Chapter IX – Not As Innocent As It Appears…

Hagi kept his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall, guarding Saya as he always done. His queen was sleeping, downstairs Monique was sleeping, in the other rooms, David, Kai and everyone else was sleeping. Only he remained sober. It was one of those moments in which the chevalier wished to drift away in his own dream word, as humans did, but he knew that was impossible. Not that he wasn't able to sleep, but as long as he was alive, he needed to be Saya's eyes and ears, to protect and be by her side forever and more. No, she was able to close eyes and let his mind to be carried away, far away, in a world known only by him, but he did not wanted to do that. Even more, he wanted to remain awake to be sure the orphan he lied for will keep for promise.

His eyes flushed open as they were pinned quickly on the clock which was hanged above the sleeping girl's bed. It showed there were exactly 20 minutes until 3;00 a.m., the time which was known by some people as Devil's hour. Hagi narrowed his eyes at the thought. From what he learned, people say at this hour bad things happed, for the evil demons from Hell are realized into the world of living, and make fun of the ones who did not sleep. Also, curses, spells and magic used to be performed at this hour a long time ago.

The young man closed his eyes once again. Just silly stories meant to make little children go to sleep earlier. For as long as he knew, nothing bad happened at this hour neither to him or Saya. Even more, he was turned into a chevalier at daytime, Riku's death and birth as a chiropteran happened in daytime, and every single bad thing that happened to then happened either in the light of the day, or at sunset, but never at 3;00am. Hagi sighed; maybe it was a good thing…

In the silence of the room, a loud noise, probably made by an engine was heard as it approached the farm. It ended with a loud banging noise, as if it hit a mass of metal, and this noise was heard from the garage. The male's eyes fluttered open. Nicole had returned…

Making his way in no time outside, of course using his inhuman speed and of course, jumping out the window, Hagi was surprised when he saw the fresh black tire prints made on the concrete road, and the way those ones went inside the garage. His eyebrow slightly rose. Didn't Nicole knew how to drive the scooter? Why did she use the breaks that harsh? As he inspected the area, he heard the sound of doors being opened and slammed closed. Peeking his head inside he saw as smoke rose from the hot scooter tires. It seemed she was unable to avoid a rough contact between the vehicle and a table full of tools. From the way the scooter was thrown, Hagi assumed she wanted to leave that place as soon as possible, and didn't bothered if someone would notice her using the back doors. Some doors opening and closing were heard.

Following her inside the house, Hagi entered through the back door, a lot more carefully then the girl. Hopefully Monique was too tired and her sleep was really deep to notice anything else around her, so Nicole passed her really quick. Passing her as well, he made himself way upstairs, and with the corner of his eye, he saw as the door to Nicole's room was left to hang slightly open. The chevalier's eyes narrowed themselves. Judging from what he saw until then, the orphan was the kind of person who would value her privacy more then anything. Letting her door open, allowing anyone to enter wasn't like her at all. What in the world was going on?

Hagi knocked a couple of times on her door, but he got no response. The only thing he heard was the sound of water being turn on, probably on the sick. Clenching his teeth inside his mouth, he opened the door and stepped firmly inside, but this time closing the door as silently as he could behind him. Her room was dark; it seemed she had no time in turning the lights on. The jacket she was wearing was thrown careless on the bed, along with the gloves, and her shoes were also thrown in two separated corners of her room, marking the hurry she was in while doing so. Also, the door to her bathroom was wide open, and despite the darkness in the main room, the lights were on there. Also, the water was running as well.

He should have let her be alone, and go in his room to guard Saya, as he always done, but there was something he was slightly worried about. It was the kind of feeling he hated the most; being suspicious that something wasn't right, when he wasn't obligated to take care of that thing. Why couldn't he just ignore Nicole and let her mind her own business? After all, his part of the deal was over. The rest was up to her. But still, he didn't knew why, but his wrapped hand reached for the handle and softly pushed the door open. After this, he stepped inside and his lips called her name.

"Nicole."

Why he done that? Hagi was dying to know why…

His thoughts were interrupted by the loud gasp of the girl. She turned around to face the intruder with wide eyes and shock written all over her face. But it wasn't only shock on her face. Hagi noticed that when he took a couple of steps closer to her.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" she breathed out, as she held the edge of the sink tight. She tried to make a step towards him, but as soon as she let go of the sink, her body lost its balance and she ended up hitting her head and torso on the opposite wall of the small bathroom. She covered her face with one hand as the other touched the cold wall, in a vain attempt to regain her balance. She moaned as her head was still moving from side to side, as if she was really dizzy.

"Get out!" she shouted at him as she turned her back at him. "Leave me alone!"

