Promise Me Darkness (Excerpt)

Chapter One

****THIS STORY CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL SITUATIONS. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18, PLEASE DON'T READ. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!****

This is the story of the end of life as I knew it. We thought the world would continue as it always had. Society would stay the same. People would stay the same. We were wrong. In a heartbeat, the world changed. I changed.

"I can't believe you talked me into this!"

An Eminem song blared loudly from speakers as I followed my best friend through the smoky bar. Men covered in tattoos stood shoulder to shoulder with women in barely-there clothing. As for me, I stuck out like a sore thumb in my light pink sundress and matching sandals.

"Relax, Maddie. I just wanted to check the place out," Eva said, bopping her head to the music as we walked through the crowd. I wasn't sure if she noticed the nasty stares we were getting or was just oblivious to them. Knowing Eva, she just didn't care.

I stuck close behind her, afraid of being separated among these people. Eva and I had been to many of the bars near our college and seen some crazy things but this place was just plain scary. Talk about a hole in the wall. The smoke was thick and suffocating. The music was the kind your mama wouldn't want you listening to - loud and full of every damn cuss word that existed. Most of the bar patrons looked either like convicts or members of a local motorcycle gang. I bet a few even had switchblades hidden somewhere on them. Two college girls definitely didn't belong in here.

"TABLE!" Eva squealed when she saw two empty chairs. Pulling on my hand, she charged forward, bumping into a couple of leather-clad men who scowled at us.

At least the seats were in the corner. Maybe no one will notice us here. Eva could have her fun and then we could leave. Hopefully, in one piece.

"WOOO HOOO!" Eva shrieked as one of her favorite rap songs started blasting from the speakers. It earned us a few more dirty looks.

To my dismay, she started rapping along with the song. The girl couldn't sing worth a darn but I had to give her credit for trying. I hugged my purse closer to my body and glared at her. She was so drawing attention to us! I hushed her but this was Eva we were talking about; there was no hushing her.

Out of nowhere a waitress appeared next to our table. "You girls want anything?" she asked with a bored expression. Her blond hair was stringy, her tank top cut too low, and her tiny shorts didn't cover her butt. She had about an inch of makeup on and it was starting to cake in her wrinkles.

"Two shots of whiskey," Eva yelled over the music.

The waitress nodded and walked away, her shorts trying so hard to cover her behind.

"I don't drink, Eva, you know that!" I leaned over to shout.

Eva waved me off as she went back to singing. I cringed as she rapped about sex and someone getting shot.

We were so different. She was the exact opposite of me. Spontaneous and unpredictable, Eva was a true wild child who wasn't afraid of anything. Some people found it amazing that we were friends but I've known her since the first grade - fifteen long years now. We had been through thick and thin together. There was no separating us. That's why I had agreed to come to this dive in the first place. Needless to say, she owed me big time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some men staring at us, practically drooling. "Those guys are gawking," I said.

"Wooo, baby, come to mama!" Eva growled dramatically as she studied them.

I rolled my eyes at her version of a sexy purr. She loved bad boys and these men fit the bill perfectly. They were cute if you liked the tattooed, muscular, badass type of man. I didn't. My type was more the khaki wearing, BMW driving, tattoo-free gentleman.