𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖔

Music thundered through the sand beneath your shoes and pulsed through the air in waves, making each breath you drew feel both heavy and weak at the same time.

When night came, you found yourself surrounded by a bustling crowd on the winding beach that surrounded the bright city like a belt. The night-life of Santa Carla dangerously outweighed the day-life by hundreds, even thousands of people. They rushed you on all sides — front, back, and center, in an attempt to draw closer to the tall stage that had been set up on the otherwise dark beach.

You had no idea who the musician was; a tan, sweaty, shirtless guy with a saxophone swaying on his hip. But the music wasn't half bad and you found yourself clapping and cheering along with everyone else in the audience. You never had a chance to do the crazy touristy things like this before.

The two boys standing on either side of you seemed equally as starstruck; blinking back at the bright stage lights and occasionally cupping their hands around their lips to holler at the performer. You couldn't imagine that this was any more entertaining than whatever concerts they had back in Phoenix, but their reactions still made you flush with pride.

The chorus struck up again and the crowd roared in approval. You were about to start clapping along with the beat again before you felt a short tug on the sleeve of your sweater. "Hey," Sam shouted, though it sounded like a whisper in the packed space. "This is boring. Where's that comic store?"

"Oh, I can take you," you offered, hoping that he could hear you before moving to create a path down the center of what once was a perfectly organized seating arrangement. Just as the two of you were about to disappear through the curtain of sweaty, piling bodies, you felt a hand grab out and latch onto your wrist.

Michael looked between you and his younger brother with a challenging look in his eye. "Grandpa said not to let her out of our sight."

A beat or two passed, humming in your chest and making your fingers twitch. For your first after-dark concert, you thought you were taking the scene pretty well. Sam rolled his baby blue eyes and shuffled between you and Michael, arms crossed over the cloth trench coat he had thrown on before coming out here. "So I won't. If you're so worried about her, why don't you just come too?"

"I'm fine, really," you interjected, not wanting to be the cause of any more sibling rivalry. "Sam's got me covered. You stay here."

In a flash of neon light, you saw Michael's jaw clench loosely before dropping your arm with a reluctant shrug. He nodded at his brother, whispering something that only he could hear. You made sure to offer him your brightest smile before weaving through the throngs of concert-goers with Sam following close behind.

The boardwalk wasn't as far away as the concert venue as you initially thought. It took under a minute to find the stairs that led up onto the long, wide pseudo-carnival. It was much less crowded there under the intense colored lights. But you weren't surprised. The people of Santa Carla were always prone to lingering in the dark.

There were still dozens of tourists milling about, pointing up at the tallest rollercoaster and laughing loudly in small groups here and there. You knew that Michael invited you to come along as a tour guide, but you were just as in awe of the scene as Sam was.

"Over here," you said, nudging him gently in the shoulder to grab his attention before pointing to the low-roofed storefront further down the row. There weren't half as many people on this side of the boardwalk. Not many tourists came to Santa Carla to buy comics, you supposed.

There was a broken neon sign dangling above the tin awning that read; Atlantis Fantasyworld Comics. A mouthful considering the underwhelming size. But it was fitting in that same regard. The air was hazy with a mix of stale seaspray and cigarette smoke but you were by now used to the smell. It seemed to follow you everywhere you went.