Witchy Days 2 : Crimson Family Vacation Pt 2

Polina doesn’t have an Insta. Yet. She might need one before this vacation is over – just to reassure their classmates they are, in fact, fine.

About to hit the club.

Polina isn’t sure she even wants to go, but Helena is insistent. It’s not everyday they get the chance to party at a real beach rave.

♫♪♫

Even though she didn’t want to come, Polina ended up enjoying the club. Even when Helena left her to dance with another guy at the rave.

The music was good enough to enjoy, with many of her faves remixed in a fun manner by the local DJ, who really had the right spirit for the job.

“Alright! Is this a party or a schoolroom? Let’s make some noise!” the guy hyped up the crowd and they responded with happy shouts and cheers. “And if this hottie over there wants to request something, I’m open to suggestions.”

♫♪♫

Eventually, Helena’s dance partner left the floor to take his place at the DJ booth, giving the cousins time to chat.

“Hey, what’s the deal? Aren’t you and Sam serious?” Polina asked, referring to Helena dancing with this guy for quite some time.

“Oh, don’t worry, this is just dancing. Besides Thiam over there has a girlfriend too. He was just passing time before his set with me. Want to grab a drink?”

“Ah, sure, just one.”

♪♫♪

“Can we get the house mixes, please?” Helena ordered for them and turned to her cousin. “So… not bad, not bad at all. The night isn’t even halfway through and you’ve already caught the attention of the house DJ. That’s my cousin!”

“What are you talking about?” Polina laughed. “I’ve been right there, next to you.”

“And you’re completely oblivious. Of course,” Helena shook her head in disbelief. “He was looking right at you when he was talking about hotties!”

“Was not! There are a bunch of other women here. Besides, how did you even manage to notice it? You were looking the other way?”

“Was I?” her cousin winked. “Don’t worry, I always notice the important stuff. Besides, I think we’re about to get proof to my hunch.”

♫♪♫

“Hi,” he turned to them. “I hope you ladies have been enjoying the party.”

“Oh, yes, it’s great! You have a good taste in music,” Polina told him honestly. 

“Thank you. You’re new here, aren’t you?” he smiled, making her stomach do a little somersault. 

“We’re vacationing here,” her cousin chimed in, satisfied because her evaluation of the situation was exactly right.

“Are you two together?” 

“We’re cousins,” Helena told him.

“Hey, hey, hey! Someone has requested Cascada. Ask and you shall receive!” the other DJ announced.

“And that’s my cue,” Helena got up to head back to the dance floor, but before she left, she leaned over to Polina and whispered, “He’s a cutie, but if anything goes weird, I’m right over there and watching. Have fun.”

♫♪♫

“What’s your name?” he asked. “I’m Papaya. Yes, I’m not joking. Mom was a foodie.”

“Cool. I’m Polina. How long have you been DJ’ing?” she asked, wishing her cousin would come back. Sure, he was cute, but she was so out of her comfort zone. 

“For the last 4 years, but I spun as a hobby before that too. So, where are you from? The States?”

“No, Europe. The Stoneshields, to be exact,” she told him, wondering if she shouldn’t.

“Man, that sounds cool. You guys have really lit clubs, don’t you?” he smiled wistfully.

“Well, I wouldn’t really know. I’ve only gone a couple of times and only because my cousin likes them,” she admitted.

“That’s alright. This scene isn’t to everyone’s tastes. It can get loud.” Just at that moment, something Thiam did over at the turn tables made the entire bar reverberate with bass and both of them cringed. “See what I mean?”

“Not the best place for deep conversations, true,” she muttered. It wasn’t that late yet, but she was feeling exhausted and the loud music was getting to her. Hoping she didn’t come across as too rude, she smiled and left the bar. To her surprise he came along. 

“So, what’s it like, where you’re from? Must be quite a bit colder, I’m sure.”

“You can say that again,” she agreed. 

“All the more fun coming here, then,” he continued. “Sun, beach, new experiences…”

“What’s your deal?” she cut to the chase.

♫♪♫

“My deal?” he sounded confused. “In what way?”

“Why are you here with me?”

