𝑾𝑯𝑶𝑳𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑨 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬 • 𝑨 𝑳𝒆𝒅 𝒁𝒆𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏 𝑭𝒂𝒏𝑭𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑼𝑬

𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 Dawn had never looked, sounded, or played as well as she did that night. Yes, even the crowd could feel the energy. She delivered every tone, note, and sound with such passion. So much, so that even her band members gazed at her with eyes crammed up with admiration. 
For the first time in Dawn's life, she felt completely free. For one night, she didn't have to worry about the small town which she finally had the balls to leave. Never had she ever felt as carefree as she did when she was on stage. Even though the girls felt tired and sore, it was like a spell had been cast over them. The song was like a drug. A wonderful, joyful kind of drug. The kind that sets your soul free

Take it!

Take another little piece of my heart now baby!

If it makes you feel good!

The crowd roared out the lyrics as the band continued to play. That night's performance ended up being one of the Band's most iconic ever.

At midnight to be exact, the girls called it a night and said goodbye to the crowd before heading off stage.

"Great show ladies," Vincent Jones, the girls' manager came up to them with a grin plastered on his lips. His name was Vincent, although everyone knew him as 'Vin'. He was a burly man standing at almost 6'5 foot, and weighing a whopping 250 pounds. He had a big, grey beard. His head was almost bald, though he had exactly enough hair to form a small, flimsy ponytail at the back of his head. And though he hated to admit it, Vin was getting old and tired. He'd recently hit the ground age of sixty-four and on the day of his birthday, he'd received his dream car from The Strings. Oh, how he loved it. He was a very good man, that Vin. A respected one too. He managed some of the biggest bands in the industry and the girls trusted him with their whole career.

"Beers are on me. The Secret Saloon in an hour. I have a surprise for you ladies," he said and huffed a laugh, that made his belly jump.

He embraced Dawn with a hug, which almost crushed her, and continued to confront some poor staff members who had messed up the light during the show.

"A surprise?" Mandy said in a questioning tone as she sat down her bass. "Vin's surprises have never been good," she said and reminded herself of the time, when Vin had arranged a vacation for The Strings, in the middle of nowhere, on a little farm. "I'm not shovelling cow-shit again," Mandy grumbled and raised her eyebrow at Lola, who stood beside her. 

She was leaning on a big speaker behind her. Her intoxicated state had robbed her of all sense of balance- and sensibility. In her hand, she had a bottle of whiskey, as usual.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Lola! Could you for once put down the fucking bottle? No wonder your drumming was so horrendous today," Mandy spoke sharply. Lola scowled and took a step forward. 

"Well if you could play along to the fucking beat for once, I wouldn't have to save your ass all the time!" Said Lola, her voice packed with indignation. Dawn looked at the situation unfolding before her and shook her head.

"Oh for god's sake, pull yourselves together!" Dawn spat, her voice was raspy from her intense performance earlier. The two girls' heads shot up at the singer's voice.

"Does anyone have a cigarette?" Dawn asked,  an annoyed sigh followed her sentence. Pennie handed her a packet of 'embassy' cigarettes.

"Thanks," Dawn mumbled and snatched the packet out of Pennie's hand and walked away.

As Dawn walked towards the exit of the venue, she once again bumped into Vin.

"Are you going to the Saloon later? I know you don't like surprises, but this one is a real stunner," Vin grinned,

"I don't know," Dawn responded as she put the cigarette between her lips.

A deep sigh left Vinny's lips and he put a loving hand on Dawn's shoulder. "You alright, kiddo?" He asked her. A small smile formed its way onto Dawn's lips and she nodded. "I know it's been a hard couple of weeks for you. I promise if you're worried about Thomas coming after you, we've got it all u-"

"I'm okay Vin, I promise," Dawn spoke, not wanting to hear a single thing about her ex-boyfriend at that very moment. 

Was she worried?

Of course, she was. He'd almost killed her. He'd beat her up (like he always did) but that last time was different. It was as if the devil himself had replaced Thomas' mind on that night. Luckily, a staff member walked in and Dawn escaped that night.

"Call me if you need anything, anything at all," Vin said and cupped Dawn's cheek. He left her there, exhausted.

"Fuck me," Dawn sighed. The air felt cold on her bare arms and legs as she took a deep, heavy puff of her cigarette.

She wiggled her neck around,  hearing a couple of cracks, making her moan. She was so exhausted.  Nothing that a cigarette and a couple of drinks couldn't fix though.

After collecting her mind, Dawn went inside again.

Staff members and roadies were packing everything up. The atmosphere had turned cold and dull. There wasn't that warm, fuzzy feeling anymore. Everyone had left and taken off to the Saloon as planned.

Not wanting to be alone, that was exactly where Dawn went as well.