002

Gaia

Goosebumps crept along my skin as I took in the all too familiar, empty yard lying desolate in front of me. I'd been here a thousand times, but I'd never gotten cozy with the scene. The fires were bigger and brighter, the stale stench of blood heavy in the air. In fact, I was highly repulsed by it, but somehow and every time, I always walked right back into it.

I took a cursory glance at my surroundings and suppressed a shudder. With no knowledge of where my feet were headed, I trudged to a huge iron barrel and ducked behind it, my heart thundering in my rib cage.

"Drop your knife, Richard!" A voice boomed behind the barrel as my father's figure came into sight, squaring his shoulders with a man whose face I'd never been able to etch into my mind over the years. “We both know how this is going to end."

"Of course. " Dad stood his ground, not flinching as the man stepped dangerously close. His black cloak spread around him like a dark aura while his face was shielded by a hoodie. "One of us dies."

"And I think we both know who that is." The cloaked man aimed a pistol at dad's head. "Let's get this over with, old man."

No! I swallowed a huge lump in my throat, blood rushing to my ears. I won't let history repeat itself. Not again.

"You wouldn't dare." Dad's voice snapped me back to the scene unfolding before me. “You're a coward."

"That's it." The hooded figure seethed, a finger resting on the trigger of the pistol. “Goodnight. "

"Noooo." I cried as my feet moved on their own accord, pushing me out of my hiding spot and into the not so friendly exchange between my dad and his enemy.

I dropped to the ground with a loud thud, more pain shooting up my ribs. Despite it all, my eyes searched for the man whose life I'd always so desperately want to save. The burly man was no longer in sight, while my father stood close to me, his eyes glazed over.

"Dad!" I yelled, covering my pain with as much enthusiasm I could muster. I reached out to him and he stepped back immediately, his expression stoic. "Dad?"

"You," his index finger pointed towards me. “You'll pay."

"What?" I whispered, my face scrunching up in pain. My rib cage was basically on fire, but I refused to look at it, not even a glance. I hated the sight of blood. Especially mine... "What are you talking about?"

"You failed me." He reached for his back pocket, something silvery glinting under the moonlight. “You failed me."

"Dad no." I wheezed, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. “It's me, Gaia."

"You failed me!" He yelled and an intense jolt of pain shot up my chest. In an instant, I felt an unnatural chill seep through me as my body felt limp and my eyes blackening before me.

"No!" I jerked up from the plush comfort of my bed, my right hand pressing over my left rib while the other flew to my butterfly pendant that never left my neck no matter what.

Inhaling as much oxygen as I could to calm my nerves, I took a glance at my surroundings and my heartbeats seemed to go back to normal. Dark blue walls with tiny pink butterflies surrounded my medium sized room. A huge dresser and nightstand occupied one side of the room while standing far off it was my trusty bookshelf.

A bean bag chair lounged lazily under the window, with a small round table to complement it. The wind rustled my satin curtain, allowing a gush of cold wind to rush into the room. The moon shed its light on my butterfly journal on the table, which reminded me of the case I was trying to crack the night before.

Before the nightmare. The same one I'd been getting for the past thirteen years.....

It was always the same dream but sometimes, some things would change. Either I ended up shooting dad with my very own hands or vice versa, one thing was constant. The burning hatred in his eyes and his words that had become an unhealthy mantra for me; you failed me...

Readjusting the silver necklace that clung to my sweat covered chest, I padded over to the window and shut it tight. Immediately, my phone screen lit up with an aesthetic butterfly picture as my wallpaper.

Yes, I was a badass obsessed with butterflies but there's only so much I could take...

"Hey, gurl." Wendy's voice slurred over the phone. Bass beats and loud cheers followed almost immediately and I could tell where she was without having to overthink it."What are you up to?"

"Nothing like the amount of fun you're having right now." I chuckled weakly, praying silently that my current demeanor would slip past Wendy's observation, but like I feared it didn't.

