“The Price of Freedom

Part 9

The bartender skillfully caught the last bottle he had spun in the air. The final flame slowly faded, and applause echoed around the bar.

— Wow, that was amazing! — Anna said in amazement.

Mia nodded as well.

— It really was.

The bartender bowed to the audience and then returned to his work.

A few seconds later, the music became loud again. The bass sounds spread throughout the hall, and even the floor itself seemed to vibrate with the rhythm.

The people on the dance floor started moving again.

Someone was laughing.

Someone was raising their hands into the air.

And someone had completely given themselves over to the music.

Anna suddenly grabbed Mia's hand.

— That's it, enough watching now.

— What?

— We're going dancing.

— No.

— Yes.

— Anna...

— Mia, please.

— I don't dance.

Anna laughed.

— Anna, stop it, please, don't embarrass me.

— Mia, nobody here is paying attention to you. Now we'll have a little fun.

Mia did not even have time to answer.

Anna pulled her by the hand and took her toward the dance floor.

— Anna!

— Too late.

Daniel laughed and shook his head.

— May luck be with you, Mia.

— Daniel, tell her!

— I can't help this time.

Anna had already taken Mia into the crowd.

Mia looked around with a dissatisfied expression.

— I hate you.

— I love you too, — Anna said, laughing.

This answer made Mia laugh involuntarily.

Daniel, who had remained behind, looked toward David.

— Are you going to keep watching here?

David directed his gaze toward Mia, who was standing on the dance floor.

For several seconds, his eyes remained on Mia.

Then he took a deep breath and moved his head.

— Yes.

Daniel patted him on the shoulder.

— Stop being shy like a girl. Come on, we'll have fun with the girls.

David did not resist.

Both of them headed toward the dance floor.

At this time, Anna was already moving in accordance with the music, and Mia, although she was feeling uncomfortable at first, was slowly beginning to adapt to the rhythm.

Bright lights flickered and danced on their faces, and the loud music had filled the entire hall with excitement.

The tension from a few minutes ago seemed as though it had remained far away.

However, David's gaze still returned to Mia from time to time.

As if, even though he was trying not to watch the girl, he was unable to do so.

The music changed its rhythm once again — this time the melody slowed down a little, but became deeper and more alluring.

The lights also softened accordingly, drifting between blue and purple colors.

Anna stepped a few steps forward and spun Mia around.

— Look, it's easier now, isn't it? — she said, laughing.

— Yes, it's a little pleasant, — said Mia, shaking her head, but there was no longer the same resistance in her voice as before.

Her feet were slowly beginning to find the rhythm of the music, and her hands were also moving lightly involuntarily.

Without realizing it herself, she was no longer just a “guest standing still.”

Daniel and David also entered the dance floor.

Daniel immediately joined the energy around him and, with a light joke, greeted two or three girls.

David, however, stopped.

He looked directly at Mia.

The people around them were moving, the music was loud, the lights were changing — but it was as if he had pushed all of that aside.

Mia also turned by chance.

Their gazes met again.

This time Mia did not quickly turn her face away.

Just one second of silence.

Then David slowly walked forward.

As he approached, Anna noticed this and quietly stepped aside, leaving Mia “accidentally” closer to him.

— It seems there's no escaping dancing, — David said in a low voice.

Mia shrugged her shoulders.

— I'm not running away.

— Yes, you're dancing beautifully, and this is the first time I've seen you like this, — he added.

David danced in rhythm with the music, and his gaze was directed only at Mia.

For the first time, he was seeing Mia cheerful and dancing, and he liked it very much.

It was as if David was getting to know Mia all over again, and this new Mia lit such a fire in his heart that only Mia herself could extinguish that fire.

In that hall, they joined the rhythm of the dance.

They were so occupied with the dance that they did not even notice that they were dancing while holding each other's hands.

At first, everything was very careful — Mia counted her steps, trying not to make a mistake, while David was trying not to lead her but to adapt to her.

After a few seconds, Mia began to feel a little freer.

She was no longer just hearing the music — she was feeling it.

Her feet had adapted to the rhythm, and her breathing had also become steady.

From afar, Anna looked at them and smiled.

