If God doesn't destroy Hollywood Boulevard, He owes Sodom and Gommorah an apology. - Unknown
Hey, man, I’m alive. I’m taking each day and night at a time. I’m feeling like a Monday, but someday I'll be Saturday Night... - Bon Jovi
* * *
The girl grimaced as an amazingly loud insect flew near her. It seemed to decide to sit right outside her ear, it's wings buzzing, driving her near insane. She moaned and cracked an eye open as a horrible thought entered her sleep-filled mind. What if that noise was her alarm clock?
"It can't be..." Elaslilan Aelorni pulled her pillow over her head to block the rays from the sun that were doing their best to penetrate her eyelids. "It can't be 8:00...it just can't be..." Her head began to ache as consciousness, and the damned buzzing, took over. Her body felt heavy and out of place, and her back ached. She winced and dared to open one eye slightly, still positive that there must be a bug around the room somewhere.
"Fuck." Elaslilan rolled out of her warm, inviting bed and onto a pile of clothes that covered the off-white carpet that covered the floor of the bedroom. She grabbed the alarm clock, turned the buzzer off and checked the time again. The bright red electronic numbers '8:15' shone up at her. "URG!" She thought about tossing the alarm clock, and began a wind-up, before she remembered it wasn't her's and she really didn't have the money to buy Sherry a new one. "ARG!" She hit the bed instead, disturbing the creature that was still sleeping there.
*Meow.* The cat that still occupied the bed blinked his blue eyes and cocked his head.
The sleepy, and now running late, girl glared at the animal. "You shut up!"
A moan from the other side of the large room informed the girl that the other living occupant of the room was being disturbed as well. "Slept in again Li?"
"Shut up." She pulled on a pair of worn, frayed yet comfortable jeans and searched around for a top.
Sherry stretched and sat up in bed. The other teenager was wearing nothing but a rather skimpy t-shirt and a pair of underwear. Li was dressed in a pair of jeans and her bra. Neither of them were uncomfortable, they'd worked together...and seen each other in a lot less. Li momentarily disappeared from Sherry's view as she ducked down behind the opposite side of her bed. "Where are you going at this despicable hour anyways?" She watched with vague amusement as all she could see of her friend was clothes flying. "And if you're looking for it, you're pink top is in my hand." She lifted the shirt and dangled it in front of her.
Li sighed loudly, and leapt over her bed to retrieve the article of clothing. Sherry pulled it away at the last minute. "Where are you going?"
"No where." Li snatched the shirt and began tying the strings that held the skimpy bit of cloth on. One didn’t tend to wear a lot when one was planning on running through down town LA in the middle of August.
Sherry yawned and lay back down in the bed, deciding that the combination of sun and soft covers felt too good to leave. She pulled the cord on the blinds letting a larger column of light into the messy apartment. She smiled to herself as she watched Li run around looking for her purse. "Another audition?"
Li froze for a second, and then continued her frantic search. "No." The momentary pause had given her away.
"You got guts Desmond." Sherry laughed and closed her eyes again. "You’ve really got guts."
For a second the late teenager didn’t know who her friend was talking too, but then she remembered she was Desmond...around here at least. If you didn’t want your family to find you, you made new name. Four years ago when Elaslilan Aelorni left a small town just outside of New York to make her way to Hollywood, Li Desmond had been born. She pulled a brush through her brown hair quickly and tied it into a messy pony-tail. "Guts don’t have anything to do with it."
"You’re stubborn then. " Sherry stroked the black kitten’s back. The cat had obviously decided she was more comfortable. "Most people give up within the first year."
Li couldn’t stop the horrible feeling that began to gnaw at her insides as she listened to Sherry’s attempt at a compliment. "Yeah." She began to feel sick, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She took two Tylenol with a swig of water and flung the door open while tying her shoes.
"Hey!" Sherry stood in the doorway, still in nothing but a t-shirt and panties. Li was halfway down the hall. The wannabe actress turned back to her friend as she opened the door that led to the stairs. "Good luck." Sherry waved.
"Don’t tell the other girls!" Li begged. She got enough lip from her supposed friend, she didn’t need her enemies finding out.
Sherry laughed. "My lips are sealed. Just make me your assistant or something when you do hit it big!"
Li gave her a dazzling smile as she began to take the steps three at a time. Luckily she was blessed with long legs and she managed to make it out onto the street in one piece. She hit the pavement at full speed and clenched her fists as she knew she had a good long run.
Even in the morning, the streets of LA were already full of people, and with muttered apologies and not-so muttered profanity the girl pushed through the crowd. Her tanned skin broke out in a sweat after only the first few minutes. It was a perfectly clear day and the temperature was easily already in the high 80's. The smell of gas, cigarette smoke and sweat filled Li’s senses, but she was used to it. When she’d first arrived here, she’d thought the air was poison, she thought she couldn’t breathe. Now she laughed when the new girls claimed the air was thick. She’d been here a lot longer than she’d expected. She’d probably be here for a lot longer still.
Don’t think like that Li... She spoke to herself as she ran, beginning to pant. ...this could be it...this could be the one.
"Need a lift?" Li stopped dead as a motorcycle screeched to a halt right beside her. The man on it smirked as he saw her put a hand to her heart in an attempt to stop it’s pounding.
"Christ Nick!" Li straddled the bike behind him. "Trying to kill me?"
"Where are we going?" The bleached blond, a living example of your typical surfer, revved the engine.
"Same place as last week." Li gripped his waist tighter as the motorcycle accelerated to a speed somewhat higher than the law allowed.
As they zipped between cars, ran a red light, and generally tested the police system of downtown Los Angeles, Li marvelled that she’d managed to survive four years here...especially since she came from a town where you were considered a ‘rebel’ if you drove the full speed limit. If my friends could see me now they wouldn’t recognize me... Whenever she thought of her home, Li couldn’t help feeling miserable. She remembered someone once telling her that no true dreamers ever came to Hollywood to make their careers... only fallen angels. She bit her tongue, forcing herself to think about happier thoughts. The irony in the fact that she now worked at an establishment called ‘Fallen Angels’ was not lost on her. If my friends could see me now, they’d cry...
"Here we are milady." Nick smirked as he helped her off the bike.
"Thanks." She turned quickly to enter the theatre, but her ride grabbed her arm and spun her around.
Nick stole and long and rather involved kiss from a girl he considered his friend. That’s just the way things worked with the people around here. His hand moved significantly lower than her waist. "You on stage tonight?"
Li fought her initial instinct to kick, punch or otherwise maim the person giving her this unwanted attention, but she’d learned to repress that over the last four years...just like she’d learned to pretend the stage he was talking about was at an actual theatre. "Yeah." She twirled quickly and began running the short distance to the theatre distance.
"See you tonight!" Nick called after her, thinking that she was just rushing because she was late.
Li forced that entire conversation out of her mind, pretending it never happened. She pretended most of the last four years never happened. It was the only way she could stay sane and not break down into a complete basket case like some of the girls did. She stayed firm in her belief that one day this whole ordeal would just be a horrible memory.
