Last Angel: The Zone Complex [Part 4B]
A/N: This was hastily written and was originally going to just be a dream sequence.
Closing time.
"Alright, I'm about ready to take off! Nemi, close for me. Koda do you need a ride?"
"Iie [no], I'm good, arigato!"
"And just where are you headed off to if not home?" Nemi suddenly inquires with a smirk while putting on a hoodie.
/putting on a scarf/ "A party..." she says turning her face to hide a smile.
"Oh really?" Zoe asks coming from behind the counter to join her co-workers near the exit.
"An orgy?" Nemi asks with wide, child-like eyes, and a devilish tone.
"Iie, iie, iie!!!" Koda shakes her head vigorously while laughing in disbelief at the suggestion.
"Then?" Nemi and Zoe ring in unison.
Koda sighs dropping her hands at her sides, "I already told you! Just a party!
"Well how come you never invite us to your 'parties', K?" Zoe asks faking a pout.
/crossing her ams/ "Well you two just never seemed the type to like raves, that's all."
"Raves??" The two inquire again in unison.
"Since when do you rave?" Zoe.
"And that is not a small party!" Nemi.
"Well, I-I..."
"Am taking us with you." Zoe concludes. "It's Friday night and you were just going to let us go home to boredom??"
Nemi snickers, "Well I might have had a few plans.....but Zoe, are you sure you can handle a rave?"
"What are you asking me for? I'm older than you!"
Nemi crosses her arms and says simply, "Yes, in most ways, but in others, not so much."
Zoe throws her hands up in the air and then declares, "That's it! We're going! /looking to Koda with a challenging grin/ All three of us!"
"If you say so!" is all Koda says before smiling.
"Dear lord baby geezus, this is going to be interesting..." is all Nemi concludes.
Outside location.
"Shit, we should've changed clothes." Nemi muses in a deflated tone.
"Trust me, you're whored up enough already." is Zoe's only reply.
The two suddenly look over to Koda for guidance as they realize they've been standing across the street from the rave venue for the past ten minutes.
"How do we get in?" Zoe asks.
"Do we have to flash the bouncers?" Nemi asks, a dread in her tone.
"Iie!!" Koda shrieks. "You just pay....but tonight it's going to cost a little bit more."
"Why?" The two ask.
"Because this is Jung Yunho's rave."
There's a dead silence for a moment.
"Come again?" is the first thing heard amongst the three from Zoe's mouth.
"This is Jung Yunho's rave. Why do you think the line is so long?"
"Well aren't there always supposed to be long lines??"
"Not like this." is all Koda offers crossing her arms and shaking her head matter-of-factly.
"Bullshit." is Nemi's final ruling.
"You don't believe me?" Koda asks incredulous. "Well let's just go in and see."
"Let's." Nemi says back with as much confidence.
The two start to head off towards the line when Zoe stops them, "Wait!"
They both turn around.
"Maybe.........maybe we shouldn't go. I mean, this is Jung Yunho's party after all...and who knows what could happen to us."
Nemi and Koda look back from their cautious companion to one another then blink silently before busting out to laugh.
"Zoe you are the most naive person I know!" Koda coos.
"Isn't she?" Nemi agrees. Then turning her attention, "Zoe, the man can have a party without killing someone."
Although embarassed, she's still not convinced and crosses her arms before asking, "Do either one of you even know what he looks like?"
"Why, so you can run away just in case you bump into him?" Nemi mocks.
"No!!" Zoe shouts her face burning.
"Neither one of us knows." Koda offers to confirm. "But you two, especially you Zoe, are the ones who insisted on coming with me, and it took us well over forty minutes to get here anyway, so we all might as well go in and have a good time, ne?"
"Yeah but that as before I knew he was going to be here!" Zoe screeches.
"I'm in." Nemi says without hesitation, ignoring her.
Yet it takes Zoe a while to finally give in. "Okay...." she finally agrees, the two others beaming as soon as they hear her confirmation.
