KAIA'S P.O.V.

Every night, I was responsible with closing up at my job. It takes an hour to close the entire place down. They didn't have a dish washing machine, so I helped out over in the kitchen area and did a big sweep all around the bar. Tonight, Winston left earlier than I did and helped a tipsy girl find a cab. Jamila was going to let Dario drive her home, but I called my older brother, Lawrence, so he could pick her up, insisting that it was a better idea. Reluctantly, she went into my brother's car. But not without making out with Dario first.

It was just me and another guy named Fazel shutting down the place. Fazel was a quiet one, so there wasn't much talking between the both of us. The most we said was "did you check this" or "did you check that." Beyond that, there was nothing else we talked about.

With it only being us two, it took twice as long to do all of the duties alone.

By 3:54am I was out in the parking lot, walking toward my car. It was a used Toyota I had gotten when we first arrived here months ago. Despite its chipped paint and lack of a radio, it was a good enough car to get the job done. Get me from point A to point B.

I pulled out my keys from my purse and opened the door. After getting in, I noticed a white sheet of paper sticking out on one of my windshield wipers. Confused on what it might be, I stepped out of the car briefly to retrieve the paper. It was slightly crumbled at the top, so I folded it over my thigh and flipped it over to read what was printed on it.

My eyes skimmed over the words, but I was interrupted in the middle of reading.

I heard a voice.

"Why didn't you share a drink with me, sweetie?" He asked from inside of my car. My eyes snapped up at the rear-view mirror and saw a man sitting in the backseat. The same man who had tried to buy me a drink was seated in my car. Beside him, there was a roll of duct tape and a yard of rope.

"Oh, don't worry about those." He chuckled. "I'll only use them if you struggle. Or scream. They said you'd scream."

My hands shook as they reached for the door handle. I flew the door open and sprinted back to the bar, hoping that Fazel was still there. Coming to a complete stop in front of the glass doors, I banged my palms against it.

Fazel's head bobbed up from behind the bar area. He juggled his keys, from side to side, taking his time as he got to the front door. I yelled even louder, but it was no use.

"Please hurry up!"

He said something, but it was inaudible through the thick glass. Sneaking a look over my shoulder, I made sure the creep from the bar wasn't closing in on me yet. He was a good distance away. Thankfully, I had parked in the furthest parking space.

I darted a glance back at Fazel, but he was nowhere in sight. Banging on the glass even harder, I wondered if this was going to be my last moments on earth. Screaming until my lungs hurt and begging for my co-worker to open the damn door. It wasn't a peacefully way to go.

Fazel reappeared and brought the key up toward the door. He froze, hesitating to put the key inside. He was looking at something over my head, then his eye glossed over and slammed shut. A thud rang loudly inside as his body slammed into the glass.

Blood stained the front of his shirt, causing a long trail of crimson to smear against the glass. His body fell with a thud, leaving a dark figure behind him.

With one swift move, he unlocked the door Fazel was struggling with and opened it. Was it the same guy or did he have a partner?

I didn't wait to find out.

Stumbling backwards, I stuffed my hand into my purse to see if I had anything that I could use to inflict pain. Disbelief washed over my face when my hand came in contact with the slick corner of my cell phone. I rummaged through it once more, but it was just a pile of junk packed inside.

Warm hands clamped down on my shoulders, holding me in place. "You don't need to be scared, sweetie. We aren't going to hurt you...yet."

Twirling around, I swung my bag against the man's cheek. I didn't have a pocket knife or a gun, but I did have a heavy purse. He lost his footing after the blow to his face, causing his derrière to slam on the cold concrete.

The man from inside crept into the parking lot, heaving loudly like a sick animal. His hands were holding a butcher's knife, drenched in Fazel's blood. He slashed at the air in front of him, but with no successes. Rising up my foot, I sailed a kick to his wrist, making the knife go flying to the other end of the parking lot.

"Let's try and play fairly, alright boys?"

Neither of them were amused by my light tone, growling at me with their blackened canines baring.

A part of me that hadn't been accessed in years was awakened, recharged with energy and purpose. Almost as an instinct, I nailed my feet firmly on the cement, waiting for them to do something.

I fled California to avoid confrontations like this. People died when they got too close to us. As hard as I had tried, trouble always found its way to catch up with the three of us. I didn't need to ask them to know who had sent them. It was obvious who it was.

The two men circled around me, moving in closer with each second. "We don't want to make this too hard on you. Give up before anyone gets hurt."

Pretending to ponder on that thought, I eventually shook my head and raised my fists up. "Nah, I like a challenge."

"It's your funeral." He shrugged and pulled out a thick metal chain, letting it the floor. In that exact moment, three other men appeared from behind the building, each holding a different kind of weapon. Two of them had a baseball bats and the other had brass knuckles.

