Chapter One
Gail stared into the mirror, the drink she’d already consumed making her eyes a little blurry. For a moment she saw a beautiful model; black hair creating a fringe that highlighted the depths of her brown eyes, those same dark-brown eyes were framed beautifully with smoky eye makeup that gave her a sultry look. In that moment, her six-foot height didn’t make her look like a freak compared to her friends; she wasn’t the giant that stood over all of her dainty tiny friends. Then her vision cleared, and while she remained beautiful, she saw a girl with a jawbone that was a little too strong, and shoulders that were just a smidge too broad. Sighing she turned from the mirror and went to stand against the wall until her friends came out of their own stalls. Reality sucked, hard, and she closed her eyes for a moment, her head swimming from the drink and her thoughts.
Her sad smile disappeared the moment Allison walked out of her stall, the perky, always smiling, blonde’s current grin infecting Gail with a happiness she never quite understood, but went with despite herself. If it wasn’t for Allison, Gail would probably always be gloomy. Watching her friend wash her hands, Gail wondered what it must be like to be normal, her thoughts turning gloomy again, but she brushed the thought aside.
“Where are we heading now?” Gail asked Allison, as their friend Petra came out of her stall.
“We’re going where the boys are,” Petra roared in her usual boisterous manner, throwing her arms in the air as her voice rose, and her skirt went with it. Petra hardly ever wore long skirts, only tiny things that barely covered her bum. “I need a man tonight and by God, I’m going to have one. We’re in Manchester; surely we can find a man in this place?”
Gail looked at Petra, doubting Petra would be awake for too many more hours, much less capable of having sex with anyone. She’d keep an eye on her anyway. That was Gail’s usual role, caretaker and nanny, though none of the other girls seemed to realise it. Gail ran off the stubborn men who didn’t want to take no for an answer, the ones that simply couldn’t take a hint, and the sleazy ones that thought they had a chance with her, at least. She’d had her own affairs, but she was usually too busy keeping these two out of trouble to bother.
Stumbling out the doors of the club as she kept her friends upright, Gail wondered if she should just steer them back to their rooms. Petra stumbled again, her stiletto heel caught in the pavement, and she landed on her knees. Gail bent to inspect her friend on the edge of the sidewalk, as Petra fell. She heard a motorbike but didn’t look around as the noise came closer, more concerned with Petra. Just as it passed her, she felt something scratch her neck, a tearing sensation that made her cry out and reach her hand up to the now bleeding wound.
“What the hell?” She screamed as she turned in the direction of the bike. She couldn’t see anything now but the taillights of the vehicle as it disappeared into the dark.
“What’s up duck?” Allison asked, rushing over to Gail.
“That ass just swiped me with something! Is it bad?” Gail asked, angry at the assault, but moving her hair out of the way so Allison could inspect the wound.
“Well, I believe we need to clean it up, at least. Let’s go back to our rooms, see what they might have to clean it with. Or do you want to go to emergency?”
“I think we should have it looked at, you never know what people might be playing at, doing things like this.” Petra said as she took her own look at it.
“Oh, they’ll just treat me as another drunk in A & E, clogging up their emergency room at this time of night. I can’t handle the snarky attitudes, or the wait, at the moment. Let’s just go back and see what it looks like. If it’s bad, we’ll go though. Have either of you got any clean tissues?” Gail placed the clean paper cloths Petra handed over on
Beverley Hollowed
Dahlia Rose
Elizabeth Berg
Ted Krever
Maggie Carpenter
Charlotte Williams
Erin M. Leaf
Void
Jane Haddam
Dakota Cassidy