"Li Desmond?" The lady Li assumed was the casting director was obviously not impressed with the fact that she was five minutes late for her audition.
"Sorry. The traffic’s horrible..." Li approached the stage inwardly cursing herself. Strike one...
The lady was probably in her forties, had straight brown hair tied back in a ponytail and cruel dark green eyes magnified by glasses. She was wearing a very nice navy pant-suit. She looked at Li’s attire and clicked her tongue. She took a seat near the front of the theatre and began scribbling something on Li’s sheet.
Li bit her tongue, feeling the butterflies in her stomach multiplying. Strike two... A drama coach from her high school had once told her you had three chances to impress someone at an audition, after that, you didn’t have a shot, no matter how amazing you were. Li prayed she didn’t trip on her way up the stairs or anything.
She’d always figured that after a few hundred auditions she’d have worked up more nerve, and would not go through this near panic attack every time she approached a stage. Unfortunately, hundreds of auditions that landed her nothing more than insignificant bit parts left her confidence shattered.
As soon as she was on the stage, the butterflies disintegrated. She was met with the familiar smell of the god-awful stage makeup, mothballs, old costumes, sweaty props and the familiar feel of the powerful lights illuminating her. Li took a deep breath, the fact that she was probably just a ‘show audition’, you’re typical ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ case, sinking in. Once she was on stage though, that didn’t matter, nothing mattered. Li was going to give this her best shot.
The woman nodded and sat back to listen to the first monologue the girl had prepared.
Li smiled again and took a deep breath, making sure to breathe from her diaphragm and began to speak. It was like coming home. The words of William Shakespeare filled the small theatre with a style and passion that was all Li’s. She loved acting...if it was Shakespeare or modern, tragedy or drama. Li knew she was born for this, unfortunately, no one else seemed to.
The casting director showed no signs of being impressed, but she didn’t say anything insulting either. She scribbled on her clipboard and nodded for Li to begin her second monologue. Li knew that casting directors were as good at hiding their feelings as anyone else in LA, so she didn’t take that as a good or bad mark against her.
For the poem she’d been told to prepare, Li’d chosen a short little bit by Shel Silverstein. "One picture puzzle piece, Lyin’ on the sidewalk, One picture puzzle piece, Soakin’ in the rain. It might be a button of blue On the coat of the woman Who lived in a shoe. It might be a magical bean, Or a fold in the red Velvet robe of a queen. It might be the one little bite Of the apple that her stepmother Gave to Snow White. It might be the veil of a bride Or a bottle with some evil genie inside. It might be a small tuft of hair On the big bouncy belly Of Bobo the Bear. It might be a bit of the cloak Of the Witch of the West As she melted to smoke. It might be a shadowy trace Of a tear that runs down an angel’s face. Nothing has more possibilities Than one old wet picture puzzle piece." As she finished she waiting listening to the hum of an unseen, and unfelt, airconditioner.
It had always been one of Li’s favourite poems, even if it was a little juvenile. The words may sound like they were for children, but the message was for everybody. Everything’s got potential... Li began to feel the nervousness creeping up on her again. She loved acting, but she hated waiting.
Finally the words that every actor or actress know to be the kiss of death floated through the theatre. "Thank you Miss Desmond. We’ll call you."
Li smiled, thanked the lady, and fought back her feelings. Outwardly composed, as all actresses are, even after a bad audition, Li really felt like crying. She felt like collapsing as soon as she was out of the theatre and just sobbing until someone came along and made everything better. But no one was going to make everything better, nobody could. Not since she’d left her home and family, not since she’d come here, not since she’d taken the job at ‘Fallen Angels’. Li sighed and wiped a single tear that somehow had made it out of her eye away. It evaporated in the hot Los Angeles air. Li began walking back to her apartment in a run down building in the middle of a run down neighbourhood. She sighed. It was going to take a miracle to make things better.
*Meow.* The kitten, glad to see someone home, walked between Li’s legs, tripping her up.
She kicked angrily at the cat, missing by miles, and flung herself onto her bed. The air in the cramped apartment was amazingly hot and amazingly stale. Li kicked off her shoes and cracked one of the windows open. It made little difference, considering there was absolutely no breeze. She spent all of thirty seconds wondering where Sherry could be, but decided she’d rather not know. One of the many things she pretended never happened.
"No luck again?" Four or five of Li’s co-workers stood at her door. All the ‘fallen angels’ lived in the same apartment building, mainly because it was close to the club and inexpensive.
Li snapped her mouth shut before she could form a sarcastic reply. No use pissing them off, they were the senior staff at Fallen Angels. They decided when and how long Li worked. Considering she desperately needed the money, Li tried to play nice, but the older girls never played nice. There were about ten girls on the ‘senior staff’, most of them were in their late twenties or early thirties. These were the teenagers who’d run away and spent the last 15 years here. The ones who’d come to grips with the fact that they were never getting out of here. The ones who made sure every other hopeful teenager who ended up starving, shattered and desperate on their doorstep knew that they were never getting out of here either.
"I’m waiting for their call." Li refused to meet their gaze. She stared out the open window, seeing nothing but the graffiti on the wall of the building next to hers.
The girls giggled. They may be much older than her, but they never grew up. They never finished high school. They were permanently sixteen. "Yeah right."
Li smiled quickly, and then returned to staring empty-eyed out the window. Maybe they’d think she was high and leave. Li really didn’t do drugs, she didn’t have the money, but they didn’t need to know that. Playing drunk, stoned or high had gotten her out of a few tight situations, especially since she really wasn’t. I wonder if I could get a part based on that acting...
"You told Nick you were working tonight." Mel, the eldest and therefore leader, spoke. Her tone of voice didn’t give away whether she thought this was a bad thing or a good thing.
"Yeah..." Li was finally forced to face them, but she kept the far-away look in her eyes. "You said I was yesterday."
"Did I?" Two or three of the girls giggled, knowing exactly what was going to happen. "Nick’s a heavy tipper."
Yeah and he likes his girls clean...not drugged up like you, you bitch. Li played innocent. "Really?"
"Yeah." Mel leaned against the doorframe. "I think maybe you should sit tonight out." Mel put on an amazingly fake look of concern. "You don’t look so good."
The giggling was going to make Li snap. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, half of her rejoicing in the fact she wouldn’t have to work tonight, and half of her angry. After all, she may not like the pay, but she needed the cash. "Thanks for your concern Mel. You’re true blue."
The snickering continued as they older girls returned to their rooms. Mel hung around another minute, needing to add just one more insult to injury. "I thought you had a show tonight anyways...guess I was wrong." The girl gave her an evil smile before returning to her own room.
As pointless as the gesture was, Li let the closed door know exactly what she thought of Mel.
*Meow* The little black kitten rubbed up against her again, not understanding what was going on, but knowing that it’s human needed comfort.
Li felt herself dangerously close to crying again. "Shut up!!" She pushed the kitten over onto a pile of clothes.
Sherry sighed as she fixed her shirt and sat on her own bed. Li hadn’t heard her come in. "The cat’ll run away if you keep abusing it like that."
