Ruined (The Seraphim Series Book 1) (2 page)

“What do you think he's going to do when you actually meet someone?” Rebecca had asked her once.
She’d just shrugged it off. The truth was, she really didn’t want to think about it.

“The day’s already gone to shit. I say we ditch and go shopping instead.”

“I can’t. Can we just go inside?” Lilliah moaned. “It’s freezing, and I need some kind of coffee. I don't care if it's the cheap kind that tastes like dirt.”

“You'd actually drink the crap they sell in there?” Rebecca shuddered. “That stuff is gross. And what’s the point in having a sky-high credit card limit if you’re never going to use it?”

“My mum gave me that for emergencies. Shopping really isn’t classed as an emergency.” She was already edging towards the college doors. Thanks to the investments her dad had made when he was alive, Lilliah and her family now lived very comfortably. According to her mum, the credit card was just the tip of their inheritance. Sebastian hadn’t been trusted with one, just her. One of the perks of being the boring but sensible twin.

“Fine then. College it is.” Rebecca gave up, realising Lilliah wasn’t going to budge. “I have a free period. Want to go and get some real coffee instead?”

“Oh, yes, please!” Lilliah all but moaned at the thought.

“Good. And before class, if you want, we can nip to the pharmacy and get you some sleeping tablets. And some concealer.” Rebecca pointed at the dark circles under her friend’s eyes.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Lilliah weaved her arm through her friend’s and began dragging her towards the nearest Starbucks. “What time are we meeting . . . ?” The rest of the sentence died in her throat as something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. “What was that?” Her eyes scanned the semi-packed street.

“What was what?” Rebecca asked, confused.

“I don’t know,” Lilliah muttered honestly.

“Oh, well, tonight, I was thinking, if I get the seven thirty train to London, we could—”

“What the hell?” Lilliah interrupted, staring across the street at the dark figure. There, no more than a few meters away from where she was standing, was the figure of a man, all in black. His face seemed blurry, as if she needed to blink a few times to get her eyesight straight. But that wasn’t what she was looking at. His eyes—they were red. Like the colour of blood. No one seemed to notice him. Pedestrians walked past him, completely oblivious. She started walking towards him, her whole body drawn towards the figure as though a siren's call were drawing her in.

“Lilliah!” Rebecca’s scream brought her out of her trance at exactly the same time as the tires of an oncoming car screeched to a halt. Preparing for the impact, Lilliah closed her eyes, her whole body tensing, unable to do anything but wait for the pain. It didn’t come.

His bright, clear blue eyes were what she saw first. They made her feel as if she were looking into crystals. The next was his hair; it was pitch black with strands falling around his perfectly chiselled face. She suddenly had the overwhelming urge to touch him, to run her fingers down his straight nose and touch his lightly tanned skin, just to see how it would feel. Was this real?

“Am I dead?” she asked, still dazed and unsure. His deep laugh shook her slightly. It was then that she realised she was on the ground and he was holding her, really close, too close.

“No,” he drawled out, carefully releasing her a little. “Are you okay?”

“Lilliah?” Rebecca’s frantic voice came from a distance. Turning her head, she saw Rebecca crossing the road, everyone around them staring. She was now on the opposite side of the road, the blurry, red-eyed figure nowhere to be seen. She looked at the stranger again, puzzled.

“Nice necklace.” The mystery man smiled, lightly running his finger over the markings. “Hold on to that.”
Before Lilliah could reply, the man was up and walking away, leaving her dazed and confused.

“Are you okay?” Rebecca asked frantically, running around the cars that had stopped on the road.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She stood up slowly, brushing her now wild hair away from her face. “Did that guy pull me out of the way?” She pointed to where the stranger had just walked, but he had already gone.

“It all happened too quickly!” Rebecca rushed out, panicked.

