Ruby Dust

three - ombre

    The gunshots echoed in the near distance. The desperate screams of innocent people invaded the acoustic of the night and their feet against the gravely street bounced off the walls around them. The three young adults hurried to get to a black car parked at the end of the road. A cold sweat ran down Brooke’s neck when she saw a human figure at the far end of the street they were in. She grabbed Junghyun by the shoulder for him to stop and Jin stopped right behind them.

    “We need to find another way,” said Brooke shakingly as gunshots could still be heard in the distance.

    “Are you insane? This is the fastest way to the car and the fastest way to safety. Please move out of the way if you want to risk your life.” said Jin in an angry whisper as his tall figure made its way between the other two people with him. 

    Right before he could take another step, Junghyun grabbed Jin by his wrist and put a finger on his mouth, telling him to be quiet. Jin followed the orders from his leader and did not take a step further. He threw a pissed glance at Brooke and then made eye contact once again with Junghyun.

    The silver-haired man’s finger pointed north towards the abyss of darkness slightly illuminated by flickering light posts. At the very end of the street, right under a source of light, there was, in fact, a person. Simply standing in an idle position as if they were a statue. Because of the distance and lack of light, distinguishing the person’s features was impossible. One thing, however, was pretty visible from where the three stood: a small object reflecting the light. The two boys already knew what was coming, but helpless Brooke could not stop the worry and the tears from streaming down her eyes. She looked back at her supposed date for the night and mother the words “Please, save me.” With that, Junghyun nodded at the anxious female and tapped his friend’s shoulder. Both males exchanged odd hand gestures with each other and in the blink of an eye, the three were sprinting down the perpendicular road to the one they were just standing at. 

    There was no time for questioning or stopping; all that mattered was them not getting killed that night. They ran and ran, turning into every possible alley or corner they could find. As time progressed, the three pairs of footsteps suddenly became six. Ignoring everything her track coach had told her in high school about not looking back when in a race, she took a quick glance back and got a glimpse of three men with masks a few meters behind them. Some sort of switch turned on in Brooke’s brain and her legs moved faster than ever before. The blood in her veins was boiling hot and she was determined that death would not be her case, at least not that day.

    “Follow me!” she said to the boys as her small figure got in front of them and she led the way. The adrenaline and fear were so tense at the moment that asking for clarifications would only lead to their heads being chopped off.

    As if a satellite map of the city was engraved in her head, Brooke turned with ease in every corner trying her absolute best to lose the chasers. She ordered the boys to hurry up their pace and she made sure to place and drop every single obstacle possible to slow down the three men with masks.  The six pairs of footsteps had become three once again meaning that they had succeeded. Muffled voices could be heard not far away so the three runners had to catch their breath in silence. Their stamina was getting lower  by the second. A plan needed to be elaborated fast.

    “Let’s climb those stairs,” suggested Junghyun pointing at the flight of metallic and rusty stairs hooked to a red building. 

    “Yeah, then we could get an overview of the area and find the car,” added Jin fanning his sweaty face with his hands. “I’ll call Gi and Joon when we get up there.”

    “Good thinking. Tell the whole group to be at RDHQ in 15 minutes,” answered Junghyun cleaning up the sweat with his leather sleeves. “Let’s get climbing before they find us.”

    All of them went up the stairs in their tippy toes. Making the least noise possible to not give away their location. As they went up the multiple floors, Brooke broke the ongoing silence: 

    “Would anyone bother to tell me what the actual f**k is going on? You two are completely ignoring the fact that I just met the two of you not even two hours ago. I need answers now” demanded the black-haired girl, making an exaggerated emphasis on the word “now” to prove her concern.

    “Listen, princess, I will answer all of your questions but as you can see, it is not the right time for a coffee break and some chit-chat,” answered Junghyun focusing on the light steps he had to take.

    “Do you seriously call her “princess”? Jeez, and I had the audacity to think that you were less pathetic than this.” said Jin mockingly causing Brooke to slightly giggle and Junghyun to get upset.

    “Excuse me but I am certainly not-” a sensation of heat and sharpness took over his left shoulder before he could finish his sentence.

    “Jung!” exclaimed Jin as surprised as the victim himself.

    “I got shot! Let’s move!” yelled Junghyun and climbed up the remainder of steps like an animal, followed by his two other colleagues. 

