Chapter 3–The First Meeting
3 –The First Meeting
Five Years Earlier (15th June 2013)
"Woah," I whispered as soon as we entered Diandro's. The atmosphere was exactly as I had imagined - colorful flashing lights, people grinding against each other on the dance floor, the ambience reeking of smoke and alcohol. Nothing was entirely unique, but to me, it was like a whole new world. It was something I had never experienced before.
"Let's hit the bar first, I gotta loosen up a bit to dance freely," Baxter said, and we all nodded.
We made our way to one of the booths near the bar, all of us sitting down except Kaden.
"What do you guys want?" Kaden questioned with a stoic look - the resting Kaden face.
"The bartender," Baxter replied, his eyes stuck on the gorgeous, petite blonde. Klara narrowed her eyes at him, slapping his arm, and I chuckled.
"I'm kidding," Baxter laughed, "but I'll get my drink myself. I'm gonna be drinking a lot tonight," he said excitedly, rubbing his hands together as he stood up. Kaden rolled his eyes at him, his attention shifting to me.
"You?"
"I'll have a coke, or soda. Anything non-alcoholic." I shrugged. "I'll kill you if my drink is spiked."
"Not planning on doing it." Kaden gave me a sarcastic smile.
"Wait, you've never tried alcohol, have you?" Klara asked, placing her hand on my thigh.
"Nope," I shook my head.
"Maybe you should try today," she said, her eyes dancing with excitement.
"No, thanks. I'm not even sixteen yet," I replied.
"You will be in half an hour," Klara rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a party pooper. You should try it."
"No, Klara," I refused. "This is where I draw the line. I don't drink because I don't want to, not because my parents stop me from it. I'm not going to try it."
"Whatever, you're a loser," Klara spat, her tone a tad too harsh. I decided to ignore her comment, when she told Kaden her drink. A coke.
"Excuse me? Who's the loser now?" I crossed my arms.
"Dude, I've tried it a million times," Klara replied.
"Why not today?"
"I'm... I'm your ride home. I'll be driving tonight. I'm not drinking so you guys can enjoy!" Klara exclaimed dramatically, and I could tell instantly that she was lying. Coming to think of it, she had never really taken a single sip of any alcoholic drink in my presence. But I decided to wave it off.
"Just get our drinks please," I murmured, and a ghost of a smile appeared anKaden's face. He and Baxter left for the bar without another word, and until Kaden returned with our drinks, Klara and I sat in an uncomfortable silence.
"Here," Kaden said as he handed our drinks to us, sitting down some distance away from Klara. I sniffed my drink and took a tiny sip of it to ensure that nothing was mixed in it.
"Seriously?"Kaden noticed my action and raised an eyebrow at me. "Why would I spike your drink, Aliza?" He rolled his eyes.
"You wouldn't," I smiled, not offering him a satisfactory reply to his question. Doing so brought me satisfaction and bliss - I like pissing Kaden off. It was like a guilty pleasure to me. I was probably a brat.
"Nice," Kaden rolled his eyes, gulping down his own drink. I was quick to finish mine too, desperately wanting to go to the dance floor. It was something I had anticipated to do my entire life - dancing like there's no tomorrow.
"Can we go dance? Where's Bax?" I asked, looking around.
"Drinking the bartender," Kaden replied, his serious face making his comment funnier, and a stifled a laugh.
"Let me help him to do it," Klarasaid, her face almost red in anger. She placed her drink down on the table rather harshly, before stomping off in the bar's direction.
"Can we dance?" I asked Kaden.
"No, I spiked your drink. What if I do something to you?" Kaden's tone was dripping with sarcasm.
"Please?" I pouted. "It's my birthday."
"There's still ten minutes left in your birthday."
"Puh-leez?" I begged.
"Fine."
We both stood up and walked to the dance floor, and I closed my eyes, losing myself to the music. When I opened my eyes a minute later, Kaden had disappeared into the crowd, and I was alone. Well, as alone as a girl would be surrounded by a bunch of hormonal, dancing drunks. A part of me felt afraid when I couldn't see Kaden around anywhere, but I didn't want to ruin my first ever night club experience by behaving like a scared kitten. And so, I closed my eyes shut, losing myself to the music once again, swaying my ass, my hands in the air. Every once in a while I would open my eyes, and when I did so for the third time, my eyes met with a pair of dark ones.
Far away, in the slightly darker corners of the place, was a brooding stranger, staring right at me. While I couldn't deny how incredibly breathtaking he looked in a black leather jacket and ripped jeans, with clouds of smoke being exhaled from his nose and mouth every once in a while, his attention on me sent a shiver down my spine. His scrutinizing gaze made me conscious of myself and my body, the curves of which were clearly evident in the short, tight dress I was wearing. He's probably just a pervert eye raping a girl in a short red dress, I thought to myself, turning around so I wouldn't see him. Once again, I began swaying, dancing with more energy as the song changed.
