The Mission

Drinking Games

*** Chapter 3 ***

We exited the green building of the bar and were hit with the cool breeze that seemed to always assault Ava after dark. The sky was a misty blue and even though there were streetlights on to illuminate Ava's nightlife the stars in the sky still shone brightly. I could feel Shiloh's stare on me as I looked up at the night sky.

"So what business do you have to take care of?" Shiloh asked in a whisper as if not to ruin my moment admiring the stars.

Without looking away I answered. "Nothing that can't be done after the sun rises."

"Oh so you really were just leaving because of me."

I broke my gaze from the stars to look at Shiloh, she had her head down and seemed smaller then when we were in the bar.

"No, I left because I wanted to leave and I had no reason to be in such a rowdy bar to begin with. Besides I was planning to leave before you even pulled me inside."

She lifted her head, her brown curls bouncing every which way around her from the action and gave me a broad smile.

"Babylon isn't a bar Cal it's a club." She covered her mouth with her hand as she snickered.

I pointed my thumb behind me at the flattop-ed green building we just left.
"I know how to read Shiloh and that sign clearly says Paradise Bar."

"Yeah." she said while still snickering. "The top level is Paradise Bar, but it's been closed for years. Where we just came from, the bottom level is none other then Club Babylon drenched in the wiles of sin and inequity. For the ones who drown their demons in alcohol and smile while dancing with the devil, it's not something everyone can handle."

"And which one are you Shiloh, the one that drowns your demons or dances with the devil?"

She smirked her playfulness in full swing and her eyes hooded slyly.

"Well Cal this girl does a little of drowning and dancing at the same time. There's no better way to end the night then in a blurry haze of alcohol and strobe lights."

She winked at me then started walking down the path toward bright lights and street vendors, the sway of her hips beckoning me to follow behind her. She stopped at one of the vendors and bought a giant glass bottle of dark brown translucent liquid. She smiled back at me as she twirled the bottle in her dainty hands causing a tiny hurricane to erupt in the bottle.

"Are you prepared to drown with me Cal?" She whispered in her dangerously toxic voice.

I subconsciously agreed with the nod of my head and the steady steps I took towards this Sirens call.

Shiloh continued walking down the beaten path till we reached the entrance to a meadow that seemed to be directly underneath the nights ghostly moonlight, the flowers becoming iridescent under the moons pale beam.

The place had a slightly ominous feel with the light fog surrounding the area.

"Let's go sit at my favorite spot it's off to side and secluded so we can be alone."

Shiloh used her free hand to grab my hand that was hanging limply by side. She dragged me along behind her then came to a sudden halt causing me to run into her small back.

"Ta-dah!"

She released my hand and spread her arms out in front of her as if she was showcasing the area.

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

Pretty was an understatement the place was absolutely magical. There were several flat edged boulders splayed out in a sort of semi-circle with vines shyly climbing up the outer edges. The whole area was covered in the sweet musk aroma from the deep purple flower that covered the ground. These flowers were a gradient of mystic purple to the dark royal purple that you would see on a smoke tree, truly beautiful.

"Yeah, it's nice Shiloh." I said in awe.

She grinned and ushered me over to sit on one of the boulders with her, once I was seated she placed the bottle of alcohol between us on the ground.

"Lets play a drinking game to get to know each other better, one of us can ask a question and you have to answer it and take a drink and if you pass on a question you take two drinks." She clapped giggling at her own idea of a game.

"What's the point of drinking both after you answer and if you decide not to?" I chuckled. "That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't have to make sense silly, I just want us to get drunk and tell each other things we're afraid to say sober." She smiled. "Liquid courage and all that jazz."

She uncapped the bottle and held it out to me. "I'll ask a question first. Hmm, so Cal what's your favorite color?"

I shrugged "Green I guess."

After a couple of seconds she wiggled the bottle in front of me urging me to take my first swig. I grabbed the bottle and downed a bit of the auburn liquid. It burned my throat as it settled in my mouth and left a dull tingle in its wake after I swallowed.

She took the bottle from me and grinned. "Good good now give me a question Cal."

I smirked. "Fine how about you, what's your favorite color?"

"Purple, it's the reason I like this spot so much because the flowers are the perfect shade."

she gripped the neck of the bottle and took a big swig of the liquid shaking her head slightly after she swallowed. She put the bottle towards me again with a toothy grin, already seemingly more bubbly after just one drink.

We continued like that asking questions and passing the bottle between us for hours.

We had moved from sitting on the boulder and were now laying sprawled out in the bed of flowers staring at the sky. The glass bottle that used to hold alcohol left empty and abandoned to the side of us as we still continued the game in our vulnerable blurry haze.

Shiloh was becoming fairly giggly from the alcohol but was still able to form coherent questions for me in such a state.

She stretched her hand up towards the sky as if reaching for the stars. "What do you dream about Cal? Truly what do you think about when you close your eyes at night?"

I sighed and turned my head towards her. "I think about when I was younger, when there was no war and everything was happy. I miss that, happiness."

She turned her body to face me and looked into my eyes "Well if you can't be happy at least you can be drunk and drown all the unhappiness for a moment."

"I can't drown it, it knows how to swim."

She gave me a sympathetic look and ran her fingers slowly through my short brown hair. "They can't swim forever Cal, they have to give up eventually. Now give me a question." She whispered out, her eyes slightly drooping.

"Why'd you pull me into the club?"

She yawned and scooted closer to me so she could place her head on my shoulder. "You just seemed different, like you wanted to have a good time but just didn't know how...lost."

I chuckled. "I guess I am lost in a sense but it's not something you can cure. Do you have another question for me or are you going to fall asleep?"

She gave me a sleepy smile and tucked her body in closer to mine. "Just one more. What's your full name, Calvin just seems too plain for someone like you? Like I said before it just doesn't fit."

I put my arm behind my head to get more comfortable. "Azrael Calvin Salazar."

"Azrael, see that fits." She said as she drifted off to sleep.