Chapter 5: A New Friend

Iris' POV

I ran as fast as my naked feet could carry me and my clutch bag. The cool wind brushed past my face, whistling distinct chords into my ears. Most, if not all of the glitters attached to my hair must have fallen out in my attempt to escape Gustav's mansion, but it didn't matter at the time.

I was wrong. I thought I would be happy when I found my mate; someone I could rely on to be my buckler and shield. I thought we would love each other unhindered. I thought we would make cute pups together and live happily ever after like it happens in the movies.

The wind seeped into my eyes, forcing the dams locked behind each socket to break lose. I let the stream cascade unashamedly. What's the point of wiping the tears away, when the hurt buried deep within my shredded heart still gapped open?

My pace began to reduce when I was sure I was miles away from hell. The tall razor edged shrubs had marked the exposed part of my arms and either side of my neck, but I was less bothered about it, the same way I wasn't moved for having the dress I wore to Gustav's mansion still clinging to my bruised skin like a second skin.

"Why didn't you take me with you, father? Why didn't that goddamn truck run me over with you, mother? The pain of living is tearing away at me. I wish I had died that night too." I sank to the base of a mahogany as rain began to peter down with grumbling thunders and flashes of lightening illuminating the dark woods.

I hugged my feet tightly against my chest to contain any modicum of heat residing in my core. The cold penetrated my skin calloused by the rain, and settled in the pit of my stomach. Every part of me shivered, except for my hair plastered around my naked shoulders.

There was no sign of shelter in sight, neither was there any ray of human life in sight, save the rustling and splattering sound made by the rain against the leaves and earth. The night was dark and looming, like an Alpha hidden in the darkness, snarling hungrily for prey.

After about an hour, the rain subsided into showers. I managed to stand, pressing my hand firmly against the bark of a mahogany for moral support. My right knee jerked in protest to the hour of immobility I subjected it to.

I gathered every ounce of strength left in me and made for the foot path that lay ahead me. The leaves were humbled by the heavy downpour, making them slant to a corner like a painter's brush plastering colours over a canvass.

I dragged my tired body down the bush path with my clutch bag held against my chest. I hadn't walked for long when I saw a weak beam of yellow light from a window enshrouded by the shrubs and trees before me.

"At last, a beam of hope!" I exclaimed, quickening my pace, not minding the pain surging through my entire body. I arrived at an open road after a few walk.

Across the road sat a one storey motel that screamed of 'old and survival'. Beside the motel stood a limp name board held upright by two slim rusty poles. The black velvety night prevented me from reading the name printed on it.

What does the name of a fucking motel matter anyway? Warmth is here, and that's all that matters.

I crossed the lonely road and spirited to the door. Without caring to knock, I flung it open with the first wring of the knob, exposing the warmth of the room to the chill I brought with me.

Above the mini bar, on a thin strip of white cloth was written in red bold prints, 'OUT OF BOUND TO CANINES'.

Shit! I'm indirectly not welcome here. I fretted. I felt hope slipping out of my reach before my hands could get a full grasp of it.

"Are you coming in or not? It's freaking cold out there, lady." An old man yelled from a corner of the room, with a cigar hooked to the corner of his mouth.

I shut the door behind me and hobbled to the bar. I hadn't turned yet, so I had a feeling no one would suspect anything. I was close to being human anyway.

"What will you like to have, darling." The female brunette on the other side of the counter inquired. From the agility she exhibited, she must be in her fifties.

''Two shots of tequila."

I had never tasted tequila, but from what I've heard about it, it drives people crazy, making them forget their sorrows. I had tons of them to forget, and now's the best time to try out new habits.

"Heartbreak?" She asked, while fixing me the drink.

"How did you know?" I trembled with my lips pressed against each other.

"You're not gonna be the last, child. I've seen too much for my greying hair to hide. Boys will always be jerks." She scoffed, pushing one of the cups to me without spilling the content.

And Gustav will be the worst of all jerks, I judged.

"You can say that again." I agreed, swallowing the content in one large noisy gulp. Immediately, I felt electric currents shooting through every nerve in my body. Each tendon and ligament greeted the new wave with a warmth I had never felt in my life.

My thighs shivered in raw want of a man's touch. The urge to get laid overwhelmed my senses as Gustav's god-like physique flashed through my mind, but I discarded it immediately. I can't get laid by a Hades with the face of a Cupid.

"Mine was in prom. I caught my date fucking the shit out of my sister. My younger sister." She sounded pathetic.

"I'm so sorry." I winced, still trying to get over the first shot of tequila I had doused.

"Don't be." She drew out a tall padded barstool from under the counter, and sat on it. She had more to say, and I had all the time in the world to listen. "I had my revenge. Sweet revenge, I always call it."

Her reply got my ears standing on end. I needed to know the whole story. I drew in one of the barstools and sat on it, placing my clutch bag on the counter.

"I went to his house with a bottle of whisky and shack, acting like I didn't see no shit. I wore the sexiest piece of clothing a lively girl in the early '40's would wear to seduce a damn fool like him. We had enough to drink to get us drunk, and I gave him the best fuck his cock would ever enjoy."

"That doesn't look like revenge to me."

"Hold your horses, baby. The ride is about to get bumpy." A sly smug crept up the corner of her blazing red lips.

"After the hot sex, I pulled out a switch knife from my stockings and cut the shit out of his balls."

She burst into an eerie laugh that gave me the creeps. The eyes of everyone in the palour were turned to us.

'What joke could be that funny to have elicited such hysterical laughter from the bartender,' they must have thought.

I took the second shot of tequila and downed it with my eyes tight shot. "If you ask me, that was too much."

"If you asked me, it serves the pussy fucker just right." She grinned villainously.

"And your sister?"

"I paid a couple of junkies to fuck the hell out of her." She shrugged, and continued. " But I was not impressed."

"And why is that?"

"I wanted the fuckers to do her dirty, but it turned out she did them dirty instead."

"You've lost me there." I squinted.

"They came back to tell me my sister srerved them the best sex ever. She rocked their junky cock till they exploded with a passion they've never had their entire life." She heaved. " Fucking slut!"

"You don't say!" I let out a laboured laughter at the sudden twist in the plot. Who would have thought.

She joined in the laughter, pushing her head backward in a childlike manner.

"I'm Amber. Amber Kyle." She poured me another glass.

"Iris Sawyer." I reached for my clutch bag to pay her for the shots, but she stopped me.

"Don't sweat it. it's on the house." She cupped my hands, and gave me the sweetest smile I thought I'd never see again. She was the next best thing that ever happened to me after the death of my parents.

I was about taking the cup when the door flung open, inviting the chill from outside into the motel. A man who rivalled the perfection of Gustav stood at the doorway, scanning the occupants of the room warily.

"Who's the man with the titanesque body?" I swallowed.

"Ludovic."

"Heavens! He's hot as hell!" I drawled, emptying the glass.

"You can say that again."