The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

Emma was still gazing at Poppy in a baby pink dress combined with an ivory white coat that made her look even cuter. Unexpectedly.. She was dating Donny Gruge who was one of the handsome boys in their class. Donny also looked like a big boss in a bullying group consisting of Lary and Brian.

“Emma..” Poppy greeted kindly. Her smile looked like an expensive porcelain doll.

“Poppy! I’m so glad you came here. I thought I’d die of boredom tonight..” Emma chirps unconsciously. Poppy laughed, nodding uncomfortably.

“Let’s go in,” Larry said. Didn’t want to linger listening to the troublesome chatter of the girls.

Emma frowned. Where to enter? But she refused to ask further. She was used to facing danger, making her no longer afraid to go anywhere, even crocodile cages.

“Roger! Come on!” Emma didn’t forget her seatmate who had been expelling himself. Get out of the circle of that cool kid group.

.....

“Tsk! Why did that loser come along?” Donny grumbled. Suddenly Brian and Lary immediately nudged him. Didn’t let that sentence be heard by Emma.

“Honey.. Don’t say that.” Reprimanded Poppy. Donny just glanced at her, carelessly. That cute girl couldn’t help but sigh.

“Don’t walk too far from us.. Did you know this place?” Emma tugged at the sleeves of his black jacket to draw him closer to their group. The other three men couldn’t help but glance at them with disgust. Tomorrow, the first thing they would do on campus was beating Roger and hang his underwear on a pine tree.

“Do you come here often too?” Emma asked Poppy.

The girl shook her head “I’ve never been here either.”

“Me too..” The other girl joined in. Her dress style was almost the same as Poppy. However, her body size was not as small as Poppy’s and her skin was not too fair. They had known each other for a while ago. Her name was Rina Beker, Lary’s girlfriend who had just been dating for a week.

“Hemm..” Emma narrowed her eyes to see the sparkling lights at the end of the alley. Along with their steps, a faint noise began to be heard from the end of it.

Emma’s eyes widened. Her eyebrows were raised high. So this was the street that called Jen Marrie?!

The bars were decorated with colourful neon lights. And the most dominating were the gambling places with gleaming name signs replacing the twinkling stars in the sky. Emma seemed to have just fallen into a hole and landed in the gleaming of Tokyo downtown. She looked back. So that dark and silent alley was the entrance to the night people’s paradise?

Emma glanced at Poppy and Rina who also had gaping faces. Jen Marrie Street was no place for good girls like them. Lary and his friends were scumbags.

“Hey! Don’t just stare. This place is fun! Want a drink?” Said Lary cheerfully.

**

They all ended up at a fake sushi shop with more liquor variants on the menu than the sushi itself. Emma looked like a dog that hadn’t been fed all day long. She was holding back her fangs.

But there was no way she threw her anger here, especially since Poppy was a member of the ballet club. Emma had been busy watching Poppy ever since a while ago. Usually, she was a cheerful and talkative girl, but here now she was a bit gloomy and quiet.

A man with tattooed arms came in with seven large glasses of beer, the beers foam were still rising and spilling out.

“Cheers!!” Brian and Lary raised their glasses. The others waited and took a sip of that frothy yellow liquid.

“So.. Emma. Actually, I was a bit surprised when I saw suddenly a new student entering our university. Even it wasn’t the turn of the semester. That never happened before. Why did you do that?” Brian opened the conversation.

“Technically I didn’t know the registration process. My uncle did it for me. I moved because of sudden personal interest.” Emma Answered.

“What kind of interest?” Brian asked again.

Emma shook her head with a weak smile “I’m not comfortable discussing it.”

“Ouch!” Biran grimace in pain.

Lary smacked his friend’s head “Stupid! Even can’t make a good conversation opener. You’re embarrassing us in front of the girls.” He said loudly to make it look like a joke. The others chuckled.

“I didn’t know you girls were in the same club. Usually, in the middle of the year, there was a yearly art event. The ballet club gives the most incredible performances.” Lary looked at Poppy and Emma in turn.

Emma’s eyes instantly shone with all the fingers of both hands intertwined in front of her chest. She looked at Poppy with that gleam. “Was that true?”

Poppy nodded “The ballet club officials will choose the group dancer centre, then Ms Diana will choose which members will perform for the show.”

Emma smiled as she turned her head down. Could she perform on the stage later? Even though now she was still following basic practice, she could already imagine what was it would be like to dance on a big stage with spotlights shining above her head. Even in her imagination, she became the centre dancer.

“You seem to like ballet very much.” Donny chirps with his hands folded in front of his chest.

Poppy nodded “Emma is practising ballet very hard. I’m amazed at her tenacity.”

“Then.. How about you.. What’s your name? Roby?” He glanced at the last seat at the very end corner. Completely ignored Poppy who was obviously talking to him.

“Ro... Roger.” Answered the guy, who seemed to haven’t shown his form from earlier. “I.. Go to the university just to study.”

Brian and Lary laughed at the answer. Donny just smiled lopsidedly with an arrogant face. “No wonder you’re a loser.”

“Hahahahaa ..” Emma laughed out loud, so annoyed to hear Donny’s words. The others looked confused at her. “Ehm.. Sorry. Roger was very funny. And you too..” He looked at the tall guy in the baseball jacket. “What’s your name again? Don.. key?”

Donny’s brow furrowed, his cheeks slightly flushed with humiliation. “Do..” he almost answered. But prefer to reach for his beer glass instead and gulp down its contents. Poppy stiffened to see what happened.

Brian and Lary looked at each other before laughing full of struggle to put things back in place. Didn’t let Donny rage here.

“Gosh Emma.. You’re so innocent. His name is Donny. Donny. Don’t forget it again okay..” Brian said.

“Ahh.. Hahaha.. Yes, sorry for that. I easily forget people’s names. But please understand me, Donny also forgot Roger’s name, right?” She waved her hand in front of his nose, one hand covering her exposed white teeth. Just like the typical act of a sweet girl.

“By the way.. What is this place? Why are there so many people gambling and getting drunk?” Rina asked with her innocent face. She was quite annoyed and a little scared to see a lot of men walking around their tables in a drunken state. Cigarette smoke also billowed like fog in that place.

Actually, Rina wasn’t the only one who felt disturbed. Poppy also looked uncomfortable. But it seemed that she could still breathe quite normally in this poison-filled air. How about Emma? Ask no more. Her father’s meeting room was even worse than this place. It was as if there was a fire, but there was only the smoke.

Brughhh!!! Prang!!

They all turned towards the entrance from hearing the commotion.

“Shit!” Donny and Lary cursed at the same time.

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Cursed Together With Mr.Vampire; I need to drink his blood!