The Devil's Bride (Book 1)

Chapter 12- Free Spirit

ELISE

I met him behind the strip club. He wrapped his hands around my waist as we kissed, tugging on the waist of my skirt. I ruffled his hair, the brown locks falling back against his scalp. He mumbled something under his breath as he paused from kissing my lips, before diving back in. His red lips felt sweet under mine.

He smirked as he pulled away, wiping the red lipstick from his cheeks.

"How do I pay you?" He smiles, fishing into his pocket for his wallet.

"You don't. This was my choice, I'm not working." I wipe at my mouth, stumbling out into the car park. He begins to call out for me, but I choose to ignore him. My job is tedious, but sometimes it pays well. He was just a passing fling, and when I finished work, we met up for fun. I enjoyed it, but...I don't know. Something about this past week is a plague to my soul. I can't tell you that I feel okay, because in all reality, I don't. I'm drunk, I'm tired, these bags under my eyes aren't dissipating, and being a hooker isn't exactly a treasured career, as my dictator father continuously hurls in my face. People think I'm just some trampled whore, but I haven't always wanted to be here. I wanted a life, but when your father catches you in bed with his friend from work, there are only so many options left to a girl with nothing but the clothes on her skin. All I had before then was my father, but now I have no one. Not even a single friend.

So, I was forced onto the streets and I've been here ever since, weaving myself through the bustling nights and the seas of eager men. Losing everyone makes you see the world clearly, because there isn't anyone to lean on. Nobody is there, at all, and the world spins around you, and you're afraid. I wasn't even an adult yet. I stayed with my grandparents until I was an adult myself, and then I was on my own. Earning money the only way I knew how, by selling myself. I learned the hard way how life can treat you, because now I have no one. My grandparents only let me see them once in a while, mostly on my father's request, and my mother is gone. I have no one to lean on.

Leaning on my car door, I picked a cigarette from my pocket, lighting the end. The trail of smoke left my body as the misty autumn air whisked around my body. The simplicity of the current state was enough to bring my emotions to a steady state. I don't need to cry right now. I don't need to scream at myself, the pain I'm inflicting burning inside. The atmosphere is practically perfect. Practically.

Someone interrupted me, their harsh voice waking me from the daydreaming. "Hey, I need a favour." He spoke, stretching out his feet and smiling. He stood tall, moving closer towards me.

"What do you want, Brady?" He sighed as I spoke, lifting my head to see him. His hair was messy, and he had a scar on his left arm. He didn't look too comfortable. He began to distance himself, stepping further backward and staring around, afraid of someone. Or something. He cleared his throat, rubbing his Adam's apple slightly.

"I need your help, Elise. I messed up." He murmured, stepping forward once more. He scratched his scalp, running his rough fingers through his dirty brown hair. He scratched his eye, moving further beside me. Whatever he's done, why does he think I can help him?

"What did you do? I won't help unless you tell me." I breathed, before taking another smoke of the cigarette. He sighs, stepping further towards me. His face is mere inches away from mine. He frowns, shaking his head slowly.

"Elise, I nearly killed someone. Help me." He stopped, frowning. I stared up into his eyes, the shock in his eyes. He's not lying. He did nearly kill someone. What does he think a stripper can do to help him?

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ONE WEEK EARLIER

He stopped staring towards the ground and looked up, the creases in his frown forming. "I don't know why it keeps happening...I'm not letting it. I want to be happier, I promise to that." He lifted his head, glancing over towards me. His eyes met mine as he spoke the next line. "I don't want to hurt people. I couldn't see myself as what could be happening to me." He glanced over to the leader of the group, his frown beginning to melt away with his thoughts. I can't think of what he's going through, but it must be horrible. The past two sessions he's talked about not wanting to hurt someone, not wanting to be miserable and grey. All of the sudden he thinks he'll be a killer.