Within

Chapter 2: Victory

We sat silent inside of his black limo, I only spoke to give the driver my address but after that I had no energy to say anything else. The man looked at me and said, "Darius. My name. I'm a member of The Black Dragon and listen... I'm sorry you..."

"Sorry? For what?! For killing innocent people or being the piece of shit that you are!?"

"Dammit! THIS is more than you think it is!"

"Then what is it?..." We sat in silence. I got a better look at him as he stared out the window. He was tall, well figured and extremely handsome. He looked to be a perfect mix between Black and Asian having a broader nose but more Asian in his eyes. He kept his hand to the side of his face showing signs of frustration. 

We finally arrived at my apartment but my body felt too weak to move . I felt so lost in that moment. What if I never waited that table? Would I have been laying there dead on the floor along with the other servers. I checked my phone and saw that I had 11 missed calls from Reina who must have heard about what happened. "I'm sorry. I'm a bit shaken up and I don't know what's going on anymore."

"Ariana, go to bed. Here's my number..." He handed me a sheet of paper, "Call me when you wake up and I'll try to explain some things to you, explain what I can at least."

I got out of the limo and walked right into my apartment building without even looking back at him. What a night. Within minutes of entering my apartment my phone began to ring.

"Ari?! Is everything okay?! Are you hurt?!" Reina was now shouting through the phone but I know she must have been worried.

"Calm down. I'm fine. I got lucky. Someone saved me."

"Someone? Who? ...It doesn't even matter. I'm so relieved, Ari."

I wasn't ready to talk about everything that happened. It was all way too much to process and I didn't yet figure everything out.  "Rei, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I'm beyond drained."

"Sleep... I'll stop by in the morning. Night."

"Goodnight Rei" I immediately hung up the phone and threw my body unto the bed. I could still hear all the screaming, gun shots and the plates falling to the floor. That woman's eyes as she met mine before she finally died. Everything played in my head all night like a broken record. I jumped out of bed and quickly went to my living room. Sleep was not going to see me tonight apparently. I turned on the tv, a terrible mistake.

"We're here live at Le Chateau, a scene of bloodshed and violence. Chef Mike can you tell us what you saw?" The reporter was a c blond petite woman who, despite the disaster behind her, kept her composure. I was relieved to see Chef was alive and well.

"I stay most of the day and night in the kitchen. I couldn't tell honestly if anything was off about last night." Chef Mike looked much more stern than last night.

"Nothing?" The reporter stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Nothing seemed different? How about the owner was he around?"

"I SAID I COULDN'T TELL!" Chef's voice rose and his face began to turn red. "PEOPLE DIED!" 

"We just want the truth. The people of New Haven need..."

"Need to mourn the lives of those who passed." Chef cut her off and then turned to the camera again. "Thank you for your time." He walked away off the screen just like that.

I turned the TV off and found myself pacing back and forth. I wasn't sure what to do. I looked at the paper with Darius' number and picked it up. 

I never got to tell him thank you. I should text him, I thought to myself. Yet, I still had disgust toward him. Picking up my phone, I began to type out a text to him but didn't get past putting his number in. How could saying thank you be so difficult. I poured a glass of wine and downed it. Nothing close to lady-like at 3 in the morning. At this rate I threw away the lady act and poured myself another glass.