Devils Water

Blue eyes like the devils water

(Prologue of sorts)
Ryann never considered herself too special. She was the type of girl who stayed in the background, who wore chains around her heart, and had such high walls you could barely see the top. See, tragedy seems to hit like a ton of bricks, taking everything down with it, especially for Ryann. She had always joked that she lived by Murphy's law, "if it can go wrong, it will". To admit, she was a bit of a pessimist, not the most happy of people. But who could really blame her? After she lost everyone, everything she just kinda sat. With no plan and no motivation she did the only thing she found fit, she drank. As soon as she turned legal age she went out to the bar at least 5 times a week, which even to her was a little much. But she would just sit, and drink. Drinking alone is both the saddest, and at times most effective way to drown out life. Not the most healthy, or pure way by any means, but it was something that could temporarily fill a hole, or at least put it out of sight, out of mind.
"You see.. before I went down hill, I wanted to be a cop. Go into some kinda special services, deal this the real interesting cases.." she gave a slight laugh spilling her story to the new bartender, who was a nice middle aged lady. After another quick shot Ryann hung her head shaking it slowly "I guess I just don't know what I'm doing.. I can't sit here forever and just drink until eventually I'm gone too.." she mumbled. The lady behind the bar gave her a sympathetic look "you're right hun, you can't just sit here forever.. your what, 21 now?" The lady looked up from her glass. Technically Ryann was 20, but she got off good on adding a year to her license. She nodded slowly, waiting for the woman to continue. "You could still go after it yaknow.." she smiled a little "you're young, fresh out of college. A few years in the police academy and you'll be a rookie ready to go out in the field" Ryann gave a small smile at the distant hope, loving to imagine it. She nodded "yeah.. you're right.. I probably could" she sniffles and rubbed her eyes "m'i cut off yet?" She gave a sly smile to the woman who rolled her eyes pouring another whiskey, "you are now darlin'" Ryann smiles a little sipping on her drink at the end of the bar, her usual spot, with her favorite stool. She's grown accustom to the usual crowd in here, it was small, usually just older men coming to get away from their wives, or a random passerby. Nothing too big or fancy. All the colors were plain, different shades of brown and grey, almost like a filter. So when she caught the flash of light blue out of the corner of her eye, Ryann was interested, almost surprised. There he was, a man taking a seat a little bit down the bar past the corner, but still in view. Ryann had never seen him in here before, he looked like he had money, he was covered in tattoos, and his whole everything reeked two words. "Baby blue". Ryann smirked from her glass, no so subtly examining the man. Once she looked back down at her glass, he did the same. It was almost a silent agreement of let's look but not talk. Ryann suddenly flushed at the though of the sight of her. Her hair a mess, her everything a mess, in nothing but a pair of jeans, and v-neck and a loose jacket. She shook her head and downed the last of her glass grabbing a peppermint before flicking it into her mouth, and slapping a $20 on the bar. She collected her things and making sure everything was there before walking off from her normal spot with a solute "thanks May" she smiled at the woman who was now serving the strange blue themed man. "Any time darlin', you be careful now, alright?" She seemed genuinely concerned "as always" Ryann smiled stumbling out the doors. There was no way she was gonna be able to drive, so she could either call a cab or just kinda.. wait.