-------------------------------------
The trio waits a little over thirty minutes before being stamped, glow-sticked, and granted entry.
"What the hell are these for?" Nemi asks in regards to the glow sticks as the two walk the winding entry.
"You dance with them!" Koda explains happily.
"I see." is all Nemi replies, unimpressed.
"I can't believe they were free!" she continues, "Wow, Yunho really knows how to throw a party!"
"Wel I guess if anyone would, it's him, since he apparently "runs" the Zone." Nemi says crossing her arms.
"Will you guys please stop talking about him!" Zoe says sighing loudly.
They might've returned her plea with a remark if they could've heard her, but once they made their way through the long, winding entrance, they were plummeted into an alternate universe of mass people, glowing lights, and brain-rattling music.
Koda was whom led them on through this world, through a tight and nearly impossible path of people. The farther the three wandered into the party the more sights Zoe was able to take in.
All around were fantastic colors serving as great contrast to the darkness surrounding them, everything was colorful: the drinks, the glow sticks, and especially the clothes everyone wore. It seemed as if every man, woman, and under aged teen had been covered in a rainbow's vomit from head to toe. Everything was colorful: hair, makeup, and the wild accessories that made some look like stylish, walking Christmas trees. 'Maybe we should have changed.' Zoe finally thought.
At one point she bumped into the back of Nemi, who was none to pleased. Before Zoe could ask for the reasoning behind the halt, Koda answered, "Alright guys, ittekimasu [I'm off!]!
"What?" Zoe squeals over the music.
"This is where we split up! I was planning on meeting some people here so I have to leave you two on your own."
Even though both the disappointment and confusion were present on Zoe's face, Nemi interjected, "We'll be fine."
"Alright then, awesome! Ja [see ya]!" And with that, Koda's small figure disappears into the crowd.
"What are we going to do?" Zoe asks, lost.
"Try and have fun." is all Nemi says agitated. "It's a rave, so dance or something."
Zoe hardly looks in the condition for dancing. Before she even says anything Nemi speaks, "You're an ass. Why suggest coming here if you were gonna pansy-out the whole time?"
Zoe tries to reply but her voice comes out to small and the music smothers her. She see Nemi yell something else in her face and then, to her horror, sees her heading off in the opposite direction.
She tries to follow after her but the power and mass of the people prove to be a much stronger force and separate the two.
"Wait! Nemi!! Wait!!" Zoe suddenly starts screaming in a panic, Yet her call goes unheard.
Continuing to panic, Zoe goes through many plans of action in her head-most of which include a cell phone that would go undoubtedly unheard in all of the ear-splitting ruckus.
Finally it dawns on her when she sees the back of the venue. Realizing that it's closer to her than the exit is all the persuasion she needs to head to its dark corners.
After fighting for her life and aggresively prying to part a small section of the Red Sea for herself, she makes it over to the back room in one piece.
It's even darker at the back of the venue but seemingly worlds away from the chaos just feet away. The music is just as loud but somehow it's quieter being that none of the occupied ravers bothered to make their way back to where no one was partying.
Finally calming down just a little Zoe presses her back up against the wall and rests her hands on her head, trying to think clearly. The word 'cell phone' rings through her head again as it was earlier, so she whips it out of her pocket to check:
No missed calls. No text messages. No signal.
She slides down the wall slightly. For a moment she closes her eyes and just stands limply there. Thoughts, all negative, racing through her head. 'I might just have to wait for the whole thing to be over... but this could last until sunrise for all I know...god where's Nemi? Why did she have to run off? Is she okay? Am I okay? What if I'm-"
Suddenly, before her thoughts can lead her any further into paranoia and fear, she looks down to see a green glow stick roll and hit her foot.
Instinctively she bends down to pick it up, yet just as her fingertips touch it, she sees feet before her. They come to a halt. Her breathing stops as she feels the new presence before her: male, she could already tell by the shoes. She feels her body freeze as she realizes she's in the dark with some man...with no cell phone or defense. Wanting to huddle like that forever she still succumbs to the knowledge that she must rise.
