Ruby Red

Prologue

I tilt my head back and down my 3rd tequila shot. My friends drink their own and I can hear their hysterical laughter over the loud club music. I'm not a heavy drinker, so I can already feel myself getting lightheaded. Since the majority of my friends planned to come here tonight, I gave into the group pressure. Don't wanna be the loser of the group, you know.

"Another! Another!" Aria cheers. Even with all the flashy lights, I can tell her cheeks are getting blushy. She's a happy tipsy girl. I shake my head at her and cross my arms in an 'X' shape. I mouth the words "no more" at her. She pouts at me.

"Come onnnnnn, don't be a party pooper!" She whines. I swear she turns into a little kid when she's had a few drinks. To save myself from secondhand embarrassment, I turn back to the bar. I order two more shots at the counter and when the barman puts them down, Aria's already gone, talking to some random guy. She's always like this. The guy takes her to the middle of the dance floor and here I am, stranded at the bar with two tequila shots.

"Are you gonna drink that?" It's almost as if my thoughts were heard. A broad, tall guy steps in front of me and leans on the counter with his arm. I don't want to drink two shots by myself, so I decide to do my fair share of charity for the night. "All yours." I say, loud enough for him to hear me. The stranger nods his head at me and grabs the little glass. When I grab mine, he clinks the glasses together. "To a beautiful lady." He says.

I resist the urge to cringe in front of him. A forced smile appears on my lips but I'm sure he doesn't see it, because he's already tilting his head back. I drink mine, and when I put the glass down the world around me spins a little. It's so spinny that I don't see the guy step forward and slide his hand down to my ass. He gives it a squeeze and leans in to kiss me. I use all my strength to push him away.

"What the hell." I say, wobbling on my own feet. He laughs and winks at me, then he disappears into the crowd. I feel disgusted. I need a breather. The club suddenly doesn't feel like a happy place anymore. I feel imprisoned between all these sweaty bodies. I push myself through the crowd, finding the nearest exit. When I find it, I push open the heavy metal door and walk out.

The cold air hits my face and it's only until I stand right underneath it that I realize it's raining. Not little raindrops either, no, it's raining hard. The door slams shut behind me and I whine quietly. Great. Here I am, outside the club, in a creepy alley, without my jacket.

I lean against the wall, where the raindrops aren't as hard. I close my eyes. My head won't stop spinning, and all long for at the moment is a warm soft bed with lots of pillows. My alone time comes to an abrupt end when I hear the metal door close again. The person walks towards me. It's the guy who drank Aria's shot. He must have followed me.

"Whatcha doing in the rain beautiful?" he asks, standing in front of me. I slowly try to move away, but he puts his hand against the wall, blocking my way. "You know, this made me realize something. Rain does have a purpose in situations like this..." He puts his hand on my waist and slides it up and down my side. "...You're already wet." I try to push him away but he presses his lips onto mine roughly. His hands slide up to my boobs and he squeezes them. My attempts at pushing him away are no use. The guy is twice my size. I try to scream for help, but he covers my mouth with his big hand.

Doubting anybody's outside, I helplessly try again. I open my mouth to scream, but when I feel one of his fingers against my lips I think of something even better. Maybe this will do the trick. I push my teeth into his skin, biting down on it as hard as I can. He lets out a loud yell and pulls his hand away. I try to push him away again, but he pushes me back twice as hard.

My back hits the wall and I let out a cry. He steps forward again. This is it. I'm helpless. Teardrops blend with the raindrops on my cheeks. I sob as I continueously try my best to break free from his grip. Nothing works. He presses his lips onto my jaw, and they slowly trail down to my neck. It feels disgusting. He groans against my skin and slides his hand up my shirt, until something behind him stops him.

I can't see clearly, but what I do know for sure is that there's another person standing behind him. He turns around to see who's interrupting him, and he freezes on the spot. His grip around me loosens and before I know it, he's slowly dropping to the floor. I don't know if I'm too tipsy to process what just happened, but I'm pretty sure there was no violence whatsoever, and he still collapsed. I notice a red glow coming from the other person's face, but I'm probably hallucinating.

The adrenaline has sobered me up just a little. I blink a few times to see clearly. A guy with dark blonde soaking wet hair, strong facial features and a black coat faces me. The red glow wasn't a hallucination. His irises are red. He has red eyes. Except they're not glowing anymore. He's looking at the guy on the floor. I'm too shocked to say anything. Is he dead? What just happened?

To my own surprise, I somehow manage to let out a quiet "thank you." The guy doesn't respond, and keeps looking at the body. He slowly backs off without saying a word. I watch him disappear to the mainroad. The rain stops. I shiver and step away from the body too.

To be honest, I still don't know if I'm hallucinating or not.