Bound: Fallen World Series Book 1

by Jane, C. R.

  I should have turned and run at that moment, but something in the way he said that last statement made me hesitate. “What do you mean?”

  “Change is never easy.”

  I blinked against the lights flashing in our direction. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, the panic starting to bleed into my voice. I regretted my outburst at once as a glimmer of amusement arose in his eyes at my blatant fear.

  “You’ll find out soon, pet.” He released my hand, and I stumbled on the spot. “You better go catch up to your friend.”

  His riddles made no sense, but considering he knew I came with Cherry meant he’d been watching me before I fell into his lap. I spun and pushed through the crowds, needing to leave, get away, and never visit this club again.

  “I’ll be seeing you around,” he called out, and I glanced over my shoulder one more time. But the seat he lounged in was empty.

  Where the hell was he?

  I ran from the club like I was being chased by demons, the feeling that someone was watching me settling over my skin like dread.

  3

  The next morning everything seemed like it was just a bad dream. Especially when Cherry banged on the door at 7am, immediately beginning to bitch and complain about what a “crappy lay” that guy from the bar was. Of course, she didn’t apologize for ditching me at a bar full of creatures she knew I was terrified of. It was the Cherry show as usual. And like usual, I listened to everything she had to say while I got ready for work.

  Cherry’s father was some bigwig on Wall Street and still provided for his “little girl.” Even though his little girl was now 25 and has never worked a day in her life. Cherry always said that her job was to find a rich husband because she was born to be a socialite. It hadn’t happened yet for her, but she certainly gave it her best effort.

  “Are you even listening to me?” she blurted, while helping herself to the last of my cereal and milk. I guessed the free bananas at the Vepar stand out on the sidewalk would have to do for breakfast.

  “You’re going to have to eat that as we leave,” I explained somewhat impatiently. “I have to get to work.”

  “Can’t you take one day off? We were out so late last night, I’m wrecked.” I didn’t bother mentioning that she had no idea how late I was out until since she ditched me.

  “Sorry, after what happened yesterday with my pay being docked, I can’t miss a shift,” I told her, beginning to push her out the door. Something I couldn’t identify flickered in her eyes but it quickly disappeared. It almost looked like guilt.

  Not having the energy or time to analyze Cherry this morning, I finish pushing her out the door, then locked the door behind us. I learned the hard way after I came home one night and my loft was completely wrecked that I could not leave Cherry unattended at my place. I wasn’t sure why she came to my place so often in the first place since her father paid for a luxurious apartment by Central Park. There was a lot I didn’t understand about that girl.

  Cherry and I had just parted ways, and I was about to cross the street to arrive at the diner when a luxurious black town car pulled up in front of me. The back-seat window rolled down slowly. I rubbed the goosebumps out of my arms. A beautiful blue-eyed man with hair so blonde it seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that streamed through the car window was staring at me from inside the car. It was the Vepar that had been watching me last night before I fell in his green-eyed companion’s lap.

  “Need a ride, Ella?” he asked, his smooth voice sending shivers down my spine.

  He knew my name? I tried to remember if I had told his Vepar friend my name last night, but I couldn’t remember. My mind felt addled, everything from the night before seemed blurry, like it had all been in my imagination. A terrible dream that had me waking up feeling hot and uncomfortably turned on this morning…

  Shaking my head at the direction my thoughts had turned, I turned my attention back to the fact that a Vepar that I had never met was offering me a ride and somehow knew my name. There was no way that this was a coincidence and he had just happened to be driving by and decided to offer me a ride after his friend told him about me. Yeah, right.

  Everyone said to stay away from the Vepar, but it appeared I’d gained the attention of multiple ones last night. I’d have to correct that now.

  “Thanks, but I’m just going down the block,” I told him, my voice trembling as I started to jog away as the crosswalk light turned green, giving me the okay to cross the street. The truth was the diner was quite a bit more than a block away, but I would run twice that distance if it kept me away from the charmingly dangerous stranger. What did he want?

  I didn’t turn around to see if he was still there as I ran away. It wasn’t necessary since I could feel his gaze following me until I made it around the block and was out of sight.

  Once I arrived at work, I stored my bag in the locker in the back and put on my apron, then I hurried into the unusually full diner and started my shift. The place was packed. Where had everyone come from today?

  The business meant that the day flew by fast. As usual, Sandy had called in sick, so I served all the customers on my own. It was amazing that Sandy could consistently fail to come into work, yet she managed to keep her job. I wondered if her new boyfriend was actually Greg.

  Speaking of Greg, he didn't say a word to me all day, not even hello, but he watched me like a hawk, especially each time I used the register for customer payments. Bastard still believed I stole the money the other day, and that annoyed me more than I cared to admit. I knew I shouldn’t care what he thought but I worked my ass off, and he was treating me like a criminal. With each passing hour, the walls of the diner seemed to close in around me as my exhaustion and frustration grew. I kept going, in auto mode, taking orders, smiling, delivering food, and cleaning tables. Luckily little thought was needed for those activities because my mind was far too occupied with all of my current problems plus the new Vepar one. Questions like, how was I ever going to get ahead in life? Was I ever going to have enough money to do more than just scrape by?