"Aw, c'mon. I said play fair," I groaned.

"Lose the weapons." The obvious leader shouted and the men dropped their gear.

"I was talking more so on the fact that five against one isn't fair, but okay." I stated and began to think about my options. Running didn't seem like a good idea. Some of them were stocky, but I had a feeling that I couldn't go far. Before I could think of a second option, the man who was in my car earlier leaped at me.

He wasted no time to strike, pouncing at me with all of his might. I ducked and weaved past him, fists sailing in the air. He swung at my face, missing it by a millimeter.

"Aw, you're not even half as good as the other guys they sent before you." I mocked, diving lower to miss another blow to the back of my head. He lunged at me. I sidestepped, leaving a wide space for him to run into.

"That's it." He roared and reached for his chain again.

The heavy metal clanked as he banged it against the cement, only helping to add more of an uneasy feeling inside of my body. Whipping it into the air, the chain slash at my face, connected to my temple in one violent slap of metal.

Clank, went the chain.

I tapped my thumb to my eyebrow, discovering scarlet smearing my skin. "You win," I cried out. I crumbled onto the curb and watched the shadows dance, moving in on me like vultures. When they got close enough, I swept my foot underneath at least two of the men. In a huff, they tumbled back, hitting the floor.

Sadly, I wasn't that fast. One of the men who hadn't tripped stormed at me and pinned me to the ground. My head ached as it made contact with the concrete. I wasn't expecting the impact.

Correction. I wasn't expecting what happened next.

Three cars zoomed into the vacant parking lot. They were luxury cars, lining up side by side. This, however, didn't cause my attackers to stop. If anything, they hurried up. One of them brought out some duct tape and covered my mouth with it. I was completely immobilized with someone sitting on me, holding down my ankles and wrists.

"Get her in the car," one of them ordered and they rushed me up on to my feet. "And don't forget to tie her hands and feet up. We don't need her to get away like last time."

The people inside of the car emerged. From afar, I recognized Warner Blaine, but I couldn't tell who he was with. In the blink of an eye, one of them appeared before us. It was as if he moved at the speed of light. "We're here for the girl."

His eyes flickered a shade of red underneath the street lights. Almost like a fire was sheltered inside of his irises. I had never seen anything like that before.

"Tough luck, kid." One of them snarled. "She's ours."

If my mouth was tapped shut, I'd say some kind of comeback, refusing to go with either of them. My words came out muffled and muttered. They disregarded it as background noise.

A man from behind me put a bag over my head and pushed me forward, causing me to enter a world of darkness. We started walking, but we came to a halt once more. A bright orange light shimmered before me, but I couldn't see what it exactly was with bag over my head. A heat that wasn't there before overwhelmed me. It got inexplicably hot.

The grip around my arms loosened. It was just enough for me to move away from them. The first thing I did was take the bag off of my head. I instantly regretted it.

Burnt bodies laid limp and unresponsive all around me. Their skin was charred and blackened. The stench of burnt flesh littered the air. I refrained from gagging at the horrendous sight.

My nameless savior took off his jacket and placed it on to my shoulders. I slowly peeled off the tap and thanked him for coming in time. He shrugged it off and introduced himself as Shadow Blaine. Without much convincing, he walked me back to the cars in the parking lot and offered to drive me home.

Dario Blaine walked to where the bodies were. He was on the phone, talking quickly on the phone to someone, speaking too fast for me to catch what he was saying. One thing I could hear was "clean-up job."

I grabbed his arm and remembered something. "I need you to call 911."

"Why? Are you hurt?"

Four set of eyes fell on me, and without much effort, I felt my heart crash into my abdomen. Were they always this beautiful? I couldn't recall if I'd seen them this close before, or if I ever got the chance to be face to face like this. Shadow's hair fell over his eyes as he asked me again, more urgently this time, if I was in any pain.

"No, I'm not hurt but a co-worker of mine is and he needs help as soon as possible."

Shadow brought out his phone and did as I asked, calling for an ambulance at the bar on 18th street. After the call, he ushered me toward one of the cars. He held the keys to a sleek Rolls Royce, dusted in paint that shimmered under the street lights as though it was dotted in crushed diamonds.

"You don't have to drive me home. I can drive myself." I said and held out my keys with trembling hands. "I'll be fine."

"You're shaking all over. I don't think it's safe for you to drive." Shadow grabbed on to them and took them from me. "How about I propose this? I'll drive you home in your car."

"How are you going to get home?"

"I'll walk."

I knew my house from the Blaine Mansion had to be at least ten miles. I shook my head. "No, that's a long walk."

His lips quirked into a smile. "I'm a fast walker."

I saw nothing bad about the offer.

He did just save my life.

Reluctantly, I agreed and we got to my car.

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