Haru 2090 Words I expected to wake up on the cold floor, but instead, I feel a warm, hard surface-with a heartbeat? I turn my head and see the handsome Killer. He's asleep. And f*****g beautiful. Wait… why the hell is he here? I shoot up and look around. Yeah, this is still my room, and this is still my bed. So why is he here? Is he a psycho or something? "Hey." I shake him, trying to wake the big giant who's taken over my bed. "Dude, what the f**k? Wake up. What are you doing here?" I shake him harder. Without warning, a fist comes flying toward me. I'm lucky I have quick reflexes, or he would've pounded my face flat. "WHAT THE HELL, DUDE?!" His eyes open, a faraway look in them, then he blinks. "The f**k…" he grunts. "Yeah, uh, that's my question. What are you doing in my bed?" I ask as he moves and gets off it. "You were having a nightmare, so I checked on you. You were lying on the floor, and when I tried to move you, you wouldn't let me go." Killer talks with his back to me as he grabs his clothes and starts getting dressed. I take the opportunity to check out his figure-his very, very, very sexy, tattooed back. How is a person this well-built? It's like someone carved a perfect man out of stone and turned him into a breathing, living human being. "Stop looking at me like that." I snap out of my horny daze and look up at him. He's frowning, clearly not enjoying being checked out. Never met a biker who didn't like the attention of a woman. Then again, I've noticed he's different from every other biker-or any healthy man, for that matter. Maybe he's gay. The hot ones always are. "f**k you. My room, my rules. You came in here, so I can check you out if I feel like it." When was the last time I got laid? A year ago? Too long. Way too long. Too bad I can't attack this handsome, annoying, broody bastard. My brother might have a heart attack. I wait for a response, but I don't get one. Killer just turns around and walks out of my room. I sigh and look for my cigarettes. Nothing better than a smoke right after waking up. I find the pack under some clothes, pull one out, and light it with my Zippo. I lay back down on the bed and stare at the ceiling. Now that I'm alone, I can think. I've never woken up this relaxed before. But I won't let him know that. I will never show a man my weakness again. I'd rather slit my own throat. Perfect timing-my phone goes off. Cigarette dangling from my mouth, I get up and start looking for the damn thing. Haru: "b***h, you better answer your goddamn, motherfucking, piece-of-s**t phone. RIGHT NOW." …Okay. I press the call button and wait for my best friend to pick up. She answers on the second ring. "WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG, YOU LAZY b***h?" I pull the phone away from my ear, cringing. "What the hell, Haru. I was sleeping. What do you want?" "You need to get me out of here! I was on my way to you because I got into a fight with my boss-which got me fired, by the way-and some psycho customer followed me all the way down here. I'm hiding in the bathroom, and I know he's outside. I'm at the bus station on the west side of that goddamn small town of yours. COME GET ME." I glance down at my phone and see it's past midnight. Haru used to work-well, used to-as a stripper. I've known her since childhood. She was one of the Dolls that Sir had collected over the years. She's only two years younger than me, but she arrived at Sir's mansion around the same time I did-making her just three years old when she fell into the hands of that monster. We became friends because she was in the cell next to mine, and we were able to communicate through a small hole in the wall that no one knew about. We escaped our hell together when I turned eighteen. After that, we lived on the streets-digging through garbage cans for food, running from men with wandering hands, and sleeping under bridges, benches, or in metro stations. We had a close bond and only parted ways half a year ago. "I told you to stop stripping. Look what happens. You know how men get-lose brain cells the moment they see boobs," I mutter while getting dressed, balancing my phone between my head and shoulder. "Yeah, well, I needed the money. What else was I supposed to do, Lev? I have no education. No talents other than stealing-nothing like you. And I just wanted to live a danger-free life for at least a little while." I open my door and walk down the hallway. "Whatever. I'm coming for you now. Just stay there. I'll be there in… fifteen minutes?" "Yeah, take your time. It's not like there's a maniac screaming outside with a gun, ready to do whatever he wants to me." "Ah, you can handle him. See you soon." "WHA-" I hang up the phone the moment I reach the bottom of the stairs. The bar is filled with bikers, and for the first time since I've been here, there isn't some orgy going on. Soft music plays in the background. People are nursing beers, chatting, relaxing. I spot some of the old ladies sitting with their men, talking to each other. I haven't met any of them yet-not that I'm particularly interested. I make my way toward the door when someone grabs my arm. I turn and see my dad towering over me. "Where