    Just when they thought they were out of reach, another gunshot was shot, thankfully missing the three of them by far. All of them scanned their surroundings like radars and noticed the three masked men from earlier around the corners of the building with guns in hands. Unless they were willing to jump five stories to the rock-hard ground, there was no way of escaping. Or so they thought before Jin whistled and signaled for the other two to follow with his head. Unintentionally imitating the scenes of a Hollywood action movie, they jumped into the roof of the building that was the closest and resumed their running spree. An alarming amount of shots were being fired and police sirens could be heard from a distance. Even if they were not necessarily the bad guys, having the police chasing and questioning them would not be something they would benefit from. They jumped from building to building not losing sight of the black car that they have been desperately trying to reach this whole time.

    “Now! Jump left!” commanded Brooke as she saw a golden opportunity to finally get rid of the madness. 

    The three jumped into a small shop with a sturdy awning minimizing the potential damage to their lower limbs. At last, they were finally on the floor centimeters away from their safe metal box. One last gunshot was fired behind Jin’s head before all of them got into the car and sped away from the scene and the police sirens. With Junghyun laying down on the backseat, Jin gasping for air as he tried his best to focus on the road ahead of them, and Brooke slouched into a fetal position on the co-pilot’s seat. 

    “Brooklyn,” said Jin. “Verify the position in your mirror.”

    Without a second thought, Brooke obeyed and looked through the tinted window into the reflective piece of glass attached to the car. Nothing but an empty road in sight. 

    “E-everything looks fine,” said Brooke. “Wait a minute… I think I can see something!” That very second, a bullet shattered the small mirror. She screamed out of shock as the small pieces of glass with her reflection on them fell to the floor in slow motion. Her reality slowed down in a frenzy and her breathing became more intense. Sweat dripped down her forehead as her neck turned left to look at the driver. His gaze looked attentively at the road ahead of them and his eyebrows were raised in despair. His teeth pressed hard against each other and his fists clenched the steering wheel as if his life depended on that circular object. 

    Some time that felt like an eternity passed by and the black car came to a stop. The window from Jin’s side of the vehicle revealed a normal-looking house in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.  At first glance, it looked completely normal; however, once the eyes focused properly on the entrance, an open door with cracks all over its surface was visible. In fact, the entire front porch of the house seemed like it was falling apart. 

    “What the hell did I get myself into?” thought Brooke as her wounded date touched her shoulder.

    “I will explain everything, I promise.” 

    “Has anyone told you that you make too many promises?” asked Brooke with a skeptical look in her dark eyes. “How many of those do you actually keep?”

    “All of them, I promise,” answered Junghyun winking at the female in front of him while exposing his admirably white teeth with a dazzling grin.

    The three passengers got out of the car and both boys inspected the porch. They looked utterly confused while looking closely at the mess. 

    “So is this place abandoned?” Are we breaking in? Where the hell are we?” asked Brooke while sliding her hand across the wooden railing of the porch. 

    “Can you shut up? It’s not your place to ask such questions!” growled Jin at Brooke with fire consuming his eyes.

    “It is my place to ask because the two of you just dragged me from that casino to have three maniacs chase us! I almost got shot for god’s sake! I deserve answers.” urged Brooke.

    “I swear on my mother I’m gonna-” mumbled Jin as he stood up aggressively from his crouched position towering over the short female within seconds.

    “Jin! Stay back,” commanded Junghyun putting a hand over his friend’s muscular chest. “It was my choice to bring her along so she deserves answers.”

    Jin’s menacing eyes cut through Brooke’s skin making her take a small step back from the huge man that was infuriated by her. Better safe than sorry.

    “Let’s go inside. The others will arrive at any moment.”

    The cracking of the wooden floors plus the deadlights gave the empty house a spooky feeling. The horrible smell that filled the space didn’t help the unpleasant sensation either. Both boys quietly went through different areas of the house and advised Brooke to sit on a wooden chair in the middle of the living room. According to them, the smallest mistake could lead to absolute tragedy.

    The female sat with her arms crossed like a grounded child on the chair and faced the floor. A plethora of bitter thoughts circled around her brain until one of those hit the right place.

    “Who are they to tell me what to do?” thought Brooke to herself as she stood up ever so slightly from the chair. She made sure neither of the boys were close by and began to inspect the living area by herself. The putrid smell was for sure coming from the first floor so she made it her job to find the source.

    A sniff here, a sniff there, some regrets here some regrets there. Her nostrils were practically in tears as the hideous smell just got stronger. It was for sure coming from the closet in the left corner. She tiptoed her way to the closet holding in her breath to prevent the foul smell from knocking her out.

