Chapter four - Kim

The week passes quickly and before I know it, it's eleven at night and I'm standing in the middle of a dark street with my friends. All of us staring at the darkened glass front of our town's darkest, dodgiest pub.

I'm dressed for a night out in black jeans and a blue shirt, but on my feet are my sister's running trainers, because my twisted thought process felt they might help me run away faster than regular trainers if something were to happen.

Not that I'm nervous or anything!?

Actually, I think I'm more excited now. My adrenaline must be doing its thing because I'm raring to get in there and see what makes it so scary. A bit like a haunted house at a fairground.

Liv and Ellie both look excited and nervous, puffing on cigarettes, not taking their eyes off of the building in front of them, but Susie looks terrified. She isn't moving, the lit cigarette hangs from her fingers and she's lost all the colour from her face. 

"Just one drink, let's do this." I grab her hand, squeezing it reassuringly and as one, we head across the road.

A few older blokes are outside smoking with pint glasses in hand, heckling each other and laughing. 

They turn to stare at us as we get closer and I'm so glad we had a warm up drink at home before heading here, because I don't think I could face going in otherwise.

"Come on." Liv says, putting her cigarette out on a bin nearby and grabbing Ellie's hand. She waits for her to ditch her own cigarette before she tugs her towards the door, Susie and I close behind them.

"Oi oi, hello darlin', come 'ave a drink with me." A bloke old enough to be my dad, grabs Liv's other arm and pulls her towards him.

"Rich, leave the girls alone." A familiar voice says and then Mr Thomas, my brother's best friend's dad, is standing in front of us, blocking us from the other guys. 

"Ah, Bob, I'm jus' having a bi' a fun." Mr Thomas ignores him and keeping eye contact with me, he nods towards the pub.

"Whatcha doing here Kimberley? This in't the sort of place for young girls t'be." He sounds surprisingly sober and a wave of sadness rocks through me, he actually seems like he'd be a decent guy without a drink in him, but I've heard my parents talk about the fights he gets into when he drinks and I know they're worried about Luke being in the house with him all alone.

"I know Mr Thomas, it's just my friend Liv here…" I point at Olivia with the hand Susie isn't currently holding tightly to. "She wants to see inside before we all go off to uni next year." 

He looks at Liv and she gives him the same smile she uses on her parents to get her own way. 

For a second I think he's going to tell us to leave, but instead he growls, rubbing his hand over his head and down his face. 

"Righ', go'on in, I'll try no' t'ave a drink 'til you're gone." He looks down at the pint in his hand and grimaces. "Go in an' speak t'Jake. Tell 'im Bob asked 'im t'look out for you. Don't stay long."

"Ok, thanks Mr Thomas." He steps back, keeping himself between us and the other blokes so we can pass through safely.

"Oh, Kimberley?" I turn around to look at him and he gives me a sad and exhausted smile. "Stay together. Even if you go toile' or anythin', all go together. an' don't leave your drinks, even for a second. Actually, buy bottles an' keep your thumbs in them whe' they're no' in your mouths."

"Ok." His words aren't making me feel anymore comfortable about being here and I can see by Susie and Ellie's faces that they're feeling the same.

"You still want to go in?" I lean closer to Liv and whisper in her ear. 

All the blokes are silently watching us, all of them knowing we're out of place and they seem amused with our insistence on going in.

"Yes, come on." Liv has to let go of Ellie to go through the door and when Mr Thomas calls my name, Susie and Ellie slip past me and away from the men outside.

He holds up his hand, exaggerating the display to cover his drink and I nod.

"An' Jake, 'member, 'fore you do anythin' else, speak t'Jake. 'e's a good lad, 'e'll look af'er you while you're in there."

"Will do." He smiles at me, then lifts his pint to his lips and takes the smallest of sips before looking back at me apologetically.

"Don' stay long." He says, moving back to sit with his friends and I realise I'm now outside alone, so I hurry through the doors and slam straight into Susie's back.

Inside is cosier than I imagined. There are tiny tables scattered about with comfy looking armchairs surrounding each one, a fire crackles in a little fIre place even though it's the middle of summer and, if it weren't for the few creepy guys sitting in groups around various tables, it would look like a lovely country pub.