"Poor thing.." the woman behind the bar sighed under her breath looking at the closing door. She grabbed the 20 and slipped it into her pocket, then walked over to the new guy. "What's your poison dear?" She asked grabbing a glass. "Uhm- just whiskey please" he folded his hands looking at the glass she was filling in thought. "Who was that?" He blurted out without thinking. He pursed his lips for a moment as the bartender gave him a look, "I mean- sorry, it's probably not my place, and you probably can't give out that information." He tried to defend himself. The woman merely smiled, "she's a regular here, troubled girl.." her smile turned sad and she stared at the window beside the door. He nodded back slowly taking a sip of the drink, "she's a regular here?" The woman nodded, "been here longer than me, other people say she's been here since she was old enough. "Huh.." the woman glanced over at him "I'll make you a deal" she turned to him leaning down to rest her elbows on the bar, "name for a name, what's yours hun?" He smiled giving her a small laugh before raising his eyes from his glass, "John. I'm John." He gives a brief nod with his answer. "Nice to meet you John, I'm May, that there" she nods toward the door "that was Ryann." John smiled "do you think she's gonna be ok?" May just shook her head, "she always seems to be, physically at least." John nodded his gaze fixed on his glass starting to fall into another hole of thought. Suddenly he downed the rest of what he had in his glass and pulled a 5 out of his pocket, placing it on the bar under the edge of the glass mumbling something like "I'll be back". He quickly made his way to the door, the cool air pricking his skin. He glanced around for a few seconds before his eyes landed on her, leaning there against a car he assumed was hers. She was looking up at the sky, scanning the few stars that scattered the night sky. John carefully approached her, waiting until he was only a few feet away to clear his throat. Ryann jumped a little at the sudden noise, her anxious eyes flying to meet blurry image of man. As she blinked a few times it came more into focus, it was the man from inside, 'blue'. "Jesus.." she mumbled calming her breath. A small, almost sadistic grin spread on Johns face at her fear, but he quickly washed it away, "I'm sorry- I don't mean to scare you" he replaced his last smile with an apologetic one. Ryann shook her head and did her best to run a hand through her messy hair, "no, your fine" she looked up at him. John finally got a good look at her, but the thing he was focused most on was her eyes. A pair of dull aqua blue-green eyes that pierced his soul. John stood starring into her eyes for a few moments, her doing the same, before flicking them downwards, breaking the trance. "Ah- have you called a cab?" He asked gaining train of though again. "Not yet, I've just kinda been sitting here.." she admitted tapping her fingers on the hood of the car. John smiled "how about you come back in, I'll order a water and whatever you want off the menu, on me" Ryann smiled back matching his gaze for a second, "deal." She stood off the car, walking over to him a little wobbly. "Thanks...uh-"
"John" he smiled lending his forearm for her to steady herself on. She gladly took the gesture stabilizing by placing her hands on his arm, "John.. thanks John" she smiled up at him a dumb, crooked grin. That night they both went back into the bar and sat and talked for hours, until May had to shut the place down.
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It was a normal Saturday night, Ryann showed up at the bar, chatting with whatever bartender was working at that time, ordering a drink, and a small thing to eat while watching the crowd. As usual she saw the flash of blue before she saw the man, a smile spreading to her face. She turned in her stool to see John dressed casual, more than what he usually did. "Hey Baby blue" Ryann looked up at him, to see him smiling as well, "hey Angel" he replied taking a seat. This had become a normal thing, John and Ryan would meet up at the bar, talk, hang out, drink, sometimes till they were about to pass out. They were drinking buddies, and god was John her favorite. She felt so much better around him, and she'd cut back on her drinking, and bar visits, narrowing it to only about twice a week, three times if that week was particularly stressful. Usually they would just sit and chat, occasionally playing a game of pool, or if they wanted to get risky, darts. It was the one day of the week Ryann looked forward to, Saturday night with John. She opened her self up to him like she had no one before, reading him the summary of her closed book of a person. That's how you knew he was special. This particular night Ryann drank more than John, who by the end was still stable enough to drive. Ryann wasn't wasted though, just good enough to make her giggly, the place that's right after tipsy, but right before drunk, aka risky. After laughing about some stupid thing, John sat down his drink, and turned to Ryann with a deadly serious expression on his face. She looked at him a little confused before he spoke, "you wanna come home with me tonight?" Ryann laughed and smiled wide "sure why the hell not" she trusted John, and just how serious he was told her that he wasn't looking for a hook up. John grinned and nodded "good" was all he said as he drank the last of the soft drink he had ordered. He sat a folded 20 on the table, before getting up from his stool, "thanks May" he called. They were met with a response from the back "you two be careful" she sounded amused, "we will!" Ryann called back, giggling as they made their way to the door, Ryann just a little giddy. John just laughed and shook his head as he followed her. The ride to his place took a good length of time, that was filled with music, giggles, shared laughs, and uncontrollable smiles. When they did get there Ryann was in awe at the place, it wasn't anything giant, like a mansion, or a ranch, it was a nice loft, the type you'd see rich CEO's own. It was quaint, and comfy, and looked expensive as hell. John laughed at her reaction, "it's not much, but it's comfy" he shrugged putting his hands into the pocket of the sweatshirt he was wearing (I love this mental