Daniel, meanwhile, stopping beside her:

— There it is, it started, — he said jokingly.

— What started? — Anna asked.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders.

— Nothing. Look at them, what a beautiful couple, — he added.

At this time, the young people were enjoying dancing, and at that moment they had forgotten that they were on two opposite sides and were enjoying the dance with pleasure.

The music suddenly changed again.

This time, it was not the calm rhythms that had filled the bar.

It was as if the DJ had put on the favorite, most explosive song to raise everyone's mood in an instant.

The bass beat began to shake the floor.

The lights flashed in red, blue, and white colors, turning the hall into what seemed like a field of energy that was turning on and off.

Anna was the first to understand it.

Her eyes lit up.

— WOW! THIS! THIS! — she shouted, turning toward Mia.

Mia was surprised for a second.

— WHAT?!

Anna raised her hands into the air.

— THIS SONG! IT'S OUR SONG!

At first, Mia did not believe it.

Then the first notes seemed familiar.

At the second beat, a change appeared on her face — as if something inside her had awakened.

— NO... this... — Mia laughed.

— YES! — Anna grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her. — NOW IT HAS STARTED!

The DJ intensified the rhythm even more.

The bass was so strong that it was almost impossible to talk.

Everything really was only now beginning because this song was the favorite song of the two girls.

"THE FATE OF OPHELIA"

This song would take the girls into a different world, and it was possible to notice this even from their current state.

Mia looked around for a moment — people had already raised their hands, jumping, shouting, and dancing.

Nobody was holding themselves back.

Everyone had melted inside the music.

Anna jumped first and began to act unusually.

Mia followed her as well.

Looking at each other, they began to say the words of the song loudly.

---

I heard you calling

On the megaphone

You wanna see me all alone

As legend has it you

Are quite the pyro

You light the match to watch it blow

They were singing the song with so much emotion that even the people around them stopped and began to watch them.

With the bass hits, they started moving together — no order, no rules, only rhythm existed.

Anna raised her hands and began to spin, and at that moment the chorus that had attracted everyone came. Mia and Anna suddenly…

---

All that time

I sat alone in my tower

You were just honing your powers

Now I can see it all (see it all)

Late one night

You dug me out of my grave and

Saved my heart from the fate of

Ophelia

Keep it one hundred

On the land, the sea, the sky

Pledge allegiance to your hands

Your team, your vibes

Don′t care where the hell you been

'Cause now you're mine

It′s ′bout to be the sleepless night

You've been dreaming of

The fate of Ophelia

---

They jumped again.

The bass hit once more.

The hall shook.

Everyone fell into the same rhythm.

Mia was no longer just dancing with Anna — it felt like she was rediscovering herself.

She felt light in every movement.

With every jump, something heavy inside her slowly melted away.

The club was full of people. In every corner there was movement, around every table there was conversation, laughter, and noise. The lights kept changing, and the music vibrated through the air, pulling everyone into the same rhythm. Yet even among so many people, it felt as if everything was focused on one point — the dance floor itself.

Because this song was not just a song.

It felt like it was playing only for two girls.

For Anna and Mia.

It was as if the whole club had frozen, and for a moment life had opened a stage only for these two girls. Their movements, laughter, and freedom pushed the surrounding noise and people into the background. Even though there were thousands of people here, in reality the story revolved only around them.

Life itself was like that.

Sometimes it is very bright, very loud, very beautiful. Sometimes it is silent, heavy, and incomprehensible. People live between these two states. Someone is inside happiness, while someone walks with a silent pain inside. But the most important thing is that no situation remains forever.

Dark times also pass.

Heavy moments also fade away.

And new light comes again. In such difficult times, a person must be patient.

And then, even in the hardest moments, there remains a small belief inside a person — the belief that everything will change.

The music inside the club seemed to awaken exactly this belief. The bass beats struck in the same rhythm as the heart, and the lights, like life itself, shifted sometimes bright, sometimes shadowed. Everything here was in motion; nothing stayed still.

And Anna and Mia were at the center of that movement.

Two friends.

Two completely different characters.

One was like fire — quickly igniting, quickly laughing, quickly deciding, a person with constant movement inside. Wherever she entered, life became stronger there. Her presence itself was energy.

