Nine Muses, Nine Bruises

Back to Work and Crazy Luck

'Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!' Sky sang cheerfully around the house, waking us all up.

It was a new year and it was time to go back to work.

Aisling groaned. 'But I'm tired' she complained. She was starting an internship with a leading fashion designer. She had such a great sense of style and was brilliant at drawing, so it was perfect for her. It was her dream job, but it didn't make her want to get up at seven on a Monday morning after three weeks at home over Christmas.

We were all in a daze since Christmas, and for once I was glad that I didn't have regular nine to five working hours. It was something I loved (and hated) about being an actress.

Grace was already up and busy, bustling around making breakfast. She looked very put together, with her hair in an intricate braided hairstyle and clutching a gorgeous laptop bag. She worked at Google, which she loved. None of us really understood what she did there, but she seemed to enjoy it.

Sky was a horse-riding instructor. Since she was really young she had been obsessed with horses, and I couldn't imagine any job she'd like more. The combination of horses, adorable little children and 'the cutest jodpurs and tops' - which she coordinated each day - made her grin whenever she thought about it. She didn't work until the afternoon, but woke up early to get everyone else organised.

Rebekah was a YouTuber and self-acclaimed 'struggling artist'. She had a huge following on social media and often auctioned off her work. She could create incredible pieces of art, which caused at least one of us to protest 'But I wanted that in my room!' whenever one of them was sold.

Her room was gorgeous. She filmed all her YouTube videos (which often starred some of us) in there, and it was totally tumblr-worthy.

She had a cute window-seat reading nook surrounded by polaroids and fairy lights. The window sill had been extended so you could fit a duvet on it and lie there, and there were book shelves in the walls on either side, so you could access them easily. It was super cosy and looked amazing when it rained. She spent most of her time in her room.

'Are you filming today?' I asked her.

'Oh fish! I need to upload today and I haven't even thought of an idea for this week's video' she rambled worriedly.

'We could help you' Diana suggested hopefully, gesturing to herself, Elise and me.

Diana was trying to pursue a career in directing, but it was hard to find a producer who was willing to let a twenty-something year-old direct their film. She went to film school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and worked in a vintage sweet shop on Thursdays. She had Mondays off to be at home.

Elise was looking to work in the film industry too, but as a screenwriter. She went to the college once a week, but usually spent her time writing short stories in play form as practice.

The four of us more or less had our own working hours, which we loved.

'Oh yeah, please can we be on your channel again?' Elise pleaded, clasping her hands under her chin and making a puppy-dog face as I did the same.

'Okay, fine' Rebekah laughed. 'But no messing around, alright?'

'But Rebekah', Diana said innocently, her face deadpan 'when have we ever messed around?'.
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One hour later we were laughing our heads off at each other as we struggled to get whipped cream off our clothes, faces and hair.

'That was the funniest thing ever!' Rebekah cried with laughter.

'Never. Again.' Diana moaned.

'I feel like this is a great beauty treatment, ya feel?' Elise joked.

'Bags the shower!' I screamed, running quickly down the corridor until I remembered there were three other showers so it was no big deal.

When everyone else got home from work, Rebekah showed them the video she was editing. Sky was too busy telling everyone about her favourite horse to watch. Grace told us all about the cute new guy at work, and Aisling showed us her latest dress designs.

'They're gorgeous!' I squealed. 'I wish I could draw like that' I huffed.

'Are you going to make them in to real dresses?' Elise asked curiously.

'Well, they need a lot of improvements -' Aisling started.

'They look great to me!' Sky interrupted honestly.

'I could do better' Diana scoffed. To show she was only joking, she winked.

She was good at winking. When I winked I looked like someone squinting into the sun and getting hit with a ball in the face.

Rebekah laughed, finishing by saying 'okay', as usual.

Grace yawned. 'I think I'll go to bed, I'm so tired' she said, stretching her arms like in a movie.

'I'm roasting and hyper, anyone wanna go for a walk?' I asked cheerfully.

'Sure!' Aisling smiled.

Everyone else wanted to stay at home.

Aisling and I walked all around our area, pointing at childhood haunts and laughing at the funny memories we had made in primary school.

'Can we walk past the school?' Aisling asked hopefully, even though the school had been demolished over ten years ago.

'Well, I dunno' I said, biting my lip nervously. 'It's pretty dark'. I usually got quite paranoid when I was walking in the dark and tried to take the busiest roads. It's just a weird thing I do, but Aisling understood.

'Okay' she smiled kindly, and we took the brighter, busier and slightly longer route home, so that we just passed the end of the street that had once housed our school.

To our shock, there were three ambulances parked in the middle of the road, blocking anyone from driving through. A police car turned on to the road in front of us.

'Let's get moving' I whispered. I could tell something bad was happening.

Aisling nodded in agreement and we rushed home even more quickly.

When we got in the door the others ran to us.

'You're okay!' Sky gasped with relief.

'Did you see it?' Diana asked, hugging Aisling tightly.

'See what?' Aisling replied suspiciously.

'There was a murder on the road where your school was.' Grace said seriously.

I gasped. That explained the ambulances and police.

'Oh my gosh' I said, lying down on one of the big comfortable couches.

'We were so worried!' Elise informed us. 'We knew you were around there and when we heard two people who tried to help the first victim were also shot we were sure it was you.' she hugged us tightly.

'When did it happen?' I asked seriously.

'About half an hour ago' Rebekah looked grim.

I couldn't believe it. We must have walked past only minutes after the attacks. Those people who helped could have been us, if we hadn't taken the long way.

'I need some sleep' I said, massaging my aching head.

My paranoia could have saved our lives.
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Author's Note -
Based on a true story but made more dramatic for your entertainment.
More exciting stuff coming soon!
Sorry I haven't uploaded in ages, I've been busy and sick.
Thanks for reading!
Dia