half Machine

Through the woods with careful speed. Come upon the path of night and light. Choose your destiny and walk your path with pride. For the fates may encourage and try to take you by the hands but at the end of the day Your decision is the one that matters most. Choose wisely choose for your future

She sang. Her voice pleasant on the ears of those sitting in the dingy plastic chairs. She sang for the men whose decision would either send her swiftly forward into a future she so desperately craved. Or send her backwards into a spiral of unfulfilled dreams and destiny. She wanted to desperately close her eyes and look away from all the men that stared at her for more than her talents, yet she was scared to show anything like that of fear. These lecherous men could probably smell her fear. She couldn’t hunt. Her body didn’t have the strength to fight in a world dominated by hunters. She could gather but she was outcast for being slow and frail. Yet she could sing, she could dance, she could be exactly what these people needed. She sang, her long ebony locks swaying. Her green eyes focused on the air above the men, trying desperately to forget that half the eyes were focused on her chest. Her hand me downs from her older sister were definitely too tight and too short, and she tried not to fidget or move in a way that would be deemed inappropriate.

In the wind that flows by

Hear the whisper of my name

Morning

Noon

And Night

Bring the sorrow of the

Day to close

And Sing

With the moon

I dance

With the passion of

Forgetting

The Pain and sorrow

I am the one who

Knows the secrets of your past

Still I embrace you

Why do you turn away

What is it that

Disgusts you so

The moon

Shines Gently

And the suns returns the

Warmth

You stole

Still i remember still

I love you

The song finally came to its bitter sweet end. She stood there a forced smile graced her lips and she finally forced herself to look at the men in front of her. They were all talking among-st each other in quiet tones. She tried not to fidget, yet she found her hand trailing to the ends of her hair and twirling the end between her fingers. Finally they spoke, the older man with the red face had a smooth and gentle tone. Almost as if he was coaxing a small child to eat distasteful vegetables. So we understand that the entertainment business is your last chance.” He paused “Grace Anne Sharp ″. She smiled gently and nodded once. “That is indeed a pretty name and definitely belong to someone as fragile as you appear to be. The other men chuckled as if he made quite the joke, Grace had to bite her tongue against the insults she wanted to spew. She twisted her hands nervously behind her back, “I have been told that there is to be a new entertainment field opening soon, for music, I wanted to be one of the first members.” She tried to hide the nervousness in her voice. “Pretend to be brave and you will feel brave”. She could almost hear her mother’s voice in her head. There was a collective gasp and all the men seemed to huddle together. “Where did you get the information???

She couldn’t help the smirk that slowly crept up her lips. “Someone here has very loose lips when they have been drinking all night.” All the men turned to each other and barely blinked. Reminding her of the old owl that sat by her window most nights. She stifled a giggle as the perplexed faces the men pulled. “How could we be so careless.” What is going to happen now?” The hushed murmurs filled her ears.

“Alright we were looking for someone who wanted to lead this project. She smiled brightly and I won’t let you down.” The men nodded and one looked at the eloquent watch on his wrist. Looks like you will be needing an escort back to the brothels. Grace couldn’t help the flinch at his casual reference to where she lived with her mother and hunter brother. A man from the Back stood up and bowed slightly. “I actually have nothing better to do at this time maybe I could escort you back to your residence.” There was a hushed silence “Thomas you really don’t have to we could,”. Thomas held up his hand and Smirked “Robert it’s OK, really.” He clambered out of his seat and made his way down the auditorium. Where Robert stopped him and muttered something that Grace’s excellent hearing could not grasp. He finally approached the stage and held his hand out for her. In all her life she had never met someone who looked at her like he did. Mischief and desire seemed to pour from ice grey eyes.

His hair was an iron grey tightly pulled into a high ponytail. He smirked, still holding out his hand waiting for her to take it and step down from the stage. Sighing Grace stepped forward and accepted his hand while gracefully stepping down from the stage. She smiled at the men before, “I look forward to hearing from you thank you for the time. “ She walked behind the looming giant her thoughts straying to the scars she saw on his forearms. Walking past show doors, covered in a red velvet and sporting several mold stains she couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her lips at the bike casually leaning on its kickstand. “Really a motorcycle?” The bike was beautiful in its design, sleek, with black and silver designs, yet screamed of dangerous thrills. “You want to take me home on your motorcycle?” He shrugged and smirked. Suddenly he stepped up to her looming over her. “Would you prefer to walk?” She shook her head and sighed gently. He silently handed her a smaller helmet and quickly scrambled up on the seat. Scooting back he patted the seat in front of him. “Can’t….” “If you continue to question everything I do or say you WILL be walking. “Scrambling onto the motorcycle she tried not to flinch as he grabbed the handles and the engine roared to life beneath her. Tensing her muscles she ignored the arms on either side of her and closed her eyes. Prayer was definitely said that night as she and the mystery man raced into the night. Soon after one of two turns they made it safely. Hoping off the the bike she quickly unsnapped the helmont and stepped away from the bike. His smirk spoke volumes and she briefly considered running away, but then again inside would be equally dangerous. She stood there feeling awkward. “So I am guessing because my mom works in a brothel, you think that I work in a brothel as well?” The question seemed to slow his pace a bit more. “I am guessing that you don’t actually do sex work?” His question made him seem actually surprised. She shook her head annoyed at the question. “No my mother was forced into sex work to pay for me when my father was killed in an hunter accident.” She took a deep breath and flinched back as he stepped closer, trying to put on a stern face but failing miserably as her heart tried to race out of her chest. “Your reactions give you away, you try to appear aloof and completely unaffected but I bet your heart is thumping like hummingbird wings.”