Days were dark. There was no longer sun. The only light came from the billboards out on the street. The florescent colors and filth of the city combined together. The only colors Dante seemed to see were full of disgust. Neon from the strip club signs, shadows coming from the alleys filled with hookers. But there was one piece of heaven. One single sliver of angelic possession over his soul.
Jinx wore dark colors. Her favorite being a teal green. She wore her ankle high boots to hide the bruises on them due to the shackles she was forced to wear after trying to escape.
The woman had thick black makeup over her eyes, her bright green pupils became dilated after her owner forced her into drugs.
She was his angel. His only taste of serenity and beauty in this demon filled world plastered in sin and ruin.
The young man video taped her. From the window in his bedroom six floors up. He watched her constantly.
Dante seemed to memorize each piece of clothing she wore. The way it either hugged her body or hung loosely around her naked form underneath.
She hardly ever wore undergarments. Her owner saw to that, she'd grab more attention and earn him more money that way.
The young man knew every part of her. How a small set of dimples appeared whenever she smiled. Her eyes never having the same glow in the mornings as they did during the night.
He savored her as she walked down the street, limping because of a rough night. Her hips dropping every time she took a new step. The way her hair swayed as she walked, her long pale legs taking her from one place to another.
She seemed surreal. Too beautiful to live in such a cruel world.
Jinx was her name. Her real name was something not even the wind knew. She went as Jinx, her owner named her as such.
The young man couldn't contain himself on one rainy night. He went down to the street she owned.
Walking with determination, alcohol still in his system from the bottle he drowned himself in just a few minutes prior.
His coat heavy as it flowed with him. His boots splashing away the water underneath him. Dante wanted it. Wanted her. Her heart, her soul. He'd break if he couldn't have her.
Her creamy colored skin. Pink lips he just wanted to suck on. Neck bruises he wanted to kiss tenderly. He didn't care about her flaws. She had none.
She wore her jean shorts that day. A dark sweater over a thin white shirt that exposed her breasts underneath just a bit.
They went up to his apartment on the sixth floor.
Dante wasted no time. He pushed her against the wall before letting his hands travel across her body. Kissing her roughly as the woman moaned in ecstasy.
A few hours later, it was past midnight. She was still in his bed. Asleep.
The young man was standing by the foot of his bed. He gazed down at the beauty of the angel in his apartment. She slept silently. Naked underneath his red covers.
Dante wore no shirt, his dark jeans the only thing covering his body.
How could such a world allow his angel such a terrible life. His angel.
"Hmm..." the young woman began to wake up a few minutes later.
Her hair was a bit messy but she combed it with her fingers. She didn't shy away when the blanket fell from her torso. The woman seemed too used to it
Dante didn't like that. This girl was now too used to being with men. She shouldn't be. She was his angel after all.
He then went to her side and brought her the clothes she'd left scattered on the ground.
"You can stay if you'd like. There's some left over pizza in the kitchen," Dante said as he went back to his window and gazed out.
The city was illuminated by bright neon lights. No soft colors at all.
Jinx looked up at him. He was strong, the muscles on his back visible only through the shadows the city light cast on them. He was tall, his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he stood barefoot.
She quickly changed. Standing up to pull on her shorts after throwing on her shirt and sweater.
"Do you usually feed your late night company?" she asked dryly as she went over to his kitchen.
It was bare and held no food beside old pizza boxes. She took long slow steps until sitting down at his table.
Dante then turned around and began walking toward her. No light came into his apartment beside the glow of a billboard right outside his window.
"How old are you, Jinx?" he suddenly asked.
The young man went to grab a carton of cigarettes. He had no lighter at the moment so he simply stuck it between his teeth.
"Old enough to fuck," she joked while taking a slice and bringing it up to her mouth.
"I'm being serious," Dante replied truthfully, his face void of emotion.
Jinx looked up at him, a glint of amusement in her eyes as she swallowed a piece of pizza.
"Seventeen," she brought one arm up to motion to herself, "Like the magazine, boss."
Dante then walked over and stood by the doorway of his kitchen. Leaning against the counter with a dry cigarette in his mouth.
"You're a young girl. You should be at home. You should be dressed up going out with boys, going to school, you know, that kind of stuff," he told her.