So as she slowly ascends she finds matching legs to said pair of shoes-long legs actually-covered by fitted black denim. Coming higher, a flat torso is covered by a black long sleeved shirt and suddenly she smells a hint of what seems to be an intoxicating cologne.
Once her back is erect she doesn't bother to look any higher, instead, just down at the glow stick in her hands and the opposite larger hand reaching for it. The hand quickly takes it, yet she still refuses to look up, only down at her now empty palm as she swallows hard.
Suddenly over the music she hears, "Thanks."
She says nothing in reply and still looks away even though she can feel the pair of eyes above her now burning down. Even though she hasn't looked at him she can already feel his aura surround her: dominant and powerful and his scent growing stronger. The man is clearly much taller than her thus he towers over her smaller figure. She's overwhelmed.
"Domo." he tries again.
Still looking away Zoe can't manage a single word.
Expecting him to depart back into the waves of the rave she is genuinely shocked when the man not only stays but takes a step closer.
Zoe presses her back into the wall out of instinct, her legs feeling like gelatin, as she tries desperately to just cave in on herself to get farther away from him. She wants to run but knows she has no place to. This whole site of pandemonium, where in which one was supposed to feel free, let go, and just dance, was turning out to be just all one big trap. Zoe shut her eyes and held her breath expecting the worst.
Yet once again, surprise is all she found when the next few moments passed in what felt like freeze-frame. Neither of them moved nor said anything. And surprisingly, she started breathing again.
Yet all her fears came rushing back ten fold when she heard his voice again, "Look at me."
She was paralyzed with fear at the demand behind his tone and only squeezes her eyes shut as she felt her body begin to slightly shake.
Suddenly she squeals when she feels a hand on her chin turn her face upward.
Once again, she has the instinct to run, to scream, to kick the bastard in his nuts...but when she finally looks at him...when she finally looks at him, instinct dies completely.
His gaze is piercing and there's no chance of her gaining any power to break it. Those almond-shaped, dark brown eyes constricted her. The thumb on her chin held her face in place, and suddenly it slowly came up to her lip.
(Zoe is silently freaking out at this point.)
The smooth fingertip continues to move, slowly, tracing her bottom lip, smearing her chapstick. Then finally it rests only to move her bottom lip up and down as the man says in a puppeteer voice, "Thank you."
Suddenly his hand drops, his gaze breaks, his back turns, and with a few long and effortless strides he disappears into the crowd.
Zoe stood there limp once more, but definitely not lifeless. Maybe it was an ill-timed adrenaline rush that caused it, but whatever the reason, Zoe couldn't stop herself as she called out, in what felt like a foreign voice, "Wait! Come back!" even though she knew he was long gone, and even if in ear-shot, wouldn't be able to hear a thing but the blaring trance music. "Come back." she mused once again, this time in a whisper.
Suddenly she hears her name. After several calls she sees the face it matches: Nemi.
Before her sister even says anything Zoe barks, "What the hell do you want? I thought you were leaving me to die you little tramp!"
"Damn, what got into you?" is all she replies, slightly shocked.
"Nothing, I'll tell you later."
"What?" Nemi asked shouting over the music.
"Let's go home." is all Zoe decides to shout back
--------------------------
Back at her cubicle, Zoe leans on the counter top of the island in her kitchen as she finishes her story, "...and he just left." She sighs sadly and takes a sip of her coco.
"Well you're lucky he didn't rape you!" Nemi declares in an alarmed tone.
"As if you cared! You should've thought about that possibility when you decided to storm off you pissy little betch."
"Well you were turning into a babysitting job and I just wasn't up for that shit tonight, so sue me!" She pauses to sip her hot apple cider turning away from her older sister's seething gaze before continuing, "Besides the guy sounded hot anyway, and he wasn't a rapist, so everybody wins, ne?"
Zoe blinks before striking out and knocking her sister's stainless steel mug out of her hand and storming off.
