(this chapter may seem a little darker. Contains hints of rape)
As The Avenue gained more success, time flew by around them and without much notice;five years had come and go. The band had become a worldwide hit; none of the members could go anywhere without being noticed. In that five year period, The Avenue had released three albums. Their very first, a self-titled album, wasn't embraced very well by the public but it was their stairway to triumph. Misery Loves Company, the second album released, peaked at the top of the charts. It was sold around the world, until the album reached double platinum. That was when The Avenue became icons in the public's eyes. However, not all of their views were positive.
The band had just finished a performance at Anaheim, California. It was coincidentally Sophia's 22nd birthday so Dylan and the boys took her to her favorite restaurant, Chili's.
"Happy birthday, sweetie," Dylan whispered in Sophia's ear while the boys were busy ordering.
She blushed but gave him a quick kiss on the lips nonetheless. Dylan's smile quickly turned into a frown when a piece of garlic bread hit him square on the forehead.
"No flirting on the dinner table!" Hunter mocked anger.
"You're just jealous, Kingsley," Dylan stuck out his tongue.
"Jealous that I don't get to suck my girlfriend's face in front of everyone? Sure I am," he shot back, rolling his eyes. It was Sophia's turn to huff in surprise. "That was not sucking face, Hunter!"
"Then what do you prefer to call it? Tonsil hockey? Tongue wrestling? Snog? Whomping? Stop me when you hear one that you like," he teased with a huge grin on his face upon seeing Sophia's cheeks darkened.
"You're an ass," she murmured which only fueled the boy's laughter, including Dylan.
The band continued their playful banter until their food arrived. Just as they ordered a round of dessert, Luke excused himself to the lavatory. He was relieving himself at the urinal when two bulky men entered the restroom.
"Hey, did you see the redhead at the table next to us?" the man with a bandana tied over his brown hair inquired. His friend, donning a leather jacket with boots, stopped unzipping his trousers and whistled revoltingly.
"How could I not?” he grinned, “If I had a girl like her, it wouldn’t be my hands down here right now. If you know what I mean.”
A sudden chill ran up Luke’s spin at their laughter. His whole body froze as he carefully observed their conversation. Something in his guts was telling him that this was not the average celebrity worship. These two men wanted much more than seeing afar.
“Hey, are you up for something—new tonight?” the brunette spoke. His friend gestured with his head as a sign for him to continue.
“How about we have a little fun with Red tonight?” he licked his lips, enticing a shudder from Luke.
“That’s a crime, bro,” the man objected hesitatingly. The brunette’s eyes narrowed dangerously before placing his hands on the other’s shoulder firmly as a sign of warning.
“It’s not a crime if she’s willing,” he hissed, “so our job is to show Red how much fun she can have with us.”
Luke’s grip on the urinal’s wall tightened unconsciously as those words registered in his brain. Rage immediately consumed his so much, his body started to quiver in suppressed emotion. Oblivious to the younger man, the two conniving male guffawed darkly before finally making their way out of the lavatory.
A hand clasped on Luke’s shoulder, making him jumped in shock. He quickly redid his zipper before turning around to face charcoal eyes staring at him in amusement.
“Bro, if you’re looking for a quick release, I suggest you take a couple of pictures of the redhead down at table two and take it home,” the brunette offered his idea, his lips curling back in a twisted smile.
“Thanks for the thought,” Luke replied through gritted teeth. He made sure the two men had left the building before sprinting back to the table where the others were still waiting for him. Luke made a beeline towards Dylan and grabbed his unsuspecting arm. Dylan’s mouth bobbed open to demand to be released but the fire in Luke’s eyes clamped his mouth shut. Without a word spoken, Luke hauled Dylan off of his chair to drag him into the dark outside where he finally loosened his death grip on Dylan’s arm.
“Luke, what’s wrong?” the other boy questioned worriedly, rubbing at his bicep.
