I'll Carry You Away

I walked out onto the back porch from the kitchen, feeling the concrete patio floor beneath my feet and the fresh wind from the Pacific Ocean swirling through my short hair and blowing it my eyes. I brushed it away as I tried to get a feel for the temperature. Sure, I could go check the weather channel, but that didn’t mean anything to me. I wanted to feel for myself and see if I would need a jacket. It was late Spring, and the weather was pleasant and warm. Hell, kids were already toting their towels and parents to the beach, and the surfers were taking advantage of the pleasant weather and semi-empty beaches before the summer months brought in the tourists. I wasn’t much of beach person, nor was I a sun person, but Rami and I had done a lot of debating over where we should live for years. No excessive heat for me, and no excessive cold for her. No big cities for me, and no middle of nowhere for her. Huntington Beach, or even southern California, was not ideal for me, however, the pleasant yearly weather was enough to draw me in. Besides that, we couldn't pass up the job opportunities.
I walked out into the grass. The warm sun beat down on me, warming my skin. I decided against a jacket, for I may get too warm with it, and I didn’t feel like carrying it. I would just stick to my jeans and tennis shoes.
I walked back inside and moved through the kitchen and down the hall to the stairs.

“Hey, Rami!” I called.

“In here!” she called.

I jogged up the stairs and walked in the direction I thought I had heard her voice sound from.

“In where?” I asked with a laugh.

Just then, Rami appeared from around the corner, her eyes scanning the neutral walls of the hallway.

“Here. Geez, Sander. Do you think this place has enough bedrooms?” she asked.

I stopped right in front of her bedroom door and crossed my arms over my chest, propping my shoulder up against the moulding around the door frame.

“It’s just five. Five bed, three and a half bath. Standard for these yuppie neighborhoods,” I replied, bitterness underlying my voice.

Rami smiled and rolled her eyes at me.

“Please don’t say yuppie,” she said.

“But it’s true!” I argued.

Rami smiled wider and grasped one of my wrists, breaking my arms apart.

“You’re such an old soul,” she said jokingly, “Welcome to modern society, Sander.”

With that, she towed me into her room.

“Welcome to the world of the bland. We’ll have to get some new decorations. Speaking of, how do you like your’s?” I asked.

At that, Rami’s face lit up.

“Oh, I love it, Sander! The purple is definitely me!” she said enthusiastically with a fake valley girl accent.

I smiled.

“I was worried it would be too bright, but if you’re cool with it…”

“No, it’s perfect. The walls are a bit bare, but I think I’ll be able to find some cool art. Maybe downtown?”

I nodded.

“There’s some pretty interesting galleries downtown. I was fixing to take a walk around the neighborhood. You want to go, or do you want to stay here and finish unpacking?” I asked.

Rami looked at the mess she had made out of her small amount of luggage and waved it off.

“Nah, it can wait. Just let me freshen up and we’ll head out. I feel gross after that plane ride,” she replied.

I smiled and pushed myself off of the door frame.

“Okay. I’m going to go hunt for my shoes,” I said.

With that, I turned and walked down the hall to the bedroom on the far end of the house. Inside the red room, with all black furniture, some antique pieces, and a stack of framed posters that had yet to be mounted to the walls, I walked over to the damask bedding I had thrown into the floor in my sleep and ripped it from the floor, finding a ratty pair of Converse underneath. I had a nicer pair of tennis shoes, which I had worn to the airport, but for this walk, these would do. I picked the shoes up and quickly forced my feet into them, then moved around my room, gathering my bag, my cell phone from my nightstand, then my black leather bag from the back of my desk chair. After double checking my makeup in the vanity mirror, which in my opinion, looked like absolute shit. I was no artist, unlike Rami. That girl could do any makeup look thrown her way. From natural, to the tedious cat-eye, to crazier looks for parties and such. She was the artist, while I was the bullshitter. Smudge on some black and dark brown, try to make myself not look like raccoon, and go. Regardless, it still looked like shit. I didn’t care, though. I just adjusted the worn Dream Theater muscle tank and went to turn off the lights.
Rami approached just as I walked through the door.

“Why is your room way down here?” she asked.

I shrugged.

“I guess I was thinking privacy. Not to mention, I didn’t forget how much you used to snore,” I said teasingly.

Rami scoffed and playfully smacked me as we made our way to the staircase.

“I do not snore!” she exclaimed.

I laughed.

“Like a man! Actually, most men, I’m sure, don’t snore as loud as you,” I joked.

Rami hit me again, this time with a resounding smack. I winced and clutched my bare arm.

“Damn!” I gasped.

Rami grinned.

“That’ll teach you. Now, come on! I want to check out the neighborhood!” she said excitedly.

I smiled and followed her down the staircase. We walked into the foyer and out the heavy wooden door. Rami remarked on how heavy the door was. In my opinion, the heavier, the better. With two women living on their own, we were easy targets for predators. The door, if someone were to break in, would be harder to push on and would give Rami and I more time to sneak up with a baseball bat and bash their skulls in. Besides that, it reminded me of some sort of medieval castle door, and that’s the main reason I liked it.
I locked the door and followed Rami down to the sidewalk. Rami waited for me to catch up and smiled.

