The Stronghold

Something's Bugging Me...

"To the bar!" Shaade cried, punching the air, rainbows shooting from his fist. It was evening and we'd gone from the pool to go and get changed before realising we had no plans. Shaade, however, did.

We all cheered and followed the demon to the hotel bar, Salt using his powers of emotion warping to persuade the bartender that he was going home and that we were in charge.

"Right, who wants what?" Salt asked, opening cabinets and fridges, pulling out bottles, cans and glasses. The bar erupted into cheers again and people crowded around Salt, shouting their orders and waving money around. Every time someone was getting a little bit angry or drunk Salt would simply look at them and they'd calm down again.

Georgina had found an up to date (sort of) karaoke machine and was throwing the microphone randomly into the crowd. The sound of bad, drunken singing filled the room, accompanied by a lot of laughter.

Tom was leaning against the wall opposite me, grinning. His smile vanished as he saw the same girls from the pool making their way towards him, teetering on five inch stiletto heels.

Help me, he sent into my head, eyes widening, looking for an escape.

Never!

Please, Pepper. I might get stabbed by a shoe.

I laughed out loud at his stupid comment and swiftly blurred across the room towards him, beating the girls there. As I raised my hands to fend them off the microphone landed in them.

"It's a duet!" Shaade yelled.

"Georgina, you have to do it too!" Sophie and Rebecca called. Georgina frowned and looked down at the microphone that Emmi had just passed her.

"This wasn't meant to happen," she murmured.

"It's the last song, so make it a good one," Josh said, clicking a button on the machine. The first few bars of the song played and the words started to appear on screen. I groaned - it was a good song, but it wasn't the Beatles.

"Let me hold you, for the last time, it's the last chance to feel again," I sang softly, eyes following the lyrics. The bar went quiet and people moved aside as I made my way closer to the machine.

"But you broke me, now I can't feel anything," I continued, sitting on a table and crossing my legs, swinging them back and forth slightly.

"When I love you, it's so untrue, I can't even convince myself,

'When I'm speaking, it's the voice of someone else,

'Oh it tears me up, I try to hold on but it hurts too much,

'I try to forgive but it's not enough,

'To make it all okay,

'You can't play on broken strings," I sang, hearing familiar chords of the guitar start to play, only joining now, at the chorus.

"You can't feel anything, that your heart don't want to feel,

'I can't tell you something that ain't real,

'Oh the truth hurts, a lie's worse,

'How can I give anymore?

'When I love you a little less, than before..."

"Oh what are we doing," Georgina joined, walking over and sitting next to me on the table. I was wondering when it turned into a proper duet.

"We are turning into dust,

'Playing house in the ruins of us..."

"Running back through the fire," we both sang, voices getting louder, more powerful.