Ghouls

I woke while it was still dark, cuddling the quilt.

“Lau.. Lau, wake up,” whispered a voice I already knew was Cam’s.

“Why? I’m fuckin’ 23, I’m not in school anymore,” I groaned, holding my eyes tightly shut and kicking my legs in a desperate attempt to hit him.

“Maybe not, but you are on tour with a highly prestigious rock band who’s tour bus leaves in 30 minutes,” he retorted, putting his cold hands on my exposed back causing me to squirm away.

“Bastard,” I cursed under my breath.

“Slob!” he chimed as he slammed the door behind him as he left.

I rolled from my side onto my stomach and groaned again before quickly pushing myself up and sitting upright on the bed. It took me a while to grow accustomed to my surroundings due to being so rudely awaken, but soon enough, I gathered my things and went for a quick shower before heading towards the lobby. Once I was there, I headed straight for Jade.

“Hey, how are you this morning?” she asked, cheery.

“Alright.. me and Cam talked everything over and we’re okay, so...” I smiled, earning an ‘aaaw’ in return.

“Brilliant, well, I packed for you seeing as you and Cam were out cold when we got back. Obviously, you saw I’d left some clothes out for a shower,” Jade smiled.

“Thanks, J.. you’re the best. Mind if I put these in there though?” I showed her my underwear and the tshirt I’d slept in.
She grinned widely, “yeah, sure, go ahead,” she said, unzipping the black suitcase that stood at her feet.

“Round ‘er up! We’re off in 10!” Jason announced, causing us all to slowly pick up our bags and head out to the buses.



And with that, the tour commenced. Weeks went by and I did just as Cameron had suggested; stuck with him most of the time. In reality, I loved it; it’d felt like such a long time since the two of us had spent some real time together and re-building that brother/sister bond that we had as kids was something we both needed. Brian had made numerous attempts to talk to me, yet still persisted on flirting, but not necessarily sleeping with, other women. Every time I thought about giving him another chance, he blew it away again. Other than that, my nightmares had continued, but not as often as before which I was very glad about. Although, the monster had started appearing in my real life; I kept catching glimpses of him in the corner of my eye. It’s sending me mad... I need to go and see the doctor again.


“Lau!” Cam called from next to me, tearing me from my daydream.

“Yeah,” I replied in a bit of a daze.

“You alright? In your own little world just then,” he asked with concern, though continuing to fiddle with the wires that controlled the lighting for the stage.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m alright. As you say, just in my own little world,” I smiled meekly.

“Alright,” he half-grinned before his face dropped, a hint of anger in his features, “heads-up,” he whispered so only I could hear as he continued to fiddle with the wires in his hands.

It was then I heard the footsteps and felt a presence behind me, “Lau...”

Fucking Hell. Brian.

“Yes, Brian,” I replied, sternly, trying to sort through the wires in my own hands.

“Can I have a word?” he coughed, clearly uneasy with Cameron there.

“Nope. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to my brother too,” I told him very matter-of-factly, not looking at him, making Cameron snigger.

There was a silence as Brian seemed to look Cam up and down, “Lauren, please,” he practically begged.

I looked at Cam, hoping for some kind of reassurance. He shrugged, in my eyes, signalling that he didn’t mind and that it was up to me.
I sighed heavily, hoping to get across my aggravation, “gimme 10 minutes.” I huffed.

“Alright, I’ll be outside with a smoke, yeah?” he said, trying to get a look at my face by discretely changing his footing.

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll meet you there,” I sighed, pretending not to be bothered by his presence when in reality; he still managed to make me warm and fuzzy when he spoke. Truth is, I did miss just being with him but I wasn’t gonna let him off the hook just like that; it might give him the impression he can just go around being a pratt and playing me again.

Out of the silence, Cameron spoke up, “you gonna give in yet?” smirking.

“Oh, I don’t know, do I? This has been going on a month or more and I’m still not sure what I want to do...and oi, if I was going to have him back, there’d be some strict guidelines. I would not just give in,” I told him, sorting the last of my wires before standing up and brushing myself off.

“Jeeheez, alright. Just askin’,” he grinned, looking up at me before allowing me to help him to his feet. “Well, do whatever you feel is right,” he said, wrapping his arms around my neck, “if you like him, go for it. I’m here for when he screws up again,” he winked before almost doubling over after I punched his gut. “I love you, kid,” he grinned, letting go of me.

“Love you too, Bro... I’ll fill you in on shit when I get back,” I smiled as I head towards the fire exit of the venue that lead outside.

It wasn’t difficult to find Brian; he was leant against the concrete wall a small walk away from the doors, smoking. He was tapping his foot on the floor, nervous, deep in thought. He did that a lot recently; lots of thinking. Sometimes, I wondered if he was thinking about me and the mistakes he’d made or how he was going to sort it, but most times I imagined there were lots more important things for him to be worrying about than me.

I slowly made my way towards him, not really wanting this conversation to happen. Then again, I’d been avoiding him for weeks and it was only fair; I’ve had my way and been rude and blunt with him, it was time to give him a chance to talk.

“Okay, what’s up?” I asked him, making him jump a little bit.

“Hey... I.. I just wanna sort this, Lau.. it’s not fair on anyone else that there’s so much tension all the time...” he told me bluntly, not looking at me.

My blood began to boil, “so, you want to sort us for the sake of everyone else? Not because you’re sorry you fucked up?” I spat.

“I didn’t say that, Lau, you know I didn’t. I’ve said I’m sorry a thousand fucking times, how many more times do you want me to say it?” he started shouting, pushing off against the concrete to stand right in front of me, almost nose to nose.

“I want you to say it until you fuckin’ mean it, Bri,” I shouted back at him.

“I do mean it,” he got just a little bit closer, attempting to get just a little bit more intimidating.

“Prove it,” I spat at him, only to be silenced as his lips forced themselves against mine, his body forcing me backwards, pressing me against the wall, making me gasp.

That electricity that I had been secretly craving came back with an enormous vengeance. My heart raced and my mind blurred, ensnared in the moment. His hand found my face as the other found my hips. My own made their way around his neck. My body heated up as the kiss got more intense, his tongue worming its way into my mouth and fighting my own.

All too quickly, it ended. He pulled away allowing us both to breathe, his forehead resting on mine.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I whispered, making him smirk.

“Yours. All yours,” he whispered much more gently before kissing me once more.

Notes