Music IS my life...

Trevor grumbled softly, giving a quick glare to her before sticking his tongue out. "Yeah, well just remember, you are the one that let me near those instruments."

Claire stopped playing and turned sideways to look back at Des. "Glad to see you so psyched and ready. It's great." She turned to pull her legs up so she tap the drumsticks over her thighs, matching the notes Des began to play. She tapped a bit more, matching Des's notes with her own perfectly.

She stopped suddenly, not a second after Des and smiled at her. "Oh yeah, you're back." She turned around as Trevor turned off from the road they were on. She turned back around at the squeal, laughing once. "He has a sick sense of humor, doesn't he?" she giggled softly.

"All right, we're here." He stopped near a large stage, several bands already practicing as a small crowd was gathering. "Thanks, Trevor," Claire told him, leaning over to give him a quick hug, which he returned before she climbed out of the car and shut the door. "C'mon, Des. We have to get going."

Hours later after the tryouts in Western Azreon's Town Hall.
Link to story in Town Hall: https://ruinsofazreon.darkbb.com/azreon-town-hall-f17/music-is-my-life-t34.htm

The drive back was quiet, both Claire and Dezka were drained and in need of sleep and recovery from their ambush back at the stadium. The car turned down a street and shook Dezka awake, yawning deeply she shifted to get more comfortable "Are we there yet?" she asked, her voice still soft from the sleep.

She began to think about the other group of people, Chris, Daniel and Rayne, the three mysterious musicians that tried to stop them from getting into the show "What was their problem?" she spoke to the voice, 'I'm not really sure but I have a bad feeling about them showing up outta the blue like that.' she gazed up "Are you scared of them?" she asked sarcastically, 'Me? Afraid? Pssh, girl please the only thing I fear is...' she looked shock "What is it? What are you afraid of?".

The voice sighed 'I'm..I'm kinda afraid of you.', she burst into laughter, 'It's not funny!' the voice boomed to her, "Alright, alright... Why exactly are you afraid of me?", the voice paused 'Well because you can get rid of me when ever you want to and someone having that kinda power over me is quite scary.', she nodded in agreement.

Claire leaned back against the seat, reclining it slightly as her auburn eyes closed slowly. She sighed heavily, completely drained physically and magically. The last of her magic had been used to play in the tryouts. She tapped the drumsticks against her thighs out of habit and it helped her relax. It didn't take her long at all to fall asleep, the drumsticks resting in her lap.

When the car bounced, she opened her eyes slowly. Rubbing at one of her eyes with the side of her hand, she sat up and glanced out the windsheild. "Are we there yet?" she repeated. Trevor sighed and a minute later he stopped and turned the car off. "Yes, we're here."

Claire yawned into her hand, turning to look at Des as she laughed. "What's so funny back there? Des, we're here. C'mon." She didn't wait for Des and climbed out of the car, stretching her arms over her head as Trevor climbed out, leaning on the roof as he looked at her. "So, what happens tomorrow? You two going to Cirque or not?" Claire nodded, yawning again. "All right. I'll be here at ten o'clock to pick you both up."

Dezka grabbed her guitar and stepped out the car as she pushed the door open, pushing her arms forward to stretch. She looked back to Trevor and Claire and nodded at his question "Alright then. See you ten o'clock sharp right here." she raised a hand to her forehead then saluted to him as though he was her captain. She swung the guitar onto her back and smiled as she ran up the stairs to the porch.

She stopped and turned back to Claire "You sleeping here or not?", Claire and Dezka always took turns at sleeping at each others house, Dezka like Claire's family as they filled the loss of her own. She waved good bye to Trevor and turned to open the door, she wiped her feet on the small door mat then entered and called out "Gran! I'm home!".

She walked in side to the kitchen which was lit up by six small lights in the roof, to her right was a large metallic fridge, in the middle of the room stood a large built in table with chairs around it and a small sink to the one side, the other side of the room was scattered with cupboards and drawers holding all sorts of goods and in the next room was a small pantry. She walked up to the fridge and pulled it open, she span around to the table and set down a carton of fruit juice.

Claire leaned on the roof and glanced to Des for a moment. She laughed softly at the salute before giving a large yawn. She slid back and grabbed the drumsticks off her seat before closing her door. Trevor shook his head at the salute and waved up to Des as she stood on the porch. "See you tomorrow, Deska."

