Chapter VIII – Whoever brings the night

The road to London was as quite as the night allowed it to be. The wind blew softly and some lost birds flew as well towards the forest area. Not one car disturbed the calmness of this view. It was stoic, natural and almost as if it was stolen from a painting which belonged to a very talented artist. Which person could've been so ignorant, so selfish and so stupid to disturb this imagine?

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Of course, that person would be Nicole…

She stopped her scooter only a few minutes ago and parked it careless besides the road, near a wooden telephone pillar. It seemed she was rather busy…

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

…banging her head in the pillar? Without her helmet on? Yes, she did.

"Idiot… idiot… idiot… idiot…"

The banging was rhythmic along with her monotone voice. It was the girls punishment on her earlier action. How in the world could've she been so damn stupid and act so childish?! In front of that guy, Hagi?! She felt like slapping- no punching herself, but that would've consume too much energy, energy she wasn't ready to use. For the moment, this pillar was good enough to bang her head in.

This monotone action stopped with a louder bang and an almost yelled "idiot", which was unavoidable followed by an "ouch". The girl remained with her head pinned by the pillar with a pissed look on her face. Only when she remembered the second she jumped and hugged him her cheeks flushed a slight shade of pink. Not to mention, they turned red when she remembered the kiss. It was really out of character for her… 'Maybe the clothes are the ones to blame…" she tried to convince herself, but come on; blame the clothes? Why didn't she blame then the couch for her missing homework and the cooker for her headache? Yep, she was a genius…

Back at the orphanage, everything remained exactly as it was at Nicole's leaving. The rooms and halls were silent and everyone slept the night away. Almost everyone that is. In his and Saya's room, Hagi slowly made himself way inside the bathroom. It seemed one of the packs of blood meant for Saya wasn't sealed perfectly. The chevalier found this when he started to arrange things around the room. Almost half of that package was spilled on his dark gray coat, and now it required a proper cleaning. Thus him in the bathroom. The young man took off his coat and held it under a jet of cold water, in the sink, before letting it to dry on the edge of the bathtub.

The wet coat was hanging now lazily as the drops of water were dripping on the cold grit stone which covered the floor. Hagi, whom was wearing his white buttoned up shirt now, was had his arms pinned on the sides of the sink and left his whole body weight to be supported like this. His eyes watched as the water went down the pipes along with the excess of blood from his coat. In the silence of the bathroom, he head the dripping of the water so loud, his eyes slightly narrowed at the sound. It was so monotone and rhythmic, it could've drove a stressed man insane. Good thing his mind was clear and logic as it had always been.

Or was that so?...

The truth was his mind was concentrated only on one single thought; the one of the new orphan, Nicole. There were several things he did not understood, most of them were connected to their last one-on-one accidental meeting in the garage. When he stared in her eyes back there, he wasn't certain what he saw in them. Hope, disappointment and even sadness were mixed as she spoke, as she begged him for his cooperation. And after this, her eyes shone with gladness, excitement and even happiness. The girl fell so quickly from an extreme to the other, it made Hagi think she was emotionally unstable. This kind of 'disorder' appeared only when the person went through a rather hard time in his or her life. But did this child suffered before?

Hagi rose his head and stared for a few minutes at his own reflection. The experiences he had been through in the past century didn't seem to leave him any kind of marks, but he surely suffered a lot of torture and pain through the years. But his pain was only physical, and because of this he learned how to control his feeling and how to hide his emotion, mostly because of Saya. His queen never forgave herself for turning him into a chiropteran, so showing her his pain wouldn't helped at all. He was the man he saw in the mirror because of his long life's experience, and that was the blessing and the curse he had to carry with him for the rest of his existence.

But her? What about Nicole?

The person he had saw was so puzzled about everything, so confused about what she felt and when she felt, it truly brought a slight wave of sadness to Hagi. What she suffered was also a torture, but it wasn't physical it was spiritual. Standing there and thinking so deeply about these things, the man realized that it was true, she never had a motherly or fatherly figure in her life to take an example from. Or maybe if she had, a mother or a father, it wasn't the loving and gentle picture someone would imagine, but a brutally confusing figure which mislead Nicole as well. The only thing she had left, was to take parts of other person's personality features and simply add her to her own, creating the person she was today. It was no wonder now why she went from sadness and desperation to anxiety and anger, like the girl done when she ran in his room after her fight with Kai and missed her room, entering his own. Yes, he understood now why she was so happy when she was confirmed that he would lie for her this time in order for Nicole to sneak out unnoticed by anyone else.

