Two lost souls

[Willow Holland]

Willow had not wanted to be at home. Her 'aunt' was getting on her last nerve. It seemed like it was nothing more than constant fights in the house. Willow was starting to wonder if the time when she had actually liked her aunt were just pleasant dreams and she had woken up from it to live the hell that was this life. The only good things about it was her music. Their music really. The band was still nameless but they where good. They would go places she already knew this one. Maybe while on tour she would find what she was looking for. What was Willow looking for really?

She leaned against the back against the bar that she was drinking Firewhiskey spiked with fire water. This was a bit strong but then Willow had been sneaking stronger stuff from her aunt's cabinets since she turned fifteen this was next to nothing. That and Willow didn't often drink like this. Willow just wanted to calm herself before she pounded someone into the ground. Club Brew was a pretty chill place when it came to clubs but then Willow didn't feel like doing all that much right now. Not until some false happiness started flowing through her vains. There came a tap on her shoulder and she looked around. It was the owner and since the next act hadn't shown up he was asking her to play. Willow wondered how he knew she played but she wasn't questioning it. If it got her playing again she really didn't mind it.

Willow made her way up on stage with her drink and took up the guitar. She picked a song that she felt would reflect what she was felling at the moment.

"Here, sleep at the bottom of hell
Your time has come to pick the road
You walk in this tale.
Turned and as a coward you've learned
Through sickness and health,
There's only one,
Now go and bite your tongue.

You'll just say the worst of me,
With a hope they'll understand.
No, they know you're just a boy.
So grow up and be a man.
Little baby, kicking, you scream and whine
Victims pay the price eventually
The cost? let's see... your life.

You've got nothing to prove, stay afraid.
Young brother, you've got nothing to prove."

 

[Jonathan Holland]

Times like this I wanna die with you so come sing this song with me

Since the trip to Spain the nightmares were never ending. Some nights Jon wouldn't get any sleep because of those visions, I swear they're trying to tell me something. He went a week without sleep his eyes would seem like they were dragging, till Saturday came and he slept the entire day. Without sadistic dreams waking him up, he found himself awakening around nine PM in his flats just up north were he used to go to school. Jon was still on vacation and since he didn't like staying in New Zealand nor Alaska he was stuck here. Bored and feeling wrecked from those nights without sleep. Times like this he needed something harsh to make him feel alive, something to wake him up. He threw on whatever he could find around his flat and was promptly dress less than an hour. Jon did a quick mirror check, his reflection looked battered and his eyes weren't so baggy but a bit red since he's slept so much. Blah, he didn't care he appararted out and ended up the nearest pub in town.
It didn't take long for the man to find a free stool. He sat down and order up 3 shots of whisky, taking each one harder than the last. When he thought he had enough for now, he turn to hear someone sing. Jon never been a fan to rock music or wizard band. But this girl had him looking for a very long time. He sat and listen letting out a deep sigh as he rubbed his optics. Whatever she was screaming made sense well the parts she could make out. "Isn't she something?" some random guy spoke with a smear crossing his face. "You know her?"Jon asked the man.

"Yeah well sort of age sings for this band, she not famous entirely" commented the guy.
"She should be" Jon said this his eyes never left her performance till it was done, Jon turn around when tha music finish, he order up 3 more shots and drank up.

 

[Willow Holland]

All eyes where on Willow but she didn't pay attention to that. The song was a soft one really. It wasn't normally the screamo stuff she was used to singing to express rage. It was more of a song of abandonment. Really Willow felt like she had been abandoned. First by her mother who met her end at the hand of Death Eaters and then by boy that she had hoped would stay with her, who would be able to deal with her. He dissapered without a word and left Willow, though she wouldn't admit this, heartbroken. Then was a long time ago. All that was left now was a shell that was only broken when she sang. She strummed on the guitar in time with her song.

"Mother superior,
Come catch the rabbit, he runs.
My how've you grown?
You're frightened of leaving
This truly gone fishing amalgam,
Go fetch your gun.

Your answer is in there,
Just stare down the barrel.
Your sincerest apologies,
Won't write you out of this one.
Tonight, you'll find the right
In the pull of the trigger, now bite.
Oh young fools, don't cry...

At the words Don't Cry she looked out further into the crowd again but this time she could see pair of eyes that seemed to have something missing. Willow looked back down at the strings she strummed on and brought out bit more feeling for those eyes.