Li glared at the only friend she had in this god-forsaken town. "I didn’t hurt him."
Sherry tossed Li a sandwich she’d brought home. Her neck was bruised and bleeding, but the other teenager had obviously gotten paid. "You never even named the thing."
Li looked down at the sandwich feeling rather rotten. She shouldn’t have snapped at her friend. Sherry was two years older than her and had been here four years longer than her. She knew how to handle Mel and her goons, but she still wasn’t very well off. She had a few regular clients on the side, but, as everyone could plainly see, they weren’t very conductive to good health. She bit into the food, feeling guilty, but also realizing that it was nearing 1 p.m and she hadn’t had anything to eat. "He doesn’t need a name. He’s just a stupid creature."
Sherry picked up the kitten and cuddled it. "Can I call him Meow?"
"Knock yourself out." Li finished the sandwich in record time, ignoring Sherry’s smile. The other girl knew that Li hadn’t eaten, and she also knew that Li wouldn’t thank her. But she did know Li was grateful, and that’s why they remained friends despite all the lip they gave each other.
Sherry made Meow start purring. "Don’t worry, Meow. Li does love you, she just has a hard time showing affection."
Li rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. Maybe she could get a shift at the restaurant tonight. She wasn’t technically on the staff, but Mike sometimes let her work a couple hours for some extra cash.
Sherry continued her conversation with the cat. "She’s a grumpy person by nature and thinks that if she starts liking you she’ll have to like other people too."
"Hey Mike?" The voice on the other end of the line affirmed that it was indeed the older owner of a cheap restaurant a few blocks from her apartment. "Got any openings tonight?"
The man sighed. "Li?"
"Yeah." The girl felt rotten barging in on him like this, she knew she was taking advantage of his good nature. Somehow, when you were hungry, things like that bothered you less. "I’ll take anything."
The man sighed again. "I’ll fit you in somewhere. Be here by six." He hung up the phone before Li could thank him. He was upset.
So was Li. It wasn’t her fault Mel was an idiot. It wasn’t for lack of trying that she didn’t have more work. It wasn’t her fault she was stuck in this little hell hole...
"You see? She has to deal with grumpy people and that makes her sad." Sherry was using that annoying voice that people only use with small kids and animals.
"For Christ’s sake Sherry! That damned cat can’t understand a word you’re saying." Li knew she’d regret this later, but she needed an outlet for her feelings and Sherry was always an easy target. No matter how down things got, the other girl always managed to smile, laugh. Li couldn’t stand it sometimes. "We should drown the stupid thing." Li grabbed her purse and slammed the door on the way out.
Sherry smiled, knowing Li well enough to understand that it wasn’t her she was mad at, it was just LA. She kept stroking the kitten’s fur. "You know how you can tell she loves you?"
The cat purred and rubbed his head against Sherry’s face.
"She buys cat food every week before even bothering to figure out the rest of her budget."
Li hated working at Mike’s for many reasons. Partly because it meant she had to beg and plead for money, partly because the other waitresses hated her for it, partly because Mike got annoying, and partly because she hated serving tables.
Spending four hours walking back and forth between the small dining room and the kitchen with her metal tray and notebook was not only tedious and annoying, but also very tiring for the pitiful tips she was bringing in.
As she worked, the day played itself over and over in her head, from her attempt at an audition to snapping at Sherry. Li was already feeling guilty about her last action before coming here, but she wouldn’t apologize. Apologizing left you weak, vulnerable, and after only a few days in LA, Li had learned those were two things you never wanted to be. Sherry, on the other hand, had never seemed to learn that lesson. She was older than Li and had spent more time here, both in LA and working at ‘Fallen Angels’, but the other girl never got angry, or depressed as Li did. She took everything from a grumpy roommate to abusive customers in stride. She always apologized...and she always got taken advantage of. Once, after Li had returned from a fight with Mel, she’d turned on Sherry and asked her straight out why she let herself get walked all over. Her friend replied that she’d rather get used a million time than let one person who really needed her help get turned away empty-handed. It had taken Li a few months to figure out that the person Sherry was trying to help was herself. That, of course, had started another fight. Luckily, Sherry never got angry and Li never stayed angry at Sherry for long. They’d simply dropped the subject. Li was always grateful for Sherry’s understanding.
The restaurant was small, but busy and, thankfully, clean. Most of the places girls like Li found themselves in were dirty, and filled with dirty people, literally and figuratively speaking. The only reason Li enjoyed working here was because it meant for a few hours she could be clean, literally and figuratively.
"Hey honey...you really wanna earn that tip?" The 40-year old who offered the rather unattractive job smirked at her and tried to grab her.
Except of course when old sickos think that this is Spanky’s or something. Li, with much more force than was actually necessary, brought her metal tray down on his fingers. She may have to put up with that around her ‘friends’, she may have to put up with that at her apartment, she may have to put up with that in ‘Fallen Angels’, but, as God Himself knew, she was not going to put up with it here. Abusing her assailant brought some satisfaction, as if she’d decked Nick, Mel and the casting director all with one swing of her platter.
"Li!" Mike came out, hearing the sound of one of his regulars screaming. He looked from the angry, insulted girl to the angry, embarrassed man. He sighed. "The other waitresses just walk away."
"Besides," The injured man was trying to regain some of his dignity in his friend’s eyes. "I’ve seen you ‘working’, don’t act all high and mighty on me now."
It felt as if someone had clasped Li’s heart and tried to stop it. She felt like crying, screaming, running... In the end she brought her tray up again and brought it down with skull shattering force on the customer’s head. The man fell to the floor unconscious, another waitress shrieked and went to call the police, Mike yelled something, and Li escaped to the kitchen.
She was ashamed and slightly annoyed to discover that as she sat on the floor behind the dishwasher, Li was shaking. She was dangerously close to crying and had to bite her lip and swear a blue streak to keep the tears from slipping out. The worst part wasn’t that she was going to get in trouble for this, it was that everything the asshole had said was true.
Li could pretend things didn’t happen all she wanted, but that didn’t mean the rest of the world forgot as well. People saw her at ‘Fallen Angels’, people remembered.
"The police want to talk to you." Mike slid down the wall to sit beside her.
Li rested against the clean, white wall. It was cool and felt good, even if it did make goose pimples break out all along her arms. Li tried to say something, but found that she couldn’t find her voice.
Mike sighed. "He deserved it Li. I told them that. They just want to talk to you."
"Kay." She only managed the one syllable. She tried to get to her feet, but found that her knees were still shaking.
Mike stood up and helped her to his feet. He was a nice guy. He ran a nice place. She was taking advantage of him, just like she took advantage of Sherry. "C’mon kid." He was only three years older than her, and always called her that when he was going to say anything big brotherly. "You’re a tough girl. You put up with stuff like that all the time..." The man stopped what he’d thought was going to be a comforting compliment when he saw Li flinch. "What’s wrong?"
Li simply let him support her. For some reason this little incident and shaken her up more than she would have liked to admit. "Just thinking..."
