Hey guys! A big, big, BIG THANK YOU! For your reviews, I'm glad that you are liking the story so far, personally I feel that this story is an improvement from the last, but its not my opinion that matters it's yours, so feel free to give me your opinions. Now this chapter is completely different, with some borrowed parts from the original, but you won't even notice…well you shouldn't. Now onto the story…
Rating: Wow…rated M? In the M section…gee I don't know.
Disclaimer: Fi uoy kniht I nwo ho-ig-uY neht I leef yrros rof uoy (now read the words backwards)
AN: Yeah I had time to play…lol, now please enjoy!
Chapter four
Tea tapped her fingers impatiently on the front counter's glassy surface while watching people stream pass without even so much as glancing at what was displayed in the shop's window. As usual, she had arrived earlier than expected, practically fleeing her apartment to be around people, even though there hadn't been many around at the time.
An hour had passed since the last customer had come in, and after having swept the entire floor and wiped the counters down at least three times, as well as having dusted the shelves…she was simply left with nothing to do, but wait for the next customer… sadly patience had never been one of her strongest qualities.
She sighed deeply as she watched the people outside happily going about with their everyday lives, briefly flashing smiles of greeting to each other, some stopping to exchange a few words with another, children dashing past enthusiastically with their mothers not far behind… all creating such a beautiful picture, that she sometimes wondered if it was real at all.
"Bollocks! Has my trusty right-hand girl's soul been sucked out of her body or is she just day dreaming?" Mr. Hardwick's ruff-edged voice thick with a British accent, cheerfully boomed, as he suddenly appeared right behind her.
She had to grin at the old man's choice of words, as they hardly ever made sense. "Soul sucked out of my body?" She mused, raising an eyebrow.
"Best thing I could come up with on such short notice," Mr. Hardwick grinned, cheerfully peering down at her over his spectacles with old hazel eyes. "By the way I have something to show you!" He said excitedly, dropping down to his knees and retrieving a small parcel carefully from one of the lower shelves.
"This just came in yesterday," He beamed, placing it gently on the counter, gaining Tea's full attention.
It was a simply designed casket, with a foreign label engraved in gold on its smooth black surface. In all there was nothing really spectacular about it, but Tea was interested nonetheless.
"What is it Mr. Hardwick?" she asked curiously, flicking her gaze from the small velvet box to the old man's warm and kind face.
Mr. Hardwick smiled and gently flipped off the lid, "See for yourself."
"Wow! What a beautiful diamond!" she exclaimed in surprise, gasping in awe as her eyes lay on the jewel before her. The ring itself was made of white gold with intricate designs engraved onto its outside surface, of what looked like tiny roses connected by vines, but what made it so eye-catching was the beautiful pink heart shaped diamond that glittered when the light touched it.
"Indeed, but that isn't just any diamond," Mr. Hardwick said softly, though he couldn't disguise the excitement in his voice.
She looked up at him with a clueless expression.
Though the diamond was incredibly beautiful, she couldn't see what was so fantastic about it that would make the jeweler so excited, especially when he had seen so many beautiful things in his life.
"This, my dear is a pink diamond," he said through an excited smile, maneuvering the small box around slightly so that she could see it better, "A very rare kind."
Tea's eyes widened as she turned her gaze once again onto the diamond ring.
"Out of the list of the largest diamonds in the world, only one out of sixty-six is a pink diamond, in fact they are so rare that most people will never see one in their life time, so feast your eyes on this rare occasion." Mr. Hardwick said fondly, while Tea just stared at it in shock.
"How much does this ring-"
"Far more than you could ever afford!" A very familiar and hateful, high pitched voice called from outside the store, and Tea had to bite her tongue, as she looked up to see the hateful haggish snob that she hadn't been able to stomach since she had first laid eyes on her.
Serena Markesan… Words could not describe how Tea felt about her. In fact there were no words that could express Serena at all with the effect that she so rightfully deserved. The closest thing that Tea could think of was a total bitch, but even that lacked meaning when in her presence.
Serena gracefully pushed open the store's doors and walked in with a smug expression on her face, staring Tea down with crystal blue eyes…that were definitely contacts. "Good afternoon Serena," Tea greeted through tight lips and forced herself to smile.
"Afternoon Miss Markesan, what can we do for you today," Mr. Hardwick said as cheerfully as always, which Tea knew he had to be, as Serena was his biggest customer…or in her case a size-zero customer. She loved jewelry second to loving herself, and bought just about everything she could get her expensively manicured hands on, and of course made sure Tea was always there to witness it.
