I guess it's been a few weeks since my last chapter - kind of hard to
write/post a story when no one seems to read and review it, but anyway,
since I've all ready started... Blah, blah, blah... Yada, yada, yada...
On with the next chapter...
Nightmares Hell Queen - thanks for the compliment! (
Chapter 8
I sit there holding my stomach thinking that I'm such a fool. I look at my hands. "There's so much blood." I close my eyes tightly and think to myself how much this hurts. I get up slowly wondering what I should do next. If I go back into the club Nikki will wonder what happened, and if I leave, she'll definitely be mad at me again. I walk towards the opening of the back door.
Why didn't he finish me? I can still see his demon face and hear his raspy voice, "I'll see you around, Honey. Don't you go dying on me; I'm not done with you yet. Let's just say, 'it was nice to meet you'." Then remembering that he had kissed me after he had removed the knife from my stomach, I wince and wipe my mouth disgusted.
"Arggh!!" I say angrily.
I stand against the wall holding my stomach and wishing that the pain would subside. Without a second thought, I enter the back door and go into the women's bathroom. A couple of women stare at me in horror seeing the blood that covered the front of my shirt and my hands.
I ignore them and head for the sinks. I place my hand at the side of the sink for support and turn on the water. I see the blood slowly dripping from my hand into the center. "Uhh..." I feel like I'm going to be sick.
I look in the mirror to make sure my face looks okay. Besides the fact that my hair's a little tousled, there's nothing else wrong. I go back to washing my hands.
I unbutton my blouse to examine my wound. It's hard to see anything. There's so much blood. I grab some paper towels and slowly wipe the blood from my midsection. It doesn't seem to hurt as much, and the bleeding seems to have stopped. I grab more paper towels and soak them under the water to help with the drying blood.
I'm just about through cleaning up all the blood from my skin, and I notice that there isn't a hole or cut.
"What?" I look back at my blood soaked shirt and feel for the hole. I place the front of my shirt under the running water to clean the blood off. The water turns crimson. I ring out the water and what's left of the blood, and spread my shirt out in front of me. I see the hole and poke my finger through it. I lift my shirt and feel my stomach again. Thinking that I might be looking in the wrong place, I lay my shirt flat against my stomach and look to see where the hole laid. I poke my finger through the hole again. Nothing.
"What? I know I was stabbed. There's blood all over the place and... I felt it." I say lifting my shirt and looking again.
The door opens to the bathroom and a couple of women enter. I act like nothing's wrong and remove my shirt to clean the rest of the blood and the slime.
**********
Dante is sitting at the foot of the bed holding his stomach wondering what the hell happened. He felt a connection to something, but he does not know to who or what. Thinking he must have just eaten something bad, he shakes the notion from his mind and heads for the door. He grabs his jacket, a dagger, Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory, and walks out.
"Now, I've got to find out what's going on. But first, I've got to find Alma." He says to himself.
Walking through the hotel lobby people are staring at him in shock. A kid points at Dante and says, "Mommy, I want to be just like him! I want a sword just like his." He yanks at his moms dress, "Huh, huh, Mommy?"
Dante walks by and winks at the boy.
The mother grabs her son's hand and ushers him away, "These locals are weird."
Dante laughs at the lady's remark.
After exiting the hotel, Dante pauses a bit wondering which direction to head. "She's around here somewhere. I can feel her close by." As if by instinct, he heads in the direction of Roxy's.
Walking down the sidewalk, Dante is stopped by a local police officer. The officer says something in Turkish, but Dante doesn't know the language so he shakes his head.
The officer sighs and says in English, "You have a permit for..." and points to the sword on Dante's back.
"Oh. Uh, well, you see, it's not real. It's a prop." Dante says trying to come up with an excuse.
"Prop?" the officer says confused.
"Yeah, prop..." Dante stops and thinks. "Uhhh, " he snaps his fingers trying to think of another word, "it's not real... fake?"
