Flesh Puzzles

Prologue

The brunette couldn't help but sigh in relaxation as she exited the small Costa Café with her friend, clutching onto her cup of coffee without much thought. Bringing the warm cup up to her mouth she let the scalding hot liquid run down her throat, taking comfort in the feeling it gave her. Breathing out, a small cloud appeared, and then disappeared into the chilled air.

All Charlotte wanted now was to return home, find her way under the covers of her soft bed, grab a cup of hot chocolate and a box of biscuits, and sit back and watch some random chick flick. It was a routine she loved in the chilling months of winter, taking delight in the laziness that came from it.

But she knew her friend would want to go out for a drink, meet some random guy and sleep with him. She would even try to get the brunette to join in sometimes, but was put down every time. Charlotte didn't want to have sex with every guy she met; she wanted the real thing, as corny as that sounded. Yes, she had already lost her virginity, at the young age of seventeen, but the person she had shared that experience had disappeared a long time ago, though; she never regretted what she did.

Her curvy blonde friend stared at her with bright brown eyes, clutching her hand as she pointed over to a bar on the opposite side of the road. "Hey, wanna go get a drink?" Her voice soft and innocent: she was a person no one would have expected to be somewhat of a sex addict, which to many men, made her all that more attractive.

Charlotte loved her, there was no doubt about that, but Alice had a way of turning on her every now and then, her temper getting the better of her. It was her greatest fault, and at times it scared Charlotte what she could do, but she still loved her. She just worried about her so much, and knew that one of days she would take things too far, hurting both herself and Charlotte. Charlotte knew the time would come at some point, she just didn't know when.

"Really Alice? Can we not just have a movie night? Or something relaxing?" Charlotte said, trying to convince her friend into something more… respectable.

"Oh, come on Charlotte! Just one drink, that's all I'm asking, you don't even have to talk to anyone." Alice pleaded, yet one could see in her chocolate eyes that she had already made her mind up.

Charlotte heaved a loud sigh, "Fine" she muttered, watching as her friend's face lit up and she began dragging her to the bar.

When they entered they could see the small bar was filled right to the brim, all with people in their twenties and thirties. Charlotte ignored the looks she was getting from some men, while Alice smiled at them as they walked passed. They sat down on two empty bar stools while they waited to be served.

As Charlotte stared at her friend she could see that she was already bouncing on her feet, ready to meet some random lad to bed for the night. She rolled her eyes, and clutched at the glass bottle as she was served, popping her thumb over the open top just in case. Alice, however, was not so careful, taking a large swig at her drink, then raising her arms into the air as she went to move over to the bar's dance floor, pulling Charlotte along with her, leaving her coat by the side of the room, revealing a tight red skirt, white blouse tucked in, with some thick black tights and a pair of heels to add to it. Charlotte would say she was somewhat revealing, but she thought that may just be because of her completely different style. Charlotte, being more of a 'punk' person, wore skinny jeans and a simple t-shirt with boots. She never dressed fancy, nor was she all that keen on skirts, but she never appeared dull and boring. She was just… normal, really.

After around half an hour charlotte still clutched onto her first drink, while she had lost count on how many Alice had chugged down. She continued to dance awkwardly, trying to enjoy herself but failing. She didn't want to be here, she wanted to go home, snuggle into bed and hibernate for the next month.

As they continued 'dancing', if you could call it that, Charlotte noticed a pair of vibrant blue eyes staring at her from afar. She couldn't see their face, she didn't even know if they were male or female, but the feeling of someone staring at the back of her head still made her uncomfortable.

Because she'd been so focused on the unknown eyes she hadn't noticed Alice had found two men to join them. Charlotte groaned, though she had to admit that they both were rather attractive. This is exactly what she expected Alice to do, try to hook her up with some stranger. It didn't matter how good looking or charming they were, she was not going to follow through with Alice's plan.

Giving her friend an aggravated look she turned and went back to the bar. Alice sighed in frustration and followed after her, the two men standing awkwardly on the dance floor before tagging behind.

