❛ i gave her my heart
but she wanted my soul. ❜
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
THE HOLLOW NOVEMBER breeze seeped through the tan trench coat that covered her body, her black heels connected against the hard pavement as she quickly prowled her way across the busy streets. Nervously biting down on her bottom lip, her brown eyes flicker to the gold watch that decorated her wrist. She sighs deeply, noticing that she only had ten minutes before she was late for her Psychology class.
As she quickly paced down the busy streets heading towards her car, she couldn't help but to chastise herself for choosing to leave her apartment at such a late hour. She would've made it there earlier before with a few minutes to spare but she was in dire need of her daily dosage of caffeine.
She stopped at her favorite cafe a few minutes away from her apartment and ordered her favorite — a medium latte with a small powdered donut. "Professor McLaughlin is going to kill me." The girl murmurs, quickening her pace as the sight of her red convertible finally comes into view.
Just as she prepares to cross the street, the sounds of low groans catches her attention causing her to pause mid-stride. Her eyes dart around, quickly scanning her surroundings.
The girl gulps down the thick lump that formed at the back of her throat before tightly clutching her purse to her chest and continuing her fast walk. Though she lived in the upper part of the city, Ronnie knew that danger could find you anytime and anywhere. She wasn't naive, she understood the dangers of walking around town by yourself especially if you're a woman.
She certainly didn't plan on getting kidnapped or slaughtered, so she ignored the guttural sounds and proceeded her fast walk. The low groans rung through the air again, followed by the sounds of a person struggling to move. Ronnie knew that it was stupid, she only had five minutes to get to her class yet here she was walking back into the creepy alley.
It sounded like someone was hurt. She couldn't simply allow herself to leave a person in pain without aiding them with her assistance. Hesitantly, she slowly saunters in the direction as she followed the sounds. She takes deep breaths trying to bring the erratic thudding of her heart to a simmer.
"H-Hello?" Her small voice asked, trembling as she inched closer. She fished into her purse quickly digging through until she found her small can of pepper spray. She kept it in a safe distance just in case someone or something tried to grab her. She didn't know what to expect and she started to run back towards her car and forget the whole thing until the sound of vicious coughs filled the air.
Ronnie, who still had a hand wrapped around the nozzle of the small can, peeked her head around the large trash can. Her eyes widened and she gasped at the horrible sight before her. There laying on the cold ground was a young man, roughly sprawled out with crimson blood pooling from his busted lip. Small cuts covered his pale face.
For a second, Ronnie almost thought the young man was slain until he twitches his leg, groaning in pain as he slowly tried to sit up. "Oh my God!" Ronnie exclaims while quickly running to his side. She drops to her knees, not minding that she was scuffing up her favorite pair of black stockings.
"Are you okay?" He groans in response, clutching his stomach and wincing in pain as he rests his back against the brick wall. He had his eyes tightly closed, his labored breaths were slow as they emanates from his parted lips.
Ronnie looked at the man with concern flickering in her pupils. He looked as if he'd been beaten horribly, not to mention it was nearly forty degrees outside and he didn't have a jacket on; only a long sleeved shirt that seemed a bit too big for his body.
She captures her bottom lip in between her teeth feeling conflicted on what to do. "Hey, um, are you okay?" She scolds herself for asking such an idiotic question. She sighs deeply before continuing. "I-I mean do you want me to call someone? Like the police or..."
"No!" The young man yelled, causing Ronnie to jump slightly. He finally opened his eyes and started at the woman that sat crouched down in front of him. He couldn't help but admire her features; she had smooth mocha toned skin that seemed to glow, a small but round buttoned nose that compliment her face and doe brown eyes that seemed to cultivate him into a trance.
Her luscious pink lips were pulled into a frown, she eyed him cautiously still clearly afraid by the harshness of his tone. He cleared his parched throat, trying to sound as gentle as possible. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell it's just—no police."
He glanced back up at the girl who seemed to ease a bit. "Okay, what about the hospital? Your lip looks busted and you're bleeding." She states, nodding to the small drops of blood that stained his shirt.
"No. No police no hospitals, alright? I'll be fine." He grunts lowly as he pushes himself off of the wall and rises to his feet. He stumbles a bit, feeling lightheaded from the beating he got. Ronnie stands back and watches, nervously biting down on her bottom lip as he struggles to walk.
He limps himself halfway out of the alley until he wearily drops to his feet. Ronnie quickly runs over to him. She crouches down and flings one of his arms over her shoulders, grunting as she pulls his heavy body upwards.
"I'm fine." He murmured, his body shivering as the wind brushed against their faces.
"You're not fine." She scoffed, "You can barely walk."
