Synopsis:

Jill and Sarah both learn something about each other. Jen and Shelly prepare a surprise for Jill, and the band gets through another night at the club.

Story:

Changing Keys, Part 4
By Jillian

Jen and I were sitting at the children’s table in her room, having a tea party with her favorite dolls and my teddy bear. She was wearing her best party dress, while I had squeezed myself into one of her others that had a little more room in it. We were having fun until our mom came in the room, “Jack! What do you think you’re doing?” was all she said.

I got up from the table and started running for my room, removing the dress on the way. I slammed the door shut, threw myself on my bed, and started crying my eyes out…

Jen got up in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom. While up, she realized she should probably check on the laundry, so everyone’s things would have a chance of being clean and dry by morning. Once loads were changed over, she started back to her room while Shelly tended to her necessary business.

As they returned to the bedroom, they began to hear a faint crying sound emanating from the living room. Having a fair idea who it was coming from, they both made their way to Jill’s side…

“I’m home,” I shouted as I came in the door, having just got off the school bus. The house seemed empty, so I headed straight for my bedroom. ‘Maybe there’s time for a little girl time,’ I thought as I climbed the stairs.

As I entered my room, I was shocked into reality to find my mom standing by my bed with the contents of my bottom dresser drawer…not to mention the very back of my closet…laid out in front of her. Everything…my panties, bras, hose, my one dress, nightgowns…all of it laying there with her burning holes in it with her eyes.

“What is the meaning of this?” she said, barely restraining herself from completely exploding.

“They…they’re…um…” I stammered.

“How many times must we go through this?” she asked, holding up a handful of my delicates. “Where did you get these?”

“I…I bought them. With…with my lawn mowing money,” I finally managed to stammer out as I lost control of my tear ducts.

She gathered up all of my things and carried them out of the room with her, saying, “No son of mine…would dress like a sissy.” She stormed out the door and presumably downstairs where she disposed of my beloved things.

Despair overtook me, and I fell to the floor unable to hold myself up as my body was wracked with sobs…

Jen immediately sat right next to Jill as she was shaking from the intensity of the sobs as they escaped her still sleeping form. Jen wrapped her arms around her sister and held her tight, in hopes that this would allow her to awaken and not feel so alone.

Meanwhile, Sarah was also waking, and as she did so Shelly led her out of the room to allow the sisters some time alone. They made their way to the dining table, where they took seats.

“Sshhh, it’s all right sister mine,” Jen gently repeated as she held the crying form of her sister.

I finally awakened enough to realize where I was, and the tears began to subside.

After a moment or two, Jen asked, “Was it the same one? Do you want to talk?”

“Yes, the same one. Remembering when we were kids and how much I loved the times when I got to be a girl like you. It almost made the other times bearable.”

“Right up until mom decided to put an end to it,” Jen added, demonstrating little love for their departed mother.

I once again started to tear up, in response to which Jen held me tighter.

In the other room, Shelly was asking Sarah, “What happened?”

“I, uh….”

“Listen, she only has those dreams when something bad happens, and I don’t mean putting up with a couple of hecklers at a gig. So I’ll ask you again, what happened?”

“I…don’t know if I can…”

“That’s more or less what I thought. So, you’ve been carrying around a torch for almost two years, and because the person you profess to love has changed the clothes they wear, you change your mind?”

“It’s not exactly like that.”

“Oh, no? Then how is it?” Shelly became a little more agitated. “From what I can tell, about the only thing that’s changed is the clothes. Even when dressed as Jack, man is not a word I would ever have used to describe him. That, and the fact that she’s a lot more comfortable with herself than he ever was.”

“You make it sound like I’m shallow,” Sarah responded, her voice full of shame.

“Yeah? Well maybe there’s a reason for that,” Shelly retorted.

Sarah slowly began to cry.

Back in the living room, Jen was still comforting the person she had come to think of as her little sister. Jack was her big brother, but Jill…

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jen asked.

“I don’t know,” I said between sniffles.

“I take it things didn’t go as you’d hoped?”

“You could say that,” I replied, finally regaining some control.

