Chapter 33 – Birthday Pt two

Harmoni

Swaying slightly, I made my way to the club bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror; my makeup had started running. I wiped the skin beneath my eyes to remove the black traces my mascara and eyeliner had left there. ~Panda eyes, not today.~

My eyes were bloodshot. I was done drinking for the night. Anything more would result in a blackout, and I wanted to remember this night, especially the dance I had shared with William.

I made my way out of the bathroom and turned left, pushing a door open. I was going to go see if William was up for another dance. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be swaying to the beat in the arms of Mr. ... Hot and Sexy.

As the door closed behind me, I noticed that this part of the club was dark; it seemed like the staff area, yet there was no one in sight. I guess I had taken a wrong turn while going back to the dance floor. I definitely needed to stop drinking for the night.

I tried tracing my footsteps back, but the door had barely cracked open when my arm was roughly grabbed by someone behind me.

What in the world was happening?

I lost my balance and landed harshly on my bum. I’m sure it would have hurt a lot more than it did with the alcohol in my system.

"Well, well, what do we have here?” A man appeared in my line of sight, a smirk on his face. The man was only slightly taller than me and spotted shady blond hair. Everything about him made my blood run cold; his brown eyes seemed cold and bottomless. If I ever pictured a cold-blooded killer, then he would be it. Being in the same room as he was enough to make a shiver run down my spine.

"Look, I don't want any trouble, I'm just looking to go back to my friends,” I tried to bargain. It was futile, but I had to at least try. Maybe if I pretended to be naive, they wouldn’t see me as a threat and let me go.

I tried my best to control my voice and thought I had done a good job not to slur, but hey, what do I know, right?

The man laughed like I had just said the funniest joke he had ever heard. His laugh alone made me tense. My heart raced in my chest as I understood the gravity of the situation I was in. I sobered up rather quickly. Yet, I knew that even if I tried to resist this man, I wouldn't stand a chance in the state I was in.

I was at his mercy, and he knew it.

I used the wall to leverage myself back onto my feet.

"I'm just going to go,” I quickly said, taking a step back. My fake bravado was already running thin. The man continued laughing; perhaps his laughter could serve as a distraction for my escape. I made a break from it; this man was bad news, I could smell it from a mile away.

I wasn't so lucky.

"Get your hands off of me, you fucking asshole!" I screamed, struggling to get out of the man's hold as he secured his hands around my arms and chest, holding me tight against him. God, why did I drink so much, how stupid was I?

I head-butted him, surprising him enough for him to loosen his iron grip. This time I sprinted forwards, trying to get back to the dance floor where William surely was.

"HELP!" I screamed as I ran. I didn't make it far enough; my heels slowed me down considerably. I was about to get to the door leading back to the more populated area of the club when a man appeared in front of me.

"You're not going anywhere but with us, little girl,” this man threatened with an evil gleam in his eyes. This could not be happening; I could feel my hands becoming moist from the nervousness of the situation I was in.

I turned around swiftly, only to come face to face with my earlier attacker. Fuck, there were two of them; I was surrounded. The man that had just blocked my only escape back into the club was about six feet tall and was built like a wall. He had tattoos covering his muscular arms. It’s official... I'm screwed.

"I'm not going anywhere with you,” I spit back confidently. If I couldn’t win against one of them, I sure as hell wasn’t going to escape two of them, but I would be damned if I went down without a fight. I had watched enough crime series to know that an altercation like this could leave evidence of the kidnappers. I had to at least try.

I was scared, terrified even, but this was not the time to think about this. I needed to let the adrenaline kick in—I needed it to fuel me if I was going to get out of this. I would need to fight as if my life depended on it. Perhaps, if I got lucky, they would think I wasn't worth all the trouble.

When he regained his balance, he looked me straight in the eyes, not bothering to hide the fury and anger I had ignited in him.

"Take her to the car," he ordered the man holding me. I struggled as much as I could, but it didn't make a difference—the muscled man carried me with ease. I was completely stuck and powerless. I turned my head to the side as much as possible, and with as much force as I could muster, I bit down on the tattooed skin.

He yelled out in pain before turning to his partner. "That bitch just bit me!" If you try to kidnap someone, why the hell are you surprised when they defend themselves? I thought to myself. If the situation was different, I would have rolled my eyes at him. Unfortunately, I had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

The leaner man placed a bag over my head, obscuring my view and preventing me from biting his partner again. Being deprived of one of my senses terrified me even more. I hated this feeling of being powerless. My breathing grew ragged as my panic increased, tears were running down my cheeks as I kept struggling.

So I did the next best thing—I screamed for help, as loud as I could, repeatedly. I could feel myself sweat as the outcome was becoming less favorable for me by the second.

A rough blow to my head shut me up momentarily. The sting of the punch was prominent and painful; my head felt fuzzy for a few seconds until I heard a car door being opened. With all the struggling I had been doing, I hadn’t even realized we had made it outside.

If I went in this vehicle, then it would all be over—I would be as good as dead.

I pushed my feet against the frame of the car with as much force as I could muster. Or at least that’s where I thought I was pushing since I couldn’t actually see. I was not getting into that car!

"HARMONI!" I heard someone scream. I was too preoccupied not to get kidnapped that I didn't pay attention to who it was. At this point, I couldn't care less—I would take anyone's help.

"HELP! OVER HERE!" I tried to attract their attention.

"Quick, grab her legs," the tattooed man said. I felt hands grabbing my legs; they were probably trying to pull me into the car. I kicked aimlessly, hoping to hit something, anything.

"No!" I struggled more as he immobilized one of my legs; the other one was still pushing up against the frame. I wasn't going to last long.

I tried headbutting the man grabbing my upper body, but he was prepared for it. I wasn't going to fool him twice.

"SWAT, put the girl down before I put you down," I heard William's distinctive voice say. At the sound of his voice, my heart sped up. He was here, William found me. I was going to be fine—I had all the faith in the world in this man.

"Fuck!" the tattooed man cursed.

Slowly, he placed me back on the floor, backing a few steps away from me, and taking the hood off my head. My eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the lights in the street, and there in front of me stood my man.

The man in the car had released my foot at the sound of the police.

What I hadn't expected was for the car to drive off as soon as the tattooed man turned to face William. He had just been abandoned by his partners in crime to face the music of their actions alone.

"Harmoni, get behind me," William ordered. His eyes never left my attacker, his gun pointing straight at him, daring him to make a move.

Jason walked up to him and cuffed him, reading him his Miranda rights.

I rushed towards William, falling into his open arms. I was so relieved to see him, my tears fell down as the adrenaline dialed down. He kissed my forehead, holding me tightly against him.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I kept repeating.

“I’m so happy you’re alright,” he whispered, squeezing me once more as he brought his lips down to mine in a desperate kiss. I could feel his heartbeat at the idea of losing someone else that was close to him.

“If you guys are done, I’d like to get this dirtbag to HQ for interrogation,” Jason interrupted.

This night had not gone as I expected.