Chapter 2. Paris

Slow day at the Barn. I work at a place called the Barn. Tess thought it was funny to name her breakfast restaurant that. Good thing it was a busy place and the tips were good. The folks were nice. The charm of small towns. I worried I wouldn’t fit in after moving here four weeks ago but things had been moving smoothly.

The town’s people were nice but they kept to themselves and were somewhat secretive. This morning there seemed to be a dark cloud hanging over the town. Four days ago the local billionaire lost his girlfriend to a horrific fire.

Amelia came in a few times. She had a warm smile and bright honey-blonde hair I would kill to have! Though, I doubted Amelia’s death was the reason for the dull mood in the restaurant. Even Mr Henley my usual admirer was in a sour mood.

I didn’t think Timothy; the cook’s bad mood was due to anything happening in the pack. He was always mad.

Pans rattled in the kitchen and fires grew. Just like every other day.

My friend Selma walked into the restaurant with her art supplies practically falling out of her bag. I was in my third year of history and literature when… I had to run.

“I’m late! I need a strong coffee,” she panted.

“Geez, what happened?”

She ran a hand through her frizzy brown hair trying to make it even.

“There was a commotion in my neighbourhood to top it off Noah was out late.”

Noah was her older brother, who regularly came to see me…

“Is he okay?”

I handed her a coffee in a foam cup.

“Fine. He worried my ass off though. The streets are getting dangerous, Paris. You should knock off earlier.”

I swallowed. “Is that why the town’s so gloomy? Is the crime rate going up? I didn’t read about it.”

Selma snapped back and blinked. “What? No. Look at the time, I’m late. See you later!” She grabbed her coffee and scurried out.

Elvira Falls was supposed to be a quiet town hidden from the rest of the world where the crime was close to minimal. I chose this town because I believed it was the last place Caleb would search for me.

Despite what Selma said I couldn’t get off work early. I had a double shift. Nights were slow here. This means for four hours I would pick up trash, clean tables and attend to the three people who came in to buy water.

“Fuck!” Timothy cried from the kitchen as a pan dropped.

“You okay back there, Tim?” I called.

My co-worker Mindy didn’t show up for her shift today but it didn’t matter because the restaurant was empty. A tumbleweed just blew by.

“You’re still here?” Tim grumbled.

“Yeah, you know I have a double.”

The door creaked alerting me to a customer.

Tim straightened his spine and frowned. “Get out of here. I’ll lock up.”

“We just got customers,” I said, walking off

I grabbed the night menu. Two men settled in the corner, hunched over speaking in hushed voices.

“Can I get you guys anything?” I asked.

They looked up at the same time. The one with blue eyes held a striking resemblance to the man back home. A shudder went through me. Relax, Paris, not every man wearing dark leather was a thug.

“Some drinks while we go through the menu doll face and why don’t you ask the cook to come out? He’s… a friend of ours.”

“Okay…”

I found Tim pacing in the kitchen. I reached for the glasses.

“Your friends are out there. They want to see you.”

“Do me a favour Paris go out back and dump the ice.”

I frowned. “Why?”

Tim grumbled and the veins in his neck popped out.

I raised my hands before he blew a fuse. I grabbed two bags of ice from the freezer and carried it to the back which was an alley. The only light bulb flickered violently. I heard glass shatter and an animal scattered across the ground. I hurried back into the kitchen to hear a fist connect with flesh.

“You’re out of time!” a roar halted me at the door to the restaurant.

Tim was on the ground with a bleeding mouth. The two customers stood on either side of him but they had their eyes on me.

“Get out of here kid!” Tim yelled.

“Tim…” I gasped!

“I wish you hadn’t walked in doll face,” the blue-eyed goon shook his head.

“It’s none of her business,” Tim said.

He received a boot to the gut. I didn’t shudder. The action had been beaded into my mind from a young age it was sickening how used to it I was.

The other man closed the distance between us and snatched my arm. He dragged me forward.

“What do you want? The register’s right there!” I said.

They laughed. That turned my blood cold.

“We look like common crooks, Doll Face?” the blue-eyed one asked.

“What do you want then?” I snapped.

“It’s none of your business,” Tim barked. “Let’s take this outside. She doesn’t know anything and she’ll keep her yap shut.”

The blue-eyed one stared me up and down.

“Why don’t I believe that?”

The door creaked again before I saw who it was my limbs numbed. What if teenagers walked in and witnessed this? They would keep them hostage. What if they mascaraed us?

Instead, it was a tall, demi-god man with pushed-back black hair, bronzed skin and muscles toned from hours spent in the gym. He dawned a bored expression and oozed confidence and authority.

“What’s taking so long?” he demanded, calmly.

“We ran into… a problem,” the blue-eyed one who seemed to be the leader in the pair said.

The demi-god turned his attention to me. He drank me in but his expression of boredom never wavered. I broke the trance and focused on the very real fact that they would kill me.

“Look at me,” he demanded.

I blinked a few times before dragging my gaze back to him. He moved closer.

“You’re going to grab your things and leave out the back. You’re not even going to cast a glance behind the restaurant and then you’re going to come back in tomorrow as if nothing ever happened. Understood?”

I couldn’t prevent the gasp that escaped me.

“Who are you?”

He chuckled.

He brushed the corner of my lip with his thumb.

“You don’t want to know. Now leave before I change my mind.”

I glanced at Tim. He growled at me. With pain in my heart, I turned around. I hoped Tim wouldn’t die because of me.