The officer gives him an uh-huh look and motions for Dante to give him Rebellion.
Dante sighs, "Uh... That's not going to work. Sorry." And with that Dante runs and double jumps to the roof of one of the buildings.
Running along the rooftops, Dante can hear the Turkish cop blowing his whistle. Dante shakes his head thinking, if only that cop knew what the hell was actually going on around him, he'd think twice about blowing his whistle at a demon slayer. By now, the whistle is fading in the distance. Dante smiles knowing that the demon blood in him has its advantages.
**********
I guess I'll dry this under the hand dryer, it'll be better than walking out in it wet, I think to myself. Just when I think everything's going to be okay, I sense a presence.
"Shit, not again." I say trying to put my shirt back on.
I walk out the bathroom, and there's a man in his early to mid forties standing by the back door. He's in a suit and tie. I act like I don't notice him and continue to walk back into the crowd.
"Uh, excuse me, Ms. Lyn." I feel a hand gently grab my arm.
Noticing his touch didn't make my skin crawl, I turn around and pretend that he didn't startle me, "Yes?"
"May I have a word with you in private?" He says smiling.
I hesitate a bit, "How do you know my name?"
"I have some information that may be of importance to you." He says looking at me and ignoring my question.
"I think you have the wrong person." I say walking away.
He yells behind me, "It's about a fellow named Dante!"
I stop and turn back around. I turn my head to find Nikki, but she's too busy with her new buddies. I take a deep breath and walk back to the man.
"Can we go somewhere so that I don't have to yell!" I say yelling.
He nods his head.
He points towards the back door. I eye him suspiciously. He opens the back door for me and there is a limo waiting.
"In there?" I ask even more suspicious.
"Don't worry, Ms. Lyn. I'm not here to hurt you, just to warn you." He says opening the door of the limo.
As I'm entering the limo, I shake my head slightly thinking to myself, what did I get myself into now?
The man enters the limo and sits opposite me. The limo starts to drive off. I give him a look.
"Don't worry, the driver will drop you off at the front of Roxy's once we're through talking." He says trying to ease my nerves.
I nod my head, "Okay, what do you want to tell me?" I don't want to say too much just in case it may be a trap, but he knows Dante. That's enough to spark my interest. I sit and wait for an answer.
"I didn't want to make it obvious that you were being watched." He pauses.
"I was being watched?" I say. My brow lifts.
"But earlier today, when you were at the museum with your friend, we were following a man. A very dangerous man."
"Okay, what does this have to do with me?" Thinking to myself that he obviously wasn't only following the dangerous man.
"For some reason, he has his eyes set on you... And we want to make sure you're not in trouble. You may want to keep your distance."
"And who is this guy?"
"Well, his name is Dante. He's... sort of wanted. Like I said, a very dangerous man."
Of course, I'm not at all surprised by his answer. "And how do I know I can trust what you're saying? You may be lying to protect yourselves." I say trying to pry for more information.
"Well, we know that he deals with the black arts. Friends with the devil, if you might say so."
"And who are you guys? FBI? CIA? Scully and Mulder?" I ask trying to be funny.
"No. Just someone who wants to help." He replies not laughing.
"Why would you want to help me? I don't know you and... like I said, why would you want to help me?" I state curiously realizing he's definitely not a local.
He looks as though he doesn't know what to tell me. "Well, Dante, for some reason, has taken a liking to you. We don't want anyone else involved that doesn't need to be..." He pauses, I think for a dramatic effect. "You see, he's killed many."
I stare without an expression. Dante's some kind of serial killer? "Uh, okay." I say trying not to show any emotion. I quickly change the subject. "You still haven't told me who you are. You know who I am and I don't know how you found that out, but could you at least tell me your name."
He smiles, "Very well. The name's Fulton."
"That's all? Just Fulton?" I ask. Does everyone go by only one name, I think to myself.
I look at him trying to figure him out. I don't feel anything. He doesn't give me the heebie jeebies, but I did feel something before he showed up.