But still, it was a bitter-sweet pleasure to finally understand this aspect of the girl. Hagi sighed deeply as he went into a standing position and leaned himself on the wall. He felt its coolness a lot better now, because his shirt was really thin material. But it didn't bother the man; he remained like this, eyes closed and arms hanging lazily by the sides of his body. On his tall forehead a small wrinkle appeared resulted from his concentration on his thoughts. Also, his teeth clenched inside his mouth, as Hagi realized something important. It was a mistake; he should had let her leave the house. With such a volcanic and confused personality, with such a stressed mind who knows in what mess she would've get herself into. Not to mention, her words 'if it proves to be safe' intrigued him the most. No, he done it wrong, he acted like a fool, he lied for her.

A cold hand slowly rose itself until it reached the young man's forehead. For the first time that night, he began to worry. If something bad happened to her, it would be his fault only…

London was a quite city at night. As she walked the main, pushing the scooter along with her, Nicole silently examined the surroundings. Only the lamps were lighting up the street, for every single house was dark inside, meaning its occupants were sleeping. For someone who didn't knew how to look, it seemed this town was a dead town, but for someone with 'experience', who knew where and how to look, the night was alive and ready to party. Nicole's eyes flushed at the corners as she saw how the gangs and crews were gathering. She knew the process very well; they met in separated places, one by one and never all in the same place. The second in 'command' was the first who came out and went to the fixed places where their met one of their partners. The process repeated itself, as they moved from place to place, from street to street until she met their leader, who joined the crew the last, and only after this they went in the underworlds. The girl had to admit, she was rather surprised it was the very same procedure here as it was back in NY. Rumors went around quite fast…

But what did surprise her was how the crews and their members looked like. Back home, they each had their own style, which was pretty simple, with baggy clothes, beanies and headbands, to allow them to move around better, but here it was very different. The people were dressed in dark colors and in the light of the lamps it showed out most of their clothing was made out of leather. Both girls and guys had really complicated haircuts, which it was clear that they needed at least an hour to fix, and despite the simple and clean style she was used with, these dancers had a lot of colorful and maybe heavy accessories. Were they even going to dance with those, or just stand and be careful not to make any sudden moves and ruin their haircut?

Her eyes blinked when for just a mere moment, another person's eyes were pinned on her. Closing her slightly dropped mouth, Nicole returned the look with a glare, making the person to nod and mind his own business. Even the signs were the same…

She shook her head a little. It was time for her to find her way around. Hopping in the scooter's seat and fixing the helmet on her head, the girl drove on the main street until she reached a great cross-road. She stopped and looked around a little. In front of her was the famous Big Ben clock tower, and around it were several smaller streets which weren't even lit up properly. She had to admit, the girl always thought this place would be a little more..impressive? Now that she saw it, it kinda disappointed her because it was pretty ordinary. She was expecting a lot more. Singing and pinning her head in her fist, the girl was deep in thought. The clock showed already 11:42 and if the rules was the same here too, after midnight they wont allow anyone else to enter the underworlds.

Nicole closed her eyes and tilted her head to a side. Well, she tried, if she wasn't going to get any action that night… she will just to back and pretend it never happened. Turning her head even more at a side, she opened her eyes again to see the ad posted on a bus station's glass walls. 'Condoms…' she thought as she saw the famous brand Durex written above it. The message it came with the ad, 'Wanna see Big Ben?', made her chuckle slightly. 'What a name they found to call a dick…' she thought to herself as her eyes rose themselves again to the enormous clock tower.

Wait a minute. Dick. Big Ben. London. Durex.

Nicole's eyes widen in surprise as she realized something. Jumping off of her seat, her eyes remained on the tower. Big Ben was 'the great dick of London'! as soon as she said that mentally, she burst out laughing. Well, that surely was a really original way to announce the location!

As soon as she calmed herself down, the girl wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes, careful enough not to damage her black panda-eyes make up, she grabbed the handles of the scooter and rushed towards the streets behind the great tower. She wasn't going to loose any more time. She knew those lights did not came from any lamps, and other punks and Goths were aiming the same way as she was. It was now or never…

Back in NY, they called their places the 'underworlds' because they really were forgotten places, such as old schools, underground parking lots, storehouses, and places that were abandoned, and where people feared to enter. The music was produced by great stereo boxes, and the lights were simple, meant only to make the dancers look better to the public. Most of the times, they were the lights of the cars parked in the area. The music was mixed by the same DJ each time, the one they called Smiles, and the atmosphere was familiar since a few people participated and everybody came to dance and enjoy themselves. It was just like they were all one big united family.

But the 'undergrounds' in London were nothing like that.

