“Hurry your ass up!” yelled Jasmine Stone as she tapped her black stiletto boots against the beige carpet.

“Almost done,” yelled Jessica Lowe from the bathroom as she applied yet another coat of black mascara to her eyelashes.

Melody watched Jasmine look at her watch for the third time in ten minutes. With medium long, choppy black hair, you could tell Jasmine was a hard core partier. Jasmine was a high school dropout, and Melody didn’t really know what to think of her just yet. There was something in the way she carried herself and how she dressed that seemed to scream “party animal!” Dressed from head to toe in black Jasmine looked as though she was the bringer of death.

“Ready to go?” asked Jessica who walked out of the bathroom with a smile on her face, obviously excited for the night’s events.

“That never took forever or anything,” said Jasmine sarcastically. Her voice brought shivers down Melody’s spine, like nails on a chalkboard.

“You look really nice Jess,” said Melody quietly.

“Thanks,” said Jessica still having a bright smile light up her flawless face.

Melody looked at her best friend and once again noticed how much Jessica’s changed. With her long red hair and emerald green eyes, Jessica was obviously beautiful. Her skimpy black dress clung to her body as if it was painted on. Red pumps and the gold bracelets decorating her wrists were the only source of color on Jessica’s outfit. Melody thought of their old days. Melody and Jessica have been friends since grade three. Ever since then they’ve been inseparable. Lately however Jessica started letting everything go. She drank more alcohol, skipped classes, and quit the cheerleading team, which both she and Melody have been on together. It hurt Melody to see her best friend having her life go down the drain, but the several times Melody has tried to help, Jessica got defensive and told Melody that it was her life and she could live it however she wanted to.

Then there was Jasmine. Jessica started hanging out with Jasmine, whom she met at a party. Melody didn’t want to admit it but she partly blamed Jasmine on Jessica’s recent behaviour. Jasmine with her hair the color of a raven’s wing and icy blue eyes outlined in thick black eyeliner. So far Melody hasn’t seen Jasmine wearing even a spark of color besides black. Even tonight, Jasmine was wearing a black skirt with black stiletto boot and a black tank top matched with a black motorcycle jacket. The black choker on her neck, and her multiple face piercings were the only accessories she had on.

“Ready to party?” asked Jasmine excitedly.

“Hell yeah!” screamed Jessica.

“Let’s go then,” said Jessica as she spun her car keys around her finger.

Jessica grabbed the keys to her parent’s house and shooed Melody and Jasmine out the door as she swiftly locked the door. Jessica’s parents worked for large, prestigious companies, and were never home to notice or put a stop to Jessica’s wild ways.

Jasmine lead the way down the short drive way to her black car which was starting to slowly rust.

“Are you sure we could get in?” asked Melody quietly to Jessica.

“Of course we can. Jazz knows the owner of the club from way back,” said Jessica who was already starting to get annoyed of Melody’s worried behaviour and was starting to regret inviting her friend. Jessica noticed that she and Melody have been drifting apart so she invited her friend to go clubbing with her and Jasmine. It was both Jessica and Melody’s first time sneaking into a club, so Jessica was filled with anticipation.

“Oh. Okay,” said Melody feeling out of her element between Jessica and her friend. Jessica climbed into the passenger seat as Jasmine started her car. Melody stood outside, self conscious as the cool autumn air whipped her long copper curls around her face.

“Getting in?” asked Jasmine who was more than ready to speed off without Jessica’s boring friend. Jasmine thought that Melody was a goody two shoes who needed a good taste of the real world.

“Uhmm... I don’t know. I have a really bad feeling,” said Melody while the knots in her stomach coiled tightly

“Well make a damn bridge and get the hell over it!” said Jasmine rudely while revving the engine to express the limit of her patience.

“Just come on. Don’t you want to spend some time together Mel?” asked Jessica with puppy eyes as she looked up to Melody from her seat.

Melody quickly thought of her best friend and remembered all the times they’ve spent together and thought that maybe tonight was the night that she’d finally get through to her lost friend. With a bit more flare then needed, Melody opened the door and quickly got in and slammed the door.

            “Ready,” said Melody as she looked out her window.

            “Let’s do this,” said Jessica as she tucked a long red tendril of hair behind her ear.

As Jasmine sped off into the night, she and Jessica talked animatedly while Melody readjusted her outfit. Wearing a white dress, belted with a brown belt and brown flip flops, Melody felt plain, compared to Jasmine and Jessica. A soft tan, long copper hair and big hazel eyes matched Melody well. She was usually the talkative type but between Jasmine and Jessica, she was quiet, and felt out of place between the two girls. Melody tuned in and out of the conversation as they made their way to the club. Being only seventeen, Melody was afraid of getting caught. Jessica was a couple of month younger then Melody but seemed to be at ease going to a club underage.