Jen looked toward the dining room for a moment, trying to decipher what she should or should not say, then said, “This may just be a little strange for her. You know how I told you that I thought she might be interested? That wasn’t just a guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“She had been harboring some pretty strong feelings for Jack for a long time. Like all the time you were gone this last tour. Saying she’s shy is quite an understatement. It may just take her some time to figure out that you’re still that same person. I don’t think she gets that the only thing that’s changed is clothes,” Jen tried to reassure Jill. “Give her some time, okay?”

I sat there in my sister’s arms, feeling safe, which was still an unfamiliar sensation for me. I eventually managed to convince myself that Jen was right, and finally managed a, “I don’t know if I can, but okay, I trust you. If you say so, then…” I allowed the thought to drift away unfinished.

After a few minutes of silent cuddling, during which I finally regained some control over my emotions, I asked, “Jen, can I ask you something?”

“You mean besides what you just did?” Jen giggled at her joke. “Sure, anything, you know that.”

“Um, how long have you and Shelly…?” I wasn’t sure how to finish the question.

“You aren’t nearly as observant as I used to give you credit for, are you?”

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

We both began giggling. Once we had settled down a bit, Jen answered, “Okay, I’ll admit it. We’ve been together off and on for a long time, as in years. We love each other, but we also still enjoy a little man candy from time to time.” With that, Jen began blushing furiously, which gradually evolved into another giggle fest.

Meanwhile, Sarah was slowly regaining control of her tear ducts, and managed to ask, “Have I screwed things up permanently?”

“I don’t know. The only way to find out is to try.”

“But I still don’t know if I can,” Sarah said, nearly starting to cry once again.

“Listen, pull yourself together and go back in there and talk to her, and I don’t mean the shy little thing you usually do. I mean really talk to her. She’s still the same person you’ve said you loved, and if you give her a chance, she’ll prove that to you.”

In a burst of courage she didn’t know she had in her, Sarah rose from the table and returned to the living room, where Jen was still taking care of me, like she always did.

“Jill, can I talk to you for a minute?” Sarah asked, making her presence known to me.

I looked up, took a deep breath, and finally said, “Sure.”

Jen got up and said, “I think I want to go back to bed.” Looking toward Shelly still sitting at the table, she then said, “What about you, Shell?”

Shelly got up from the table and said, “Absolutely,” as she followed my sister back to bed.

I watched them leave, then as Sarah sat down beside me once again on the sofa. The first words out of her mouth, even before she was sat down, were, “I’m sorry.”

Making an effort to put on a brave face, I replied, “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

She cam back, “Yeah, I do. I haven’t been telling you everything yet. When I said I had been interested in you when you were Jack? That was something of an understatement.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I dreamed about you every night you were away. I had this whole relationship built up in my head, and when you came back and I saw that you had changed, I wasn’t sure how to respond.”

“I get the feeling you thought I was someone I never was. You knew about Jill, even back then. Why is it such a surprise now?”

“Yes, I knew about Jill, but in my mind you had always been Jack. I figured you were just a cross-dresser. I thought I could live with that, but this…”

“But this is a little more than you had bargained for,” I completed the sentence.

“Well, yes and no. I still have these feelings for you, and I think I’m starting to understand that no matter what clothes you wear, you’re still the same person. The person I fell in love with.” She looked into my eyes for a moment, then diverted her gaze to her hands in her lap.

I watched as she did this, then said, “But…”

“I think I’m going to need some time to think about things. If you can’t give me that time, I’ll understand, but…”

“…I’ve got nothing but time,” I interjected. “Hey, it’s not like they’re banging down my door.” I then smiled and looked at her as she finally raised her gaze back up to my eyes.

She smiled back at me, and gave me a hug into which I melted like ice on a summer’s day. We sat there gently holding each other, neither saying a word, and eventually returned to sleep in that position.

The next morning I awoke to the sounds of pots and pans clanking in the kitchen, and discovered that we were still entwined, but had somehow managed to make our way to a reclined position, wedged together on the sofa. It might not have looked very comfortable, but to me it was heaven.

“Are you two ever going to wake up?” shouted Jen over the din of her attempts at cooking.

I slowly worked my way off the sofa, trying not to disturb Sarah if at all possible, and once I was clear said, “If we must. What’s got you up and around so early?”

“Well sister dear, we need to go get the window on the van fixed, and someone I know and love is in dire need of a wardrobe update.”