"What?" Mike was worried about her. He’d grown up in LA and it wouldn’t have been the first time a runaway had fallen apart under the stress. But Li’d been here for four years...she was a tough chick. This was not like her.
"I probably should have taken that perv up on his offer." She pushed away from Mike. "I need the cash..." She walked towards the dining room, that was now empty of people, besides few witnesses and the cops.
"Miss Desmond?" A woman in her late forties turned to her.
Li nodded.
The lady smiled. Li was slightly shocked. She’d expected to be given the third degree, questioned, maybe even held for the night. She might have killed that man and this cop was smiling at her. "We’ve heard the story of what happened several times from several different people and all the stories mesh. The man made a few sexual innuendos and took it a bit too far. He’s been taken to hospital, and after we get your story, if you’d like to press charges for sexual harassment we’d be happy to accommodate you."
Li started laughing. She couldn’t help it, the whole situation was just too funny. "Press charges?" She felt Mike grab her arm and mutter something about keeping her big mouth shut, but she just couldn’t. "Ma’am, I don’t work here. I work at a lovely little establishment just around the corner called ‘Fallen Angels’."
From the look the cop gave her, she’d heard of it. "Yes, that was mentioned, but still, within this restaurant the man acted outside of acceptable behaviour..."
Li cut her off. "Stow it. Go save someone worth saving." Her bad mood increased to astronomical proportions Li stormed out and headed for home. She knew she was never going to work at Mike’s again. It was too clean for her anyways.
The evening was actually starting to cool the air and Li shivered as she stormed home. The stars should have been coming out, but she couldn’t see any of them. The bright lights drowned them out and the smog hid anything else. She sighed and flung herself down on the steps to her building. The concrete was still fairly hot, but Li just added that to the ever-growing list of things that were going wrong for her today. "How did I end up here?" She whispered the question to the night as she heard a siren go off. "This was not how it was supposed to work out."
"How was it supposed to work out?" Sherry sat down beside her. Li hadn’t made much noise, and hadn’t heard Sherry come out, but her friend’s appearance didn’t startle her. Sherry could just do that. The fact that Meow was in her arms didn’t surprised Li either.
"Don’t tell me you can’t guess?" They’d become roommates, and friends, about three months after Li’s relocation here, but the topic of their pasts had never come up. Li was still trying to avoid it.
Sherry smiled. "Fame, fortune, gorgeous beach boys..." She laughed. "Yeah. Sounds about right."
"For what?" Li raised a brow, trying to make herself depressed again. The fact that she’d almost caught herself smiling just because of Sherry’s good humour made her wary. Some part of her told her she was being silly, but she was trying to stay in a bad mood long enough to have the guts to hit Mel later tonight.
"Sounds like you Li." Sherry leaned back and stared at the empty sky. The only thing you could see when you looked up, besides the streetlights and the buildings, was the moon.
Li sighed and rolled her eyes. "Thanks...I’m pathetic."
Sherry smiled again. "Nah. You’re just...misguided. Becoming a star’s not as easy as you thought eh?"
She wasn’t asking her directly, but Li knew that Sherry was finally asking to hear her story. Li sighed and lay down, letting the moon fill her vision too. She was surprised to find that Meow was in her lap...and even more surprised to find that she was stroking his fur. "You first."
Sherry smiled. "That’s you all over again Li."
"I have a hard time being anyone else."
Sherry shook her head sadly, she’d obviously meant something else. "Never mind."
Li felt miserable, like she’d hurt her friend again. There was a few minutes of silence between them, the neighbourhood, and the rest of LA went on being as noisy as it always was.
"I couldn’t stand my parents, my siblings, anything." Sherry spoke quickly, and with a bitterness that Li had never heard before. "I threatened to run away, and they laughed, so I did." She sighed, letting the hatred fade from her voice. "I was the youngest, spoiled probably, but I didn’t realize it. They all treated me like the baby of the family, I just wanted to show them I wasn’t . I wanted to grow up. I came here, I met up with Mel, and I took this job." Li was quiet, not knowing how to respond to this new information. "They came looking for me...my family...they really missed me, but I was still to angry. They stayed in LA for almost half a year, trying to find me...but I was still angry..." The idea of Sherry being angry seemed alien, making the story almost unbelievable. If it weren’t for the pain in Sherry’s voice, Li wouldn’t have believed it. "After they left, I felt like I’d done it. I’d proved I could live on my own, I’d grown up. I could go home, they’d be so happy to see me..." Sherry took a deep breath before continuing. "I took one look at myself, at what I’d done to them...at what I’d become, and I decided not to go back." She turned to look at Li, letting her friend know that this was probably something that only she had ever heard. "It would have hurt too much...it’s easier this way...let them think I disappeared...ran off with some rich European...moved to Mexico...anything, just don’t let them see what I did to grow up."
Li, unsure how to react, stayed quiet. They could hear the music coming from the ‘Fallen Angels’ and they both sighed. Sherry managed a smile first. "You’re turn."
After that, how could Li have possibly kept quiet. "I always wanted to be an actress." She was surprised by the emotion in her own voice. "I’ve always felt it was my..." She blushed in the dark.
Sherry nudged her. "C’mon. It’s me. I won’t laugh."
Li found herself smirking and realized that there was no way she’d be angry enough to deck Mel later on. "I’ve always felt it was my destiny. Like when I’m on stage I knew it was what I was supposed to do for the rest of my life." She paused, realizing how silly her story seemed compared to Sherry’s, but knowing that her friend deserved to know. "My mom disliked the idea, in fact she forbade it. I had too bright a future to waste it away trying to be a ditzy, overpaid snob. She didn’t get why I loved it so much." Li thought back to her school, mother, friends, and realized how stupid she’d been four years ago. "I ran away...I was going to be an actress...I was going to be famous and they were going to regret that they’d laughed at me...all of them... my mother...my friends...my teachers....they wouldn’t be laughing when I was famous..." Li found herself crying and felt Sherry’s hand on her shoulder. She managed to calm herself down.
"What a couple a wrecks we are eh?" Sherry didn’t laugh at Li’s stupidity, Sherry never laughed at Li.
"Yeah." Li wiped her nose with her sleeve. She didn’t care how unladylike it looked.
"I got Mel to let us both work tomorrow." Sherry changed topics. Li realized that the older girl was just as confused about how to respond to Li’s story as Li was on how to respond to Sherry’s. Maybe she wasn’t perfect.
"Thanks." Li stood up, helped Sherry stand, and dropped Meow on the ground. She stopped suddenly, realizing she’d broken one of her cardinal rules...if you wanted to stay strong you didn’t apologize, you didn’t show gratitude. She turned quickly to face Sherry.
The other girl was smiling, she’d caught the slipup. "No problem."
Li smiled, picked up her kitten, and turned towards the door again.
"By the way," Sherry added as she followed her friend towards their apartment. "I bought cat food."
"When I hit it big, remind me to take out a contract on Mel." Li tried to pull the short skirt down farther, but it was practically impossible.