Alice placed her hand down on the bar counter in front of Charlotte to stop her from heading for the door, "Come on Charlotte, just have some fun."

"This isn't my idea of fun, Alice, you know that."

"Fine, go home and sit all by yourself, sulking about wondering why James left you." Alice retorted harshly, her temper rising, staring Charlotte in the eyes.

Charlotte's face fell at what Alice had just said. Why did she have to bring James up? She knew how sensitive Charlotte was about him. Then again, Charlotte had to think. Maybe it was just her temper rising again, or maybe too much drink?

"You know how I feel about him," She muttered, not letting her face or voice show any emotion.

Alice's eyes softened, knowing how her friend felt though she refused to tell anyone. "Okay, then, come one we'll go home and watch a movie." She put her arm around Charlotte's shoulder more to hold herself up than comfort her.

"Hey, you just going to leave us hanging here?" One of the men said from behind him. Charlotte could tell he was drunk, as he staggered slightly and his words slurred together.

"Yep," Alice said, not turning to face them. "Better luck next time fellas."

Charlotte continued to stare at them, growing more worried every second, but she sent a glare their way. She didn't like the way they were looking at her and Alice, and began walking faster to the front door.

The man's frustration grew, and as they were about to leave, he grasped tightly onto Charlotte's arm, pulling her away from Alice. The other man, the one who had accompanied them, took a hold of Alice, and lead her off somewhere else, out of Charlotte's sights.

Charlotte's head snapped up then, her eyes wide as she stared up at the man, but not for long as his lips pressed roughly against hers. She tried to move her face away from him, pressing her hands against his chest in an attempt to be rid of him. She began crying further, her sadness and desperation unknown to the drunken man before her.

Getting rougher the man pressed her up against a wall, were she was trapped, unable to free herself from her strong grip. She was going to be raped, she just knew it, and her friend was too.

As she was able to free herself from the man for one second she screamed, hoping that someone, anyone would help her. Charlotte was pressed against the wall again, her head thudding against the brick, making her dizzy. But the she saw it, the owner of the blue eyes appearing through the crowd, towards her and the man pressing himself against her.

"Leave her!" They shouted to the man, grasping tightly onto his shoulder and pulling him off of Charlotte. She couldn't tell if were a man or a woman's, but all she knew was that this person was helping her, and she was thankful for it.

"Back off and mind your own business," The man slurred, shoving the person away, turning back to Charlotte. He pressed his lips against hers once again, whacking her head against the brick wall once more.

But this didn't stop the blue-eyed person, as they pushed themselves up from the ground, and placed their hand firmly on his shoulder. "I said, leave her alone." The person said more forcefully, pulling the man around to face them. At that moment Charlotte slowly dropped to the floor, her vision failing as her head throbbed a constant rhythm. The feeling of warm liquid at the back of her head was the only thing she was aware of, finding it difficult to focus on anything.

She couldn't make sense of what was going on around her, the sounds blending together to make one large beat, her vision doubling, her limbs going cold and numb as she lay there.

She looked around to find Alice, but she was nowhere in sight. The tears were threatening to fall from her eyes, but even her fetal position her pride would not allow her. She could only worry about her friend silently. The last thing filling her vision was the sight of the two blue eyes before her, their voice panicking as they stared at her limp form.

Then everything went black.

How could this happen to them?

Ok, so after some good criticism from the lovely Kudomeya I have edited this proplogue in hopes of making it clearer and overall better. Hopefully things are easier to understand, and the small fued between Alice and Charlotte has been gotten rid of. Replaced it with the being the mens' fault only.

Tell me what you thought of it guys. I'm eager to see what people think of it so far. Yes, it is somewhat rushed and low quality but I wanted to get it out. I've been buzzing to do this for a while now ever since I lost interest in my other story (The Lunar Moon and The Knight, sorry guys D:).

But I hope to follow through with this story, but only if people review. If no one shows interest then I lose interest and then it takes me months to get chapters up. So please REVIEW :D

CRITICISMS ARE MOST WELCOMED

I LOVE YOU ALL ;D