173Melting the Ice
Important Author's Note: In this story, I'm going to change between 1st and 3rd person narratives. Kari, the main character, will be always told in 1st person, while the other characters will be told in 3rd. The person's point of view will always be stated at the beginning of each chapter. And for the sake of less confusion, I'll never change POVs in the same chapter. Anyway, please give me your feedbacks!
Chapter One
Kari
"Oh? You're finally awake?" I said in a jovial voice.
A pair of icy blue eyes met my dark brown ones. They were cold and distant, almost as if I were staring into an endless blue tunnel.
"You have pretty eyes."
A look of confusion escaped from the boy's cold demeanor.
"What? Where am I?"
"Oh! How rude of me. I'm Kari. Remember, you bumped into me on the street two days ago, and then you collapsed. You were hurt pretty badly, but my mom treated it," I answered, smiling brightly.
Without warning, the boy got up and started towards the door, but I quickly stopped him.
"Where are you going? You're not fully healed yet," I demanded, as I pulled him back.
"What the hell's your problem?" the boy asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"How dare you! My mom took a lot of time to treat you, and now you're going to waste that effort and get yourself hurt again?"
"I never asked you to—"
The door suddenly slammed open. My mom stood in the door way.
"Listen kid, if you want to go and get yourself killed, be my guest. But don't expect anyone to help treat you again like we did."
That was all she needed to say, and she strolled off, slamming the door behind her. An awkward silence fell upon the room. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I insisted, "You must be hungry. I'll go get some food. Wait here."
I opened the door and walked out. Strolling into the kitchen, I reminisced on how it happened…
Two days ago…
"Bye Kari! See you on Monday!" my best friend, Melanie, shouted.
I was just about to leave the school when I heard her call. I turned around and waved, "Bye!"
I opened the school doors, released my jet-black umbrella, and stepped into the pouring rain. It fell like a gray sheet draping over the gloomy sky. I found it quiet strange that it was raining in early December when it should be snowing. As I walked, water splashed against my boots. I looked around me to check if there were any stalkers or strangers. The city was full of them. Everywhere you look, there's someone following you, waiting to steal anything valuable. I hated it; plus, nobody did anything about it. Nobody did anything about this run down, crime infested city.
I was just a couple of blocks away from my house, when I noticed a dark figure half running, half stumbling towards my direction. Squinting ahead, I couldn't see the person's head, but based his size and height, he looked close to my age. When I was about two or three feet away from him, I noticed he faltered quite a bit. He was probably drunk, like a number of other people in this city. Without warning, the person lunged forward, nearly knocking into me.
"Watch where you're going," a deep, brusque voice grunted from beneath the hood.
"Excuse me, but it was you who nearly knocked into me," I answered, rather indignantly.
I was surprised to see a pair of cold, blue eyes glower at me underneath the dark hood. Then I notice a trail of reddish, pinkish water up to where the person was currently standing. The teen was just about to continue on his way when my eyes fell upon his hand covering a red gash down the boy's right arm. The rain water that dripped from the wounded arm became a darker shade as the crimson blood mingled with the rain water. I stuck out my hand and pulled him back.
"Wait a second, you're hurt!"
"I'm fine, let—" but the stranger never finished as he fell forward… right into my arms, nearly knocking the umbrella out of my hand!
I suddenly felt my face grow hot, and I stuttered, "H-hey, are you all right?"
It was then I realized the guy had blacked out. Oh, just great, and he said he was fine. The dark atmosphere made it hard for me to see clearly, but I saw his pallid face under his dark hood. His chest rose and fell erratically, and his breathing was shallow.
For a moment, I had no idea what to do. I couldn't just leave him here, bleeding. I decided to bring him home. Besides, my mom was a pretty distinguished doctor. I'm sure she wouldn't mind.
I set down my umbrella, and then carefully, making sure he doesn't fall, I tore off a piece of cloth and gingerly wrapped it around the wound. That would at least slow down the bleeding. Then steadying myself so I wouldn't fall, I put his uninjured arm around my shoulders and put mine around his. I was stronger than I thought. I guess the karate classes my mom made me sign up really did help. Finally, I picked up my umbrella and continued towards my house.
I slammed the door opened when I got home, dropping my umbrella, "Mom!"
My mom strolled into the hallway. She was a tall and beautiful woman, who released a unique aura of elegance and insight. Many older guys tried to win her heart, but she vowed never to marry again after the death of my father.
An amused look formed on her face as she saw me, "My, my, what do you have there? I'd never expect to see you bring home a guy. Besides, don't you already have a boyfriend?"
"Mom! This is serious! He's been hurt."
My mom's eyes fell upon the bloodstained cloth that was tied around his arm.
"Well, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
With ease, my mother picked up the boy like he was nothing and carried him into a vacant bedroom.
"Don't come in until I give you a call, 'k?" she said with a smile and slammed the door behind her.
I waited for what seemed like forever, but when I checked the time, only an hour had passed. I sighed and decided to start my homework. I was halfway done when I heard the door open. My mom walked out, yanking off the rubber gloves that covered her hands, and running a hand through her long, blond hair.
"That took longer than expected. It was an unpleasant gash, but he should be fine now. You can go check on him now, as long as you don't do anything funny."
"Mom! It's not like I'm going to rape him or anything," I answered, rolling my eyes.
"Ok, just making sure," my mother said, giving me a thumbs up as she sauntered off.
I went into the room, the smell of antiseptic cut into my nose. I stood beside the bed, staring at the boy. He was gorgeous. His pale, blond hair stuck out unkemptly, almost looking silvery under the dim light. An earring hung from his left ear. Suddenly, I spotted a strange tattoo imprinted on his left arm. It was a black raven entwined with an elaborate L. The blood drained from my face.
This boy, seemingly around my age, was the leader of the Ravens, a notorious crime gang in the city! The crime gangs were always named after animals, and the animal was tattooed on every member of that crime gangs. I don't know why they do it, probably to arouse fear among people. I thought it was quite stupid, but hey, what do I care how the crime gangs operate? But I wonder if my mom found out about this. If she did, would she have saved him?
I peered around the room, and noticed a manila envelope protruding from the guy's coat. I slipped it out of the coat pocket. It was damp, but still legible.
Leader of the Snakes
I ain't tell you anything, cuz dis letter can fall into wrong hands. If ya wanna know everything, than meet me at 29 bolivard ave at 12 am. There's a copy of the members in my gang if ya wanna join me 'n knock out our enemies, which I ain't naming, cuz this might fall into enemy hands. I wanna see ur members also.
Leader of the Wolves
I stared at the letter for a moment, questions swimming in my head like minnows. I looked in the envelope and discovered a folded piece of wrinkled, yellow paper. They were the images of the members. Putting the papers back in the envelope, I decided to keep it. I guess I could hand it in to the police, though there's a good chance they won't do anything about it. Still, it was worth a shot. Besides, this letter had nothing to do with the Ravens, so I had no idea why this guy had it.
End Flashback
So that was how it all happened. I still have the letter, and I'm planning on turning it in sometime this week.
As I opened the door, carrying a tray of food, a cold breeze permeated through the room. I noticed the window was ajar. I couldn't believe it. He was gone!