She turned around, yawning again as she nodded. "Yeah. Sounds good. I'll be in a minute." She waved to Des then turned back to Trevor. "If you could, please call me about nine. Just to make sure I'm up." Trevor nodded and walked around the car, giving her a hug. "Go get some sleep. You look like a zombie. And I'll call at nine."

She yawned again and nodded. "Yeah. See you tomorrow." She waved as he got into the car and drove off. She turned and walked into the house, yawning as she went to sit next to Des at the table. "Hey."

She slid around the table and went to one of the cabinets up against the wall, she reached for the cups on the top shelf, 'Please allow me.' the wings unfolded from her chest. They spread wide and shook slightly as they stretched from being wrapped up the whole day 'Ahhh feels so good to be free again.', she sighed "Enough chit chat, just get the cups please." the voice sighed. The wings reached up, the three spikes on each wing curled around two cups and brought them down onto the counter in front of her 'There you go.'. She smiled at his kindness.

The wings fell slightly as not to get in the way of what ever she was going to do, she picked up the cups and placed them next to the carton of fresh fruit juice. She tilted the carton and poured some of its contents into each cup, she smiled to Claire and slid the glass over to her "Well we sure had a busy day. We should get some sleep." she gulped down the juice and placed the empty cup into the small sink.

Grabbing onto Claire's arm she left the kitchen and walked up the stairs, she turned into her room, her hand reached and flicked on the lights as she entered. She let go of Claire and sat on the bed, she slid off her coat and tossed it onto the floor, leaning over she undid her shoes then kicked them off, she looked to Claire "Bed or floor? Your call." she stood and undid the buttons on her jeans then slid them off and let them drop to the floor beside her coat.

Claire rested her head on the table, already falling asleep. She turned her head to look at Des as she got the glasses and poured out the juice. She turned her head back down but only for a second as the cup was set in front of her. Sitting back, she picked up the cup and drank the juice. "Yeah, it's been too long of a day. I'm so glad we have the next four days to recharge. I'm drained. If I'm lucky I'll be ready to go by the fourth day."

She stood up, half asleep already and placed the cup in the sink. She groaned as Des grabbed her hand and lazily followed after her. She blinked at the light, rubbing at her tired eyes. Sighing heavily, she undid her choker and took off both bracelets, setting them down along with her drumsticks. She sat on the floor heavily and undid her shoes, kicking them off then pulled off her socks and stuffed them into both shoes.

Falling back onto the floor, one arm laid across her eyes. "I'm too tired to move. So, floor I guess." She held her other arm out for a pillow and caught the one thrown to her. Placing it under her head she rolled onto her side. "Night."

The guitar laid up against the bed at Dezka's feet, she dropped down on to the bed, she tossed a pillow to Claire then laid back. Her head rested on another pillow and her eyes shut tight 'Good night to you too.' the voice sighed. The wings gripped onto the blankets with the spikes and flipped it over her body, the other wing pulled the second blanket out from under Dezka and placed it on top of Claire.

In her dreamworld she sat in a dark room that was lit by a weird red aura floating around in the sky "So whats up?" she called out. A few seconds later a long serpent like beast floated towards her, it had a long slender body that was striped red, black and grey. Along the side of its body it had six platinum tipped horns and on the tip of its tail were four more platinum horns that were much smaller than the ones on its abdomen. Its head was covered with a platinum armor shaped like an arrow head that had been dented in along the sides, its eyes were big and bold, a bright red colour. Six long tentacles stuck out its back, each tipped with a red horn that glowed as they swayed aimlessly in the air.

'Not much happens inside your head.' she laughed at its comment. A slight pain struck her eyes "Guess I'm going now. It's morning and we have a pretty laid back day today. We're heading out to the Cirque." the creature nodded 'I heard.' she pointed thumbs up to it then vanished. Her eyes shot open and she slowly drifted back into the world. her arms stretched out and she yawned. Her hands stroke down her hair in an attempt to get rid of the bed head.

Claire smiled up at Des and tugged at the blanket that was tossed to her. She blinked as the wing tossed it but shrugged it off. "Thanks," she told the wing, though didn't expect much of a response. She rolled onto her side, pulling the blanket up over her as she fell into a deep sleep.

