Upset. Moody. Depressed. That's exactly how Raine was feeling right now.
Yesterday, after waiting eagerly practically all day long, Xavier had not returned. There was never a day he missed going to the coffeeshop and something about his absence made Raine feel almost lonely. She had grown accustomed to having Xavier come around, giving her sweet smiles and asking for her suggestions.
Her mind was basically flooded with weird emotions all day long. And that was driving her crazy. So crazy that she ended up with a nasty headache. It wasn't long before Daisy noticed her struggling to focus and asked about her welbeings. Concerned, she sent her back home to rest.
Yesterday night was Daisy's flight to Chicago. Raine was very happy that she was finally getting a chance to fulfill her mother's dream. Ever since Cathy's health got worse, all of the profits from the cafe went directly into her hospital bills and no matter how much Daisy tried to arrange a trip to Chicago for her mom, she always failed. But her dream was finally coming true and Raine couldn't help but be happy for them.
* * *
Today was a fresh new day. Raine's headache was better but her mood was still the same. It had been hours since they opened but Xavier was no where to be found. Ignoring his absence, Raine continued her work with full dedication. Mike had come early in the morning to open, giving Raine a couple extra minutes to sleep in. Nevertheless, the cafe was packed as ever the minute Raine set foot inside, causing her to jump straight back into work.
The whole day had passed with 0 customers complaints and about 17 coffee spills. Both Raine and Mike were proud of their accomplishment and hoped that Daisy would be just as happy. Mike had been trying hard to win her heart and felt that this was the perfect oppertunity to earn her trust.
"You think Daisy will be impressed?" Mike asked Raine, scratching his head, as they sat on the chairs of the now empty cafe. There was still a couple of minutes left before Mike had to leave for his second job.
"I'm sure she will be!" Raine said in a reassuring voice. "Mikey, you don't have to worry! Give her some time and she'll notice how amazing you are! And plus, you know she's preoccupied with Cathy right now."
"I hope you're right Rainy." Mike sighed as he looked around the cafe. "It sure is quiet here without Daisy."
A smile grew on Raine's face. "Yeah, that's cause she's always talking, laughing, or singing around in the cafe! But don't worry Mike, she's going to be back before you know it tomorrow!"
And that was enough for a small smile to appear on Mike's face. He hadn't be lucky when it came to love in the past. But ever since his eyes had fallen on Daisy, he had been completely head over heels for her. Too bad she was too blind to see it, and if she did see it, she chose to ignore it.
"Ok Raine, I have to head out for my new shift. Is there anything you want me to do before I leave?"
"No Mike, all I have left to do is check the inventory, mop the coffee spill from those little children earlier today, and do the closing. I'm sure I can manage!"
"Ok fine. But call me if you have any questions."
"I will. Have a good night Mike."
As soon as Mike walked out the doors, leaving Raine all alone, she checked the time on the clock. It was still 4:00 and she had plenty of time on herself since the cafe was empty. She quickly cleaned up all the tables, picking up the trash, checking the inventory and making sure everything was nice and tidy. When she was done, she still had a couple of minutes left till closing so she pulled out the book from her bag.
Reading had always been one of Raine's favorite things to do. "It took all the pain away and transported you to another world of mysteries and magic." Her mother would always say this to her before she fell asleep each night as a child.
It wasn't long before Raine was fully immersed into the book. The words flowed from sentence to sentence and the pages turned at a constant pace. A yawn escaped her mouth after finished the first half of the book. Taking her head out of the book and resting it on the table upside down, Raine rubbed her strained eyes and looked outside the window. And what she saw, left her shocked.
It was dark.
Like really, really dark.
She quickly looked at the time in her phone and her eyes widen when she saw 10:57 flashing before her eyes.
"I've been reading for 5 hours!?" Raine said to herself in shock. She looked outside once more and noticed the empty streets. No one came to this part of town at night. Barely a single car was on the road and all the surrounding buildings were dark. The only thing illuminating the street were the lamps on the sidewalks.
Shaking her head a cursing herself for being too caught up in the book, Raine grabbed her bag and went into the kitchen to check if everything was proper one last time. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen, she heard the bell on the door chime.
Frowning at the noise, she quickly headed to the front, where a middle aged man was wobbling past the tables in the cafe. His eyes were blood shot and he could barely keep himself standing on his legs.
Skeptical, Raine came from behind the counter, eyeing the man. "I'm sorry sir, but the cafe is close."
