Good Enough Chapter 3
#4 of Good Enough
College is always a hard transition, especially when you don't know what you're walking into or, worse, who you are going into it. And you never know how you'll come out of it.
Chapter Three--Attack
The rest of the week passed by in a speedy way. Throughout the day, he would have classes but it was the time between classes that Damien truly loved. While he still spent time with Thomas, Ozzy, and Torrie, Damien had found himself more and more in the company of Anna Meadows, enjoying their conversations about literature, about music, or even just about themselves. And on Thursday, James Noels and Warren Bibs had joined the clique, their company just as enjoyable as Anna's.
However, Damien woke on Saturday in a panic. Sunlight had spilled into the room through curtains which Thomas had left open and, for a brief moment, Damien's eyes fluttered open in his typical, relaxed way. Then he reached for his phone.
"FUCK!" he shouted, kicking off his blanket... Then he took another look. He calmed himself. Saturday. He had no classes on Saturday--he had made sure of that. But something else had caught his attention: a text message from Thomas.
Out with Ozzy & Torrie. See u @ party. 7:30.
Damien frowned. He had made himself very clear when he stated that he had no intentions on going to this party. Not when he had other plans. The idea of the new band, Loxosceles, filled him with excitement and he could scarcely wait to go to their rehearsal, to have a new group to perform with.
Yes, today was planned to be awesome, even without some party.
When he returned from his shower, toiletries under his arm and his fur still slightly damp beneath his clothes, he was amazed to see Anna Meadows standing outside his dorm, her hand raised as though to knock on the door. She was hesitating.
"Anna?" Damien murmured.
"Oh," she gasped, turning slightly. She fumbled slightly with the book she held in her hands before fidgeting with her glasses. She giggled slightly. "I was just wandering around and wondered..." She trailed off.
"Yes?"
"Do you want to study with me, maybe?" she asked nervously. "Or maybe we could just take a walk or catch a movie or--" She started to ramble, a habit of hers that Damien found intriguingly cute.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" he chortled. She looked away, so clearly embarrassed but undeniably adorable. Damien had started to chuckle, but he soon caught himself and stopped. "Oh, you're serious..."
"I can understand if you don't want to," Anna muttered. "I just thought maybe... You know, it's a bad idea. We haven't really known each other very long and you probably already have a girlfriend and--"
"Did you have anything in particular that you wanted to do?"
"Well, we could just go for a walk around campus for now," she answered apprehensively. "It's a nice day and there's a little café on campus that I wanted to try... If you don't mind, of course."
"Well, we could"--Damien swallowed nervously--"do that. Just let me through this stuff in my dorm and we can get going." He paused for a second. "You know I've got band rehearsal with James and Warren later, right?"
"Oh, I know. I was hoping I could sit in on the rehearsal. Maybe I could help or something. Is that bad?"
"No, I just wanted to make sure you knew." He walked over to the door and unlocked it. She followed him in, seating herself on Thomas's bed. He glanced over at his guitar and smiled.
"Are you going to play something for me?" Anna inquired almost coyly.
"Maybe," Damien countered, just as teasingly. "Do you want to hear something?"
She nodded. Damien smiled and grabbed his guitar, setting it across his lap before he began to play. It was an old song from his first band, Malachite, a song that brought back fond memories and nostalgia. Somewhere in the back of his mind, as he played, he remembered the feeling of Ed's embrace and, for a brief moment, the memory dominated his mind...
"Damien?" Anna's voice seemed far away, but it forced the memory of Ed back into the recesses of Damien's mind. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just... Let me try another song. I just wrote this one last night."
"Really?" Anna asked after taking a sip of the soup before her. She sat across from Damien at Café De Rua, a small café on the very edge of the campus.
"Really, this is my very first date," Damien admitted. He looked down at his barely-touched sandwich, feeling embarrassed. "I've never really had a lot of luck with the whole relationship thing. Growing up, I was always in my brother's shadow. He's tall and handsome and I'm short and awkward." He chuckled slightly. "The only reason I was ever noticed was because people knew who Nate was."
"That's not true," Anna remarked and Damien noted how venomous her tone had become. He looked up at her, amazed by her darkened expression. "I noticed you and I didn't even know you had a brother. You shouldn't be so down on yourself."
"I'm not."
"Yes, you are," Anna insisted darkly. "Every time I start trying to ask you about yourself, you come up with some depressing thing that you say. It's always how you were never smart enough or strong enough or something like that. It's even in your music!"
"It is?"
"I've heard your lyrics," Anna continued. She sighed. "I'm not trying to bring you down or anything, but I really wish you'd look at yourself in a better way. You're smart, you're funny, you're absolutely adorable..." She reached forward. "You're amazing on your own. You just need to believe in yourself." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
Temporarily stunned by her action--something that she giggled at--Damien touched his cheek where she kissed. "Uh... Thanks..."
"Like I said--You're absolutely adorable."
"Dude, you were almost late," Warren griped as Damien and Anna entered the empty room that Warren had asked them to be at. James was already present, tuning up his drum kit meticulously, offering them only a brief wave before he began to show off his talent.
"Damn," Damien said in surprise. "Double-kick pedal?"
"Yep," James replied with very obvious pride. "It's an old kit that I had since I was a freshman in high school, but they're still awesome." A low, resonating note brought Damien's attention to Warren and the black-and-green, five-string bass he was tuning. "Unlike Warren," James remarked. "His family bought him a brand new bass when he got accepted."
"Lucky. My guitar's old," Damien chortled, holding up his blue guitar.
