Rising Light

Chapter 15: Violence is Never the Answer

A quick thing: So, from here on out we enter the realms of chapters that we have completely made up because the show was terribly taken from us - not even the safety net of a script like with the previous chapter. That means the narration will include other characters to show the full scope of the story that is contained within the chapter, like they do with the show.

Even outside the noise from the club is loud, getting louder whenever the door is opened to admit someone, or for someone to escape the press of bodies and feeling of the music tingling through them for a few moments. Not that one little group were paying it all that much attention, too lost in the world of mounting excitement for the night to come, an evening out between the chaos that is their lives, finally finding a moment to breathe, to be young adults and enjoy each others' company.

'Are they going to let us in any time soon?' Alisha complains, stamping her feet a little as if to stave off the chill of late night air.

'Relax,' Brad chirps, draping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. Already she can smell the stale alcohol on him, the excessiveness of their pre-game drinks obvious for everyone within a two foot radius. 'You should've had drinks with us, Al!'

'You know I...' Alisha sighs, realizing that already he isn't listening, his attention distracted by a handsome blond telling a loud story in front of them.

'We know,' soothes Zoe, shooting her friend a small smile as the line surges forwards further than it had for the past twenty minutes. 'Designated driver.'

'I was gonna say I have Jama Masjid tomorrow morning,' Alisha reasons, a little disgruntled by the fact her friends seem to be making her defend her decision not to drink.

'Lame!' calls Rob, but there's a cheeky smile on his face that assures her he's joking - at least in part.

Alisha rolls her eyes as they finally flash the bouncer their I.D. and are allowed to enter the warmth of the club. She barely remembers her hand getting stamped as they hand over the money, as she feels the music trembling through her. She casts a sideways glance at Zoe, who beams, before finally letting the concerns of the past few weeks fall from her shoulders. In the end none of it mattered when she was amongst friends, and they were here to enjoy themselves.

_______________

The music is loud, the vibrations of it running through every person packed into the club. How anyone could hear anything was beyond Alisha. Somewhere in the mass of moving bodies she swore a fight had broken out, but the sounds of it are lost in the music. She fights the urge not to clamp her hands over her ears, knowing that this is all part of the thrill of the club, part of the experience, part of the reason they'd needed this: to drown everything out for a little while. Every step they take, she can feel the floor shaking with the sheer amount of people jumping around, dancing to the music without really hearing any of it.

In the onslaught of people she lost sight of the others, but it doesn't matter, she needs a drink anyway.

'See you later,' she mumbles uselessly to the crowd, before trying to shoulder her way towards the bar; she'd catch up with everyone eventually. She smiles politely at a few people as she passes through the sea of bodies, ignoring the drunken slurs people shoot her way.

When she finally reaches the bar she waves at a free bartender. He siddles over to her, cheer bright behind his eyes as he practically jumps to a stop at the tap closest to her. 'How can I help?'

'Can I have a water, please?' she asks, raising her voice so that it can be heard over the cacophony of other noises.

'Absolutely,' he says with a smile, before dashing away to fill her order.