Her mind drifted in and out. She could hear tapping, but wasn't sure if it was in her dream or it was really happening. She pushed it away and groaned, rolling again as she fell back to sleep. Something brushed at her arm now and she brushed at it. The tapping came back and she groaned even more, and batted at the tapping. She listened and it was more of a buzzing now.

She peeled her eyes open, still full of sleep as her palm smacked against the floor as she tried to find the source of the buzzing. Her hand found her phone, which was vibrating. She flipped it open and put it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked, sleep thick in her voice. "Hey," Trevor said on the other end. "Ugh, dude, are you kidding me? Nine o'clock already?" she asked through a yawn. She sat up as Trevor said something. "Yeah, I'm up, I'm up. See you in a hour." She closed the phone and stretched her arms over her head.

"Des," she yelled sharply, looking up at the bed. "Wake up, girl!" She stood up and stumbled over to her, falling to sit on the bed next to her. "Nice hair."

She yawned again not bothering to cover her mouth, "Was that Trevor? Guess we better get ready then right?" she stood up and smiled at the comment "Your's is pretty nice also." she rubbed her hand in Claire's hair just to mess it up. She walked over to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. She turned to the shower and stuck her hand inside, turned on the taps and the water began to splash down.

She turned and sighed "You sleep alright?" she asked then turned again and looked at herself in the mirror, she pulled off her head-band and sighed "I always forget to take this off, I'm gonna regret it one day when i wake up and it's broken.", the voice laughed 'Then try not to forget. We only have an hour so enough messing and get ready.', she scoffed "Why are you so excited. We're only going to the Cirque, I've been there thousands of times before i got you.", 'Exactly. Before you got me. I've never been to a Cirque before so yes, this is exciting for me.', she smiled at it's childish tone. The wings spread out and stretched then reached over the front of her body.

She brushed them away "I can do this on my own, thank you." she glared to the wings as they moved away. She unclipped the back of her bra and tried to pull it off but it snagged onto the wings as they were now in the way, 'Thats what i was trying to tell you.', she sighed "Go ahead then.". The wings folded over to her chest and ripped apart the front of the bra, then slid backwards "Thank you.". She slid off her black panties then kicked them to the side. She stepped into the shower and under the water, she ran a hand through her hair and watched as small remains of blood dripped down.

Claire nodded, yawning loudly. "Yeah it was. Guess we should." She glared at Des a bit tiredly and raised one hand to fix her hair, pulling her pink headband out to fix it a bit more before placing it back on. She laid back in Des's spot on the bed, snuggling into the pillow. " Yeah I slept pretty good. Bit of a weird night though." She shrugged, giving another loud yawn. "Wake me up when you're done," she called.

"Well stop forgetting! Then it won't get broke." She curled up on her side, falling into a light sleep as she listened to Des. She shook her head slowly, mumbling, "Always the independent one." She snuggled into the pillow, hugging it.

She sank down, one leg layed stretched out and the other was brought up to her head as she leaned on it, her arms folded around her head as she began to sulk. Her tears ran down her face then dropped onto her chest and slid down her body until they vanished with the water being spewed out by the shower. The wings folded over her slightly in an attempt to hug her but she batted them away with a frown.

'Whats gotten into you?' the voice asked sounding a bit concerned, she looked up at the wings "Well besides you...Nothing i guess just memories." her head fell down again. The wings pushed against the wall she was leaning on and lifted her up, she stood silently her platinum-blonde hair plastered to her face and her back. The wings dropped a soaked cloth into her hand and splashed some soap onto it then the voice demanded 'Wash.'.

She raised her hand weakly and rubbed it across her body, the soap formed bubbles that dripped over her form and slid towards the drain. One wing brought up a bottle of shampoo and shook some of it onto her head after knocking it against her a few times "Would you quit it? Please.", the voice scoffed at her then spoke calmly 'This is actually kinda fun. Now I see why you do this everyday.', she laughed at its comment. The spikes along the wings went blunt and formed a small curve instead of a point, they began to spread the shampoo along her hair, spinning in circles and somewhat massaging her head.