Luke inhaled deeply, unsure of how to break the news to Dylan without going crazy with rage. He scrubbed his face with his palms in frustration before finally gazing in his eyes.
“I was in the toilet just now,” he started, “and I heard these two sick, vile creatures talking about Sophia.”
“Dude, that’s pretty norm—“
“I’m not finished yet!” Luke spat, successfully shutting up Dylan, “They were planning on how to—how to pleasure Sophia. Tonight.”
All the blood drained from Dylan’s face. “You’re saying that they’re—that they’re gonna—“ his words were stuck in his throat, unable to utter exactly what those men were planning to do to Sophia.
Luke could only nod, his face contorted in worry. “But we have security guards everywhere, Luke. They couldn’t possibly get pass them,” Dylan spoke.
“But you didn’t see the look on these guys’ faces!” Luke argued, “they had these eyes that are willing to do just about anything to have their way. I wouldn’t tell you about this if it weren’t serious, Dylan.”
Dylan’s lips were set in a thin line as jumbled thought clouded his head. “Okay, we are not going to leave Sophia’s side until we’re out of this town,” he proposed. “Two of them against four of us is nothing.”
Luke nodded vigorously and exhaled a breath he didn’t realized he was holding. “Let’s go back in and inform the guys.”
The two boys stepped inside the restaurant once again and headed for their table. Their thoughts were filled with ways to keep those slimy men away from Sophia. Dylan and Luke screeched to a halt when they noticed said girl was missing from the table. Dylan rushed to Hunter with Luke hot on his heels.
“Where’s Sophia?!” he demanded. Hunter stared up at his two friends with wide eyes before answering slowly.
“She said she wasn’t feeling very well so she went back to the tour bus.”
Profanities escaped Dylan’s lips as his fist collided with the table, causing the once buzzing restaurant to stop and stare at him. Hunter and Zach sprang up to their feet once they sensed the distress in both Dylan and Luke.
“Dylan, hey, maybe it’s not too late to catch up with her. Maybe she’s just around the corner,” said Luke desperately.
“Yeah, you’re right,” mumbled Dylan in reply before running out the door. Flabbergasted by his actions, Hunter and Zach followed his trail to demand an explanation.
“Luke! What the hell is going on!” shouted Hunter.
“We’ll explain later!” breathed Luke, “Right now, we have to find Sophie.”
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Sophia walked slowly down the sidewalk, heading towards the tour bus that was parked a few blocks away from Chili’s. Her mind instantly wandered to the way Dylan and Luke behaved a few minutes ago. Luke for once, looked as if the world was going to end.
Probably just one of his boy problems, I guess.
Boys aside, Sophia didn’t mean to leave out of the blue, especially on her birthday dinner, but lately she was feeling dizzy and hardly all of her meals could stay in her stomach for more than an hour. Zach had ordered grilled crab for dinner and the smell nearly made Sophia run to the toilet in disgust. A chill ran up her spine when Sophia realized she had used the wrong pathway that was eerily quite and dimly lit.
“Hey, Red.”
Sophia froze mid-step. The nickname was familiar, called by Hunter since she was a teenager, but the gruff voice that spoke it made her heart hammer against her ribcage. Sophia decided to ignore the man and continued her walk, this time in long strides.
“Don’t you know it’s rude to ignore people.”
A scream tore from her throat when she felt a pair of rough hands grabbed her by the arms. “Now, now, Red. Save that scream for later, when it’s my name coming from your lips,” he sniggered.
Sophia wiggled desperately in his arms but it only resulted in her tumbling down onto the pavement. She hastily turned around and her eyes grew wide when she spotted her assailant. There were two big men staring down at her with glee shining in their eyes. The man with brown hair crouched down to trace a soiled finger on her cheek. Sophia slapped his hand away, which only resulted in widening his smirk.
“We’re just having a little fun,” he breathed into her ear, making Sophia gagged at his foul breath, “you’ll be enjoying it too soon.”
