New In Town

Chapter 2

Solene only had one thought. Run. She ran longer than she thought she was capable of. Once she was in a forest, the world blurred. She only saw green with the occasional grey. She didn't know where she was going. All she knew was to run in a complicated twist. Soon her brain barely registered that she was tired or hungry. For once in her live her mind was blank.

Then she burst out of the forest and all new colors blinded her. She stopped short, almost being hit by a car. But not just any car; It was a cab. In the first time she looked around. The flashing lights, fast car driving, skyscrapers and the advertisement tower…She was in New York. Not just in New York, but in Time Square. She looked up at the sky. The sun was setting in the sky. She had been running for almost a full day.

The thought made her tired. Then she realized something. She had no money, no place to stay, and not enough food to last long. Solene walked a little to wake herself up and to shake off the panic she was feeling. She was soon walking in Central Park before she realized it. She sank into a bench.

What was she gonna do? She wanted to slap herself for her stupidity for not thinking of this part. All she thought of was run away. Not the actual surviving part. She looked around her with disappointment until she saw something out the corner of her eye. Walking along the path towards her was a guy.

He was wearing a leather jacket, had a tan, and probably had tattoos on his arm. She knew instantly, he had money, a place to stay, and a good supply. But this all caught her attention second. The thing that made her turn her head was the fact that he was a faerie. A solitaire faerie. Solitaire faerie usually don't stay in tune with faerie news. And a run away princess was bound to stir up gossip.

Normally she didn't approach guys. They never really interested in them. But there was something about this one that was different from every other faerie she's seen.

Before she even registered the thought she was walking up to him.

"Hey." She said to him. He looked her over briefly with little interest.

"Hi." He answered before trying to step around her. But she cleverly blocked him, making it look natural for her to do that. He stared at her and something twisted at his gaze.

It was so intense. That kind of intensity wasn't from the Summer Court. It was impossible for one of them to look that intimidating. It was obvious he was the silent type. She smiled sweetly at the guy, liking him more and more.

"Look, I know this out of no where but I need your help." She said. She looked around and saw a guy with a card game that you knew was a scam. She smirked. "Wanna play a game?" He looked at her confused. She knew he probably crazy but that didn't mean he didn't follow her. They moved in front of the guy in front of the table. On it were three cards he kept shuffling.

"What's this game?" Solene asked. He smiled at her, seeing a potential sucker.

"Well, sweetheart, all you have to do is find the black queen." He explained.

"I want to play." She said before turning to the guy. He stared at her questioning her sanity. "Here's the deal. I'm new in town and I need a place to stay. And I know you have that."

"What do you want?" he asked suspicious. She smirked.

"I win; I get a place to live. You win and this never happened." She explained.

"No." he said. She grabbed his hand quickly something happened. Something and creeping up her arm, like an invisible force trying to pull her towards him. She took a little of his life force, so little he barely noticed, and the pull lessened. She knew what he was feeling. She could feel his pulse quickening at her powerful touch.

"Please." She whispered. She knew he could hear her clearly. He hesitated before going back to the table. The man smiled a sly smile before shuffling the cards. He shuffled the cards for a minute before stopping.

"Place your bets on the table." Solene placed a dollar she found earlier on the table. The con man looked at her surprised. She smiled sheepishly. The guy beside her sighed before putting a twenty dollar bill and a gold key on the table beside her dollar.

"Now you may pick your card." Con man said. Solene looked at the table. Niall taught her enough street-smarts to know that the card wasn't on the table. She looked at him a bit. Out the corner of her eye she saw a red corner under the table. She knew it was the card. She reached over and retrieved the card. The con man's jaw dropped. She held up- the card, showing the faerie guy.

"I'm guessing this is the black queen you're talking about." Solene said. The faerie shoulders sagged at the sight of the queen of spades. Solene smirked once again before grabbing the keys. The con man took the money, nodding at them.

"Y'all have a nice day." He told them. Solene nodded before walking away with the guy. They walked for a little bit.

The guy sped up a little leaving a few feet between them.

"Hey," she called out to him. "Can I get a name?" The guy looked around before appearing right in front of her. He scowled at her. Her smirk form earlier fell. Tension rose inside of her. She thought he wouldn't speak until he opened his mouth.

"Hawk." She relaxed.

"Solene." And just like that, she had something she never thought she'd have. A roommate.

