A mysterious lady in the night

Chapter 3: A mysterious lady in the night

[London]

Isabella and Dylan quickly settled in their studio room. It was good that they already knew each other and there were no "awkward" situations.

The school started a week ago, and both of them were busy with studies and part-time jobs.

Isabella worked at a local library in the morning. All her classes were in the afternoon, and then she would work at a cafe as a barista in the evening till 7 and then go back home.

Dylan got a part-time job as a grocery store clerk and would get busy with this after his classes in the morning.

Most of the times he would pick Isabella after her shift was over and both would go back together.

But today both of them took a leave to attend the welcome party. Since both of them were from different branches, they didn't have a chance to mingle much during the party.

Dylan couldn't help sneak few glances every now and then at Isabella.

She looks beautiful every day, but today she looked dazzling. Probably because she put some effort in dressing up and doing her hair. Else she would be in her usual sweat shirts, track pants and messy hair bun.

But today she wore a simple navy blue dress that stopped right below her knees, with her hair smoothly flowing down her neck and ending at her waist.

The party ended late, mainly because people went crazy over alcohol.

Right now Dylan was waiting at the entrance for Isabella to come out when he saw her being dragged out by her friend. He forgot her name, but he often saw them together on campus.

"Isabella."

Dylan called out as he walked towards her. Isabella's cheeks were rosy, and her eyes were sleepy because of alcohol. Her alcohol tolerance was too low.

"Let me take you back.."

"Oh hello... Who are you Mr.?" Bianca stopped him as he was about to support Isabella.

"Uh.. I am her friend Dylan. I can take her back .."

"It's okay. I am her friend too. I know where she lives. I can take her back. Thank you." Bianca politely rejected and was about to move forward when Dylan intercepted again.

"Don't trouble yourself. We both stay at the same place. I drop her back safely."

Bianca pursed her lips. Why was this man so persistent?

"Thank you so much for your kind intentions. But it will be very irresponsible of me to leave my drunken friend with a man I never knew."

Dylan scratched his head but internally appreciated her concern. Isabella had made a good and worthy friend.

"Actually, we both rented the same studio. We are roommates."

Bianca raised her brows hearing this and turned to look at Isabella. Isabella was quietly standing there rubbing her sleepy eyes, as her one hand was held by Bianca.

"Bells. Is it true? Is he your roommate?" Bianca asked, to which Isabella simply bobbed her head up and down to say "yes".

"Isn't your roommate a girl?"

Isabella shook her head left and right to say "No".

Bianca pursed her lips. Isabella lied to her. She will talk about this when she is sober tomorrow.

"Isabella. I will take you back home." Dylan said and Isabella again bobbed her head up and down.

"Nope. She is not sober. I will take her to my place and drop her back tomorrow." Bianca declared. Before she thought this man was only talking about "dropping", but now it is also "staying". Who knows what will happen later?

"I will go with Dylan." Isabella finally opened her mouth. She also held his hand while speaking.

Bianca pursed her lips. "Go where with him?"

"Go home.. I will go home with Dylan." Isabella said again.

"Girl.. You are not sober. How will you defend yourself if something happens?" Bianca would not her go so easily.

"Dylan will defend me. Stop nagging me. Go back. Go go go go go... Hush shh"

Bianca parted her lips in exasperation. "I will settle scores with you later." The she turned towards Dylan.

"You better not get any funny ideas tonight. My father is a judge. I will sue you and lock you up behind bars if something happens to her." Bianca warned.

"Don't worry miss. She will be safe. I promise." Dylan said seriously, and only then did Bianca let him go with Isabella.

"You have a good friend." Dylan commented as they both walked on the pavement by the road. Isabella simply bobbed her head again.

Dylan couldn't express how happy he was feeling right now, with Isabella holding his tightly. And the moment when she said she will go "home" with him.

"Let me carry you. Get on my back." Dylan said as he bent down. Isabella didn't object at all.

"You are so obedient when you are drunk. Don't get drunk like this in front of others." Dylan said softly.

"I know you will take me back home. So I drank a little."

Dylan's smile widened. She was not completely drunk. He took a detour instead of the main road to reach early. The lane was small, so there was not much traffic, but the lighting was pretty good.

Isabella tightened her arms around him after he turned at a corner. "What's wrong?"

"It hurts.." Isabella whimpered. Dylan frowned and looked at her. She had her eyes closed, but she was sweating. Dylan hurriedly put her down at nearby steps and knelt down in front of her.

"Isa? Princess. Are you hearing me? What's hurts? Tell me." Dylan gently asked as used his thumb to ease her frown.

"My neck." Isabella replied but opened her and twisted her neck around. "It doesn't hurt anymore." She said, feeling weird.

"That's good. Let me press it for a while. Put your head on my shoulder."

Dylan first covered her legs with his jacket before pulling her towards him and massaged the back of her neck gently. Isabella fell asleep on his shoulder quietly.

"Excuse me sir. Is the girl fine?"

The sudden soft voice startled Dylan. That was because he didn't hear any footsteps approaching them.

Turning around, he found a young lady right behind him. Her face was pale, eyes grey, and lips were bright red. Overall, she looked like an unrealistic beauty whose beauty will suffocate you.

Dylan looked at the lady again. He felt he saw her somewhere. He definitely saw her somewhere. But he couldn't remember where and when.

"Can I check on the lady?" The lady asked again, now looking at Isabella. Dylan frowned. Isabella's face was hidden on shoulder, but his hand involuntarily went to the back of her head to keep her there securely.

He felt they shouldn't be here. The lady gave him creeps.

"Thanks. But no. She is fine. Good bye" Dylan said and immediately picked up Isabella before leaving. He didn't turn back. Even he didn't understand why he suddenly panicked. 

He simply shook his head after reaching the studio and tucked Isabella into bed before going to change his clothes.

He just pushed the weird lady to the back of his mind and went to get some sleep.

"Dylan.. Dylan.. DYLAN."

"What.. what.. what happened?" Dylan woke up with a start when a pillow hit his face. Though the pillow soft, the throw was quite harsh.

He saw Isabella glaring at him. She was still on her bed and looked like she just woke up. Good. Why can't she go back to sleep instead of yelling?

"Did you forget to close the door last night?" Isabella pointed out at the door.

Dylan looked at the half opened door and frowned. No. He remembered closing it. He definitely locked it. There is no way he would leave it half opened like this.

Isabella simply shook her head and went into washroom. Dylan was left there scratching his head and frowning and yawning.

He quickly pulled the backpack beside his mattress and opened a small hidden zip inside.

There was a small gold coin with weird letters engraved on it. There was also a symbol of a griffin on side. Isabella gave this to him as a friendship token when he was adopted. This was the only valuable thing in the room.

And there didn't seem to be signs of breaking in too. Did he really forget to close the door? Taking a deep breathe, he carefully put the coin back and closed the door.