"Bitch!!" is all Nemi screams after her wiping the still very warm cider off of her shirt and skirt in agitation.
Closing time.
"Alright, I'm about ready to take off! Nemi, close for me. Koda do you need a ride?"
"Iie [no], I'm good, arigato!"
"And just where are you headed off to if not home?" Nemi suddenly inquires with a smirk while putting on a hoodie.
/putting on a scarf/ "A party..." she says turning her face to hide a smile.
"Oh really?" Zoe asks coming from behind the counter to join her co-workers near the exit.
"An orgy?" Nemi asks with wide, child-like eyes, and a devilish tone.
"Iie, iie, iie!!!" Koda shakes her head vigorously while laughing in disbelief at the suggestion.
"Then?" Nemi and Zoe ring in unison.
Koda sighs dropping her hands at her sides, "I already told you! Just a party!
"Well how come you never invite us to your 'parties', K?" Zoe asks faking a pout.
/crossing her ams/ "Well you two just never seemed the type to like raves, that's all."
"Raves??" The two inquire again in unison.
"Since when do you rave?" Zoe.
"And that is not a small party!" Nemi.
"Well, I-I..."
"Am taking us with you." Zoe concludes. "It's Friday night and you were just going to let us go home to boredom??"
Nemi snickers, "Well I might have had a few plans.....but Zoe, are you sure you can handle a rave?"
"What are you asking me for? I'm older than you!"
Nemi crosses her arms and says simply, "Yes, in most ways, but in others, not so much."
Zoe throws her hands up in the air and then declares, "That's it! We're going! /looking to Koda with a challenging grin/ All three of us!"
"If you say so!" is all Koda says before smiling.
"Dear lord baby geezus, this is going to be interesting..." is all Nemi concludes.
Outside location.
"Shit, we should've changed clothes." Nemi muses in a deflated tone.
"Trust me, you're whored up enough already." is Zoe's only reply.
The two suddenly look over to Koda for guidance as they realize they've been standing across the street from the rave venue for the past ten minutes.
"How do we get in?" Zoe asks.
"Do we have to flash the bouncers?" Nemi asks, a dread in her tone.
"Iie!!" Koda shrieks. "You just pay....but tonight it's going to cost a little bit more."
"Why?" The two ask.
"Because this is Jung Yunho's rave."
There's a dead silence for a moment.
"Come again?" is the first thing heard amongst the three from Zoe's mouth.
"This is Jung Yunho's rave. Why do you think the line is so long?"
"Well aren't there always supposed to be long lines??"
"Not like this." is all Koda offers crossing her arms and shaking her head matter-of-factly.
"Bullshit." is Nemi's final ruling.
"You don't believe me?" Koda asks incredulous. "Well let's just go in and see."
"Let's." Nemi says back with as much confidence.
The two start to head off towards the line when Zoe stops them, "Wait!"
They both turn around.
"Maybe.........maybe we shouldn't go. I mean, this is Jung Yunho's party after all...and who knows what could happen to us."
Nemi and Koda look back from their cautious companion to one another then blink silently before busting out to laugh.
"Zoe you are the most naive person I know!" Koda coos.
"Isn't she?" Nemi agrees. Then turning her attention, "Zoe, the man can have a party without killing someone."
Although embarassed, she's still not convinced and crosses her arms before asking, "Do either one of you even know what he looks like?"
"Why, so you can run away just in case you bump into him?" Nemi mocks.
"No!!" Zoe shouts her face burning.
"Neither one of us knows." Koda offers to confirm. "But you two, especially you Zoe, are the ones who insisted on coming with me, and it took us well over forty minutes to get here anyway, so we all might as well go in and have a good time, ne?"
"Yeah but that as before I knew he was going to be here!" Zoe screeches.
"I'm in." Nemi says without hesitation, ignoring her.
Yet it takes Zoe a while to finally give in. "Okay...." she finally agrees, the two others beaming as soon as they hear her confirmation.
-------------------------------------
The trio waits a little over thirty minutes before being stamped, glow-sticked, and granted entry.