Trying to end this little meeting, I say, "Well, I'll be careful."
"Please, Ms. Lyn, you need to be more than just careful. You probably... ahem... I don't want to scare you, but you need to fear for your life. Especially your friend's."
"Are you threatening my friend's life? Why don't you people just leave her alone? She's not bothering anyone."
He touches my hand and kind of says in an apologetic way, "I'm sorry, I'm not threatening your friend's life. I'm just saying that since Dante wants you, he may go after your friend to get your attention. That's all I'm saying."
"And why do you think he wants me? I'm no one." I ask warily.
Fulton smiles slightly. "You're special."
"Uh, huh... " I say not believing him thinking this conversation is going in circles. "Are you done? Cause I'd like to go if this conversation is over." I say a little annoyed now.
He smiles and nods then motions for the driver to head back to Roxy's.
**********
I stand there looking at the back of the limo as it's pulling away.
What the hell was that all about? I scratch my head. What would Dante want with me? Do I trust what he's saying? Who's he to tell me...these things? I take a deep breath and head back into the club.
"Alma, who was that?" I hear Nikki's voice.
I see her standing by the entrance. She starts walking towards me.
"You saw a limo and had to see who it was, huh? Disappointed?" I say sarcastically.
"Please..." She rolls her eyes. "Did you meet a rich foreign guy?" She asks as her face brightens.
"No. Mistaken identity kind of thing."
"Was he trying to sell you something? Or was he trying to buy you??" She asks almost hysterical.
"No, nothing like that..." I shake my head, "He just thought I was someone he knew and when he stopped, he realized I wasn't the person."
"But I saw you get out of it."
I stare at her. Oh great. What do I say now?
"You did get out of it, right?"
I sigh. "Okay, okay, he was trying to hire my services. I got in and gave him my services..." I lift an eyebrow and wait for an answer.
"What?!" She screams.
I laugh and reply, "With my fists."
She stares at me. I think she's about to blow a fuse.
She slaps my arm and shouts, "God, you can be an asshole sometimes." Then she pouts, "That's not funny."
"Sorry." I say.
She's still pouting.
"Let's just go back to the hotel and get some sleep. I'm tired." I say trying to sound convincing.
"You go, I'm gonna stay here a little longer. Phillip wants me to go somewhere else with him."
An eyebrow lifts, "Phillip?" I ask perplexed.
"Yeah, he's a nice guy... and..."
I interrupt, "I don't think you should go anywhere with some stranger."
"Why? You were with Dante."
"But..." I stammer trying to think of a good excuse, "Dante's different and, and... We're in a foreign country. There's a lot of weirdos out there. They may kidnap you or worse."
She ignores the warning and questions my explanation of Dante, "What's different about Dante, huh?"
My lips purse and I stand there angry. "Argh. Fine! You go with Phillip or whatever his name is! Don't say I didn't warn you! And, for your information, I'm not with Dante, am I?!" I walk away pissed and without looking at her, I yell, "If you get hurt, don't come crying to me!"
"Humph!" She yells, "You're such a bitch!"
**********
Unbeknownst to me, someone watches in the shadows. Far enough not be seen, and far enough not to be felt.
**********
Dante is standing on a rooftop looking down. He sees me in the distance. I don't notice his presence because I'm so caught up in Nikki's naivety.
"Hi, Dante."
He looks away from my direction. "Trish." He says slightly surprised.
"I'm amazed that you didn't notice I was standing here, nor sensed me."
"I..."
"Did you find a new play toy?" She teases.
He glares at her wondering what she's doing in Turkey.
"Oh, don't give me that look. You haven't seen me in a while and I don't get so much as a 'hey, how yah doin?' from you?" She sighs, "You're getting to be a man of very little words."
"What are you doing here, Babe?" He asks a little suspicious.
"Humph... See?" She puts her hands on her hips and taps her foot.
"..." Dante stands there with no change in demeanor.
A little annoyed, Trish says, "Oh, very well... I heard you needed help."
