"Someone please help me!" I heard a voice screaming and crying for help.

As I was heading toward my ordinary single bedroom apartment after completing today's performance in a nearby nightclub, I stopped abruptly. I gazed at the source of the voice and found myself standing in a dark alley with absolute silence where not a single person was wandering.

I was startled when I heard the same voice screaming for help again. If it would have happened two years back then I would have loved hearing someone wailing on the top of their lungs, desperately crying for help but now it was making me flinch.

In the corner of a narrow road, there were trees hovering over both sides of the street. Squinting my eyes, I found three shadows near a turning at the end of the road. I scowled in that direction and without wasting another second, I rushed toward the shadows when I heard a muffled female voice begging for help.

As I was a few feet away from them, I hid behind a tree so that I would not startle them.

"Don't shout! I can kill you very easily and trust me on this that no one would even know where your dead body would be. So shut the hell up!" One of the masked men shouted, putting a knife against her throat while the other guy was busy pinning her down. I winced when I felt the force they were applying on her. I couldn't see their faces clearly but it was visible that the girl was giving them a hard time.

Although the poor girl couldn't do anything as they both looked like giants and could easily snap her like a twig.

"You think, you can outsmart our boss? You are meant to be his slave, you bitch! And not his damned opponent!" He spat angrily. I could feel my blood boiling at the scene unfolding in front of my eyes. That was when I heard a loud smack. The girl was slapped so hard that she fell face-first on the ground, hitting her head on a nearby stone. Not able to take it anymore, I decided to protect her without revealing my identity.

I tossed a stone in the opposite direction to divert their attention. The masked man with a knife immediately panicked and rushed toward the source followed closely by his companion. I hurried to the lady and lifted her up but soon felt a jolt of pain surging through my head. Closing my eyes, I asked the girl to back away. I turned around and tackled the knifeman.

I punched him hard in his nose and knocked him out by thrusting my index finger at the pressure point under his jaw. I suddenly felt a stinging pain in my left shoulder as I was beating the daylights out of this guy. I cursed wondering why the heck these guys were continuously stabbing me from behind. Gripping my wounded shoulder to stop the bleeding, I turned around to find the other masked man shivering with fear. I heard the girl shrieking when her eyes trailed down my wounded shoulder. I couldn't concentrate on her because she instantly backed away, hiding behind a tree.

I then focused on the second masked man who was almost going to hit on my face. Taking a step back, I elbowed hard on his stomach backed up by a punch under his chin when he tried stabbing me in my guts.

They didn't seem like professional killers. 'Who would have appointed them anyway?' I thought in amusement. Not caring much about it, I paid my sole attention at knocking them out to quickly get out of here.

I swiftly pulled the other person and whacked him harder on his face. Later, I tackled and knocked him out too without wasting more time. I dusted my hands smugly after I vanquished these potato sacks.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk so weak and amateur. Not in the least bit interesting," I declared to myself. I was very pleased to know that I hadn't forgotten my skills. I sighed as soon as the old memories came crashing down the barriers I've had built for 2 years now. I quickly turned my head toward the tree when I heard a soft wincing in the dark.

I saw the girl brutally lying on the ground. I touched her neck to check the pulse and exhaled in relief when I felt her slow and steady breathing. I couldn't see her face but attempted to wake her up anyway. After incessantly sprinkling water on her, she finally opened her eyes.

I got a closer look at her as I gently laid her under the streetlight. She has beautiful chocolate brown coloured eyes with tiny flickers of silver around her iris, twinkling in the moonlight and making her eyes even more luminous. Her blonde hair, sharp nose, plump lips and pale skin were a total contrast to the red print on her left cheek. I stopped my eyes before they could get any lower.

The moment she opened her eyes, they blinked, trying to adjust to the light. I held her head gently as she winced and helped her to get up.

She's so tiny compared to my tall frame as she reached just my shoulders. I'm 6.4 feet and I assumed that she must be around 5.4 or something. I laughed silently at my own comparison skill. Her legs were wobbling so she suddenly grabbed onto my injured arm for support. It intensified my pain and I groaned unintentionally.

I could feel her looking at me so I met her gaze. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she stared at me guiltily. Hastily removing the scarf from around her neck, she tightly tied it on my wounded arm.

"I am alright so you can calm down," I tried assuring her. "They are unconscious for now but I'd suggest that you call the police to inquire about who's behind all this," I explained while pointing my fingers toward the douchebags aka the kidnappers. The injuries I endured were not a biggie to me as I've had worse cuts and brushes all over my body. I shook my head and made an effort to escape as soon as possible.

"No-no t-they are my brother's people. I know who they are. Anyway... thank you so much. Oh, and I'll take your suggestion to call the police," she mumbled, clearly uneasy after all the things that had transpired. Removing her phone, she dialled the 911 and lodged a complaint.

I dusted my pants and took a step ahead, wanting to leave but she was not done yet because I heard her again, "Wait! You are hurt. Please let me help you. It's the least I could do to return your favour." She smiled kindly. "The place is just 'round the corner. The police are on their way so once this mess is cleared up, I can check up on your wounds," she pleaded, pointing toward my bloody hand. When I tried to deny her offer, she pleaded again until I had no choice left but to give up.