The man looked at Raine with a stone face before bursting out into a fit of laughter, making Raine nervous. From the way the man was behaving and walking, Raine could tell that he was definately drunk. Very drunk.
"Closed? The cafe is closed? But what about that show you were giving me earlier, bending over all those tables."
Raine's heart began to thump against her chest. Not only was this man completely drunk, but by the looks of it, his intenstions didn't seem so great either.
"You've been teasing me for hours girl. And now I'm gunna have some fun." The man began walking closer to Raine. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest as she started walking back in fear.
"S-sir you need to leave. This cafe is c-close." Trying to hide her fear, Raine made out the best confident voice her could. Unfortunately the shuttering in her voice gave away her terror as she backed away.
A hideous smiled appeared on the man's face as he sneered at Raine. He wasn't too far from her now and he could tell she was trembling in his presence. "That's perfect. There will be no was here to disturb us."
It wasn't long before the man was right before Raine. Shaking slightly in fear, Raine knew that she would have to put up some form of defense if she wanted to make it out of this situation unharmed. Using all of her might, Raine quickly pushed the man as hard as she could. Unprepared of the attack, the man lost his balance, tumbling back, before collapsing on the floor.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Raine ran behind the counter, pulling her phone out of the purse and dialing Mike's number. But before she could push the green button on his name, her phone was snatched out of her hands and thrown across the floor.
Raine's eyes widened as she saw her phone land on the floor, shattering. She couldn't dwelling on it for long, because the next thing she knew, she found herself being yanking up from the ground by her hair. "AHHHHHH!!!" Raine screamed as the man lifting her with all his force by her hair, causing pain to flow through her body.
Raine struggled to break free from his grasp but failed as the man was approximately twice her size. He threw her across the floor, knocking over a couple of tables in the process.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. But I can tell you're gunna like the hard way better. Kinky huh? I like that." A disgusting smirk filled his face as he inched up on Raine who was on the ground shaking and sobbing in fear.
She tried to stand up but failed miserably. Her eyes were streaming with hot tears as she tried crawling away from the man who was looking at her with lust in his eyes. Pain was shooting through her body with every movement she made but she knew that if she wanted to survive this, that she would have to put up a fight. Raine looked around for something when her eyes fell on the glass vase that they placed on the tables. She reached her arms out for the vase and grabbed it quickly, hurling it in the direction of the drunk man.
Much to Raine's bad luck, the man dodged the shot, causing the vase to come shattering on the floor. The man smirked at Raine, letting out sinister chuckle. "Didn't know you liked it this rough."
A menacing smile appeared on his face as he grabbed Raine by her hands and shoved her onto the floor where the glass had shattered. The fragments of glass pierced Raine's arms as she let out a scream. Yanking her hair once more, the man rolled her over onto her back before getting on top of her so that he was straddling her hips.
"You have no idea how much fun I'm going to have with you."
Raine struggled and sobbed as the man took both of her hands in his own and pinned them above her head. She begged for him to let her go but he gave her a terrifying smile before digging his nailed into the cuts on her arms. Blood oozed out of her injuries as she throbbed in pain, laying on the ground with the brute on top of her.
"LET ME GO!!" Raine screamed as she felt him slip his hands under her top. But the man showed no sympathy watching Raine's sob on the floor. He took his hands from under her shirt and reach for the top, ripping the sleeves off the shirt.
"AHHH!!" Raine thrashed as she fought against the vile man who showed her no mercy. But nothing stopped that man from moving forward. He pulled out a pocket knife and trailed it down her face gently before reaching the neck of her top. Hooking it onto there first button, he ran the knife harshly down, tearing the remaining shirt. Raine felt a cool breeze hit her chest as the shirt tore.
Slowly her body began to shut down as the pain got too much for her to handle. But everything came to a stop when a voice boomed through the cafe.
"GET YOUR FUCKING HAND OFF OF HER BEFORE I RIP YOU IN HALF AND BURN YOU ALIVE."
The man stopped his movement, freezing before looking up. Raine watched his eyes go wide before she turned herself to the voice that had paused her pain and misery.
There, at the entrance of the cafe, stood a very furious Xavier Thorn. His fists were clenching and unclenching, along with his jaws. His bright blue eyes were full of anger, dark and scary. His eyes set on one being in particular. And if looks could his, the glare Xavier had on his face, would have this man dead in seconds.
Xavier's eyes flickered to Raine who was still laying underneath the man, her eyes blood shot and her face drowning in tears. She looked towards Xavier helpless, and the sight in front of Xavier crushed him.