I stumbled into the kitchen so we could carry on this conversation at a more subtle volume level. Once there I said, “Unfortunately, by the time I pay for that window, I won’t have any cash left for shopping.”

Shelly popped around the corner and said, “Don’t be silly. We’ll all pitch in on the window. You need some new clothes.”

“Does that mean we don’t have to play with your torture machine today?”

“Correct. You are hereby given a pass for the day.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time,” I said as I went to get dressed.

By the time I finished making myself presentable, Sarah had also risen and was in Jen’s room getting dressed. She emerged a few minutes after me, ready for the day to come.

As we ate, I asked, “Where exactly were you thinking of going shopping?”

Sarah said, “Shopping? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I want to go!”

Jen smiled and said, “You must not have been completely awake yet when I mentioned it before. Jill is in dire need of a wardrobe update, so we were going to hit the mall for a while. You can come along if you like. It’ll be fun.”

Sarah smiled back and said, “Count me in!”

Shelly chimed in with, “If we don’t get a move on, we may not have time for the mall, because we’re not going anywhere until the van window is fixed.”

“Ooh, I forgot about that for a moment there. We may not have time for much shopping after all,” Jen said, disappointment obvious in her voice.

Shelly responded, “It won’t be that bad. I’ve already called the auto glass place and told them what we need. By the time we get there, they should be ready to begin the install. There are advantages to having friends who know their way around a car.”

“What Shelly is saying in an uncharacteristically subtle fashion is that one of her many male friends works at the auto glass shop,” Jen said, trying to get Shelly’s ire.

“Are you saying I lack subtlety?” Shelly was obviously taking the bait my sister was dangling.

“Well, you ARE a drummer,” immediately came Jen’s reply.

After we all broke out laughing for a moment, Shelly responded, “That’s why you love me.”

“Is that why? I thought it was that thing…” Jen let the thought go unfinished as Sarah and I gasped, with shocked looks on our faces.

“No, that’s why I love you,” Shelly retorted.

As the room broke out in a fit of giggles, we reached the conclusion that we were done with our breakfast, so we all took our plates into the kitchen, cleared them into the garbage disposal, and stowed the dishes in the dishwasher.

It was a rather chilly autumn morning that was accentuated by the unwanted ventilation from the broken van window as we made our way first to the auto glass shop. Shelly pulled straight into the bay and jumped out to greet her friend who would be taking care of our problem today as the rest of us climbed out of the back. It was rather obvious to all present that Shelly planned on paying for this with something other than cash, as she kissed her friend deeply, then left him to his work.

We found the waiting room and fixed ourselves coffee while we waited. Once we were settled in, Jen addressed Shelly, “I take it I’ll be sleeping alone tonight?”

“If you are, that’s your own fault,” Shelly retorted.

I don’t know why, but I had never expected girls, and especially my sister, to carry on this sort of conversation. While at first, I felt a bit uncomfortable listening to these sorts of exchanges,; by now I was starting to get used to it, and actually found them rather humorous. To that end, I let a giggle escape me as I listened to them carry on there in the waiting room.

Shelly’s friend had obviously been prepared for our arrival, as it seemed he had all the necessary parts on hand, ready and waiting. As a result, we barely had time to finish our coffees before it was time to head out for our day’s shopping.

Shelly was very friendly indeed with her gentleman friend as we boarded the ‘Shelly-mobile’, and we could overhear her telling him he could pick her up at the club at 1am. I guess that meant we weren’t riding together to and from the club, huh?

We arrived at the mall, parked the van, and made our way inside. Jen must have thought she was in charge of this expedition, as she immediately led us toward Victoria’s Secret.

“I don’t need underwear. I have plenty,” I balked as we reached the entrance to that shrine of sensuality.

Shelly immediately asked, “But do you have any ‘nice’ underwear?”

“It’s all in decent condition,” was all I could think to say.

Jen added, “Yes, but if you want to woo the lovely Sarah over there, don’t you think you need something a little sexier than white cotton?”

I think Sarah blushed almost as much as I did in response to that question. Nonetheless, we followed our fearless leaders inside and began browsing through the wisps of silk and lace. I don’t know exactly what came over me, but I caught myself picking up things and holding them up for Sarah’s approval.

To her credit, she managed not to turn completely crimson, and eventually became more engaged in the safari. I still had the feeling Jen and Shelly weren’t telling me everything regarding their interest in seeing the two of us become a couple, but decided to go with the flow for the time being, and didn’t ask.

