Chapter Five
Terrance
Saturday
I pulled the charcoal suit jacket up over my shoulders, grinning at my appearance. I did look good if I said so myself. My endless stream of cash helped me to scrub up well. I had a smooth jazz CD playing in the background as I sipped on my drink. I needed some noise in my apartment as I got ready to distract my brain from the doubtful thoughts Braxton had racing through my mind. It wasn’t like me to get so worked up about things like that, but the fact that I’d been thinking a lot about my brother didn’t help.
“It’s going to be fine, you idiot.” I chuckled as I murmured to myself. “Don’t be such a freak.”
Maybe Lights Out wasn’t in the best end of the city, but it truly was frequented by a lot of people like me. There was certainly no real basis to be worried.
Plus, there was no chance I’d sit around at home on my own like a loser on a Saturday night. I needed to be surrounded by women. I had to find that special someone to entertain me for a few hours. I couldn’t wait to run fingers through some soft hair, to touch some silky skin... I was looking forward to the ecstasy that could only come from burying myself into the hottest woman in the place.
It was going to be awesome.
I stepped outside my apartment and hopped right in my car. I wasn’t interested in getting wasted tonight, so driving wouldn’t be an issue. And even if I did end up overdoing it, I’d call a cab and pick my car up when I felt sober enough to tomorrow. That was what I always did. My Jag was always a hit with the ladies anyway, so it could only serve to help me.
I revved the engine and cruised down the road, loving the way the vehicle felt beneath me. I wasn’t much for cars, really. I didn’t live and breathe them like some did, but I was a huge fan of my own. I only had the one and she was a dream: bright red, wonderful alloys, a great speaker system...just incredible. A real head turner, which of course, I loved.
As eyes of the revellers also headed for a night out turned my way, I waved at the hotter women and even blew a kiss at one. By the time I arrived outside and parked as near to the place as I could, my insides were buzzing with anticipation. This was going to be a night to remember – I felt certain of it.
“Hello there, Mr. Canton,” the bouncer greeted me, filled with seriousness. “Welcome, please come in the VIP entrance.”
Maybe I should’ve felt bad for walking past all those people shivering from the cold, who had probably been there for hours, but I didn’t. This was just my life. “Awesome, thank you.”
I was taken to a booth, which allowed me to look down over the dance floor of the normal people, and a selection of drinks were brought to my table. I knew for a fact that I would have every single one of my needs serviced tonight, as I always did.
“Please, send up the brunette in the orangey dress.” I grinned up at the serving girl. “Tell her that I’d love to spend some time with her.”
“Of course, Mr. Canton. Whatever you need.”
I smirked to myself as I sat back and waited. Honestly, Braxton had no idea what he was talking about. Why the hell would I want to be anywhere else in the world? He was so judgemental. I even pulled my cell phone out of my pocket to text him that, but before I got the chance, the girl was brought to my side.
“Hi, are you Terrance?” she shifted shyly from foot to foot. “The waitress girl told me that you wanted to talk to me?” She looked coy and cute, not my usual type. I wasn’t sure what had attracted me to her in the first place.
“Yeah, please take a seat and help yourself to a drink.” I grabbed a non-alcoholic one and watched as she picked up a cocktail. “So, what’s your name?” The only thing I ever wanted to know, and that was only because it made conversation a lot easier.
“I’m Jaz.” She wrapped her hair tightly around her finger. “It’s nice to meet you, Terrance. Thanks for inviting me. I haven’t ever been to the VIP section of a club before.”
I had a feeling that this was going to be a very interesting night, so much so that the next drink I grabbed was a strong one. I would get a cab. My car was parked in a reasonably safe place. I didn’t think I had anything to be worried about. “Well, I’m very glad you decided to join me.”
We went on to have a suitably superficial conversation, never really discussing anything serious, all the while I traced my fingers along her jawline and neck. I kept my attention solely on her for a lot of the time, just so she felt special, but I flirted with the server just enough that she knew I couldn’t be a long-term thing. I’d managed to get this far in life without acquiring a stalker, I didn’t intend to start now.
Eventually the moment came upon us, the time I would seal the deal by kissing her. She had her head edged towards me; I was cocking mine and slowly leaning forwards. She wanted it, I could tell from her pursed lips, and I did, too. Probably not to same degree, but that didn’t matter too much. I smiled at her, making my way closer and closer, anticipation growing...
“Mr. Canton, can I speak to you please?” a gruff voice interrupted us at the worst possible moment. It was a good thing this wasn’t true love, or I would’ve been really pissed off. I could easily recreate that magic, it was just very annoying.
