The Sounds of the city were thunderous outside, as he smoked on a Native Spirit, but he

enjoyed the liveliness of downtown Portland. It made Hume feel as the spirit of the city was speaking to him and all its inhabitants. The noise of traffic and all the people reminded him of a pulse and Johnathan loved hearing it.

He was an imposing figure; a pale olive-skinned man of twenty-two, standing at six foot six inches tall, with ebony black hair and icicle blue eyes. He had an athletic physique from years of martial arts and Free Running. A lot of women he had met in his life had compared him to Edward Furlong and, the late, Brandon lee.

His Mind began to wander down dark routes, to things much more depressing than the love of this city. He had lost the love of his life the year before, police had failed to find out the truth of the matter either. They said it was a pack of wolves that had come down from Washington Park's hills due to starvation and when they saw Victoria, they instinctively saw her as prey, Johnathan still had his doubts.

His best friend had given him a year to grieve, then started to pester him with logic and

words like 'She would want you to move on." And other insensitive bullshit like that, it had

taken almost another year before he finally gave into Matthew. Johnathan knew he meant well

and he loved his friend like a brother and agreed only to make his friend happy.

Matthew was running lath though and John had begun to feel uncomfortable standing near the stage entrance at the back of a bar called Embers. Portland had outlawed smoking inside bars early that year, so he was out back off the sidewalk smoking so no one would complain about early that year, so he was out back off the sidewalk smoking so no one would complain about

him smoking. He wondered why he had never heard of the place, but it could be that unlike him Matthew was a Barfly. Matt was overly popular and very gay; he was always in the know and loved to bar hop.

He lit up another cigarette and took a few drags, when suddenly through the smoke, he

suddenly smelled the sharp smell of lavender and cherry blossoms. As he turned to the direction

of the scent, that's when he saw her; a pale skinned beauty with ebony eyes and hair that

stretched behind her waistline like a cloak hiding her in the darkness.

Their eyes met as she walked by a devilish on her face, "Hello Johnathan," her voice came out like a purr to his ears, as she walked up to the "Performer's Only" entrance of the bar and opened the door letting out the Intro of the song Perfect Skin by 'The 69 Eyes'. She went inside and the music suddenly stopped, leaving him dumbfounded in the darkness of the alleyway.

The sound of boots running up behind him snapped him out of his state and he turned to see Matthew running up in Go Go Boots and a dress. It was now obvious why Matt was so late, a wardrobe malfunction at some point as he hardly matched his boots with that dress.

"Hey Johnny, Sorry I'm so late." Matthew stopped in front of him and smoothed out his

dress, which was a hilarious sight to behold. Matthew was a five-foot six-inch Mexican

American who loved to dress up, but hardly ever in drag. Johnny laughed out loud a bit

confusing Matt even more.

"What is it? Drag night?" Matthew punched him in the upper right arm hard.

"Yes, it is thank you for waiting, asshole." Matthew moved to the end of the alleyway and

turned to look at him, a red purse in one hand." You are coming?" is all he said before going around

the corner and vanished out of sight.

Johnny just smiled shaking his head as he walked out of the alleyway and onto the sidewalk in front of the building. It was truly a beautifully painted old building that had a mellow teal coat that shimmered in the streetlights. As he focused on the building, he saw the Queer Rights flag flying proudly on each corner, a different color orientation for each of the sexual

preferences.

As he opened the door he was stunned momentarily by bright lights, but he did not see Matt anywhere in sight as his eyes adjusted to the bright light. Stamping his cigarette out in the ash tray by the door he went inside, nodded to the bartender and sat down at table near the back of the room but still up in front of the stage.

Matthew soon came over with a tray of drinks in his hand of various aromas and colors,

handing Johnathan one with a green color and a sugar cube held over it with a strainer spoon. He

sat down and lit the sugar cube on fire and motioned for John to wait a bit.