The other was like water — calm, deep, sometimes silent, sometimes forming waves. She did not always express her emotions outwardly, but inside her lived a very large world. She felt everything slowly, but deeply.

Fire and water.

One burns, the other flows.

One explodes, the other calms.

But today they were in one place.

In one rhythm.

In one music.

In one moment.

The most beautiful side of life was exactly this — different people being able to experience the same happiness. There were moments when everyone could forget, even if only a little, the heaviness inside them, the silent questions inside them.

Anna raised her hands into the air and melted into the music. Her movements were fast, free, without any limits. For her, this moment was living itself.

Mia had now completely surrendered herself to the rhythm. She was laughing, she was moving, she was inside this moment.

Even though there were many people around, these two girls were as if in their own separate world. In their world there was noise, there was light, there was music, and most importantly — there was a desire for life.

Sometimes life gives such moments.

Without any warning.

Just one music, one place, one coincidence, and a person finds themselves in a completely different state.

At that time, they forget the past.

They do not think about the future.

Only the present moment remains.

And sometimes this moment becomes more valuable than an entire life.

Anna and Mia were exactly in such a moment.

They were laughing, moving, and getting lost in the music.

Finally, the last moments of this beautiful song came.

At that moment Anna suddenly looked toward Daniel, who was watching them, and with affection she joined the song:

— You saved my heart from the fate of Opheliaaaaaaaaaa — she shouted.

Suddenly, as the song ended, everyone shouted:

— Oooooooooo!

Loud applause echoed through the club.

Anna and Mia now noticed their surroundings — they were standing alone in the center of the dance floor, while everyone was watching them from the sides with interest. They immediately turned red with embarrassment.

A new music started playing, and the girls, already tired, felt it. They walked toward the bar. Two boys followed them from behind.

— Anna, you know, that was really amazing, — Mia said in a breathless voice.

— Amazing is not even the word — it was fantastic, — Anna laughed.

Mia really did not seem like herself anymore. She was different. She had become like Anna — full of cheerful laughter. She had drunk a strong drink in one go without even realizing it.

She swallowed slightly and, holding the glass in her hand, said:

— What was this?

— Tequila.

— Waaaaoow, then give me another one of that, — Mia said in a strange mood.

Anna was not paying attention to her; she was also drinking different drinks and fixing her hair.

Behind them, David and Daniel who had arrived were watching with surprise.

Then Mia lifted another glass, and David, who had been watching her, came closer and tried to stop her.

— Mia, maybe that's enough for today. You've already drunk too much, — he said in a worried tone.

Mia's current state was really bad; she was no longer anything like her usual self because she had drunk too much.

Mia tried to understand where these words were coming from, then turned around and saw David.

— Oh, the crazy lover is here. Will you drink too? Come on, — she said, pulling David by the hand toward her.

David did not resist her; he emptied one glass after another that she handed him.

Daniel went to Anna and hugged her tightly.

At that moment Mia stopped and dragged David toward the dance floor.

David did not resist and quietly followed behind her like a calm sheep.

Daniel watched them silently and, holding Anna, said:

— Mia really turns into a completely different person when she is drunk. I did not expect this, — he laughed.

At that moment a real show had begun on the dance floor.

Mia was holding her short hair tightly with both hands and moving her body in such a way that David froze in shock.

Mia was dancing with her whole body moving wildly, and David was following her rhythm.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer while dancing with her.

In the end, David could not hold himself back anymore — he pulled Mia strongly toward him, held her face with both hands, and kissed her.

— Oooooo, this was what was missing, — Daniel said angrily while watching them.

— Don't pay attention to them, or are you jealous of Mia? — Anna said in a drunken voice.

— Oh, now you are also drunk. What jealousy are you talking about? — Daniel said angrily.

Mia did not understand David's action; she was too drunk to control her body.

Her mind was not obeying her, everything around her was slowing down.

She wanted to sleep; her body started giving her commands.

She forgot everything and, closing her eyes, let herself fall to the ground.

David quickly caught her tightly.

Daniel and Anna, who were watching, got scared and immediately rushed toward them.