We follow Liv to the bar where a guy is slumped over onto his arms, his eyes open but staring blankly ahead.

"Is he dead?" Susie whispers in a voice that conveys that she very much thinks he is.

"Shush, no, he's chillaxing." Liv grins at the man who doesn't react at all and I'm starting to wonder if Susie is right when a throat clears from behind the bar, drawing my attention to probably the best looking guy I've ever seen in real life. 

He's huge, so tall I wonder if the floor behind the bar is raised to make him look more intimidating, but even if it is, the tattoos all over his ample muscles and those intense green eyes that look as though he's seeing right into your soul are enough to make you behave, and right now, he's staring at us as if we've just flown in from another planet.

Instead of speaking to us, he raises an eyebrow when Liv steps up to the bar.

"Four cokes please?" She says and I'm impressed she manages to keep her voice steady under his steely gaze.

"ID's." He grunts in a low, hypnotic voice and instantly we're all reaching for our purses and handing him our driving licences. 

When he puts them back on the bar and turns to make our drinks, we all stand silently watching him. His muscles ripple hypnotically as he moves and I find myself daydreaming about how much of the rest of his body is tattooed and chiseled. 

He turns back and places the drinks on the bar beside the ID's, but none of us move to take them, almost as if we're waiting for his permission, or maybe they're just as impressed with this beautiful Herculean man as I am.

"Twelve eighty." He says in that same deep voice, his eyes on Liv whose hands are trembling as she reaches for her purse again.

She hands him a twenty pound note and he takes it, passing her her change without another word and when he leans back and crosses his arms, the feeling that we're being dismissed is immediate. 

Grabbing our glasses and IDs from the bar, we start towards a cosy looking corner when I suddenly remember Mr Thomas' words and spin around. 

Scary sexy barman's eyes flick to me in a split second and his eyebrow raises in question, making me feel nervous, stupid and a little bit aroused, which is something confusing that I'll have to figure out later. 

I've never been into the bad boy thing, but right now, I'd happily do whatever this guy asked of me, as long as I got to feel his muscles.

"Um… is Jake around?" I ask in a small voice, hoping I'm not giving away my obvious and inexplicable attraction to him. When he doesn't respond, I clear my throat and force myself to meet his eyes, feeling like a nervous little girl building up the courage to speak to my crush. "Mr Thomas, um… Bob, Bob Thomas, outside. He said I should tell Jake that he said to look out for us while we're here."

He narrows his eyes at me but for some reason I feel like he's more amused than annoyed. The only indication that he's heard me is a quick nod before he's leaning back against the fridge behind him and surveying the room like he's the bloody king or something. 

I have no idea what that nod means, so I stand there, waiting for something, maybe a reply or for him to get Jake, maybe even to tell me he'll tell Jake, but nothing comes and my irritation overpowers my fear and attraction to him at that moment.

"Right, ok, so I guess I'll find Jake myself, cheers for your help." I snap and turn on my heel, almost running into a guy passing behind me. He steadies me with one hand while giving me a friendly grin and I force myself to give him an apologetic smile back. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you."

"No problem, beautiful. No harm done, oh look, you've spilled your drink." He places his hand over my glass and lifts it out of my hand. "Let me buy you another. Looks like a... vodka and coke?"

"Just coke, but it's fine, no worries, I think we'll be heading off soon anyway." I reach forward to take my drink back, but he steps away, taking my glass with him.

"Hey, don't go yet. They never get pretty girls in here. Come have a drink with me and my friends." He gestures to a group of lads near the pool table. 

They look like they're a few years older than us, obviously posh boys by the look of their clothes but they each give me a friendly smile, which is more appealing when we're surrounded by so many scary looking older men.

I look at my friend's who are glancing between me, the guy beside me who still has his hand on my waist and his group of friends. He follows my gaze and waves to them. 

"Your friends can come over too y'know."

"Uh… thanks, but…"

"Right, ok, I'm not taking no for an answer." He grins at me, hurrying towards his group and putting my glass on his table. Grabbing a seat from the table nearby, he drags it over next to his. "Come on, girls, we don't bite."