Within two second, the man was ripped off of Raine's body and thrown to the ground, right on top of the glass. The man screamed as Xavier threw a punch directly on his face.
"HOW DARE YOU!!!" Xavier punched. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH RAINE!!" Xavier threw countless punches at the man as anger flowed through the viens of his body. Without a drop of mercy, Xavier struck the man uncontrollably, while sreaming out profanities. "Don't you dare touch her!! Don't you dare touch Raine ever again!"
Raine stared at Xavier as he beat the man responsible for her state. She was trembling, in shock, and sobbing. The pain was blaring though every part of her body as she watch Xavier mash up the man, tears rolling down her face.
"I'll kill you!! I kill you if you ever even lay a finger on her again!!" Xavier continued his assault. "No one can touch her!! No one!!" By now, the man was barely awake. His cheeks bloody and bruised and his eyes blackened. Blood was flowing out his nose but nothing was stopping Xavier from lashing out his anger. Nothing until he heard a pained voice behind him.
"X-Xavi--Xavier." One word was enough to cause Xavier to stop his assault and look behind him to the figure that was laying on the ground. Raine was looked at him terrified. Her knees were pulled up close to her chest as she shivered with tears flowing from her eyes and her hands wrapped around her chest, trying to cover herself up.
Xavier threw one last strong punch at the man who was now passed out before rushed over to Raine. "Raine!!" He kneeled before her as she sobs raked through her body. Her eyes puffed up and completely red, soaked and swollen with tears that wouldn't possibly stop.
Quickly Xavier slipped the coat of his suit off of himself, wrapping it onto Raine's body before engulfing her in a hug. Raine immediately fell into his embrace as she sobbed uncontrollably in his chest. Xavier wrapped his arms around her waist and back, pulling her close and rubbing her back. She had her head on his heart as she grabbed his shirt, wetting it with blood and tears.
"Shhhh...." Xavier tried to silence her. "Raine look at me. Look at me Raine, it's gunna be ok." But Xavier knew that things were far from ok. "It's gunna be ok! I got you. I got you girl."
Xavier cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth. He pressed her against his chest as they sat in the middle of the wrecked up cafe. The unconscious, bloody excuse-of-a-man laid not too far from them. The glass that was scattered on the floor and the tables were all toppled over.
Soon the sobs that were once echoing through the cafe died out. Xavier felt Raine's body go limp in his arms. He pulled her out of the hug and cupped her face, shaking her. "Raine!! Raine look at me!! Raine wake up!"
Only then did Xavier notice her blood stained shirt under his coat. Blood was flowing from her open wounds due to the shards of glass that had pierced her skin. His own shirt was soaking in a mixture of tears and red. He shook her body some more but she did not open her eyes. Checking her pulse and finding it weak, Xavier quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"Jordan!!! Get to to cafe right now! Cathy's! Get to Cathy's right now it's a goddamn emergency." Hanging up the phone, Xavier shoved it back into his pocket before cupping Raine's face as she laid in his lap. He moved the loose strains of hair from her face and pushed them behind her ears. Pulling on a handkerchief, he wiped off her face from the tears, and wiped off the blood from her injuries.
It wasn't long before some bright headlights appeared outside of the cafe. Xavier put his hand underneath Raine's knees before scooping her up into his arms. He carried her bridal style out the door and ran towards the car. Jordan's eyes widened when he saw Xavier with an unconscious Raine in his arms, causing him to rush up to him.
"Mr. Thorn! What's happened? Who did all of this!? Are you alright?!" Jordan said as he inspected Xavier for any injuries. Apart from the blood on his shirt and his knuckles which were all bruised up, Jordan found nothing.
"Get in the car now!!" Xavier said as Jordan rushed to open the passenger door for him. He slipped into the car with Raine laying in his lap. Jordan rushed to the driver seat and began driving. "My house! NOW!"
Jordan didn't ask a single question as he began driving in high speeds toward's Xaver's house.
"Call security and tell them to have to man laying in the cafe arrested immediately! And tell them to clean up the mess! And call Dr. Khan to my house urgently!!" Jordan followed all of the orders while driving hurriedly through the city.
Meanwhile, Xavier's eyes were frozen at the still figure that was laying in his arms. He ran his fingers through her messed up hair and caressed her cheeks. She flinched when he accidentally touched one of her open wounds causing his body to stiffen up. Her breaths were calm but her eyes still leaked tears in her unconscious state. His jaw clenched and his body stiffened as he remembered the scene he had walked up on not too long ago. But all of these thoughts were set aside when Jordan drove through the gates of his house.
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