"What the hell are these for?" Nemi asks in regards to the glow sticks as the two walk the winding entry.
"You dance with them!" Koda explains happily.
"I see." is all Nemi replies, unimpressed.
"I can't believe they were free!" she continues, "Wow, Yunho really knows how to throw a party!"
"Wel I guess if anyone would, it's him, since he apparently "runs" the Zone." Nemi says crossing her arms.
"Will you guys please stop talking about him!" Zoe says sighing loudly.
They might've returned her plea with a remark if they could've heard her, but once they made their way through the long, winding entrance, they were plummeted into an alternate universe of mass people, glowing lights, and brain-rattling music.
Koda was whom led them on through this world, through a tight and nearly impossible path of people. The farther the three wandered into the party the more sights Zoe was able to take in.
All around were fantastic colors serving as great contrast to the darkness surrounding them, everything was colorful: the drinks, the glow sticks, and especially the clothes everyone wore. It seemed as if every man, woman, and under aged teen had been covered in a rainbow's vomit from head to toe. Everything was colorful: hair, makeup, and the wild accessories that made some look like stylish, walking Christmas trees. 'Maybe we should have changed.' Zoe finally thought.
At one point she bumped into the back of Nemi, who was none to pleased. Before Zoe could ask for the reasoning behind the halt, Koda answered, "Alright guys, ittekimasu [I'm off!]!
"What?" Zoe squeals over the music.
"This is where we split up! I was planning on meeting some people here so I have to leave you two on your own."
Even though both the disappointment and confusion were present on Zoe's face, Nemi interjected, "We'll be fine."
"Alright then, awesome! Ja [see ya]!" And with that, Koda's small figure disappears into the crowd.
"What are we going to do?" Zoe asks, lost.
"Try and have fun." is all Nemi says agitated. "It's a rave, so dance or something."
Zoe hardly looks in the condition for dancing. Before she even says anything Nemi speaks, "You're an ass. Why suggest coming here if you were gonna pansy-out the whole time?"
Zoe tries to reply but her voice comes out to small and the music smothers her. She see Nemi yell something else in her face and then, to her horror, sees her heading off in the opposite direction.
She tries to follow after her but the power and mass of the people prove to be a much stronger force and separate the two.
"Wait! Nemi!! Wait!!" Zoe suddenly starts screaming in a panic, Yet her call goes unheard.
Continuing to panic, Zoe goes through many plans of action in her head-most of which include a cell phone that would go undoubtedly unheard in all of the ear-splitting ruckus.
Finally it dawns on her when she sees the back of the venue. Realizing that it's closer to her than the exit is all the persuasion she needs to head to its dark corners.
After fighting for her life and aggresively prying to part a small section of the Red Sea for herself, she makes it over to the back room in one piece.
It's even darker at the back of the venue but seemingly worlds away from the chaos just feet away. The music is just as loud but somehow it's quieter being that none of the occupied ravers bothered to make their way back to where no one was partying.
Finally calming down just a little Zoe presses her back up against the wall and rests her hands on her head, trying to think clearly. The word 'cell phone' rings through her head again as it was earlier, so she whips it out of her pocket to check:
No missed calls. No text messages. No signal.
She slides down the wall slightly. For a moment she closes her eyes and just stands limply there. Thoughts, all negative, racing through her head. 'I might just have to wait for the whole thing to be over... but this could last until sunrise for all I know...god where's Nemi? Why did she have to run off? Is she okay? Am I okay? What if I'm-"
Suddenly, before her thoughts can lead her any further into paranoia and fear, she looks down to see a green glow stick roll and hit her foot.
Instinctively she bends down to pick it up, yet just as her fingertips touch it, she sees feet before her. They come to a halt. Her breathing stops as she feels the new presence before her: male, she could already tell by the shoes. She feels her body freeze as she realizes she's in the dark with some man...with no cell phone or defense. Wanting to huddle like that forever she still succumbs to the knowledge that she must rise.