  I finally admitted to myself that I needed to get back to the job hunt. There had to be something, even another waitress job that would pay better and that wouldn’t work me to the bone. Not that I had an aversion to working hard, but I needed at least a little bit better quality of life if I was going to live to see my next birthday.

  At the end of my shift, I stepped out of the diner with my handbag, pretending not to hear Greg complain to the cook about having to close for the night on his own, and how he needed more reliable staff. Unlike other days, I didn't jump and take the responsibility. If he didn’t trust me, then why should I work after hours for almost nothing in return?

  Outside, orange and blues streaked across the afternoon sky and a cool breeze cooled the perspiration on my neck. My heels ached with each step from being on my feet all day, but something about the colors overhead reminded me of my parents. A longing swept through my chest at not having them in my life, not having someone to talk to when I felt so alone. We grew up in an apartment, and like me, they lived from one paycheck to the next, but we were happy, and we had each other.

  Instead of crossing Bexter Road to head home, I kept strolling straight ahead past storefronts and people shopping, unable to stop remembering my parents. And when I missed them, one location always eased the sorrow somewhat. A little slice of paradise where I could leave society behind and I could think in peace.

  It wasn’t long before I stood in front of the six-foot-tall gates made of twisted metal rods. The ends were curled in a circular pattern, and while spiders had made the corners of the gate their home with a maze of webs, it still was a beautiful sight to me. Behind me lay the city museum, but it was closed as it was past 4pm, which meant that most of the patrons to the garden had left as well. I had one hour to enjoy Greenwood Botanical Garden before it closed.

  The crunch of tires sounded behind me before I could go in, and I turned around,
for some reason expecting the black sedan from this morning to be waiting for me. Instead a white hatchback full of laughing teenagers coasted past. I laughed at my jumpiness and proceeded into the garden.

  The incident turned my attention from my parents back to the Vepar. He had offered me a ride this morning. Just thinking about it made my earlier goosebumps return. I wanted to believe that it had just been chance that he had found me as he had been passing by. But I knew I was in denial.

  I had been unextraordinary my entire life. The most out of the ordinary thing that had ever happened to me was becoming an orphan. Human men didn’t pay me any attention. Why would a Vepar?

  I hurried into the gardens, tiny pebbles crunching under my worn-out sneakers. I silently chanted to myself that everything would be okay...it had to be.

  Lofty trees with bottle green leaves flanked my path, and the blossoming landscape was filled with the fragrance of jasmine. Up ahead, copious flowery beds lay in every direction, segmented by colors. Whites, fuschias, oranges, and violets. I followed the curved path to where the trees grew denser and shadows fell over the land. Birds chirped and the scratching of dried leaves indicated that little critters or lizards were scurrying through the foliage beside me.

  There wasn’t a person in sight, which on my most days I preferred. Today the solitude made the hairs on my arms stand on end. I kept glancing over my shoulder, feeling like someone was watching me. But every time I turned to look, there was no one there. So, I kept walking.

  I marched up the hill. I passed the glass greenhouse before crowning the hill which gave the best view of the city. From this height, the city seemed to lay beneath my feet. You could see the way the tall buildings had been so carefully regimented and ordered. The descending sun illuminated the shimmering glow of pollution that lay just above the city.

  Up here I could escape it. Getting my fill of the view, I took a seat on a bench overlooking a Koi fish pond several feet away. From here, the water looked opaque green, its surface ruffling from the breeze. There were lily pads in bloom, and I watched as their white petals fluttered in the wind.

  I inhaled deeply and slowly savoring the smell of the greenery around me.

  Dad had once said that when he died, he wanted his soul bound to the gardens so he could roam our favorite place forever. Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part, but I came here often in the hope that if I didn’t sense his spirit, he was somewhere out there still alive.

  This had been our place. My parents would bring me to this park for family picnics every week. But that had been before the world changed, before the Vepar took over...before I lost everything.

  With a long exhale, I dropped my handbag near my feet and remembered the tales of how he'd proposed to Mom. He had brought her to this very location with takeout burgers from their favorite burger place for them to eat, and a diamond ring in his pocket. He had used his last savings to buy the band, but that was my Dad. He always told me he’d sell the clothes off his back for my mom. He would have done anything for her…anything for us. They had loved each other with a love that everyone around them had envied.

  Mom had admitted to me once after Dad had told that story for the thousandth time that she knew what he had planned all along. But when he fell to his knees in this exact spot, she had still burst out crying from joy even though she expected it.

  Something in my chest tightened as I pictured the scene, and then of course my mind inevitably tried to picture my own engagement. Somewhere in the far-off future...if at all. Tears pricked my eyes thinking about the fact that my parents wouldn’t be there to see it, or even hear about it.

  Heaviness sat in my chest, tearing me apart at not knowing if my parents were still alive. For so long, I told myself they were somewhere, maybe held captive, but it had been years since they vanished. Not a word or note...not anything. They wouldn’t have just left me.

  Hope.

  I held onto it like a lifeline, praying one day I'd see them again, see their smiles, hear their voices. I sighed. I was just kidding myself.