“Here we are ladies. Now let’s go find ourselves some guys and get drunk!” said Jasmine enthusiastically as she parked the car.

They got out of Jasmine’s car and made their way to the door. Melody saw a large, silent, brick building with a line of people waiting to get inside. A bright green neon sigh flashed the words “Club Excite” .Once the bouncers saw Jasmine they pulled out a special wristband from their pockets and put the wristbands on each of girls and let them in. Once inside, Melody checked the wristband that the faceless bouncers gave her. It said “drinking age verified. FD”

“What does FD mean?” asked Melody to Jasmine.

“Free drinks. Carl, the club owner, always gives me booze whenever I come here. I helped him out a couple years back,” said Jasmine mysteriously as she lead the way through a red walled, red carpeted hallway. The music seemed to be surrounding them, but yet was muffled at the same time. As they neared the end of the straight hallway Melody noticed a door that was red like the wall. It blended into the wall so well you could barely tell where the door was besides the fact that there was a brass doorknob protruding from the red door. Jasmine grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open.

“Welcome ladies, to Excite!” said Jasmine with the excitement as a little girl on Christmas Day.

Jessica and Melody stood motionless as their mouths formed a small, similar “o”.

“This place is amazing!” said Jessica as she viewed her surroundings.

Melody saw flashing colourful strobe lights. Blinking blue, pink, green, and then purple.  To her left was a bar with cute bartenders pouring, mixing, and shaking exotic and colourful looking drinks for successful looking men and revealing woman. Faceless and nameless bouncers lined the perimeter dressed in all black. The dance floor was huge and lit up dimly from the bottom. At the far end of the room was a huge Dj setup with massive speakers blasting the latest dance music. Girls dressed in skimpy outfits and some guys never had shirts on, showing off their bodies. They all danced and grinded on the dance floor, in time with the pounding music. Tables and chairs were set up by the entrance and groups and couple sat in the chairs watching the many dancers and sipping on drinks.

Jessica, Jasmine, and Melody made their way towards the dance floor. As they made their way further into the dance floor, they stared to dance. Melody closed her eyes and let her body sway to the music. Melody started to remember all those times that she and Jessica had been in dance classes together. Every now and then Melody would open her eyes and looked to see Jasmine and Jessica dancing with two guys. The guy that was dancing with Jessica had wrapped herself around was the stereotype for tall, dark, and handsome. Tall, with broad shoulders, and a strong jaw line, and strong arms he looked as if he could do some major damage to anyone that happened to mess with him. Meanwhile, Jasmine was dancing with a guy with no shirt on and abs. Melody saw he had long blonde hair that hung in his eyes. His blue jeans hung off his waist. Melody closed her eyes again and started to move her hips remembering her and Jessica’s brief attempt at salsa dancing. The thought brought a smile to Melody’s face as she added slight hand movements. Her body swayed to the music, and she opened her eyes as the song changed and noticed that she couldn’t find Jasmine or Jessica. Melody stopped dancing and stood on her tippy-toes and tried to peer around the ever growing crowd, but Jessica and Jasmine were nowhere to be seen. Melody tried to remember the vague descriptions of the guys that Jessica and Jasmine were dancing with, but like the bouncers lining the room, they soon became faceless.

Melody started to slowly get worried about Jessica and even Jasmine. The crowd started to press against her, and the space where Jess and Jasmine quickly became filled with other dancing girls. Melody started to push herself through the throng of gyrating people, not knowing which way she was going but needing to get out of the massive crowd. She finally became free of the intoxicated dancers to find herself by the bar. She walked over to the last remaining stool and sat down to catch her breath and think where Jessica and Jasmine could have gone.

“Anything for you miss?” asked a young bartender, as he handed the man beside Melody his drink.

“Just a vixen with extra blueberry schnapps please,” said Melody loudly, as she showed the bartender her wristband.

“Ok, not a problem!” exclaimed the bartender over the blaring music.

Melody adjusted her body so that she was able to look at the moving crowd, trying to spot her friend and Jasmine. With no luck, she spun around and found her drink waiting for her and a note underneath with a phone number scribbled in black ink. As she looked down the bar, she saw the young bartender give her a quick wink.

Melody slowly sipped her red drink as she attempted to spot Jessica and Jasmine. After ten minutes of searching she gave up, and with a sigh she put her empty drink on the bar. She took a quick look around, scanning the crowd once more. With no luck, Melody took a small, timid step off the bar stool, suddenly feeling as though her every move was being calculated. A warm, slightly moist hand quickly gripped her tiny wrist. A small scream began to rise up into her throat, but was quickly extinguished once she saw who was holding her wrist. A young man, about twenty-three years old flashed Melody a bright, sweet smile. His bright eyes changed color, each time the strobes flashed. First blue, pink, green, and then purple. Melody had a hard time distinguishing what color his eyes were. His dark thick hair was set in a stylishly messy flow.

