The Bad Boy and the Other Bad Boy

Chapter 30

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Jax had stood up, and was slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder, slapping his mates' shoulders. Was he getting out here? I squinted out into the dark, rain splattering against the bus windows. 

Along the street was a squat concrete building, sprayed with vivid graffitti. Weak orange light showed through dirty windows - otherwise, the building looked abandoned.

 Ah. It was a Cobra den. 

I sat stock still for about a minute, then jumped up and grabbed my duffel bag too. 

"Ay! Where you going?" Rio asked, waking up from his nap. He peered out the window. "Nah, what are you playin' at? This is a den!"

I shrugged. "My mum is picking me up around the corner. Obviously she didn't know. It's all good, it's dark."

Rio frowned, unsure. "Well - you be safe man, alright?"

"Yeah man, thanks." 

He fist-bumped me, leant his head back against the window, and closed his eyes. 

Jax's back was just disappearing into the dark when I ran out after him. Rain immediately sprayed into my face, and I swiped a hand across my eyes. 

I sprinted to catch up with him, and when I did, jostled him with my shoulder.

He spun around to look at me in the dark, blond hair wet with rain, blinking furiously. He grabbed my arm hard. 

"What the fuck, man! Where the fuck do you think you're going!" He yelled over the wind. 

"Wherever you're going!" I yelled back. 

His grip on my arm tightened briefly, and then he let go. "Jesus," He muttered, wiping a hand across his rain-splattered face. "You know you can't fucking be here, right? They'll fucking see you."

I grinned at him. "Do I look like I care?"

He stared hard at me for a moment, then grabbed the front of my jacket, pulled me in, and shoved our mouths together. His lips were hot against the rain. 

"Alright, c'mon, you fucker!" He yelled, tearing his mouth away. "I know where we can go!" 

He began to run, and I followed. He turned down a shadowy alleyway beside the graffitied building. There was a fire escape ladder down the side. He crouched slightly, then leapt up and grabbed the rungs and pulled himself up. 

"C'mon!" I heard him yell. 

I jumped too and grabbed the rung below his feet. It was rusted, and flaking in the rain. With a heave, I pulled myself to follow him. The ladder reached the foot of a metal staircase. Jax had already reached the top and was shoving at a heavy iron door. I followed him quickly, wiping my hands on my jacket. 

I moved beside him in front of the door. "On three!" I yelled to him. "One, two, three!"

We both drove our shoulders into the door. With a groan, it swung open slightly, just wide enough for two fit football players to squeeze in sideways, which we did. 

Inside was a huge dark empty room. Yellow streetlight stretched in slanted rectangles across the floor from the large windows along the outside wall. Against one wall was a fireplace, and across from that was an old tattered couch. There was also a waterbed on the floor in the corner, and a locked door on the opposite wall. Tattered grey curtains framed the windows. 

We were both breathing hard into the silence. Jax let his duffel bag slip off his shoulder, and I followed suit. 

"What is this place?" I whispered.