“I’ve called an ambulance, Miss. Okay?” one of the drivers said, frantically holding up his phone with a shaking hand. “I’m so sorry, love, but you just walked out onto the road,” he tried to explain.  Had she just walked out into the road? Lilliah couldn’t remember. All she could remember were those red eyes.

“Okay, it's official. I hate poetry,” Lilliah stated firmly. After quite possibly the most boring two hours of her life, she was glad to be out in the fresh air. Plus, walking around London at night was one of her favourite things to do.

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” Rebecca tried to defend, not even convincing herself.

“No, it was worse than bad. Jeremy actually left halfway through. Quite possibly the most polite guy in the world got up and walked out.” Lilliah pulled her coat tightly around her, trying to shield herself from the cold. It was past eleven at night and London was still buzzing with life. It was one of the things she loved about the city; it was never quiet.
“Okay, fine.” Rebecca threw her hands up in defeat. “It was pretty bad. But at least we can say we’ve been to a poetry reading!” She said it with such enthusiasm that Lilliah had to smile.

“Sebastian laughed when I told him we were going tonight. I’m going to lie and tell him it was amazing.” Lilliah giggled. “I refuse to let him know tonight was a disaster.”

“Your brother’s hot. He can do and think what he likes.”

“Oh, that’s gross.” Lilliah pulled a face, shuddering at the thought.

“Yeah, well it’s the truth.”
A sudden beat of music made Lilliah stop walking. Her eyes darted up and down the dark street. No clubs. No cars with loud music blaring out. Just people.

“Is that your phone?” She turned to Rebecca.

“Is what my phone?” Rebecca searched her pockets and pulled out her iPhone. It wasn't ringing.

“Do you hear that music?” The beat in Lilliah's ears grew louder and louder as if it were getting closer. “What the hell is that?”

The blue lights caught her attention next. Her head whipped to the left, to a building across the street. The blue neon lights shone brightly and gave the otherwise ordinary building an edge. Had they just opened? The lights and music hadn't been there minutes before.

“Have you ever seen that before?” she asked, pointing to the building across the street and getting annoyed with her hair as the wind blew it over her face. Pulling an elastic band from her pocket, she tied it in a quick bun. Lilliah looked at the club; dark-blue lighting lit the sign
Purgatory
. No one stood out front. Strange.

“What?” Rebecca turned to where Lilliah was pointing.

“The club,” she said, shaking her head at her friend’s obliviousness. As soon as the words left her lips, Rebecca blinked, shaking her head a little, and turned towards the pounding of the music. “Oh, my God. I literally didn’t see that before,” she said, squinting slightly. “How unobservant are we?”

“Let’s go in.” Lilliah was already jogging across the road, while trying not to get run over by the cars.

“Lil,” she heard Rebecca protest from behind her. “I'm not dressed for a club!”
Lilliah didn’t care what she was wearing; she was going to this club.

Purgatory
was like something Lilliah had only seen in movies. From women dancing in glass cages to the black waterfall behind the bar, she couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

“How have we never been here before?” Rebecca shouted over the music, standing as close to Lilliah as humanly possible. A sea of people in front of them was all dressed in black.

“I don’t know.” Lilliah took her friend’s hand as they walked farther into the crowd. It was as if the music was calling to her, making her blood pump faster. She could feel people’s gazes on her as she walked by, reminding her of just what outsiders they must have looked like: she in her plain jeans and oversized jumper, and Rebecca in her brightly-coloured tights and Doc Martens. It was safe to say they didn’t fit in with the gothic crowd. But for once in her life, she didn’t care.

Maybe it was the beat of the music, or maybe it was because for once she was doing something fun, something unexpected. She wasn’t sure, but she liked this feeling and wanted to hold on to it for as long as possible.

“Oh, God, what is this?” she asked, turning to Rebecca. She closed her eyes and started moving to the beat of the music.

“What? The music?”

Lilliah smiled. She could hear the distaste in her friend’s voice. Rebecca was, by all accounts, a music snob. In Rebecca’s eyes, being the daughter of an ageing ‘seventies rocker gave her better taste in music than anyone else in their generation. Including Lilliah.