"Not anymore, don't cry boy
Not anymore, don't cry boy
Not anymore, don't cry boy
When your sick to the stomach
Just pull out the knife, Oh no.

Don't cry boy.
Not anymore, don't cry boy
Not anymore, don't cry boy
When your sick to the stomach
Just pull out the knife, Oh no. "

Willow finished and smiled as the crowd clapped for her. This was her drug. The adrenalin of being on stage and the joy that came from singing for others and having them actually like it. She wasn't doing this for them though. She was doing it for herself. The feeling that pored from her were like finally letting go a breath that she was holding for much too long. Willow was asked to sing again but she didn't feel like it anymore. Willow was more interested in the sad eyes that she had drawn the last bit of emotion for. Willow found him tossing back drinks like they where water. "Latin tolerance's an amazing thing ain't it." She said as she tapped the counter which made the bar man bring her the drink that she had been taking for most of the night.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

The song lasted more than he was drawn to it. Jon listen but his heart wasn't into listening someone sing their heart out. She good, she can sing. Jon had more to worry about than hear one sing, he was deep in his thoats when he heard her voice again so nearby. She sat right next to him like she own this place or knew the type or person he was, which was rather normal to most. "Yeah I guess soo" he said. Jonathan was out of it again. Just the visions never stop leaking into his mind, any moment now he could be seeing a vision while talking to someone. He tapped against the counter significant that he wanted another to wash away the visions. "Maybe its just me sinking into my boredom..." he spoke without looking at her this time. Control of thoughts and words were slipping away. His throat burn and his stomach rumble as the acid sink mixing with his emotions. "Than again I heard drinking was good for you health" he coax up a hoax, no one would believe that. Proven fact it kills you but it doesn't save you from drying.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow scanned the man. It wasn't often she had to use her Holmes skills lately. People where pretty much easy to figure out. The dreaminess she had detected in his voice didn't come from the alcohol. Either that or he may have been under something else. Whatever it was it didn't have anything to do with the Paradox girl so she let it be. "No hard to be bored here. It's a off night really. The Twisted Cauldrons where meant to be here but they bailed." She said pointing at the door. It was odd for Club Brew to lose a band but then there had been something off about the band that had come in a few nights in a row.

Again Willow thought little about it. "Good for keeping ya out of the funny farm maybe. Got a cousin that died from alcoholic poisoning. Good thing too. He wooda survived I wooda kicked his ass inna the grave. Can' stand stupid." She said as she leaned on the bar counter. She was at Brew often enough that Willow pretty much knew the workers here. They liked her though they, like very one else was weary of the violent girl.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

Jon tucked his lips confused by this girls accent. What was more confusing she looked familiar but he never stumble upon someone like the singer, she must not be from this country. "Where do you hail if its okay to ask?" the bar keep was ready to serve him another one but Jon refuse before the keep poured. "Thanks I don't wanna get too drunk" he said shaking his head lowering down his gaze. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, whatever this girl wanted he possibly couldn't give her anything. Jon hadn't been the same since Spain but a lot had to do with Zehava taking off on him like that, when he knew there was no baby. "Your not from here? You look Hispanic but you talk..." he wanted to say like American but he could be wrong.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow was just looking to talk to someone that didn't know her or her problems at home, at school, with the world. Willow's hatred was global but there were a few that weren't touched by it. Willow shrugged. "No prob at all mate. Was a Londoner for the longest time before then I came from the Bronx in New York. Could say that the mix makes for near impossible speech." She said with a laugh. That was when she felt a hand almost brush against her.

Willow grabbed behind her without looking and flipped a boy over onto his stomach. "Where ya tryen to steal ma wallet or grab ma ass?" Willow asked as she bent the boy's hand back painfully. He could have been seventeen like her maybe a little older but that didn't mean that she would give him any mercy. The boy whimpered but didn't say anything. "Answer me motherfu@ker!" Willow yelled twisted higher as she dug her knee into his back.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

Jon watched the commotion unfold in front of him. He stood after taking a shot that was brought to him unexpectedly. "Aye? You need to chillax woman" he took over the situation by grabbing the scum by the neck. Grabbing him so he stood still, "Now if I were you I apologize for you idiotic behavior" the boy look terrified after being handle by a girl like Willow. He quickly apologize when Jon grip grew tighter around his neck. He said his apologize and Jon let him go, "Stay safe" he laughed a little not really amused by the whole situation.
"Mind telling me what's the tude for?" he turn around facing the singer. "That's not normal for me to come across someone like you, P!ssed at the world?" wonder what really hold meaning to her lyrics, Jon didn't know if he should feel intimidated by her actions or impressed.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow watched the boy scuttle off after stepping forward with a scary look on her face. He had said sorry but Willow was not about to say something like 'It's ok.' She thought it stupid to say that when it was really wasn't ok. "No one touches me unless I won dem to." She said rolling her eyes. It was true. After behind bound against her will for what seemed like ages she was never going to let another person put a hand on her unless she let them.

