18:Bear's

We entered into an alleyway in a darker, less trodden part of Bloomsville in his bike.

I held onto his back as I witnessed spilled litter,garbage cans and frigid cold. And for the first time that I can remember... the cold created a sinking, revulsion in me.

This is not a good place.

I saw a rat running around the litter and felt bile rising in my stomach.

"Is it far..?"

"No just a few more minutes",said Tristan. I could sense that he was tensed as well but there wasn't time to explain anything to him.

Meanwhile... my mind was littered with questions,Dad said that he had everything under control.... then why would that man call me?

Finally the bike came to a stop and I let a breath, hopping off the bike.

There was still no sign of Bear's and this place looked... abandoned.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"Yes... this is it, this road leads to a dead end, we need to turn this corner to reach Bear's".

He pointed to a corner.

"Why can't we take the bike?"

"To try not to grab attention"

.

.

.

.

.

"OK"

I gulped and we started walking.

Walking deeper into the street, my heart began to palpitate and a spasming fear started shrouding my mind.

What if everything went wrong?

"Hey"

I looked up to him.

"You got this"

My eyes widened as he suddenly cupped my face and kissed my forehead.

"If there is anybody in this world who could do this its you."

And he intertwined our hands.

I was falling for him...

Not the right time Rose...

A voice in my head suddenly reminded me of the danger my father could be in and I was sucked back from my reverie.

Our feet made crunching noises as we hurriedly walked on the dirt and muddy water and finally a sign came up in front of us.

A red digital billboard, hung broken and inclined as if it were held together by a thin piece of thread and it read,

'BEAR'S'

The whole building was in a dilapidated condition, algae and weeds grew on the walls with the paint peeling off. The faint smell of alcohol wafted in the air.

I exhaled loudly and turned to face Tristan,

"You ready?"

He grinned,

"I'm always ready"

I will never tell him this but he eased my fears a lot right now. I knew that even if he wasn't there I would still have strengthened my mind to come alone... but it was comforting to have him.

Your Mom will watch over you...

I wet my lips and touched my pendant.

Yes she will and I won't let her down.... ever.

I let go of the pendant and we walked inside Bear's together for the very first time.

****************************

To my surprise it was almost empty inside and dark.

Barrels and barrels of alcohol was stocked in groups all around the room. The second floor could be seen from below and I saw alcohol barrels there too.

Strange...

A few men in tattoos and piercings stood to the side smoking.

At the centre of the room stood the guy with the phoenix tattoo and his associate Marty along with a bunch of other goons.

My eyes searched crazily for my Dad as I took hesitant steps to the centre of the room.

"Look who's here Marty... its the kid and her boyfriend"

"Where's my Dad?"

There was a slight tremor to my voice but I ignored it.

"He's here.... where's the money ?"

What?

I didn't have any... He had multiple times that he had it under control.

"I thought... I thought... h-he'd repaid y-you"

He should have.

Of course he should have!

"IS THIS A JOKE?"

All of a sudden he shouted and I jumped. Tristan tried to push me behind his shoulders and I refused.

"First the old f*** lies to me now the tiny whore lies to me , you want to die so bad don't you? NO! HE HASN'T REPAID THE MONEY, times up girl, tick tock tick tock..."

He took out a knife and pulled someone by the hair from behind him.

He put the knife on his neck.

"Dad", I breathed.

Next to me I heard Tristan suck in his breath.

"I gave you one month time to repay the money and this f*** brings out a puny 50,000 dollars to FOOL me! Who do you think you are!?"

And he slapped him.

The sound of it jolted my spine.

"Dad!... Please..."

He stared at me. I fisted my hands and stood still, warding off the tremors that tried to take over.

His demeanor changed all of a sudden.

"I won't do anything...", he sighed, "Just give me my money and I'll let him go"

I did not have any!

"I-I.... do-", I gulped and shook my head.

But there was a fucking knife on my father's neck.

The tendrils of something touched the fringes of my mind... Something wrong, something which would make things worse for us... Something that I should never have bothered to do...

A lie.

"Its... h-huge money... its in the h-hundred t-thou-thousands and i-its coming"

I swallowed heavily.

He scrunched his eyebrows,

"How much"

"7- ...7 hundred thousand dollars"

"When?"

"Next week", I wet my lips and stood straight, my heart racing in my chest, its cage almost breaking from the screams.

I could feel the tension emanating from Tristan next to me but I dared not turn to look at him. He must have been confused but he dared not say a word.

"You know what will happen if this is a lie...."

I nodded my head vigorously,

"Ye-yes"

"Take the girl and the old scumbag back home... I don't want her running to the police and keep an eye on the boy"

He ordered one person to the side and walked out of the room.

My whole body collapsed to the floor...

What have I done?

"Get up girl", a man said to me but I couldn't make myself move.

"UP"

"HEY she will ", said someone and I was lifted from the ground.

"Rose we need to leave", I looked at him and tears filled my eyes a feeling of dread enveloping my entire being.

The next few moments were a blur.

I was escorted to a car with my unconscious father.

Tristan followed closely behind and soon I was left at the door step of my house.

Take me back...

Take me back in time before I said that lie...

Authors note:

sorry for the late update ❤

I hope you guys give this chapter some love... just a small portion of your heart please

To follow Rose and Tristan's life beyond the pages of Dreams and Ashes follow _t.a.r.a.s.t.o.n.e_ on Instagram.

I hope all of u have a Rosiful day❤