Chapter 53: The weird ritual.
The abandoned building:
Mel got off the car and looked at the 14th story building which seemed abandoned but, surprisingly well maintained.
"So, is this that hide-out of yours?" she asked as she stared at the apartment.
" Yeah, let's go. " Brenden pulled her up to the elevator.
....
14th story:
The elevator opened and the light blinded Mel for a second, as she got out.
The entire terrace was decorated with paper lanterns and candles were placed all over.
A tiny gazebo with a wooden roof came to her view, a huge rectilinear was placed in the farther end.
The lanterns hung in a weird calming pattern and in the gazebo a small cake was placed.
" Happy 18th birthday, Melanie Lambert. " Brenden said from behind her, breaking her from her stupor.
She smiled widely and giggled, " This looks awesome, thank you so much, Bren. It means a lot to me."
He smiled and nodded, ' Well, my entire day would've turned to muck if she didn't like this. '
" I'm glad that you liked it, come let's eat." he held out a hand for her, which she graciously took.
....
They sat eating in the gazebo.
" How is it that you never told me you cook so well? " she asked, as she stuffed her mouth.
He looked at her stuffed face and chuckled, " Did you forget who cooked for your cafe in Paris? "
She shrugged, " Ok, fine. You cook really well, where did you learn it? "
He sighed, ' I really don't want to talk about it, but I guess it's time I tell her the truth... No, no, just to not put her in trouble. At least I can use it as a perfect reason to hide! Nope! I'm not hiding anything, no nothing, there's nothing that she needs to know.'
" I learned it while I worked, long before I came to the White family." he gave in as he really couldn't say no to her.
" Skylar said that you worked for him, what do you do for him? " she asked, ' You should ask all the things right when they spill or you never get another chance! ' she smirked internally.
He frowned as he heard her, " How did you get Skylar to tell you that? " he knew that Skylar would've never told anyone, about him being Vermillion Dragon, let alone her!
" I guess, when I blackmailed him, maybe? " she shrugged unsure of the situation, " Why do you ask? "
He chuckled, " You blackmailed 'The Vermillion Dragon'? "
She nodded, ' What is so great in that? '
" Ok, thanks. I mean," he chuckled again feeling proud of her for no apparent reason, but proud, " May I know with what you did that? "
She thought for some time and shook her head, " It wouldn't be nice and I don't want to betray him."
Seeing that she had a good reason he nodded, " I work as a hacker for Skylar. "
She squealed, " Then can you make it like nobody can track me down with my phone or my other gadgets? "
He smiled at her stupid request, " When I can breakdown government security systems in seconds your petty gadgets mustn't be much of a problem. "
She looked at him and sighed, "Your narcissism never ends, like a person I know..."
" Do you want to go have some more fun, it's still 11 pm, you have an hour left. " he suggested, ignoring her comment.
" Ok," she stood up and looked down at herself, " We might need to stop at a store nearby. "
He chuckled as he realized that she was in her blue PJs.
" We do. "
....
They got into the car again and drove out into the city.
Mel was busy bombarding Brenden with baseless questions and he answered all of them.
" I can't believe that you're answering me. " she chuckled after some time.
He smiled, " As long as it keeps you entertained. "
She harumphed and glared at him, " Did you do this because you wanted to keep me from blabbering sh*t the entire time? "
" Well, technically speaking you were blabbering sh*t. " he blurted out, pissing her even more.
" I could've lived without those words but, thank you Bren." she hissed and turned away.
He frowned, ' I didn't mean that! '
" Stop, let's go to that club there. " she pointed and squealed.
" But, "he hesitated.
" I'm 18 now so, I can go. The question is do you want to go with me or not? " she asked looking at him expectantly.
' You sound so rude while you look so cute, what do you expect me to do? ' he sighed and gave in, yet again.
" Ok, so do you want to break in again or what? "
....
They broke into the club and got in.
Mel giggled as Brenden tried to keep her quiet.
" Keep quiet, if you don't want to end up behind the bars on your 18th birthday," he whispered and got in pulling her along.
He handed her a card that he stole from a nearby person and told her the room number.
" Here, I got it from a generous stranger, the room number is 919, don't mistake the number. I'll go get you a proper outfit and we can go out. Ok? " he asked, as he tried to behave in a proper manner, unlike her who kept giggling the entire time.
" You mean that you stole the card from that 'generous stranger', isn't it? " she nudged and chuckled, " Ok, get my clothes, while I go check the room out. " she patted his shoulder, snatched the card from his hand, and skipped her way to the rooms.
He frowned a little but let her have her way and left.
....
Mel walked upstairs and found that the card didn't have the room number.
" Great, I just could've listened to Bren instead of looking around and giggling! " she muttered and walked further inside.
She found that the rooms were arranged very compactly and close.
Room 919 and 909 were opposite each other.
She frowned and thought for some time, trying to recall what Brenden had said.
" I guess the number is 909, yep 909 it is! " she declared and barged into the room.
To her surprise, it opened!!!
The room was super dark at the start but she could see something, wait... it's someone, okay two people almost interlinked.
' What the fu*k? ' her eyes widened at realization when someone shut her mouth and her eyes and pulled her out.
" I'm sorry for the interruption, you guys continue," he said, softly and glared at the little devil in his arms.
' She looks a lot cute to get scolded, but she deserves it. ' he sighed and looked at her blushed face and teary eyes.
" Did you see anything? " he asked after some time.
She was too damn embarrassed to even look up at the person who helped her out, forget the talk.
" Ok, I assume that you don't wanna talk about it or that you don't wanna look at me, which one is it? " He asked, smirking.
She sighed and looked up, just to see her Mr. Terror in front.
" Can you NOT tell anybody about this...um...encounter, Mr. Terror. " she pleaded with gooey eyes.
He looked at her face and chuckled, " Ok, so what are you doing here, I bet this wasn't your room. "
She frowned, " Oh, what a great surprise, James Bond. Isn't it's obvious, it isn't mine? " she snapped and turned away.
Suddenly all the lights went off in the corridor and the artificial candle setup lit.
" Happy birthday princess. " He whispered into her ear and handed her a box.
She smiled at him and looked at the box, " What's this? "
" It's something that would help you, you'll know," he said smiling back at her.
She looked at him, his blue eyes all twinkling from the candle lights, his perfect face except for the scar, a scar that she loved...
She smiled, sincerely and looked into his eye, when the candle lights went off too.
" Is something wrong with this light? " she asked as the lights went off.
" Nothing much, it's just a small ritual around this part of the club. They kiss anyone around, in the darkness, so that the person doesn't know who kissed them. " He explained, shrugging.
" But why? " she asked confused with the whole scenario, ' Why the hell would they do that? '
" It is said that it was because the owner of this club loved his best friend's girlfriend. He couldn't betray his friend nor could he hide his love for her. Hence, he came up with this weird idea, in his club. " he ended up telling her the entire story as he couldn't help with her cluelessness.
" Wow, now that's weird. Do you think that the girl really didn't know who kissed her? " she sighed.
" I guess she did. "
He sighed along with her and the corridor fell silent.
Suddenly, Mel felt someone tug her hand, and her lips locked with another.
She was surprised at first and tried to move away, but as she thought of the empty corridor, it could've been only one person, only one.
She gave up the struggle and kissed him back, with a lot of confused and mixed-up feelings.
" I'm so sorry, little sunshine. I really am, I tried but, I don't think I'm that courageous or strong. " He whispered as he pulled her into his embrace.
She could feel the weird security from him, the warmth that she felt when in his embrace...
' I've felt it somewhere, but where? '
" I'm so sorry... "