Willow shot the man a glance and shrugged. "Ey ever since the age of fifteen it been kill or be killed outside school I'm just maken sure I can' get hurt." She said the crossed her arms. Not again anyway. She thought. "I'ma bet that it ain't normal of ya to drink like ya gonna die tomorrow but ya are ain't ya?" She said her neck moving a little bit. So what if she was angry at the world around her. After the hell that it put her though there was a reason for not wanting anything to come near her.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

"Ya telling me no man can touch you?" he asked sitting down. "You ever had a boyfriend? Maybe someone to love you? I think that's what's missing in you life" Jon said rubbing the back of his head. "I can tell a lot from you and I've just met you, so'z what's ya name?" he asked having the sudden urges to drink again. Instead he decided against it, feeling already lifted from the many shots he already endure. The heat in his stomach was crawling in the back of his throat, man it was leaving a detested feeling in his mouth. Like he was just about to vomit whatever he ate the night before, "You shouldn't be mad at the world. The world nothing to be mad about, its stopping you from being you. Pretty girls shouldn't look so mad all the time" he smile slightly with a glaze look in his eyes.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow moved her head slightly. "Yeah unless he wanna eat dirt lata." She said simply. She was so used to being the way she was that she though it normal to pound a on a boy that made a move like that on her. "Paradox. People that don' now me that good call me Paradox." she added simmering down a little bit. Willow thought about the question before that. "Had one once. He was bouta transfer to Hogwarts but never heard from him again once school started." She said with a shrug. To Willow it was a learning experience. Corvis taught her not to trust guys to easily. "Cha pretty like a rattle snake." Willow said laughing a little bit. Willow normally looked like she had been hit by a windmill. She took care of her face well enough and the activities that she took part in kept her fit but other than that her clothes and hair were normally a royal mess. Willow noticed the look in his eyes then looked down quickly. It had to be the drink. Why else would he be looking at her like that?

 

[Jonathan Holland]

"Is it possible we can talk outside or something? I'm hating this atmosphere at the moment. Or else I'm just about to barf" he listen to what she had to say, there was no way a hot babe like this chick suffered low self esteem. "Don't get me wrong for me saying this and if I was sober I say so anyways. Your hot, why wouldn't nobody talk you you? I mean there something that guy was grabbing on and it wasn't just to get your wallet" he grin getting up from the stool again. He grabbed his jacket, he was also suffering from those thoughts again. Being here made it worst because he wanted another drink, he wanted more to get rid of those stupid vision. There's no way in hell he was about to just himself get bloody drunk because he was simply afraid. "Mind keeping me company?" he asked adventuring out the pub.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow made a face but could see that the guy was turning a bit green. She nodded and hopped off her stool. She hadn't brought much of anything with her because she knew that there where dudes like the one that had tried to grab her out here. "Let's see ya sober then." She said with a soft laugh. Willow had been called pretty before and she had beaten the living shot out of them for the daring. She didn't date, not after being left behind like she had been. There was something about this dude though that kept her from hurting him.

"Not at all." Willow said walking out with the guy. "And for later on. If ya make a move fo' ma ass I'ma beat the drink outa ya." She said half joking around. She could tell that he wasn't that kind of guy. Even if he was she would make good on her promise. "What's ya name anyway?" She asked to keep things friendly.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