"Needed help? Who told you that?"
"You called and left a message at my place." Trish claims.
Dante gives her this yeah-sure look.
Trish says dryly, "Gee, I love you too."
Dante is now looking back in my direction.
Trish walks up next him and hugs him hard.
"Trish?! What the...?" He says trying to pry her off him.
"I don't bite, Dante. I just want a hug. Can't you give me that much?"
Dante sighs and hugs her lightly.
I feel a presence. I know that feeling. It's Dante. Wait, there's something else. I look around trying to sense where. I walk a few more steps and something catches my attention on the rooftops. I look up and observe Dante and a blonde haired woman getting a little friendly with each other. At least, that's what it looks like to me. Of course, why should I care?
I stand there for a moment not moving. Who is that chick? She's sure emitting some kind of energy. It's not the same kind of feeling I felt from the guy I bumped into or the guy who kicked my ass. This one's a little different, actually, significantly different. Pure evil.
Disgusted, I continue walking towards the hotel. I stop. Wait a minute. Didn't Fulton say that Dante's dangerous? I better hurry and hide before he sees me.
I run into the lobby of the hotel and realize Nikki may be in danger. What do I do now? I need to sit down and gather my thoughts. I need to rationally think about this. I decide to sit in the bar so that I would have a good view of the front door. I lean up against the counter and place my forehead into the palm of my hand. I must find out what's going on. Everything's so confusing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the bartender moving my way. "Hi, Ma'am. What would you like to drink?"
I look at the bartender, "uh, beer?"
**********
"Okay, Trish, you can let go now." Dante slowly pulls her arms away from his neck.
"Sorry", she says while moving her foot as if embarrassed, "I just missed you that's all."
Dante smirks. He looks back onto the streets and notices I have disappeared.
"Who you looking for?" Trish queries.
"A friend."
"Guy? Girl?" Trish curiously asks.
Dante makes a side glance and ignores the question.
Trish eyes him, "Oh?"
Dante moves to the next rooftop to get a better view. He looks back to see if Trish is following close behind. She's nowhere to be seen.
Nightmares Hell Queen - thanks for the compliment! (
Chapter 8
I sit there holding my stomach thinking that I'm such a fool. I look at my hands. "There's so much blood." I close my eyes tightly and think to myself how much this hurts. I get up slowly wondering what I should do next. If I go back into the club Nikki will wonder what happened, and if I leave, she'll definitely be mad at me again. I walk towards the opening of the back door.
Why didn't he finish me? I can still see his demon face and hear his raspy voice, "I'll see you around, Honey. Don't you go dying on me; I'm not done with you yet. Let's just say, 'it was nice to meet you'." Then remembering that he had kissed me after he had removed the knife from my stomach, I wince and wipe my mouth disgusted.
"Arggh!!" I say angrily.
I stand against the wall holding my stomach and wishing that the pain would subside. Without a second thought, I enter the back door and go into the women's bathroom. A couple of women stare at me in horror seeing the blood that covered the front of my shirt and my hands.
I ignore them and head for the sinks. I place my hand at the side of the sink for support and turn on the water. I see the blood slowly dripping from my hand into the center. "Uhh..." I feel like I'm going to be sick.
I look in the mirror to make sure my face looks okay. Besides the fact that my hair's a little tousled, there's nothing else wrong. I go back to washing my hands.
I unbutton my blouse to examine my wound. It's hard to see anything. There's so much blood. I grab some paper towels and slowly wipe the blood from my midsection. It doesn't seem to hurt as much, and the bleeding seems to have stopped. I grab more paper towels and soak them under the water to help with the drying blood.
I'm just about through cleaning up all the blood from my skin, and I notice that there isn't a hole or cut.
"What?" I look back at my blood soaked shirt and feel for the hole. I place the front of my shirt under the running water to clean the blood off. The water turns crimson. I ring out the water and what's left of the blood, and spread my shirt out in front of me. I see the hole and poke my finger through it. I lift my shirt and feel my stomach again. Thinking that I might be looking in the wrong place, I lay my shirt flat against my stomach and look to see where the hole laid. I poke my finger through the hole again. Nothing.
