Success ~ {Connor x OC}

Prologue

Adrie wandered the streets of downtown Detroit.  The bright lights reflected off of the cool water pooled in the gutters.  The wind whistled softly against her cheeks, causing the area to turn a dull pink.  Few citizens were out this late at night.  The ones that were had ill intentions. 

Adrie, hair a dark brown with eyes to match, hugged her coat to herself tightly.  Her severe jaw was clenched tightly, her light brows furrowed.  She made sure that where there was light, she was occupying the space.  Bad things happen to those who remain in the dark.  Adrie drew a gloved hand from her pocket to remove a stray lock of hair from her face.  Her shoes splashed in the small puddles along the pavement.

"Well, gentlemen, look at what we have here!" a man said from behind her.  She kept walking.  She hugged herself closer, her pace growing quicker.  She could hear more than one pair of footsteps in her shadow.

"Please, leave me alone," she called back, refusing to turn to face the men.  She heard the same man from before laugh.

"Come on, darling.  We don't want no trouble," he said.  He wrapped a hand around Adrie's arm and yanked her to a halt.  Her gaze remained forward.  Her hands were clenched into fists inside her pockets.

"Check if she has any cash," another man suggested.  The grip on Adrie's arm tightened as the first man began to rifle through her pants pockets.  When he had finished with her front pockets he chuckled.  Then he looked hungrily at Adrie's back.

"Want me to check those, or will you do it for me?" he asked, his gaze not leaving her rear-end.  Adrie clenched her jaw.

"There's nothing back there," she said.  The man sniggered.

"There is plenty back there, darling.  You ain't just packing money," he said, then looked to his friends for approval.  His group whooped and chortled in reply.  Adrie took her chance.

She quickly removed the man's grasp from her forearm and twisted it behind his back.  She pulled at the tendons lacing up and down his arm.  The man gasped at the sudden pain in his shoulder.

"Women don't like getting assaulted," Adrie said into the man's ear with a grimace. She threw the man to the ground and pulled herself up to her full height, "If that is all, goodnight gentlemen."

She spun on her heel and walked away.  She felt confidence surge through her.  Her head was held high as her feet carried her away from the scene.  She could hear the men shouting from behind her.  They were calling awful slurs and insults.  Adrie ignored them with a large grin on her face.

The puddles grew larger as she walked.  Soon her work shoes were soaked with rain water.  Her pants had streaks of moisture on the hems.  Her arms swung by her sides, no longer feeling threatened.  The bright lights faded as her journey took her away from the city and into the suburbs.  Mud lined the pavement and leaked into the cracks.  Houses of varying quality lined the road.  Some houses were close to being perfect.  Polished windows, fake plants along the façade, a clean porch.  Other houses were in near shambles.  The roofs were close to caving in, and the dirt had been kicked up onto the outer walls.

Adrie continued her trek until she reached a small house on the end of a block.  The shutters protected the windows from prying eyes.  The porch had a small swing in the corner.  The outer wall was made colorful with a range of different bricks.  The yard was nothing to look at, only some synthetic grass to cover the dirt lawn.

The wooden stairs creaked when Adrie's shoes put her weight on them.  She reached into her mailbox on the railing of her porch.  She pulled out a few letters, mostly from family and friends.  She smiled to herself, leafing through the pile as she unlocked her door and stepped inside. 

She kicked off her shoes onto a rubber mat.  She shoved the door closed with her now-soaked socks.  She placed her pile of letters on a table near the entrance and shed her jacket.  As she hung it on her coat rack, she noticed that there was a tear in the right arm. 

"Those assholes," she mumbled.  She decided she would fix it later.  She trudged into her living room and flopped onto the leather couch.  She peeled her socks from her feet and threw them to the wooden floor. 

Adrie didn't want to get up.  Her day had been stressful, to say the least.  She got in an argument with her partner at work, almost got fired by the chief, missed her bus, and met the men on the street.  All Adrie wanted to do was sleep.  Her phone rang.  She groaned, putting her head in her hands.

"I don't want to know," she said.  She pulled out her phone and threw it to the other end of the couch.  At least from there, it wouldn't buzz against her skin.  Adrie grabbed a throw pillow and buried her face in it.  She wanted to block out the world.  Was there a way she could fall asleep forever?

Her phone rang again.  Adrie tossed the pillow at the wall.  She grabbed her phone and answered the call.

"What?" she snapped.

"Adrie?" the caller asked.  Adrie mentally slapped herself in the face.

"Hi, Hank, sorry," she said.  She rubbed her eyes, feeling idiotic.

"I'm gonna need you to come out.  There's a homicide on Pines Street.  6413.  And when you get here, I've got a surprise for you," Hank said.  Toward the end, Adrie could hear the smile on his face.  A large frown graced her features.

"When do you need me?" she asked.

"Now, would be nice," Hank replied.  Adrie groaned.

"Okay, I'll be right there," she said, and ended the call.  Pines Street wasn't too far from where she lived, so she could walk.  She didn't want to, but she could.  Adrie quickly put on her sneakers and jacket and made for the door.  She ripped open the door and stepped outside.

She was met with rain coming down in pelts.  Adrie pulled her hands through her hair and closed her eyes.  After a moment, she seemed to have calmed.  She began the walk towards the homicide.

~=+=~

Here's the first chapter! This has been a pet project of mine for quite some time. Thank you all for reading!
~Meg~