One More Troubled Soul

Three-Bruises On Your Thighs Like My Fingerprints

Adira's P.O.V.

The sun had dried my clothing and most of my hair, but I still had to wring out the ends of my freakishly long hair. I was leaning over the edge of the stage, letting the brown waterfall drape down so I could squeeze out moisture and dry it out.

Kayden was kneeling on my right, and James was sitting to my left. Dawson sat across from me, with Brendon between him and Kayden. We had been told to stay here, out of the workers way as they loaded the stage up with instruments and speakers and such.

Kayden sighed and grabbed a handful of his black hair. "Sitting here doing nothing is driving me crazy. We should be practicing. The shows tonight."

James groaned and placed his head in his hands. "Don't remind me. I think I'm gonna puke. What if I mess up? What if I throw everyone else off and ruin the entire thing?"

I placed a hand on the boys shoulder. "You'll do fine. Don't worry about it. If you worry about something, it'll most likely happen. Think positively about it."

James looked up at me and smiled weakly. "Okay. Sure." I patted his shoulder before standing and stretching. "I'm gonna go find Charlie. See what the song list is." My statement was greeted with several "okays" and a sarcastic, "good luck" from Dawson.

I jumped down from the stage and walked across the clearing to a small path that lead to the cabins. The air was filled with the scent of pine, making my nose sting. But in a good way. I hummed some bars to a song I couldn't name as I walked, enjoying the songs from the birds and small pitter patter of animals.

One sound caught my attention. Coming from my left was a terrible high pitched squeal that made me cringe. I stood still, listening again. Instead of the squeal, there was a short shout and a thump, then a name being screamed. "JAMIE!"

What is that? I wondered. I pushed through the undergrowth to find a red bus, its doors wide open and a man lying face down in the grass. Another man exited the bus and helped the other to his feet, three more people following.

There were four men, who all looked hauntingly familiar, dressed in black skinny jeans with various black shirts, three with tattoos on their arms while the other had none. A woman with bright red hair dressed in jeans and a tank top stood with them.

One of the tattooed men scratched at his afro while asking the red haired woman, "Where exactly is "here," Jamie?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, but I saw some cabins through the trees." She pointed in my direction, which had everyone looking this way.

A man with black hair scanned the area around me, meeting my gaze before moving on. I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms with a small smile, leaning on a tree. He snapped back to me with a surprised look. There you go. He shook his head before stepping forward. "Excuse me..."

"Adira." I cut in. It came out quieter than I expected it to. I wasn't even sure if they heard it.

But I saw the man who has no ink jump, so I guess they did. His eyes flashed with disbelief before he looked down, stuffing his hands in his pockets. A small seed of confusion sat in my stomach as I pushed off of the tree and made my way to the man with black hair. Damn, he's taller than I thought. He was maybe half a foot taller.

He smiled and stuck out a hand, which I took. "I'm Pete. This is Andy, Joe, Patrick, and Jamie." He pointed to each person as he said their name.

Andy was the man with short brown hair and towered over me by a good foot. He smiled politely and crossed his arms. Afro was Joe, who was also a foot taller and was giving me odd looks. Patrick, the man with no tattoos, flinched slightly at his name, and met my gaze for a split second. It was enough for me to see fear, and my confusion grew. Jamie was the woman next to Joe, who grinned and tipped her head.