"Gaia," she called softly. “What's wrong?"

"Wrong where?" I chuckled again. “Yunno the usual..."

"Another nightmare?" She finished for me. “Gaia?"

"Yeah." I felt my chest tighten almost immediately. “I just woke up."

"The same pattern?"

"No." My voice was barely a whisper." He shot me this time Wendy. It felt so real and he said I'd failed him..."

"You know that's not true." I could only make out faint beats in contrast to the ear deafening ones that had greeted me the moment I picked up my phone. She must have stepped out of the club, that's Wendy for you. “You've been working your butt off because of all this.."

"Then why do they keep coming back?" I suppressed a shudder. “Why?"

"Because you're under a lot of pressure Vivi." She cooed. “Every day, every night of your life, you've spent trying to track him down.."

"I have to." I cut her off immediately, anger dancing through my veins. I closed my eyes and that wretched faceless man I'd come to hate with each passing day flashed before me. “He has to pay."

"And he will." She sighed. “Look, I understand where you're coming from, but it won't be worth it if you're all burnt out. Please Gaia."

"Fine." I sniffed. “What do I need to do?"

"Finally." I could feel her grinning widely. “You need a distraction. A good one at that."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'm glad you asked." She squealed. “Go grab your blood red pumps hun, you're going clubbing!".

How she'd managed to convince me to actually go through with her stupid plan swarmed in my mind. Wendy had actually convinced me, me of all people to go clubbing on a Sunday night.

My brown eyes glazed over the smooth tabletop of the club's bar as loud Upbeat music blasted through the speakers. I drummed my fingers on the countertop creating a boring tune that barely reached my ears.

"Hey, pretty lady." My head whipped towards the direction a slurry voice came from. A disheveled guy stood barely two inches from me, his crumpled t-shirt smeared with lipstick stains of different colors and a staunch stench of alcohol loomed around him. To top it all, he had a sickeningly sweet smile that gave off full weirdo vibes "Wanna dance?"

"How about I dance on your face?" I seethed, yanking his hands forward and pressing his face against the cold marble counter. He let out a short yelp as I folded his hands roughly behind him and sent him spiraling back into the cacophony of sweaty bodies gyrating to the groove on the dance floor. "Imbecile."

"I take it you're not a fan of dancing." Someone chuckled heartily beside me, sliding onto the empty barstool next to mine. I gave him a once over as his blue eyes sparkled through the rim of his glasses perched daintily on the bridge of his nose. His sandy blonde hair tussled here and there like a tornado had hit him solely on the head, but it still looked sexy as hell. His nose was slightly pointed and it accentuated his full plump lips that were drawn into a one sided smile, with a sparkling white set of dentitions and a dimple popping on his left cheek.

Damn, he's hot, was exactly what Wendy would say if she were here right now.

"What's a sexy lady like you doing alone in a bar on a Sunday night?" His voice snapped me back to reality.

"You think I'm sexy huh?" I smirked, leering towards him, a fair amount of my cleavage straining against my skin tight red wooly dress. I watched him gulp, his Adam's apple bopping up and down in his throat. "That's a first. I have nothing to do tonight so I came here."

"I have something in mind." He sucked on his bottom lip, a ravenous glint in his eye. "A dance?"

"I'm not much of a dancer." I slurred, bringing his glass of whiskey to my lips. "But I do private performances though."

What is wrong with you Gaia? My goody two shoe voice screamed in my head.

Chill out, I heard another voice. I'm only following Wendy's advice; to let loose.

"......a lounge back there." Were the only words of his I'd grabbed unto. “What do you say?"

I wasn't usually like this and everything in me was kicking against the idea, but Wendy's advice played repeatedly in my head.

Let loose girl, you need a distraction from everything once in a while. And what better distraction than this hunk of a man in front of me?

And it's just for tonight. The odds that we'll meet again were very slim. Right?

"I say," I slid his drink back towards him, purring seductively. "Let's get dancing."