Blood Ties

29

Dancing in the Moonlight
~
Erisa
~

Erisa peered over the dashboard to the front of Hell Blues bar.

It was blooming with people going in and out through the entrance door. Drinking, making out and all-around craziness Erisa would rather run away from.

Once, she lived for these days, the days of drinking the night away and pining for the attention boys could offer. But those days drifted into bleak and resentful nightmares that clouded blue skies into gloomy and black obscures.

Erisa had grown to despise what the night of parties and mayhem had to offer. She had despised every single thing that reminded her of that night.

Going to a bar that reeked of drunks and creeps reminded her of it.

"You sure about this, Bub?" Frankie said to his niece and gestured to the exit of the car park. "We can always leave if you want to. You owe no one nothing."

Erisa told herself that for the past week, but every time the faces of Cadence and Accalia came to her mind, she vanquished her doubt.

"I'll be fine. Besides, I'll have my phone on me and I'll be in a public place."

I won't be lured out, I won't be led astray and I won't fall for anything.

"I just worry about you. Ever since your dad passed and your mother left, I can't help but think a part of you went with them." Frankie fractioned his blue eyes on Erisa.

Erisa closed her eyes and considered if she would ever tell her uncle what happened to her. Frankie was the only male touch she could handle, his arms wrapping her in a bear hug and kissing her on top of the head, confirming the unfaltering love he had for her.

Frankie's brother, Erisa's father, died on a hunting trip and her mother spiralled, kicking Erisa to the curb shortly after. Franklin Jaeger was the only family Erisa had.

Erisa loved her uncle like a father, and like a father, he would want to kill them, even if it wasn't in his nature, and would go after their families.

No part of Erisa expected Cadence to do it, kill them in cold blood without a hint of remorse — but the newspapers and local media reported such demises.

That night, Erisa never doubted a person again and what they were capable of.

Erisa unbuckled herself and sprayed herself with the unfamiliar perfume she had been using to throw off her natural odour.

"I'm going in," Erisa smoothed down her leather pants and secured her long-sleeved mesh top that covered a crop top. "If I don't come back, give Cadence my horror movies."

"Don't say such things, Erisa Jaeger." Frankie reprimanded.

Erisa hugged her uncle briefly, asked him to look after her jacket and left, not wanting to settle in goodbyes.

~

The bar was smoky and blazing in old music that reminded Erisa of bonfires she would attend in the woods with hunters years ago.

Surrounded by woods, in widespread clearings for everyone to sit and a bonfire to warm the coldness in their souls.

Those stopped years ago, the flame being blown out and leaving only burnt wood in their wake. The bonfires and cause for the celebration were long dead shortly after Cadence's mother died.

The song Stumblin' In streamed through the bar like a wave, washing everyone over in bliss and glory. They followed the flow of the music like the tides reaching the sands and dragging back out to sea.