Y-yes s-s-sir, t-t-hat’s a b-b-eautiful song” she replied meekly as she fidgeted from side to side. “Thanks, it’s not done yet” he said as a frown crossed his face, but soon disappeared. He was about to send her back to her room with a stern warning, but when the thunder cracked again and she jumped once more; he did not have the heart to send her back to her quarters because she reminded him of someone. She reminded him of Autumn, who was his first and only true love. He moved over on the bench in front of the piano before patting the seat beside him. Dakota hesitated for a moment, but she knew better than to disobey the scariest man on the streets. She stayed silent as she watched Shadows begin playing again, but when he stopped again her fingers picked up where he left off adding onto the song with notes that flowed perfectly. When she removed her hands she tensed waiting for him to hit her off of the bench, but the blow never came. “That was perfect…” he muttered softly as he glanced over at her. “Where did you learn to play like that?” he questioned curiously. Dakota shrugged “I-it c-comes n-atural” she whispered as her glaze refused to meet his. “I think I may have a new way for you to play off your debt kid” he told her with a small smirk. She was about to ask how, but the thunder sounded again causing her to jump and fall backwards; she closed her eyes bracing herself for impact, but it never came. “That’s if you don’t manage to give yourself a concussion first” he chuckled as he gently pulled her back onto the bench. “Thunder can’t hurt you” he told her with a faint smile. “I-I know” she muttered as blushed looking at the ground. He shook his head before gently ruffling her hair “You’re not bad for a kid” he told her with a small amount of affection in his voice.

“Will you sit still?” sighed Jimmy the next night as he attempted to get Dakota ready for her first night working at the five star restaurant that Avenged Sevenfold owned. After seeing her play the night before, Shadows decided her debt would best be paid by playing piano there. The thought of playing piano in front of a crowd of people made Dakota want to vomit, but the fear of having the clean the house and possibly fall victim to Syn’s wrath scared her more. “Y-you’re going to s-stab me in the e-eye” complained Dakota as she flinched again as the Rev attempted to put eyeliner on her. “I am not” he huffed as he looked down as her sternly. “Are too” she muttered not comfortable with the thought of the eye liner coming so close to her eye. She had never worn make-up before and Jimmy took it upon himself to get her ready for the night. Jimmy groan before glancing at the door as a knock rang out before a pixie looking woman came prancing in, who was known as Leanna, who was his girlfriend. “Jimmy, give me that” she said as she swiftly took the black eyeliner away from her boyfriend. “Look up at the ceiling doll” she told the young teen and Dakota obeyed her orders as Leanna easily outlined her hazel eyes. “Why couldn’t you sit that still for me?” questioned Jimmy and all he got in return was a shrug as Leanna rolled Dakota’s white shirt sleeves up before adjusting her black vest and placing a white fedora with a black ribbon on the teen’s head. “There you go honey, you look great” the woman told Dakota, who merely nodded as a crimson blush crossed her face.

“Rev, what’s in this?” questioned Dakota eying the drink he had handed her. “Just drink it, it will calm your nerves” he told her with a gentle pat on her back. She shrugged before downing the liquid that burned her throat and made her eyes water. She coughed pushing the glass away “Jimmy! Did you just give her alcohol?” scolded Leanna “She’s thirteen for god’s sakes.” “Relax babe, it won’t hurt her” he told her with a small smile. “I am never trusting you with our future children” she told him with a shake of her head. He chuckled before escorting Dakota, who felt sort of light, headed to the piano. “Just do your thing, Kota” he told her with a gentle nudge. Dakota gulped hard before placing her fingers on the ivory keys of the piano. She kept telling herself this was better than being around Syn and that was her motivation for the night to stay as far as way as possible from that man. She racked her brain for a piece that fit the atmosphere of the restaurant and soon a classical tune filled the air around the restaurant. She focused on the movement of her fingers on the keys rather than the burning feeling of eyes on her back.