“Sorry to scare you. I couldn’t help but notice you were alone. I don’t mean to sound creepy, but I saw you, when you first came in. You were with two other girls. Do you need help finding them?” asked the man politely, as he led Melody back to her stool.

“Well... I’m not too sure where they went. One moment they were there, the next... I don’t know,” said Melody, her voice raising a few octaves higher.

“Here, let me get you another drink,” said the young man as he motioned for a bartender.

“Well...Okay,” said Melody with barely any resistance.

The same bartender came over and refilled her drink. Once he was done mixing her drink, Melody quickly drained her drink. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she was letting her anxiety quickly get a firm grasp on her emotions.

“My name’s Sky by the way,” said the young man as he quickly cast his eyes downward, with a hint of a smile on his face.

“I’m Melody.” The teenager replied, suddenly getting shy, around Sky.  His tall, broad form seemed to fill her vision and all she could think about was being held by his beautifully sculpted arms.

“Another drink miss?” asked the bartender, warily eyeing Melody.

“Please,” said Melody as she looked away to quickly scan the crowd once again. She never noticed Sky quickly dropping a pill into her drink, which dissolved swiftly.

“Here you go,” said Sky as he handed Melody her vixen, which she quickly drained again, not caring anymore. Melody noticed that her drink tasted a bit odd, but quickly dismissed the idea, blaming it on the atmosphere.

“Wanna get outta here? Maybe your friends went out for a quick drag,” said Sky as he gulped the last of his ordinary looking drink.

“Ok,” said Melody as she quickly stood up. Her knees buckled as she got a quick head rush, but thankfully Sky grabbed her arm and held her up. Smiling apologetically she saw he kept anxiously looking around.

“K, let’s go,” said Sky, as he grabbed a hold of her hand and led her to a small alcove to the side of the bar, wear a bright emergency exit sign shined dimly above a plain white door.  Stumbling slightly Melody held onto Sky tightly as her vision blurred, and each step seemed to take more effort than the last. Sky pushed the door open, and ushered Melody outside, as he quickly looked around. Shutting the door behind him, Melody heard a lock slide into place.

“I don’t think...” slurred Melody as a quick gust of wind hit her face on. Her eyes peered open as she held her forehead, hand slick with sweat. They were in a secluded ally between a dark, empty park and the locked club. An old car sat closely to the side of the building. A musty scent soon filled Melody’s nose. Eeek! Melody quickly looked towards the direction of the noise. There stood Sky, rustling through the belonging of the trunk. He must own this car, thought Melody to herself.

“So tired,” whispered Melody as she leaned up against the cool building, as a slow, strong pounding built up against her left temple. She sat down, and put her head between her legs, to slow her breathing.

“It will all be over soon, Melody Blaze,” said Sky softly.

“What was that? Ugh! F*ck! This head ache is killing me,” shouted Melody.

Melody head Sky slowly walk over to her. She heard him take a deep breath.

“I am sorry,” said Sky in a soft, shaky whisper. Only then did Melody look up, but by then it was too late. She saw the bat swing towards her head and then nothing...

“Ha-ha! I did it! I got her!” said Sky hysterically. Realizing what he said, he took a quick look around to reassure himself no one was around. As silently as possible, Sky picked her up with ease. A slight moan escaped Melody’s lips, reassuring him, that she was still alive. Opening the door to the backseat, Sky gently laid Melody down in the back of his car. Leaning over her, he looked at her. A small cut, from where the bat struck her head, started to slowly seep a steady amount of sticky blood. He brushed Melody’s hair from her face, and gave her a slow, kiss on her closed eyelids.

Sky got into his car, and started to drive towards the outskirts of the city. It was around two in the morning and the clubs were still going thankfully. Only a couple of heavily intoxicated people stumbled down the streets. Once outside the city, Sky drove for over an hour on the highway until he finally neared his destination. Dark, tall trees surrounded him. Sky expertly manoeuvred his vehicle onto a dirt road, which ran along the perimeter of the silent woods. He patiently drove for another twenty minutes. Taking a quick left, Sky somehow seemed to disappear into the woods. However, he drove along a car width path inside the woods. After ten more minutes of driving, Sky parked his car and let out a deep breath. He got out of his vehicle and quietly shut the driver’s door. He was surrounded by tall, trees. The animals seemed to stay away from the cabin most of the time. It was like they seemed to sense the suppressed emotions in the cabin that used to belong to Sky’s father. Sky opened the backseat door and hauled Melody up and over his shoulder. He opened up the door with ease and walked in. It was a small, one room cabin. A fireplace on the left side of the wall, a kitchen straight across from the door, and bed tucked into the right corner, and a circular table with three chairs around it.

