Redress (gxg)

Chapter 31 "Grief"

(Pic of the neighborhood on the media)

Lauren

Tears blurred my vision as I drove through the highway, my heart was pounding against my chest as I couldn't stop thinking about Alex. A sudden call earlier was all it took for me to go haywire, and just dropped what I was doing. Something happened to her, was all I could think about. I was panicking, I couldn't stop myself from worrying. I didn't get to finish the call as I found myself out of my apartment, and immediately ran to my car after they told me where they were currently staying. They sounded frantic on the other end, I could barely make out what they were saying, and that was enough for me to think that it wasn't just bad, but something worse had happened to Alex, and I needed to hear it for myself, not just through the phone. 

Few more minutes after, and as I was getting near my destination, I couldn't stop the dreadful thoughts that had been plaguing my mind anymore. It was getting too much as every second that passed by, and it was now hard to stop myself from crying profusely. I wanted to see her, I wanted to hug her, and tell me nothing bad happened, I didn't want to believe anything until I got to talk to them, but deep down, it kept telling me that one of my terrible thoughts was what I was going to hear from them tonight, and it terrified me.

It didn't take long until I reached the location, and wiping the tears off my face, I eventually roamed my gaze around the familiar run-down neighborhood, inspecting the area. It was quiet and eerie, and even if this was the second time I had been here, I still felt anxious driving through, adding to the consuming emotions I was feeling. The place briefly reminded of that time I followed Alex, and saw her trying to convince Knowles to take part in her revenge. It was the time when I first saw a glimpse of what she had been doing secretly, but tonight was different, I wasn't here to know what she was doing, I was here to know what had happened to her, and just thinking of what I was going to hear felt like an endless nightmare.

Shifting my gaze in front, I immediately stepped on the brake when a big guy whose arms were covered with tattoos suddenly appeared in my way. The sudden appearance instantly made my heart leapt as I tried to steady my breaths, watching him carefully, my hands tightly gripping the wheel. He briefly stood unmoved as if I hadn't almost ran him over, staring intensely on my direction, before he slowly gestured for me to get out of the car. Gulping down the lump on my throat, I apprehensively got out of the car, and briefly stood still, before slowly closing the door. I could just stay in the car, and easily reverse, but my gut was telling me he knew who I was looking for, and that he could take me to them, hopefully I wasn't wrong or I would be walking straight to danger, and possibly, my imminent death.

"D-Do you know Knowles?" I managed to ask, only to get no reaction from him. For a while he was just staring me down, until he pulled down his arms crossing on his chest.

"Are you Lauren Harrington?" he asked with a deep voice, making me nod reluctantly, "...follow me," he simply added, before turning his back on me, and started walking. With a little determination I had, I grudgingly followed him while staring at his broad back as I readied myself in case he would do something. I felt a little uneasy, but the reason why I was here in the first place weighed more than what I was feeling, it was enough for me to continue on my way.

As I subtly inspected the area, I saw few people lingering around, their eyes were focused on me, making me feel uncomfortable as I looked down on the path I was walking on. In this neighborhood, I felt like everyone knew each other, protecting each other as their own, a brotherhood at that, and if people would mess with someone here, they would be messing with everyone.

"Thank you...f-for doing this," was all I could mumble to break the silence.

"You're lucky," he replied, pausing for few seconds, "not all people like you can walk in here easily," he added, confirming my thought, "though, not so many well-off people like you would even come here." Hearing his statement, I didn't say any more words, and just let the silence loomed over us once again. I didn't want to offend or annoy him further, because for one, I could tell he didn't like me at all as I was a total stranger, and I just basically barged into their territory all of a sudden, disrupting their peace in the middle of the night. The other reason was that I didn't know what to say for he was right. If it wasn't for Alex, I wouldn't have come to know this place.