After some encouragement from everyone present, I did finally consent to a couple of purchases, and we were on our way. Similar scenes transpired over the course of the day, until mid afternoon when we all realized we were hungry, so we meandered toward the food court, each making our selections then reassembling at a table so we could dine together while we dissected the day’s events.

“I really like that new top you picked out. I think it’ll look fantastic tonight,” Sarah gushed.

“Absolutely. Wear those new jeans with the ankle boots you picked out,” was Jen’s contribution.

Shelly looked at her watch, then blurted out, “You know, we really should be heading back. I hadn’t realized how late it was.”

We finished up with our food, then gathered up the day’s haul and made our way back to the van. After a short drive home, we disembarked and went inside. As we entered the house, Jen started acting suspiciously. She suggested I take my new purchases back to my closet in the rehearsal room. I shrugged and, with Sarah’s assistance carried my substantial booty back there to put it away.

As I entered the room, I was stunned to see that it was no longer an empty rehearsal room, but rather now contained a queen size bed, dresser, and vanity. I looked first at Sarah, who was as surprised as I was, then felt my sister put her arms around my neck as she came up behind me.

“What? You think Shelly’s the only one who has gentleman friends willing to do favors for her?”

“But, how?” was all I could think to say.

“Shopping wasn’t just so we could get you some much needed clothing. We had to get you out of the house while this stuff was brought in,” Jen replied.

I looked first at her, then at Shelly, who said, “We can’t have you sleeping on the couch forever, can we?”

I turned around, grabbed my sister, and proceeded to hug the stuffing out of her. “You are a tricky one, aren’t you?”

Sounding a bit like she was struggling to speak because of the intensity of my hug, Jen said, “We would have done it sooner, but since Friday was the first day Jimmy and Bobby could get off work to move the furniture in, it had to wait until now.”

“Thank you, sis,” I said through newly forming tears of happiness.

I then released Jen and grabbed Shelly, giving her a hug equal to the one I’d just bestowed upon my sister. “Thank you Shell. You’re a great friend,” I said to her.

“Hey, all I did was drive,” was her response.

I looked around the room…my room…and smiled. “You shouldn’t have,” I said to no one in particular. A silence settled upon the room.

Jen broke that silence by saying, “Sarah, can Jill ride with you tonight? I need to run Shelly home so she can change, and then I’ll be going to Jimmy’s after the gig to pay for all this moving work he and his brother did while we were out.”

Both Sarah and I blushed a bit before Sarah responded, “Sure, that’s fine.”

Sarah and I sat down on the edge of my new bed as Jen ran to her room and changed outfits in world record time. She then headed out the front door with Shelly in tow. We were surprised by just how loud the door slamming shut was, and both of us jumped slightly at the sound.

It suddenly occurred to me that Sarah didn’t have a fresh change of clothes here, so I asked, “Do you need to run home to change as well?”

“No, I have something in the car. You weren’t the only one who got to buy new things today, you know,” she responded shyly. She then smiled, and went out to her car to get her new outfit.

While she was gone, I changed into my new outfit. The jeans fit like a glove, the ankle boots were gorgeous, and the new top was very pretty as well. The only drawback was that since I didn’t have a strapless bra, I had to go without because of the spaghetti straps. This was a strange, unfamiliar sensation as ever since I’d sprouted I had always worn something to either squash or lift whenever I was going out.

I scooted out the bench and sat down at ‘my’ vanity, where I first brushed out my hair, then started to put on a little makeup. As usual, I wasn’t really all that interested in using a lot of war paint, but a little bit can go a long way toward making an ugly duckling look like a swan, if you know what I mean.

While I was working on my eyes, Sarah returned from her car and started changing right there in front of me. For a brief moment, I was surprised, until I realized that there was nothing odd about girls changing clothes in the same room.

Sarah asked to use my vanity, so I went to the kitchen and got a can of diet coke to drink until she was ready to leave. As she emerged from my room, I felt that same odd sensation I had been getting whenever I saw her. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it felt good to me.

“Are you sure you don’t mind providing taxi service tonight?”

“Not a problem. It’ll give us more time to talk,” she said as she took my arm and led me out the front door and into her car.