*****

Hawk never thought this would happen to him. He's thought of a lot of possibilities that could happen in a crazy town like New York. But being con by a girl that didn't look a day over twenty was not one of them. He looked at this girl, Solene she claimed, and shook his head. He led her up the stairs of an apartment building. The building held apartments that were worth a middle class paycheck any day of the week. As he snuck glances at the girl he became more and more confused. She said she was new in town. But it seemed as though she was new to the world. She marveled to everything they pasted on there way here. He focused on climbing the stairs instead of the girl behind him.

Finally, he came to the door at the very top of the building. He opened the door to his home. He heard Solene gasp behind him. He turned to her. She gazed at the apartment before her.

It was a big as the entire floor. She could see two bedrooms and a bathroom further in the apartment.

"You can come in." Hawk told her. She blushed before coming in. She entered the room and looked around. She went to his mostly empty living room. She looked out the window which took up most of the wall it occupied. It led out an balcony. She went to the balcony. The sun was almost set. She looked at the last few minutes. One tradition she never minded that her mother did. She always watched the sunset and sunrise. She frowned at the thought of her mom. It felt like a weight was pressed to her chest and she couldn't lift it off. She put her head in hands. She tried to block out the images of her mom right now. She didn't she could deal with it.

Hawk watched Solene as she leaned on the balcony railing. She seemed suddenly sad. He let his thoughts wander to what happened to what seemed like a week ago, but was only about an hour ago. How had he accepted that bet? A she did was touch him and he was suddenly willing to do it. How had she done that?

Maybe that's how my victims feel. Hawk moved to the kitchen before he released the rest of those dangerous thoughts. Hawk never liked being a Gancanagh. It meant that his own skin was addictive to anyone unlucky enough to touch it. Everytime a female touched him, no matter how smart or strong, they instantly became an addict always asking for more and always dying off either from too much time in his arms or not enough. There was never a middle ground. He slammed his fist on the counter in frustration. He couldn't control it, no matter how much he wanted to. And now he had another victim living with him because she some how turned the tables on him.

"Hawk," said a timid voice. He turned to him. He knew she heard him slamming his fist. He just hoped she wouldn't ask about it. "Where should I put my stuff?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't tell her anything if she asked what was wrong.

Hawk's earlier tension left him. He guided her to the second bedroom. The inside of it had pale blue walls with a bed, dresser, and night stand. There was a small closet that was empty ready for her to fill. It made her feel more foreign than usual. She moved into the room, setting her bag down.

"Is that all you have?" Hawk asked her. She nodded. He didn't question her. He would save that for tomorrow. He seemed to be saving all his questions She looked out the window, which let in the moonlight that showed brilliantly. Solene sat on her new bed. It was different than her old bed, less familiar but still comfortable. She sinks into. Lazily she turns to Hawk whose still in the doorway.

"Thank you." She got up and approached him. She made sure there was enough distance between them, so they were both comfortable. "You really don't know how much you've helped me." She looked away but saw a small shadow of a smile on Hawk's face.

"No problem," he stretched a bit, showing that he was tired. "At least for tonight." We'll figure out the rest tomorrow. You've obviously had a long day." He stepped a little closer subconsciously. Hawk didn't notice. Solene did. "Good night, Solene."

"Good night, Hawk." She told him before closing her door for the night. Hawk went to the balcony. The crisp night air made him think straight. This can't be that bad. She seems like a nice girl. She kept her distance. He decided that he like her for it. As long as she keep arms length away from him they would be fine.

Solene seemed smart. She would find a job or something and things would go back to normal.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder who this girl was. This was rare for him. He usually kept his distance from females, for obvious reasons. This was the first girl that made him interested. He knew she wasn't human, that much was clear but she wasn't exactly a faerie.

He yawned, his eyes heavy. He stood up making his way to his room. He let out his shadows, which have been kept inside all day. When he passed Solene's room, they shadows acted strangely.

Usually they swayed in mid-air lazily. Now they surged like a magnet towards her room. Hawk called his shadows back. He went closer to Solene's door. His shadows suddenly got excited. He put his ear against the door, listening to Solene. She was asleep and totally unaware of what was happening. He backed away from the door and went to his room. His shadows went back to there lazy state. Hawk was confused. Why did his shadows act like that? He let them out again.

The shadows looked like they were stretching from a long day of containment. Hawk became mesmerized by these shadows as he always did no matter how much he looked at them. They just held so many secrets, some he can't even remember, and he couldn't help but be intrigued by them. He reached out and they moved towards his hand. The ones farther away seemed to stay closer to the door. That wasn't normal. They always came to him. They never were attracted to anyone but himself.

He shook his head as his body grew tired. That was another mystery for tomorrow. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. But no matter how deep he went into his conscious he couldn't shake the question from his head. Who is this girl, Solene?