***

We waited for about 15 minutes when the police arrived. Grabbing the assholes, one of the officers jotted down the details dictated by the girl regarding the scene caused. I zoned out as I was not in the mood to listen to who they were and what actually happened. But I did catch onto a few words wherein she announced that they were sent by her brother to kill her.

"Sigh, people nowadays," I mumbled to myself, absent-mindedly hitting a lone pebble lying on the ground.

As the officials left, she turned to me. "Okay, this is sorted. Come on, I'll bandage off your wounds. And please, don't deny this time," she insisted. She seemed fully energised now even though her hair was dishevelled, cheeks were swollen, lips bruised and her dress ripped at a few places.

Hugging herself, she averted her eyes away from me as she seemed clearly uncomfortable by my stare. I facepalmed internally due to my boneheadedness. I just nodded. When I realized that she didn't see me nodding as she was looking elsewhere, I cleared my throat and whispered, "After you, honey bun."

She giggled and commented, "Honeybun, huh? Do you like honey or something or what?"

"You have no idea," I said as I stared at the innocent beauty walking in front of me, not even paying attention to my pervy comment. I winced when I felt a sudden jolt of pain that sent a shiver down my spine. She was completely unaware of my condition and lifted her hand. "I am Julia, by the way. Sorry that I was unable to introduce myself earlier," she said. 'The irony of the situation,' I thought.

"Happens because we actually met in an awkward situation but anyway, I am Zearo," I said and her eyes brightened, hearing my name. Taking her hand in mine, I kissed the back of her palm gently like an English gentleman.

"Let's go," she announced, removing her hand from my clutch. I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed and placed a hand on my wound to ease the pain somewhat.

After walking silently while gazing at the stars and trees as the two things work in contrast. On one hand, stars shone brightly whereas the trees provided darkness.

As we reached the destination, I discovered that the place in front of me was kind of crowded with people who were almost tipsy. They were either dancing or singing on the top of their lungs or doing both.

'Where is she taking me?' I wondered but then again it wouldn't matter because I would go anywhere she'd take me. I laughed at my own thoughts and followed behind her.

"This is my club. Um... I mean, I am the owner here. Please come on in," Julia said, motioning me to enter inside the bar. I glanced at the board on top of the building with words - "The Shimmers Night" written on it.

Never in my dreams had I imagined that she would be the owner of this wildlife sanctuary that the people like to visit when they want to unleash the animal within them. I looked at Julia bouncing cheerfully and assuring the bodyguards stationed outside that she was alright when they worriedly pointed at her injuries. I wondered why they didn't protect her when she needed them the most.

She then turned to me, grabbing my hand carefully this time. Pushing the door, she strode toward a silent corridor with glasses as screens that allowed a clear view of the club.

I could watch the DJ swaying to some song while a few people were sitting in the bar drinking their ass off whereas some were making out on the love seats in each corner of the room. The remaining ones were dancing in whatever style they could think of in their drunken state. I walked toward an office that looked pretty decent and clean. I assumed that it was her office. She then started treating my wounds and I couldn't take my eyes off her face.

"There, finished. You can stay here for the night if the pain is unbearable. I could give you the pain killers that might help in reducing the pain. Oh, and do you want to eat something?" Julia asked, clearly flushed because of my stare.

I gave her a knowing look and raised my hand to decline her offer. "No, thank you. I've had my dinner already and it's pretty late anyway. I should leave. Thank you for your hospitality though." I gave her a fake salute and smile for an added effect. She seemed a bit disappointed hearing my response as her smile dropped in the next instance.

"Okay but... you are always welcome here. You can come here without any hesitation whenever you wish to," she said.

"Cool. I also work at a nightclub called, 'Brazin's Club' as a DJ. You can come over too if ever you want to. It wouldn't even be much trouble 'cause it's just a 20 minutes walk from here, I guess," I said, shoving my hands in my pockets. Feeling like the talk was over, I turned toward the exit but then I felt her tender hands holding onto my right hand.

"Um, if you don't mind, I actually have an offer for you. We're in need of a DJ here because our current one's a pregnant lady and she needs maternity leave. I'd love it if you could join here and the pay is gonna be better than what you must be earning right now," she offered, smiling sweetly and gesturing around the club to let me have a proper look.

"She what? Wait a minute... a pregnant woman... a DJ... in a nightclub?" I stammered and looked at her as if she had grown horns on her head. She glared at me as if I was looking down on her or something. I raised both my hands, surrendering. "Not a bad offer, I'll think about it and would let you know about it by tomorrow?" I informed her as I was in a desperate need to change the topic.

Her face lightened up and she nodded her head happily.

Exchanging numbers with her, I finally walked out of her office but something or rather someone caught my eyes. I saw her looking straight at me like she was directly penetrating through my soul. I couldn't read her expression and stopped dead on my tracks. I felt like I'd been hit by a thunderbolt as I watched her eyes closing on their own accord. She fell limp on one of the love seats as she was being surrounded by a few teenagers.

These children looked as if they'd found candy and I couldn't decide who laid their hands on her first. I was sure that she didn't even have an ounce of an idea what was actually going to happen to her because I could see that she was barely awake. I studied these kids closely to be sure about my judgement that she was not with them and that they were gazing at her as if she's a trophy.

Taking a huge gulp of some drink that the bartender offered me, I headed toward the enchanting woman. "I feel like I'm on a mission to save the girls today," I mumbled to myself with an unamused chuckle.

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