"Well, it's what we got to work with," Warren said impatiently. "So, show me what you got."
Damien nodded, but then Anna spoke up. "Play the one you showed me this morning! I want to try something."
"Try what?"
"Just trust me!"
Damien regarded her with a mixture of concern and intrigue but began to play and, after the first four bars, began to sing.
"I've been waiting so long
And I've been dreaming so long
When will I find my peace?
When will you return to me?"
Another voice starting to sing to the tune without lyrics, a non-descriptive sound that was nonetheless melodic and beautiful, almost operatic.
"If you want me, come and find me
I'll do anything to have you with me"
Now, Warren and James began to join along. While Warren's bass-line started off simple and calm (in sharp contrast to James's energetic drumming), it soon grew into an amazing sound, complimenting Damien's playing near seamlessly.
"I'll be your Earth and I'll be your sky
For you I live and for you I'll die
Take my life and soul inside
I'll be yours if you say you'll be mine"
They were jamming now, enjoying each other's company in such a way that they never had before. It was no longer just talking about doing this or that--it was actually doing it, finding that middle ground that all four of them loved. And Damien, even as he continued to play, was reminded of how much he had missed it during the week, the feeling of being part of a group, of being in a circle of friends. It wasn't like when he felt obligated to be around Thomas's friends. This was something different.
Something he loved... Something he craved...
"Yo, where's the kid?" Ozzy asked, shouting over the loudness of the party around them. Undoubtedly, this party at a house off-campus was less than legal and even as he spoke, Ozzy could smell the alcohol on his own breath. "Wasn't he supposed to be here?"
"I don't know!" Thomas replied nervously. Unlike Ozzy, he had yet to sample the ample supply of liquor. Meanwhile, he scanned the heads of the partygoers, searching for the familiar form of his husky roommate. "He won't answer my texts. Should I call him again?"
"Maybe something's happened to him!" Ozzy called back. "You going to go look for him?"
"I might have to."
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Thomas was grateful to be out of the noisy house with its boisterous, uninhibited guests, though he had every intention of returning. He needed silence for just a moment to collect his own thoughts. He had gone out to Ozzy's car, being sure to snatch the keys away from the "slightly" tipsy rabbit who was far more giggly than Thomas was comfortable with. With Torrie in the passenger seat and Ozzy still in giggling in the back, they drove back to campus, Thomas taking careful note of what was around him in the night. The campus was far from sleeping--many students were out and about on campus, some making use of the open gyms or computer labs and others enjoying the company of their friends.
"I'm sure he's fine," Torrie huffed, annoyed that she'd been forced to join them on a search which she had very vocally said was pointless. "He's a big boy after all. Maybe he's asleep in the dorm."
"It's too early for him to be asleep," Thomas answered, glancing at the car's clock on the dashboard. It was only nine-twenty-six, hours before the husky normally started to get ready for bed.
"Why are you so worried about him?" Ozzy wondered.
"Kid's like my little brother," Thomas answered. "And it's not like him to not answer his phone. Something's not right."
"Or maybe his phone died," Torrie suggested irritably. "Maybe he turned it off. Or maybe it's on silent. Or maybe you're paranoid."
"No, I'm not," Thomas answered as he pulled into the parking lot behind the dormitory. "Look, I'm just going to check the room really quick. I'll be back in a minute and then we'll head back to the--"
A loud scream pierced the air and they stiffened. Thomas looked around the car before seeing a few shifting figures in the distance... One of them dropped... He hesitated for a moment... That couldn't be... could it?
"P-please," Damien said, backing into the brick wall of the dormitory building, keeping Anna shielded behind him. "I-I don't have any--"
"SHUT UP AND HAND IT OVER!" the assailant, dressed entirely in black with tufts of honey-golden fur visible, ordered. The gun glinted in the moonlight, a knife visible in the opposite hand. "ANY MONEY, JEWELS, ALL OF IT!"
"This is all I've got," Anna said, taking off her sterling silver ring. She handed it over and the assailant snorted angrily.
"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" the assailant snapped, turning the pistol on Anna.
Damien acted before he could think. Reason gave way to action as he made an attempt to grab the assailant's hand, turning the gun away from Anna who had squealed in shock before breaking out into a scream as a loud bang echoed in the misty night. Like a ragdoll, Damien fell and the assailant fled, disappearing into the night as Damien's consciousness started to disappear into blackness...
Chapter 3.5--The Hospital
"What happened?" Dr. Greenwich inquired as he looked at the husky laid on the bed, his stomach bandaged and the bullet removed from his body. The question was aimed at the group of college students who had brought the kid into the emergency room, both having admitted to breaking several laws to bring him here.
"I-I don't know," Thomas answered. "I was just happening upon the scene when I..." He trailed off, shaken, but visibly better than Anna who hadn't stopped crying. Anna was leaning into Torrie's shoulder, still crying, her clothes stained with Damien's blood, some of it still damp.
Ozzy, who had sobered up considerably, spoke. "Is he okay?"
Dr. Greenwich looked down at his papers. "Right now, I'd say he'll survive..." He looked them over. "I don't think I can ask you guys to leave just yet. Doubt you'd even listen to me, would you?"
Ozzy shook his head and Torrie said, "No."
"He's our friend," Thomas continued. "Can we just stay? Just until he wakes up?"
Dr. Greenwich shifted nervously. "Has anyone notified his family?"
"I did," Thomas answered.
Dr. Greenwich nodded. "Well, I suppose you can stay for a little while. Just please, don't wander and don't mess with anything. If there's any change in his condition, we'll be sure that you know."