An Eternity Of Gold

Chapter One: A Year

We don't talk about Taylor anymore.

I swing from a tyre in the middle of The Bubble with Tom who smokes while leaning against a tree. I'm back here for a week as usual after about two months of touring.

"What about that guy with the glasses?...uhh, Jack?"

"James, Tom"

"That's it. I thought you two had someth-"

"I don't wanna talk about this right now", I sigh.

"...Alright, Casper"

"Wanna look for Mozart?"

He nods and we start to walk through the forest and back to the streets. There was that eerie quietness around this place that I had missed. I hung out with Tom a lot during the time I had here. We'd look for things burnt by the town fire, ride our bikes around the tennis court, drink coffee at Café Glass.

But not the tower. Never the tower.

"Man, this place sucks", Tom groans.

"No, it doesn't!", I say, punching his arm.

"Maybe to you! Come on, let's find Gavin and get high"

"I don't want to"

"You don't know how to"

"Precisely"

He's about to laugh when suddenly, there's a crashing sound up ahead. A dog barks. There's a noise that sounds like cheering.

"That don't sound good", Tom says.

"Let's check it out!", I say, starting to run in the direction of the yelling.

Tom grabs my coat, "It sounds like a fight, you don't wanna get into stuff like that"

The barking gets louder. Suddenly there's a high pitched whimpering.

"That's Mozi!", I gasp.

Tom tilts his head to listen. He then runs a hand through his hair and sighs, "Alright, let's go"

We race towards the tennis court and around a few bushes when eventually we find a group of teens in a small parking lot, abandoned like the rest of this place.

"Kick it again!", a scrawny boy wearing glasses and holding a video camera shouts.

There's a squealing noise. I peer out from my place in the bushes with Tom. It's Mozart alright. A tall, muscular boy in a hoodie jams his foot into Mozi's tummy.

"Hey!", I yell and stand up.

"Wait, Ell!", Tom says in a loud whisper.

But I've already started marching up to the group. Glasses Boy switches off his camera.

"Casper!", the hooded boy says with outstretched arms. He brings me in for an unexpected, violent embrace. "Ya want me to break your ribs, kid?", he smirks. The group that surrounds me laughs and cheers.

"Fight!", one of them screams. The rest chant on. I'm thrown against the wall they stand around, my head hitting the solid brick. The blow makes me lose my bearings and I blink the stars away before tumbling to the ground much to the delight of the viewers.

"Kick her!", a short girl with ridiculously pink hair, wearing a beanie yells.

The guy about to kill me smiles and aims for my shin causing me to double over.

"Stop!", I scream. Where's Tom? Did he ditch me? Is this how I'm going to die? Beaten to ground by bored teenagers... What a great way to go, Ella.