Page 7 of Deadly Desires

Eight

Melody

One year ago

It’s a warm night in Silicon Valley. My friends Rachel, Alex, and I are all out in the city, bar hopping and dancing the night away.

“Fuck that place, it wasn’t good at all. The bouncers were creeps too,” says Alex, slurring her words and barely able to stand up straight without swaying on her feet.

Rachel just laughs at her. Alex has always been the dramatic one. I just nod my head and agree with her.

“What do you say we stop at one more bar and then we can head home?” Rachel asks. She doesn’t even wait for our reply before she’s looping her arms through both of ours, leading the way.

We walk for what feels like forever and my heeled feet are starting to hurt. Though I’m used to wearing heels for special occasions, I am NOT used to wearing them out for six plus hours walking to ten different bars.

Finally, we arrive to the bar as announced by Rachel. Duke’s Bar. Sounds simple enough. The outside is dated, and I can tell this bar is a little more rundown than the rest we were at tonight. I’m just looking forward to sitting down and getting off my feet though.

Once inside, we beeline straight for the bar and signal the bartender over. Rachel orders a martini neat, Alex orders a whiskey sour, and I just ask for water. The bartender gives me a look but continues on to make the drinks. Whatever, I’ve had enough drinking for one night and I’d prefer to be sober when I catch a ride home. Too many sleazy people in the world that would be more than happy to take advantage of a drunk girl.

A couple of guys make their way over to us, probably to buy us drinks and start some boring conversation before ending it with, “Hey, you wanna get outta here?” It’s always the same. I turn away from them and tell the girls I’m going to head out for the night. I use my Uber app to request a ride home. It’s not the cheapest but definitely worth not driving drunk.

As we say our goodbyes, I take one last drink of my water, then head outside to wait for the Uber. As I stand waiting, I can hear the music from inside the bar each time the door opens.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone?” someone asks from behind me.

As I turn, my world tilts on its axis. I know I wasn’t that drunk when I got to the bar and all I had was a water. If anything I should be more sober. It makes me immediately on edge, though it feels like my brain is processing everything extremely slow.

“Imf… note… avone…” I say, slurring my words as the world continues to spin.

“Here, let’s sit you down before you fall on that pretty face of yours.”

Next thing I know I’m being dragged down the alley next to the bar. I can’t make out much of the guy other than he’s tall, maybe six foot, wearing a ghost mask with the mesh eye coverings removed, and tattoos all over his arms. I try to fight his grasp, clawing my nails at his arms and hoping beyond hope that someone hears my garbled cries for help. I continue to yell, but no one can hear me; it’s useless.

My world erupts into a bright white. Then comes the pain. He hit me with something—a brick maybe? Blood starts running down my face and then I’m slammed up against the wall. He grabs at the hem of my dress, trying to lift it up, grabbing me roughly and scraping my skin. He has one hand on my throat, choking me enough that I’m left gasping for air. He starts to fumble with his belt and I know exactly what he’s trying to do. I immediately begin to fight with renewed life, kicking and hitting any part of him that I can. He brings my face up to his masked one, and I can just barely make out the browns of his eyes. They are soulless, and it feels as though he’s the reaper coming to claim my soul. Before I can think, he slams my head against the brick building and my world goes black…

Nine

Jaxon

Present Day

Itrailed Melody on the GPS system Franklin installed on my phone for the better part of the day. She went shopping for a bit before getting lost in the library. She was dressed down today, but still looked so effortlessly gorgeous. It took all my restraint not to go in that library and back her into a bookcase, ravishing her body. She was delectable. I can’t wait until the day I can mark her as mine.

Later in the evening, she got a text from her parents to have dinner, so I ended my pursuit and headed home. When I got home myself, I reviewed all of her documents again. I was missing something, I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was. She was going to school to get her bachelor’s degree and she suddenly dropped out. She’s been off the grid for the last year. It made no sense, my little sparrow was a straight A student. Why would she suddenly stop? I know that her relationship ended with Brian around that time, but that came a month or two after dropping out. Hmmm, my little sparrow was hiding something and I am going to find out what exactly that is.

Putting her folder down on my desk, I make my way over to my bar. Grabbing the eighteen-year-old Macallan from the shelf, I pour myself a drink, the ice cubes clinking in the glass. My phone rings, nearly making me drop the glass in my hand.

“This is Jaxon.”

“Jax, it’s Franklin. You won’t believe what I have to tell you.”

I sit down behind my desk, setting my drink in front of me. “Spit it out then, Franklin. Why do you sound out of breath?”

“I’ve just been running around getting the best of my equipment and hacking into it all. I was called up by your brother for a favor. Someone was in Melody’s house.”

“WHAT?!” I yell into the phone. I’m standing before I can even register the move myself and throwing my glass across the room, the glass exploding off the opposite wall.

“Who was it Franklin? Tell me now, so help me god.”

---