◈A D R I A N◈
"My, oh my. Look who's here," that oh-so-familiar voice echoed in the empty warehouse.
Like some cheesy, overplayed Dracula movies, the light shining from above accentuated the curves of Damon's wicked smile. Those tiny fangs that resembled a canine was revealed when the pair of lips pulled back into a grin.
My body ran cold instantly, all warmth had abandoned me at a drop of a hat as my skin rippled in chilling sweat.
They shouldn't be here!
A clang sounded behind Damon and another figure slowly approached us. Glancing past his tall frame, I recognised several familiar faces mixed with fresh ones.
Jenna no longer had long, flowing hair reaching her waist. In fact, her hair was fashioned in a crew cut with metallic piercings lining along the arch of her brows. I wouldn't be able to point her out if wasn't for her death stare.
Thomas, on the other hand, looked pretty much like his old self except for his missing buddy, Charlie. And the buff guy who was snorting a line of white powder turned out to be Nico.
"You bastard!" Jenna hissed and charged at me only to be stopped by Damon's outstretched arm. "Damon! That bastard betrayed us!" she screeched, her hand gripped tightly on his forearm.
"I'll handle it, Jenna," Damon snapped. Her lips pursed, swallowing her refute grudgingly. She knew better than to argue especially when Damon called her by her name. That's how she knew he was serious and he would not tolerate any insubordination.
My throat tightened instinctively at his tone. I might be dead before dusk arrives.
Gulping nervously, I tried to scan my surroundings for any loophole as inconspicuous as I could. Unfortunately, a shifty rabbit could never go unnoticed by a preying hawk.
"Looking for a hole to crawl into, Adrian?" Damon teased, his voice as dropped low with a hint of mockery when he spoke my name.
"N-no. Just making sure there wasn't any cops around," I spoke suggestively. Just to remind him to be cautious of his actions.
And of course, to secure my safety no matter how futile it was.
His brows arched in disbelief before he let out a hearty chortle. "You're a big boy now, huh? I see you've lived well these past two years," his voice held a tint of reminiscent of our past.
He took a step forward while I forced myself to hold my ground. However, his piercing eyes looked past through my flimsy front and saw my shivering frame.
"Are you afraid of me, Addie boy?" he asked. Jenna's lips curved into an ugly smug when she heard my pet name.
Flashes of crimson liquid flowing down the metal bat and the sickening sound of skull cracking under hard impact. The scenes zipped past through like a video put on rewind, gaining speed until it slowed down to the first time we met.
His helping hand in front of me while I stayed on the dusty ground.
"Sorry, man. I didn't dodge in time."
If only I wasn't so caught up in my own frustration, I would have seen those mischief intents hiding behind his easy smile.
"We missed you, truly. I felt bad leaving you alone." Damon said earnestly, breaking off my reverie. He gave a small smile. But like the changing face art of China, a mean look slid in place before your heart could beat the second time. "If only I had more time, I would have pulled you down with us!" he pushed me against the wall.
My breath left me in a sudden whoosh as he pinned me against the wall with his forearm. The back of my head knocked onto the wall and a black veil covered my vision momentarily. I groaned in pain and tried to shake my head to keep my mind afloat in the black murky water.
However, Damon's fingers gripped my chin and tilted my head up to look me in the eyes. His fingernails latched on my cheeks, slowly burrowing under my skin. Wincing, I clawed on his hand to pry it away from my bleeding cheeks.
"You broke my heart, Addie boy. After all the kindness I've shown you, you spit in my mouth?!" he asked incredulously while releasing my cheek to grab on my wrist. He gave a hard twist and I felt my bones shifted places.
"Argh!" I screamed in agony as he twisted my wrist mercilessly. I thrashed and kicked at him but I was no match against his strength. He easily wrapped his other hand around my neck, the pressure slowly crushing my windpipe.
"Shhh," Damon cooed. His handsome face was mottled with black spots as my vision was slowly failing me, my lungs deprived of oxygen.
"Crush him!" Jenna encouraged. Her face gleeful with perverse excitement. Soon, that cheer chorused rhythmically in the empty warehouse.
