James Antony Ellis was what some may consider a hopeless romantic, with dreams of running away with his one true love. Unfortunately, it could be said he also had a tendency to hide away from the real world and delve into a new book or poem he had been working on.
Much like he was now,
he had written many things through the span of March 2020 to April 2021, but deemed none of those works good enough to see the light of day. Covid had decisively all but ruined his creative instincts, leading him to this point, sitting in front of his computer at 11pm attempting to recreate the literature magic that was his best selling novel Silks of Heaven.
His gaze shifted over towards his calendar looking at the date, May 13th 2021, well over a year since his last poem had been published, if he could at least put something together, anything, he'd be happy.
His phone rang,
he moved to go answer it enthusiastically, maybe it was something that would strike inspiration in his heart. "Hello?" he said into the telephone waiting impatiently for whoever had called to respond, "Jamie!" he heard the familiar voice of his young sister speak too loudly into the phone for his ears. "What has you so excited Charlotte?" he smiled slightly, the noise in the background was deafeningly loud, and he could hear distinct sounds of music coming from the other end. "I've sent a cab to your house, remember we were supposed to go out tonight?" he cursed under his breath, she had been so excited to hang out with him after a long year of not seeing him and he had forgotten all about it.
"Charlotte I'm sorry but I forgot, I'm a little busy right now" he only partially lied, he was technically busy writing poems.
"Oh come on James, I've even brought my girlfriend so you can meet her" he could hear her practically doing puppy dog eyes through the phone, "fine fine" he obliged, "I'll see you in fifteen" he told her before hanging up the phone, dashing over to his closet and putting on something acceptable for meeting new people.
Once the cab was outside his house he all but ran to the door, throwing his oxfords on before exiting the small cottage on the side of a forest and entered the cab. His house was only around fifteen minutes outside of the city but nonetheless gave the appearance that it was in the middle of no where, not wanting to talk with the cab driver out of fear of being trapped in awkward small talk he decided to put his headphones in, turning up the song which had shuffled through on his playlist. Gazing out the window he watched as the forest line turned into suburbs which turned into the bustling streets of the city on a Saturday night.
He looked up towards the club which the cab had parked out in front of, the name was new, making James believe it had been built in the recent months when the world began to reopen. Handing the cab driver the fee for the cab in cash he stepped out, the noise and hustle of the streets hitting his ears uncomfortably, he was never one for loud noises or flashing lights, but anything to make his little sister happy.
Entering the bar he scanned the people inside, trying to find Charlotte, he was successful fairly quickly her pink hair giving her away almost immediately. She rushed over to him through the crowded room, holding hands with a taller girl who was presumably her girlfriend, "Jamie I'm so glad you came" he could smell the alcohol on her breath as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, "this is Ash, my girlfriend" James held out a hand towards the taller girl for her to shake, "James" "Ash" their greeting was short as Charlotte excitedly hustled them towards the dance floor. The girl danced as if no one was watching, throwing herself at Ash, James could tell the two were at least somewhat drunk.
Deciding he wouldn't mind a drink himself he slowly made his way over to the bar, it took a while to order, the bartender looked beyond busy having to tend to the many customers at the bar by himself. Once he had ordered he had asked for a cosmopolitan, not exactly a club drink but he had never been a fan of alcohol and therefor preferred something he would not be able to taste it in, in addition he got two beers, one for Charlotte and one for Ash. After paying the bartender he made his way back to where the two girls had been, not seeing them anywhere, the panic which had slowly been building due to the loud music was reaching its peak. His phone buzzed quietly in his pocket, reaching for it with some difficulty due to three drinks he was trying not to spill.
'Gone out to another bar' the text read,
James mentally cursed, looking around trying to find a table he could set the drinks on before leaving. He was almost at one when the dance floor became extremely crowded and he was shoved to the ground, his head banging against the cement floor and the glasses smashing on impact.
The next thing his brain recognized was a man shouting, his head was spinning from the force of the hit. A hand had been placed on his shoulder and from his blurred vision he took note that a man was kneeling in front of him, "you alright mate?" the voice asked, the words though falling on death ears as a powerful ringing over took James' hearing. The last thing he felt was strong arms wrap around him before he could no longer feel the ground underneath his limp form, he felt his head spin and wanted nothing more but for the immense pain to end, and it did when his head fell backwards as darkness slowly overtook his vision, blacking out.
YOU ARE READING
The Author - H.S
FanfictionJames was a lonely man, not out of his own free will, those who met him considered the man to be a beacon of light and kindness, he was just alone, aside from his sister of course. His parents had always told him he had a tendency to seclude himself...