I climbed in the passenger seat after stowing my guitar in the back, and once she too was in the vehicle, we set off toward the club.

“You know, I’ve always wondered,” Sarah began, “How exactly did Jen wind up with that house?”

“Okay, it’s like this. Our mom sold the old family home once Jen and I were both out playing for a living, and took the money from that sale to buy a smaller place, because she didn’t think she’d need all that room anymore, you know. When she died, she left the house to Jen.”

“Well, what about you?”

“I was pretty much persona non gratis in our mom’s eyes. I think she might have preferred if I’d never existed, to tell you the truth.” In spite of years of steeling myself against such things, I began to tear up while talking about my mom and how she had always treated me. “Of course, Jen more or less stuck it to mom when she went and had a lawyer change the deed on the house so that we are listed as joint owners.”

“If this is a sore topic, tell me, but what about your dad?”

“He was killed in a car crash when I was two, and Jen was just a couple of months old. Of course, it could just as easily have been called a fishing accident.” I nearly laughed at that thought. “He had gone fishing that day, which for my dad meant he’d take a boat out for 12 hours or so, loaded with massive quantities of beer, and drink himself into a stupor while pretending to fish until the beer ran out. Then he’d head home. That night, he missed a curve and went head on into a huge outcropping of rock. They said he died of blunt head trauma.”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” Sarah nearly cried as she said it. “I had no idea.”

“Of course not. It’s no big deal, really. No need to apologize.”

“You said your mom was not exactly happy with the way you’ve chosen to live your life?”

“That’s an understatement if ever there was one.”

“Did she ever do or say anything that might have led you to believe that she really was proud of you or your sister?”

“I honestly can’t remember a single time when I felt anything from that woman other than scorn and disappointment.”

We pulled up to a stoplight, and Sarah took the opportunity to look deeply into my eyes. What I saw in hers struck me as possibly the saddest thing I’d ever seen. I thought that maybe I needed to change the subject a bit, away from the bad things I’d been through before, as they were obviously having an adverse impact on her. And myself.

“Sarah, can we talk about something else for a while?” I asked as we pulled away from the light.

“Sure,” she replied.

“What do you want to talk about?” I asked after a few minutes of silence caused by uncertainty concerning better topics of conversation.

“Well, if you’re up to it, I think I owe you an explanation.”

“For what?” I asked, completely puzzled.

“For the way I’ve behaved and reacted to you since you came home,” she responded. Taking a moment for a deep breath to clear her thoughts, she began, “I know that maybe it seems like I’m fighting my feelings for you because of your change. The truth is that’s only a small portion of what’s getting in my way.”

“What do you mean?”

“I realize it might seem like I’m having trouble reconciling my feelings for you with the fact that you used to be, at least in my eyes, a man, and now you’re a woman. I’m not having that much trouble with that idea, now that I’ve gotten used to it.”

She continued, “More than anything, the problems I’m having are related to some personal baggage I’d rather be rid of, to tell you the truth. I’m sorry if I made you think I wasn’t interested in you, because to be honest, I am.”

“Do you feel like you could tell me about it?” I asked, desperately wanting to know and hoping I could do something to make it better.

“This goes back a few years, before I met your sister. I had been living with this guy. At first, he was such a sweetheart, doing things for me, bringing me flowers; all sorts of things that really made me love him. Unfortunately after a while, things started to change. He became really jealous, like if I talked to or even looked at another guy, he’d go nuts. He started not letting me go to gigs without him, because he was afraid I might talk to someone.”

“Wow,” was the only thing I could think of to say.

“At first, I was kind of flattered. But then he started getting worse, and it kind of scared me. Then one time, he thought I was being too friendly with a patron one night, and when we got home, he hit me.”

She gulped, trying to contain the tears I knew had to be forming in her eyes, before continuing. “I was shocked. He’d never given any indication he might do something like that. I was going to pack my things and leave when he said he was sorry, and that it would never happen again. Like an idiot, I believed him.”

“Eventually, he started getting more violent, until one time, I can’t even remember what started it, he got mad at me and was cursing and hitting, and throwing me around the room. He hurt me bad enough that I wound up going to the emergency room, and they admitted me into the hospital. I was afraid to tell them what had happened, and wound up making something up about a car accident.”