She leaned her body against his while her hands tightly gripped his, attempting to keep him upward. The young woman trudged forward as he followed her pursuit. The two of them carefully walked through the alley and out into the streets where bystanders eyed them curiously. Ronnie ignored their lingering gazes and continued the walk until she reached her car. It was a struggle at first but somehow she managed to open her car and ease him into her backseat without any troubles.
She sighed exhaustedly after finally sliding into the front seat. She glances in the review mirror to see his heavy lidded eyes struggling to stay open. Ronnie put the keys in the ignition and started the car.
♡
He groans, slowly prying his eyes open as a soft yawn escapes from his mouth. He stretches his body, eyebrows furrowing together as he looks around the unfamiliar room. He sits up, sending the warm blanket that covered his body to the floor.
"You're awake." A soft voice spoke. He jerks his head towards the door and notices the woman from earlier walking in. She carried a white mug in her hands which she gently placed down on the table in front of him. "For a second there I thought you were dead." She chuckled, causing him to narrow his eyes in her direction.
"Oh. I brought you back to my apartment." She countered after noticing the confused look written over his face. "You said no police or hospitals and I didn't want to leave you out there in the cold so I brought you back here. I'm no nurse but I cleaned you up the best that I could. Your lip is still a little swollen but it should be better in a few days."
He blinked, unsure of what to say.
"I put that shirt you had on in the washer. You are about my younger brother's size so I let you borrow one of his old ones." She states as he looks down and notices the black shirt that covered his upper body. He lifts his head and sees that she's offering him a small smile. He blushes, quickly turning away then clearing his throat before asking.
"How long was I asleep?"
"Eh, about three or four hours." She shrugged, glancing over at River who simply nodded his head. He allowed his fingers to run through his disheveled hair. He exhaled another deep sigh as he tosses the blankets aside and rises to his feet.
"Well—um thanks again for the help but I should probably get going now." He didn't particularly have anywhere to be but he didn't want to overstay his welcome especially after all the kind things she's done for him. He knew that the woman probably had much better things to do than babysit him.
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay out there? It's cold and you didn't have a jacket. You were freezing." She frowned, the look of concern suddenly filling in her eyes again.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'll be fine." She looked at him unconvinced of the answer he provided. Though she didn't know him personally, Ronnie couldn't help but to worry about his well being. It was dark outside which meant the temperatures were lower than they were earlier, she didn't want him going out there without the proper materials again.
River could see her opening her mouth to protest but he quickly interjected. "Thanks again..." He paused, realizing that he didn't know her name.
"Veronica. I go by Ronnie though." She explained, giving him another warm smile. This time instead of shying away he reciprocated the smile, displaying the set of beaming white teeth that filled his mouth.
"Ronnie." He repeated, liking the way it easily rolled off of his tongue. "I'll be fine. I promise I've dealt with a lot worse than a little cold weather."
She opened her mouth and started to ask what he meant by that but decided against it. Instead she leaned against her doorframe and watched as the young man disappeared down the lonely city streets, his hands shoved inside his pockets and shoulders slouched. She chewed down on her bottom lip, debating whether or not she'd made the right decision on letting him go back out in that harsh weather.
River's teeth chattered and his body shivered as he walked down the dark streets. He knew that it was idiotic to step foot outside in this cold weather again without any jacket to cover his arms, but he didn't want to bother the girl with any more of his problems. She'd already went through so much trouble with carrying his body up two flights of stairs and then letting him rest on his couch.
He was grateful for her kindness as he knew any other person would've probably left him there to freeze to death.
For some peculiar reason, the blond haired man couldn't get the images of Ronnie out of his mind any time he blinked all he saw was that smile of hers that made him blush furiously. She was beautiful beyond belief, there was no doubt about that and she seemed to come from a wealthy family; the neighborhood she lived in, the car she drove. She looked pretty young, most likely she was around his age.
River bit back a smile, allowing his mind to wander about the brown skinned beauty again as a heap of shivers ran down his spine. He knew he needed to get out of this weather quickly before he gets sick. The walk back to his run down apartment was quite short. He entered into the rugged neighborhood, greeting a few of his fellow neighbors before making his way to the back of the buildings.
His shivering hands managed to stick the key into the hole and his pushed the door open, being hit with a wave of warm heat and the sight of his cat that purred at his feet, rubbing its thick fur and body against his pants leg. "Hey buddy, missed me?" He smiled, while he ran a hand through Blue's thick white fur
River chuckled as the cat purred in response.
MAIN CASTING;
i. TATYANA M. ALI
AS
VERONICA 'RONNIE' DREW
ii. RIVER JUDE PHOENIX
AS
HIMSELF