are you going?" "Do I have some sort of curfew no one told me about? I'm going out. I need to pick someone up." I shake him off and step back, glaring. "Take Jaxon with you. Protection." I gape at him, shocked. "Why the hell do I need protection? I've been fine on my own for a while now, thanks." I try to walk away, but Chaos already calls for Jaxon. I move faster, hearing the door close behind me, and head toward my bike. Footsteps follow. Jaxon, along with that massive guy named Iren, approaches. Iren's grinning, and Jaxon looks like he wants to shove a gun in his mouth. Nice. "Don't come with me on my account. I can find my way around," I say as I mount my bike and put the keys in the ignition. "Nice try, princess," Iren says, still grinning, "but that's not gonna happen. I like my tongue." I raise an eyebrow at him. "Tongue…? Do I even want to know?" "No," Jaxon mutters. I shrug it off and wait for the big, bad boys to get on their bikes. "Where to?" Iren asks, still grinning for some reason. "West Bus Station." x-x-x-x We arrive at the bus station five minutes earlier than planned. I rush to get off my bike and look around. I spot the creep almost immediately. The man looks rough-greasy hair, a beer belly, and old, dirty clothes that probably haven't been washed in three years. He's pacing in front of the public bathroom. I glance over my shoulder and see Jaxon and Iren getting off their bikes. "Don't get involved," I basically order them. They look taken aback, but before they can respond, I step toward the pacing man. As I get closer, I hear him mumbling something, making him even creepier than he looked from a distance. "Hey!" I shout, making the creep look up. Without warning, I knock him out with a punch to his temple. Stepping over his now-unconscious body, I walk toward the public bathroom. "HARU, you can come out now." After only a couple of seconds, my best friend walks out. She looks good, all things considered. Haru is Asian-tiny as f**k. Her hair is styled in a bob cut now, and for once, it's her natural color: black. The only thing that sets her apart from most Asians are her striking, piercing, cold blue eyes that make you wonder if she can see into your soul. Haru is a beautiful woman, but that's exactly why Sir chose her in the first place. When she gets close enough, she looks over my shoulder and stares at the fat man on the ground. "Nice," she grins, hugging me. "Didn't see the need to talk to him," I explain. But knowing Haru, she doesn't need an explanation. I take her in now that she's closer and let out a sigh. "Which one are you?" Haru looks up at me and grins an evil grin. Great. Haru, like me, has a f****d-up, shattered mind. But while I detach and numb myself to everything, she escapes reality entirely. I think the fancy term is Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID. I haven't looked into it deeply, but it was weird seeing my best friend's personality change from time to time, so I did some research. She has three different personalities. Unlike typical cases-or so I've read-she remembers what she does when she's someone else. "Who's the hot fella over there? The big, grumpy one?" she asks while I'm spaced out. I catch her licking her lips, eyes raking over the man standing a few feet away. I glance over my shoulder, though I don't really need to. I know who she means. "Jaxon. One of my brother's men." "You found your brother? Is he hot?" I shake my head, already wondering if it's a bad idea to bring her with me when she's like this. I call her personalities Dark, Light, and Grey. Dark is the hardest to handle: aggressive, s****l, unpredictable, hard, mean, sneaky. Grey is my favorite. She's a mix of both Light and Dark-confident, loyal, brave, smart, funny, but still a little s****l, a little mean when needed, and rough around the edges. Light is quiet, almost mute, scared of anything that moves. She hides in dark corners. Light is probably the part of Haru's soul that Sir broke-the part that needs protecting. "Haru, please don't jump him. We need to go home, and I really don't want to wait around in the middle of nowhere so you can f**k some guy in a public bathroom." "I can f**k him on his bike, no problem." I decide to ignore her and walk back to my bike. "Everything good?" Iren asks me. I nod and half-turn so I can introduce Haru. "This is Haru, my best friend. She basically got fired from her job and came looking for me." "Hello," Haru purrs, still eyeing Jaxon. And Jaxon still looks like he wants to put a gun in his mouth. Poor guy. "Get on my bike," I tell Haru, leaving no room for argument. Haru nods, and I see the shift in her eyes. Now that I'm here, she doesn't need to protect herself. She whimpers softly, her shoulders tensing, and I see her retreat inward. "f**k," I mumble and carefully take her hand. "Come on." Haru trembles and looks up at Iren and Jaxon. I can see their confusion at the sudden change, but I shoot them a look that tells them not to ask. "Do you mind sleeping in my room, at least for tonight?" I ask Haru as she climbs onto the bike behind me, grabbing me as tightly as humanly possible. I feel her nod as I start the engine. "Good."