The Rogues

The old house stood empty behind a barrier of leafy green hedges, a large frangipani tree swayed in the wind, branches bare, the leaves are long gone,   white paint flaking off the exterior walls. The blue shutters were swinging back and forth in the summer breeze. Garden beds are overcome with weeds, the rusty gate hanging on by a hinge. Someone had hastily nailed timber boards over the windows and doors. Black and white photos in ornate frames adorned the walls, smiling faces of the past. Books covered in dust, their pages yellowed. The floorboards creaked like they were crying over the atrocities they had witnessed, the dust settled on the white sheet covering the furniture. Long silver spider webs danced over chandeliers. The wind echoed up and down the hall as coldness touched every nook and cranny. The clocks stopped, the hands sitting at 3 am

Pushing open the glass doors, I needed to get as far away from the hospital as possible, seeing Vivian like that, in a hospital bed, bruised and battered and had gotten under my skin. And I do not, can not, will not ever let someone especially a woman get under my skin. My existence depended on not becoming too close to anyone, remaining emotionally unattached. Zipping up my worn leather jacket, I jumped onto my bike, putting her into neutral, turned the key and kicked down hard. The soul-satisfying rumble of the motor made me smile as I clicked it into gear and took off down the street. Riding my bike as if  I stole it, I zipped in and out of traffic until I reached the open road. The Rogues clubhouse came into view as I rounded the corner. An old abandoned bar had been converted into a clubhouse, the neon sign hung from the roof blinking off and on intermittently, buzzing as it swung i

 "What in the hell is going on, Vivie"? Cat burst back into the room, a look of betrayal on her face. I knew she was hurt that I didn't tell her about the proposal.  "It's nothing, an empty proposal. He shoved a ring on my finger and left like the smug jerk he is" I sighed, wishing the bed would swallow me up. I had seen Cat like this before, and there was no defence that I could use that would get me out of trouble with her. I should have rung her and let her know as soon as it happened. "Well, Thomas damn Bradley always gets what he wants V, please do not be another notch on his bedpost'. "And throw that frigging ring back into his face", she huffed. Closing my eyes, I knew deep down inside it had already come to that. I was already under the wicked spell