She smiled "You're realy enjoying this aren't you?" the voice laughed in response, then sighed 'You humans are so hairy.', she laughed again at its comment "Well you're bald." she looked down at her body "Besides I'm not hairy." she nudged on of the wings. The wings stopped and folded over as to look at her 'Well you have all that hair coming out of your head and then theres the hair around your crotch.' she brought down the cloth quickly and squealed "Stop looking at me!" the voice laughed in response, "I think we're done in here, for today.", she pictured the voice smiling as it mimicked her 'For today.'.

She stepped out of the shower as the wings turned off the taps and handed her a towel "Thank you.", the wings shook off and dried within seconds. She wrapped the towel over her chest and let it hang down to her thighs, she left the bathroom and looked to Claire "Hey, sleepy head, wake up!" she looked to the clock above the bed "We've got exactly twenty minutes left.", she turned to the closet and pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans with little tears along the legs, underwear and socks. She sat down and pulled on her clothes then stood up and stretched out her arms, the wings folded and became a black and red striped shirt "Not bad." she smiled as she threw on her coat and tossed the guitar onto her back then headed for the door.

Claire sat up at the sound of the tap turning off. She rubbed at her eyes with one hand before standing up. Forcing herself awake, she stretched her arms above her head. She glanced to Des. "I'm up, I'm up. All right."

She padded into the bathroom and quickly ran a brush through her pigtails. She leaned over the sink, looking at the circles under her eyes. "Ugh." Turning the tap on, she splashed a bit of water on her face then patted it dry with a towel. She turned around, walking from the bathroom. She looked to Des's outfit as the wings shifted. "Whoa. That's pretty cool."

Yawning again, she padded over to the rest of her clothes, sliding on her choker and both bracelets. Pulling on her socks and shoes, she stood up and grabbed her drumsticks from the desk before following Des out the door. She sighed, turning around in the doorway as she went back for her phone which sat on her pillow. Stuffing it in her pocket, she trotted out of the room and caught up with Des.

She quickly bolted down the stairs and stood by the entrance to the kitchen "Gran. I'm going out for a while.", the old lady dressed in a dark pink dress turned and smiled "Ok honey. Where are you going and who's taking you?" she asked curiously. Dezka entered the room slowly and looked around then sighed "We're going to the Cirque and Trevor's taking us.", the old lady stopped "Is he still driving that old car?", Dezka let out a small smile "Yes.", her grandma turned and continued what she was doing then mumbled "What a crappy car.".

She turned out the kitchen with a smile, she reached the front door and opened it then stepped out onto the porch. The sky was grey and the sun was almost completely blocked out, it looked as though it was going to rain soon. She walked over to where Trevor said he would pick them up, "His always late." she said jokingly.

Claire slowly followed Des down the stairs. She stopped behind Des in the doorway and waved to her grandmother. "Morning." She rolled her eyes at the car comment and chuckled softly one. Waving again, she tapped Des on the shoulder before heading outside.

She stood on the porch for a minute or so, looking over the sky. "I hope we don't get rained out." She shivered slightly. "Maybe we should take coats, it's kinda cold out here." Padding down the stairs after Des, she smiled. She dropped onto the curb and rested her elbows on her knees. "Haha. Oh, be nice, Des." She stuck her tongue out at the girl for a moment then glanced either way on the road.

Dezka dropped down next to Claire and smiled "I am nice.", the voice laughed to itself 'Oh please. You're worse than me.', her jaw dropped slightly "I am not.", 'Yes you are.', she was about to scream but then calmed herself down "I'm not fighting with a voice.", 'You'd loose anyway.' the voice faded after that. She kept a slight frown on her face then wrapped her arm around Claire "I hope it rains. The rain is so much fun.".

She stood as her pocket began to vibrate, digging her hand into her coat she pulled out her black cell phone and flipped it open the brought it to her ear. "Hello?" she said as she stepped away from Claire, a strong british accent came to the phone "Hello love, did you miss me?". She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the number, not recognizing it she spoke again "Who is this?", the voice sounded more calm "Guess.", she sighed "I don't feel like it.".

Laughter came from the other end of the line "Well let me just say that you look gorgeous today in those jeans and that tight striped shirt.", she flipped the phone closed and looked around scared, she went back to Claire and sat next to her again feeling a bit shaky "Do you see anyone? The streets are empty today.".