"Oh! Hire me." Sherry ducked out of a man’s embrace as she followed Li back to the kitchen’s. They were working as waitresses this evening instead of on stage. Li silently thanked her friend for getting her this position. Only the lucky got to dodge men’s hands instead of sit patiently and accept it. Sherry must have really bribed Mel to get them these positions. It was however a busy night and the two needed someone to blame for their miseries. Mel was an easy, and rather appropriate target.
The air in the club was hot, sticky and filled with smoke. Music blared from all directions, injuring the ear drums. Inappropriate comments sailed the air and it was hard to move without stepping into someone’s embrace. Sherry’s story played over and over again in Li’s head, she was finally starting to get it. In fact she understood parts of it at least as well as her friend. How do you tell your mother you work at a place like this? How do you get out of a place like this?
"Hey honey! Dance!" Somebody spanked her and the vision of hitting him with the serving tray came vividly to Li. She bit her lip, wiggled her hips and headed for the relative safety of the kitchens.
Sherry, tray full of drinks, leaned over to whisper in her ear. "By the way, I heard about what happened at Mike’s. Nice move."
Li laughed. Her friend’s sometimes sarcastic, sometimes punny whispered remarks made this whole thing almost bearable. She’d told Sherry that once and the girl had informed her that she should have been a comedian. Sherry had told her that she was the only one who laughed. Besides, it was nice to have someone to share her ramblings with.
"I employ you to work! Not chat!" The mean lady who ran this entire establishment snapped at Li and with sigh, she entered the heaving mass of bodies, smoke and smut again. No one knew the old woman’s name, and most thought she was insane, but she kept a tight rein on her business and her girls and in doing so earned their respect. Besides, she had a wicked swing with her cane.
Li saw Sherry disappear behind a curtain with a man twice her size and obviously drunk. She sighed sadly. And she thinks I have guts...
"Miss Aelorni?" She stiffened at the sound of her real name. It was like a dream...or a nightmare. The rest of the club seemed to go silent as Li turned to find the person who actually knew her. She’d never used her given name here in LA, ever. This person must recognize her from her hometown. A million separate thoughts ran through the girl’s head as she slowly turned around. I hope it’s not someone I know...I hope they don’t see me like this...I hope it’s not one of my teachers...What would one of my teachers be doing here? Perverts. I hope they don’t tell my mother I’m here...
"I thought that was you Elaslilan." To her relief, and disappointment, Li didn’t recognize the man in front of her.
"I don’t go by that name anymore...I think you’re looking for someone else." Something about him set her teeth on edge, she knew he was bad news.
The man grinned. "I’m pretty sure you’ll here what I want to say." He took her arm and tried to lead her to a more secluded spot in the club...if that was possible.
Li pulled her arm away. "I’ll decided if I want to hear it or not. Talk." All of her instincts were telling her to shove off and disappear before this man got another word out, but Li had to admit that she was curious. How does he know my name?
The man had a horribly sly smile and obviously thought highly of himself. Li wished Sherry would show up, but she knew her friend was occupied. "I saw you in your hometown. I’m a talent scout. I tried to talk to you, but your mother told me you weren’t interested."
Any noise left in the club disintegrated...at least it seemed that way to Li. She stopped breathing, her mouth hung open, she was pretty sure her heart stopped. She tried to speak, but words wouldn’t come. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. She couldn’t believe this. A talent scout...wanted to talk to her...knew her before LA....before everything...and her mother... That thought brought Li back to her senses quickly. "As you can see, my mother doesn’t decide what I do with my life."
The man laughed, obviously pleased with the answer. "I thought as much. Someone with your amount of talent should be on stage...in a real theatre."
The small insult stung, but Li felt she deserved it. She was after all working in this hell hole. But not for much longer... All her bad feelings about the man were drowned by her reborn dreams of stardom...of hitting it big...proving she could do it. Her instincts fought to be recognized, but ended up suppressed. "How did you find me?"
"I was at the audition you were at yesterday...the theatre was dark, you probably didn’t see me. I thought I recognized you, so I checked my notes."
"You have notes on me?" Li ignored the old woman’s yells to get back to work. She dragged the man towards the back door. When they were standing alone in the dark alley, she posed her question again. "You have notes on me?"
The man, wearing a nice suit and giving the impression of being rather well off, wrinkled his nose as the smell of hot garbage wafted through the alleyway. Li couldn’t help feeling that she’d got the home turf advantage now. In the crowded club it was easy to unnerve her with a few comments about her past and her name. Now, in an alleyway Li knew way too well, he appeared uncomfortable and out of place. "I keep notes on all people I believe could one day make it big." He startled at a rustling in one of the garbage cans.
"It’s probably just a rat." Li smirked at his discomfort. "So you checked your notes?"
"Yes...and I found out you’re real name. I asked the casting director for your name and address, discovered you were using a new name...not a surprise really...and decided to pay you a visit tonight. You weren’t home, but your neighbours pointed out where you were."
Li nodded, trying to find the catch, trying to find that little bit of information that would prove his story false, prove that he was just trying to get her hopes up. The flies buzzed around her head as she found herself believing his story. "So what do you want with me?" She was almost afraid to ask the question, terrified that he would tell her he’d been planning on finding her an agent, until he found her here. Or scared that he might just be here to check up on an old ‘acquaintance’.
He handed her a small, white card, embossed with gold letters. "To invite you to a party, as my guest."
The card had an address, a time and a name on it. Li’s jaw dropped. "This guy...he’s...he’s a director...he’s famous...he...he..."
The man was too sly. "He’s a good friend of mine. I’m sure he’ll love to meet you." The man, once again in control of the situation, took a few steps back and bowed. "See you at eight tomorrow Miss Aelorni." He turned on his heel and left the alley before Li could say anything in reply.
She stood for a second in the hot, humid evening air just staring at the golden letters. "YES!!" Her scream startled several passerby’s and some of the kitchen staff. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!!!" She jumped up and down a couple of time, not caring how stupid she looked. She hugged herself and the first person she met when she re-entered the club.
Sherry, her hair a mess, but fully clothed again saw her friend smiling broadly and knew something was up. "Hey, win the lottery?"
Li grabbed her friend in a bear hug. The knowledge that things were finally going her way, that she could quit this excuse for a job, that these last four wasted years would finally be a memory washed away the bitterness Li normally kept close to the surface as her first line of defence. "Yes!"
"How do I look?" Li had been staring at her reflection in the mirror for hours and the question she had just uttered had graced the room many times before.
Sherry smiled, overwhelmed with happiness for her friend, and, she was ashamed to admit, just a little bit of jealously. "Amazing. We’ve been over this."
After finally extracting the entire story from her friend, Sherry’d take her shopping. The older girl had paid for the dress and had done Li’s hair, after extracting a promise that Li wouldn’t forget her when she was famous. She pushed her jealousy down deep, she was -not- going to ruin this for Li at all.
Li was a bundle of nerves. She only had an hour before the party...and her cab would be here any minute now. "Red’s not my colour."
