Her Needle, His Thread

His Safe House

After 5 minutes of straight running, Danny had finally slowed down. We caught our breath, rather than we, it was me. His chest would rise and fall a bit irregularly but I was practically panting.

"We can slow down but we can't stop." Danny spoke, a hint of worry. I looked up at him, the rain had made our hair and clothes so wet, it looked as if we had just gotten out of the ocean. "We just ran for 5 minutes straight, I think I earned a break." I said with attitude. He scoffed at me, his usual soft spoken self was gone. He bent down on his knees. "Get on my back." I looked at him as if he was crazy. "I am not doing that." "Then walk." He stood up and turned to me. "I am not following you anymore." He sighed and bent down, grabbing me by the thighs and holding me like a child. "Danny?!" I yelled, pushing off him in hopes he would let go. Instead he threw be further back onto his shoulder, holding me tight by my thighs. I knew I couldn't get out of his grasp, so I just allowed myself to be carried like this.

After some time, a car drove next to us, coming to a complete stop. It was a black car, I'm not good with cars so I don't know what kind. But the passenger window rolled down. "Boss." The man said, looking at Danny. Danny put me down and opened the back door for me. I hesitantly got in, my soaked clothes getting onto the leather seats. Danny shut my door and got into the passenger seat.

The man drove off, speeding in the rain. I buckled up for safety, he was driving dangerously. "He sent them there." Danny said, sounding irritated. "Should we go to Saint Large or Malice Temp sir?" What were they talking about? I have never heard of these places they were talking about. "Malice, I can't deal with Laura at the moment." And after that it was straight silence. The ride was tense, as if they had plans.

I don't even know how long the ride was, I had fallen asleep in the back. I awoken to tapping on the window. I shot up and saw a bunch of men surrounding the car. I was alone in the car, and I started to panic not knowing who these people were or where I was. I heard yelling from outside the car. The men all scattered as if they were in trouble. I turned to see Danny approaching the car. He opened the door and lended me his hand.

"Did they wake you?" He asked, his sincerity showing. It looked like he had tended to his wounds from earlier and changed clothes. "No, I was already awake." I took his hand, looking around to see if I knew where I was. It was already dark outside. There was a big house in front of me, like a mansion. No, it was a mansion. Men and women were in suits. I'd expect women in dresses but they were dressed like the men.

"This is Malice Temp, one of my safe houses." Safe house? How rich was this guy?

We began to walk inside, the inside seeming infinitely bigger. The walls seemed to be covered in black and dark red. A staircase leading straight then two other cases turning left and right. Men and women in suits covered every inch on the place.

"Sir, Laura wants to talk to you. She's on the phone as we speak." The same man from the car said, glancing over at me. "Not right now." Danny said, looking at me. "But sir-" "Did you not understand me?" Danny turned to stare into the man's eyes. The man bowed, apologizing and walking off."Come with me, we'll get you something to change into."

He led me up the stairs, seemingly to never end. We had made it to a room, the walls covered in red and black paint. "I had one of my staff bring you some clothes. They're on the bed, see if they fit." He gestured to the bed, which had a pair of clothes on them. He started to leave, but I spoke out. "Do I just sit in here?" He looked at me and smiled. "When you're done just meet me in the hall. If you can't find it just ask one of my staff in the halls. They're around each corner." And with that he left and shut the door.

I was finally alone, my thoughts racing in. I had to put them away for now though. I tried on the clothes on the bed, surprisingly they fit perfectly. It was a regular black T-Shirt and sweatpants. Ironic how I had this to wear yet everyone I had seen in this building wore fancy clothing.

I left the room, my hair still damp from the rain. I didn't know if I should go left or right, this hall was way too big. I saw a girl in a suit standing close to my door. I walked up to her, asking where the hall was. "Just walk that way and turn at the stairs madam." I bowed in gratitude, but wondered why she referred to me as madam. I decided to brush it off and started for the hall.

Walking down the stairs, I saw Danny at the bottom. I fastened my pace to make my way to him. I tapped his shoulder, he turned and smiled at me. "I got your size right." He referred to the clothing I wore. "Isn't it a bit weird I'm wearing these clothes while you and everyone else is dressed well?" He frowned slightly. "I figured you'd want something comfortable." He was thinking about what I wanted? I felt my cheeks warm up. Was I blushed from that?

He spoke again, "Would you like something else to wear?" "No. I'm okay with wearing this." He smiled at me and took ahold of my hand. He led me to a door which was maybe 5 ft taller than him. Opening the door, I had seen the biggest table ever with fancy chairs around it. The floor covered in red carpet, a chandler hanging above the table, and another big door to the right.

"This is the dinning room, I had my chef prepare a few different dishes for you." He prepared multiple meals for me?

We had sat down next to each other, he was at the end of the table and I was on the side closest to him. A man came in through the big doors, a rolling cart with three dishes covered with metal covers. "Your dish has arrived." The chef said, his French accent was sharp. "Thank you, Beau." Danny said as the chef bowed down.

After the chef left us alone, Danny grabbed one of the trays and set it down in front of me. He pulled the metal cover off, revealing the food. It was a lobster, on the side was scallops and a slice of lemon.

I looked at him, feeling a little rude for what I was going to say. "I uh..don't like lobster." He stared at me as if he was making a mental note, then put the dish back on to the rolling cart. He then put the second dish in front of me. He pulled the cover off, this time something non-seafood based. It was steak, on top was a half sliced lime, on the side was asparagus and corn. Now this was more like it. I wouldn't think that he would have his chef prepare an American meal, but it was one of my favorites.

I looked at him from the side, not turning my face. He pulled his hands away, allowing me to eat. Without a word, I dug into the food. Cutting the steak into little pieces and shoving it into my mouth as if I didn't eat for days. It was so good, seasoned just right. I looked at him with my mouth full, his gaze never leaving mine. He smiled in amusement. I was actually embarrassed. I had just stuffed my face and he was just watching me.

I swallowed the steak I had in my mouth. "Uhm..do you want some?" I held out a piece of steak onto the fork. He looked at me with a surprised expression. He hesitated for a second, then started to open his mouth. I slowly approached his mouth with the fork, not wanting to accidentally stab him. I noticed how sharp his canines were, his teeth white as paper. He took a bite, my other hand was under his chin to make sure the food didn't fall. I pulled the fork back and the piece was gone. His cheeks turned a bright pink as he chewed. His eyes staring heavily into mine.

I turned back to the food and started eating it myself. This time not as eager as before. After some time, I finished. Only thing left was the lime.

"Shall I take you to your room?" He asked, staring at me like always. "What about the dishes?" "I have staff for a reason." He chuckled at his own comment. I nodded my head and stood up as he did. I followed him out the door and up the stairs. It was hard to ignore every person in the hall. I wondered why he had so many of them just standing there.

As we made it to the room, he opened the door for me. He stayed at the door as I entered. I turned back, wondering what he was doing. "There's clothes on the bathroom sink. Feel free to shower." He started to close the door. "Wait." I spoke out, curious as to where he was going. "Where are you going?" "I have a few things to tend to, I'll see you tomorrow." "Tomorrow?" I asked, a little disappointed. "You want to sleep alone don't you?" He asked me. That was right, it was night time. Even though I didn't know what time it was, the windows showed the dark sky being lit by the moon.

"Oh..yea, I forgot it was dark." I said, disappointment following my words. "I'll come check up on you after I'm done." He shut the door after that sentence. This time I felt genuinely alone. Was I just going to act normal and take a shower in some random, rich, criminals house? I did feel dirty, so I suppose I was going to.