Re: The Side of the Dance Floor [Juliet]
It was all she could do: struggle toward the door with a glowing EXIT sign floating above it; every person in her way was dressed in a grotesque costume, some of them more frightening than others, all making it more difficult to escape the sudden trap this date had become. Juliet couldn't worry about where Nathaniel had gotten to, if he was all right. The edges of her vision were growing black, a harbinger of darkness that encroached on her sight. Pushing a bartender serving some drinks to the side, the liquid went flying into the crowd (and was that a skull beach ball floating around?), shouts and cries of dismay and surprise springing up like daises in her wake. Normally she would be absolutely horrified to be acting in this fashion, but she needed to gain the door!
And then finally she was there, pushing the bar to open it to the cool, nearly chilly outside air of the night. If there was darkness to be afraid of, surely it would have been that all-consuming thing, not the smoky iridescence of the club's innards. But for some reason, the moment she stepped over the threshold and escaped into the after hours of the day, air came rushing back into her mouth, down her throat and expanding her lungs like balloons near fit to burst. Juliet stumbled, shocked at this sudden change of events, one hand clutching at her throat while the other pressed to her chest as though to keep her heart in check as it pounded, rushing the newly acquired necessity to all of her limbs and organs. Her black shoes scuffed on the pavement, now that she found herself surrounded by cold, metal vehicles - the parking lot.
She was fine, she was whole - there was nothing to be afraid of. For a moment she merely stood, relearning the craft of breathing, closing her eyes as her arms wrapped around herself against the chill of the night air. Juliet wished she hadn't lost the little cape, wished that she'd brought a jacket of some sort; the warmth of the club, what with the body heat radiating from every corner, certainly played games with ones expectations of temperature. But she slowed her gasping efforts, calmed herself, and continued forward for a moment or two in order to put her mind to rights. Then she would go back inside, find Nathaniel, apologize, and ask that they leave before things could get any worse.