***Picture of Angela to the right! :)***
Chapter 2
"Which one looks better?" Angela asked, holding up a sparkly pink dress and a single-strap, satin red dress. We were currently at a dress boutique, shopping for dresses for Nick's party, which was in two days. Honestly, I did not even want to go, but Angela was forcing me.
"I like the red one—the pink is too. . . Barbie," I replied.
Angela tilted her head, scanning both dresses again. "Hmm, I see your point. Good call." She put the pink dress back on the rack. "Okay, now you," she grinned.
I let out a sigh of defeat as she began picking out dress after dress, tossing me one after the other until my arms were tired and the pile was up to my head. "Go try them on," she ordered, and pushed me into the changing room, causing me to stumble. The first dress was a blue and green dress with printed design on the top half. When I walked out of the room wearing it to show Angela, she pulled a disgusted face. "Ew, definitely no. Try another on." The next one was a red dress with ruffles on the sleeves and a bowtie on the chest. Again, Angela disapproved. "It's way to elegant-looking." This went on for many more dresses. Every time, she'd find a way to trash them.
Angela's pile of dresses had now been reduced to only a few. Tired, I slipped on a navy blue dress with a beaded strap around the neck. "Please tell me this dress is good so we can go," I whined.
"Child, be patient." Angela scanned the dress from top all the way down to the hem. Her lips lifted. "Actually, this is perfect. Zayn will be all over you when he sees you in this," she declared, grinning wickedly.
My jaw dropped. "Is that what this is about?! Is that why you made me stay her for four hours and try on fifty dresses?!"
Angela ignored me as she went up to the counter and paid for our dresses. When she was done, she sauntered out of the boutique, me trailing behind her. "Angie," I whined, "where are we going now?"
"I saw this jewelry store when we got here. It's not that far."
"A jewelry store? Is that really necessary?"
Angela raised her eyebrows. "Would you rather spend a few more hours shopping for shoes?"
I remained silent.
"That's what I thought," Angela said, sending me a smirk.
The jewelry store was only a small shop, but the walls and glass cases were stacked with exotic necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. I did not want to admit it, but I was actually glad that Angela dragged me in.
I walked over to the counter at the front of the store and looked through the glass case. There were rows and rows of glistening jewels embedded into metal to form elegant jewelry. My eyes immediately landed on a shimmering blue emerald necklace.
I lifted my head and directed my attention to the other side of the counter, where there was a woman, maybe in her early twenties, loudly popping her gum and reading a magazine. "Excuse me?" I interjected as politely as I could. The woman looked up, annoyance clearly written on her face. She did not say anything, so I decided to speak more. "How much is the blue emerald necklace for?"
She eyed me up and down, popping her gum. "Hon, you wouldn't be able to afford it." With that, she went back to her magazine.
I narrowed my eyes at her and was about to tell her off, when Angela stepped up to me. "Vi, I found these beautiful red earrings!" She held them by her ear to show me.
I smiled. "They look really nice, Ang."
"I know! So, did you find anything you like yet?"
I pointed to the necklace beneath the glass case.
"Oh, that's so pretty! That would look so nice with your dress!" Angie gushed. She turned to the woman behind the counter, putting the earrings on the counter. "We'd like to buy these earrings and that blue necklace, please."
"Sorry hon, those are too expensive for you two. Why don't you go look through the section of plastic sets over in that corner?" The lady pointed to a rack with neon pink and green jewelry hanging from it.
Angela narrowed her eyes. "Uhm, no, we'd like to buy these," she said, a bit more forcefully this time.
The woman scowled. "Look, kid—"
Just then, a short, bald, heavy-set man walked through one of the back doors and confronted the woman behind the counter. He had a pleasant aura to him, a comfortable, genuine smile on his lips. "Is everything alright here?" he asked. He seemed to be the manager.
I was just about to say that everything was fine, but Angela beat me to it. "Actually, no. This old hag won't let us buy any jewelry," she said, glaring at the woman.
The woman gasped. "I was just telling them that these might be too expensive for them," she defended, feigning an innocent look.
The manager sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Chastity—"
Angela snorted quietly, "Sounds like Charity." I giggled at that.
"—do you have any proof that these girls can't pay for the jewelry?"
"Er, no?" Chastity said. "But—"
"But nothing," the manager interrupted. "These girls seem old enough to be able to pay for their things." He turned to me and Angela. "I'm terribly sorry about all of this. What did you girls want to purchase?"
"These earrings," I gestured to the ones on the counter, "and that necklace," I pointed to the one under the glass.
The manager beamed at us. "Excellent choices. Tell you what, I'll cut 50% off the original price for you ladies."