"What? I know I was stabbed. There's blood all over the place and... I felt it." I say lifting my shirt and looking again.
The door opens to the bathroom and a couple of women enter. I act like nothing's wrong and remove my shirt to clean the rest of the blood and the slime.
**********
Dante is sitting at the foot of the bed holding his stomach wondering what the hell happened. He felt a connection to something, but he does not know to who or what. Thinking he must have just eaten something bad, he shakes the notion from his mind and heads for the door. He grabs his jacket, a dagger, Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory, and walks out.
"Now, I've got to find out what's going on. But first, I've got to find Alma." He says to himself.
Walking through the hotel lobby people are staring at him in shock. A kid points at Dante and says, "Mommy, I want to be just like him! I want a sword just like his." He yanks at his moms dress, "Huh, huh, Mommy?"
Dante walks by and winks at the boy.
The mother grabs her son's hand and ushers him away, "These locals are weird."
Dante laughs at the lady's remark.
After exiting the hotel, Dante pauses a bit wondering which direction to head. "She's around here somewhere. I can feel her close by." As if by instinct, he heads in the direction of Roxy's.
Walking down the sidewalk, Dante is stopped by a local police officer. The officer says something in Turkish, but Dante doesn't know the language so he shakes his head.
The officer sighs and says in English, "You have a permit for..." and points to the sword on Dante's back.
"Oh. Uh, well, you see, it's not real. It's a prop." Dante says trying to come up with an excuse.
"Prop?" the officer says confused.
"Yeah, prop..." Dante stops and thinks. "Uhhh, " he snaps his fingers trying to think of another word, "it's not real... fake?"
The officer gives him an uh-huh look and motions for Dante to give him Rebellion.
Dante sighs, "Uh... That's not going to work. Sorry." And with that Dante runs and double jumps to the roof of one of the buildings.
Running along the rooftops, Dante can hear the Turkish cop blowing his whistle. Dante shakes his head thinking, if only that cop knew what the hell was actually going on around him, he'd think twice about blowing his whistle at a demon slayer. By now, the whistle is fading in the distance. Dante smiles knowing that the demon blood in him has its advantages.
**********
I guess I'll dry this under the hand dryer, it'll be better than walking out in it wet, I think to myself. Just when I think everything's going to be okay, I sense a presence.
"Shit, not again." I say trying to put my shirt back on.
I walk out the bathroom, and there's a man in his early to mid forties standing by the back door. He's in a suit and tie. I act like I don't notice him and continue to walk back into the crowd.
"Uh, excuse me, Ms. Lyn." I feel a hand gently grab my arm.
Noticing his touch didn't make my skin crawl, I turn around and pretend that he didn't startle me, "Yes?"
"May I have a word with you in private?" He says smiling.
I hesitate a bit, "How do you know my name?"
"I have some information that may be of importance to you." He says looking at me and ignoring my question.
"I think you have the wrong person." I say walking away.
He yells behind me, "It's about a fellow named Dante!"
I stop and turn back around. I turn my head to find Nikki, but she's too busy with her new buddies. I take a deep breath and walk back to the man.
"Can we go somewhere so that I don't have to yell!" I say yelling.
He nods his head.
He points towards the back door. I eye him suspiciously. He opens the back door for me and there is a limo waiting.
"In there?" I ask even more suspicious.
"Don't worry, Ms. Lyn. I'm not here to hurt you, just to warn you." He says opening the door of the limo.
As I'm entering the limo, I shake my head slightly thinking to myself, what did I get myself into now?
The man enters the limo and sits opposite me. The limo starts to drive off. I give him a look.
"Don't worry, the driver will drop you off at the front of Roxy's once we're through talking." He says trying to ease my nerves.