Hagi was speechless. What in the world was wrong with her? She seemed sick for a reason or another, but why would she be sick after a simple ride out? It was oblivious the chevalier did not knew the way teens acted in the clubs, especially at night time, but that is another story to tell… The male took a few more steps towards the girl until her was able to touch her shoulder. Ironically, it was his bandaged hand which touched her.

"Nicole, are you alright?"

"I said to get out!" she called out in a rusty voice as she turned around quickly to slap him, but her action was cut out by Hagi, who had grabbed her hand with his other free hand. She gasped when she felt his grip, but did nothing because of the shock. She remained motionless, her eyes wide and pinned on his hand which grabbed her own. He took advantage of this and rose her by her chin with his right hand, to have a better look at her face. What he saw made him slightly gasp in shock…

In her eyes was written a great shock and fear at the same time. Her pupils were very dilated, to the point where it made her light brown eyes seem to be black, and the small and thin veins on her eyeballs were now crimson red and sore, as if they had been staring into a great light for a long time. Also, all the black make-up she tortured them with was now smudged all over her cheeks, probably with the back of her palms. But what truly scared him the most was hiding under her bangs, right on top of her right eye.

Moving his wrapped hand from her shoulder and to her face, Hagi wiped away the bangs in her face, revealing a fresh, red and purple bruise which covered her forehead, temple and a little of her cheek. As soon as he touched it, Nicole's grunts of pain were heard as she struggled a little.

"Take your hands off! Now!" she warned it as she tried to make him go away, but he did not move an inch. The girl didn't even notice the way his mouth dropped a little open, revealing his perfectly white teeth, or his slightly wide eyes.

Suddenly he let go of her, and because of her lack of balance, she fell backwards, on the toilet seat(which had the lid on). Nicole squeaked as she felt her butt making contact with the hard plastic. Her head dropped again, hitting the wall besides her as she began panting.

"What happened?" Hagi asked as he kept a solemn, but somehow angered figure. Nicole didn't even noticed that and let out another moan and grunt of pain.

"Just leave me alone! PLEASE!"

It was odd the way she managed to combine both a plead and a warning like she just did. But still, Hagi wasn't impressed. He kneeled down to get, getting at her face level. By this time, she dared and made eye contact, but the look in his eyes done nothing more but scare the girl, so she lowered her head to hide her shame. Hagi done nothing but rise her head by her chin again, forcing her to look at him.

"Are you drugged?" he asked, his voice sharp as a knife. The girl done nothing but sob a couple of times as she continued to breathe pretty hard. She blinked her eyes in a vein attempt to make the in-coming tears go away, but she failed miserable. "Tell me." He demanded again, but he did not finished his words properly when he got interrupter by the orphan.

"It was not my fault! Please understand!" Nicole snapped as several tears rolled down along with the excess of make-up on her face. Somehow Hagi was pleased to see that she was finally adopting a more cooperative mood, but still, seeing her cry brought a wave of sadness to his eyes. He spoke again, but this time his voice more soft and calm.

"Make me understand. Tell me, what happened to you?"

The girl before him couldn't help her emotions back anymore. She let the river from her eyes to flow without any denial at all, as she leaned closer to the man before her and wrapped her arms tight around his neck, digging her face in his shoulder, ignoring the pain from her bruise and her pride. She let out several sobs and gasps as she cried her pain and emotions away for several minutes.

"Nicole." The chevalier called the crying girl. It was one of those situation he didn't truly knew what his next move to be. His mind told him to push her away and continued to demand a clear answer from him, it told him to keep his calm attitude and not allow this girl to impress her with all her drama. But even he was shocked when his arms wrapped around her small torso and returned her the sad hug, doing as his heart told him to. "Calm down. Everything is fine.." Hagi allowed himself to close his eyes, only for a moment as he tried to take her pain away. Inwardly, his grip around her torso grew slightly tighter, and one of his hands made itself way to her head, and held it as she cried.

Nicole done nothing but sob as she cried her stress and pain out, hanged by the man's shoulders. Between her sobs and cry, he managed to heard her repeat 'not my fault' so many time, he lost count. Opening his eyes wide open, Hagi count help but clench his teeth inside his mouth. He was right after all, something bad had happened to her, and the fault was all him own. He shouldn't have let her out at all, he shouldn't have lied just to make her happy. But it seemed happy was the most inappropriate he could find at that moment. How could've he been so stupid and act so careless?!

In the silence of her room, only Nicole's cry was heard as she kept her face hidden in his shoulder. But Hagi had spoke back then only two words, which unfortunately she did not heard…

"Im sorry…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I had a bit of a trouble updating this so.... lets just hope it will be ok everything. Its a bit of a ciffhanger, but...^^ it will keep thing interesting, right?

So, Nicole arrived back at the farm, drugged, dizzy, sad and bruised! What in the world happened at the club?! Did that guy jordan had anything to do with it? Next chappie will answer to all questions ^^