Finding Harmony by Leona Norwell

it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.
     
    I’ve got to find her. I’ve got to make things better. I need her.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
    After walking the streets for who knows how long I wind up at some shady bar downtown. It’s funny how my mind always turns to drink in times like these.
     
    A small group of men are all huddled outside of the bar having a smoke. They eye me up and down before making sleazy remarks at me, I ignore their wolf whistles and jeers as I make my way into the bar, nearly gagging on their repugnant smell as I walk past them.
     
    The bar is filled with guilty looking people, all eyeing me suspiciously as I head straight towards the bar and take seat, ordering myself a stack of shots.
     
    The first shot burns immensely as the liquid slides down my throat, leaving a bitter aftertaste in my mouth but I keep going, trying to fire the shots down as quickly as I can. I need an escape, I need to forget, and I need to get completely and utterly wasted.
     
    I’m only half way through my shots when a voice I know all too well interrupts my drinking.
     
    “Well, well, well, look what we have here.”
     
    I spin around on the bar stool to be greeted by a slutty tramp. Miranda.
     
    “You know, Harmony, I thought you would’ve known better than to show up in my part of town after that stunt you pulled the last time we met.”
     
    I look at her wearily, the alcohol starting to set in a little now.
     
    “What do you want, Miranda?”
     
    She cackles wickedly, all the time edging closer to me. Two girls come to stand behind her, while a grubby looking guy moves over to my left side. He’s a little too close for comfort, his stale breath hitting off my neck. I steal glances at Miranda’s ‘friends’ and she lets out yet another hideous laugh.
     
    “Aww, what’s the matter Harmony? You’re not so brave now that you don’t have Freddy or lover boy here to protect you, are you?”
     
    I’m not in the mood for her, especially not now.
     
    “I really couldn’t give a damn about you.” I snarl at her but she only takes pleasure from the venomous words I spit at her.
     
    She leans in closer to me, her mouth just inches from my ear.
     
    “Trey owes me for his last few hits and I will get my payment, Harmony… Too bad for you that you’re my key to this payment.”
     
    She grins callously at me and I try to react but what happens next throws me off guard.
     
    The tall grubby man next to me wraps himself around me, one of his hands covering my mouth to stop me screaming out while the other restrains my arms by my sides. I start to panic when I feel a sharp pain shooting up my right arm. I look down to see Miranda holding a needle in my arm, depositing a clear substance into my bloodstream. I look at her cruel face one last time before my vision starts to fade, everything becoming dark.
     
    “Sweet dreams, Harmony, see you when you wake up!”
                   
     
                 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Fourteen
                   
     
                  Trey paced the streets for what felt like hours, trying to find Harmony. However his search was useless. The city was too big and there were too many people to physically hunt her down all by himself. He’d lost count of how many times he’d tried calling her, but the calls always rang out. He knew she must really be pissed off at him because Harmony never failed to answer her phone.
     
    He was so frustrated, he just wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her the truth about the cocaine. The truth was he wasn’t using any drugs. The coke must have been from a long time ago; he’d probably shoved it in one of the side compartments of his bag and completely forgotten