Unidentified

Chapter 5

I woke up the following morning with two bare arms wrapped around me. Memories from the night before immediately flooded back, and a chill ran through my spine. I carefully tried to wiggle from Preston's grip, but every time I tried, his grip only tightened.

"I know you're awake." I spoke monotonously.

"You're warm." He rasped, and I was surprised by the deepness of your voice.

"We have class in an hour and a half, and I need to stop at the café before I go." I said with a sigh, and pushed my messy bed hair from my face.

Preston growled and rolled over, letting me go in the process. I sighed thankfully, and grabbed a few articles of clothing before I left for the bathroom.

After I had changed and done all the morning necessities, I noticed that Preston was gone. I rolled my eyes, honestly a bit annoyed since I assumed we were going together. I slung my book bag over my shoulder, and slipped on a pair of dark brown boots. I made sure to grab my keys and phone, then I opened the door.

"Miss me?" A lazy smirk appeared on Preston's face as he leaned on the doorframe, and as much as I wanted to punch him, I found myself laughing.

"Let's go, we have a half hour." I brushed past him, making sure to lock my door. I double checked it with a wiggle of the door knob before we headed downstairs.

Preston was waiting on line for me while I waited on line for the bathroom. I had told him multiple times what to order for me if I didn't make it back by the time he was up, which I would, since I was only waiting for the person using the restroom, but I was almost positive he would screw it up anyways.

The door to the unisex bathroom suddenly opened, a large man with a scruffy dark beard appeared in front of me. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of me, and I offered a small smile and went to step past him. Instead, a meaty hand grabbed my arm and the other covered my mouth. He pulled me quickly into the small bathroom, and I began to thrash my body, and attempt to scream. I heard the click of the lock before his lips got dangerously close to my face.

"You scream, you're dead. You understand?" He said, his thick New York accent evident.

I nodded quickly, my eyes were wide with fear and a few tears streamed down my face. I looked him straight into his eyes, trying to keep my composure and trying to prepare myself for the nightmare that was about to come.

"Where the fuck is it?" He spoke close to my face, I could smell the bitter taste of his breath.

My eyebrows furrowed and I frantically shook my head. Where was what?

I could feel his grip tighten on my arm and I began to sob into his dirty hand.

"C'mon, you filthy bitch, tell me where it fucking is, and maybe you'll live." He whispered dangerously close to my lips.

I mumbled frantically into his hand. "I don-"

Suddenly a loud knock on the door made both me and my attacker jump.

"Ay, carter? You good in there? You've been in the bathroom a while now."The voice I recognzied as Preston, said with a thick chuckle.

The filthy man in front of me removed his sweaty hand from my mouth, and motioned for me to talk.

"Uh, I'm g-good." My voice broke at the end and my attacker gave me a warning look, his hand darting out to wrap around tightly my neck. "Just wait outside? Okay Preston?" I squeaked, and my chin tilted upwards and my body lifted from the ground in fear.  I tried desperately to suppress my urge to sob.

"Yeah, whatever." Preston said, and I heard heavy footsteps pad past the door.

"You're a lucky bitch, Carter." The man said once he heard him leave the door. "You better fucking have an answer for me the next time I see you. And you tell anyone about this, I'll make sure you'll never see your little friend again." The slimy man licked across his greasy lips and left the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind him.

I could feel myself breathing heavily, tears were freely falling down my face. I turned the mirror in confusion, and held onto the sink as I counted my breaths, something that had always helped me calm down. I wiped my eyes, but refused to look at myself in the mirror.  I couldn't face that what had just happened was real, and looking at my raw image seemed as though it would validate it.

I exited the bathroom slowly, my eyes wandering around the café in fear that the man would appear again. I took cautious steps to the counter, and turned to silently grab my order from the delivery counter.

Suddenly, a cool hand grabbed my arm from behind me, and I jumped. My coffee spilled out of the top of my lid, some landing on my blouse and some speckled on my jeans. I shut my eyes in fear and took a deep breath.

"Woah there, sorry, didn't mean to startle you, Carter." A deep voice spoke with a chuckle said from behind me.

I turned around, and my whole body relaxed when I saw that it was James, but then I tensed up again. I felt awkward around him, he wasn't a very welcoming person.

"Sorry, god, didn't know you were...jumpy." He trailed off at the end of his sentence, and his blazing eyes squinted as they trailed from my neck, to my own eyes.

"What happened?" His raspy voice made it seem more like a demand than a question, and I couldn't help to feel fear again as my mind took me back to just five minutes ago. I turned slightly to the side, and I could see my reflection in one of the large coffee machines in the store.

A red outline of a hand decorated my neck, the part where the man's thumb rested was already bruising from the pressure. My eyes were bloodshot, and I could feel my heart rate pick up with a lack of something to say.

"I-"

I was cut off when Preston walked in, and I quickly zipped up my jacket so that it covered most of my neck now that I was aware of what was there.

"Let's go princess, class isn't waiting for us to show up before they start." His signature smirk graced his lips, but faltered when seeing James standing with me.

"Who are you?" Preston asked snottily. Preston although tall, was an inch or two shorter than James, and his bold words made him look almost silly.

James, however, ignored his question as quickly pulled a sharpie from the cashier's counter next to us. He reached for my arm, and I flinched. I could see him hesitate, but he picked up my forearm, and wrote "(585) 068-7963 -JS" down the side of my wrist.

"Call me once your class is over." James looked down at me, and maintained eye contact for a few seconds before turning, and exiting the shop.

Preston huffed, and grabbed my hand rather roughly.

"So, you into branding or something then?"