image). Ryann continued to look around happily, before plopping herself on the couch. John walked Over to her and tilted his head "do you have any tattoos" he asked her, "no, not so far, I've thought about getting one though.." she shrugs. John gets a wicked grin on his face and narrows his eyes at her "oh really?" He pulls up his sleeves and turns walking over to an opening table, pulling out a tattoo gun. Ryann's eyes widen, and she looks from the machine to him, and back again. "How do you think I got a lot of mine?" He smiled, grabbing a few things of ink. Ryann gulped, and smiled weakly back, "want one?" John finally asked. Ryan slowly nodded "have at it.. but didn't do anything I'm going to regret horribly, like a dick or something.." she mumbles, and John laughs "I would never." He shakes his head. Ryann rolls her eyes, and John motions for her to turn around, she does so, and feels a weight pool the fabric couch behind her, followed by a click and a buzz. Ryann tenses as she feels the hair softly being brushed from the back oh her neck, then the hand traveling down to rest on the back of her shoulder. Shortly after that she feels the pain, o tiny needles traveling into her skin, imbedding ink that will last for the rest of her life. She balls her fists and takes a deep breath, letting it go slowly. She would never admit it to anyone, but Ryann was a bit of a masochist, so she didn't mind the tattoo much. After a little while she relaxed to the touch, sighing when the voice behind her said "half way there.." quietly. After what had be at least an hour, the click and the disappearing of the buzz shook Ryann from her zone, she felt cold while across the back of her neck, and the rustle of what she assumed was a trash can. "Done.." John mumbled, smiling  at the back of her neck which now bared a beautiful, small pair of angel wings. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the place just between the two wings, causing Ryann to jump a little, and her face to flush. She turned to him with doe eyes, her cheeks and nose holding a slight red color. "C-can I see it?" She asked hesitantly, and was met by a laugh and a nod. John lead her to a bathroom, and gave her a small mirror, so she could look into the big one with it, she moved the mirror so she could see the stinging back of her neck, to see the wings. She looked up at him after a few moments with awe in her eyes, which were usually dull, but now bright. "Thank you.." she said quietly smiling at him and setting the mirror down. She turned to face the bigger mirror looking into it with the biggest grin. John took this as an opportunity to snake his arms around her abdomen, and place another kiss in the place of the tattoo, causing Ryann to squeak. She quickly turned in his arms, looking up into his eyes with her wide ones, her face again red. She bit her bottom lip, and glanced down at the floor, before black up at John, how visibly had regret plastered on his face. Ryann blinked, took a breath, and crashed her lips against his. In a sober state, she would most likely not do this, but it all kinda just felt right in that moment, in that time. Once they pulled away, Ryann began to stutter, trying to explain herself, John chuckling "don't worry about it angel." He said quietly, pulling her in. She sighed and smiled leaning into his chest, so excited about the night to come. When they got back to the couch, John decided to rent some movie, that they both knew they would pass out to. And about 20 minutes into the movie is when it started. Since the bathroom, there had been a few shared glances, but not much more than that, until now. There was another kiss, that lead to another, and another, and somewhere between those kisses seating arrangement changed, so now they were both on the same cushion, in the same spot, only Ryann was on Johns lap, and Un-intoxicated John was loving every damn bit of it. As everything became sloppy, and heated Ryann knew she needed to end it before it got too far. She, despite being well over normal age for this, was still pure. Sure she had been with people, but she never went far with them, and she didn't really intend to do it with John either, at least not while she was drunk, and it probably didn't mean anything. She pulled away, catching her breath and running a hand through her hair, "John - I don't- I haven't- I'm- " she tried to stutter out, searching for the words. Somewhere in the jumbled mess John understood, and his eyes widened "oh.." he said quietly, and Ryann nodded with a red face "yeah.." John actually found it cute, and somewhat charming and smiled softly up at her, before placing a soft kiss on her collar bone, which she responded to by gripping his sweatshirt, and clenching her jaw. It was only after leaving a good sized hickey, and a few soft hums from her that John kissed her cheek and whispered "it's ok angel.." wrapping his arms tighter around her. She smiled and melted into his touch, and into his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. It took maybe 10 minutes for her to fall asleep, and another 10 for John to do the same, the happiest that he'd been in a long while.
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It had been a good two months since Ryann got her tattoo, a two months that had been filled with something more than their regular schedule, that thing being happy kisses, and hands being held, hearts being warmed. Everything was going great! That was until about a week into the third month.. John had stopped showing up on their regular Saturday nights, it had been like that for two weeks now.. Ryann ordered more drinks than usual that night, asking what had happened to the working bartender, who shrugged and said it had something to do with family. Ryann has passed by his house, he was gone. It all was gone.. when Ryann got home that night she cried more than usual, laying in bed letting her mind drift an wonder. She wondered if she'd ever see him again.. she wondered what had happened, and she wondered what she'd do. What was she going to do without her baby blue?

—Wooooooo! First chapter. Shout out to GageSeed030 here it is for ya boo! This is going to be interesting for me, and I'm gonna be really working on this. Hope you guys like it <3–
(Btw don't mind the edgy song 😅)