"Really Matt? Absinthe?" Johnny had grown up around gypsy clans that loved their absinthe and plum brandy,

so he knew when to drop in the sugar and blow out the fire. Tilting the tumbler back as he let the

glowing drink melt its way down his throat, he coughed a little from the heat of it.

After a few shots of various drinks, he began to feel a little tipsy, he never liked mixing drinks.

The stage lights began to dim as he momentarily thought he was going to pass into

unconsciousness, but soon a light blue light began to raise on the stage as he heard a very primal

and sensual music begin to play in the overhead speakers, reverberating around the room.

Matthew seemed to get excited as he stood up straight and clapped. "Yay, Johnny watch this."

The amount of excitement seen from Matt seemed to infect the whole room as catcalls and hollers were heard all around.

As soon as Operatic vocals began to play Johnathan saw a pale feminine leg shown out of the heavy velvet curtains and the sound of whistles came over the crowd. Johnathan Immediately had Deja-Vu of a movie from the 80's and just as he was sure she was mimicking Jessica Rabbit, she burst out of the curtains with a black and red Belly dancer dress on. It was that strange girl who walked by him outside, his eyes widened as she pulled out fans and changed from an elaborate belly dance to a fan dance, and just when Johnathan was thinking the song was over with a more upbeat tempo started and flames leapt from the fans in a stylish arc.

When she finished, she hopped off the stage and walked up to the table he was sitting at,

anticipating her coming up to him and was slightly agape when she walked right by him and

hugged Matthew.

"Hi Matty, how are you." Dropping into a chair across from him she stared at

Matt while he was unsure how to respond. Johnathan turned to her and was stunned that she was just staring at the back of his head, when he tried to tune into their conversation, he realized it was in full Spanish.

Johnathan felt uncomfortable for a moment and stood up, "excuse me." He walked

towards the sign that clearly labeled bathrooms close to the stage. As he closed the door of the

bathroom and turned around he felt uneasy and almost dizzy, he leaned over the sink in front of

the mirrors a flickering light being the only illumination in the room. For a minute, he thought

he saw someone standing behind him and when he turned around there was nothing there at all.

He turned on the faucet as he faced the mirror again and washed his face in the sink. Grabbing a paper towel, he dried his face off and leaned against the door.

"Alright, Johnathan why are you so uneasy? You never had issues with women before."

Johnathan turned and looked at the mirror again and began to think of Victoria, just as he was Johnathan turned and looked at the mirror again and began to think of Victoria, just as he was shoved out of the way of the door by Matthew coming in. Matthew recognizing the signs of his "unhappy" place Grabbed him by the arm and gave him a big hug.

"Johnny, I understand if you want to leave." Matt helped him back up from the floor where he was now sitting. "That woman is Sydara, a good friend of mine and I thought you'd like her and maybe she could help you heal a little." Matt pushed him up to the sink and helped him wash the eyeliner out from under his eyes, as reapplied it for him.

Johnny looked to Matt and shook his head, "I need this it's just kind of hard with the alcohol and just being so close to when she was found." Johnathan turned around to hear a soft knock on the door, and Matt lightly cracked the door and talked to whoever was outside, from the muffled softness, he guessed it was Sydara. Johnathan stood up and leaned against the sink and brushed out his hair with his fingers.

Matt looked back at him and shrugged at him, asking what to do in body language pretty

much. "Go on I'm okay. I'll be out soon." Matt walked out of the bathroom and back to the table

with Sydara, waiting on his friend obvious worry across his face.

"So, what's going on with him?" Sydara asked softly her voice barely a whisper.

"He lost someone he loved around two years ago, and it's close to a year ago when they found

her body." Sydara covered her mouth in a gasp of shock. "He finally decided to take my offer of

coming out to a few places this last week." Matthew looked at the bartender and signaled him to

come over, whispering something to him. "I think a peace offering is what should work here."

Sydara looked at him confused, "A peace offering? Like what?" Sydara was curious what Matt meant by his comment.

"Just take this to him." Scooping a bottle and two shot glasses off the tray and handing it to her.

"It's his favorite drink, Plum Brandy."