The Red Rose - The Prequel

Chapter 12

April 13 2007

7:50 pm

Author's POV:

Jane walked out of the apartment complex onto the busy streets. On any other day, she would've chosen to call a taxi but today she felt like walking to their usual hangout place where the party was going to take place. Besides, she had time to spare before the party started. She walked through the crowded streets for a while with her Walkman plugged in. At a cross section, she walked into one of the adjacent alleys. It wasn't really a shortcut, in fact it was a little longer than the main street but it was quiet and mostly empty; that's what she wanted.

After walking for almost 30 minutes, she was standing in front of the club. She smiled at the bouncer at the entrance and was about to walk in when she felt someone grab her jacket sleeve. Theo was standing behind her, panting with his other hand on his knee.

"What are you doing outside? Lets go in," Jane said with a smile on her face.

"Wait..." He was desperately trying to catch his breath. Once he was calm enough to talk properly, he spoke again.

"Do you recall anything from last night after you got drunk?"

"Not really? Why?"

"You fucked up bad. Like really bad. You got into a fight with the Ezra Thorne. Remember?"

"Shit!" Jane exclaimed, the horror very evident on her face. "What do I do now?"

"Well you should probably run." He stated in a low voice, looking around as if to see if there was someone watching them.

"What?" Jane asked not able to catch what her friend had said.

Suddenly his eyes widened and his face turned pale.

"Bitch RUN!" Theo grabbed her hands and started running before she could look back at what he saw. He pulled her into the alley she came from. They kept running for a while trying to avoid the people running after them. Theo suddenly pulled Jane to hide behind a wall. They were trying to catch their breath while looking out for anyone who might've seen them hiding.

"Looks like they are gone," Jane said once she saw there was no one coming from where they came. She released a sigh and leaned her head back onto the wall with her eyes closed. She sat like that for a few seconds letting her adrenaline wear off. Once her heart beat was back to normal, she opened her eyes only to be met with a pair of curious green eyes which freaked her out. The man in front of her covered her mouth with his hands in order to muffle her scream.

"We don't want you to get caught, now do we?" He sang, his honeyed voice ringing bells in Jane's head.

"Who are you? And where is Theo?" Jane barked at the man kneeling in front of her when he released his hold on her mouth.

"Tough one, aren't ya?" he smirked at Jane with a playful glint in his eyes. "The name's Darcel and I have no idea who you are talking about," he moved back just a bit away from Jane, enough for her to see all his facial features.

Jane let her eyes inspect the stranger's face. He looked around thirty years old, with a handsome face and tan skin. His vitiligo patches around his eye and cheeks added to his charms. His brown long hair was tied in a messy man bun. She also noticed a bandage on his right cheek. She had never seen him around and the fact that he doesn't belong to that place was a good enough reason for her to be suspicious of his intentions with her. 'Don't trust him' the voices in her head kept warning her.