Chapter Two

"Hey! Watch it." The blonde-haired man yelled at her as she bumped into him. He tried to push her away but she held on to his sleeves.

"Please help me." Sophia said desperately. "help me. They'll kill me if you don't." the man stared at her for a while, indecision evident on his face. He finally pushed her away. "Don't touch me whore." He said and quickly walked away.

Sophia fell to her knees in despair. Why won't they help me? She thought. She could not let despair hold her down, but she had nowhere to go. A Thunderbolt lightened up the night sky, and tiny drops of rain descended. The rain matted her hair and ran down her face. She sobbed quietly as her frustration turned into tears that were washed away with the rain.

"Are you all right?" a voice said behind her. She looked up to see the most handsome man she had ever seen standing over her with an umbrella. He stretched out his hand to her. She looked at his palm and then looked back at his face. 

"Are you okay? Take my hand; it's all right. I won't hurt you" he said. She looked up at him childishly for a while before finally taking his hand. He smiled at her as he pulled her up to her feet. 

"Thank you." She said Quietly. He was much taller than her, and her face only got up to his chest, so she contented herself with looking at his tie and suit. 

"It's all right. Are you hurt?" he asked when he noticed her bleeding forearm. "We should get you to a hospital, you don't look good."

"Hospital?" She asked quietly. The word sounded vague and strange to her even though she knew the meaning.

"Yes, hospital. My car is just over th…"

"There she is!!" The big security guard yelled. Sophia's heart jumped into her throat and she hurriedly pushed the kind stranger away and ran into the pouring rain. The pavements were slippery, and her legs were sore, but she pushed herself down the street. The security guards were already gaining on her and soon one of them grabbed her and yanked her back. Her shoe soles were made of rubber and gave no friction, she lost her balance completely and could only give a quiet sigh when she saw the ground coming up to meet her. 

****

Alex stood quietly by the corner as he watched the four armed men carry the unconscious girl into a van. The biggest one, an extremely ugly man with a horrendous scar on his face, gave some orders, and all the other hooligans jumped into the van and zoomed off.

Alex only had three seconds of indecision before making up his mind and rushing down the pavement to his car. He fumbled through his pockets for his keys, found them, and rushed into the car while praying in his heart for the van not to have gone too far. He turned his key and ignited his engine before zooming in the direction the van had taken the girl. These were dangerous people, but he dared not call the police. They were most likely involved in whatever was going on. 

His phone rang and he quickly brought it out of his pocket and was about to decline the call when he saw it was his mother.

"Hello, Alexander? Can you come home right now? It's quite urgent." Her voice came to him from his device.

"I'm kind of in the middle of something important, too," he said as he swerved madly around a corner and saw the Van right in front of him.

"Can I call you back, Mom?" 

"No Alexander. You have to hear this now. Your father just gave you a deadline. You are to bring home your fiancé or the company goes to his dreadful handy man Joseph." She said in frustration.

"Mom, I told you, I'll come home with her soon enough, but if he wants me to bring her home today, then fine, I'll be back home in an hour." He said angrily.

The van moved steadily along, and Alex made sure not to stay too close behind.

"But why make us wait this long?" She continued in a manner that annoyed him greatly. "I don't get why you would keep your old parents waiting for so long without a grandchild."

"Mom, can I call you later?" He asked with irritation lacing his every word.

"Just make sure you come back with your wife. I'm not sure I would be able to live much longer if the company gets into Joshua's hands."

The van swerved crazily into a narrow corner and Alex had to step hard on the breaks to follow it. 

"Mom, I'll be home in an hour. We'll talk then." He said as he drove his car to a stop a few hundred meters away from the van.

"Oh, son, why don't you…" Alex could not bear listening to her drone on about the same matter so he cut the call on her. "I'm sorry mother." He whispered tiredly. What are you doing? He asked himself. He had left home to get drinks to help clear his mind but had seen the lovely lady fall to her knees in dejection and as the refined gentleman he was, he had been compelled to help her out. But when he had stood there, when he had seen those green sad eyes, he had been captured by her beauty and look of desperation. And just when she had finally agreed to let him help her, those men had appeared out of nowhere. The whole matter smelled funny, and he realized that he had to move carefully, or he could lose his life.

The men stepped out of the van with the girl's limp body and stepped into the beautiful building on the other side of the street. The building was lined with all types of expensive sports cars, and richly dressed people stepped through its doors. Alex walked down the street to the side of the building and watched. All the guests were expected to produce a letter of invitation and were refused entry if they were found to have none. 

That could be a problem, he thought. He had no invitation letter, what the hell was he supposed to do now? 

At that exact moment, one of the owners of the numerous sports cars stepped out of his car and moved hurriedly into the corner where Alex was hiding. He did not notice the young man behind the trash can but hurriedly threw open his zipper and retrieved his genitalia from his briefs to Take a piss. 

"Ahhhh." The man said in ecstasy as the flood of yellow liquid hit the wall of the building. He did not hear the young man sneak behind him and only noticed him when Alex tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around sharply momentarily forgetting to cover his p***s.

"Hello, sir." Alex said casually, "You're not, by any chance, heading for the event in the building over there?" 

The man stood and stared momentarily in shock, but his composure soon returned and an angry scowl formed over his face.

"How dare you sneak up on me like that? Do you know who I am?" the man asked angrily. "I was personally invited here by the don of your Mafia organization so unhand me now."

He thinks I'm a thug, Alex thought gleefully. It appeared that he had already found his way into the event.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were one of the guests," Alex said remorsefully and turned as if he was about to walk away.

"It doesn't matter, you'll pay for this. Wait until the Don hea…" his words were cut short by a powerful punch from Alex. He turned from the force of the punch, hit his head on the trash can, and lay on the ground with his genitalia still out. 

"By the way," Alex said with a smirk, "your fly is out." He searched the man's clothes but only found a card engraved with the number '45'. A thunderbolt lit up the night sky once again and little showers began to pour. He dragged the man's unconscious body into the trash can, wiped the dust off his suit, and walked into the man's Lamborghini. He proceeded to search through the car but could not find an invitation anywhere. 

"Where the hell is it?" He said out of frustration. The line was moving along and soon it would be his turn. You could just drive away, dump this car on the side of the highway, go home, and forget about this entire matter. 

The line moved along quickly and soon it was Alex's turn. He stepped out of the car gracefully and handed the keys to the young steward, who ran to meet him. He then walked over to the doors where two huge black men were standing guard. One of them was almost eight feet tall while the other was just a little over seven feet. They both had numerous scars on their faces but the taller one had one that ran from his right eye down to his chin. They were both dressed in tuxedos which made them look like hitmen.

"Invitation." The shorter one asked. Alex had no idea where the invitation had been. He gauged the two guys mentally, trying to calculate his chances of taking both of them out.

"Invitation." This time it was the bigger one who asked. Alex shoved his hand into his pockets and brought the strange card he had retrieved from the man he had knocked out. The number 45 was engraved in crystals and had dark outlines made of beautiful powdered diamonds. 

"WAIT!!" a voice yelled. Alex turned around to see the man he had knocked out walking unsteadily towards them. Alex's heart skipped a beat and gooseflesh sprouted out of his skin. SHIT!! He thought. He was most likely going to be killed then.

"Welcome number 45. Your table is ready and auctioning will soon be kicking off." The shorter guard said and opened the door to let him through. Alex looked at him for a second, his mind completely confused.

"45?" he asked in amazement.

"Please go in, sir; we'll take care of the drunk." The man responded formally. Alex felt like screaming out of relief but simply adjusted his tie and stepped into the building.