They look at me and I shrug, he seems friendly and right at home here, and the other guys are dragging more chairs across to their table.

As soon as we sit down, Scary Sexy Barman moves forward, staring at the guy I almost bumped into and somehow, without speaking he still manages to get the guy's attention.

"Hey, lighten up my man, I'm just being nice to the girls." Still grinning, he raises his hands up in a surrender type gesture and it makes an uncomfortable feeling settle deep in my stomach.

"Just one drink." I murmur to Susie beside me and she nods, sipping her coke quickly. I reach for mine, taking a large sip before unconsciously resting my hand over the top.

"Jake, a pin' w'en you're ready." I turn my head at the sound of the familiar voice, now slurring heavily and see Mr Thomas leaning on the bar, waving a rolled up ten pound note at Scary Sexy Barman who's ignoring him, still glaring at the guys around our table.

"You're Jake? Why didn't you say?" Scary Sexy Barman, now officially known as Jake, flicks his eyes towards me and then back to the guys on the table as though I've not spoken. 

"Jake, hey, come on, I'm waiting." Mr Thomas' voice is now decidedly more aggressive and while I'm not keen to see anything kick off, it does give me an excuse to leave, so I turn back to the table and pick up my drink again.

"We'll finish up these and then go, ok?" I say as though I'm talking to my friends but really it's for the benefit of the guys we're sitting with.

Mr Thomas is now in a heated argument with another bloke who was previously outside with him.

At the sound of the raised voices, my friends all reach for their drinks to finish quickly.

"Hang on girls, it's not a race." The guy beside me drops his hand to the back of my chair, his fingertips brushing against my shoulder as he leans in closer to whisper in my ear. "I know it looks scary here, but it's not that bad really. Stay a while, have another drink, you'll see, those two'll be friends again in a few minutes."

I stiffen as his breath fans across my skin and I try to subtly move away but the chair has arms on it and there's nowhere to go.

"Kim, are you ok?" Susie asks. I nod, draining the last of my drink and pushing my chair backwards.

"Yeah, I just need the loo. Do you want to ring a taxi and I'll meet you out front?" I hurry away from the table, following the signs to the ladies and hurrying inside. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, a quick shudder goes through me when I think about the guy breathing against my neck. There's something very wrong with him and I'm not going to feel right until I've had a shower and am safely curled up in my own bed.

Knock, knock.

"Hey, your friends are gone. I said I'd walk you home, ok?" My head turns towards the door at the sound of the guy's voice and I grab my phone, panicking that my friends really might have left me.

Liv: Creep who thinks he's cute says he's walking you home. No chance right? His friends wouldn't leave us alone so we're down the road outside Boots. See you in a sec. X

Come on Kim, get yourself together.

The door handle wiggles and the room spins as I turn my head, I grip the sink to keep my balance, splashing water on my face in a bid to sober up. 

The door creaks with the effort of opening and I run into the nearest cubicle, locking the door, sitting down on the toilet seat and lifting my feet so he doesn't know I'm here.

His slow footsteps get closer and then he chuckles in a way that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

"You've left your phone out here sweetheart. Should I just enter my phone number now? Oh but wait a minute, look, you didn't reply to your friend. Maybe I should do it for you, you're ok with me walking you home right? We were getting on so well." He chuckles again and my heart starts to race, I look for another way out, but I'm in a centre cubicle with no windows in sight. "You ok in there? Don't worry, I'm happy to wait. Take as long as you need."

~*~

Everything is blurry and there's a strong smell of vomit in the air. My feet are moving, although the last thing I remember was sitting on the toilet.

Where are my friends?

I look around and realise the guy from the bar is holding me around the waist, guiding me around the back of the pub and towards his friends who are standing at the end of the street, all their eyes fixed on me like I'm their next meal.

I dig my heels into the floor, glancing around for anyone who looks like they might help, but it's so late and the streets are devoid of people.

"Where are you taking me?" I try to ask, but my mouth is numb and then the street starts to look fuzzy again.