"I was actually just eyeing that beautiful ring there," she said sweetly, flicking her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder, while she smugly glared at Tea, her eyes blazing with amusement.
"Ah yes, indeed, it truly is a magnificent piece, definitely suitable for a fine young lady such as yourself," Mr. Hardwick agreed, nodding his head slowly, "though it is ultimately an engagement ring."
Serena laughed hysterically as though he had told her the funniest joke she had ever heard, sounding more like a high pitched squeal road-kill would make, than a human being. But then again…Tea always thought Selena was bitch…it was no wonder why she sounded like an African hyena.
"Well then that's perfect!" she exclaimed excitedly, her smile beaming, "Shane and I are going to be engaged soon and this ring is definitely suitable for the occasion, wouldn't you agree…Tea?" She smiled coldly at Tea, giving her the – 'Don't you wish you were me?' kind of look.
Of course Tea did… Serena had been the most popular student at Domino High as well as the head cheerleader and the school's vice president. She had the hottest boys wrapped around her spoilt little finger, drove a Porsche and only wore expensive designer labeled clothes…not to mention that she had a summer house-slash-mansion on one of the Bermuda islands all to herself, and of course was completely rich. However, Selena had one little comfort that Tea never, and would never have…a good father.
"Oh! You and Shane are dating again?" Tea asked, with a slight hint of sarcasm.
"Oh yes, I'm surprised you haven't heard Tea, I mean just about 'everyone' that I hang out with knows," she replied smugly, "Oh but wait, I forget you don't know any of them."
Tea had to grind her teeth securely together, before she said something that she would later regret.
"Do you want me to keep the ring aside for him then Miss Markesan?" Mr. Hardwick quickly cut in, his cheerful tone wavering slightly to a hint of nervousness.
Selena turned at smiled up at him with a perfect picture of evil innocence. "That's alright Mr. Hardwick, I doubt anyone around this area but my Shane could afford it," she threw a smug glance at Tea, who refused to meet her gaze. "And in any case, I kind of like the idea of having the whole town see it, before it officially becomes mine."
"Very well then Miss Markesan," Mr. Hardwick said cheerfully, though Tea picked up on the strain in his voice.
Selena smiled in smug gratitude, before turning her gaze towards Tea. "Although I guess you could say that it's already mine…just like anything that I like."
(Later during sunset)
Tea closed the store's doors after a very long day. She had been in a negative mood ever since Selena's little 'visit,' and found herself shutting the doors a little more harshly than she usually did. "Guess you could say that it's already mine, just like everything that I ly-iiiiiiii-ke!" she mimicked angrily, shoving her keys one by one into the many locks that prevented the store from break-ins. "Frikin- Bitch…could make a…frikin…nun…swear!" she said in between angry breaths.
The street behind her was buzzing with many different sounds that seemed to block out her low cussing. However, most of it seemed to be coming from the small park across the road, where the rusty sound of chains rattled from the sounds of swings swinging, and laughter, particularly children's laughter.
In spite of the bitterness that Selena had brought up in her, tea couldn't help but smile and enjoy the sound of pure innocent joy that having fun brought, and enjoyed the atmosphere of it. She glanced up at the reflection of the playing children behind her, smiling fondly while she locked the last padlock.
A bright pink sparkle caught her attention, and she turned her head slightly to the side, once again coming face to face with the pink diamond engagement ring, which was truly the 'queen jewel' of the store…and 'belonged' to her worst enemy other than her father. She kept her gaze on the ring, vaguely listening to the sounds around her, until one simple child-like chant sent an ice-cold shiver up her spine.
"I've got ya where I want ya, now I'm gonna eat ya!"
The memory of her father's game came back to her with such a fierce force, that she couldn't fight against it. Her body weakened and felt numb against its rage, and she slowly sunk into its penetrating darkness.
(Flashback)
Tea rushed through the house with a thudding heart, glancing wildly around her at potential hiding places. She could hear her father's rasping voice counting from one to thirty downstairs, and panicked as he began to quickly reach number twenty.
Her eyes finally caught sight of a small dark space underneath the bed in the guest's bedroom. She made a dive for it, sliding underneath soundlessly as her father reached his last few numbers, willing her heart to quiet down as it thudded in her ears.