"What are you talking about!?" Sherry flung herself from the bed, disturbing Meow’s rest, and stood beside Li. They were both reflected in the mirror. "You were built for red."
Li laughed. Both girls are what many would consider attractive, even though they didn’t look that much alike. Sherry, at 6'2", was taller by a good four inches, but both were skinny as could be...there’s nothing like starvation to give you a perfect figure. Li’s hair and eyes were a matching deep brown and her skin was tanned. Sherry’s eyes were light blue and her hair was light blond...almost platinum blond. She had fairer skin and a smattering of freckles. "I’ll pay you back for the dress and...well...everything."
Sherry grinned, her jealously gone. "No need."
A loud honk informed the girls that the cab had arrived. They both jumped and Li began searching for her shoes. Sherry held them up. "You got guts Desmond."
Li smiled and hugged her friend. "So do you."
"Good luck!" Sherry squeezed Li back as the cab honked again.
"Don’t wait up for me!" Li pulled the shoes on and ran out the door, taking the steps three at a time.
*Meow* The kitten called after her. Sherry laughed and picked him up, smiling. "Now you’ll be eating caviar and anchovies every meal."
The kitten meowed again. Sherry watched the cab leave with another pang of jealousy that she tried to ignore. "It would be really ironic and weird to say that she has all the luck eh?"
Meow blinked once or twice and curled up in Sherry’s arms. The older girl smiled as she remembered the look on Mel’s face as Li had told her she quit that afternoon. She was probably the first girl in the history of the club to leave to pursue a better career...if she was going to pursue a better career. Sherry knew that Li had burnt that bridge. She’d warned her friend that just because she was going to this party didn’t mean she’d already made it...there were a million things that could go wrong. For Li’s sake she’d finally given in to the suddenly optimistic possibility that this was exactly as it seemed...that everything was going to be alright. But she still had a horrible feeling in her stomach.
She stroked Meow’s fur and lay on her bed, trying to figure out a way to support her friend if this didn’t turn out to be her big break. She would never ask Li to work at ‘Fallen Angels’ again, and, after this afternoon, she never would have been allowed back anyways. Sherry wondered what it felt like to be free.
"Miss Aelorni." A beautifully dressed woman curtsied to her. "Mr. Connell has told me so much about you."
Li smiled in return and shook the woman’s hand. She was beginning to like having people call her by her original name again. "Thank you. I’m honoured to be here."
The lady moved on and Li felt a giddiness threaten to overcome here. The talent scout had been talking about her. They’d heard so much about her. Everything was going her way. She walked to the patio, and stepped out into the balmy night air. From this vantage point, LA was beautiful. They were high enough up, on the 17th floor, that you could see the stars again. In fact, if you looked out at the night sky, all you could see was stars. The apartment she was in was easily ten time the size of her apartment and it had the faint smell of roses everywhere within it, unlike her apartment which smelt like things not discussed in polite society. The music was loud enough to be heard everywhere, but soft enough that you could talk over it. The carpet was white...pure white...Li’d been afraid to step on it at first, but when the other guests began to walk around her she decided she’d better. This whole place was so marvellous...like a dream palace. Li was expecting to hear her alarm clock any moment now.
"Miss Aelorni. There you are." Mr. Connell closed the curtain that separated the room from the patio. Now that the rest of the party seemed oddly cut off, Li noticed how high she really was.
"Just needed some fresh air...everything so...busy in there." Li grabbed the railing and seriously hoped she wouldn’t faint. For heaven’s sake...heights have never bothered you before! Li knew it wasn’t the fact that she was a good couple hundred feet off the ground that was bothering her, it was the look on the face of her talent scout. He was up to something.
"We’re busy people." He walked beside her and took her hand. "I have a proposition for you."
Li’s heart skipped a beat. This is exactly what she’d been waiting to hear...but why was she so nervous. "Really?" She pushed all the unwanted feelings down and managed a smile for the man who was going to be her salvation.
"Mmhmm." He nodded his head as he came just a little bit closer. "I’ve called a few favours in...I’ve got you an agent...and a part in a film...nothing big, but it’s definitely a start."
Li almost did faint when she heard that. Any doubts she had about the character of Mr. Connell went flying off the balcony to die somewhere in the streets below. The height didn’t bother her at all anymore, in fact she felt as if she could fly. It was all finally working out...everything was going to be okay...she’d found her miracle. She couldn’t wait to tell Sherry. She’d go inside and ask to borrow the phone. She smiled all over again, imagining the look on her friend’s face. "Thank you so much...I don’t know how I could ever possibly even start to repay you..." Li was babbling and the older man cut her off.
"I do." And without saying a word he made her painfully aware of what he expected from her in return.
Li stiffened as his hand crept up her skirt. She felt immediately grounded and confused. "Mr. Connell..."
He kissed her neck, pushing himself against her, and therefore pushing her back against the railing. She cried in pain and broke the embrace. Li felt her knees shaking as she took several steps towards the curtain. "I’m not sure what I did to lead you on to the conclusion that I’d be willing to pay that price..." Li was choosing her words carefully, after all, she was in show business now and she couldn’t afford to make any enemies.
"You’re a hooker." Mr. Connell replied quickly and without emotion. "It’s what you girls do. I get you off the streets, a few bit parts in some films and free range of my merchandise."
He could not have hurt her more had he thrown her from the balcony. Li collapsed, her knees shaking to much to support her as everything became clear to her. "But you saw me back home...I had potential..."
The talent scout took a few steps towards her. "Yeah. Pretty face, nice body, obviously aching to make it big..."
Her heart had stopped, suffocated by the pain that was pulsing within her. She couldn’t blink, or cry, just stare straight ahead. "It was never about my acting..."
Mr. Connell smiled. "Most things in Hollywood aren’t." He grabbed at her and she didn’t resist. "You’re still going to be an actress sweet-heart...and who knows...maybe you will hit it big." His words sounded sincere, but his smile gave him away.
Li was dying inside. She felt like screaming, weeping, balling, but she couldn’t. She just sat there and let her talent scout touch her. Her instincts told her to run, fight, kick, bite anything, but she managed to calm them as well...silenced by her dream. Li wanted to be an actress more than anything, why was this choice suddenly alarming her? She just had to close her eyes and let him...
NO! Her heart pounded twice as hard as the rest of her came back into awareness. "No..." She repeated the word softly, but with conviction. It’s not going to happen like this...I’m not going to make my start like this...I’m not merchandise....I won’t let him! Even when she was starving, Li had never sold herself that way. She was a stripper, she made out with guys, even let some get as far as third base for a pretty penny, but she was still a virgin and she was going to be damned before she just gave that away for a gift role. "No." Li stood up and pulled away from the older man, who looked at her as if she’d gone insane.
"What do you mean no?" No one had ever done this to him before.
"I won’t. I’ll make it on my own. I don’t want, or need, to become yours." She felt her eyes grow moister as she stepped towards the curtain. "Thanks, but no thanks."