I tried hard to enjoy the moment, but the feeling of eyes boring into my back didn't help, and I kept glancing behind me to see if the guy was still staring at me. And he was. Not once did I find him looking in some other direction. After a while it became too uncomfortable for me to dance knowing that someone was observing my every move, and thus I decided to simple leave the dance floor. Plus I wasn't even sure if I was exactly the person he was staring at, maybe he was staring at something behind me, and the only way to find out was to move away from my spot. I got off the dance floor and walked to the booth that we had been occupying to find it empty. I looked around, my eyes scanning the place for Baxter, Klara or Kaden, but none of them could be seen. Who I did find, was that stranger, now sitting at the bar, still staring right at me.
Now that light was shining onto his face, even though it was colorful, I could make out his features better. He had dark, messy hair, a lot like Damon Salvatore's when he was first introduced in The Vampire Diaries, but his eyes were nothing like his. The guy's eyes were dark, not a tinge of brightness to them - at least from where I saw. He was, good looking though, with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones, and the small smirk that was beginning to stretch across his face gave him a more mischievous look. Oh fuck.
My eyes widened slightly and I instantly turned around; I had been staring at him for too long, and of course he had noticed as he was doing the same to me. But his smirk was definitely uncalled for, it made me want to dig a grave, crawl inside it and die. I was mortified. Never before had I been caught staring at someone like that.
"Hey, you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." A guy I didn't know walked up to me, frowning.
"I'm fine," I replied, smiling.
"So what's your name, gorgeous?" He asked, smiling. He was much taller than I was, and his large figure was towering over mine, intimidating me.
"Not your business," I replied in a polite tone, stepping back, and away from him.
"Oh come on, honey, you could tell me your name," he insisted, stepping closer.
"I said, it's not your business."
"Come on, gorgeous," the guy replied, his flirty tone not faltering for once. I kept backing away from him, and he kept moving towards me, a smirk now stretched across his lips. It wasn't like he was bad looking, or anything, I just didn't feel like talking to anyone as I hadn't come there to get hit on. I had just wanted to spend my birthday with my friends, not make new ones. Before I had the chance to respond, my back hit against someone and I gasped and turned around, ready to apologize. But my words got stuck in my throat when I saw who I had bumped into - Mr. Dark Eyes.
"It's okay," he whispered, giving me a sarcastic smile, but for some unknown reason, I couldn't reply. Now that he was standing right in front of me, the first thing clouding my senses was his cologne - its woody, spicy scent so dominant in the air despite the place reeking of smoke. The next thing that took me by surprise was how tall he was, I could tell that he was at least an entire foot taller than me, and the fact wasn't very comforting. And the last thing that had me shaken up was the vibe he gave off. Something was extremely off about him, it was as if he had a whole dangerous kind of aura going around him, and it sent chills down my spine.
"Hello, Love. Are you lost in my eyes? Don't ask me for a map, the line won't work," the guy whispered, leaning in slightly, his husky voice making my heart pace.
"In your dreams," I replied, my voice coming out slightly shakey.
"Oh, love, you really don't wanna know my dreams. They'd be nightmares to a girl like you," he replied, winking.
"Gorgeous? You don't talk to me but you talk to him? That's unfair," the guy who had been desperately trying to know my name said, and I turned around to find him standing there with his arms crossed.
"So? Just back off, dude," Mr. Dark Eyes replied, stepping forward to stand beside me.
"Oh? And you're what? Her dad?" the other guy mocked.
"No. She's my girl," Mr. Dark Eyes replied, placing a hand on my waist.
Present (2018)
"Hello?" Shadrach said, snapping his fingers in front of my face, breaking me out of my thoughts and snapping me back to reality. Where I had been kidnapped by him and was sitting in the passenger seat of his jeep in my wedding dress. I startled a bit, looking at him with my mouth agape.
"What are you thinking?" Shadrach asked, his eyes back on the road. I could remain silent, but I knew it would only piss him off, and although he was trying to act calm so he wouldn't scare me too much, I could see the rage and the destruction he wanted to cause just by looking into his eyes.
"Nothing," I replied softly, looking down at my lap.
"Aliza. What are you thinking about?" Shadrach repeated his question, his tone more serious now rather than casual.
"No-nothing in particular," I replied, trying my very best to make my voice sound steady. Shadrach's gaze shifted to me on hearing my reply, and I could feel him scrutinizing my posture. He knew me, he knew my tell for lying. And I was doing it. I was fidgeting with my hands. A low, humorless chuckle escaped Shadrach's lips, before the jeep was swiftly turned to the left, and halted at the side of the road. I gasped at the change in direction, holding my seat when the jeep came to a stop, jerking me forward despite the seat belt. With wide eyes, I dared to look at him, but the look in his eyes made my spine tremble.