Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

After I stashed my guitar in its case and slung it over my shoulder, that was one of the only noises that greeted me. The crickets chirping, the occasional car driving by, or maybe even the rare, but still occurring, wanderer passing by. I yawned and ran a hand through my mess of dark brown hair, slightly mussing it up. Beginning my walk home, I decided to pass time by counting money from tonight's street performance outside the local mall.

Almost fifty dollars in just one night. I'm getting better. I remember when I first started this a few weeks back, I'd hardly get ten to fifteen a night. But, now that I'm out of school again, I have more time to practice.

I began hearing voices again when I cut through a neighborhood. Looking around, I realized this might be one of those nights where I should have took the long, safe way home. The voices belonged to a small, familiar trio of sketchy looking men up ahead. I stopped dead in my tracks, slowly hiding the wad of cash in my longcoat's pocket. They stopped talking, and all looked in my direction.

"Hey, man," The biggest one called out, turning to look at me. "Whatchu got there?" He asked. I detected the slightest hint of a Mexican accent in his voice.

I didn't reply, only backed away slowly. I could see him eyeing the guitar case across my back, and his friends joined him as he approached me.

"That's a lot of money you made tonight, man." He growled, cracking his knuckles. I then thought a single word. Only one word, that seemed to save my sorry butt on more than one occasion.

Run.

Turning tail, I dashed as fast as I could towards the mall, the biggest source of light. But they were catching up, fast. As I neared more buildings, I had to think fast, so I ducked into a small maze of alley ways. I knew these alleys like the back of my hand; I'd often cut through them during the day to get from my neighborhood to the city. But they were on me like bloodhounds- they've seen my performances. They knew the cash I brought in. Hell, they've taken a few bucks from me here and there.

Jump. Vault. Slide. Sprint. Turn. It was all so familiar to me, almost like breathing. Running through the alley, avoiding familiar traps and using quick shortcuts. But there was one roadblock I didn't account for.

I didn't see her. Even if I did, I wouldn't have had time to stop myself. My legs slipped out from under me, and I had to twist my body in midair to ensure that I not only landed on her, but I also didn't smash the guitar on my back. I groaned, hearing the girl who had caused my fall to shuffle back. A salty, warm taste greeted my senses, and I felt blood ooze out of my lip. Coughing, I spit a bit of the blood out, and looked up towards the girl.

A completely, stark naked girl.

My face began to heat up, and I could practically see the blush glowing in the dim light of the alley.

She looked terrified. Utterly terrified, and horribly lost. There was a look in her eyes that pleaded for help, but also showed fear of this mysterious stranger in front of her. I couldn't believe it. What the hell was she doing here? Was she...? Did someone...? It didn't seem like it. Her body didn't have any bruises, no visible marks of inflicted pain.

I couldn't leave her here- not with those jerks running this way. Who knows what they'd do if they found this girl, wearing nothing at all, alone, in the middle of the night in an alleyway? I cringed at the thought, and decided to speak up.

"Are...Are you alright?" I asked quietly.

And the stupid question of the night goes to: Lorenzo Myles!

The thugs were closing in. I heard their angry voices, scattered, but moving fast. I tore my coat off, and offered it to her. She winced, and backed away again, almost stumbling over herself as she bolted to the other side of the alley.

"Hey, it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise." I assured her, rather quickly at that. The voices shouted out again, and this time, she heard them as well, snapping her attention down the alley way. "But you need to trust me." My voice placed her attention back at me, and she looked into my eyes.

She nodded once, and I helped her to put on my ash grey coat, and grabbed her hand, running off towards the nearest source of light, which was a streetlight in my neighborhood. We didn't stop running until we reached my house.

I helped her over my fence, and hopped over when she was safely across, leaning against the wood and struggling to catch my breath. In. Out. In. Out. Repeating it like a mantra until my breathing was even. When I was sure the thugs were gone, I slowly chuckled to myself. The mysterious girl only looked at me in confusion, quirking a brow. Feeling her eyes on me, I cleared my throat and grabbed her by the hand again. "Sorry. It's just, y'know, gotta find some kinda silver lining. I say laughing this off works well."

She slowly nodded, but didn't seem all too convinced. I rolled my eyes, opening the door to the garage, which had been converted to my bedroom at my request. I clicked the light on, and that allowed me a better look at her.

The girl stood with a kind of elegant disposition, one that was almost intimidating. I pegged her at maybe nineteen, or at least no older than myself. Clasping her hands together behind her back, she began slowly turning and observing my 'room'. She had fairly tanned skin, but not entirely bronzed or tanned. Her hair was long and a slate color, almost as if a very dark grey instead of black, and looked like it was made of silk, or at least had the same texture. She must have detected me staring at her, and turned to look at me, pointing her grayish purple eyes at me. She tilted her head in curiosity, and I cleared my throat.

"So, what were you doing out there?" I asked, pulling up a couple of folding chairs for the two of us. It took her a moment, but she sat herself down, rather awkwardly, and looked up at me. She then averted her gaze downwards, and almost looked as if she were thinking of something, or struggling to think of something, at least.

"Okay, um..." I trailed off, thinking of something else to ask. "My name's Lorenzo. Lorenzo Myles, but my friends call me Enzo. What's your name?" I asked with a friendly smile.

Again, she didn't respond at first. She looked back up at me, took a deep breath, and spoke with a voice that almost soothed me.

"My name is Octavia."

( Alright! There's the teaser for the newest story I'm working on!

Don't worry, I'm still working on Torn Between Two Worlds. But, I really liked this idea and I wanted to share it!

Anywho, this is pretty much the premiere place for a little insight as to what I'm going to be working on in the future. I've yet to come up with a name for this story, but I'm sure I'll think of something. Don't forget to check out my tumblr! Thanks, and I'll see ya next update! )