"Crush him! Crush him!" Damon's intoxicated pals joined in the cheer with Nico howling in laughter.
Gasping for air, I used my uninjured hand to claw at Damon's hand. The thin roll of skin that coiled under my nails didn't affect Damon one bit. He remained stoic and unflinching even if blood flowed freely down his elbow and dripped on the concrete floor.
I realised I couldn't fight him with strength alone. I needed to outwit him.
"Z––Zax," I gasped out, my voice came out in a hoarse pant. "He––he helped me."
Wheezing out the last bit, I forced my muscles to relax to feign submission. Let him think he had won. Let him lower his guard before I strike.
"I know. I took care of him," Damon replied nonchalantly and relaxed his grip around my neck.
Air rushed in and pumped into my lungs as I fell to the ground gasping.
What?
I was stumped, not certain if I heard correctly. Damon took care of Zax. Even a child could read between the lines. How could I not?
"I saw you with him in the alley," Damon whispered beside my ears. "You and him hugging close in the dark alley. I didn't know your taste runs wild," he mocked, squatting down to get a clear view of my misery.
Life's full of surprises, huh?
I thought I was lucky, finally free from his clutches when in truth, he had an invisible leash around my neck all along.
Damon clicked his tongue and comforted me, "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."
I felt anger welling inside of me. Angry at how he mocked and teased and provoked me like a fun toy. Like I was just a game to entertain him whenever he's bored. Like my existence had no meaning without him!
"You sick fuck!" I leaped on him, knocking him over and my fingers aimed at his eyes. Focusing my entire energy on the tip of my fingers, I scratched his left eye and reveled at his scream.
Damon covered his face reflexively and kicked at my chest, the sole of his shoe landed right on my ribs. I rolled to my side and struggled to get up to my feet.
Fuck.
I think one of my ribs is broken, I thought ruefully as I touched my chest gingerly.
Jenna panicked and quickly rushed to Damon's side, her hands fumbling over his face, "Damon, you okay?"
"Fuck off!" he roared and pushed her away with a bloody hand. Jenna yelped when she saw his now uncovered face. Strips of skin left hanging on the curve of his cheekbones while his left eyes stayed shut. Judging from the amount of blood on my hands, his eye was ruined for good.
"That's for Zax!" I shouted when I managed to get on my feet despite the numbing pain on my chest. "Rot in hell!"
Using my last reserve, I grappled out of the building heading towards the crowd. That was the only way I know I'll live this down.
"Get him, you retards!" he roared at his shocked companions as he scuffled to his feet. Hearing the urgent footsteps sounding nearer to me, I pushed harder even if my movements jostled the broken ribs.
The way to survival felt like a labyrinth as I slowly lose my consciousness. I kept getting confused of the directions and ran into numerous walls. Finally, I recognized the broken hydrant from the time I passed the alley earlier and followed the path.
"Help," I panted breathlessly as I neared the end of an alley opening up to the main street. My tiny voice could hardly be heard over the sound of heavy traffic and humans.
Sweat poured from my forehead and into my eyes, making them sting and I struggled to keep them open. I blinked rapidly to clear my vision and accidentally ran into a jacket-cladded back.
"Hey!"
A voice called out in surprise. The person turned and revealed a familiar face. Green eyes tinted with shock and worry. Warms hands hurriedly grabbed onto my shoulder to support me as I swayed on my feet.
"Adrian?"
The pain grew unbearable from the impact and the world spun around me as if I was on a merry-go-round spinning at a nauseating speed. Looking at him, I felt oddly safe and my inner voice told me it was okay to rest now.
My saving grace has come.
✈
Author's note
Hello peeps,
There's quite a bad news for you guys. Instead of weekly updates, I will be updating once every two weeks. I'm so, so sorry for the bad news.
Something happened at work lately. My company is rather short-staffed in the moment which caused an increase of workload. Therefore, sometimes I will have to work on weekends too which sucked terribly.
Anyhow, rest assured that I will most definitely finish this story. In fact, it's one of my pet peeves to leave things unfinished. On a side note, we are closing in to 8k reads! I can't thank you enough for the support.
PS: Logan's finally back! Did you miss him?
{Song: Out of the Dark by Young Lions}