Ruby Dust

two - spieza

    The bright morning sun shone its yellow rays directly in her sore eyes. Her long, black eyelashes bated in annoyance trying to scare the sunlight off to no avail. As she sat up in her bed, her long hair fell from her eyes to her shoulders and back. A loud grunt escaped her plump lips and her hands rubbed her tired eyes into awakeness. The white and soft fabric from her shirt hugged her tender body and the distinctive cry from the city from outside made its way through her ears.

    “Something tells me that today will be a shitty day.” expressed the exasperated girl as she yawned loudly.

    Out of nowhere, three loud bangs shattered the silence inside the messy room. The unexpected commotion caused the female to jump back and let out a small squeal in return. 

    “Brooke! Open the damn door right now!” yelled a familiar male voice from the other side of the wooden door. He continued knocking aggressively until Brooke stood up and let him in.

    “Aiden! Dammit! The landlord is gonna kick us out if you bother the neighbors! Take your damn pills and f*****g chill out.” replied the pissed female glaring into her roommate’s eyes with aggravation and sadness. “Go away, please.”

    As Brooke tried to close her door softly, Aiden’s foot prevented it and he burst into the bedroom causing his fragile roommate to fall back. He’s emerald eyes pierced holes through her body as he scanned her body from head to toe. His big, manly hands made their way to her throat and grabbed her strongly. She desperately tried to free herself or at least loosen his tight grip but her slender fingers did not help at the very least. 

    “Aiden,” managed to let out the female as she gasped for air. “Don’t be like him.”

    As if those words turned off a switch inside Aiden’s brain, he abruptly let go of Brooke’s neck causing her to hit the floor harshly. 

    “I-I’m sorry.” mumbled the tall male as he stared down at his bare feet. He stood there for a few seconds while the atmosphere around him turned into a dense cloud of tension. The noises of Brooke’s coughing were muffled by the loud, irritable noise that began to fill up his ears. The room started to spin like one of those attractions at the amusement park that you are too afraid to get on and darkness began to emerge from his peripheral vision. 

    “Load it… load it… load...it…” said repeatedly a phantasmagoric voice from somewhere around Aiden’s head. He could feel a cold breath make the hairs on his neck stand up. He closed his eyes tightly in confusion and distress and covered his ears in a failed attempt to shut the voice down.

    “Open.” said the ghostly voice once again. This time, however, it felt closer, more powerful, and more real. Another chilly breeze wrapped around his lanky self and he could feel how his body was lifted from the floor and into a void of darkness.

    The white in his eyes got tinted with black and his emerald eyes disappeared into the pit of darkness. He began to ascend into a bright, blue light that adorned the endless ceiling.

    A sudden hint of vanilla invaded his small nostrils. The sensation of touch overcame his fingers again; they began to stiffly fidget and shake trying to find something to hold on to. 

    Something else interrupted his crossing: a faint scream. A faint scream echoed musically in the infinite walls of his brain.

    “Aiden… Aiden… Aiden!”

    Just like that, he came back to reality. The reality in which his hands held Brooke against her will onto the wall. His eyes widened as he realized the bright red tint on her face. 

    “Brooke I-” 

    “Leave me alone! I can’t handle your crap anymore. Don’t wait up for me, I’m done with this.” 

    “Brooke, no! Hear me out. Come on, Brooke, stop this!” grumbled Aiden as he followed Brooke around her room.

    After some more quarreling and debating, Brooke walked out the door of the cramped apartment with a small suitcase and no intention of coming back. Aiden was Brooke’s best friend indeed but having to deal with his abrupt personality changes was not easy. Especially when having a plethora of problems of her own.

    The last image she had of her beloved apartment was not the prettiest. One of the few pictures of her parents broken on the floor, her favorite bed sheets scattered across the bedroom, and her best friend with tears in his red and puffy eyes.

    “I guess I’ll see you around. Bye.”

***

    The music was playing loudly. Red and blue light bulbs provided a sexy and calm illumination for the bar. A few women and more than a few men sat throughout the canteen. Some socializing, some drinking, some smoking, and some dancing. A usual night at the bar.

    "Hit me up with another gin."

    "A shot of whiskey."

     "A glass of beer."

    Ongoing orders for the entire night, sick and old men who wouldn't stop catcalling waitresses, sassy women who would give dirty looks to everyone. Truly the best way to spend a night after fighting with your soulmate.