“Sarah, I’m so sorry,” was all I could say. Had we not been driving down the road, I’m sure I would have had my arms wrapped around her, trying to provide some comfort.

“When I got out, he was much better for a while, but then eventually things got worse again. It wasn’t until he hit me in the parking lot of a club I’d been working at that the truth came out. One of the bouncers saw him hit me, and ran over to my defense. He tackled him and held him down until the police got there and arrested him. While he was in jail, I moved my things out of his apartment, and tried to move on. Unfortunately, that experience has made it nearly impossible for me to trust anyone since.”

“I must say, I think I can understand that. The only thing I can tell you is I promise never to do anything to hurt you,” I said as we parked the car behind the club. Before we got out to go in, I reached out and gave her a hug, and a gentle kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, Jill. You’re the first person I’ve told any of that to. I hope you don’t hate me now,” she said as we got out of the car.

“Sarah, how could I hate you? That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about,” I replied.

I retrieved my guitar from the back seat and followed Sarah in through the back door, turning into the ‘dressing’ room, where I unpacked and tuned my old friend. Just as I was completing those tasks, Annie arrived and set about doing the same with her bass.

The first thing Annie said, once she was ready to go on, was, “Frank will be coming by later. Do you remember him, Jill?”

Well, of course I remembered her husband. The question was, would he remember me? And furthermore, would he accept me as I am now? In the end, I just said, “Of course I do. How’s he been?”

“Oh, busy as always. He’s been doing well at the dealership. In fact, he sold like four cars just this past week.”

“Wow!” I said with more enthusiasm than I really felt. I knew from previous experience that her Frank was a good salesman, but on the negative side, car salesmen frequently aren’t the most trustworthy of individuals. For that reason, I knew I needed to be wary.

Just then, Jen and Shelly arrived amidst a flurry of activity, as it was nearly time to go on. Jen got out her guitar and made a token attempt at tuning it herself before finally just handing it to me and allowing me to take care of it. To her, it made great sense to do it that way, because I was much better at it.

We took to the stage, and played an inspired first set. Our break was spent accepting kudos from the assembled crowd, who all seemed quite impressed with our performance. Free rounds of drinks were being delivered every time we turned around, which basically meant that I was working on a serious caffeine buzz from the unending supply of diet coke being handed to me.

I was pleasantly surprised when not only did Frank remember me, he came up to me and gave me a warm, friendly hug when we joined he and Annie on one of our breaks. It struck me that while there were a lot of people out there who treated me like a pariah because of my change, not everyone was like that. It was my hope that those people could continue to make dealing with the others more bearable.

The rest of the night went much like the first set, with no unwanted disruptions, no major train wrecks, and no former band mates intent on complicating my life more than it was already. In short, it was a great night.

Once the final notes faded and the last of the evening’s patrons had been safely sent on their way, we were joined in the dressing room by the manager, with the evening’s pay in hand.

“Good one tonight, ladies,” he said as he handed the cash to Jen, who immediately began distributing it amongst the rest of us.

“No problems?” Shelly asked.

“Nope. Just friendly people drinkin’, just the way I like it,” he responded. Then before he turned to leave, he added, “Here’s to another good one tomorrow. G’night.”

We all offered similar parting words, and soon were going our separate ways. First Annie left with her husband, then Shelly took off with her auto glass guy, whom I never did catch the name of, and finally Jen headed out for her ‘appointment’ as well.

I closed the last of the latches on my guitar case and said, “I’ll see ya out at the car in a minute,” to Sarah, who was going to make a quick pit stop before we headed out.

I went out the back door, and was immediately hit in the stomach with a baseball bat. I dropped to the ground, and felt kicks and punches being landed all over my body as I curled up in a ball, trying to protect myself from serious injury.

With my eyes covered so as to avoid injury to that sense, I couldn’t see for certain who it was that had attacked me, but the small amount of conscious thought I was permitting myself told me I was pretty sure who my assailants were. As the beating continued, my only thought was of survival.

With one last swing of the bat, which connected with my groin area; my attackers took off, leaving me bleeding and nearing unconsciousness not ten feet from the back door of the club.

As contact with my surroundings was fading, I heard a scream followed by several sets of footsteps coming toward me. The last thing I heard was Sarah saying, “Jill?”

Then everything went black.

Notes:

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