"Johnny or Jon don't matter" he pushed the door open to walk out the pub. He did in fact vomit when he stepped out though, right on some guy shoes. The man curse Jon out, Jon trippy like making his way out of the man way. "Man I knew I shouldn't have that many drinks..." his body wasn't used to drinking this heavily. He stood up after spewing somewhere in the alleyways his body needing something warm instead of the cold air engulfing him. "Paradox?" he asked to see if she was still there. He turn and notice she didn't follow him out or something, he pretty much blew it with the Paradox girl. To bad she's gay or lesbian was the correct term for her. Body like that and its going to waste on the same sex, its a shame. However Jon was never your modest pig. He respected a girl, no matter what type she was, Paradox was still a female.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow had in fact followed they guy that had cursed Jon out back inside and decked him on the nose for it. She went back outside and leaned against the door frame. "If ya need a place to stay while da sickness passes I'm taken up a space ina hostile not far from here." She said offhandedly. Willow wasn't that nice but she did feel for him. She had gotten smashed but once in her life and that was all that Willow needed to stop her from doing it again. She still remembered what it was like though. That and there was a good chance that Jon had a place of his own so there was little harm in making the offer.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

Jon looked up and saw Paradox standing in some doorway. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea. I needed a place to crash" he sort of lied to see what Paradox was all about. "Than maybe later you can tell me your real name" he wipe his mouth clean with his sleeves. "Where to?" he waited for them to go, this night didn't end so bad he guess. No more nightmare and visions. It had been to much to handle for Jon, he was sick and tired of it to be frank. "That's if you trust me? I mean I don't wanna end up cream like you did to that guy.." he smiled a little more now that the vomit stage has passed. He wonder when will the knock out stage pass? He felt as if it will happen anytime soon.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow put her hand on Jon's back to keep him steady and started to lead him down the street. "That's my real name. It's just my last name." She said with an impish smile on her face. She watched him clean himself up and made a face again. "Maybe the landlady can give ya a place to really clean up." She said. Willow was so not the type to go after a guy that she had just met at a bar. When she said she was giving him a place to stay while he sobered up, she was really giving him a place to sober up. "I trust ya well enough. An with all the college students tha I don' have to worry. There's gonna probably be some blond cutie that catches ya more than the likes of me." She said though there was a hint of sadness in her voice. It was a fact that she seemed lesbian or at least asexual to people that meet her because of her tough outer shell. She was sure that Jon was no different.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

"Now what make you so sure I'd go for a blondie?" he said stepping back a little. She was helping him out which he felt greatful. Just her comment was so typical for a brunette to say. "I don't mind blondies but I don't go for them" he admitted walking a bit wary now that be was stable enough. "What's your real name than?" he asked while they walk down cemented walkways. They passed a few couples sitting on benches, some were making out and necking. Jon was still a man so it was bad for him to look but the girl next to him had more his attention than any couple necking. He slid his hands into the depths of his pockets making Paradox hand slide down to his arm. He smirked a little to himself, Merlin only knows what he was thinking was sinful. Pretty Hispanic girls, he's his father son. He loved them way more than anything."You ever hooked up with anyone before?" he asked truthfully out of the blue.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow watched him and laughed. She moved her finger in a no motion while walking backwards a little bit. "That yar going to have to figure out for yaself." She said the impish smile back on her face. Willow never flirted but that didn't mean she didn't know how to do it. It was something one picks up when one's aunt was a sl00t. "I can give ya a hint though. I'm named afta a tree." She said then started walking right again. She had put her hand back on the top of his back to try and help him out when he slumped his shoulders so her hand slid down. Willow's body reacted in a way that she hadn't expected it to. An urge? Where years of bottled up hormones finally catching up with her? No Willow had more control over herself than that. "Na not that kinda girl." She said simply. Why was difficult for her to believe that at the moment?

 

[Jonathan Holland]

"A tree huh?" Jon said looking around to see if any tree here were visible to compare to this girl. "Least its not after no flower, kinda hate girls name after flowers" he laughed a little looking down as he counted his steps in the back of his mind. "I can respect that too, not often you come across someone like you.." he added towards the end. Jon intention weren't in his right mind at the moment. He wouldn't harm or anything, guess it was curiosity that had him asking the question. "Right back to your name, what's the first letter it starts with?" Jon asked still walking while counting his steps in his mind. It help the feeling of not wanting to vomit again. He didn't want to see what he ate yesterday morning. He would be a little embarrassed if he's a male and couldn't hold his drink down.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow smirked and sniffed. "Ey don knock the flower names. I have a friend called Galaliliy who can kick upon an ass faster than most anyone I know. Me not being one of them." She said adding another much sassier smirk. "When ya live in a place full of knuckleheads ya learn ta keep to ya self. Or become a total sl00t." She said thinking of another one of her Amercan friends who would have jumped Jon as soon as she had layed eyes on him. "Not giving you that. I can say that the first letter and the last letter are the same." She said then laughing. She kind of liked this game. It kept her mind away from scenes that would better if they where played out by Penelope.

