Chapter 2 The council

The rain continued to fall harshly. I turned to my left to see sota with an expressionless face. I wonder if it was a good choice to hire him. I know nothing about him he could be some sort of criminal. Sota all of a sudden spun around. he reached into his coats pocket. "What's the matter?" I ask. he doesn't respond. instead, he ran off down an alleyway. the only sounds I can hear are the sounds of rain and the wind. then a gunshot. I flinch at the loud sound. "Sota..?" I say while taking a step forward. I hear quiet footsteps approaching. So much had happened in a matter of seconds. I began to think of the worst possibility. For some reason, I can't move one bit. my gaze is directed at the corner. the footsteps get louder. a silhouette comes from the corner. the neon lights then reveal sota. I let out a long sigh of relief. I glance up at his face. he still looks serious and not one it scared. he passes me. I turn and go to catch up. I decided not to start any sort of conversation.

we walk up a flight of stairs then arrive in front of the armery across from the armery is our destination. Sota had pulled out his phone to check the time. he started to pick up the pace. I stayed right behind him. I listened closely to the splatter from the puddles. I felt cold water splash up my calf. "Sota-" I began, he interrupted. "You're going to be late, pick up the pace." I don't respond. I look up to see the bright light from inside the tall building. we quickly entered the building through glass doors. Sota held the door for me. I went straight down the hall to get to the elevator. Sota was following close behind. The walls had appeared to be pale cream. the lights were probably what made it look more white. I had been here only a few times. I never took the time to examine the building. I looked at the empty courtrooms we passed. I turned my focus to my left. there were a few more courtrooms that all looked exactly the same. I put my attention in front of me. we had reached the elevator. sota reached from behind me to press the button. He then went to lean on the wall. "See you after the meeting," I told him before I entered the elevator. I saw him give a lazy wave before the doors shut.

There was some quiet music playing in the elevator. it had fit the theme of the colors on the walls. The walls had various modern-looking designs, they still had a minimal look. The ride up had taken a minute. I was going to the very top floor. the doors quickly opened after the ding sound. right outside of the elevator was an upset-looking woman wearing a tight dress with various cutouts. The dress had looked quite ugly because of the cutouts everywhere. they were at the hips, side, chest, and back. I suppose the shade of purple was nice. it appeared to be mauve. it did fit the look of this dress. but still, it just didn't look well put together. the concept just wasn't good. "Why are you staring?" she snapped. I looked up at her face. I really should stop examing people's outfits. "Your dress-" I said before getting cut off. "What about it?" she scowled. I took a second to think of a response. "What are you scared of or something?" she asked. "Not at all," I said with a smile. I started to walk away. this wasn't worth my time. I had somewhere to be, it's pointless to talk with some annoying woman. "Arent you Rihanna hills?" she questioned before I had passed the corner. I stopped and turned around. "and you don't know who I am?" she said with confusion. "Nope." I said. I just walked away. I didn't care about that random woman at all.

As I walked down the hall I thought of what she would be doing up here. The only place here is the meeting room for the city council and a single office. She must be some assistant or something. I looked up. through the glass walls, I saw everyone already at their seats. I walked into the room. everyone looked up to see me. I noticed a new face among the council. It was a young man with blond hair. Right next to him was the seat at the end. which was where I sat. I rushed over and sat down. Everyone else went back to a conversation. "hello I'm Rihanna, new right?" I said to the young man. "Oh well, I've been on the council for a month. you just haven't come to a meeting in a while," he said. "Ah, I see." I said. "did you see a woman in a purple dress on your way?" he asked suddenly. "I did," I replied. "She was actually just in here yelling at the council." he told me. "that's quite bold," I said while leaning back into my seat. The young man nodded in agreement. The meeting then started. it was only a few minutes in when I stopped listening and started to daydream.

I felt a soft hand touch my bare shoulder. the hand was shaking me. I slowly opened my eyes. I turned my head. "Huh?" I said. "The meeting is over." the young man said. I looked around the room. nobody else was in here except the two of us. I got up from my seat. "do you want to go grab a drink?" I ask. "That's quite sudden...arent you worried about what you missed?" he asked me while he grabbed his work pad off of the table. "I'm not worried at all. let's go do something, I'm bored." I told him while I went towards the door to wait. "what's your name by the way?" I asked him as he walked over. "Lior," he said. He went to go open the door. I walked out and he walked over to me. He pushed his glasses up. "So Lior do you own a company?" I looked up at him. "Yes I do, I have a company that makes games online," he replied after a short moment of silence. I could tell he felt embarrassed about this. "Well, we should hurry I still have somewhere to be later tonight," I tell him as we walk down the long hall. "Alright," he says while looking out the glass wall.

We get out of the elevator and sota looks up at us. "Sota you can leave now," I say to him. He nods then walks out. "Who was that?" Lior asked me as he turned his head in my direction. "He was my bodyguard for the night." I start to walk the door with Lior. "Maybe you should get a permanent one. The city is dangerous." Lior told me this with concern in his voice. I wasn't sure of what dangers he was speaking of, the city wasn't a dangerous place I had lived here my entire life. I may have lived higher up in the city but still, I was told that this city was a good place. that's why I feel safe going out by myself all the time. Lior used his umbrella to cover us both from the rain. for a while, we walk in silence. I all of a sudden ask him "Do you have any hobbies?" he takes a moment to think. "yes i do, i enjoy reading, and playing guitar." i wasnt sure what guitar was soi asked him to which he replied with "its an instrument, do you not know what a intrument is?" he asked me. i avoided eye contact and said "well i know what a instrument is but whats a guitar?" Lior lookedd up at the tall buildings and replied, "I guess is resembles a violin in some way, but instead of explaining i'll show you sometime." he smiled at me. I nodded.

we started to walk up the steps to get to the bar. we had to now get down from this platform to get to the bar. we went down a set of stairs and arrived at the entrance. Lior held the door open for me. As the door opened we heard the loud sounds from inside. it was quite crowded at this hour. Lior came to my side. "Go find us some seats, ill get the drinks." he tells me before he walks ahead. I see him wait in a short line. I saw a couch that was open. before i went to i looked at the private rooms. all the curtains were shut, indicating that there were none avabilabe. I walked over to the couch. This bar was where i had met sota. i looked around to see if he had come here after he left. There was no sign of him. I looked up to see Lior walking over to me. he set the drinks on the round table in front of us. He took off his blazer before sitting down. He had on a long sleeve button down shirt. his outfit was pretty basic but i could still tell that it was considered to be expensive. he looked at me "Arent you cold?" he asked. "Nope, im fine!" I say. I was wearing a sleeveles top but i didnt get cold to easily. We both enjoyed our drink and had a long conversation. I had Lior get me a few more glasses. The time startede to go by quickly. i started to frogot about my other arrangments.

All of a sudden the sound of multiple glasses shattering came from a private room. shouting came after it. "W-what do you think your doing?!" a women said. the whole bar had gone silent. everyones heads had turned to the private room. "G-get that away from me!" the womens voice said in horror. What came after was a horrififying scream of pain. it lasted for about 20 seconds. The sound echoed in my head. What had just happened in there? it was in that moment of thought when someone pulled back the curtains and stepped out. this person wore an all black outfit. this persons face was covered up by their long bangs and a face mask. They reached into a pocket and took out a hand gun. Lior pulled me to the floor. He peeked over the couch. "That person has a nano inject." he told me. i didnt know what it was but i nodded. suddenly there was a gunshot. the light in the middle of the room shattered. Everything went dark.