I dropped my bag with a muffled thud and stood frozen in spot, staring in disbelief ahead of me at what was in front of my apartment. The clouds had turned gray and rain poured down not too long ago. I didn't bring an umbrella so I used my backpack as shelter and trudged home. I had no Mama, nor Papa, to wait for me at home, so I didn't care if I got wet or was late to return.

What I did wonder, however, was who the hell was at the front of my door? Soaking wet now that my backpack was carelessly tossed on the ground, I cautiously advanced towards the dark body laying limp on the stone ground. I searched the man's body and found that he wore a dark hoodie with baggy camouflage pants. A bit of his black tank top was seen, which also exposed several deep wounds and cuts in his body. Damp hair hid his face and features, but the rest of his body seemed well-fit and healthy.

So why was this man dead? I tried nudging him awake, taking caution of probably hurting him if he was alive. He didn't respond. I tried to regain my breath as I wiped rainwater off my eyes to see for a quick moment where his chest was. Soon, I leveled my body down and pressed my ear to his stomach. He was barely breathing.

My hands quickly came out and I placed two fingers adjacent his nose. Yep, still alive. Silently grunting, I placed my fingers firmly around his shoulders and began dragging his body through my front door. "Why... is there... a dead... man... in front of... my house?" I grumbled and panted when trying to support the heavy weight of the body.

Once he was inside, miraculously might I add, and placed head leaning against the couch's backside, I turned on the lights and rushed back outside in the rain to grab my backpack. When I straightened up and glanced at where the strange man had been laying, I saw flushed blood and small metal debris.

A frown made its way to my face and I snapped my head left and right down the neighborhood, trying to make sense of it all. I cursed under my breath when I found no clue as to why the man was in such a state and slowly retreated back inside the comfort of my apartment, double checking the front door was locked before I turned back around to face the stranger in my living room.

I eyed him suspiciously in my soaked state. I tossed my backpack next to the front door before proceeding to take off my coat. I felt something drop inside and fast reflexes enabled me to catch it and realize it was the folder the official had entrusted to me. Eyes widening at how soaked it was, I was about to pull it completely out to examine its state when I heard a low grumble from behind me.

The folder was shoved back inside my coat and I buttoned it up quickly, feeling uncomfortable at how soggy my entire body felt.

"Hey..."

I turned around with startled eyes and gazed at the man beginning to breath properly after a series of coughs to clear his dry throat.

"So you speak English," I replied lightly, walking over and crouching down to check his face. The mysterious man was still trying to stabilize his breathing and I waited patiently for him to get words out, glancing at the new angles of his body for new wounds. He spoke up again and got my attention back to his hair-covered face.

"Where... am I?" he whispered. I could tell it was difficult for him to speak. Just those three words made him pant uncontrollably. I quickly looked up and around to confirm it was my place.

"You're safe," I said with a thin line forming on my lips, "I hope. Unless someone sent you after me for some damn reason, I'll be forced to murder you."

The man looked up and I caught a glimpse of his eyes, but the lower part of his face was now somewhat visible. He's... handsome. The distraction didn't prepare me for what he said next, however.

"Murder... me?" he chuckled dryly, "I'm threatened, miss." He shifted a bit in his position so that he sat up straighter, and I leaned back a little when seeing our height difference just change.

I kept my calm and leaned back in, hovering my right hand in front of his face before I felt his eyes on me. "Excuse me," I stated simply, gently pushing his damped hair to the back and out of his face. He mysteriously didn't resist and sat there patiently, as if waiting for me to see him. And I did. Our eyes met softly and I held my breath as I looked into them, and felt him taking me in as well.

He had interesting gray-tint eyes with a hint of tropical green fading in and out. Wavy dark chestnut hair covered his head and below gave view to one silver ring piercing. Now that I take some time to analyze his features, I realized he wasn't much older than I had imagined. He seemed about 21. And here I was pure 19.

"Tadah," he forced a smirk to his face, "Do I seem like a bad person?"

"Hm," I contemplated as I dropped my hand and tilted my head a bit, "With time. For now wipe off the smirk, will you? I could very well punch your face in if I sense you're dangerous any moment."

"You saved me," he huffed as he leaned back on his arms, "and then threaten to not only hit but kill me. What kind of demonic being are you?"

"A college student." I rolled my eyes blatantly as I pushed myself off the floor and strolled into the kitchen.

"You're just going to leave me here?" The man asked from behind. I sighed and went to open the cabinets for a medical kit.