"Oh, no that's okay. We can pay the full prices," Angela argued politely.
"Nonsense!" He took the necklace out from under the glass. "Consider it a thank you for coming here."
Angela gave the man Nick's credit card and swiped it. Just as he said, the price was deflated by a couple hundred dollars.
As we were walking away from the counter, I suddenly had the urge to stay for a bit longer. "Hey, Ang, do you mind if we look around for a bit longer? I really want to see the rest of what they have."
Angela grinned at me. "Aw, Vi, do we have to stay?" she whined, mocking me.
"Shut up," I mumbled, making my way back through the shop.
In the background, I heard Angela's phone ring. I could always pick out her ringtone—it was a melody created from animal sounds. Why she picked that ringtone, I have no idea. After talking on her phone for a little bit, she walked up to me with a frown on her face. "Vi, my dad's here to pick me up. He says there's some emergency. I could give you a ride home if you want?"
I grimaced. "Nah, it's alright," I told her. She knew that I was kind of afraid of her father—he was a scary man. "I'll just ask JT or Nick to pick me up."
She smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Vi. See you tomorrow."
"Don't worry about it. See you." After Angela left, I quickly texted JT to pick me up, making sure to include the address and name of the shop I was at.
As I was admiring how the necklace looked on me in one of the mirrors hanging on the back wall of the store, I heard a loud crashing sound vibrate off the walls of the shop. I turned around just in time to see a tall, dark, cloaked figure walk up to the front counter, pull a gun from his pocket and point it at Chastity's head. "Where's the necklace," the man growled, his voice deep, dark, velvety, and laced with an imminent threat, but surprisingly young-sounding. It ran a shiver through my spine. I don't know what I was expecting—maybe a sixty-year-old ugly psycho with a groggy voice that made you want to vomit.
My brain was yelling at me to run, but it seemed that my body had temporarily shut down. I still hadn't grasped what was happening, and so I stood there near the back wall of the shop, quietly watching the scene unfold before my eyes.
The figure stood tall, towering over the woman behind the counter. I could see the fear behind Chastity's eyes; how she was visibly shaking. She looked like she was about to cry, and at any other time, I would have laughed. The only reason I did not is because I knew the fear she was experiencing—only, hers was multiplied by mine by ten.
"Where the fuck is the necklace?" the man growled again, louder and more threatening this time. He suddenly turned the gun to face upward and fired two consecutive shots into the ceiling, before taking it and pressing it into Chastity's forehead.
Chastity started sobbing. "I-I d-don't kno-w wh-what you're talk-king about. Let me go, please! Plea-ease! I'll g-give you an-nything! Plea—"
Another shot was heard and Chastity crumpled to the floor behind the counter, out of sight.
I gasped and stumbled back into the wall. My heart was now racing a mile a minute—so fast that all I heard was an obnoxious, repetitive thumping sound in my ears. My eyes were as wide as saucers in terror, and I had my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from omitting any kind of sound that would attract the man's attention toward me.
Damn it. Why didn't I go home with Angela. Her dad isn't nearly as scary as this murderer. Stupid, stupid Violet.
I heard a series of taps on the tiled flooring—footsteps. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath. They stopped, still far away from me, and I heard a thump followed by a yell. Cracking an eye open, I saw the cloaked figure holding the owner of the shop against the wall by his throat. The owner was shaking in the man's grip, but unlike Chastity, he remained deathly quiet.
"I want the necklace with the blue emerald and the engraving on the back. Where is it?" the cloaked man demanded dangerously.
Funny, I thought nervously, my necklace is blue too.
The owner began struggling to formulate a reply, as his air supply was being cut off. "Just sold it," he choked, his face turning the color of strawberry cotton candy.
"To who," the man growled.
"A-a girl . . . just now." The owner began clawing at the grip around his throat desperately, while I froze as still as a statue. It couldn't be. Cautiously, quietly, I fumbled with the necklace around my neck, grasping the locket in my clammy hands. I flipped it over, forcing myself to look, even though I kind of already knew what I would find. When I saw the tiny, cursive letters engraved into the metal, a lone tear streaked down my cheek. I was going to die a terrible death and no one would come to save me.
I could still make a run for it. The thought zipped through my mind before I could stop it. It was insane—I would never make it out the door if I made a run for it. On the other hand, if I stayed, I would probably end up getting a bullet lodged in my brain, or getting strangled to death. Maybe my best option was to try to make it out the front door of the shop.
I snuck a glance at the cloaked man. His back was to me, meaning he probably would not notice me sneaking out if I was extremely quiet. Or so I hoped.