Her father's rules were simple for this game of hide and seek. If he found her they would have to play the 'loving game' again, but if he didn't then she could decide on the game they played…only her father always found her.
The house grew deathly silent as he stopped counting, and Tea swore he was listening for her loud heartbeat. She strained her hearing to locate his whereabouts, but all was quiet…too quiet.
Suddenly her body jolted as she heard him slowly ascending the stairs. "I've got you where I want youuuu," he said in a sing-song-voice, his footsteps thudding on the wooden stairs in time with his off-tune melody.
Tea's body tensed in anticipation, she couldn't even breath in fear that he might hear her.
She could only see his shiny black shoes from her hiding place, as they made there way to the doorway's entrance. He was so close to finding her that if she had have made even the smallest movement he would have heard her. She bit her lip in fear, praying that he would go and look for her somewhere else. "I've got you where I want you Teaaaaaa," he whispered, walking over to where the closet stood.
She held her breath and closed her eyes…'please go away, please go away…" she silently begged in her mind.
"I've got you where I want you…and now…" his voice whispered dangerously closer, and she didn't dare to open her eyes. She held her breath, listening for any sounds of movement when she felt her ankle been yanked from under the bed as dragged her out of her place of safety.
"I've got you…"
(End of flashback)
Her breath caught in her throat as she whirled around to face the chanters, who were running giddily around the park, as they each other… and then she saw him. His tall figure, standing far across the park, glaring at her through hooded eyes, and although she couldn't see them, she knew that they were blazing an ice-cold glow.
Without a moment's of hesitation she turned around and fled blindly down the block, feeling his eyes on her. She swore she could hear footsteps running after her, and fearfully glanced back, imagining him coming at her at full speed with his black trench coat swishing around him like black chaos, yet she saw no one. She didn't look where she was heading until she ran into someone.
Her body suddenly went completely cold as two strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, holding her upright as her legs numbly gave out from underneath her. She held her eyes closed, too afraid to see anything, while she breathed in shallow breaths, feeling as though her heart were about to flee her chest.
"You okay?" The stranger that held her asked sounding genuinely concerned, "take deep breaths."
She felt herself relax slightly at the sound of his deep attractive voice, though she was nowhere near calming down. However, she forced herself to take deeper breaths, filling her chest with much needed air, before coughing it out. Her arms instinctively clutched on to him for support as she struggled against the wave of dizziness and shock that overcame her body.
He stiffened slightly at her touch, but didn't let go of her. "That's it, deep breaths," he said with a strained voice, "You're okay, you're safe-" He stopped abruptly in mid sentence, but she didn't take any notice. Her mind was filled with a pitch-black darkness that made it impossible for her to think. All she knew was that she had to hold onto him, as though some unknown force whispered it to her.
Yami at first didn't know how to respond to the girl that had literally run right into him, almost knocking him down. He had instinctively wrapped his arms around her so that she didn't fall, but hadn't anticipated what it would feel like. It had been a long time since he had held a girl this close to him.
He could tell that she was petrified, but when he glanced around him looking for any sign of oncoming dangers, he saw nothing. Yet nothing disturbed him more than when he tried to read her mind. It was almost completely blank…could she have really been that scared?
He found himself mumbling that she had to breathe, and watched her carefully for any sign of improvement. He almost smiled when her first thoughts revealed that she found his voice attractive, but almost gasped when he felt her grip on to him. It wasn't that he was frightened of her; it was just that he hadn't expected it. He began to mumble something else, when realization began to dawn on him.
The girl…he recognized her. More precisely, he recognized her scent. His night vision wasn't as particular as a vampire's, so at first glance he could have easily mistaken her for the same girl he had seen the alley, but her scent…her scent was definite.
She churned in his arms, gaining more control over her body as her mild panic attack began to subside. Her thoughts began to clear up and she was finally able to push herself away from him, though she didn't want to be released from his hold either.
Her eyes fluttered open, revealing a pair of dazzling azure orbs that he recognized immediately.
He braced himself for the events that were about to follow. He shuddered to think of what he would have to do if she had witnessed the forbidden truth, even though caring for her seemed illogical. How could he care about someone he had never met? It was crazy to even think it…wasn't it?
It was the moment of truth as her gaze met his…
Weeeel? What do you guys think? Do I get the bad fruit or are you saving it for the next chapter? hehehe see you guys next time, and once again thank you for reading!