    "Brooke! Go take the order of that customer. The one with the grey hair." commanded Hyejin, the owner of the canteen Brooke worked at.

     "Yes, miss," replied the sad employee in a monotone voice as she stepped out from behind the counter and walked towards the new customer.

    The man was at the back of the canteen so it gave Brooke plenty of time to study his physique. He was wearing a black biker jacket, black shoes, and a pair of black leather pants.

    This new customer radiated such a dominant and powerful aura that caused Brooke to lick her lips in disbelief. She hadn’t seen his face but she could swear on her best pair of jeans that he was the sexiest man alive. 

    Aside from his all-black outfit, the man wore silver-colored hair. It was styled perfectly on the back and it was sort of visible that he had a side-part on the front. 

    "Hi, what can I get for you tonight?" asked Brooke as she usually would standing right behind the customer.

    "What's the strongest drink you have?" replied the man in a raspy voice that made Brooke’s skin crawl. The unique tone to his voice was oddly familiar, though she could not connect the dots.

    "Pincer Vodka and Sunset Rum are pretty intense; we’ve had many clients pass out only after two shots." explained the female chuckling only to get a shrug from the man as a response.

    "There’s no way those are the strongest. In a place like this? Never." scoffed the male rolling his eyes.

    "Let's see," said Brooke as she looked through the pocket-sized menu given by her boss when she started to work at the bar, "We have some type of Russian liquor. However, if you want to order that you’ll have to sign a contract.”

    Silence followed her explanation, that could only mean that the man had no idea what she was talking about.

    “A contract saying that we are not responsible for any health issues regarding alcohol. We only sell it to the customers under their absolute consent and soberness.”

    "I couldn’t care less. Bring two of those and the papers."

     "A-are you sure sir? That thing is truly dangerous. People have actually gone to the hospital to consume it." announced Brooke with clear concern in her voice.

    "Just bring them."

    As she was told, Brooke followed the customer's orders. After no more than two minutes, she was back at the man's table with two drinks that had enough alcohol to knock someone out by just smelling it. 

    "Here you go, sir. But I have to warn you once again, we are not responsible for death or for-" before the concerned waitress could finish her sentence, she was cut off by the customer.

    "Stop blabbering so much and sit here." interrupted the man. 

    "Excuse me?"

     "What you just heard, sweetheart."

    The intriguing man suddenly grabbed Brooke’s wrist and with some odd but swift maneuvering managed to get her to sit down in the chair in front of him without giving her any time to react.

    "D-dear god… your face is so...”

    The beauty of the man's face left Brooke so stunned she couldn't speak. His eyes were the color of dark, rich wood. His silky hair fell gracefully on his forehead, his nose was well-sculpted and he had a pair of cutesy round cheeks. His jawline was so sharp that it could cut right through the thickest glass. Lastly, but certainly not least, his lips were so plump, pink, and perfect her heart skipped a beat.

    "What are you waiting for? Drink up!" commanded the outgoing male as Brooke remained with a shook expression painted across her face. 

    As if the mysterious yet fearless man could read her thoughts, he opened that beautiful mouth of his to address her confusion.

     "Look, princess. If you're refusing to do this because you don't know me, then let me have the honor to introduce myself. My name is Junghyun Park and I like alcohol. Now, drink up."

     An indifferent expression was reflected on her face. Having the biggest fight of her life, being scolded multiple times by her annoying boss and now a stranger was trying to allure her. Out of all the days, those events could have happened, they decided to happen that gloomy Wednesday all at the same time. Having a piece of glass stabbed right into her chest was a very tempting idea, to be honest. 

    "End me now," mumbled the bothered female as she threw her head back. "Okay, listen. My day has been the shittiest and I’m not in the mood for a player like you to ruin it even more. Do yourself a favor and leave me alone. Thanks.” 

    Brooke stood up aggressively from her chair and walked past by the impolite customer.

    The man stood up from the wooden chair making an eerie sound and grabbed both shots of alcohol. His slim physique made its way throughout the packs of people trying to follow the waitress that had just shut him off. In his mind, there was something oddly familiar about her that he could not recall. Nonetheless, he was utterly intrigued to know who this sassy waitress was. 

    “Wait!” exclaimed Junghyun with still both shots in his manly hands. 

    “You can’t come in here,” said Brooke with a monotone voice signaling the entrance to the back of the counter.

    “Fine, but can you please hear me out?” asked the silver-haired man with glistening puppy eyes.