"You miss me already?" I murmured absentmindedly as I closed the doors and went back into the living room. "Chill, Bob. I'm trying to help you."

The man scoffed silently and ran a hand through his wet hair with a sigh. "I have a name."

"Billy, Bob, Bib, don't flatter yourself now," I gave him a look before opening the medical kit and pulling out some ointment and gauze. I gazed at his zipped-up hoodie before proceeding to my next step. "Hold still, I'll just open it to see the wounds."

He suddenly grabbed my wrist and stopped me. "Don't, I'll do it." I eyed the man with a weird look. "Bill, you're hurt. I have to do something so I can find out what happened to you and why you're sent here."

Bib stared at me for an elongated moment before he failed at holding back a laugh. I frowned and asked, "What?" The good thing was that he seemed to be calmer. I'll stall around and get him to forget the pain for a bit.

"Sorry," he caught my eye with a simple grin, "I can't take you seriously when you keep forgetting a name as basic as Bob."

"Alright, didn't want to have to do introductions right away with a dead man," I mumbled, scooting back as I took in his whole view. "Your name?" We entered into an intense staring contest before I found my eyebrows raising at him shaking his head.

"I'll tell you after I clean myself up," he popped, minding his clothes as he ignored me.

I dropped the gauze roll with a dramatic I'm-done attitude and disappeared around the corner to go upstairs. Before I left completely, I warned him over my shoulders, "Stay here. I'm going to wash up. You try anything and you're dead meat." I went upstairs and turned on the lights to my room, taking off my wet coat. The folder fell out and plopped on the ground with its own puddle of water.

I grimaced at its poor state and picked it up delicately, tossing it onto my bed drawer. "It's soaking..." I said under my breath as I took off my clothes and jumped in the shower for a quick wash. The folder should dry up a bit before I met eyes with it again. It's not that bad. It's not.

It wasn't too long before I hopped out of the steaming shower and I could finally see my bathroom, which I couldn't earlier due to the blanket of fog blocking my view through the transparent door. I threw on a silk white night gown and a soft, hazel brown coat in remembrance of the meeting tonight, and the strange man sitting in my living room.

Wrapping the coat tightly around my body, I emerged out the bathroom right when my eyes landed on the folder laying on top of my desk.

"Where to hide this..." I looked around my room and finally decided to bring it along inside my new coat so that I'd have it with me for the meeting. It was wrinkled badly and I was afraid some ink on the files might've been smudged on the other side, but other than that the condition wasn't too unbearable.

I headed downstairs and my eyes raised at the sight of the man partly dried and sitting on the couch with the kit box on his laps, resting his head back. His eyes were closed and he laid there oblivious to me coming back down.

I walked in front of him and leaned in a bit to inspect if he was faking it or not. When I discovered that the man was actually exhausted, I silently sighed and nudged his arm. "Hey," I said, "Wake up. Don't sleep in a stranger's house."

He took only several nudges to be completely conscious again. His eyes fluttered open and he groaned at seeing my face, tilting to the side to avoid looking at me before running a hand through his hair to wake himself up. I thought the whole process was interesting so I kept a light watch on him as I picked up the medical kit from his lap and placed it on the table next to the couch.

"You smell like lavender..." I heard him whisper in his half-asleep state.

"Do I?" I glanced over my shoulders with a light, amused smile, "Sure you're not hallucinating from the blood loss? I used honey citrus shampoo though..."

"It's soothing." Now he was awake and he popped a quick, tired smile my way before the two of us looked each other in the eyes. "I assume you want to ask me questions?" His eyes glinted with something between an innocent child's and a grown-ass man's sense of humor. What a strange combination.

I glanced down at my phone and my eyes widened at the time. "Shit," I slipped out a muffled curse.

"What?"

"Sit." I falsely corrected the man, "We can do questions when we sit down and have time. For now just get cleaned up and..." I glanced at his wounds and frowned in concern, "just... take care. It'll sting a lot, from the looks at how severe they were that it made you bleed and lose conscious."

He smirked and nodded patiently, getting up from the couch. I felt smaller all of a sudden as we compared our exact heights to each other now that the both of us were standing face to face, and I wasn't even short.

I cleared my throat quietly and looked to the side, waiting for him to pass. I could almost picture his smirk going off in my head as he looked down at me.

"The name's Pierce," the man suddenly said.

My eyes dilated a bit as I glanced up and looked him in the eyes. "Pierce." I recited with light eyes. When he nodded, I somehow felt it was safe to exchange my name too.

"I'm Risa."

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