  The minutes ticked by as I sat in the park, my mind heavy with sorrow. The shadows surrounding me stretched across the landscape, and the fiery sky darkened. A quick check of my cell showed I only had ten minutes remaining before closing time. My stomach was growling in hunger too, so I collected my bag and headed home.

  Outside the gardens, cars filled the road. As I turned down the sidewalk, a black vehicle parked across the road caught my attention. It was the same one from this morning, the same one I had been looking for over my shoulder all day. It sat there with its tinted windows rolled up, and my stomach sunk all the way to my toes.

  Please don't let it be him. There were a million black sedans in this city. I told myself it could be anyone. Tucking my chin into my chest, I held my bag tight under my armpit, and walked as quickly as I could away.

  Looking back, the car was still parked, and I memorized the number plate. VRA001. When the brake lights came on, a small cry fell from my lips.

  I started running, my heart hitting the back of my throat as my unreasonable fear grew. The park stretched out for blocks, so when the cars stopped at the traffic lights, I crossed the road toward the store fronts and apartment buildings. Without pausing, I sprinted as fast as I could, dodging an elderly couple waiting for the bus, and swishing past a group of girls chatting. One quick look back showed me that the black car was driving off in the opposite direction.

  I should have breathed easy as its tail lights faded into the distance, but I couldn't stop running and I couldn’t remove the fear clinging to my ribs. A sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere, ripping at my hair and clothes, tossing garbage from an overturned trash can across the ground. But still I kept running.

  By the time I arrived home, I could barely catch my breath. I didn’t bother going around to the back of the building to go up the fire escape. Instead, I ran through the front, not even looking at my landlord who was skulking around the lobby. Once I got to my apartment, I shut the door behind me fast, and then I ran across the apartment and locked the window too.

  Once finished securing the place with the meager security my place offered me, I flopped onto the couch in the dimly lit main room, still clutching my bag, and trying to catch my breath.

  "Shit!" I started laughing somewhat hysterically at the thought that I had just run across town for no other reason than I had seen one of the million black sedans in the city. I was being ridiculous.

  A small voice inside my head reminded me that there was a chance it had been him. The notion sat like a boulder in my gut. I had heard the warnings about the Vepars since they had arrived, people saying that you should never gain the attention of the beautiful ones, what if I had?

  I sat my bag on the cushion next to me when my phone dinged with a message. I flinched and dug my hand into the bag to grab the phone. Greg. My boss never messaged me, and I frowned, reading the message.

  I've changed your shift from day to afternoon. This includes closing up the diner. Starts immediately.

  Bastard! Reading the message over and over didn't change the cold hard facts. He was cutting back my hours and wanted me to clean and close up while he left early. He was pissed because I hadn’t volunteered my free time, and now I was paying the price with a permanent punishment if I didn’t find another job quick. My chest burned up, feeling as if it might detonate like a supernova.

  Who the hell did he think he was?

  I tossed my phone onto the couch and leaned forward, hugging my middle. Fewer hours meant less money, so this made my decision to find a new job even easier. First thing in the morning, I'd visit every food joint in the city with my resume.

  I glanced across the room at the fridge, thinking about the stale quiche that awaited me for dinner. My eyes raked across my gym bag as I looked around the room. I groaned and sagged into my seat.

  "Oh, crap!" I'd forgotten to do my daily gym time, and I didn't need another reason for a Vepar to pay me
attention. I dragged myself off the couch and headed to the closet to change into lycra pants and a tank top, hating my life while mapping out the shortest route to the gym that would keep me from prying eyes...or black sedans.

  4

  The morning winds were ferocious, pulling at the nicer clothes I had put on to apply for jobs. The plastic folder with copies of my resume trembled in my hand from the breeze, threatening to fly away if I didn’t hold on tightly. Cars honked as they fought through traffic on their morning commute down the two-lane road. I pressed past the ocean of pedestrians on the sidewalk and made my way toward the Good Morning Café located on the corner of a busy intersection. Once inside the establishment, I pushed the door against the whistling wind. Finally closed, I patted down my hair and straightened my posture before glancing at the half empty diner and catching the eye of a young man in jeans and a freshly pressed white shirt. He studied me with amusement on his face and what seemed like interest. The badge on his chest said his name was Jack.

  Then he strode closer. “Hi, there. Seat for one?” he asked with a fake smile I knew too well.

  “I’d like to speak to your manager, please.”

  He shook his head. “Not in, sorry. Can I help you?”

  Chewing on my lower lip, I pulled out my one-page resume from the plastic folder and handed it to him. “I’m wondering if you were hiring?”

  I handed him my resume, but he didn’t take it. “I have several years’ experience in waitressing, ordering supplies, and even stepping in as the cook.” I said quickly. My voice sounded nervous even to me, and heat crawled up my neck at the thought of another rejection.

  “Look,” he began, and already my gut clenched. I’d heard the tone he used at the last five diners I visited, and I knew what came next. An excuse of them not hiring at the moment, the place was downsizing, or I wasn’t the right fit... whatever that meant.