Chapter 7: The blues

Bam!

Half an hour later, Dylan reached at the place following the tracer. He breaks into a house in which his mobile shows a green light. The tracer lies dead. It stops moving quickly as the call pops up on his phone. The house is single-storeyed- neither in good condition nor furnished. All the stuff lies on the ground depicting there might be some kind of fight. Apart from the messy hall are four rooms. All the doors of the room are wide open except for one.

"Fuck! That can't be," he says under his breath, panting. His gaze fixed on the locked room. Thousand negative thoughts erupt in his mind like a volcano.

Cough! Cough!

Dylan hears a girl gasping in the locked room. His heart stops at the moment he recognizes the girl's voice. JANICE! he shouts, running towards the room like a maniac. He holds the doorknob with his trembling hands. He is shaking as a whole as if he has an epilepsy attack. Janice! he shouts again, opening the door, but no one answers him except for her grunts.

The room is all red from walls to curtains, beautiful scenting flowers, burning his nostrils. Janice is lying on a bed, with rose petals around her and on the floor, which is the only thing not intended for decoration but more likely a result of a fight and resistance. The inside of the room depicts more like a honeymoon suite than a ragged house. Anyone who had been here must have planned this long ago to frame her.

Dylan grit his teeth at the sight of Janice; her beautifully designed dress had been mercilessly torn. Beads of her sleeves lie all over on the floor. She is quivering. Dylan move a strand of her hair away from her face and finds bruises all over her neck.

"Hickeys!" he exclaims. "Tsk, bastard". Janice trembles at his touch, and for the first time, he feels her. He wonders how she reacted earlier in front of that guy. She is too delicate; even his slight touch makes her skin shiver- the smoothness of her skin makes Dylan shiver himself. The very sight of her excites Dylan, and so must that guy, too; he bites his lips.

"Oh! No please don't, it hurts," appeals Janice. Her grunts bring Dylan back to the present. She was badass when she was committing suicide, but this time, she is as scared as a rabbit. Dylan caresses her cheeks, trying to relax her.

At his touch, she opens her eyes, but her eyelids start to droop. Oh! She smiles tiredly at Dylan. "It's you," she says. " You know what? Your name suits you. You are my knight in shining armour," says Janice. "Knight," she mumbles again. Janice doesn't even know what she is saying or doing. She accepts as true that this all is just another nightmare and it will fade when she opens her eyes. But how she open them? They are too heavy, or she is too weak even to lift them up.

She curls her arms around Dylan's neck and hugs him without warning closing the distance. "The feeling is so strange… why do I feel comfortable at your sight? … your touch too?" she whispers in his ear. Dylan takes off his coat and puts on her. He hugs her back until she falls asleep.

A tall, broad guy appears at the doorstep. He is in a black suit and tie; his tie loosens, and his coat is in his hand. He looks exhausted. His one ear is pierced, and the other one holds the earpiece. He holds a card that he shoves to Dylan; he puts it in his pocket without glancing.

"Thanks, Ze," says Dylan. He is still distracted, and Lixin squeezes his shoulder.

"She will be alright," says Lixin to Dylan, comforting him.

Lixin Mingze is Dylan's secretary, more like a best friend to him. After Kingsley and Christian, he is the one on which Dylan is dependent too much.

"Boss, leave this matter to me. I will take care of it," says Lixin. Dylan nods, and he leaves. Dylan holds Janice slightly tightening his grip around her waist as if she might fade away and recalls.

Dylan picks up the call.

"Boss, I see her with a guy and follow. The guy drives her to some kind of old house," says Lixin. "I doubt his intentions."

"Oh, I see. Don't interrupt her; she might be having fun," says Dylan lightening another cigarette. Deep inside, he is drowned. A few while ago, she was reluctant when he came into her room, and now she goes to the room with another guy at her will? Is she that type of a girl? She was saying she loath that act, then why? Why does she go with him?

"You are again smoking?" asks Lixin.

"No," Dylan lies.

"You know what? It would be best if you practised more at telling a lie; you are horribly bad at this," recommends Lixin.

"Forget about it; you have just known me since childhood," says Dylan. "Tell me one thing… am I too quick in judging her, or is she surely having fun?" he asks.

"I guess it would be better if you don't judge her. It is possible that she might have her reasons; you simply don't know her side of the story. I know you are worried… should I break in and teach him a lesson?" asks Lixin

"No need… she might be having fun… why should I meddle in while she is…?" he doesn’t bother to complete his sentence. "Just stay there and keep an eye. Make sure she is safe," says Dylan

"I know you desperately wish for it but won't admit it," mutters Lixin.

"Say it again," says Dylan.

"Oh no, I don't say anything… Hey, I… I think I just see that guy running… he looks panicked," says Lixin hastily. "Might be an emergency. I'm heading in… you'd better come."

Tu tu tu

Mhmm. Janice mumbles again, and Dylan scoops her in his arms.

"Let’s go back to my place," proposes Dylan to Janice, curling in his arms, sleeping like a baby.