    “Brooklyn where are-” as Jin popped his head into the first floor again, a bloodcurdling scream escaped Brooke’s lips and a loud thump made the walls vibrate.

    “It’s a f*****g dead body! Jin! Jin! Jin!” squealed Brooke with tears in her eyes rushing towards the stairs where both concerned boys were at. 

    Right after the commotion started, the front door slammed open. Five dark figures stood against the frame and Brooke’s screaming just intensified. She took hold of Jughyun’s shoulders, completely forgetting about his wound and pierced her nails into his flesh out of utter despair. A series of indistinct murmuring, whispering, and yelling began to take place. Brooke acted like a lunatic and Junghyun’s shoulder was aching even more now.

    “Everybody, calm the f**k down!” shouted an unknown hoarse male voice. The room became silent in an instant. It was neither Junghyun nor Jin so who could possibly have such an authority over the ongoing commotion in that shady house?  

    Only Kook, of course. The youngest of all the members of Ruby Dust but for sure the one with the hottest temper. The five figures standing in the doorway made their way into the creaky floors of the house giving off a dominant and powerful aura. Brooke watched with open eyes attentively as the newcomers surrounded the lifeless corpse on the floor. Blood was splattered all over the floor and the body had numerous cuts and stitches that would seem like torture to anyone. Jin and Junghyun eventually integrated the circle around the body and now, the puzzle was complete; every single one of those guys seemed to have some sort of peculiar shape that only the other boys were able to fill. Truly a mesmerizing moment to experience at bare sight.

    The group of males, oblivious to Brooke’s presence, talked and discussed the scene right in front of her. Brooke saw the door open and realized that it was a now-or-never opportunity. She sprinted like never before towards the moonlight showers.

    “Not today.” spoke out of nowhere another unrecognizable male voice from behind Brooke as she hurried for the door. The man went behind her and grabbed firmly her waist while closing the door with another hand. “You are not leaving until we say so.” After that statement, blackness.

***

    Her vision became clear once again. Her eyes tried to adjust to the little light in her surroundings as her brain tried to recollect what happened and know where she was. Brooke tried to scratch her forehead but her hands appeared to be held by something; something was restricting her movements in both her arms and legs.

    “Brooke, listen to me.” spoke a familiar voice. “You have to calm down and swear you are going to keep this a secret, okay?”

    “Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” growled the tied-up female looking into well-known ebony eyes. Junghyun was getting into her nerves.

    “If you keep yelling I swear I’ll tape your mouth shut.” spoke up another random voice across the room.

    “And who do you think you are?! Come and push me over if you’re such a man!” continued to yell Brooke at whoever made the earlier comment.

    “Gi, calm down,” said Junghyun softly. “Remember the promise I made earlier? Well, here you have an explanation,” said Junghyun as he moved his hand gently pointing at the six males in the room. The moonlight tried the hardest it could to illuminate the men's faces, only certain features were distinguishable, though.

    And so Junghyun, with a piece of medical cloth wrapped around his wounded shoulder, began the introduction.

    “This is Jin, or Opal,” pointed Junghyun at the male that had already met Brooke. “This one’s Seok, or Jade,” pointing at the man with black and silky hair and an adorable grin of mysterious joy. “That one is Kook, or Spinel. He was the one who yelled earlier, in case you were wondering.” Kook looked so young and innocent. His dark-brown hair covering part of his dull, puppy eyes and lips so small they were almost invisible. "He is Gi, or Moonstone.” A minty green color dyed his hair contrasting with the blackness of his glasses and turtleneck. “He is Tae, or Amethyst. He’s the fastest out of all of us and doesn’t deal with murders.” The copper-haired male nodded his head slightly to greet the confused female. “That one is Joon, or Lapiz Lazuli.” the selected man smiled softly revealing the dimples right next to his mouth. “And last but certainly not least, yours truly, Junghyun, or Agate.”

    All of them were together, they formed some sort of gang. That’s why they matched so well together.

    “Why do I feel like I’ve seen every single one of you before? And what are you guys? Some type of street gang trying to kidnap me?” said Brooke still trying to remove the crispy ropes holding her tightly.

    “As a matter of fact, darling, we are Ruby Dust,” answered Seok shifting his glasses up his nose bridge.

    “No way. As in the crazy dangerous mafia?” asked Brooke as her heart sank to the pick of her stomach.

    “The one and only.”