So as she slowly ascends she finds matching legs to said pair of shoes-long legs actually-covered by fitted black denim. Coming higher, a flat torso is covered by a black long sleeved shirt and suddenly she smells a hint of what seems to be an intoxicating cologne.
Once her back is erect she doesn't bother to look any higher, instead, just down at the glow stick in her hands and the opposite larger hand reaching for it. The hand quickly takes it, yet she still refuses to look up, only down at her now empty palm as she swallows hard.
Suddenly over the music she hears, "Thanks."
She says nothing in reply and still looks away even though she can feel the pair of eyes above her now burning down. Even though she hasn't looked at him she can already feel his aura surround her: dominant and powerful and his scent growing stronger. The man is clearly much taller than her thus he towers over her smaller figure. She's overwhelmed.
"Domo." he tries again.
Still looking away Zoe can't manage a single word.
Expecting him to depart back into the waves of the rave she is genuinely shocked when the man not only stays but takes a step closer.
Zoe presses her back into the wall out of instinct, her legs feeling like gelatin, as she tries desperately to just cave in on herself to get farther away from him. She wants to run but knows she has no place to. This whole site of pandemonium, where in which one was supposed to feel free, let go, and just dance, was turning out to be just all one big trap. Zoe shut her eyes and held her breath expecting the worst.
Yet once again, surprise is all she found when the next few moments passed in what felt like freeze-frame. Neither of them moved nor said anything. And surprisingly, she started breathing again.
Yet all her fears came rushing back ten fold when she heard his voice again, "Look at me."
She was paralyzed with fear at the demand behind his tone and only squeezes her eyes shut as she felt her body begin to slightly shake.
Suddenly she squeals when she feels a hand on her chin turn her face upward.
Once again, she has the instinct to run, to scream, to kick the bastard in his nuts...but when she finally looks at him...when she finally looks at him, instinct dies completely.
His gaze is piercing and there's no chance of her gaining any power to break it. Those almond-shaped, dark brown eyes constricted her. The thumb on her chin held her face in place, and suddenly it slowly came up to her lip.
(Zoe is silently freaking out at this point.)
The smooth fingertip continues to move, slowly, tracing her bottom lip, smearing her chapstick. Then finally it rests only to move her bottom lip up and down as the man says in a puppeteer voice, "Thank you."
Suddenly his hand drops, his gaze breaks, his back turns, and with a few long and effortless strides he disappears into the crowd.
Zoe stood there limp once more, but definitely not lifeless. Maybe it was an ill-timed adrenaline rush that caused it, but whatever the reason, Zoe couldn't stop herself as she called out, in what felt like a foreign voice, "Wait! Come back!" even though she knew he was long gone, and even if in ear-shot, wouldn't be able to hear a thing but the blaring trance music. "Come back." she mused once again, this time in a whisper.
Suddenly she hears her name. After several calls she sees the face it matches: Nemi.
Before her sister even says anything Zoe barks, "What the hell do you want? I thought you were leaving me to die you little tramp!"
"Damn, what got into you?" is all she replies, slightly shocked.
"Nothing, I'll tell you later."
"What?" Nemi asked shouting over the music.
"Let's go home." is all Zoe decides to shout back
--------------------------
Back at her cubicle, Zoe leans on the counter top of the island in her kitchen as she finishes her story, "...and he just left." She sighs sadly and takes a sip of her coco.
"Well you're lucky he didn't rape you!" Nemi declares in an alarmed tone.
"As if you cared! You should've thought about that possibility when you decided to storm off you pissy little betch."
"Well you were turning into a babysitting job and I just wasn't up for that shit tonight, so sue me!" She pauses to sip her hot apple cider turning away from her older sister's seething gaze before continuing, "Besides the guy sounded hot anyway, and he wasn't a rapist, so everybody wins, ne?"
Zoe blinks before striking out and knocking her sister's stainless steel mug out of her hand and storming off.
"Bitch!!" is all Nemi screams after her wiping the still very warm cider off of her shirt and skirt in agitation.