Chapter 2. The Red Light

Walking out of the club, I had my mind screaming at me for what I was doing. This wasn’t all that safe. In fact, it was very far from safe.

I had just met this guy, and even though we had been talking to each other for four months now, it was not in person. It was all from behind a phone screen!

I mean, it felt like I knew him, but at the same time, it felt like I didn’t.

But one thing I did know was that I did not want to lose my new favorite person. You might ask why I didn’t want to be single and why I kept trying over and over to find the right one.

And my answer would be one thing: loneliness. But wasn’t that the famous reason for why a lot of people tried to find love? Or was that just me?

I was the loneliest I have been in my life. I had no friends because I didn’t know how to make them. And when I did, they would either end up leaving town for school or something else.

Or…they might get into a relationship and forget I existed. So yeah, I wanted to find someone too. I wanted to feel loved and seen too.

You want to know something f*cked up? Um…my dad left us for a younger woman five years ago and never looked back.

It was not like he was abusive or anything. If anything, he was the perfect father until he left.

As for my mom, she was suffering from Alzheimer’s, so she was in a home being monitored every time and taken care of. It was like she was losing a part of her every day, and that was something that was slowly eating away at me.

Besides her, I don’t think I had any real family; that I know of, at least. Being an only child had seemed good until it wasn’t anymore.

So yeah, I think I would rather sacrifice my safety and leave with this guy than to go back to my ghost town of an apartment.

“Are you alright?” The attractive man’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “You look pale.” He stopped, and I did too. “You know, you don’t have to go home with me, we can just go somewhere else.”

I swallowed hard. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.” I smiled shyly. “Stop worrying about me.” My voice was soft.

“Are you sure?” He looked like he really did care about what I thought or how I felt. “You can be honest with me.”

I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out and I just ended up getting lost in his eyes. I really wanted to say something, I really did, but the words just didn’t want to come out.

He waved his hand in front of my face gently, a soft and amused smile on his face. “Earth to Moon000,” he chucked the words out, and I was pulled back into reality.

I chuckled too, but I was a bit embarrassed because he had caught me staring. “Don’t worry about it, we can go back to your place. It’s not like you’re a serial killer or anything, right?” I joked, and a look crossed his eyes.

He swallowed hard, his face dropping for a quick second before his previous expression returned. “I will never do anything to hurt you,” he replied firmly, flashing me a warm smile.

But there was something that I just couldn’t put my finger on about him. I don’t know if it was something bad or good, but yeah, I just couldn’t get rid of it; the feeling.

I smiled back and he led me to his car.

It was a very expensive one. I felt like this was a good sign, if this guy was a pervert or some kind of weirdo, he wouldn’t have been driving such a car, would he?

Once inside of the vehicle, he got in too and sat behind the steering wheel. The car came to life in a blink of an eye, and it was such a smooth yet powerful sound that was coming from the engine.

He stepped on the gas and drove us out of there. We soon were on the main road with the other cars and after a few minutes, I started to ease up.

I no longer had my drink and had downed it long before I had even stepped into this car. I kept staring out the window, the passing city lights showing off.

But then we came to a stop and I turned to see why. We were at a red traffic light and another car was in front of us.

“Would you mind if I do something real quick?” The guy asked, locking eyes with me. He looked relaxed and there was a softness to his expression that made me feel safe. “I promise that I will be right back, I won’t be long.” He pouted like a child, and it made me giggle.

Or maybe it was the alcohol making me like this.

“Sure, but wha…“

Before I could even complete my sentence, the guy had peeled his eyes away from me and reached in the compartment in front of him and took out a small handgun.

“What the f*ck?” I whispered as fear took over my body. I immediately scooted away from him and was contemplating jumping out of the car but I stayed.

Me trying to run could make things worse.

“Shhh…this is not for you, my love,” he replied, chuckling as he removed his seatbelt. “I told you, I would never do anything to you. And I mean it.”

My heart was pounding in my chest and my breath was deep and faster than usual now. All of this felt surreal, I felt like I was going to be sick!

“Please…I will do anything,” I begged, but he didn’t seem to care.

He opened the door of the car, got down and made his way over to the car that was in front of us. When he reached the driver’s window, he pointed the weapon there and pulled the trigger.

Not once. Not even twice. But five times. Five f*cking times.

I was shaking, it felt like the blood was rushing through my veins. I could feel my heart thundering in my chest as if it was trying to escape. And I had started to sweat.

The man returned and the loud horn of the car in front of us kept going.

People started gathering, but before I knew it, the guy had entered the car, shutting the door before flooring the gas, not even giving a damn about the red traffic light.

“See? I told you I won’t be long.” He smirked