I nod my head, "Okay, what do you want to tell me?" I don't want to say too much just in case it may be a trap, but he knows Dante. That's enough to spark my interest. I sit and wait for an answer.
"I didn't want to make it obvious that you were being watched." He pauses.
"I was being watched?" I say. My brow lifts.
"But earlier today, when you were at the museum with your friend, we were following a man. A very dangerous man."
"Okay, what does this have to do with me?" Thinking to myself that he obviously wasn't only following the dangerous man.
"For some reason, he has his eyes set on you... And we want to make sure you're not in trouble. You may want to keep your distance."
"And who is this guy?"
"Well, his name is Dante. He's... sort of wanted. Like I said, a very dangerous man."
Of course, I'm not at all surprised by his answer. "And how do I know I can trust what you're saying? You may be lying to protect yourselves." I say trying to pry for more information.
"Well, we know that he deals with the black arts. Friends with the devil, if you might say so."
"And who are you guys? FBI? CIA? Scully and Mulder?" I ask trying to be funny.
"No. Just someone who wants to help." He replies not laughing.
"Why would you want to help me? I don't know you and... like I said, why would you want to help me?" I state curiously realizing he's definitely not a local.
He looks as though he doesn't know what to tell me. "Well, Dante, for some reason, has taken a liking to you. We don't want anyone else involved that doesn't need to be..." He pauses, I think for a dramatic effect. "You see, he's killed many."
I stare without an expression. Dante's some kind of serial killer? "Uh, okay." I say trying not to show any emotion. I quickly change the subject. "You still haven't told me who you are. You know who I am and I don't know how you found that out, but could you at least tell me your name."
He smiles, "Very well. The name's Fulton."
"That's all? Just Fulton?" I ask. Does everyone go by only one name, I think to myself.
I look at him trying to figure him out. I don't feel anything. He doesn't give me the heebie jeebies, but I did feel something before he showed up.
Trying to end this little meeting, I say, "Well, I'll be careful."
"Please, Ms. Lyn, you need to be more than just careful. You probably... ahem... I don't want to scare you, but you need to fear for your life. Especially your friend's."
"Are you threatening my friend's life? Why don't you people just leave her alone? She's not bothering anyone."
He touches my hand and kind of says in an apologetic way, "I'm sorry, I'm not threatening your friend's life. I'm just saying that since Dante wants you, he may go after your friend to get your attention. That's all I'm saying."
"And why do you think he wants me? I'm no one." I ask warily.
Fulton smiles slightly. "You're special."
"Uh, huh... " I say not believing him thinking this conversation is going in circles. "Are you done? Cause I'd like to go if this conversation is over." I say a little annoyed now.
He smiles and nods then motions for the driver to head back to Roxy's.
**********
I stand there looking at the back of the limo as it's pulling away.
What the hell was that all about? I scratch my head. What would Dante want with me? Do I trust what he's saying? Who's he to tell me...these things? I take a deep breath and head back into the club.
"Alma, who was that?" I hear Nikki's voice.
I see her standing by the entrance. She starts walking towards me.
"You saw a limo and had to see who it was, huh? Disappointed?" I say sarcastically.
"Please..." She rolls her eyes. "Did you meet a rich foreign guy?" She asks as her face brightens.
"No. Mistaken identity kind of thing."
"Was he trying to sell you something? Or was he trying to buy you??" She asks almost hysterical.
"No, nothing like that..." I shake my head, "He just thought I was someone he knew and when he stopped, he realized I wasn't the person."
"But I saw you get out of it."
I stare at her. Oh great. What do I say now?
"You did get out of it, right?"
I sigh. "Okay, okay, he was trying to hire my services. I got in and gave him my services..." I lift an eyebrow and wait for an answer.
"What?!" She screams.
I laugh and reply, "With my fists."
She stares at me. I think she's about to blow a fuse.
She slaps my arm and shouts, "God, you can be an asshole sometimes." Then she pouts, "That's not funny."
"Sorry." I say.
