We fell in love at an internet cafe ((Laura Gould))

[Patrick Bishop]

After the event that had happened to me the past few weeks I had decided that I should get more money for the pain and torture I was putting my body through. I had been on the auction website before a time or two and Sky sold her swords on there all the time. I think Pi does as well and they both make good money doing so. I had spent some time looking through different sections of auction to try and see what was a reasonable amount to put my stuff up for. Some people on here though where just idiots. They wanted a lot for what really only amounted to crap.

So I had put some of the messed up guns and shitty swords I had found either in the slums or the catacombs and waited to see if anyone would by them. That was last night. I decided that tonight I needed to see how things were going for my lot. I popped into one of the internet cafes and made my way to one of the open computers. I could of gone back to do this but in truth, I didn't want Sky to see what little I was asking for and laugh. So this was good enough for now. Or at least till I could get a computer of my own.

Mush to my surprise almost all of what I had put up was already sold. Seems that old saying about trash and treasure was true. I'd have to do this more often it seemed. I took a sheet of paper and began writing down where I needed to send what. I was almost to into what I was doing to notice the music that was playing around me. I only noticed it now because for some reason I couldn't recall if it had been playing when I had come in or if it had just started.

I pull myself for the computer screen to look around and see where the music was coming from but that's when I saw her and it felt like something had hit me over the head and trip, slipped and fell in love.

[Laura Gould (DELETED 5747)]

Once upon a time Laura had been alright in social situations. Not the best, but alright. The last social situation she had found herself in had been going alright. A blind date, set up by friends; friends who thought that Laura should get out more. Meet someone. Get laid, once and for all. Mackinnley had been sweet. Down-to-earth. A fisherman with kind eyes. But then the two of them had been kidnapped, lured elsewhere, turned into monsters. At least, turned into something other than human. Laura didn’t do much to consider herself a monster; she fed on people and left them alive, but otherwise made her swords and sold them. Nothing else. Nothing more. The majority of her time was spent in the catacombs, so when she found herself above ground in the bright lights, she felt out of place. A fish out of water. Never mind the fact that the lights harmed her.

Even here, in the internet café. A place she had to come in order to sell her wares and make a bit of money – money for what? – she couldn’t stay for long. The lights overhead made her skin itch, like she was allergic. The top she wore was sheer, light material but at least the hood was of a good quality. It was broad, and it covered her skin as much as it could. Sunglasses settled over her eyes as she slumped down in the chair in front of the computer. In front of her was a notebook, with all the details of her swords. She plugged them into the database, one at a time.

Her foot tapped to the music overhead; she took joy from the noise, which was upbeat. Unlike the aura that surrounded her, which wasn’t so bad in her calmer state of mind, but which had the power to completely bleach the atmosphere of colour. She was like a black hole, and all happiness was sucked into non-existence. She had realised that her presence affected the mood of others, too. Part of the reason, she supposed, why she chose to spend the majority of her time alone.

The music changed and her foot stopped tapping. Her head canted to the side as her eyes raised skyward. It was haunting, that song. The guy next to her reacted to it, too; Laura blinked, and glanced at him. Maybe he’d know who the artist was…

Except, when she laid her eyes on him, she felt something lurch in her chest. Something she hadn’t felt since that night she had sat across from Mackinnley. Their shared fate should have brought them closer together, but it seemed to have torn them apart. But she had never seen this guy before. She sucked in a shaky breath, and froze in her spot.

”Wh-who are you?” she asked, her breath falling in a sigh.