Black Stars - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 3 - Roy's Pub

Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us, but we can't strike them all by ourselves.

- Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate

Roy's Pub was quiet when Leah entered. Jazz music dripped from the speakers, colouring the lounges and old English lights with comfort. The pool tables in the back corner were unoccupied, the dance floor covered with chairs and tables. Leah ordered a coffee and curled into a corner booth.

It was just reaching dusk and she watched as the change sent workers running. Fridges were stocked with cheap alcohol and cruisers, lounge music replaced with loud beats, volume cranked up high. Everyone knew this place allowed under aged drinking but no one cared.

Leah wasn't sure how long she'd sat there, lost in thought, before someone walked up.

"Hey."

Zarah slid into a neighbouring seat, clad in a tight-fitting navy dress, dark eyeliner, and a smirk.

"How long have you been here?" Zarah asked, her gaze wandering over Leah's jeans-and-sweater combo.

"A few hours. I didn't want to stay home. Nothing to do there."

Zarah frowned. "Are you avoiding Brenton again?"

Leah grunted and looked away.

It was a common answer to that question. Leah couldn't count the number of times she'd appeared on Zarah's doorstep late at night with a sleeping bag and a grunt as explanation. Further questions stopped being asked after second grade.

"Well, you could've at least put on a skirt," Zarah said casually, breezing over the awkward topic. "It's like you're trying to make guys look away."

Leah smirked. "Mission accomplished then."

They both glanced around when the front door flew open and a group of teens entered, voices loud. One of them recognised Zarah and called out a greeting, heading over to their table.

Leah stood. "How about I get us some drinks?"

"That would be perfect," Zarah said.

...

Two drinks later the room was packed and Leah was being jostled by grinding bodies while waiting for a turn at the pool table, fist closed protectively around her cup. The strobe lights made the game appear oddly disjointed, but when no balls had been sunk after several hits, Leah scowled at the players, bouncing up and down on the balls her feet.

The inactivity was making her fidgety and she let her gaze wander, watching people ebb and flow around the packed club. She was almost beginning to enjoy herself when her eyes caught on a familiar flash of blonde hair, carving a slow but steady path towards the pool tables.

Leah wasn't sure if Arelie had seen her, or if it was just a coincidence she was heading this way, but she wasn't going to wait and find out. There was still too much anger simmering inside her, the deep and dangerous kind.

Be careful. If you lost control –

Leah banished Alice's warnings from her mind and signaled to Zarah that she was leaving. When Zarah nodded, Leah darted off, dodging bodies until she reached the opposite side of the room, squashed amongst dancers.

Peaking around a grinding couple, she scanned the room for Arelie, hoping her movements had gone unnoticed.

"What are you doing?"