Spiraling

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

            The lights were dim, the music was so loud the beat pulsed in her veins. Brynna was dancing, pressed up against some guy she didn’t – no, she did know him. She was dancing with Parker, reminding her of when Paige took her out. The feel was the same, the music was the same, and it was even the same club. Brynna was reliving that night; the last night she actually relaxed and just enjoyed herself. She hadn’t let her brother or sister cross her mind, forgot about the bills that be waiting for her still or how close her and her siblings were to being kicked out.  It was the first night in a long time she had finally just took for herself and had fun.

            As Brynna let herself get lost in the music, she wondered; was this what it was like to die? Instead of watching your life flash before your eyes did you instead relive your last happiest moments?

            “If you insist you had nothing to do with this, then why does Phillip have to talk to you so much?"

            “Maybe he just likes me,” Del offered lazily. As soon as Ash first walked in to Brynna’s room he had been accusing Del and his friend’s for having something to do with her getting jumped.  He wasn’t too far off; it was the kids Del hung out with that did it, after all, but it was getting old. It was going on 36 hours now that their sister still hasn’t woken up. Del hasn’t left her side.

            “He doesn’t like any of us. Are you going to tell me what the hell happened?”

            “I don’t know.” Del told him harshly. Del was still trying to work it out in his head why exactly they attacked Brynna.

            “Guys, just stop,” Cinder finally said after sitting silently watching the two dance around each other since her and Ash arrived. He was so angry at Del, and Cinder, who knew just as much as he did, didn’t really see the reasoning for it.

            A nurse came in just then, saving Cinder from playing referee. “Okay, you three. Visiting hours are long over. My shift is ending and the next nurse probably won’t be as lenient.”

            Cinder got up, but the brothers didn’t make an attempt to move. Del spoke first, “I’m not leaving.”

            “You’ve been here long enough and the longer you stay glued to her side like you’re doing, the guiltier you look.”

            “I’m sorry for wanting to be here when my sister wakes up from a coma.”

            “Guys,” Cinder started again, quietly. “Not the time.”

            “Look, I can let one of you stay the night, but only one,” the nurse tried to appease them.

            “I’m not leaving.” Del repeated sternly, staring Ash down, daring him to challenge.

            “Ash, I want to show you what Del’s been working on.” Ash moved his gaze to Cinder curiously, but Del quickly tried to knock that idea down.

            “No, I want Brynna to be the first to see it.”

            Cinder and her twin shared a look before she turned back to Ash. “I’ll tell you about it then. And tomorrow,” she rolled her eyes at Del, “you can help me… transfer some things, but I guess you’ll have to keep your eyes closed.”

            “Fine,” he gave in to his curiosity more than anything and followed Cinder out the door.

            “Great,” the nurse said. “I’ll go get a cot for you before I take off.”

            Music again. This time muffled as Brynna and Paige waited behind the club for a friend of Paige’s to let them in. Brynna was sixteen at the time and Paige had done this numerous times already. She wanted to be the one to take Brynna to her first club. Brynna didn’t let it show, but she was a little worried. Just from the outside and seeing the people waiting to get in, this place looked pretty sleazy. But at the time Paige though the sleazier the better and Brynna may have been quite a bit younger but she could keep up with Paige no matter where they ended up.

            Paige never left her side though, which she was grateful for. She remembered exactly what the guy looked like that first slid his hand around her wais and pulled her flush up against him. He had to have been into his thirties, light brown eyes that never left her cleavage, short-ish messy hair and a smile that showed off his crooked, yellowing teeth.

            Soon the scene started to change. Where there was a DJs booth was not a stage. The strobe lights pulsating around the place turned into dozens of colorful lights directed at the stage with one spotlight right in the middle.

            And then the guy that very well could have been a child molester was gone. She no longer saw Paige or the crowd for that matter, and then realized she was actually on that stage. She saw the crowd now, but couldn’t make out any faces until two suddenly stuck out. Del and Ash were looking at each other talking, but it didn’t look like a nice conversation.

            She took a small step forward, but stopped short when she bumped into a microphone she didn’t even see set up right in front of her. She noticed that the music never stopped, the song just changed. She was singing now, though she had no clue what. All she heard was a slow, steady drum beast, which just as slowly transformed into an incessant mechanical beep.

            Everyone stared up at her when she stopped singing. They started whispering and soon she started to be able to pick out voices, except the only ones she seemed to get were Ash and Del. They sounded angry and she wondered if they were mad at her that she stopped singing.