Midnight Dancers Ch. 01

The streets were darker than usual as we left the concert hall. My girlfriends and I had just attended a concert by our favourite group, and we were all exhausted from our cheering, but high on excitement as we headed home on foot.

"That was the best concert I've ever seen!" Tanya exclaimed.

"It was definitely a damn fine birthday present!" I grinned, "Thanks so much you guys, tonight was awesome."

"Well happy birthday again Jill, god are we all now over 21? You mean we can all go to the states and drink now?" Tanya laughed.

"The guys looked so good! But I swear I could've died when Danny touched my hand." Carol sighed. She ran her fingers through her dark blonde hair and twirled it up into a bun on the top of her head.

"Why didn't you? Then he could have gone to your funeral." I joked. Carol shot me a dirty look and we both started laughing.

"Me die? No, I don't think so." Carol laughed.

"Shut up you guys, I hear something," Tanya hissed. Carol and I quieted down, and sure enough we could hear voices behind us.

"Who is it?" Carol asked curiously.

"This is a back street we're on, nobody but a gang would be here." I said in a worried voice.

"Right, that gang that hangs around our house." Amanda finally spoke up.

"I thought you lost your voice screaming for Joe." I sighed.

"I did, but it's coming back now." Amanda agreed quietly. Her mousy brown hair fell around her shoulders and covered the sides of her face like curtains. The voices were growing louder behind us. A heavy lump began to form in my stomach.

"It's not the Black Bloods. I don't recognize any voices, especially since Jay was running with them for a while. I know their voices now." My voice sounded full of fear and I glanced at my friends to see if their facial expressions matched my voice. They did.

"We're coming up to an alley. If we cut down it fast enough, maybe whoever it is behind us won't follow us anymore." Carol suggested.

"No way, not that alley. The Black Bloods own that alley. They'll collect our butts for trespassing. They've hated me ever since I pulled my brother out." I argued.

"When did you pull Jay out?" Amanda asked.

"Three months ago, he was getting in way over his head in trouble." I replied and listened for the guys behind us. They were definitely getting closer.

"Shit. Those voices are sounding closer every second." Tanya told us worriedly as she began to twist her deep red ringlets around her fingers.

"Let's speed up." Carol announced. We all agreed and quickened our pace. We walked in silence until we came to the alley that Carol had spotted earlier. We stopped so I could take a quick look down into the dark depths between the old abandoned buildings.

"No sign of them. You guys want to risk getting beats from the Black Bloods?" I asked with a trembling voice. I looked over my shoulder at the guys who had been following us. There were no streetlights, so all I could see were four tall muscular looking figures.

"Stuck between a rock and sharp place." Carol decided with her usual dry humour.

"We're taking the alley." I concluded and pushed my friends ahead of me. We broke into a run as I realized the four behind us were still following us. My friends and I were drowning in the darkness of the alley and I was beginning to wonder if I'd made the right choice.

"Jill!" A guy screamed as he threw himself out in front of us.

"Shit! Jay! What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to hang with these guys! Didn't I tell you they were bad news?" I demanded.

"Shut up bitch!" Jay snarled and slapped me across the face. I lunged for him and wrestled my brother to the ground.

"Knife! Hellraiser!" Jay yelled and those two and the rest of the Black Bloods immediately surrounded us.

"Jay! I'm your sister for crying out loud!" I screeched as the guys grabbed my friends and began to attack them as well.

"Yeah, and I'm supposed to care big sis?" Jay retorted and punched me in the stomach as he pushed me off of him. I fell onto my back and Jay pounced on me. He threw his fists into my stomach one after another. I began screaming at the top of my lungs and tried desperately to block my brother's fists.

A few seconds later Jay was yanked off me and thrown into the wall of the building. Two hands slipped under my arms and I was pulled to my feet. Carol, Tanya and Amanda were standing up with guys guarding them too. Jay came after me again and the guy who had helped me up took care of him. Jay was thrown into the wall again, much harder this time. He hit his head on the cold brick and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"No!" I screamed and ran to my little brother's side. I shook him by the shoulders and then a hand landed on my shoulder firmly. I looked up to see a shadowy face looking down at me with a warm smile. It was so dark that all I really could see was the smile. He helped me to my feet and led me away from Jay's lifeless body.

"Just leave him, I'm sure he'll be fine. I didn't throw him that hard." The guy said gruffly. I looked back over my shoulder to see Knife picking Jay's head and shoulders up and dragging him over to a doorway.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." Another guy said loudly and the four guys who had been following us led my friends and me out of the alley.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" I demanded, as it seemed like we were about to be kidnapped or worse.

