Nefarious

C34 - Violence

"Wait, could we go get my sister for this? She's got weird interests, and I'm sure she would love seeing the sun shining on the marble," the female asked. Yes, you should totally go get your sister for this. "Of course," the male answered. Her hand let go of the curtain, and I could hear their steps slowly fading as they walked away.

I hurried away from the curtains so fast that it almost sounded like they were about to fall down. I stopped to make sure they wouldn't, holding my hands out like an idiot thinking I would be able to catch them.

The curtains stayed put, thankfully. Once again I placed the key back in the keyhole and tried twisting it. To my surprise, it actually worked this time. I probably looked like a fool as I was trying to open the heavy door, but at least I managed to succeed after several attempts. When I turned to make sure the door closed itself, I spotted a guy standing at top of the stairs just watching me. I couldn't see his face properly, so I wasn't able to recognize him, however, I knew he had his gaze directed at me. As the door slowly shut itself, I saw him leaning against the bannister in a rather relaxed movement. He didn't seem threatening, in fact, it seemed like he wanted me to leave, which I did.

The sun was heating up the ground, and me as well. I had no clue which direction I was supposed to go, nor I couldn't recognize the surroundings. Therefore, I chose to sit at a fairly small bar in hopes to lower the risks of being seen. The bartender asked me several times whether I wanted something, which annoyed me to the point where I moved to a stall by myself. People were glancing at me every now and then, sending dirty glares. I was well aware of how lonely I seemed, there really was no reason for them to intensify the feeling. I had a bruise on my face as well that probably drew most of the attention I was getting, but whatever. People will always look for anything different, something to be fascinated or interested in. No need to get paranoid, that would only make me look suspicious.

A guy with brown hair and greyish eyes sat down beside me suddenly, causing me to jump in shock. "You okay?" he asked as he tried making eye contact with me. "Yup," I chuckled insecurely. I only glanced up at him once, preventing the eye contact he so desperately seemed to want. He didn't seem to believe me, and honestly, I don't blame him. I wouldn't have believed me either.

"Urm, why are you here all alone, if you don't mind me asking?" he asked after a moment of awkward silence. My lips parted as I was about to answer, but I didn't. My attention was drawn away for a brief moment, drawn to his ring. The ring on his finger was so much like Alex's, except for the fact that this was more lighter.

"I enjoy spending time on my own," I answered, still staring at his ring. Whenever he moved his hands, my sight moved as well. I simply couldn't stop myself from looking at it, not after noticing the similarity. "May I ask where you got that ring?" I asked, looking up. He looked down at me with a confusing facial expression. His face was unreadable, but he seemed somewhat tensed. "Why? Have you seen it before?" he swallowed oddly. Judging by the way he reacted, I'm assuming there indeed is something special about that ring. "No, I was just curious," I lied. "Oh, right. It runs in my family ring, I er, I inherited it. Funny enough, I wear it all the time which makes people think I'm married." "Oh? That must be annoying at times. Why are you always wearing it?" I questioned. When I asked him these questions it kinda felt like I was asking Alex, and maybe that's exactly what I needed - some kind of connection or answers. "Tradition."

The night escalated, and to my surprise, in a positive way. He smiled a lot and had a lot of interesting things to say, which helped to set the mood. I wasn't able to figure out anything specific about the ring though. Unfortunately, he seemed like the secretive type as well.

My intention when walking into this place wasn't to get tipsy or anything, it just happened. He didn't react when he saw my face, nor had he brought up his phone or anything so I felt safe for once. He wasn't warning me about people or trying to convince me to come with him or anything, thankfully.

"You know, you're a very decent guy," I said. As I heard my own words escaping my mouth, I immediately regretted them, but he didn't seem to mind. "You're a very decent person as well," he slightly chuckled.

The drinking and the entertaining conversation had distracted me the entire night. I had completely forgotten to look out for Alex or the others, but that changed in a matter of seconds. My eyes moved away from the guy directly towards a familiar face. My body stiffened, my smile disappeared immediately.

As a desperate attempt to hide, I turned my head in another direction, hoping he wouldn't recognize my hair or something. The guy who I sat with opened his mouth to speak, but I shushed him. I carefully moved my head to the side, seeing him standing in the entrance gazing over the people in the bar. I knew who was here for and what he wanted, and of course, I remembered now what I should've done. I should've gone directly to Alex no matter what. I should've got a hold of a cab or something to warn Alex so that they would have a chance at saving Xavier. If my reckless decision to stay here instead was to come to his knowledge, it would end in violence for sure. Because that's how he gets what he wants. That's how he makes people fear him, and he has succeeded. Jace has succeeded.