She's still pouting.
"Let's just go back to the hotel and get some sleep. I'm tired." I say trying to sound convincing.
"You go, I'm gonna stay here a little longer. Phillip wants me to go somewhere else with him."
An eyebrow lifts, "Phillip?" I ask perplexed.
"Yeah, he's a nice guy... and..."
I interrupt, "I don't think you should go anywhere with some stranger."
"Why? You were with Dante."
"But..." I stammer trying to think of a good excuse, "Dante's different and, and... We're in a foreign country. There's a lot of weirdos out there. They may kidnap you or worse."
She ignores the warning and questions my explanation of Dante, "What's different about Dante, huh?"
My lips purse and I stand there angry. "Argh. Fine! You go with Phillip or whatever his name is! Don't say I didn't warn you! And, for your information, I'm not with Dante, am I?!" I walk away pissed and without looking at her, I yell, "If you get hurt, don't come crying to me!"
"Humph!" She yells, "You're such a bitch!"
**********
Unbeknownst to me, someone watches in the shadows. Far enough not be seen, and far enough not to be felt.
**********
Dante is standing on a rooftop looking down. He sees me in the distance. I don't notice his presence because I'm so caught up in Nikki's naivety.
"Hi, Dante."
He looks away from my direction. "Trish." He says slightly surprised.
"I'm amazed that you didn't notice I was standing here, nor sensed me."
"I..."
"Did you find a new play toy?" She teases.
He glares at her wondering what she's doing in Turkey.
"Oh, don't give me that look. You haven't seen me in a while and I don't get so much as a 'hey, how yah doin?' from you?" She sighs, "You're getting to be a man of very little words."
"What are you doing here, Babe?" He asks a little suspicious.
"Humph... See?" She puts her hands on her hips and taps her foot.
"..." Dante stands there with no change in demeanor.
A little annoyed, Trish says, "Oh, very well... I heard you needed help."
"Needed help? Who told you that?"
"You called and left a message at my place." Trish claims.
Dante gives her this yeah-sure look.
Trish says dryly, "Gee, I love you too."
Dante is now looking back in my direction.
Trish walks up next him and hugs him hard.
"Trish?! What the...?" He says trying to pry her off him.
"I don't bite, Dante. I just want a hug. Can't you give me that much?"
Dante sighs and hugs her lightly.
I feel a presence. I know that feeling. It's Dante. Wait, there's something else. I look around trying to sense where. I walk a few more steps and something catches my attention on the rooftops. I look up and observe Dante and a blonde haired woman getting a little friendly with each other. At least, that's what it looks like to me. Of course, why should I care?
I stand there for a moment not moving. Who is that chick? She's sure emitting some kind of energy. It's not the same kind of feeling I felt from the guy I bumped into or the guy who kicked my ass. This one's a little different, actually, significantly different. Pure evil.
Disgusted, I continue walking towards the hotel. I stop. Wait a minute. Didn't Fulton say that Dante's dangerous? I better hurry and hide before he sees me.
I run into the lobby of the hotel and realize Nikki may be in danger. What do I do now? I need to sit down and gather my thoughts. I need to rationally think about this. I decide to sit in the bar so that I would have a good view of the front door. I lean up against the counter and place my forehead into the palm of my hand. I must find out what's going on. Everything's so confusing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the bartender moving my way. "Hi, Ma'am. What would you like to drink?"
I look at the bartender, "uh, beer?"
**********
"Okay, Trish, you can let go now." Dante slowly pulls her arms away from his neck.
"Sorry", she says while moving her foot as if embarrassed, "I just missed you that's all."
Dante smirks. He looks back onto the streets and notices I have disappeared.
"Who you looking for?" Trish queries.
"A friend."
"Guy? Girl?" Trish curiously asks.
Dante makes a side glance and ignores the question.
Trish eyes him, "Oh?"
Dante moves to the next rooftop to get a better view. He looks back to see if Trish is following close behind. She's nowhere to be seen.