The place where the battles were held turned out to be a really big storehouse, which was turned in the biggest night club she had ever seen. There were no windows, only the front door, and the walls were painted in a dark blue-ish color. The girl didn't manage to identify it precisely, mostly because of the blinding clubbing lights. The ring where they danced was simple and it occupied most of the area. Also, the decoration reminded her of London and its anarchy thing. The music wasn't played by a DJ, and it was mostly rock music, and sometimes a rough rap, not freestyle as it was back home.

Nicole had to admit, she was pretty disappointed. The only thing that really impressed her were the dance crews. They had some pretty nice moves, and they really made a nice remix between the rock music they listened and the break dancing moves. Other then this, it wasn't really her cup of tea. She was an open minded person, she accepted all kinds of music, and there were a few types of rock she really enjoyed, but still, if she wasn't dressed like that, there was no way she could've been allowed inside, with or without the invite on her phone.

Nicole sat at the bar, as her fingers played with the straws on the table. The battles were over, and everybody was dancing free on the ring and pretty much wherever they caught a free spot. Just like they done in a normal club, only on hardcore music. Her chin was pinned on her fist as her eyes stared blankly somewhere behind the bar table. She just waited for something interesting to happen before she would go out again and go back at Gray's. She wondered if Hagi really kept his promise and keep his lips sewed together about her missing. 'Hagi…?' she thought as her eyes blinked at his name. Her mind painted a picture of him when he first came to open her the door, at her arrival, in the park, when she rushed inside his room and at the garage, only a few hours earlier.

She didn't knew why, but she wondered deeply about his right hand. Maybe he had an accident which resulted a scar or something, and it was so nasty he wanted to keep it hidden, right? It did made sense, but still, the girl wasn't fully convinced on this theory. Maybe it was nothing important at all. After all, it was his own business, right? Right?!

Her head dropped and made a rough contact with the wood of the bar table. The impact was loud enough to cause the liquid inside a person's glass to shake a little, making several ripples. Its owner grabbed the glass and turned his head towards where he heard (or better said felt) the thud. 'A new girl…?' he asked himself as he ran his fingers through his jet black colored hair, grabbing one green colored streak in the process and wrapping it around his fingers a couple of times before letting it go.

Nicole moaned her time away as she kept the contact between her face and the table. If anyone would've saw her, their would've guess she was too drunk to even think, but the truth was she was bored. Bored and tired… Maybe it was time after all to go home; this wasn't her kind of place anyways… Little did she knew behind the tall table, a certain bartender was ready to surprise her in a rather unusual way. Rising himself slowly and careful enough not to be noticed, the black haired guy went close to her ear and called quite loud "Pizza time!"

"Whaaa!" the girl shouted as she quickly rose her head and scanned the area. What the heck happened?! It was only after she heard a male's laughter when she figured out she was the victim of a prank. Narrowing her eyes, she shot him a glare. "What the fuck were you thinking!?" she shouted in his face as she hit the table with her fist. The guy just continued to laugh and several seconds later he wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Sorry pal, but that was waaaay to appealing...!" he told her as he kept a wide grin planted on his face. When she inspected him closer, Nicole could've sworn he had a joker-face…

"Oh yeah? How appealing does it sound to suddenly become unable to reproduce?" she asked him as her eyes kept digging holes through his body. She surely was pissed, but he done nothing but put his hands in front of his face, defensively.

"Chill down, ok? How about a cold one? My treat?" he offered as he pulled from behind him two green glass bottles, pushing one in front of Nicole. The girl took it and shot it a curious look. All those lights flushing away made reading impossible, so the only method in checking out its contents was, obliviously, tasting it. After a full gulp she pulled the bottle away from her lips. Citrus flavored tequila? Or was it beer? This was a woman's drink, since it had a really sweet taste. She was rather surprised when she had saw him also drinking the very same liquid. She always thought guys hated sweet drinks.

"Well…" she started as she gathered her words. "I never refuse a cold one, especially if someone else's paying." Nicole gave him a slight smirk as she kept a hint of a glare in her eyes. She wasn't surprised when she saw him staring back. He had his torso weight supported only by his crossed arms, which were pinned on the table. Also, a small smile curved his lips as he noticed her features.

"The name's Jordan." He simply told her as his smile got wider. Inwardly, she had returned him slime with one of her own, as she placed the bottle to her lips again and took another two big sips from it. This proved to be an interesting night after all…

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: So damn late! sorry, but i can't really say much now. Ok, from here it might get interesting. Jordan is the average good-looking flirt... and his new target is Nicole, but still, this is not an OC x OC so...just hope the next chapter will be here soon! I think it will be pretty cute ^^ Review pleaseee!