"Come back here you little bitch!" He grabbed at her and she clawed his arm. With a roar of anger the talent scout, who’d been taking in teenager for the last twenty years chased after the first one that was getting away. Li broke into a run, but the guests hampered her. She flung the door open, kicking off her shoes in the process so she could run faster. She couldn’t help but notice how nice the carpet felt beneath her feet. She could hear him behind her, and she could hear the comments from the party guests. It chilled her to the bone to hear that they weren’t surprised at what was happening. After all, this is Hollywood...a place where they’ll give you a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents for your soul.
She pressed the down button to call the elevator so hard her nail snapped. She swore and pushed it again and again. There was no way the elevator was going to get here before Mr. Connell. She ran for the stairs. Years of practice at her apartment meant that Li was in good enough shape to sprint the entire way down 17 floors, even if it did leave her out of breath at the bottom. Unfortunately the elevator had gotten to Mr. Connell before Li could get out of the building. He grabbed her tightly, knocking her upside the head and dazing her. He smiled at the security guards who’d come to investigate. "Daughter, trying to run away from home." He should have been the actor. "One fight and they run screaming out the door." The guards doubted his story, but they knew his face. He had powerful friends. They didn’t stop him as he dragged Li outside and to his car. They didn’t notice how Li kicked and fought. They didn’t hear Li scream. And when Mr. Connell re-entered the building alone, they didn’t bother asking where his daughter was.
"Beginning to really fancy yourself a real Searchdragon, aren’t you?" A’diar glared at all passerby’s, since his lifemate was not present. "Chasing after more people on this gods-forsaken planet."
You’re the one who stopped into that lovely little establishment and fell for her. The black/brown was concealed in a factory a few blocks away, but he’d been able to sense the girl’s potential through his rider. And I was right about the others wasn’t I?
"I’m still confused as to how we got here." He looked down the streets of this strange world and marvelled at all the wonders. Glowing lights of every colour of the rainbow, people who could breathe fire, metal chunks that ran around at incredible speeds. He didn’t understand how these people could not believe in dragons when they obviously had magic.
I get my co-ordinates from you rider-mine. It’s your fault. Doroboth disliked the cramped quarters of his ‘cave’, but he remembered how the last earthlings reacted to his presence and decided not to cause city-wide panic.
"You do realize when we find this girl she’s going to think we’re crazy." A’diar was heading towards the apartment he’d seen her enter when he’d followed her home the night before.
I just find them, you convince her to leave her world.
A’diar rolled his eyes and glared up, a horrible habit he’d picked up from Weyrwoman Magika. "You’ve never even seen the girl, how do you know she’ll make a good candidate? All you know is what I saw of her." The black/brownrider grinned to himself. "Which was a lot of skin..."
Doroboth snorted. Just trust me.
"Whatever." A’diar pounded on the door to the building. It was like a mansion to him and he wondered how many people lived there. He figured this girl he was chasing must be rich if she could live in a place like this.
Then why is she working in a place like that?
"Fun?" A’diar pounded on the door again. It wasn’t very late and he seriously doubted the entire house was already in bed.
"Hey, buddy. It’s an apartment building, you have to go inside and knock on you’re friends door." A passer-by realized A’diar dilemma.
"What?" This concept was not completely foreign to him...after all, the room in a Weyr work the same way. "Oh. Thanks."
Doroboth laughed, causing several people who lived near the factory to wonder what exactly they made there. I thought you said you’d been here before, you knew how to fit in...
"Shut up and tell me which door in her’s." The building was not as big as Adanuk, but it was still large. He didn’t really want to go knocking on every door, he’d look even more like an idiot than he already did. Touzoku cheeped in his ear and began to fly towards a door. A’diar rolled his eyes. "Now the flit thinks he’s a Searchdragon. Come back here you little twit. People can’t see you." He grabbed the bronze flit and figured he might as well pound on the door he was at. There was no answer. He tried again. "Doesn’t anybody around here answer their door?"
"Umm..." The same helpful person from before was beside him and pushed the door open. "That’s the stairs."
A’diar rolled his eyes and tried to block Doroboth’s laughing. "Great."
"It’s only midnight...I mean if it’s a good party, that’s nothing...she’ll probably be out all night...I shouldn’t worry." And yet even as she told herself that, Sherry paced the small apartment, Meow on her ankles. She had a bad feeling about this. She was sure that as soon as Li got an offer she would call, but the phone hadn’t rang yet, and it’d been over four hours.
Finally, she forced herself to sit down. "This is silly. If I was off at some wonderful party, I would not be thinking about calling home..." She sighed and stared at the silent phone, blaming it for the lack of information. "...but Li would."
Something’s wrong Diar, she’s not in the building. And her friend, the cute blond, is obviously worried. Realizing that there was no way his owner was going to find this candidate without him closer, Doroboth had snuck out of the factor and managed to make it to the apartment building. Luckily it was a dark night, the moon and stars were blocked by thunderclouds. The fact that the dragon was such a dark colour helped as well. The hyper-active bronze flit had been sent back to Magika with a message about a possible candidate.
"Damn." A’diar swore, feeling it too. Whether it was the tension in the air as the thunderstorm came, or something else entirely, the black/brownrider knew something was wrong as surely as Sherry did. "She’s in trouble."
"I knew it!" Both rider and dragon were startled by the sound of Sherry’s voice. "You’re after Li too, aren’t you?"
"Umm..." A’diar looked to Doroboth, it was obvious the girl hadn’t seen him yet or she’d be screaming. Am I allowed to get rid of her?
Kill her? The dragon was appalled.
No! A’diar glared. You big dumb lizard, knock her out or something.
It wouldn’t be the first time the poor girl got slapped around. The dragon seemed oddly sad, but they needed to get rid of the girl somehow.
"Listen miss..." A’diar took a few steps closer to her, hoping to just talk her out of leaving them alone.
A side Sherry barely knew she had suddenly broke free. "Don’t listen miss me!!! You’re after Li....you just said she was in trouble. I’m her best friend and you’re going to take me to her! Got that?"
Doroboth smiled and dipped his head into view. Sherry clutched at her heart as her eyes grew wide and her breathing shallow. A’diar’s mouth did the same thing as he sought to find a reply to Sherry’s command. The bronze/black spoke so both Sherry and A’diar could hear. I believe the words you’re looking for A’diar are "yes ma’am".
The thunderstorm finally broke about 1 am, just as the humidity was getting to the unbearable point. The cool rain fell in torrents, washing everything away from Li. Her tattered clothes, the dirt, the saliva....and the blood. She shivered, but couldn’t move. Her head felt like it had been disconnected from her body, like it was floating off somewhere in another world. She was numb from the neck down. A part of her that still had some sense informed her that she probably had a concussion, to add to a multitude of other injuries she remembered having inflicted upon her, and that was why everything was numb, that was why she couldn’t make her body move, that was why she was dreaming that someone was calling her name. She felt herself falling farther and farther away from the pavement her beaten body was lying on.