Claire smiled and laughed softly. "Only when you want something." She patted at Des's arm softly before hugging her. "Yeah I guess you're right."

She let go of Des, looking up at her for a few seconds then glanced down the road. She sighed, turning back to Des. "What's wrong?" She glanced around, letting her eyes look over everything slowly. "No, there's no one here. What's going on?" She looked back at Des a bit worriedly.

Trevor pulled up after a minute or so. He rolled down the passanger window. "Hey, guys." He noticed the worried looks and his own turned concerned. "What's wrong with you guys? You both look like you've seen a ghost. Come on, get in here. We can talk on the way."

Dezka quickly looked up and down the road "I think somebody's watching us.", her phone vibrated against her leg, she lifted it to her face then flipped it open, the scree glowed a feint black colour and said 'One new message.', she pressed a button and read out the message "I've only got eyes for you.". She flipped the phone closed and ran into Trevor's car.

She brought her legs up, her heels rested on the seat and her arms wrapped around her ankles, she looked out the car window, still feeling a bit freaked out. She sighed to herself to calm down, the phone vibrated again and she quickly flipped it open and read the new message 'That's right. Take deep breaths.'. she tossed the phone to the side and sank her head into her arms.

'Who is this creep?', she looked around again "I don't fucking know." the voice sounded a bit concerned 'Well lets just get out of her now.'.

Claire stood up, looking to Des worriedly as her phone went off. She climbed into the front seat. "Trevor, go. Just go." Trevor nodded and put the car into drive, taking off. "So, Cirque, right?" Claire nodded.

She turned sideways to look at Des. "Who's texting you? Who the hell is watching us? If I ever find this person, they better hope they can run like hell." She reached out to pat at Des's arm softly before she turned back around to watch out the window as they went.

Trevor glanced at both of them worriedly. "What the hell is going on? Who's watching you? And if someone is, why the hell are we going to Cirque if someone's after you? Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

Claire sighed and leaned back in the seat. "We surely can't stay there. Obviously they know where we live. So Cirque would be a good place to go, I suppose."

Her phone went off again, she turned it over on the seat, 'Leaving so soon : ( ', she flipped the phone closed and tossed it out the window. She sat back then took a deep breath "Alright. et's just get to the Cirque. if anybody tries anything on us.", the black smoke began t release from her form.

She looked forward through the wind screen and watched as they drove steadily, still not a sign of people or any cars on the road "This will be a quick drive." she pulled out the guitar pick she had kept in her pocket, she turned it over in her hand and looked at the initials. The pick was given to her by her father before he died, he was a musician and her one and only inspiration, the coat she wears was also given to her by her cousin whom had gotten it from her dad.

She ran her hand over the shirt as it began to move slightly "You need to stay in place.", the wings shifted slightly, the stripes on the shirt didn't connect anymore "Hey, you promised." the voice sighed 'Fine fine i'll try harder to remain perfectly still.' they shifted back into place. She looked out the window as she noticed they were leaving Central Azreon.

Two hours after they left the Cirque and came back to Central Azreon, their home.
Link to story in Cirque du Azreon: https://ruinsofazreon.darkbb.com/cirque-du-azreon-f13/music-is-my-life-t35.htm

The drive home was long and silent, Dezka had fallen asleep after they left the Cirque. In her dream she sat in the same dark room with the weird red aura floating above, the serpent formed itself in front of her 'You had no other choice Dezka, don't think about it any more.', she turned her gaze from the floor towards the creature "I don't care about that anymore.".

'The what's bothering?' the serpent slithered towards her and curled its body around her not touching her nor the ground. She watched it calmly then smiled "It's what you said earlier.", the serpent uncurled itself and drifted away slightly 'And what about that is bothering you exactly?' it kept its back faced towards her. She stood "Well I just wanted to say....", the creature turned and looked at her curiously then began to drift towards her.

'You just wanted to say?' it tested her, she looked down and turned a slight pink "Well I...I love you too." the creature drifted closer to her then laughed 'Ohhh that is funny! You shouldn't mess with people like that.', she glared up at it, her face still bright pink "First of all you're not a person and secondly I'm not kidding.", the creature drifted close to her until it was face to face with her.

