Author's Note: Welcome to the story! This is basically just my way of continuing the Blood Ties TV series as a novel. I decided to try to stick to as close as I could to Tanya Huff's books, and am roughly doing a version of Blood Debt that works with the TV series and has my own changes and flair in it. Everything that happend in the TV series preceeds this story, and reference will be made to that. I'll also be including a playlist of a couple songs to listen to while reading that sort of give the mood I want, so please check them out! I'd also really like to hear what you guys think, so reviews are greatly appreciated!
This chapter's playlist: Furr by Blitzen Trapper and House of Wolves by My Chemical Romance
Chapter One: Discovering Toni
"How about you just fuck off?" I snarled, glaring at the two men before turning back to my Styrofoam cup of coffee.
I just wasn't in the mood for this right now. Having two street thugs hit on me at a homeless shelter…things had really changed for me. Two years ago at this time, I was on my way into my first year of college, ready to conquer the world. Now I was thousands of miles from what I had always considered home, in a different country, struggling to find a place to sleep and a bite to eat. I'd lost so much, I wasn't about to let some common thugs harass me. I wouldn't fall that far.
Thankfully, the two men simply exchanged glances and moved away from me. I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd definitely been in worse situations before, and a full year living on the street had taught me how to handle myself in these sorts of situations.
"Christ…" I murmured, wondering just why the hell I'd been stuck in this life anyway.
Taking a sip of coffee, I grimaced at the taste. I'd never been one for coffee, but the caffeine was something I'd become unable to live without. All in all, I figured that enduring the bitter sludge of coffee was better than getting addicted to some of the things that other homeless people did.
"Excuse me." A male voice murmured, putting his hand on my shoulder.
I looked up swiftly, giving him a look that wasn't quite a glare, but wasn't exactly what anyone would consider to be friendly either.
"Can I sit for a minute?" He asked again, gesturing to the empty seat across from me.
I nodded, not really seeing any harm in talking to him for a while. He looked so much different than everyone else here…everyone else I'd been forced to associate with…that I couldn't help but be intrigued by him. He wasn't very tall, only an inch or so higher than me I'd guess, with a strong face and deep brown curly hair waving to his shoulders. This combined with his sleek black attire made him intensely attractive, and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was doing here. It wasn't like he was one of us – he reeked of money like nothing I'd ever seen. Not to mention he smelled so much better than all of us. I looked down for only a second, only letting a brief moment of shame come over me. One of the hardest things for me to adjust to was not being able to have regular showers. I just hated to smell.
But that moment didn't last long. I raised my head and shook my long dark hair out of my face, looking directly at him, only letting myself to be a little bit mesmerized by his clear blue eyes.
"I was wondering if you could help me find someone I'm looking for." He said, still quietly and almost seductively.
"Just who is it you're looking for?" I asked, knowing that who the person was would make a huge difference in what I'd say to his request.
"A young man. He should have a tee shirt on with the name of a local band called NAME on it." The man continued to describe the features of the young man, and I vaguely recognized him to be a kid I'd seen around a few times.
"So why do you want to find him?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
"I have reason to believe that he might be in danger." The man said. For a minute I thought that he was going to say something else, but when he didn't I took a swig of my coffee.
"Well, I'll tell you this much." I started. "I don't know what his name is, or all that much about him, but I've seen him around a few times. We sometimes haunt the same places, run in the same circles, that sort of thing."
"And do you have any idea where I could find him?"
"At the moment? No, I have no idea. Most of us just look after our own backs. There's no reason to get too much in anyone else's business."
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"A week or so, I guess." I paused. "Why? Are you a cop or something?" Or worse? I wondered. What was this guy into? I briefly wondered if he was dangerous, and then figured that he was. After all, he just had that look about him. Silent power behind a confident frame.
He smiled at me, and chuckled for reasons that I didn't know. "No, I'm not a cop. Just trying to be helpful."
"Helpful to whom?" I asked sharply. I was definitely not liking this conversation. All I'd really wanted tonight was to get some coffee before finding a place where I could sleep without freezing to death. It didn't seem like so much to ask.
He didn't answer, but merely watched me, gazing into my eyes with a strange intensity.
I stood then crumpling my now empty cup. "Have a nice night." I said, turning away.
For another short moment I wondered if I'd been rude when leaving, but I figured that I'd been nice enough to just talk to him in the first place. After all, most guys that rich were only looking for….well, not just information. Definitely not information.
I shuddered as I walked into the night, pulling my worn coat closer around my torso. For May, it was so much colder than I really wanted it to be. I wished for spring, a warm spring that would leave me able to sleep at night without worrying about hypothermia. After all, there were enough things to worry about at night than the weather.
I turned onto an alley, taking a shortcut I knew that headed into nicer neighborhoods. I generally only ventured to this side of town for the coffee and for the place to sit in comfort. It was too rough for me ever to feel really comfortable, so I always walked the miles back to the better side of Vancouver.
Sighing, I turned to look behind me. It was a habit by now, as I'd learned about trying to get the hell out of dangerous neighborhoods in the past. My heart stopped as I saw one of the men from earlier following me.
"Shit!" I cursed quietly, turning again while trying not to appear to be speeding up. I watched the end of the alley closely, knowing that when I got there I'd be on a street that at least had more people. That way I wouldn't be safe, but I wouldn't have a problem losing the ass-wipe that was following me once I got there.
Unfortunately, I realized that I wouldn't be getting there as the other man stepped into the head of the alley facing me. He began sauntering towards me, and I quickly glanced behind me to see the other man start jogging toward me. A quick survey of the area told me that there was nowhere to go; the alley was perfectly straight and had no doors or paths leading off it.
"Hey there, Princess!" The second man called to me, still sauntering toward me like he just owned the fucking world. "Too good for us, hey!?"
I stopped moving then, bracing my feet and praying that I could fight them off. Part of me knew that I wouldn't be able to, that this would be just like that November after I'd gotten here.
"No." I snarled to myself. I would not let this be like that. Nothing could touch me. Nothing.
The man from behind me, who hadn't said a word, reached me first. I swung my leg out, hitting him in the shin and causing him to buckle slightly. I used that to my advantage as I shoved my fingers into his eye socket, causing him to howl in pain.
"Not so tough now, are you shit bag?" I growled at him, my foot making contact with his groin.
Unfortunately, in my preoccupation with fighting off this man, the other had come up from behind me. He grabbed me by my collar and threw me off the other man, hurling me to the ground.
"You just gotta make things difficult, don't 'cha?" He growled at me, dropping on top of me and pinning my arms over my head in one of his hands. With the other he groped at the waist of my jeans. I twisted under him, trying to kick him off, but he only pinned me down harder.
"None of that, eh baby?" He snarled in my ear, forcing my jeans to slide down my hips.
Fear clouded my mind only briefly before I just gave up. I knew that I'd never have a hope of forcing him off me, so I might as well just lay here until he was done. Maybe he wouldn't beat me after. Unlike last November.
But just as he started to unzip his pants he flew off me, suddenly airborne. Refusing to let shock get the better of me, I hurriedly pulled my pants back on my hips and quickly buttoned them. I stood, and for a second paused to take in what I was seeing.
The wealthy man from before was holding my attacker by the throat in the air. I could hear him yelling something at the other man, but my mind couldn't focus on it. All I could hear was the deadly predatory tone of his voice, and I took off running.
I ran faster and harder than I had in a long time, never stopping to look behind me. I sped past the wealthy man and my attacker, past the man I'd left laying on the pavement, never looking back. I ran for my life. I ran. And ran.
