Chapter 9 - "I'm scared something will happen to you."

Past Events

"I don't think that's a good idea," Charles worried, observing Natalia who was examining herself in the mirror.

All her seventeen year old friends wore that apparently, but Charles wasn't sure if that was true because he never saw any of them wear that, at least not at school. "You're showing a lot, and if I don't think it's proper, then other guys won't either."

"Guys at clubs don't care about a girl being proper," Natalia snickered as she posed again in the mirror.

Charles had to look away from that one because it was way too inappropriate. She was wearing a leather mini-skirt with a tank top that was as small as a bra, and her blond silvery hair was in a ponytail. As her pose, she had leaned forward and pushed out her hips, bending far enough that her thong underneath her skirt became very visible, and that was not a sight Charles wanted to see.

"I don't like your outfit and I hope you don't pose like that. Can you stop doing that?"

"You're such a prude," Natalia mocked, flopping down on his desk chair and crossing her legs. "I'm going to a night club. Apparently it's popping these days, but get this," she leaned forward and whispered secretively, "the owner is an upcoming troop leader."

Immediately, Charles vigorously shook his head; Natalia always put herself in bad situations when she wanted to have fun. "Nat, you shouldn't go to that nightclub. I've heard some bad things about night clubs and bars owned by troop leaders."

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Such as?"

"Well, apparently they lace all their drinks to make sure no customers remember a thing that happened and can't go to the police. If they do, they'd get tested for narcotics anyway so the police would assume that you're just high and won't take you seriously."

No surprise that Natalia snorted dismissively, shaking her hand as though it was the most idiotic made up story Charles could ever improvise. "Stop trying to scare me, Charles."

"I'm not trying to scare you," he insisted, standing from his bed. "And apparently, they usually have underground prisons where they keep people captive, and the trick is that since it's so loud, nobody can hear their screams."

"And whoever told you all of that," she said, waving her finger, "must've visited one of them and made it out, right?" Charles was trying to convince her that this was a bad idea, but nothing was working, and if he told her who had told him, she would never believe it. "Charles, I'll be fine, alright? I'll come back here after my night."

Charles was worried, but he slowly decided to nod his head and exhale a long discouraged sigh. "I hope your fake I.D doesn't work so you don't get in."

"I'll make sure they're looking at my tits so they don't noticed—"

"Ah!" Charles shrieked, plugging his ears with his fingers. "Natalia! My ears are bleeding!"

She couldn't stop herself from bursting into cackles. To be fair, he was only fifteen, and she didn't know much either when she started high school, but he was going to learn eventually anyway.

As Natalia stood from her seat, she extended her palm, seeing a small smile on Charles lips when she realized what she was doing. As they connected their hands, they continued with their super cool handshake before saluting one another at the end using two fingers.

"I'll come back here and stay the night after I'm done," she said, not really giving Charles a choice. "You sure you don't want to come?"

"I have a project due next week, but even if I didn't," he followed her towards the window, "I wouldn't come to something like that."

"Can you leave the rope down and your window open for me?"

Natalia was about to climb down, but Charles reached for her wrist, stopping her motion for a few seconds. As Natalia turned to face him, she noticed his eyes quivering, his grip stiffening as his lips tightened into a line. The uneasiness in his face was evident, his eyes flickering back and forth between both her eyes.

"You have to be careful, Natalia," he murmured, trying his hardest not to look like a wimp because he knew she would make fun of him for it, but he couldn't help to worry. "There's a lot of bad people out there and I'm scared something will happen to you."

A small smile pulled Natalia's lips, and she reached forward, caressing Charles cheek with her palm. "I'll be safe, okay? If I'm not back by four in the morning, tell your dads and they can come get me." Charles nodded his head, feeling much more comfortable with that.

She started climbing down the rope, and paused for a moment to meet the gaze of Charles' who was leaning out the window and staring at her. She waved her hand and said, "I love you, Char."

Charles sent her a short saddened smile as he replied softly, "Love you too."

He watched her hop down the rope, wave once more before she jogged towards Lucius's car—that she didn't ask to borrow. She could barely jog since she was in heels, which only made Charles laugh from afar before he turned around and continued working on his project.

***

"It'll work, trust me," Natalia hissed quietly to her friend, Jamie, who kept stressing about their fake identifications. They had been waiting in line, and everyone in the line appeared related to some form of troop one way or the other. Either tattoos or guns strapped under their suits, even the women appeared much older with a lot more cleavage than Natalia had. There was even two women that had their arms hooked around a man, and they were both naked, waiting in line. That must've been a normal sight for them since no one batted an eye.

When Natalia and Jamie reached the entrance, Natalia reached inside her purse to grab her I.D, when the bodyguard stopped her and said, "I don't need to see yours, beautiful." When Natalia looked back upwards at him, she noticed the bodyguard's eyes continuously travelling up and down her body, scrutinizing every single feature as though she was a naked sculpture. As uncomfortable as she felt, she had been taught to deal with much bigger men from her father, hence she tightened her purse and was seconds from entering when she heard him say, "Grab this coupon."

She turned around and grabbed the coupon; it was a pink slip with the name of the club. The bodyguard smiled and said, "They'll give you free drinks at the bar the whole night if you have that." Natalia reached for it, but the smile across his lips was a bit strange, as though he had some trick up his sleeves. At the same time, perverts always had those looks.

"Can I have one too?" Jamie asked, squeezing her arms together to reveal more cleavage.

The bodyguard didn't even glance in her direction. "Next in line, please."

As they entered the place, Natalia was shocked to see how packed it was; there were people in every single corner, every inch of the place, and no one told her there was going to be a stage with performances. She saw numerous V.I.P booths with men dressed in suits and tuxedos, women dressed with either very fancy dresses or nothing at all. The air was cloudy, and they could smell the stench of weed and cigarette, along with alcohol that they definitely wanted to try.

"Have you ever smoked before?" Natalia asked Jamie as they squeezed through the crowd for the bar counter.

Eighteen-year old Jamie shook her head, tightening her grasp around Natalia's arm. "Who did you try it with?"

"A family friend," she chuckled as she thought of Charles' frightened face when she stole some from Lucius' stash and brought it over to Charles's house. "We should get a few drinks and talk to people."

The moment they reached the counter, that was when the party really started. The bartender was surprised to see a pink slip, and had the longest grin on his face as he poured them shot after shot, drinks after drinks. They started talking to other nearby customers, and the bartender even asked them to both come behind the bar and dance beside him.

They felt as though the attention was on them, both being pulled in different direction to dance and Natalia had no reservations on dancing with a few men, grinding on them.

The bartender kept announcing, "They got a pink slip!" and they cheered whenever he did say that.

"Why don't you come to the V.I.P bedroom with me," Natalia heard right next to her ear, which didn't even make her flinch. This random men's robust fingers clamped around her waist, and he waited for a response to bring her to the staircase.

Natalia licked her bottom lip, lifting herself onto her tippy-toes and puckering her lips. The man puckered his own lips, leaning down for a kiss, when she bypassed his lips and brought herself close to his ear and hissed, "You're not my type."

There were many instances such as that, where they ridiculed whichever man approach them. Watching them stray away with pouts was so entertaining, and they high-five as they drank even more. What they didn't realize though, was that they were the only ones who had received a pink slip.

Before they did, Natalia suddenly felt her mind blur, and her body was on a wave, wobbling back and forth and unable to think straight. The same thing happened to Jamie, and as she clamped her hands against the counter, the bartender reached for them, wrapping his hand around her waist and staring into her blanking eyes.

Everything was fading, the surrounding, the music, and for a moment, she was certain that every single persons eyes were on her.