“Get off of me, you vile excuse for a human!” she spat when he started fingering the straps of her tank top. Without warning, a burst of pain erupted on Sophia’s cheek, causing bright lights to flash before her eyes. It wasn’t until she tasted the metallic blood in her mouth that she comprehended he had back-handedly slapped her.
“Shut yer mouth, ya tramp. It’s time for you to learn other uses of that pretty little thing.”
To her horror, the man stood up and started fumbling with his zipper. He cursed out loud when the zip wouldn’t budge. Sensing her chance, Sophia kicked her heel into his crotch as hard as she could muster before scrambling to her feet. The man yelled at the top of his lungs, doubling over on the ground.
“What the hell are you standing for?! Go catch her!” he howled at his partner.
Sophia ran as fast as her legs could muster. She could hear other footsteps mimicking her own. Her breath was coming in short gasps as her lungs burned for air. She risked a glance backwards to see her chaser but she saw none.
She was too caught up trying to find her attacker, Sophia didn’t notice the person rounding around the corner until she stumbled right into him. She screamed when he held her upright by the arms. Her legs and arms flailed about, punching and kicking but the voice that came out of his mouth made her sob in relief.
“Sophie, Sophie! Stop! It’s me, Dylan!”
She collapsed against his chest and let out a relieved sob. But her solace was short-lived when the man chasing her bounded around the corner and stopped when he noticed the duo on the ground. Dylan shot to his feet abruptly as the brunette joined them.
“Well, well, the boyfie coming to the rescue?” he taunted, “is this some kind of your fetish? To watch your girl being mauled by another man?”
“You won’t lay a single finger on her,” Dylan roared back before throwing a punch to the man’s face. The man’s partner hauled Sophia to her feet despite her struggle against his grip. She watched in horror as the brunette used his bulky figure to pin Dylan on the ground and repeatedly hitting him.
Sophia’s eyes searched around the alley way desperately when her gaze landed on a piece of broken pipe lying idly on the ground. Seeing the man holding her was distracted with the fight, Sophia elbowed him in the gut and stomped hard on his foot. Howling in pain, he released his grip on her to clutch at his stomach.
Sophia bolted to the pipe and grappled it firmly in her hands. Without a second thought, she struck the pipe to the man’s back, who had two hands wrapped around Dylan’s throat. The man uttered a grunt before slumping face down on the pavement. Dylan shoved him off of him and staggered to Sophia immediately.
“Sophie, are you okay? Did they do anything to hurt you?”
Sophia gently pried away his roaming hands and grasped softly at his face. “I should be asking you that question, Dylan. I think you better sit down, your face is all bloodied.”
Before he could argue about his well-being, a loud siren pierced the thick silence. The man’s partner stared at the unconscious brunette with wide eyes before tottering deeper into the alley way to escape the approaching police. Exhausted after being pummeled and relieved that Sophia was safe, Dylan slumped forward seemingly fainted. Sophia swayed a bit under his weight but soon, another set of arms came to her aid.
Hunter slung Dylan’s arm around his shoulder to transfer him to the awaiting ambulance. “You okay, Sophie?” he questioned worriedly.
“Yeah,” she muttered, staring sadly at Dylan’s blood-covered face.
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The ambulance had rushed Dylan to the hospital and Sophia was now seated inside the police cruiser as they questioned her about the two men. After describing the runaway man as best as she could, Sophia slouched inside the mobile, utterly enervated.
“Where were you guys?” she asked weakly at Luke, Zach and Hunter who had gathered around the open door of the cruiser.
“Dylan used these freaky short-cuts through the alleys,” Luke began explaining, “and he ran like Usain Bolt, literally. We lost him and lost our way.”
Sophia’s head lolled to Hunter’s shoulder tiredly as her eyes slowly fluttered close. “You guys seriously need to buy a GPRS,” she mumbled before welcoming the comfort of sleep.
Labels: It's Just You and Me Honey