“We look so out of place here. Especially you. We need to get you in the sun,” she laughed.

I raised an arm and examined my pasty white complexion.

“Yeah, I guess,” I replied.

“I know! How about Saturday, we just have a beach day?” she suggested.

I shrugged. I didn’t have any plans.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied.

Rami grinned from ear to ear.

“Awesome!” she replied.

“Then get drunk off our asses,” I said playfully.

Rami laughed.

We walked to the next block before crossing the street. Rami was pointing out lawn decorations and commenting on how good the sun felt. It was nice out, however, I wished I had some sunglasses.
Rami towed me to the stoplights on PCH and pressed the button, waiting for the signal to turn so we could walk across.

“Downtown’s not far from here, is it?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“It’s like, a block or so from here,” I replied.

Rami bounced excitedly.

“Maybe there’s a cool club we can hit up tonight?”

I rolled my eyes. The cars on the highway came to a stop and we crossed over to the other side.

“Why a club?” I groaned.

Rami linked her arm with mine.

“So we can drink. Besides, we need to make some new friends,” she said.

I threw my head back dramatically.

“Can’t we just, you know, get drunk at home?” I asked.

Rami laughed loudly.

“Hell no! Are you serious, Sander? After all these years, you’re still anti-social?” she asked in disbelief.

“I’m not anti-social,” I argued, “I just hate people.”

Rami snorted. Maybe that was a little redundant.

“You need a man, Sander. That’s just the bottom line,” she said.

I let out an uncharacteristically loud, unamused laugh.

“Shit!” I barked, “That’s the last thing I need!”

“Oh, come on, Sander! You need someone to bring you out of that shell of yours,” she said.

I snorted in response and disgust. Rami sighed and shook her head at me.

“I’m serious, Sander,” she sang.

I looked away from her and up to the sky. As we passed a lamppost, Rami suddenly yanked me to a halt.

“Hey, look!” she exclaimed.

I turned my head to see her pointing to a black and white sticker on the metal pole. It was a sticker in which I owned, slapped on the side of a speaker of my stereo system. A Deathbat.

“Isn’t that like, the universal symbol for that band you like? Avenged Sevenfold?” she asked.

I smiled.

“Yeah. It’s their logo,” I replied with a shrug.

Rami examined it before pulling her attention away and resuming our walk.

“Aren’t they from here? I remember reading it somewhere,” she said.

I reached into my front pocket of my bag, digging for my lighter.

“Yeah. I think they live here, actually,” I replied.

Rami gasped.

“Oh, wow! Wouldn’t it be something if we ran into them?” she asked, a look of wonder in her eyes.

I snorted and smiled.

“I highly doubt we’ll ever see them around,” I said.

“We need to find out where they live. It can’t be too far from here. All of the big shots live near the beach,” she said.

I retrieved my lighter and moved to another pocket in search of my cigarettes…wherever the fuck they were. I sighed in frustration and looked up, making sure to watch where I was walking as I blindly fished for the carton. When I looked up, I spotted a towering collection of oddly angled white buildings on the beach. A condominium complex.

“Like there?” I asked Rami.

Rami looked to the complex and nodded.

“Definitely,” she replied.

I finally found the carton and victoriously ripped it out of my bag. We walked in front of the complex’s sign.

“The Huntington Pacific,” she read.

I dumped a cigarette into my hand and placed it between my lips before placing the carton back into my back.

“I wonder what kind of assholes live there,” I bitched.

Rami laughed. I raised my lighter and cupped my hand around the flame to keep the wind from blowing it out. As I did, Rami shouted and grabbed the belt loop of my jeans, yanking me backwards. I jumped in shock and looked up to see a shiny black BMW barrel out of the complex gates.

“Assholes like that,” Rami said, then stepped in front of me, “Hey! Watch where you’re driving, jackass!”

I stared at her in horror. Her loud voice echoed in all directions. I grabbed her and yanked her to me.

“Jesus, Rami! You’re going to get us shot! All you have to do is flip them off,” I said, then proceeded to do so.

We watched the car pull up to a stoplight, then quickly whip around in an illegal U-turn and speed back.

“Oh shit. It’s coming back,” Rami said.

I quickly shoved her.

“Run!” I shouted.

With that, Rami and I bolted up the sidewalk. The guy driving the car screamed at us, his voice cutting through the PCH traffic, but Rami and I were too scared of getting killed to hear what he said. We ran down a block and crossed back over the highway and up into downtown. When we thought we were safe, we let our backs hit the cool wall of a building and finally breathe.

“Good going, Rami,” I griped, then took a drag from what was left of my cigarette.

Rami was far from scared as she peered around the corner.

“Now, I’m going to be scared of every fucking BMW I see,” I went on.

“You know who that guy looked like?” she hissed.

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. Rami turned back to me.

“What’s his name? The Rev? Is that right?” she asked.

I felt my neck lengthen as my body went rigid.

“You’re just seeing things,” I said.

I took another drag from cigarette before flicking the ask from the end.

“I swear it was!” she said.

I shook my head.

“Why the hell would The Rev be out during the day?” I snapped.

Notes

Thanks for reading! Please comment and subscribe!--sharpiewashere

Next chapter by a7x_deathbats6661 coming soon!

Chapter by: sharpiewashere