Little Bird

Chapter Two

Ivy-

I feel sick, but I know it's probably just hunger. I have been sitting on this same bench for an hour straight. I've called Marcus a few dozen times, yet never have I dared to move from this spot. He has been ignoring my calls. I don't know what I did wrong, and it's eating away at me. I take a breath and decide to walk around. One thing I know for a fact is that I'm not going home until I know Marcus will not hurt me. Most people would have a backbone and leave, but I want to love that man. I want to believe he is good. I want... Maybe 'want' isn't working anymore. I walked down the street and stared at my feet. My mind drifted to that strange man in the store. With his eyes and tattoos, he was quite attractive. He seemed familiar, like an old friend you haven't seen in a while. But I know for a fact he wasn't a friend of mine. Walking down the sidewalk, my legs started to ache. Cars drive down and up the street, and a sound catches my attention. The sound of a car revving fills my ears, a bright red sports car speeds past me on the street and pulls into a parking spot up ahead. I keep walking, my eyes shifting over the car subtly as I walk past the expensive vehicle.

Walking a bit faster as I try to keep my head down, feeling not important enough to look at the car. My body flinched as I felt eyes on me, and I paused in place and looked over my shoulder at the car. I couldn't see through the tint on the car window. I looked over the car one last time and kept walking.

Dean-

She was an interesting girl. I spotted her while I was driving from my meeting, and I couldn't help but pull over. It's like rational thoughts vanish when I see her, making me a fool. She could sense my staring as she tried to look through the tint. Smiling to myself, I slowly got out of my car. Shifting her feet, she looked at me with wide eyes, and she seemed to freeze in place. Thinking of a way to diffuse her shock, I closed the door to my car. I looked at her with a soft look, my eyes moving over hers as I spoke. "I remember you." My voice was calm and direct, her eyes watched me nervously. She nods but stays silent. I wonder why she is so flighty. "I remember you too." Her voice was a sweet soft sound that I wished to hear more of. My feet fell in place with her as she walked. Remembering her in the store makes me think about the fact she did not buy anything. "Ivy." She said, her voice was so pleasant, I found myself enjoying it more than I should have. I realized I had overlooked what I was thinking about.

"Ivy" Repeating the name under my breath, voiced in a fitting tone. "Dean" she didn't reply. My gaze shifts to her and I see her looking at her feet as she walks. "Where are we going?" I question her as we walk down the sidewalk. I felt interested and wanted to hear her voice once more. She remains hushed for a few moments before she replies to me, "I'm not sure." My mind thinks about her words before coming to the conclusion she is concealing something. For the next few moments, I walked next to her quietly.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, I pull out my phone and answer the call. "Yes?" I ask the man on the phone, her eyes shift over me curiously. "Boss, that meeting earlier this morning. Did you get the deal for the trade?" My eyes shifted over her, and she looked away like a small child getting caught. "Yes, I got the deal, I'm out right now. I'll talk to you later." My voice was firm, as I instructed my assistant. Hanging up the phone and stuffing it in my pocket, I look over at the girl I now know as Ivy. She pulled out her phone and looked down at it nervously. She stared at the screen. She stops walking and stares at her phone. She looks panicked. "I got to go." She says with a quavering voice and steps faster away from me, as she glances over at me one last time. I saw a cry for help in her eyes, a small sliver of distress. A desperation I know too well, a kind I've witnessed from the other side of my gun.

My time was spent most days in the city of Chicago. It was busy here, but most of my trade was done on those streets. With trade comes competition, and the underground has been stirring up problems for a few years now. The men behind it are faceless and nameless in my mind. I clutch the wheel as I drive to one of my operating buildings. I had a few throughout the city. It wasn't exactly hard to hide an illegal business in this jungle of buildings we call a city. Pulling my car into an underground parking lot, I stepped out of the car and walked into the building, "Boss, we need to talk about the meeting, so I can log the information-" I cut my assistant off as he spoke my mind not on the same topic. My voice was calm and preoccupied as I asked him. "Could you find information, someone?" My assistant looked at me for a moment like I might have lost my reason. "I suppose I could look into it at a later time." His words were careful as he looked at me. He could tell I was acting abnormally. But like numerous others, reading me was not easy.

Ivy-

He hit me with a heavy hand, I felt my heart in my throat and panicked. I reached for his hands to stop him from hitting me again. This only angers him to a greater extent. I felt my back slam against the wall as he shoved me into it. Coming back here was a mistake I realized quickly. "Stop it." My voice was a quiet gasp as I felt my spine ache from the impact of the wall. A sharp pain hits my jaw as he punches me in the face, and my head spins and drops to my chest. His voice vibrates my head as he screams into my face, "You can't just f*****g listen and do as your told!" His words were degrading but dismissed as my ears buzzed. My aching face is grabbed by a harsh hand, and my eyes are forced to look at his. He had so much hatred in his brown eyes. "Speak." he hissed at me in a voice that drove me to stay silent.

I shiver as I feel him slide his hand down to my throat and squeeze my soft skin, hot tears pouring from my eyes. My body panics and adrenaline rushes through my body. Air sputters from my lungs as he squeezes tighter, my hands reaching up and clawing at his arm. A sharp kick to his knee made him curse beneath his breath and stumble backward. Slipping away from him as quickly as possible, my shaky legs darted to the front door. I heard him shout at me and stomp through the house. "If you walk out of that door, i swear to God." He said in a low threatening tone, my eyes shifted over him like a terrified animal and I darted into the dark of the nighttime.