The rain was cold and the thunder was deafening. Sherry was soaked to the bone within minutes of being out in the horrible weather, but she couldn’t stop looking. It was almost half-past one in the morning and she knew Li was in trouble. She’d gone up to the apartment where the party was being held and everyone had claimed they’d never seen her, but Sherry had found her shoes on the floor. "Li? Li?" Sherry was more worried than she’d ever been before in her life, and she didn’t know why. Li had lived here for four years, she was only two years younger than Sherry...that didn’t make her a baby. She was a legal adult for heaven’s sake. Why do I care about her so much... "Li? For God’s sake answer me!!"
"Sherry..." A’diar touched her shoulder. "She’s not here, we’ll look somewhere else. Don’t worry, we’ll find her." The black/brownrider hugged the distraught girl.
*Meow* The kitten hated the rain, but it had refused to be left at home. It was cold and wet, but it seemed to understand that Li was in trouble as well. It leapt from Sherry’s arms and ran towards the parking lot.
"Meow!" Sherry broke off the embrace and took off after the kitten.
A’diar sighed as he pushed a piece of hair out of his face. "This is the absolute last time we ever come here, got that?"
Loud and clear. Doroboth couldn’t sense the girl anymore. He told his rider. They both knew what that meant, what it normally meant.
"It’s gonna tear her girlfriend apart." A’diar began to slowly walk after Sherry who was running after Meow. The thunder had probably spooked the cat and it ran off confused.
They weren’t girlfriends, for the record. Doroboth was standing on top of the apartment building. No one had noticed him yet.
"Really? They seemed awfully close." A’diar usually pictured himself a good judge of character.
By the first egg! Doroboth was stunned.
"Hey!" A’diar couldn’t help feeling a little insulted. "They were awfully close and I’m only human...I make mistakes about people sometimes..."
The dragon was confused for a moment. Not about that you idiot! I’ve found her, well, Sherry’s found her.
"What?" A’diar broke into a run.
Actually if you want to get amazingly technical, Meow found her. The black/brown leapt from the building and soared into the parking lot, praying that between the dark night and the torrential downpour no one would notice him.
A’diar pushed wet hair out of his face again as he pumped his legs harder and harder. He saw his lifemate land near Sherry.
Diar....it’s bad.
Li thought she was dead...except for the fact she was very cold and she was pretty sure that dead people didn’t feel the cold. Then again, there was an angel above her. A half-drowned really upset angel, but an angel none the less.
"Oh Li." Sherry couldn’t help crying when she found her friend, naked, bleeding and bruised. She quickly knelt beside her and took Li’s head in her lap. "Everything’s going to be okay..."
Li tried to laugh. Of course everything was going to be alright, she’d got her big break hadn’t she? Her head began to pound with an unbelievable pain.
"We’ll get you to a hospital...you’ll be fine." Sherry knew that the fact that she was crying couldn’t be helping, but she couldn’t stop. Sometimes life was just so damn unfair. A cold, wet, frightened meow drew her attention back to the little kitten that had found her human.
Li heard the meow as well and blinked several times. Her eyes lost some of their glassiness. "Meow?"
"She found you, you know." Sherry let the cat rub against her master’s body.
"Sherry?" Li began to realize that she wasn’t dead. She was lying in the parking lot of a very nice apartment complex. She was naked and everything hurt.
"I’m here." The older girl cradled Li’s head, praying that A’diar would come help soon.
"Everything hurts." Li began to cry. She couldn’t help it, she’d come to a horrible realization. Everything that had happened to her was real, it wasn’t pretend, and she couldn’t make it go away. That knowledge was just too much to bear.
A’diar finally arrived, after Doroboth and covered Li with his cape. Both girls were sobbing uncontrollably, and A’diar wasn’t sure of what to do. Luckily they were both too traumatized from everything else that had happened to them tonight to freak because of Doroboth. "C’mon." He touched Sherry’s shoulder. "Let’s get going."
"A hospital..." Sherry managed to gasp out between sobs.
"Something like that." A’diar grabbed the kitten, who’d also began howling, and stuck it in his pocket. The creature would be fine for a while. He helped the two girls to mount Doroboth and wrapped his arms around both of them, and wished he could make all their pain go away. He wished he could have protected them both. "We’re going to the Healing Den."
Sherry tapped gently on the door before walking into the room. "Feeling any better?"
Li managed a weak half-smile for her friend. "I guess."
Meow looked up from his spot on Li’s lap and blinked a few times. The cat didn’t understand about emotional trauma...he only knew that he had Li back and that was enough for him.
A’diar had brought them to the Healing Den three weeks previous, and they were both just getting accustomed to the whole dragon idea. The place seemed like a giant meteor, with no outside really. Sherry’d been out once, but she didn’t like it...there weren’t any stars. Li hadn’t left her room. The people here had been really great, if they were all crazy and weird. They knew how to cure Li’s concussion, broken ribs and broken wrist, and they knew to leave her alone until she could cure her soul.
"I got to see the Sands today." Sherry had taken a deep interest in the upcoming Hatching, even if she hadn’t been Searched. Li had been Searched for this clutch and would stand a chance at becoming a dragonrider. The mere idea boggled Sherry’s mind, Li didn’t seem quite so enthusiastic.
"What were they like?" Li was just making conversation.
"Big. Full of dragons." The mention of the ‘d-word’ shut both girls up temporarily. Dealing with the upheaval of all their beliefs in what was real and what was myth took a little bit of getting used to. Sherry remembered sadly what she’d told A’diar when he’d asked who to leave a message with that the two had disappeared. She’d told him not to worry about it, girls came to LA to disappear all the time.
Sherry sat on the foot of Li’s bed as the other girl sat up. They both looked at each other for a good long time, grateful of the other’s support. "You’ll watch me when I go out there to be eaten, right?"
Sherry smiled. "I’ll be front row, centre. Never seen anyone get eaten before." They’d both been informed that the dragons never ate people and were actually insulted when the two earthlings had suggested it. They were just starting to believe in the dragons though, they hadn’t yet had time to rearrange their beliefs of what dragons were like.
"I wonder what I have that makes them think I’d be good...and what you don’t have..." As soon as she’d been Searched, Li’d asked if Sherry was too. They’d said no. Li was still working on understanding that one. She was glad they’d let her friend stay though.
Sherry smiled. "Potential."
Li groaned. "Don’t give me any of that..." Sherry realized she might have taken a small step past joke.
"Sorry."
"Me too."
Li wondered if they’d let Sherry stay after she impressed or got eaten or whatever. Sherry didn’t want to go back, but if the dragons didn’t want her there was little Li could do about it. She turned back to her friend and could tell that Sherry was thinking the exact same thing. They had an opportunity to start over here, a new life, a second chance.
"What’s your real name?" Sherry asked, suddenly.
"Elaslilan Aelorni. Why?"
"I’m Sharon Malcolm." The older girl smiled. "Let’s let Li Desmond and Sherry rest in piece."
Li couldn’t help smiling. "Good idea." She remembered her four years trying to pretend that her life wasn’t happening. "But let’s nor forget what they learned."
"Deal." Another moment of silence passed between the two best friends. "How are you feeling?"
Li smiled. "Better."