The girl chuckled, she then laughed as she put her slice of pizza back into the box.
"Yeah? And how old are you, old man?", she then changed the topic onto him.
He shrugged at first. His tongue played with the cigarette stubbed between his teeth.
"Twenty in a few months," he admitted.
The young woman smiled at him before grabbing another slice of food. She let her mascara run, her black eyelids making her bright eyes look like the neon signs outside Dante's window.
"My name isn't even Jinx," she sighed.
Dante didn't move, he simply grunted, allowing her to continue.
"My real name is Katherine. Kat for short," she smiled up at him, "But I wouldn't trade this life for anything. I'd die if I even tried."
The next day was slightly different.
Dante found his camera. He'd recorded the woman the night before as she undressed for him.
For the first time ever, it made him sick.
He was puking his guts out just being reminded that his angel had been touched by sick fucks all over the city. Willingly or unwillingly, it still made his skin crawl. Not even the most elegant of women had the same poise.
She couldn't live like this. Kat couldn't live like this.
Dante went to her owner that same day. He had his pistols hidden underneath his jacket. The young man didn't plan to use them but the weight was reassuring.
"Where's Jinx?" he asked the man, a tilt of his head and purse of his lips, Dante showed reliable business.
The man in front of him disgusted him. He was overweight, the belt around his waist begging to burst free. His knuckles and neck were heavily tattooed, the sweat atop of them glistened in the faint polluted light falling on them.
The man said nothing. He spat on the ground before acknowledging Dante and nodding to him, telling him to continue.
"I saw her last night. Was wondering whether she was free at the moment," Dante said as he slipped his hands in his pockets.
Her owner then continued to mock and teased Dante as he walked with the young man down the street. Many other women looked their way but just as quickly, they returned to the company of the men under their spell.
They made it to an apartment complex before they found Kat standing outside of it. She was alone, a book in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Her eyes never leaving the page as she took a long drag of filth.
"Jinx! Must've done good because this guy wants more, darlin'," her owner said, motioning to Dante behind him.
The young woman clicked her tongue as she studied the scene before her. She eyed Dante before closing her book, tossing it to the steps of the apartment complex. Quickly, she dropped her cigarette before grabbing Dante's coat and pulled him away.
Her boss explained to the young man that he would give his money to her after they were done. As usual.
She dragged him around the street corner with his hand around her waist until she knew no one was watching anymore. One of the old work places, no one would bother them.
Kat then took him deep into an alley before continuing to get on her knees.
"No," Dante's tone was serious as he brought her back to her feet. He grabbed her shoulders sternly pulling her up.
He wasn't there for a fun time. He would get her out of there. He had a trick up his sleeve.
The young man quickly explained himself. Kat couldn't live that lifestyle anymore. She couldn't be corrupted by the pigs of the city. He told her how much she meant to him and needed to leave the city with him. He could protect her.
"I wish I could, cowboy, but Jazz will look all over for me," she explained with a heavy heart.
They were now in a diner a few blocks away from the mans home. It began to lightly rain outside, covering the passing cars in a new layer of murky drizzle.
Kat continued to swirl the spoon within the blackness of her hot coffee as the two spoke. She appreciated the kind gestures of the young man.
"Dante," he replied, "My name is Dante."
Kat smiled, "Thank you for trying to help me, Dante. But I've been in this business for years. I'm the only one of Jazz's girls who hasn't OD'd or been bought off him."
So she'd been with this Jazz guy for years. The only one left from the first girls he'd ever purchased as a younger man. Kat was one of his best girls.
"You can't live like this," the young man gasped, looking down at the cup of coffee in his large hands.
Within all the sin and ruin on the crummy street walked a ray of luminous hope. Kat herself had been the reason behind his believing that there was still a speck of faith in the world. Even one stained in bruised lips and cracked scab wounds all around her pale body. She was the only drug that ran through his twisted veins.
Dante contacted an old friend of his soon that same night. He would rid the world of his angels presence. Her beaming lust becoming too much in his crooked city. Her owner would suffer, Dante would make sure of that himself. His contact would surely help her as he'd done for Dante many years prior.
His angel would finally gain the freedom she deserved.