Sky walked towards the bed and with a sudden burst of anger, through Melody onto the bed. Chaining her arms and legs to the bed frame, Sky remembered the punishments his dad would do, each time that Sky messed up. A beating here and there, going without food or water for a couple days, could shape how a man turned out. Sky’s father was a vengeful, abusive man, who liked to burn his son on his chest and arms and hit the mother of his child.

“Where am I? Where did everyone go? Ugh... My head...” moaned Melody from the bed as she slowly looked around her.

“Melody,” said Sky softly, as though he was regarding a lost lover. A smile brightened his face,” welcome to my home”

“You... You brought me here?” asked Melody, slowly starting to gather her thoughts.

“Of course I did. You see, I’ve been watching you for quite a bit. You’re such a sweet, beautiful, caring, generous girl. I’m sorry. I have to give you away to Him. When you have such an angelic soul, you have to take matters into your own hands. You don’t belong on this world. You belong up in Heaven, with Him. He’s probably wondering where you are. You see, He gave me a mission. He said it was my job to kill both the good and the evil in this world. There’s a change coming Melody. You shouldn’t witness it. You’re too pure,” said Sky with confidence as he walked over to Melody and stroked her cheek as she stared up at him, confusion written all over her face.

“Wh-wha-what do you mean?” asked Melody, voice barely above a whisper.

“My father... He was evil. I had to get kill him. Then there was Lucy. She was too pure for the world too. He gave me a mission. I have to complete it as much as I can. Or I’ll never get to see my mother again. That’s what He told me. In my dreams,” said Sky, a smile lighting his face.

“Who gave you a mission?” asked Melody as her voice started to quiver, and she choked on a sob.

“Crying is for people who are weak! Take it like a man!” yelled Sky, his face soon becoming distorted with anger. Tears soon ran down Sky’s face.

“I’m sorry Melody. Please forgive me! My father was... he was,” sobbed Sky, “he was practically the devil himself. He killed her. I saw him. He killed my mom. He just kept hurting her over and over again. God told me he needed to be punished. He said that he needed me, to put back order in this world full of chaos. He told me that I had to return his angels to him. I’ve been doing this for years. God wants this Melody. Do you understand?” said Sky in a bundle of emotion.

“Don’t do this Sky. Please don’t do this,” cried Melody as she tried to break the chains, that gripped her arms and legs. Sky slowly walked over to Melody, and grabbed a pillow lying at the foot of the bed.

“You’ll be with him soon Melody. Don’t be scared,” said Sky with a calm voice and a smile on his face.

Melody sucked in a deep breath to scream, but before she could have the chance to yell, the pillow soon came over her face. A jumble of thoughts ran through her head. Her lungs started to ache. Melody moved her arms and legs sporadically. Soon Melody was moving her whole body, trying to breathe. She felt a sudden weight on her torso, and she realised Sky was sitting on her. He pushed the pillow into her face with more face. Air, I need air! Thought Melody wildly. Melody’s lungs began to throb and she her throat seemed to be on fire. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and with a final last, convulsion, she stopped struggling. Sky removed the pillow, and looked at Melody.

“It’s like you’re just sleeping Melody,” said Sky with a smile. He quickly unchained her, and picked her up. When he walked outside he saw that it was light outside. Sky moved with a stealthy grace towards his home made burial site. A freshly dug grave, awaited him.

“Always got to be prepared,” said Sky as he laid Melody gently beside the grave. “Your free now Melody. Your soul is still pure,” said Sky with a tinge of sadness. He rolled Melody into the grave with a lifeless thump. Sky walked over to his shovel, which rested against a nearby tree. Quietly and efficiently Sky started to shovel the dirt onto her Melody’s soulless body. Once he was done filling Melody’s grave he wiped the sweat from his brow and took a quick look around. Seven mounds of dirt protruded from the ground.

“I think He is happy, I am doing my job,” said Sky to himself as he surveyed the other seven neat graves. With a last look over his shoulder, Sky walked back to the cabin. After putting out the fire and washing up, he went outside and started his car, for the long drive back to the city. He tuned into his favourite country station and hummed along to the songs.

“Good job Sky. You’ll see your mother soon. She’s with me, safe and sound. Just a couple more pure souls and you two will be reunited. She says she misses you Sky. She’s so proud of what you’re doing for me,” said a mystical voice inside Sky’s head. As Sky listened to the voice a single tear ran down his face as he nodded vigorously.

Once Sky reached the city, he saw three young girls. One was talking animatedly and one was listening with acute attention. The last one was watching her surroundings, looking as though she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. A smile lit her face as he short blonde hair was tucked behind her ear. A bright golden aura surrounded her. The girls were about thirteen years old. A smile brightened Sky’s face.
“Another pure soul,” while his mind quickly calculated his next moves.

“Very good,” said the same mystical voice, which made Sky’s smile broaden.

The End