Melaine

Prologue

The cold wet night of November had got the people close down the shops, deserting the streets earlier and enclosing themselves behind the locked doors of their warm houses in the late hours of darkness. There was hardly a soul to be seen outside on the road except for the screeching sound of tires and their sulphuric smell that would linger in the air or the occasional bark of a dog chasing a stray cat in the back of alley. Once in a while, the laughter of drunk men or boys who happened to carry beer bottles in their hands and lean against each other's shoulders, slurring and cracking a joke now would rip the silence of night. As if they had known, the disturbance in the serenity that their howls and laughter seemed to cause; one of them would raise his finger to mouth attempting to silence the others but the alcohol fogged mind would deprive them of their sanity. Hence, the very act would lead to another roar of laughter.

 She had left the bar that was reeking of the alcohol smell; of smoke and booze in its dimness, and met with the chilly and damp air of midnight the moment she came out of the glass door. The mist and fog had settled upon the city and the crispy air that blew through her blonde hair made her shiver badly against its frost. Her bare hands rose to her neck and wrapped her red wool scarf tightly, adjusting it against the cold air that was nipping her bare skin of neck exposed to it. Her cheeks were flushed, owing both to cold and alcohol; she felt them burning, radiating heat compared to her numb legs and feet. She sniffed red blotched nose bitten by the cold and brushed the leaking tear from watery eyes because of the chilly air of the young night. She knew that she should've left earlier from the bar to be at her home before the dark, safe and sound, for it was imprinted in the back of her mind that she ought not to never take risk of being out at this late. However, once in a while, she would pretend to be normal person enjoying the night for herself and few shots of drinks by Brett, who enjoyed giving her new beverages that would burn her throat; strong drinks would leave a bittersweet taste on her tongue and make her mind clouded to sit for hours in the warm atmosphere of bar hadn't done her any damage.Those were the moments when she would allow herself to loosen up a bit, if not long, only for few hours but the morbid fear of someone looming in the shadows soon always came back to haunt her and she would leave for the four walls of her house. She took heavy breaths, releasing puffs of smoke in the air and tucked her hands inside the pockets of her light khaki coat that was open from front. She stomped the soles of her long boots on cemented sidewalk and she heard the faint sound of footsteps behind her that she noticed were constantly following her since she had left the main street. She reasoned that it could be some old man or a drunkard, probably a cop on patrol for the recent criminal activities in the lower part of town but he could've asked her to stop otherwise for her late night walk in the streets. She increased her pace trying to put a good distance and took a turn to her left hoping to lose that person behind her but the heavy soles of shoes slapped on the concrete ground, making her to walk faster panting and next moment, she knew, she was running from that person. Her dark blond hair and tail of coat flared behind her as she sprinted on her feet in desperation to get away from her stalker and looked back over her shoulder in fright seeing him approaching towards her. She ducked in an alley, shoes splashing the puddles of water and cursed herself for knocking the dumpster with her knee that bumped into it. She again looked back, seeing his silhouette in the dimmed eerie light of flickering lamp post and reached for the railing of steps climbing down and disappearing in another alley. He reached for her and she felt herself being slammed into the bricked wall of alleyway. She whimpered when hot burning mouth enclosed her chapped lips, kissing her mouth senselessly. She fisted her hands in the lapels of black jacket in attempt to push him back, but he wedged his knee between her legs holding her in place and recaptured her lip again. He pried her mouth open coiling his tongue around her tongue that sent a shiver in her spine. She whimpered in his mouth, who swallowed it smirking against her lips and pulled back panting heavily nipping at her lower lip. She tugged him down by lapels hungrily capturing his wet mouth, in a rough languid kiss and bit his lips smashing him on the opposite wall of alley. He groaned and tried to invade her mouth again with his tongue but this time, she bit his tongue making him shout. She yanked him by his collars, her chest heaving out of breath and revealed his face in the light coming from the end of alleyway.

" Rohan"