The guy smiled. Okay, kidnappers usually aren't that friendly, to save you from one fate and take you to a worse one... so who were these guys?

"I'm Jill, what's your name?" I asked him curiously. He cleared his throat and looked over at his friends uncomfortably. They looked back and shrugged.

"I'm John." The guy told me. I watched him suspiciously and decided he was lying.

"These are my friends Tanya, Carol and Amanda." I introduced them as I pointed them out.

"And these are my friends, Robert, Peter and Jeff." The guy lied again. I nodded and saw Carol mouthing something to me. I looked over at her curiously.

"What?" I mouthed.

"They're lying!" She mouthed back. I nodded again and we turned left onto University Avenue. It was well lit so my friends and I had a better chance of checking out our escorts. We instinctively headed for McDonald's.

"Um, you live over here?" Robert asked worriedly, not really disguising his voice. It sounded so familiar it was driving me crazy that I couldn't think of who he sounded like.

"Yeah, but I thought we could stop in at McDonald's first. I could use a bite to eat, and a bathroom to check out the damage done to my face." I explained almost cheerfully.

The guys glanced at each other with unsure looks on their faces.

"Oh, okay." John put his hand on his forehead and shook his head back and forth slowly.

"What's wrong?" I asked slyly, knowing that if they came into the restaurant, their faces would end up being seen and we'd figure out who they were.

"Huh? Nothing." John replied quickly.

"I see." I mumbled, hoping he would have revealed his true identity before we got to the restaurant.

Carol, Amanda and Tanya headed inside quickly to go and check out their bruised faces in the mirror but it took some urging to get the guys to come inside with us.

About five minutes later, we were all seated at a large table, eating our food.

"Excuse me, I've got to use the phone." I stood up and glanced at Carol. "You got Connie's number written down?" She nodded and stood up too. We headed for the pay phones but detoured into the ladies' room.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked my best friend urgently. I looked at her in the mirror as I rubbed the bruise forming on my left cheek tenderly. I rinsed my hands and ran my wet fingers through my spiky blonde and red hair.

"They're lying about who they are, that's obvious. But that one guy sounded so familiar, like we know him really well. Sort of like Hank."

"Yeah! I knew I knew his voice! So how're we supposed to figure out who they really are? How're we gonna get them to tell us?" I asked curiously, figuring Carol would already have a plan up her sleeve.

"Well we could get them to laugh. You can't really disguise your laugh if you're caught off guard." Carol explained.

"Yeah, that's true. Plus you know the guy with his hood up? He's got a tattoo on his left ear." I said excitedly. We both looked at each other suddenly as it clicked in as to who the guys were.

"No. It couldn't be." Carol snorted.

"Couldn't it?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Maybe, but I guess we're gonna have to wait and see. Oh yeah, watch their noses for studs. If you see some we're probably right." Carol grinned.

"Oh, my gosh. Just think. We're chilling with the Group!" I squealed.

"Ssshh! Keep your voice down! You don't want them to hear us do you?" Carol snapped. I covered my mouth and began to giggle hysterically. Carol clapped her hands over my mouth. "SSShhh!!"

"I'm sorry. This is just so exciting, I mean think about it!" I had pulled Carol's hands off my mouth. "Carol, we are chilling with the Group! The guys we lust after are sitting at the table eating McDonald's with us!" I said as calmly as I could. Carol's eyes widened and she began to giggle too. We tried to calm down a bit more after two more minutes or so of non-stop giggling and then went back to our table.

The guys were gone.

Carol and I looked around the restaurant frantically.

"Where'd they go?" I asked anxiously.

"Just outside. They aren't who they say they are." Amanda confirmed.

"Yeah, we have the feeling that we know them." Tanya agreed.

"We think so too." Carol spoke for the both of us.

"We have the feeling that they might be the Group." I told them quietly. Tanya and Amanda nodded in agreement.

"That's what we thought." Tanya smiled.

"But we can't let them know we're onto them. We should wait it out and see if they'll reveal themselves to us." Carol announced.

"We should walk around some more before we go home. See if they will tell us if we pop into HMV and gawk at a Group poster or album." I said with a sly grin.

"We should discuss the highlights of the concert." Amanda offered her ideas.

"Yeah, and see how they go from there." Tanya smiled.

"We should get going before they think something's up." I said suddenly. We dumped our garbage and headed outside. The guys were waiting by the steps to the sidewalk, keeping to the shadows.

"Ready to go?" John asked curiously.

"Yeah, we're ready. You guys still cool on walkin' us girls home?" I teased. John smiled at me.

"I dunno, you sure we won't get raped or anything?" He teased back.

