Afterlight: Book 1 in The Dark Ink Chronicles

Chapter One

"Hurry up, Kara!" Kara's best friend, Sarah yelled over the loud noise of the chanting fans in the stadium.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." Kara rolled her eyes as Sarah pulled her along into their seats.

"Imagine Dragons is the best band ever!" Sarah squealed with excitement.

"You're acting girly, Sarah." Kara sighed in reply to her friends opinion.

Before Sarah could retaliate, the host of the show walked on stage, dressed in a classy, navy suit. He brushed his ginger hair out his eyes and rubbed his hands together, taking a deep breath before he began to speak and start up the concert.

"Hello everyone!" He called out, his microphone helping. "So, short and snappy is what they said, let's be honest, no one wants to stare at this for two hours..." He waved his hand over his face, signifying he meant himself.

"Max Cipher!" A few fangirls squealed beside Kara.

"So, I'm Max Cipher, your host for tonight's amazing performance! You can buy merchandise at the store set up down the left corridor and in the entrance of this famous stadium. Now, on with Imagine Dragons!" He stuck his hands in the air and walked off stage, probably to prepare the boys backstage.

The stadium was quiet for the next few minutes, if it weren't for crazed fangirls, the entire place would be solid silence. On the small screens, next to the big one above the stage, appeared small video clips about the boys at multiple interviews. Kara rolled her eyes and rested her elbows on her lap, holding her head in her hands.

I didn't come here to wait an hour... Kara thought to herself.

Finally, making Kara pop up, lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman walked towards the centre of stage. Lights flashed around, pictures of dragons appeared, and flashes of camera's dotted around. Then, the quietness disappeared and faded into loud cheers, one of the fans cheering would be Kara.

The first song they sang would be I Bet My Life, making Kara sing along in her head.

I know I took the path that you would never want for me
I know I let you down, didn't I?
So many sleepless nights where you were waiting up for me
And I'm just a slave unto the night

After two hours of singing along with every song they performed, the concert ended. Max walked off stage with a cheesy grin, and a slight hint of red was finally visible to Kara, but she shook it off, as nobody else noticed it. His eyes gleamed red, then hazel again. Strange.

Kara took her belongings and walked out the hall, tempted to buy a t-shirt or hat with the name Imagine Dragons on. She attempted to resist plenty times. When they finally got through the massive crowds of fangirls and fans, they noticed a store, that was almost closing.

Kara ran right up, taking a black, Imagine Dragons baseball cap and a black, Imagine Dragons t-shirt. She took out twenty dollars from her bag and gave it to them, she stuffed the items into a carrier bag and they both left the arena.

"Ben glanced at me! Can you believe it? He was like singing I Bet My Life and pointing at me!" Sarah squealed, acting like she was the chosen one or something.

"You know he has a girlfriend?" Kara asked, as she stopped walking.

"You know he could dump her?" Sarah replied, sarcastically.

Kara rolled her eyes, the image of Max's red eyes popping up here and there in her head.