Dark side of light

12.Gabriel to the rescue

Message notification, was what woke me up three hours later. And again it was not my phone. I Also felt it vibrate near my tight, which means that Harry's phone was still in his pocket. Maybe if I was lucky, it was the same person to whom Harry spoke earlier, or rather yelled at. And maybe if I read this message I could find out something about this dangerous job of his. I pulled my hand out of Harry's string grip, as silently and delicately as I could. He was still in his sleep, and It must have been quite a deep one if he hasn't even heard his phone. I reached behind me and my hand landed on the outline of his front pocket. My heart race was so quick and loud, and it made my hands shake. I slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed the home button, quickly readjusting the brightness of the screen to the minimum, to not receive any reflection, and wake Harry up. One message unread, it said. I didn't unlock the phone, because if I did so, Harry obviously would have noticed that someone had read it, before he had a chance, so I just read the message from the still locked screen.

I got him. Should I get rid of him or do you want to finish him yourself? Anyway hurry up. You know where to find me.

I almost dropped the phone. If I thought I was scared when Harry was yelling...I take that back. Now I was scared. Who the fuck are you Harry?
I slowly slid his phone back into its place, just in time, because I felt movement behind me, and a low purr, which for sure did not belong to Luna. I decided to pretend that I was asleep, to avoid talking to Harry at that moment. He pulled away from my body and sat up. I heard a silent click of the phone button and than...

"Shit" he whispered. Than leaned over and kissed my temple. I kept my eyes shut, unable to do anything else. "Thank you for sticking up Ella" he added and quickly jumped of the bed. I heard a soft sound of shoes against the floor and than my door closed. I immediately shot up in my bed. I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night, the image of the message I've read was enough to keep me occupied for the next couple of hours.

***

"Ella you have to go! It's your birthday for fucks sake!" Layla wailed, as soon as she stepped into my apartment at six o'clock. Sharp.

"Lay do you know what time it is?"I asked while rubbing my sleepy eyes. I felt so tired after this night, because I was awake since 4 a.m. "Besides I haven't even said a word about going" she raised an eyebrow at me "or not"

"See? I knew you'd say 'no'!" She said and grabbed some fresh strawberries from my fridge. Our conversation was about the birthday party of mine. Organised and strictly kept as a secret by Layla. Every. Year.
I like parties, and every year I was grateful to her for doing all this for me. But this time I really wished to be abandoned for this day. I looked at her pleading eyes.

"No. Don't pull on this look of yours" I warned, but of course she didn't stop. Her chocolate eyes. So puppy-like. Ugh. Kill me. "Fine! I'll go!" I exclaimed and sighed with resignation.
Layla dragged me up the stairs to my room and started pulling out different dresses from the closet. Most of them landed on my face. "Ouch! Lay. I think I can do it mys..."

"Shush. Less talking. More dressing" she only said, never turning away from the wardrobe. "Ella where is that black dress I bought you? Where do you have it?" She asked suspiciously. Oops. I remember this dress very, very well. It was a mini black dress, so tight if felt like a second skin. So short it was not decent even for a sleeping shirt. But according to Layla it was a perfect size and length. "Ella were is it?" Layla raised her eyebrow at me and put her hands on her hips. This dress was at the very pit of my wardrobe, but I knew Layla would get mad at me if I didn't tell her. I sighed heavily." Check under this Chanel box" I motioned to the floor. She picked it up and blew away the dust. "Wow. Thanks for appreciating my gift. All this dust. Probably from pulling out and putting the dress back in" she said sarcastically.

"Can you blame me?! It's so short I could apply for a job at 'Go-go''' I shouldn't have said that, because Layla turned away from me and lowered her head. My room was filled with an awkward silence. "Sorry. Lay. I'll wear it tonight." I said. She hesitated for a moment.

" promise?" She asked. I could see the hint of hope in her sparkling eyes.

"Yea. I promise"

"Ok" she said and kissed my cheek. "Right. I have to go. You have an appointment with the stylist at 5 p.m. Don't be late!" She quickly checked her watch and run out accompanied by the sound of her high-heels. She stopped in the door way and looked at me. "Your father would be proud of you hun." She gave me one of her warm smiles, and walked out. Oh dad. If only you could be here today. Unfortunately my birthday was also my parents death anniversary. Every year. Every single year I tried to hold back my tears. To just be happy for my birthday. Celebrate it. But I couldn't. How could I ever? I shook those negative thoughts away and stepped into my bathroom to have a relaxing bath.

***

When I finished my meeting with the stylist it was already 8 p.m. Which meant I was far away from being on time for my birthday party. And the busyness of London certainly wasn't helping. It was hell of a long way to the club. When I finally got there, the crowd was unbelievably big. Layla will never fail to surprise me. When I walked inside, the crowd grew silent and everyone started singing 'happy birthday'. I spotted Layla on the platform with DJ. I smiled at her and mouthed a 'thank you'. She winked at me and continued to flirt with The DJ.

***

Sweat and hot. That's what the dance floor felt like. Mass of sticky bodies, grinding against each other with a minimum space to even breath. But it was a great fun nonetheless. I decided I've had enough, so I quickly found the back entrance and leaned against the wall. It was good to finally breath, and my hand started to hurt again. Even tho I could move it already, it was still swollen. I rubbed it gently.

"Need some help sweetheart?" I heard someone say. I lifted up my gaze only to be faced with a bulky guy. He could easily work as a head of security. But something was telling me he was not familiar with the term 'secure'.

"I'm fine thanks" I replied coldly and pushed away from the wall. I wanted to go back inside but was met with a hard chest.

"I don't think you are going anywhere" he said and grabbed me in the middle, covering my mouth, to prevent my screams. He dragged me away from the entrance. I tried to kick him, but he wouldn't budge. "Shut up and maybe I won't kill you" he hissed. His rotting breath hit my face. I went rigid. Oh no. I couldn't die. Not today. It could be tomorrow. But not on the anniversary if my parents death. I let out a high-pitched moan. "Shhh...you don't even know how hot you look in this tight dress" he said and pushed me to the floor. I landed on the mud and curled into a ball. My attacker however got other plans for me. He spread my legs and started touching my tights with his fat fingers. Than I heard a sound of ripping material, and I felt wind on my legs. It was over I was sure. "It won't be long. I'll be quick" he said and than laughed darkly. I closed my eyes, already prepared for the worst. Harry, please. Wherever you are. I ask for your help.
And than I heard a snap of bone. I was free. There was no men on top of me. I sat up and looked to my right, expecting to see Harry, who magically appeared in this very alley. But it wasn't him who was beating the men to the pulp. His hight was same, but his hair was very short and his muscles were not as prominent as Harry's were. He also looked slightly older.

"You. Filthy. Fucker" he said I between every punch. When he made sure he beat the life out of my attacker, he walked over to me and kneeled to looked at me.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly. His voice was... It wasn't deep. It was raspy as well. It was quite high-pitched for a men. I just nodded my head, and tears burst out of my eyes without me realising. The stranger gave me hug and lifted me up, carrying me away from the club. He sat me down on the bench in the nearby park and looked closely at my face. "No need to cry now. I'm not going to hurt you" he said reassuringly.

"Thank you so much" I said when I stopped crying.

"The pleasure is all mine"

"I'm Ella by the way" I extended my hand for him to shake.

"Gabriel" he said and shook my hand, never letting the warm smile to disappear from his face. Where have I heard this name before? Never mind. I didn't really have energy to think about anything. "Do you want to go back there? