Page 57 of Demise

I move away from the window, wrapping my hair up. I walk over to the door, making sure it’s locked. Through the side crack of the shade I see what I believe is Carson running from a car.

A ray of sun passes through the clouds, beaming off of shattered glass on the alleyway road. I put my hand over my mouth when my sight lands on blood and a man slumped in the front seat of the car. “Oh my God.” Carson just killed someone.

My heart rate accelerates, and my brow begins to sweat. Carson’s head turns my way and I jump back from the window, closing my eyes tightly.

“Shit.” Did he see me? I quickly move back over to the couch, my nails going to my mouth, my feet in the cushion. Several minutes pass and I hear the sirens arrive. Doors shut and people speak frantically. I listen intently, my ears quirking when footsteps sound on the stairs outside. My breathing speeds when someone knocks on the door. “Hello? Atlanta PD. Is anyone home right now?” I shut my eyes and wince, staying completely still. They knock again. My heart feels like it’s going to give out.

I yelp when a hand goes over my mouth.

“Shh, it’s me.”

I pant, putting my hand over my chest.

“Come on,” Danny whispers, placing his finger over his lips. The knocking continues as we walk toward a door I didn’t pay attention to. I walk through and step down two steps into a private bar area. A window lines the wall and I notice the club below.

Danny shuts the door and turns to me.

“What the hell happened?” I ask.

“What did you see?” he says.

I gesture with my hands. “I saw Carson running away from the car. There was blood and glass…”

Danny shakes his head, walking toward me. “No, Bexley. You didn’t see anything. Do you hear me?”

I frown.

“Do you understand?” he says intensely.

I nod because I do understand. I just witnessed Carson running away from a murder and I’m being told to keep quiet about it. I feel sick. I feel like I’m going down a path I never wanted to go down. My flight instincts are kicking in. I hold a hand over my stomach as I walk over to the pool table, my mind reeling.

“What did you see?” Danny asks me again.

I look to him with a dark expression. An expression that should tell him that I didn’t sign up for this. “Nothing. I didn’t see anything.”

“Good,” he says. He walks over to the bar and pours himself a drink. “Would you like one?”

“Yes.”

He pours me one, too, and walks over to me. I grab the glass and take a drink. It warms my cheeks and chest.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Danny is quietly observing me. He’s studying my every move.

I take a second sip of my drink. I’ve taken the devil’s hand without thinking about the consequences. I’m tangled up in his world now. I don’t know what to think of it. I’m scared, though. I do know that.

“Are you okay?”

Danny leans against the bar, seeming perfectly calm in all black. He wears that color so well.

“I’m fine,” I say.

He puts his drink down and walks over to me.

“You’re not fine,” he says. “But I love that you’re trying.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know if I’m doing a good job. This is all—”

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