Page 72 of Ravaged From Fate

Good timing! I’ve just finished work. Let’s get together at the bar.

34

ELSA

I put down my phone onto the bar just after I finish messaging Caspian. My heart still flutters with every message he sends me even now, even if it’s something as mundane as organizing when to meet up. He’s really real. And I really think he likes me. If you had asked me merely a few months ago if I thought that a man like Caspian would just fly into my life and sweep me off my feet I probably would’ve rudely laughed in your face, but that’s exactly what has happened.

I keep expecting something to go wrong, that there’s some kind of catch to all of this happiness I’ve experienced in the last few weeks, but there’s been nothing. No sign. Maybe this is what true happiness is supposed to feel like. I mean, I had really always assumed my life would simply be my nursing work at East Springs, with probably zero time for anything else, especially a man.

Ha. How very wrong I was.

Sam the bartender slides over to me.

“Hey, Elsa. Busy day at work?” he asks.

“You wouldn’t believe.”

Spending all my time with Caspian – and all the naughty things we get up to late at night – means I’ve had even less rest to deal with my proper job in the daytime. Every day I’m either running after patients and paperwork and the rest of the time I’m… busy with Caspian, which all means that my days are even more crammed and I get less time to just simply sleep.

From Sam, I order a glass of wine for myself and a beer for Caspian for when he gets here.

“Well, at least you can unwind now,” Sam tells me. I nod in approval.

The bags under my eyes must be pretty pronounced.

I turn on the barstool to watch the TV playing above the rows of spirits behind Sam. There’s some documentary playing. I don’t usually have much time for regular TV. I usually scroll through social media on my phone like everyone else in my generation. The bar is the place where I get to actually watch normal news. I listen to the documentary.

They’re the bad boys of music. The talented boys from small town America that girls want to be with and guys want to be. In the last few years, Ravaged has stormed the charts and the record books to become one of the biggest bands in music history, but these last few weeks something has changed. They’re now fighting for their careers, reputation, and their music legacy…

Ah, Ravaged. I’ve heard a few of their songs on the radio. That’s the band I was talking to Caspian before I had my little fall in this very bar a few weeks ago, right? They’re super popular, but I can’t put faces to a name. I’m not really the biggest fangirl when it comes to bands and things. Sure, I’ll listen to the latest popular release, but I’m not one to fly halfway around the country to watch some pretty boys perform. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of Ravaged’s music videos.

But now the TV is playing one with their ominous voice-over blaring over the music.

Ravaged’s current troubles all stem from an incident a few months ago. Something that no one saw coming, but whose violent and shocking nature has forever tarnished the band’s perception in the music industry’s eyes.

The music video transitions to a series of photos of each of the members of the band. Headshots. The program has fashioned the photographs into a graphic like a police lineup. They are really out to get the band, huh? Lots of bias here.

A punch in Las Vegas against an unassuming journalist simply trying to get a quick snap of the band. This aggressive act of violence was perpetrated by the most mysterious and silent member of the obnoxiously loud group. Caspian Ford…

And then the documentary flicks over to a headshot of Ravaged’s drummer, and my heart drops.

It takes me a heartbeat to recognize him through the long hair and no beard, but that is clearly the man I’ve laid in bed next to.

Holy shit.

It’s only the last name that’s different. Ford. Not Pierce.

But it’s him alright. The man I thought I was getting to know.

The man I actually know nothing about.

I grip the stem of my glass tight as I continue to watch the TV…

And this leads us to the biggest mystery around Ravaged… where in the world is Caspian Ford? After the punch, the man disappeared, and no one from Ravaged is able to explain. Is he in hiding? Why won’t he show his face? Who is he running from? Some say he’s a coward, and some are saying he’s given up the life of a rich rockstar for good. Whatever has happened to Ravaged’s drummer, one thing is for sure. This is the biggest mystery in modern music.

As I sit on the edge of my barstool, eyes fixated on the tiny screen, everything starts to slowly click into place. Every conversation I’ve had with Caspian. Every little bit of detail about his life that he’s dropped. That is why he can play the drums so well… that explains his money…

He really has been running away from something. He’s been so private because he doesn’t want to let slip details of his past life.