"Actually, I can't really promise anything." I raised an eyebrow at him and he licked his lips slowly.

"Well, I guess that sounds okay." He replied and the guys laughed.

"What have you gone and gotten us into?" Peter laughed and elbowed John in the ribs.

"Nothing you won't enjoy." John smirked.

"Okay, in that case, ladies, let us be your escorts." Peter held out an arm and Amanda jumped forwards to take it, a little too enthusiastically for her own pride. Once she was at Peter's side, her face flushed crimson. The rest of us just grinned.

"Well? Who will be my escort this evening?" Jeff questioned. Carol volunteered and took his hand in hers almost immediately.

"John, which lovely lady will you fights me for?" Robert looked sideways at John and then I was snatched off my feet. I grinned up at John's face as he held me tightly to his side. He grinned back.

"I guess that means I get my lady after all." Robert smiled at Tanya and held out his hand to her. She accepted after a second of hesitation and then once they were holding hands, her face took on a dreamy expression. This time Robert's voice wasn't disguised much at all and Carol and I looked at each other instantly.

"It's him!" I mouthed to her and she nodded vigorously.

"Do we have a problem here?" Jeff asked her and put a hand on the top of her head. The two of us dissolved into giggles.

"No, but you might if you mess up her hair." I pointed out. Jeff grinned and moved his hand away.

We headed towards Yonge Street, taking a long detour from our house.

"Did you guys catch the Group's concert tonight?" I asked suddenly.

"Uh, yeah. It was pretty good. Lots of pretty girls there." Peter nodded.

"What did you guys think when Darin started playing with the fireworks? I thought he was going to do a repeat of last time. God, I don't think Jill could have handled him catching on fire again." Carol smirked at me and I glared back at her.

"Yeah, how is he supposed to father her children if he's all burnt to a crisp?" Amanda jumped in.

"Gee, how is he supposed to father anyone's kids if he's burnt to a crisp. Never mind mine." I tried desperately to get myself out of the ridiculing. I looked up to catch a grin disappear off John's face. I vowed to get the other two back. Soon.

"Naw, he only caught on fire last time because the guy cutting the fuses, cut them too short. He was fired." Robert told us. John shot him a dirty look.

"Oh, you guys keep up with the Group's news?" Amanda asked with a sly gleam in her eyes.

"Yeah, the guys are pretty cool. I mean look at all the girls they got fallin' at their feet." Jeff put in with a broad grin spreading across his face.

"Yeah, they've got it made. The money, the girls, the traveling for free. The sex too, I'm sure." John agreed.

"Oh, and how sure are you?" I asked. I just couldn't help myself. "Are you guys spies or something?" I teased. John looked down at me with a sly grin twisting his lips.

"Yeah something like that." He replied.

"Whereabouts do they live?" Carol asked mischievously, trying to get them to slip up.

"Oh, back on University." Jeff said calmly. He'd been paying attention to the street signs, probably trying to keep track so they weren't as lost as they looked.

"There aren't houses on University are there?" Tanya asked slyly.

"Sure, there's some further north." I grinned. "Or is it south?" I looked at Jeff for a reply.

Jeff looked back at me and threw me a dirty look that I took as a jest.

"I dunno, remember, we're only visitors to your confusing city." Jeff managed to reply.

"Oh, right. Let's not confuse the visitors. Oh look, we're here!" I grinned as we reached HMV.

"You guys mind if we stop here for a second?" Carol asked hopefully. The guys shook their heads, so we headed inside. John headed upstairs with me to the Hard-core rap and hip hop section. He looked at some Public Enemy CDs. I grinned and headed over to the Alternative area. I picked up EMF and Red Hot Chili Peppers CDs. I returned to where John was standing and reached over his arm to retrieve a Black Sheep CD. He took Public Enemy and NWA CDs and then headed over to the personal CD players. I paid for my loot and then headed downstairs to see what the others were up to. My friends were either following or being followed by their 'escorts'.

Ten minutes later we met up at the main doors.

"Oooh, check out that poster! That is one mean looking dog, isn't it?" I exclaimed and pointed to a large poster of the Group. The guys glanced at it and then looked down quickly. My friends and I grinned at each other.

We headed outside and went up the street, window-shopping along the way. Before long, it was midnight. Midnight on Yonge street was not a safe place the last little while. Gang fights, and random shootings were now the latest craze.

***

Comments anyone? Love to hear what you think so far... I wrote this in a weekend when I was younger, I'm fixing it up now to make it a bit older and sexier...

Chapter Two gets things going... will post after I receive at least 5 comments on this one!

Thanks!

Myalyn