“It’s hardly music, Lil,” she heard Rebecca say.
She smiled but didn’t answer; she was too swept up in the music.
“Oh, gosh, I can’t even breathe in this place!” Rebecca grabbed Lilliah by the hand and dragged her off the dance floor. Stares followed them as they walked.
“I can deal with the loud, crappy music, but I draw the line at some sweaty, Goth wannabe grinding all up me, okay?” She turned, getting angry when she realised Lilliah was looking everywhere but at her. “I mean, okay, I get it. You’re eighteen and want to try new things, but—”

“Can you feel that?” Lilliah cut her off mid-sentence, earning a sceptical look.

“Feel what?” Rebecca replied, almost afraid of the answer.

“I don’t know!” She laughed, unable to stop the euphoric feelings that were overtaking her.

“Are you high?” was her friend’s shrieked response.

“No. But this is great!” She threw her hands up in the air. “It's the strangest club in the world.” She laughed. “I've never even heard of it, or even seen it before, but it's so cool!”

“I think it's weird.” Rebecca was already typing furiously into her phone. “Look, I think we should go.”

“Why?”

“You just don’t seem right. You’re acting weird. I’ve texted Jeremy. He’s on his way, okay?”

Am I acting weird?
Lilliah thought, scanning the overly crowded dark room. There was something happening to her body, a buzz she had never felt before. Her eyes stopped on a woman, probably in her mid to early twenties, walking down the stairs. Her fiery red hair bounced with every step she took, making her stand out from the crowd. She walked with an air of confidence that very few people had, and Lilliah couldn’t help but watch her make her way through the crowd. The throng of people parted like the Red Sea to let her through as she headed for the bar.

“Oh, you see! That’s the colour I wanted my hair to go!” Rebecca  pointed to the same woman Lilliah had just been watching. “I wanted it bright and shiny, not dull and dry looking.” She sulked, twirling her over-dyed, red hair with her fingers.
Rebecca had a different hair colour every month and constantly complained about the condition of her hair. Lilliah, on the other hand, wasn’t allowed to even touch her hair; it just wasn’t worth the wrath of her mum. The arguments that had followed when her brother had strolled in one day with bright blue hair had confirmed it. Lilliah was thankful that she liked the blondness of her hair, because it seemed like she’d be stuck with it forever.

“Do you think it’s natural?” she asked sceptically, trying not to smile.

“Probably not, no.” Rebecca scowled. “Come, let’s ask.”
Before Lilliah could protest, Rebecca had grabbed her hands and was almost dragging her across the room, apologising constantly at the people she was bumping into on the way.

“Wait, I lost her!” Rebecca shouted over the beat of the music as she stood on her tiptoes to scan the crowd.
One good thing about being tall,
mused Lilliah as she began to easily look for the redhead.

“Near the door at the back.” She pointed so her friend could see. “What are we even going to say to her when we reach her?” She followed Rebecca to the back of the club.

“I’m going to ask her if her colour comes out of a box! Because I want it, goddammit. Oh, look, she’s talking to someone. Quick and we can catch her!”
Looking up, Lilliah could see that the woman had stopped and was now draping herself over someone.

“We can’t interrupt them! She probably had it done professionally anyway and—” Lilliah stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of the man the redhead was talking to.

“Why did you stop? We’ll miss her, come on!” Rebecca tried to drag her friend.

“That’s him!” Lilliah all but whispered.            

“What?” Rebecca asked, straining to hear over the music.

“That’s him!” she repeated louder. “The guy that saved me today. That’s the guy the redhead’s talking to.”

“Oh, really? What a coincidence! Well, now’s your chance to thank him!”
Lilliah followed numbly as Rebecca dragged her to the embracing couple.

“Hello. Sorry to interrupt,” Rebecca began once they’d reached them.