“Ah! I didn’t realize that had to be a big deal!” he laughed. “I just thought you’re cute and wanted to hang out and maybe dance with you. What do you say to that?”

“And do you do that with all the other tourist girls that party here?” she chuckled.

“Now that’s a trick question. If I say yes, that makes me sound like a total player. But if I say no, there’s no way you would believe me,” he weighted his choices. “Which one would you prefer?”

“The truth, I guess.”

“I’m a friendly guy. I meet lots of people. I dance with some of them. People tell me I’m not bad at it. What do you say? Care to dance with me? I promise I won’t step on your toes.”

“Alright, alright,” she laughed, relaxing after his humorous manner. “I’d love to dance.”

Just as he promised, Papaya turned out to be a fairly good dancer. So good, in fact, that she started relaxing properly, for the first time in a long while.

Even if this guy was a player of some sort, it really was nice to be spending time like this, away from home, where everyone knew everyone. Look at this guy – he just thought she was some random girl. He knew nothing about the Voronov family, about her parents nearly destroying everything, about how she felt about all of that. 

It was perfect.

Next to them, her cousin winked at them, happy for her. Except, why should she be? Polina’s family nearly destroyed hers.

Why did they ever bring her on this vacation? They needed the break to get away from it all. And she was part of it all.

Nope, she wasn’t going to think about that today. She made a resolution earlier that day not to.

“What’s the deal with that dock?” she asked him. “Like, who puts a dock in a club?”

“The same people who build a club above water,” he replied. “It has its uses though – sometimes they receive drink orders by boat. During the day, of course.”

“Makes sense,” she understood. “Is it off limits to patrons?”

“No, I don’t think so…”

“It looks cool.”

“I guess we can check it out,” he offered.

♫♫♪

The fact that they had to step into water to get to the dock didn’t bother Polina, and she wondered how much this guy wanted to get further with her, since he followed along. It was kind of impressive.

“Please be careful,” he warned her. “This thing gets wet in high tide and it can get slippery.”

“Slippery when wet. Heh.”

“Yeah, I know. Common sense, you’d think. But the bar has had people complain in the past. Even though we are literally at the beach and surrounded by water.”

“People aren’t always too smart,” she laughed. And they had far too many ways of proving how not smart they were.

“Yeah…” he chuckled. “Are you alright? You seem kind of… I don’t know how to put it, but it’s like there’s something bothering you.”

“I’m fine, yeah,” she gave him her most saccharine smile.

“If you say so.”

Over at the disco, the music changed again, making Papaya groan.

“Oh, come on, he’s playing that song. And at the end of the night too,” he shook his head.

“You don’t like Careless Whisper?” she asked, surprised.

“I do, but the sax part always fucks me up,” he admitted. “You probably think I’m a total sap, but it’s true.”

“That’s not sappy, that song just has that effect on people,” she agreed.

“It does. Want to dance?”

♫♪♫

Maybe dancing at a slippery dock was not the smartest idea, but it was fun. And they were careful.

As the saxophone wailed from the speakers, the two of them swayed to the sweet melody. There was something magical about the moment, with the water surrounding them and the music setting the mood. 

Romantic, certainly.

When her heel inevitably caught on a crack in the dock and she slipped, he quickly caught her, preventing a potentially painful fall. Him catching her brought them so close together that she could see just how dark and warm his eyes were.

They leaned in for the kiss at the same time. It seemed just right. And he was a very good kisser, although it wasn’t like she had anyone else to compare him with. 

But the kiss made her want more, which she took for solid proof of his skill. 

But just as she deepened the kiss, all those troubling thoughts came back in full force. Why was he here with her? There were so many pretty girls back on the dance floor. Girls who knew what to do, who didn’t require a debate just to go for a dance.

Why? What was in it for him? Was she being played again?

“Wait, wait, we should stop,” she pulled away, gasping for breath.

“Why? Did I do something wrong? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked, confused.

“No, no, everything’s great. It’s just all going really fast, I’m sorry,” she babbled. “I’m sorry. Plus, I think my cousin’s waiting for me.”

It was true, the dance floor was already empty and Helena was nowhere in sight.