    Brooke raised an eyebrow and pointed at her clock telling him that he only had a few minutes. 

    “Hurry up before my boss scolds me again.”

    “Okay, so I know I came out like a jackass but I swear I have a better personality” explained the man now sitting on the tall chairs in front of the counter. A charming smirk was created on his face as he looked up into Brooke’s eyes with warm intensity.

    She could feel the butterflies aggressively flying around her stomach. She was so captivated by his beauty not staring into his eyes was out of the question.

    “What if we go on a small date after your shift is over? I want to get to know you.”

    “I’m not sure if I should… I don't know who you are.”

    “That’s the point, princess! Just give me one chance. If you end up hating it, you will never see me again. Does that sound good to you?” asked Junghyun with an optimistic voice and sparkling eyes.

    Brooke focused her vision on the circular residues of water left by some other cups earlier into the night. Something like this has never happened before and she wasn’t sure if she could trust this guy. Even if he was the most seductive man alive, he could be a serial killer for all she knew. As if that wasn’t enough, her train of thought went back to that time when she found him. Her fiancé shared inappropriate pictures with one of Brooke’s childhood friends. She had never trusted a man again ever since that moment. Of course, Aiden was a major exception to this but considering what had happened a few hours ago, her trust in everyone around her fell down the drain into absolute anguish.

    “So?” interrupted Junghyun.

    “I-I don’t-,” just as Brooke was about to finish her sentence, her nagging boss, Hyejin, walked into the scene.

    “Yamaguchi! You better stop slacking around or I will for sure kick you out.” yelled the feisty boss at her confused employee with both of her wizened hands resting on her flaccid hips. 

    “Meet me outside in 30 minutes.” whispered the female to Junghyun before turning around and continuing to wash the dirty cups on the metal sink.

    A bright smile formed across Junghyun’s face as he placed some money in a tray and stood up from the chair he was previously sitting in.

    “Don’t get tangled with boys. You have work to do,” commanded Hyejin as she passed behind Brooke and hit her head with the ballpoint pen she had in her pocket.

***

    The fresh scent of the night breeze swirled around the metal light posts that illuminated the empty streets of Daejeon. The rectangular plastic cards gently traveled through his slender fingers. A deck of cards sat on his other hand inside the warmth of his pocket. His ebony eyes, scanning everything around him naturally as he was trained to do so, waited for the movement of the doors behind him for his awaited date to come out into the night. 

    After what seemed like hours, Brooke finally came out.

    “Took you long enough,” said Junghyun stuffing his hands in his pockets.

    “Yeah, my boss is a pain in the ass.” chuckled Brooke as she stared at her date’s shiny shoes.

Junghyun scoffed. “Ha, you have no idea.” 

    As he said this, footsteps resonated on the sidewalk the two were standing in. Out of instinct, both looked up and a male figure made its way to them. The closer he got, Brooke could distinguish better his god-like features.

    The male stood tall and strong with a defined physique. His face, shining under the street lights, was adorned with full and thick eyebrows, deep almond-shaped eyes, and a defined nose. His round, plump and rosy lips matched his chin to perfection. A wide pair of broad shoulders move gently with his dominant walk and his long legs stomped gracefully into the rocky sidewalk beneath his boots. The male wore a hoodie as red as a glass of wine covering his black hair and a pair of gray jeans.

    “Do you know who he is?” asked Brooke into Junghyun’s ear as she noticed that he looked intensely at the man approaching them.

    “Who is she?” asked the towering male as he appeared in front of the two. His voice was a tad bit softer than what Brooklyn expected. Nonetheless, he had a deep, manly voice that would be perfect for a perfume commercial.

    “Seriously, Jin? Not even a hello?” said Junghyun with a playful grin hitting softly the male on his shoulder.

    “Are you allowed to say my name in front of her?” asked Jin with concern looking into Brooke’s scared eyes.

    “Yeah, don’t worry. She’s a good one.”

    “Okay,” said Jin skeptically. “Who are you?” 

    “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?'' said Brooke amazed at his straightforwardness. “I’m Brooklyn Yamaguchi and I work here.” said the female with a firm tone to her voice as she signaled the building next to them.

    “I just asked for who you were, no need for details.” 

    “Okay, calm down. Let’s just go over to the casino and have a fun time as normal people do,” said Junghyun cheerfully.

    If they only knew what was in store for them.