“What?” came the harsh reply from the woman. She was more stunning up close, but the voice was too harsh, literally making Rebecca flinch.

“Errmm well, I just wanted to say that . . . well . . .” Rebecca began again, sounding unsure and stumbling. Lifting her head, Lilliah was met with the bluest, clearest eyes that had been haunting her since that morning.

“I just wanted to come over here and say thank you.” Lilliah looked directly at the man in front of her, his strong jaw tense. She had also become aware she had gained the redhead’s attention. “I just saw you from across the room,” she quickly explained, trying not to look like a crazy stalker. “I didn’t have time to thank you this morning. So thank you.” She smiled, hoping for a smile back. All she saw, however, was his stony expression and cold eyes staring back.

“I’m Lilliah,” she began again, hoping for some kind of reaction, any reaction at all.

“You helped this girl?” the redhead asked, frowning and leaning closer into the man’s body, her voice sounding a hell of a lot softer than when she’d spoken to Rebecca. This time, Lilliah could hear a hint of an accent. Russian maybe? She was about to explain when he spoke.

“What are you doing here?” he ignored the other woman’s question, his eyes fixed directly on Lilliah.
Confused by the question, all she could do was stare, her mouth slightly agape.
Who the hell is this guy?
she thought, getting frustrated. After moments of silence, when he realised no one was going to speak, he turned his attention back to the redhead.

“Dena, why don’t you take Lilliah’s friend to the bar? I think she wanted to ask you something.” His eyes skimmed to Rebecca, who seemed to have lost her voice during the exchange. She simply nodded her head.
The redhead, who Lilliah now knew was called Dena, stared up at him with an expression that screamed, “You can’t be serious?” But instead of actually protesting, she turned to Lilliah, giving her a cold, hard stare before stalking off in the direction of the bar. Rebecca numbly stumbled behind her, leaving Lilliah alone with the stranger.

“What’s your name?” she blurted, instantly wishing she could take it back. “I mean you saved my life and everything,” she stumbled, shouting over the loud music. “I just wanted to say thank you,” she ended quickly, wanting to put a stop to her mortification.
He still hadn't smiled or said anything. Instead, he motioned his head for her to follow him. She watched his retreating figure for no more than a second before following him through the crowded club to a door labelled
PRIVATE.

“Are you coming in?” he asked when Lilliah didn’t immediately follow him.

“Yep,” she squeaked, stepping into the cooler room and trying not to panic as she heard the door click shut behind her, effectively shutting out the noise of the club.
I don’t know this man!
she suddenly thought, panicked.
He
could be anyone and now here I am, alone with him in a dark room. Why couldn’t he have just given me his name so that I could leave?
Why did I even want to know his name?
The room was in fact an office, which she realised he was pretty accustomed to as she watched him walk around the desk to sit in the overly large, leather chair.

“Is this your office?” she tried to fill the silence as his eyes blatantly scanned her body.

“No,” he replied shortly, making it clear he wasn’t going to continue.

“Oh,” she answered numbly, walking over to the chair opposite him to take a seat. Maybe she wouldn’t be as nervous if she were sitting down. “Should we be here then?” She was looking anywhere but at him.

“I own the club.” He leant forward in his seat, his face still impassive and hard. “What I want to know is, why are you here?”

“I’ve just never been here before,” Lilliah quickly defended, realising he thought she had followed him. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Everyone can see you! They can feel you. You shouldn’t be here.” He shot up from his chair, and in two large steps, was back at the door. “Get your friend and leave.”

“Feel me? What?” she demanded, pushing the chair back as she stood. “What the hell are you talking about? I saw you from across the club and I just wanted to say thank you,” she stressed again. “So, what’s your name?”

“Mike,” he answered automatically.

“Mike?” she repeated doubtfully. “You don’t look like a Mike.”

“Well, that’s my name, and you’ve said thanks. So you can leave now.” He opened the door, his face void of any emotion.