Biker Mice From Mars - Somewhere I Belong

Lonely Nights Are The Hardest

It was a late Thursday night in Chicago, Illinois.
The sun was already gone for hours, taking its warmth and light with it.
It was an act of betrayal in its worst form because now the inhabitants were completely at the mercy of the cold and lonely night.
And there wasn't much mercy hiding in the shadows.
The moon did an attempt to shine down on them, as if it tried to tell them that even darkness had its beauty.
That without darkness, there couldn't be light either, but clouds worked directly against it, blocking the soothing light and thereby making the city even more sinister.
Because sinister it was.

Especially at this kind of hour.
The wind howled through the dark and deserted streets, trying to get a grip on something, if only to have control or to create chaos.
But with everybody sitting safely in their homes, close to the fireplace to replace the warmth of the now absent sun, there wasn't really something to control or create.
Yet, the wind didn't give up.
It just blew its merry way, like it always did.

A lonely figure came around the corner, bravely facing the storm, showing that the world was rather unequally distributed because not everyone had a warm place to be at night.
Or a family to surround them with love and affection.
No, like this lonely figure, there were so many people out there who were on their own, fighting to survive the darkness that came with loneliness.
Desperately yearning for a place to belong, but at the same time, they did everything within their power to keep everyone at distance.

Some would call them inconsistent, but in reality, they weren't.
They were simply scared.
Scared to be abandoned.
Perhaps one could even call them stubborn, for they were convinced that if no one cared for them, they couldn't be left alone either.
After all, you simply can't miss something you don't have.
You can't feel something that isn't there.
You can't love someone who doesn't exist.
And so, they remained on their own, fighting their own battles, trusting nobody but themselves.
Yes, it was a lonely existence.
But familiar, too.
Safe.

Or well, that's what they believed.
Or maybe what they wanted to believe.
But the world wasn't just unfair, it was a dangerous place as well, especially for those who were lonely.
It made them an easy target for people who were up to no good.
People who took advantage of the lone wolves.
Using the safe and all-so-familiar feeling against them to get what they wanted, for there was no one who protected the lone wolves and so, the profiteers had a clear path.

But despite being scared, loners were brave people.
The constant threat that hung above their sophisticated head didn't stop them from leaving their home.
It didn't stop them from living, if only on their own terms.
And living in fear wasn't one of those terms.

This also applied to the lonely figure that just came around the corner, keeping her jacket tightly wrapped around her skinny but well-shaped body to stop the wind from getting a grip on her.
To stop it from taking over control.
She just bravely continued her way, leaning a bit forward into the wind with her head down and her green eyes narrowed to protect them against the cold.

Charley 'Charlene' Davidson was one of those people who were lonely.
Who didn't have a warm and comforting home.
She did, however, have a home.
A roof over her head.
But nothing more than that.
It wasn't warm and least of all comforting.
But it was her home.
And she was fine with it.
She was even fine with being out here, all alone, in a part of the city that seemed to be forgotten.
Perhaps even given up.

It was like a blind spot.
Like it wasn't there.
A place without hope.
And where there's no hope, there's nothing.
No love.
No warmth.
No boundaries.
The people here lived by their own rules.
It was that fact specifically that made it a dangerous place.
Because there was only rule - 'There are no rules.'