Willow got to a building that looked like it had seen better days and knocked on a door which had the molding peeling. A few second's later a girl, Latin but her brown skin covered in tattoos, opened the door then looked at Willow. "Need a place to stay again Paradox?" She asked with an evilish grin on her face. "Mind ya business Caramella." Willow said rolling her eyes. "Is Lace in?" Willow added. Caramella nodded towards the back and let Willow in. The inside looked nothing like the outside. It was clean and brightish but clearly where youth gathered. "Lace's the owner of this place. Caramella's her daughter if you want to call her that. Looks like a collage brake's coming up." She said looking at all the unfamiliar faces.

 

[Jonathan Holland]

"I can tolerate flowers names only because of my mother Lila" Jon chuckle shaking his head. A name starting with the same and ending with the same letter. Right away he guessed....."Paradox?" he looked up and noticed they had stop in some building with old scrapping pealing at the side of its foundation. It smelled a little rancid and more like a pit stop for truckers and goths put together. "Is it Willow?" Jon greeted the girl, another Latin one he never came across before. She seem to hold the same posture Willow held but a lot more mean with artistic drawing all over her arms. "What's with you and places like this?" he poked close to silence as he stride right next to her. His head was still feeling faint but thanks to his digested stomach he was feeling incapable of throwing anymore. "Ugh my head, think I'm bout to crash" he said dragging a little to the wall. He stopped not going any further licking his lip as he groan. Not good, everything seem blurry.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow listened to Jon with a bit of interest. His mother's name was nice. Pandora came back into her head and turned away. She missed her mother most of all. The woman who had raised her and would call mother forever. Willow smiled wide when Jon guessed her name. "That's right, Willow by name and by nature." She said. Willow was long, thin and with a willowy sort of power to her that made it seem like she could take someone down before they could breath. Lace came out and greeted Willow to give her the keys. Lace had purple hair braided up to look like dreads. She really looked too young to be a mother of a teenager something that Willow thought amazing.

Willow raised her shoulders when Jon asked why she came to places like this. "Don't have the kind of money that can get me five stars. Ma friends have places like this and let me stay from time to time when I don't want to go home." She said in a tone that said she really didn't want to talk about it. "Come on a little further." Willow said as she put her arm around herself. Willow didn't want Jon to crash in the middle of the hall even though she had done something like that before. Willow opened the door to the room that they gave her and pulled Jon in. It was then that she realized that there was a bit of a mistake. Usually Willow slept in a small room with one bed and a trunk so she could put clothes in. It was the same room but there where now two of them that had to stay there. "Oh crap."

 

[Jonathan Holland]

Jon strides were bearable till she held on to him. He put his arms around her shoulder and lean into her more. This is what he gets for drinking to many shots at once. Who was he kidding himself? Really, no one ever saw Jon drink like that now except Willow. She will be the first to deal with his stomach acid and next morning hang over. When she said, "Oh crap" he stood up at his height and looked around the room they would be staying in. "Its no problem in just an hour or two my hang over will be gone" he assume shrugging his shoulders. "I'll be home before it hits morning if I do pass out just push me to the floor" he stagger towards the bed and sat down sighing heavily as he look down. "Its nice though.." he lied a little. His apartment was a lot better but it was new nothing beats coming back to something old. "Thanks for helping me out though, really appreciate it" he rubbed his head thinking. Bloody drunks he thought, nothing explains that theory.

 

[Willow Holland]

Willow let out a scornful noise. "Don lie, it's a piece of sh!t but it's a place at least. Can't let ya pass on the street." She said while bringing the trunk over to the bed next to the bed and sitting on it long wise. She had been in much more uncomfortable positions before so she didn't mind this. At times when Willow refused to go home she had actually taken shelter under a bridge or in someone's doorway. It was a pity when homelessness was a better than the life at home but she went back because she had to.

Willow shrugged. "Can say I know why." She said looking away from Jon. He seemed lost, like she was. It seemed like he would understand hardships like her's. Or maybe Willow was just tired of being alone that she went over and talked to Jon. She didn't know. "Can I asked what happened?" Willow asked looking back at Jon's resting from. Aside from the clear damage of the night Willow could see he was strong and lean. She pushed the thoughts she was having aside though. This was not the time for things like that.