Dakota groaned mentally as she made her way to the bathroom of the restaurant. She had excused herself from the piano telling Jimmy that she needed a restroom break. She felt quiet woozy and her stomach was doing backflips. The hidden alcohol Jimmy had given her was hitting her hard. She felt sweat slowly trickle down her neck before the nauseous feeling in her stomach intensified. She cursed Jimmy in her mind before she could not hold on any longer and she vomited her guts into the toilet. She swore that she would never accept another drink from the giraffe man as long as she lived. She did not care how much he promised it would make her feel better she was never trusting him again with drinks. Once the young teen was sure that there was nothing left in her stomach, she slowly made her way over to the sink and cleaned herself up. She was glad that no one had seen her episode because she did not want to appear any weaker than she already had. She walked outside of the bathroom, but soon was caught off guard by an older man, who slammed her against the wall and used his forearm to hold pressure to her throat. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing” he said with a smirk, his breath causing Dakota’s face to scrunch up as she attempted to wiggle free. She stopped when the pressure on her throat increased and a sharp pain was felt in her gut as the man punched her. She heard the somewhat familiar click of a knife being drawn as her eyes focused on the blade that was inches away from her throat. “You listen here and you listen good, we are going to walk out this side door and you are going to be a good little girl and let me have my fun or I’ll end you right now” he told her menacingly. Dakota nodded weakly as the man roughly drug her out of the building and pushed her up against the wall of the building. Tears streamed down her face as the man unbutton the black vest she wore over her white button down. She prepared herself for the worst, but was surprised to hear the sound of a gun being cocked back. “I suggest you step away from the girl” growled a voice that usually scared Dakota more than anything else, but for once she was relieved to hear Syn’s voice. She felt the man being pulled away from her as she collapsed to the ground bringing her knees to her chest as sobs racked her body. She heard someone bark at the Rev to go help Syn deal with the man as a part of strong arms picked her up bridal style as if she weighted nothing. “Breathe kid, you gotta breathe, it’s okay” said Shadows as he carefully carried her to the car. Earlier, when he noticed that she had disappeared from the piano, the Rev explained that she had went to the restroom and that he may have given her his special drink that night. After she didn’t return in an allotted amount of time they went searching for her.

Dakota sat on the counter where Shadows had placed her as small sniffles escaped her every now and again. Her make-up had run down her face and she looked like a wreck. She hissed in pain as Shadows cleaned one of the many scrapes that she received from the encounter with the sick man from earlier. “Sorry” he muttered as he tried his best to be gentle with the kid. He didn’t know why, but he had a soft spot for the girl plus that man had no right to put his hands on her. The thought of any adult attempting to do that to a kid pissed Shadows off to no extent. He finished cleaning the scrapes and then handed Dakota a wet wash cloth to clean her face off with. He came back over with a mug of warm lemon-honey tea, which always managed to help him calm down and soothe his throat when it was sore. “Here this will make you feel better” he told her handing her the mug. Dakota eyed it suspiciously as she gave him a questioning look. “I promise it’s nothing like Rev’s special drink; it has no alcohol in it.” She nodded before sipping the contents of the mug to test them before she began taking bigger drinks. She was surprised to find it was one of her favorite drinks that her mother used to make her when she was feeling down or sick. Her mom had told her that she inherited her liking of the drink from her father. “Thanks” she muttered softly to the muscular man. Shadows looked over at the young girl and chuckled “So, you can talk without the stutter” he commented causing the girl to blush. “Sometimes” she answered before continuing to drink the tea that he had given her. “I’m sorry for what happened from now on one of the guys will escort you around at the restaurant” he told her and she nodded feeling slightly safer knowing that one of Shadows’ men would be protecting her at all times at the restaurant. “Once you finish your tea, it’s best for you to get off to bed” he told her firmly, but gently at the same time. She nodded finishing the warm liquid before disappearing off to her room.

“Kota…you wake?” called Jimmy softly into the young teen’s room. He had just gotten back from taking care of the man that attempted to harm Dakota, and he felt extremely guilty for what happened. He thought it was his fault because he had made her sick. “Yeah Jims?” she questioned rolling over facing him with the stuffed duck he had given her snug in her arms. “I’m so sorry” he told her sincerely “It’s okay” she muttered with a small shrug. “It’s not okay” he told her with a shake of his head. “And tonight you are staying in my room and we are going to watch movies and I am going to make up for what happened” he said picking her up not giving her a choice in the matter. She didn’t struggle knowing that do to the incident she would be too scared to fall asleep on her own. She allowed Jimmy to carry her to his room where they ended up watching a couple of movies before both passing out asleep.