Chapter 40: Warning From a Snake

I remained frozen in place as I heard footsteps approach me from behind. My heart pounded violently in my chest as my hand immediately dived down toward my pocket. I wasn’t fooling around anymore. He’s crossed the line too many times.

As I turned around to face my pursuer, I winced against the bright light of somebody’s phone’s flashlight. A feminine voice caught me off guard. “Ugh. Of course, it’s you. Finally running away, mutt?”

My racing heartbeat calmed down and was replaced with annoyance. And a tiny bit of relief. “Fuck you. What’s daddy’s apple pie doing roamin’ around at midnight?” I gave her a dirty smirk. “Got a dirty little secret too? Workin’ part-time at a brothel?”

She frowned with a look of disgust in her beautiful blue eyes while crossing her arms. “Hmph! None of your business.” I lifted one of my brows and my smirk didn’t fade, showing her that I didn’t believe her. She rolled her eyes and looked away as she spoke up again. “Fine! I heard somebody running around and thought I’d check it out.”

This made me laugh. “Hah! Running around?? Lady, I made sure my footsteps were as quiet as a mouse when I was walking these halls. You didn’t hear me. Why were you really coming outside? ”

Grace’s eyes genuinely showed confusion this time. “The halls? You weren’t outside?”

“No. I was fixing to leave with my boys.” I tilted my head curiously as I stared at my stepsister. “What exactly did you hear outside that made you want to investigate? You could break a nail by getting adventurous like that.”

This time Grace placed her hands on her hips as her voice became sassy and stuck up. “Ugh! I already told you! I heard somebody running around outside! Gosh, don’t you speak English?! Mutt.”

I felt a vein pulse out of my neck when the insult I had used on Julian had just backfired on me. I was sick and tired of being called a mutt too. Treating me like a stray dog off of the streets was something she was going to regret sooner rather than later. “Shut the fuck up, Grace. You’re just hearing things. Go back to bed.”

That familiar smile of hers that reminded me of a snake crossed her glossy lips. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Good riddance,” she said with a snide before turning her back to me.

“Don’t forget to keep your door unlocked, sweetie, I’ll come visit you soon,” I sarcastically called after her. She just flipped me the bird as she walked away.

She heard somebody running around outside? Pfft. That hoe is hallucinating. I didn’t hear shit.

I shrugged her off without second thoughts as I unlocked the door and went outside.

The moon was nothing but a slither of white but there were many stars dappling the black sky. Unfortunately, the lack of moonlight made it harder to see my surroundings. I shivered as a cold breeze swept through, announcing that summer was coming to an end.

A fake, bitter smile crossed my lips as I recalled my young memories. When I left home, I stopped going to school. I never attended high school. It wasn’t a thought that bothered me however, if anything, it simply humored me. People like me don’t have the luxury of education. I’ve been surviving on the streets for so long that getting a job was alien to me.

I shook my head to release my pointless thoughts and tried to keep a lookout for Jack’s car. As I walked down the driveway, I froze in my tracks when I heard something that shouldn’t be there.

Footsteps.

“The fuck is that…?” I whispered to myself as I looked around. The lack of light was becoming a pain now since it was restricting my vision. My first assumption is that it’s just an animal but the more I heard the footsteps, the more I could identify that it has heavy weight.

A big dog maybe? …maybe a deer? If they get those things around here…

My random thoughts of animals finally landed on one thing. Is it a person? A late-night worker? My last thought made ice run up my spine. Julian…? The fuck would that crazy bastard be walking circles around the mansion at night?!

Anxiety made my feet move onward with a brisker pace as I walked down the driveway and eventually to the road. Once I reached it, I stopped in my tracks when frustration replaced my anxiety.

The hell am I doing? Am I running?!

I muttered a curse under my breath and slapped my forehead. I’ve never acted like this before and it was extremely annoying, not to mention it broke my pride.

Before I got the chance to turn around and investigate the noise, the bright lights of Jack’s approaching car caught my attention. As usual, the man was speeding despite the fact I’ve told him not to on this side of the city multiple times. I still couldn’t help but grin as he pulled up in front of me and shouted, “Hop on in!”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice.” I once again grabbed the top of the car and flung myself through the window. It was much more fun than just opening and closing the door. My small, flexible body could easily do it too. “Get me the fuck up out of here,” I grunted with noticeable exhaustion in my voice.

Jack looked at me curiously as he drove off at a speed that was somewhat closer to the speed limit. “You alright there, Suki? You’re looking a little, uh, well…” he looked me up and down and blushed when he took in my figure before turning his attention back to the road. “I’m not used to seeing you exhausted like this.”

I leaned back in the ripped-up car seat, my mood still foul as can be over everything that had just happened to me in the past ten minutes. “Just get the fuck away from here,” I grumbled without answering his question.

Jack knew me well enough that this is where everybody shuts up and I was given the space I’m in need of to cool off. He still had a hint of worry in his eyes even as he kept his eyes on the road while driving.

After clearing my mind by looking out the window, I glanced over my shoulder and realized that the other two men weren’t with us. I then looked at Jack curiously. “Where’s the other two at? Sleepin’?”

“Not exactly.” Jack’s laugh was a little awkward as he tried to explain their situation. “More or less, Alex is on a hot date and Mason is visiting family.” Jack gave a shrug of his shoulders “Good for them I suppose. Though it kinda left me with nothing to do.” he then looked at me and smiled. “It’s been a while since it’s been just the two of us.”

I thought back to when the last time was and immediately cringed. I recalled we were both drunk and I’m pretty sure I had tried to make a move on him at the time. I think it was just a kiss but my memory was pretty hazy. But knowing Jack, he wouldn’t let me do anything that I’d regret later. That’s one of the things I liked most about him, he was a good guy through and through.

“Ha… ha… yeahhh…” I gave a dry, fake laugh while he chuckled, humored by my usual sarcasm.

“What do you say? Grab some liquor for old time's sake?” he asked with a grin that told me he was ready to get up to no good with me.

I snorted out a laugh I couldn’t contain. “Pfft, HA! You know what? Sure, let’s party. Just the two of us. You got my cigs?”

“Only if you give me one too.” he pointed at his glovebox and I gladly went through it like I owned it, as usual. I find my favorite brand of cigarettes along with a lighter and lit the toxic rollup that might end up being the death of me someday if I don’t end up getting stabbed through the heart before then.

I then put one in his mouth and, like usual, I would lean over to light it for him since he was driving. Only this time not wearing a seatbelt came back to bite me in the ass since the neighborhoods forced him to make a sharp turn and I ended up falling into him. I would’ve ended up falling directly into his lap but instead, my breasts ended up cushioning my fall against his shoulder.