His Hurricane

Chapter Two- Dark Clouds

The clouds hung low above our heads, heavy and threatening with rain as I flashed a smile and my pass at the intimidating security guard. We held our breath as he looked each of us up and down and up again. Josie flattened her wild hair and Kate thrust her chest forward so obviously I couldn't help but cringe, which didn't help the professional chin-up, shoulders back attitude I tried to desperately to portray. With a roll of his eyes and flick of his wrist he motioned us all in.

"Hurry now" he pressured as Josie took a delicate step with me past the elitist velvet rope, Kate trailed behind with a wink and her usual, flirtatious - "Thank you sir"

Surprising to us all the venue was tightly packed for such a large hotel, waiters and waitresses sliding past the four towering columns in each corner with trays of champagne trying so hard not to step on any sweeping, floor-length gowns. This was a ball after all. Though to such a fancy extent, we had not planned for. I wore my favourite blue gown, no embellishments, nothing too grand but just impressive enough to make me feel less like a sore thumb and more like I was supposed to be there. Kate and Josie, never the women for extravagance, had pushed themselves into pencil skirts and v-neck blouses with court heels to 'class things up a bit'. Josie folded her arms across her chest for a moment, flushing ruby before Kate grabbed her by the hand and threw both of them in the direction of a terrified looking waiter holding a tray of volauvents. I let a snicker escape as my two closest friends left me to take care of enough work to justify my being there.

The ball was being held in honour of a leading charity fighting for the conservation of the rainforest and I'd tasked myself with writing a column on the beauty of them, using quotes from the ball as reference. At least, that's what I had to tell my editor. I slipped through the gaps in the crowd occasionally smiling at a fellow journalist, rival magazine or not, and headed to the elaborate glass donations deposit. It twisted at least fifteen feet off of the marble floor in the image of a silver ash tree, with the charity's chairman occasionally climbing a sturdy ladder to pour in notes, checks and cash bundles generously donated by people with too much money to worry. Only an hour into the event and it was near to being half filled. Thousands, no millions, trillions of pounds for all I knew, sat only metres away from me and I had to stare in awe at the massiveness of it all, whilst the other attendants made small talk and drank expensive champagne.

~

An hour and a half later I finished the last drop of my fourth glass of Cuvée and felt happily woozy. Unlike Josie, who propped herself up on the bar I knew my limits and knew when I was tipsy enough. Kate also knew this and was as sober as when we came in, much to her dismay.

"Great. So I'm the designated sober companion again?" She complained "I'm the most fun out of all of us, surely I deserve to get pissed"

I laughed and raised a finger to my lips to quieten her, "you're supposed to be a lady tonight, remember?"
She reached over and squeezed my hand, gazing into my glassy eyes before sticking her tongue out and making the loudest noise she could muster. Josie found this hilarious. I rolled my eyes and leant my back against the bar, holding her hand still.

I swept my eyes across the room looking at all of the tight lipped women and purple faced men clinking glasses and laughing overtly. Nothing and nobody special, no-ones face caught my attention and I didn't find myself lost in anyone's eyes, however I did notice a white speck poking out from behind the furthermost column from me. What really drew me in to this seemingly insignificant blur of colour was that it wasn't a shirt or a bow tie or a dinner jacket but a hat. A kippah perhaps? Possibly a beanie, but who would have been allowed in wearing something so casual? I stared at the back of this mans head, brow furrowed and completely lost in thought as the most peculiar realisation came over me.

The tight white fabric stretched over his dark hair was definitely not a hat. It most certainly was not, as I saw him reach up and pull the thing down. I turned to tell Kate. To show her how strange this situation was, laugh about it with her, have her help me figure out what I was seeing.

It was at this point I felt her hand drop from mine and a warm sensation quickly happen across my cheek. I snapped my head round in time to see the bartender, the man supplying Josie, myself and Kate champagne and white wine all evening, with a corkscrew jammed into my best friends neck. Her blood stained his newly adorned, white balaclava and was sprayed across my face and chest. I screamed. There was nothing I could do but scream.

The halls inhabitants let out gasps of shock and stunned silences and as the first gunshot erupted from the stage I looked out across the crowd again, swept my gaze and saw him.

He made eye contact with me as the second shot rang through my head and then vanished behind the column. I fell to the floor next to Kate as blood gushed from a severed major artery and her eyes rolled back into her head. If I hadn't of been hopelessly trying to stop her from bleeding dry, maybe I would have heard the footsteps coming up behind me...