It’s early in the morning and I’m awake, but I don’t want to open my eyes. It’s way too early for anyone to be awake. Against what my eyes want, I pry them open and look at the clock. “Fuck me,” I whisper at the glowing red numbers that read 4:37. Now that my eyes are open, they don’t want to close. “I guess it’s time to go to work then,” I crawl out of Ashley’s arms, without waking him up, and find my black stage crew clothes.

Today the guys are performing in Dublin, a stage very close to my heart. This was the first big stage that my old band Nevermore played at. Even though we didn’t work out, I still have a lot of fond memories.

I grab my laptop bag, and make my way downstairs to the kitchen. The house is so quiet this early in the morning. I’m used to having the boys running around and shouting, but it is a little too early for them. I think about their silly antics while I hit start on the coffee maker. The machine gurgles to life, and coffee drips into the pot. “Making your lifeblood eh?” Uncle Derek chuckles behind me.

I smile, and turn around to face him. “Yeah, something like that.” Each drop of coffee sizzles when it reaches the pot below, adding metronomesque background music to our conversation.

“Are you going to work?” He asks. I sigh, and give him a tired nod. “It never stops for you does it?” He smirks. It’s not a happy smirk. It’s a smirk that says ‘What am I going to do with you?”

“I like to stay busy,” I shrug. “It keeps my mind off of things.” The coffee maker beeps, signaling that it’s finished.

“You’re just like you mother Annalyse, and your father. You’re a beautiful mixture of both,” he says. “They would be so proud of you,” his words bring tears to my eyes. “They would love how strong, and smart, and funny you are,” he pauses and laughs a little bit. “I also know that they would worry about you just like I do. You work yourself to the bone, and you hide behind that impenetrable mask of yours. Laci we care about you, and we want you to be happy. You only get one life kiddo, have fun with it,” he pulls me into a side hug, and kisses my forehead. “I love you Tum.”

“I love you too,” I smile. “I have to get going. I want to get everything set up by noon,” I pour coffee into a tumbler mug, and start walking to the front door.

“Be safe Tummy,” Uncle Derek tells me.

I give him the most genuine smile I’ve had in awhile, “Always.”

--------------------

About two hours later, I have all of the platforms, amps, and LED boards in place. Was it safe to do all of these things by myself? No, but I did it anyway. Right now I’m up in the rafters fastening light filters to the lights in place. I have my Ipod on shuffle, and blasting through all of the speakers. Ronnie’s Escape The Fate years give a soundtrack to my work.

I finish adding the filters, and climb down the tiny rope ladder. The stage looks great. Everything that will be visible is in the right place and working properly. All I have to do is tape down the cords, set up the fog machines, and set up the light trees. It should only take me forty-five minutes to do that, so I decide to go to the Rolling Donut for a little coffee break.

There’s really no point in driving there because it’s only a few blocks away. I love the cute little shops that line the sidewalk. They are all different colors, and sizes. Each one of them is so different than the one next to it. I love the multiple personalities of Dublin.

I reach green door of The Rolling Donut, and eagerly go inside. The familiar smell of coffee and pastries fills the room. The only people in here at this hour are businessmen and women who need their morning coffee. The line to order snakes out around the shelves of ground coffee for sale. I get in the back, and listen to Du Hast on my Ipod for extra energy. The man in front of me glares at me, so I turn it down a little. He goes back to staring ahead like a robot, his chin tilted slightly higher than it needs to be.

I finally reach the front of the line, and I’m greeted by a very tired looking teenage girl with plugs and a septum piercing. “Hi can I take you orde-” she pauses mid sentence, and her eyes go wide. “Oh my god you’re Laci O'Connell!” She exclaims. “I love your stuff, are you going to come out with a solo album any time soon?”

I can feel blood rush into my face, and I look at the ground. “Oh no, I’m pretty busy with the managing and tech stuff. I’m sorry.”

“Oh don’t apologize to me,” she smiles. “Have you stopped writing completely though?”

“Oh heavens no!” I exclaim. “I could never do that. I have too much to say.”

“Well If you ever decide to tell the world those things, you’ll definitely have one listener,” she winks. “What can I get you this morning?” I tell her that I would like a large hazelnut coffee with cream and sugar. My voice shakes when I speak. Fans always do this to me. Compliments like this just frazzle me, I don’t know how to handle it. The girl returns with my coffee, and I pay her before walking back to the venue.

When I return to the stage, something feels off. I don’t feel alone anymore, but not in a good way. “Is anybody in here?” I ask. Wow great idea Lace, you’re going to be the first one to die in a horror movie. I hear footsteps slowly approaching me, and I fight the urge to run. CAlm down, it’s probably just someone who works here.

“Sorry,” Aiden says, emerging from the curtain. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” I should have ran.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to keep my voice level.

“You left so early, and I know you tend to skip breakfast, so I brought you some,” he tells me. He’s using his “nice guy” act that he uses with Gram, what he used on me to get me to love him.

My eyes dart around the room, taking in all of the exits, and available weapons I can use. “That was kind of you,” I say warily. We stand there in a tense, awkward silence that I really don’t want to break.

“The stage looks nice,” he states. “Did you do all of this yourself?”

“Yeah,” I reply. Please go away.

“Wow,” he says with an impressed look on his face. “That’s amazing. You’re an amazing woman Laci.”

“Okay just stop,” I snap. “Please don’t say things like that.”

“Laci I was just giving you a compliment,” a hurt look crosses his face, and I know that this is not going to end well for me.

“Aiden please,” I beg.

“Why can’t you just accept a fucking compliment?” He shouts. “God damn it I was trying to be nice. But i guess you’ll never learn.” Aiden’s eyes snap to mine. There’s nothing but murderous intent in them. He starts coming at me, and I turn to the door. He grabs me from behind, and pushes my face into the cold steel. “This is the only way you learn,” he growls. “I was trying to be nice so you would love me again, but i guess you only like me when I’m hurting you.”

Sheer terror grips my body, and I start hyperventilating. “Aiden please don’t hurt me,” I whimper.

“Don’t fucking talk back to me!” He screams. “God I fucking hate you you slut. You’re not good enough for anything but a good fuck,” his hand tightens around the back of my neck, and I become paralyzed with fear. He’s going to hurt me again. “You make me sick,” with one quick jerk, he throws me onto the floor with so much force that black spots begin swimming across my vision. Stay awake Laci, don’t you dare pass out. I hear Aiden’s retreating footsteps, and the door opening and closing. I need to get help. I try to crawl over to my phone, but my the pain in my head grows with every breath.

“Someone help me…” I weep before the black spots merge together, and the darkness consumes me.

Notes

Hey everyone, sorry it took me so long to update. I just got back on Saturday, and I'm trying to find a routine. Thank you all so much for reading this, sorry if it sucks. I hope you all have a wonderful day xoxo