    The three young adults entered the casino showing their IDs to the security guard standing next to the clean glass doors. The buff male nodded and signaled to the other guard inside to gently pull the doors open. Like the bar, the casino had dim, red lighting to it. A few dozen people sat across the main area sitting in front of the ostentatious machines. Rich-looking males and females, most looking over their fifties, sat scattered across poker and pool tables. They all looked different but all had one simple aspect in common: all had a glistening cup of honey-colored whiskey with a dash of lemon adorning its rim.

    “Those drinks look pretty appealing, can we get one?” asked Brooke as the three walked down the carpeted aisle. 

    “Don’t you think it’s suspicious that everyone has that drink? I wouldn’t get it if I were you,” said Jin monotonously.

    “Why are you so suspicious about everything! Can’t you chill out a little?” exclaimed Brooke annoyed by the new male’s attitude. 

    “If you don’t like how I act, you can f**k off for all I care,” said Jin as he lowered his head to look directly into Brooke’s eyes with a menacing look.

    “Okay, you two. Either you learn how to coexist peacefully or I’ll snap both of your necks. You decide.” interrupted Junghyun.

    They made their way to the bar at the back silently and each ordered a margarita. Brooklyn was quite curious about the drink all guests had but decided to nonchalantly listen to Jin’s skepticism even though she had just questioned it moments ago. They turned around to face the crowd of betters before them. Some minutes passed by before one of the elderly men at one of the poker tables jumped out his chair and began to have a seizure right then and there. Shocked screams filled the room as another woman started to throw up blood and another one had an insane eruption form on her skin out of nowhere.

    “Everyone! Stay calm!” shouted the staff of the casino following the protocol but the mass at the casino knew these events were out of hand.

    “There’s something in the drinks. Let’s get the f**k out of here,” commanded Junghyun after sniffing one of the popular drinks on the counter.

    As soon as the three stood up to leave, the power went off. Junghyun instructed his company to crouch down. Since people were running around some of them stumbled and fell over with the three kneeling in the middle of the aisle.

    “God! Why have you forsaken me! Rescue me! Only your touch and grace can save me!” shouted a man who stood on one of the tables. Under the darkness, Brooke managed to get a glimpse of his wizened face before it got obliterated by a lightning-fast object. His facial tissues broke apart and blood splattered all the surrounding areas, including Brooklyn’s face. The man fell onto his knees and his destroyed face slammed into the green table. Brooke was so shaken by this that she shrieked in terror and crawled as fast as her body could away from the scene.

    “Yamaguchi! Stay down!” howled Jin loud enough for her to hear across the plethora of hopeless humans. 

    “I’ll blow all of your faces if y’all don’t shut the f**k up!” 

    With that sentence, silence cut its way through the room. Everyone turned to the direction of the noise and saw a tall man dressed in all red with a filtration mask over his mouth. His eyes were covered by dark sunglasses and a Knight MK-85 sat, probably charged, on his arms. 

    Cautiously, Jin and Junghyun crept up to where Brooke was, crying her eyes out in silence and wiping the blood off her face.

    “Brooklyn, calm down. Listen to me. I promise I’ll get you out alive but you have to cooperate.” said Junghyun quietly grasping gently Brooke’s shaky hands.

    “T-the m-man there…. He died in front of my eyes,” said Brooke teary-eyed with her voice cracking on every other word.

    “You’ll get used to it. Now, promise me you’ll do as I say.”

    Brooke nodded but soon after her attention was drawn to the attacker standing in the middle of the main area.

    “Hey! You two quit it!” yelled the attacker. “Wait… is that… Dante!” called out the attacker. “Those two,” he said pointing directly at Brooklyn and Junghyun. “Take them out and into the ban!”

    There was something familiar about how the attacker acted to Brooke but due to the heat of the moment, Brooke couldn’t piece the puzzle together. 

    “Go!” yelled Jin as he stabbed the guy that came after them with an abnormally big piece of glass directly on the stomach. He pulled Brooke up from her position with one arm as Jugnhyun hurriedly opened the door for them and ran into the darkness of the night.

    “f**k!” growled the main attacker with all his chest power. “Go chase after those assholes! Bring them back alive!” commanded the presumed chief of the aggressors stomping his heavy-duty boots into the marble counter under him.

    “That f*****g b***h better not dare to do that.” thought the attacker to himself as he began to carelessly m******e the innocent human beings beneath him.