After slipping my necklace under my shirt, I got on my feet, slowly, stealthily, and began tip-toeing toward the exit. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest and I tried to keep myself from shaking. Actually, I wasn't even breathing.
"Where did she go," the cloaked man growled from behind me. My eyes widened as I silently prayed for the owner not to give me away.
Although the reply was faint, I heard it loud and clear. "There," the owner croaked weakly.
My head whirled around so fast that I heard something snap. My gaze locked with the black hole that was the cloaked man's face. His hood draped over part of his face, casting a shadow that made it impossible to make out his facial features. Now I understood part of the reason for Chastity's terror.
A scream tore through my lips as I bolted out of the door of the shop and began sprinting down the abandoned, dark street. The only light came from the dim streetlamps that were lined, distanced apart, by the side of the road. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins like never before. Suddenly, I heard fast-paced footsteps close behind me. I did not even bother to look who it was—I already knew. I tried to run faster but I couldn’t. It was only a matter of time before I collapsed. Where was JT with the car when I needed him?
Looking around, I noticed several alleys between the buildings that stood at the sides of the street, leading to other streets. Maybe if I slip into one, I'll have a better chance of losing him. I turned a sharp corner into an alleyway and came face-to-face with a giant iron gate. Oh no no no. Shit, this cannot be happening right now. I ran up to the gate, gripping the metal bars with my hands and shaking it. It did not even rattle. Panic and frustration began to flood my body; I was on the verge of tears.
"I have to say, cupcake, you've made this quite easy for me." The dark, humor-laced voice came from directly behind me.
I whirled around, a soft cry of fear escaping my lips when my eyes landed on a dark, cloaked figure. His head was slightly tilted downward, and his hood was loosely draped over his forehead, casting a shadow on his face, making it look like a pool of black nothing. He began slowly making his way toward me, making me cower against the metal bars behind me. My eyes never left his form, and I could feel his eyes on me too. I felt like I was in some prison soap opera episode, where I was the newbie in jail and the hooded guy was the hungry murderer. It had some kind of truth to it.
"I'd advise you not to do that, cupcake."
I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. Do what? Realization suddenly set in when I heard loud, animalistic growls coming from behind me—from behind the bars I was leaning against. I yelped and jumped back just in time to see the snouts of three oversized dogs roughly shove themselves through the narrow openings between the metal bars. They snapped their pointy teeth and growled at me, their eyes a livid red color. Guard dogs. It was obvious that they were hungry and wanted to eat me, so unconsciously, I took a step back.
I landed right into the arms of the cloaked murderer.
My eyes widened as I let out a shriek, but it was quickly muffled when a black gloved hand latched onto my mouth. My back was flush against his hard chest, and I felt hot, moist air blow past my ear, making me shudder. "We wouldn't want to wake the neighbors, now would we?" His deep voice spoke into my ear, and although it was merely a whisper, it still sent chills down my spine. Was he deliberately trying to make a sexual reference?
I was suddenly slammed against one of the walls of the alley. I let out a muffled cry as my head collided painfully with concrete. My wrists were grabbed and pinned to the wall above my head. My eyes were sealed shut—I knew that if I opened them, he'd be able to see my fear, even though I was radiating fear in buckets and he could probably smell it from a mile away.
This is just a dream, this is just a dream, I tried to convince myself. I'll wake up soon to Aunt Lisa's earsplitting shrieks, yelling at me to get out of bed. But as much as I tried, I couldn’t. I could feel the cloaked man's hard, defined chest flush against my body, pressing me up against the brick wall of the alley. I could feel the roughness of his gloves pinning my wrists to the brick wall. I could feel his hot breath on my cheeks, flowing past my ear, letting me know his face was extremely close to mine. For a minute, there was complete silence, except for his soft breaths.
Why isn’t he doing anything? Isn't he going to kill me now?
One by one, I cracked my eyes open. Just as I had predicted, his face was mere inches away from mine. From this closeness, I saw that beneath the shadow that covered his face, he wore a mask that covered the top half of his face, stopping just above his mouth. His eyes were a midnight black, gazing intently into mine. I couldn't see the rest of his face very well because of the darkness that still surrounded it.
We stared at each other for what felt like the longest time, until I finally built up the courage to say something, although it wasn't much of a something.
"What do you want from me?" The question came out as a hoarse whisper.
His lips lifted mischievously. "You have something of mine, and I intend to get it back."
Was he talking about the necklace? Would he kill me after he got it? "You're wrong," my voice was shaking. "I don't have anything of yours. Please let me go, please," I begged.
He raised an eyebrow. "You're beginning to sound a bit like the slut from the shop. Do we need a repeat of what happened with her?"
