25 His Secret #3

There were three guys and two girls standing cooly next to each other and they seemed to be in harmony as they eagerly discussed some stuff in-between them. Though they appeared close, Diana knew better than to just barge into their circle and ask questions, especially with the way their eyes seemed to asses their surroundings every now and then.

It wasn't only their glances. Their outfits and visible tattoos spoke enough about their personalities as all of them embraced dark colors and large inks.

Diana glanced at two charming girls that each was embraced by their lover, speaking in hushed tones and sharing secrets with suggestive eyes. They looked as if they were in their own world.

The only guy that stood alone in the group, was leaning against the wall behind him and held a cigarette between his fingers. As the other four chatted around him, he was the only one to listen to them with a wry smile.

And his body language was enough to tell Diana that he was probably the leader.

She couldn't see which eye color he had since his black hair fell messily on his forehead, but his body was packed with muscles and her head could only reach to his chest, if not lower, from how tall he was.

In the depth of her mind, she was telling herself to find someone else to ask, but if her theory was right, then that meant that these group of people knew where her 'husband' was.

Diana grimaced internally at the word 'husband'.

Knowing there was no time left to waste, she strode toward them, hopefully appearing more confident that she actually was. The moment she was getting closer to the group, the leader looked instantly at her direction.

The second her eyes fell onto his black ones, she wanted to stop right in her place but willed herself not to do so. Even if they were dangerous or looked to be so, they wouldn't do anything to her in public.

Thinking till that point, she forced a smile on her face as if saying that she was no threat and continued her walk toward them. Now that she was closer, the other four turned to her, stopping midway through their conversation and silently observing her actions.

It was as if she was in a trial.

Diana continued wearing her fake smile and greeted them politely to which none of them responded. She could feel the burning stare of the leader on her body, and it only helped in setting alarms off in her head.

She only got a nod from one of the girls. "I just wanted to ask," she played around with her fingers, appearing nervous, "Have you seen Elliot?" She knew that most of the people in this neighborhood knew each other by names. There was no need to explain who she was talking about, but she still continued, "Tall man, black hair, the owner of that tattoo-"

"Yeah," the leader cut her off. Silence fell around the group after that, but the stares didn't stop and that only helped in making her uncomfortable. Her eyes danced between them but couldn't help but fall again into the dark man.

She swallowed thickly and asked, "So, you know where he is?" His stare was unnerving, almost as if he could see through her. She just wanted to get away.

Just right when she thought he wasn't going to say anything else, she heard him say, "Lenos. I saw him going that way." Relief washed over her as he spoke. Finally, she could get away from him.

Diana had no idea what Lenos was and hoped it would be just an innocent type of a restaurant, anything that didn't require putting herself in more danger.

The direction that he pointed her to have two ways to it, one that spread out to the next street and led to another neighborhood and the other way was of an alley that led to somewhere she never had been to before.

She bit her lips as she thought that he didn't specify which way Elliot had gone to, but decided that she didn't want to try asking them again. With that she walked away from the group, ready to find where 'Lenos' was located. As she was a few feet away from them, she heard that man say again, "Are you really going there?" His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to reach her ears. "I don't recommend." She frowned at his words but had no chance to ask anything else as he avoided her eyes and walked away, his group of friends following his lead.

Diana could only sigh. She needed to tell Elliot to change his living arrangement if he really wanted to have a family. But, she doubted that he would listen to her.

She followed the direction he pointed her at and stood at the entrance of the alley, taking in slowly what she saw from the inside. Before she reached there, she had seen a few people, dressed up in unique clothes, entering and existing, which had made her wry. But now, she understood why they looked so different.

She saw a long line of neon lights on each wall, chain of shops crammed beside each other, all of them had their windows colored over so no one could see what was inside. Outside of the store, the shops' names were written in neon signs, and some even had no name to it.

Diana didn't mind how weird the alley itself looked, but when she saw the number of people crowded in such a small place, she contemplated whether she should go in or not.

But it was much faster for her to check the alley first than to go to the next neighborhood. So, she just walked in, dodging the pressed bodies and the few people who decided to sit in the middle of the road.

It was all utterly chaotic and she knew that it wasn't really safe for her to stay in such a place for long. Who knows what could happen when everyone was this close.

Smoke and other bodily smells mixed together, and Diana forced herself to breathe in from her mouth. Because of how close everyone was, the temperature rose swiftly and she felt herself slowly sweating.

Her intelligent eyes took in every neon sign and tried finding one that read 'Lenos'. Unfortunately, she found nothing and was about to give up her search thinking that it wasn't worth it.

Her steps slowly ceased when she reached the last building. All she could see after that was other roads and street that led to somewhere else. She sighed and turned back, ready to swim into the sea of bodies once again. Only then, did she see a door she had missed, and a sign that wasn't lit.

Lenos.

Diana couldn't explain how happy she was to find it and was able to delay being pushed around in the crowds for a little while. She wasn't sure what she hated the most, the feeling of people being this close to her while she was vulnerable or the fact that it was too disgusting.

She couldn't remember when she started to frown at the idea of being close to people, whether it was physically or mentally. But, seeing what she had gone through, no one could blame her.

Shaking her head, she stared at the suspicious door. It was the only door that was colored black and had no windows, which was why she missed it.

Instead of walking inside, she decided to wait near it. She knew nothing of what might be inside and was afraid that she would walk into something dangerous so she decided to play it safe and wait until he came out.

Diana didn't think that Elliot would break his promise in coming back early, or whatever he said, especially since his body language had told her that he felt comfortable in her presence - with the way his body leaned into her or his hands always tried to touch her and hold her close to him.

So, she waited.

Lenos was located away from the crowds of people, so it was getting a little cold again, and she kept shuffling from one leg to another, holding her jacket close.

Her wait stretched out for a few minutes, and she didn't know whether or not to appreciate the carefree and happy attitude that the people here carried. On one hand, it made it easier for her to get around them, but on the other, it made her question if they really were being sincerely happy and whether their eyes, that traveled around the place, were really inviting or are had hidden agendas inside them?

A drink was shoved onto her face, startling her. Behind the bottle, stood a drunken man with almost no balance whatsoever, holding onto the wall beside her for support with a greasy smile on him. She denied politely.

Fortunately, the man got the message and shrugged happily before pouring more drink in his mouth and walking toward the back out of the alley.

Another few minutes passed by before she heard a sound coming from the black door and when it opened, she saw Elliot with two people walking out.