“Yes, what?” I snapped a little too harshly as I pulled back.
“I have a message for you.” There was something about his smile that I didn’t like, but I chose to keep that emotion inside. It probably wouldn’t be helpful in the long run. “Your car is being towed.”
“Oh, fuck!” I jumped up, knocking one of the drinks over. The girl sitting with me squealed, but she was long forgotten in my mind now. She’d probably run off, but that wasn’t my issue. I had my car to worry about – it was the only one I had. If I didn’t get this sorted now I wouldn’t have any way of getting around, and I’d lose the vehicle I adored. “Are you sure it’s mine?”
“Red Jaguar? Yes, I think it’s yours. The guy said something about unpaid tickets. The valet tried to intervene, but he couldn’t do anything about it if it’s a legal thing.” He looked like he felt guilty, which was one of the main things I liked about Lights Out. They were always so damn caring.
“Fuck, okay. Thank you for letting me know.
I knew that wasn’t true about the tickets... At least, I didn’t think it was, but I ran out to rescue the situation regardless. It could’ve been a case of mistaken identity or a jobsworth that just didn’t like the look of my car, someone who had nothing better to do at whatever God forsaken time it was.
Well, whatever the case they were about to get a mouthful from me!
I pushed my way to the street where my car was, hot temper boiling right through me. I was ready for a battle. I was up for some serious screaming, but what I saw was surprising. There wasn’t a single person anywhere near my car. I glanced everywhere but nothing changed. The street was undeniably empty.
“What the...” I muttered, wondering who else had a red Jag around here. How the hell could that guy have gotten it so damn wrong?
“Looking for someone?”
I spun around as a voice echoed from a nearby alleyway. It wasn’t someone I immediately recognized, but that didn’t mean they didn’t know who I was. I’d met a lot of people in my time, and they usually recalled me better than I did them.
“Who’s there?” I snapped back, just as coldly. “What do you want?”
“Oh, I just want a chat.”
I fixed my eyes on the shadowy figure that slowly revealed himself to me. He stepped out from where he was hiding and into the yellowish light of the street lamp, but it didn’t matter how much I narrowed my eyes and racked my brain, the figure wasn’t someone I knew. And, he had a distinctive look, so I certainly would’ve recognized him.
His bald head had a long deep scar running down it, his eyes were so dark and sunken in they looked black, he had bulging muscles, much bigger than I ever could’ve hoped to gain in my entire lifetime, and he had a tattoo of a lion over his neck. No, if I’d met this person before I would’ve remembered, which left me with only one question... What the hell did he want with me?
“Okay, sure,” I replied nervously. “What do you want to talk about?”
He stepped closer to me, squaring out his chest in my direction. He had a problem with me, and I didn’t know why. Was there a chance I’d screwed his girl at some point? My life time had to come back to haunt me eventually. “I think we just need to sort some things out.”
Despite myself, I gulped back a big ball of fear that had lodged itself into my throat. I wasn’t against defending myself or anything – I wasn’t weak – but I’d just never found myself in this situation before. Plus, I usually had Braxton by my side to defend me. This was just...a little much.
“Right, okay,” I inadvertently stepped backwards. “I don’t want any trouble, so why don’t you tell me what’s going on here and we can come to some agreement.”
I reached for the money in my pocket, ready to pay him off, but that only caused him to laugh loudly and nastily at me. “You can’t pay yourself out of this situation, Mr. Canton.”
Fuck... This guy knew me, really knew me, and something about that pissed him right off. My heart hammered in my chest, my mouth ran dry with fear, and I tried to look for an escape, but my fuzzy eyes couldn’t pick anything up.
He was getting closer to me, and every step I took back did nothing to widen the gap, and that only got worse when my back crashed into a cold, hard wall.
“Now,” my new enemy smiled smugly at me. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
“I don’t want any trouble,” I tried once more. “Please, just leave me alone.”
But he ignored me. He pulled his fist back and aimed it at me. He looked so pleased with himself to have me in such a mess, as if this was exactly what he wanted. Maybe that was all he wanted... Maybe he didn’t want to take this any further than fear...
But then he flung his hand at me and a blinding, blackout pain burst out from the side of my face. It was hot, intense, dizzying...almost paralysing so. I could feel my legs giving out from beneath me and my body crumpling to the ground.
Then, I heard more voices. This guy was not alone.
This was bad – really bad – and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do about it.