I immediately clamped my mouth shut as images of Chastity falling to the ground, dead, blood beginning to seep from her head, greeted me again. "You're a monster." The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them. I held my breath, afraid of what his answer was going to be.
He only laughed. However, his eyes held a dangerous glint. "Don't tempt me, cupcake. I can do things to you that you couldn't even dream about." A shiver ran down my spine at his words. Suddenly his hands holding my wrists shifted so that one of his gloved hands were pinning both of my wrists against the wall. His other hand traveled down my arm and over my shoulder teasingly, until two of his gloved fingers lightly resting at the base of my throat—at the collar of my shirt. I stood as still as a statue, afraid to move an inch—afraid to breathe. His dark eyes held my hazel ones, refusing to waver. Slowly, his fingers dipped under the collar of my shirt and began to travel down the valley of my breasts. My eyes widened and I let out a cry of protest, thrashing in his grip. He only pressed me into the wall harder and tightened his grip on my wrists, to the point where it became painful.
"Shh, cupcake," his velvet voice soothed. His fingers suddenly pinched the skin of my left breast, causing a gasp to escape my lips. He let out a chuckle at my reaction, before wrapping his fingers around the locket that rested on my skin between my breasts and pulling it out from under my shirt. Once his hand was out of my shirt, my chest suddenly felt cold, but I let out a relieved breath nonetheless.
He played with the blue pendant in his fingers. "What's this?"
Shit, this is it. He's going to kill me now for sure. I took a shaky breath. "It's my necklace."
He chuckled darkly, before leaning in close to my ear. He took my earlobe between his teeth and tugged once, making me to gasp and causing my stomach to twist. Then, with his breath fanning my ear, he whispered, "Wrong answer."
My wide eyes looked at him in horror, afraid of what he was going to do next. I heard the distinct sound of the revving of an engine, and then he completely caught me off guard by releasing my wrists and stepping away from my body. I let out the breath that I had been holding for some time now, as the crisp Autumn breeze swirled around me. I suddenly clutched my jacket tighter around my body and shivered, as the warmth that had radiated off of his body was now gone. I looked up at his figure that was now quite distanced from mine, with wide, curious eyes. His lips formed a faint smirk—it was all that stood out in the black hole that was his face again. "We shall meet again, cupcake. This is not the end." The whisper was carried to me by the breeze that rolled around us.
I turned my head to the end of the alley, only to see that is was Nick's red Jaguar that had pulled up. When I turned my head back around to where the cloaked man had been standing, I found that he had disappeared. Bringing my hand to my chest, I realized that the necklace was still there, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I jogged over to Nick's car and took a seat on the passenger side. For a minute, there was silence. Then: "What the hell is wrong with you?" I cringed from Nick's outburst, but he wasn't done. "Do you have any idea how long I've been driving around, searching for you?! You text JT, saying you're at this jewelry shop, but when I get there, you're not there! And then I find you in some rotten alley all alone? You could've gotten raped, or killed! Damn it, Carter, you're lucky I saw the text and not JT!" He bangs his fists against the steering wheel in frustration, what caused the car to let out a high pitched horn, causing me to jump in my seat.
I suddenly started giggling. Maybe at the horn, maybe at Nick's frustration, maybe at my run in with a criminal, maybe at the entire situation as a whole: I don't know. Either way, I began giggling out of nowhere—sudden outbursts of laughter—and I couldn't stop either. Nick began giving me one of those looks—like I was a crazy girl; like he'd picked up a circus clown right off the streets of the city.
"Girls are so crazy," Nick muttered to himself, as he started the car and began driving to my house.
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Make sure to check out Take Me For A Ride :)
Title: Take Me For A Ride
Author: SeargantGoober
Genre: Fan fiction, teen fiction
Summary: Karissa's life isn't easy, especially because she is the daughter of Rick Smith, who is supposedly high in the apple company. Many people are jealous of her, and soon some of these peoples jealousness turns to hate, especially for John, who is a rival of her father.
As Karissas life goes on she takes an interest in Justin. And as their awkward moments, and accidental encounters continue, her feelings for Justin start to get stronger every day to the point when she is so sure that it isn't just a silly crush, to the point when she knows it's love. All her happiness and big dreams with Justin start fading away when she finds out the darkest secret that turned her life around - completely. Justin is Johns Nephew and his only family. What Karissa doesn't know is that John kills people for a living and she is the next target. She also doesn't know that John asked Justin to kill her for him. What will Justin do? Will he try and save her? Will he kill her? Join Karissa for a ride, you know you want to.
Link: http://www.wattpad.com/story/4946870-take-me-for-a-ride
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