She rounded back to the hotel when she caught glimpse of the man in the red jacket again. A few seconds later, she was sure it was him. He was following her.
When he caught her gaze, she stiffened. He held her gaze for about two seconds before he turned into mist and disappeared. Her blood ran as cold as the snow beneath her boots and she started walking faster. The hotel was just a few more strides away, she could make it.
She noticed a group of other people, six in total, dressed in leather and cotton and neither of them were human at all. Two were talking to the receptionists while the others were either on their phones or just loitering at the entrance into the hotel's reception. They felt like the kind of supernaturals that ate humans in every bit of the literal sense.
Were they with the red jacket guy? ‘No, stop that. Now hurry back to your apartment before the red jacket guy comes back!’ Her head screamed at her. Rita rushed forward, listening to her head and not the feeling in her gut telling to turn around and leave. Besides where would she go. She would just a sitting duck in an open field.
She was nearly to the elevator when she heard someone call her name. “Rita.”
She recognized the voice and turned back to look at where it had come from and who. Kalzaar stood at the entrance wearing a crisp white shirt and black cotton jeans with his hair tied back and a smile on his face. Rita did not know whether to feel relieved that she was seeing a familiar face or anxious that he was getting mixed into whatever mess she thought was going on here.
Kalzaar walked over to her while the group of men remained at the counter. “Hello Rita.” he greeted, a calm smile on his face.
“Hi Kalzaar.” she greeted back, offering a small smile of her own and holding onto her bag tightly. “What brings you here?” she asked, trying to keep her exterior look unaffected. Why was the elevator taking so long? She did not mind if she had to take Kalzaar up with her at this point.
The smile on his face waned a bit and he rubbed his neck. “I was here to meet a client but he bailed on me.” He answered. He looked really disappointed.
That meant he had been in the area maybe an hour or a few minutes ago. “I'm sorry about that.” she said.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Is this where you have been staying?”
“Yeah, sort of.” Her nerves were still not at ease. If those guys at the counter were looking for her, she did not want them knowing that she was actually staying here.
Kalzaar furrowed his eyebrows. “Sort of?” he asked, clearly confused.
All she did was nod, eyes still on the group by the counter who had not moved at all. They were listening. “I'll explain later.” she promised.
“Well, I have got a few hours to burn, want to help me kill time?” he offered, his lavender pools looking expectantly at her.
‘Kill time?’ Rita thought. Then it hit her. Yes, kill time! Killing a few hours would hopefully kill those guys interest and patience and they could go look for some other prey. Heaven forgive her.
“Yeah sure” she agreed, stepping away from the elevator just as it opened.
Kalzaar's smile returned. “Great, let's go. My car is just parked on the other side of the road.” He said. Rita stepped in time with him, taking a glance at one of the men leaning his leather jacket clad back against the counter. His brown hair was cropped short and he bent towards the lean side. But she had learnt that not all strong supernaturals needed to pack muscle to cause truckloads of destruction.
His eyes sprang up from his phone so fast and met hers, an endless unblinking sea of silver against her brown. She tore her eyes away and kept them looking forward.
Kalzaar opened one of the glass doors for her. She gave a small nerve smile and walked out with him behind her. They walked down the steps and Rita examined the selection of cars across the road.
“Which one is your car?” she asked.
Kalzaar pointed to a black Maserati parked close to a bubble gum pink porche. She looked at him with a disbelieving expression. “Ok, what do you actually do for a living.” She asked.
He just laughed. “I already told you. Come on let's go. I only have four hours.”
They crossed the road and got into Kalzaar's car. The interior was just...Waw! Everything looked cool and smelled of money. Rita wondered how many chicks he picked up in this bad boy.
“So where would you like to go?” he asked with a grin on his face.
Rita thought for a second and came up with nothing. “Anywhere, I guess. As long as it is not frufru fancy. I'm not exactly dressed for that.” she explained.
Kalzaar put the key in ignition. “Alright. Scratching out fancy frufru. Let me see.”
He turned the car on and drove onto the road. “Anywhere in mind?” she asked looking at him. “Just one. Do you know this steakhouse just before Cassidario street?”
“Everlys.” she chimed. “They make some of the best steak.” They were also just a block away from a police station.
“I know right. I cannot begin to describe how good the steak there is.” he added
“Especially with the sauce.” she moaned. “Absolutely to die for.”
Rita saw him stiffen and was about to mention it when he beat her to it. “How are you feeling today?” he inquired.
She looked at him. “I'm feeling ok Kalzaar.” she answered unable to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
“Just checking.” he said, raising his arms for the barest amount of time in mock surrender before putting his hands back on the wheel.
Rita looked behind them through the rearview mirror. There was an orange sports car behind them, followed by the a black one and then a red one. ‘The people here really liked their cars shiny and expensive.’ she thought. The red one looked familiar to her though. She felt the detail nagging at her brain.
When Kalzaar turned a corner, they did too. Another corner, the same thing. She clutched the seat and the seatbelt in her sweaty palms and her heart started beating faster. She was about to tell Kalzaar when two of the cars, the orange one and the red sped off ahead of them. The blue one remained. A fork in the road appeared and Kalzaar took one road and the blue car took another.
Rita breathed a sigh of relief. She had been mistaken. She had been overreacting thanks to an overactive imagination. She loosened her grip on the seat and the seatbelt and tried to bring her heart under control. “Kalzaar,”
“Yes Rita.” he answered, his eyes on the road.
“This might not be the best time to ask but what happened with your job? You said you were going to meet a client but you work in an office.” she asked. She had only met him only a few times and knew only a little about him which made her question her reasoning when it came to getting into this car with him. He did not say anything for a whole minute. “If you don't want to talk about it's fine. I'm sorry I asked.”
“Oh no, it is okay.” he assured. “You could say that I quit.”
“You quit?” she asked surprised. “Why?”
Kalzaat took a deep breath in and let it out slowly before he said anything. “My former boss was a pain in the ass and she did not respect my personal space.”
Rita looked down at her hands. “I know how that feels. You did the right thing.” she said. And her thoughts wondered back to the office. If not for that piece of paper she had signed she would have left that place in seven seconds flat but she was stuck.
“Yeah but it was really messy.” Kalzaar admitted.
“So you are a freelancer now?” she asked.
“Yeah. To be honest, I am a bit scared of the future going forward but it is such a breath of fresh air.
“That's nice.”
They were on Cassidario street now and she could see Everlys steakhouse just up ahead. They were close now but Kalzaar was not stopping, Rita's heart went back into overdrive and she could feel herself slowly sink into panic when he sped awy from their intended destination.
“Kalzaar, the steakhouse is that way.” she indicated to the big sign behind them. “W-where are we going?” she stuttered.
Kalzaar did not say a word. “Ka–Kalzaar p-pull over. I want to get down.”
His response was to speed up and her fear spiked.
“Kalzaar stop this car right now!” she yelled.
He remained motionless to her request. She tried to open the car door, she struggled with it but it was locked. “Kalzaar! Let me out!” she screamed.
Her dread skyrocketed when he took a dirt path and sped down it. She caught a glimpse of something a car coming. No, there was more than one. There were three. Her heart jumped into her mouth. The cars from before.
Something slammed into her mind leaving her winded. Her eyes widened as it all came flooding back. The car chase, the call she had made to Gordon that night and…
Her body started uncontrollably trembling and she turned to Kalzaar with terrified eyes. He looked at her from the corner of his eye.
And Him.
A bloodcurdling scream left her mouth.