“Hey, it’s ok. No sweat. Do you have a way to get home?” he asked with concern and she felt rather guilty. Maybe he was a player, but he seemed genuinely nice.

“I’m good, yeah. We have a ride back. Thanks.”

“There you are!” Helena exclaimed when they approached. Her cousin looked a little scared. “They told us it was last call and we had to leave the club and I couldn’t keep you in sight anymore.”

“It’s ok,” Polina reassured her. “It’s been a long night. Let’s go home.”

The cab ride home seemed to take ages, but she held it all in, despite her cousin’s concerned looks. Until they got home. Once the cab drove away after dropping them off, the floodgates opened.

It was such a nice evening and she had to go and ruin it all. Why couldn’t she just let it all go?

“Polina, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” Helena was right there, starting to get seriously freaked out. “Was it that guy? I know I was trying to keep a watch over you two, but I couldn’t towards the end. Did he do something?”

“No,” she shook her head, feeling even worse.

“I mean it, did he behave inappropriately?” her cousin asked again. She shouldn’t have left her younger cousin alone with that player!

“No, he was lovely,” Polina admitted. “It’s me, I’m the problem.”

“You are not! Why would you think that?!”

“Because…” she tried to stop sobbing. “We kissed, and it was amazing and pretty much everything a girl could want and instead of enjoying the moment, like anyone else would, I’m here having a breakdown like an idiot.”

“Oh…” Helena didn’t know what to say. It was true, this wasn’t most girls’ reaction to their first kiss. “Do you want to talk about it? If you’re feeling up to it?”

“I don’t know what good it’ll do,” Polina admitted. 

“It can help you pinpoint what triggered your current mood. I admit, I’m kind of to blame here,” Helena knew. “It’s been a really long day already and I dragged you to that club, even though I knew you weren’t feeling up to it.”

“Don’t be sorry, I had fun!”

“I hope so. But I know you haven’t been feeling so great lately. We all do. We’ve been kind of worried about you, to be honest.”

“I don’t want you to worry,” Polina shrank back from her. “Not after…”

“Polina, stop right there. Stop blaming yourself for things you are not responsible for. Your parents made their choices. No one held a gun to their heads. No one forced them. Most of all, not you.”

“I just can’t stop thinking about it,” Polina admitted. “Every time something nice happens, I end up thinking back on everything they did and would’ve continued to do. I end up thinking to all the times I blindly believed them and went along with my life without questioning anything.”

“What were you supposed to do? Treat your own family like crime suspects all the time? People don’t live that way, not if they want to stay sane. Punishing yourself for other’s crappy decisions is not a way to continue living, take my word for it. They are doing time now, but that doesn’t mean you have to let the past turn your own life into a nightmare.”

“You’re right, I know you’re right. It’s just difficult.”

“I know it is, dear, I know. I won’t lie to you and say it’s going to be a day’s work to get over it all. It’s going to take time and effort. But please know that we are here for you.”

Helena pulled her cousin into a big hug. It was already dawn, which meant they spent nearly 24 hours up and about. No wonder she was feeling like this – a lack of sleep could contribute to emotional troubles.

“Thank you,” Polina whispered. “I really needed to hear this.”

“I know. And hey, when we get back home, do you want to maybe see someone else to help you work through this? Like a professional. Because I think someone who deals with people who went through trauma could really give you some techniques to work through it all.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t really…” Polina stopped midsentence. She was going to say she hadn’t gone through trauma, but the fact that she was standing here and bawling her eyes out, after a totally wonderful evening, spoke otherwise. “You know what, that’s not a bad idea.”

“And I can help you find someone you’re comfortable with,” Helena promised. “Now, let’s get you to bed.”

The younger girl knocked out nearly immediately. 

“It’s a mess,” Helena whispered to Mallory. “I knew things weren’t good, but I had no idea just to what extent. Those jerk has a lot to answer for. So much for looking out for their family, eh? They only hurt their family. But we’ve got this.”

“We sure do,” Mallory agreed. If only she’d been able to get to her witch earlier, things would’ve been much better. But that was time lost. Now, they could only catch up.