With a shake of her head, she grabbed her large purse from the seat she’d remained captive in for countless hours, stuffed her notebook inside and bent to gather her shoes from the space beneath the seat. Holding the black stiletto heels by their straps upon two fingers, she set her bag upon her shoulders and tiptoed down the front stairs with graceful, bare feet. Without a single nod to their devoted bus driver, Harlyn stepped off the dreaded metal prison on wheels and proceeded out into the fresh, cool air of whatever city they had arrived in. After chasing the dragon for so long, she was surprised she could remember her own name, much less what city she was in. With a small smirk lingering on her lips, she nodded to the tall, bulky security guard that stood by the bus door, ready to safely whisk her away to her hotel room. Her high was already dissolving, dropping her on the cold asphalt of reality as she forced herself to stand tall, grip the bit of her ride left with a death vice, and march to the hotel room awaiting her. There, behind closed and bolted doors, she could completely fall apart, crawl in bed and die for the next however many hours. The sleep would help deal with the horrible symptoms of coming down from a ride with The Dragon. Plus, it wasn’t like she had slept the entire time they were on the bus. There was no reason in sleeping through a high – that would be a waste. No, now that she was quickly descending from the clouds, she would sleep. She’d wake up when she wanted to. Hell, she might not even get up until sound check the next night!
“Here ya are, ma’am,” a deep, husky voice sounded out of nowhere.
Jumping slightly, the blonde raised her heavy eyes from the tightly and elegantly woven carpet of the seemingly lush hotel, and forced herself to smile. Apparently, her thoughts had distracted her from the difficulty of dragging the weight of her feet from the bus to her hotel room on the top floor. ”I… Uh, thanks,” she replied, tugging her handbag tighter against her side before she slipped the key card out of her back pocket.
---
After a long shower and fifteen hours of sleep in a lush king sized bed, Harlyn felt like complete shit. With a loud groan and trembling limbs, the blonde rolled out of bed and tumbled to the floor. An extremely loud curse fell from her lips as she stared at the ceiling, the inevitable spin of dizziness setting in almost instantly. The ceiling twirled around as the walls of the room spun in the opposite direction, causing the girl to grip her stomach in the painful grips of nausea. She needed a fix. Now.
---
With a single stab of the needle, the chase started again. Mere seconds passed before the blonde felt her body begin to tingle with the familiar sensation of her being set aflame. A silly smile drifted onto her lips and she began to settle against the bathroom wall as her dazed chase began to wash over her. Before she let herself fall too deep though, she heard a loud door slam to her right – Zack’s room. His voice rolled through the walls in a loud rumble, but Harlyn couldn’t make any sense of the words. They came to her in a droll of dull mumbles and tugged at her feet, urging her to stand from her slumped position. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, the blonde shakily forced herself to her feet and emerged into the main room to gather her clothes and such to ready herself for the night.
As she waited for her curling iron to heat itself, she withdrew her cell phone from her pocket and with a flurry of fingers, typed up a message to Zack. ”Where are you? Wanna see you.” the text read, punctuated with a winking smiley face.
”In the bar, get your butt down here!" came his reply.
"But I look like shit... Gimme fifteen?"
"Welcome to my world honey... If you have to, then hurry. Kasei isn't wearing any either. And she ALWAYS is."
"Your world? You're wonderful, shut up. I'll be there soon. ~x"
With her last text sent, she heaved a loud sigh and gazed at her mirror. She’d have to settle for an adaptation of her natural waves and less make up than usual to make the time restraint… But she could do it, she decided with a nod.
---
After an extra fifteen minutes spent getting ready than she had promised, Harlyn sauntered into the bar area, bright eyes searching through the smoke to find her band mates. Her shiny black heels made a sharp click against the tile of the floor as she slipped into the smoky bar and within seconds, her eyes adjusted and settled on Zack’s form slumped at the bar, alongside two other woman. Upon further observation, she found the woman nearest Zack to be her drummer friend and the second woman to be her unpronounced foe, the lead singer of Legion. Inside, she felt her confidence falter: for one, her drummer looked amazing with or without make up and two, the opposite lead singer scared the shit out of her. Outwardly though, she gave her blonde curls a toss and gracefully swayed her way to the bar. Never let them ever see you falter – she thought as she slipped into the free seat on the opposite side of Zack.
”Hi Kasei! Harlyn flowed, bouncing her gaze over to the dark haired beauty before turning her attention to Zack. ”Hey you,” she said, her voice more gentle as she gave his thigh a gentle pat. ”Sorry about the wait,” she continued, crossing her fair, bare legs over one another, causing her black cutoff shorts to rise higher on her thighs as she motioned to the barkeep for a drink.
”How’s it going?” she squeaked, flashing a smile to both her band mates as she leaned against the counter.