Its long slender tail floated aimlessly behind her, the six long tentacles stretched out the moved down and pushed her on the back. She turned and looked at them then turned around and saw its face right up against hers, it spoke again 'Prove it.', the covering around its head departed from its mouth and clicked at the back of its head, she wrapped her arms around the serpents head and pressed her lips against its.

The car bumped up slightly as they went over the speed bump leading to Dezka's home, she wiped her eyes and yawned "I'm glad to be back here. Safe and sound.", she waited for the voice to say something about her sudden disappearance but it kept quiet. She placed her hand on Claire's shoulder "Do you mind if we crash at your place for tonight?" she asked and pouted a bit trying to look sweet and innocent.

Claire sat up as they hit the bump, taking in a breath before she yawned. She turned to looked at Des, nodding a bit drowsily. "Sure we can." One hand raised to rub at her eyes as they stopped in front of Claire's house. She glanced around and noticed no cars. "Hm. They must be out."

She climbed out of the car, leaning across to hug Trevor before she did. "Thanks again, Trevor." He nodded, smiling a bit sadly. "Go get get some rest. You guys deserve it. Call if you need anything." Claire nodded and waited until Des had gotten out before heading up the steps and opened the door.

She turned to wave Trevor off before walking into the house. She walked past the living room then past the kitchen and upstairs. She led Des down the hall and opened her door to the bedroom. Walking over, she fell onto her back on the bed, turning her head to look at the door, waiting for Des.

As the car came to a halt in front of Claire's house Dezka peered out the window and sighed "I wanted to meet your family, it's been too long." she hopped out of the car and waited for Claire, as she came past her she followed her up the stairs. She looked into the kitchen then followed her upstairs. She stopped in front of Claire's door then paused and entered.

The wings unraveled from the shirt position they had taken earlier, she stretched out her arms in response the wings folded over and pulled the coat off of her form, they dropped the coat onto the floor and sagged down. She put one knee onto the bed the fell forward, turning over onto her side.

She wrapped her one arm around Claire and her left leg went over Claire's waist. Her head rested against Claire's shoulder she sighed then spoke softly "It's been a long day. We were supposed to use today as a rest for the concert which is only three days away now." she thought about the concert "Well this is just gonna go easier now that those creeps wont be bothering us anymore. Right?".

She pulled the head-band from her hair and placed it on the small counter beside the bed, her platinum bangs now fell in front of her red eyes and softly touched her lips. She thought for a second "Where do you think your family is anyway?" she asked before snuggling up to her even more.

Claire pulled her arms down from where they rested over her head and rubbed at her eyes again, yawning. She nodded. "Yeah. So much for getting to rest. But we still have three days. But Chris and Rayne are still wandering around, so we aren't completely safe."

She sighed, resting her head on top of Des's. Reaching out with one hand, she absentmindedly poked at one of the wings softly. "I'm not sure, maybe they went out for a date night? Since I wasn't home all day they probably did something couple related or something like that." She shrugged her shoulders slightly.

Yawning again, she pulled her phone from her pocket, setting it aside along with her drumsticks and headband. "It's getting late though. Maybe I should call them?" She snuggled up to her a bit as she reached for her phone, holding down the number two and putting it to her ear. After a few long seconds, she closed the phone, looking at it. "Hm. Her phone's off. That's weird." She set her phone next to her and hugged Des. "I'm sure they're ok. Right?" She rested her head on Des's, looking worried as she stared at the wall.

The wing moved slightly as she poked at it, in response it poked her back with the three spikes "Play nicely you two." she stuck out her tongue to both of them. The wings folded back into place and hung slightly off the side of the bed, the horns on them began to glow with a soft vibrant red colour.

She yawned deeply then wiped away the small tears forming in the corner of her eyes "I'm sure they're fine but it is kinda odd how your moms phone is off." she thought to herself then giggled "Maybe she's too 'busy to come to the phone.", she nudged at Claire to assure her that her family was alright.

She gazed upwards to Claire and noticed the worried look on her face, she shifted upwards slightly and raised her hand then pull the band around one of her pigtails off. Watching as her hair fell down she began to smile "Don't be so down. Come on, why don't we do something fun in the meantime?" she sat up and pulled her shoes off one by one then tossed them to the side.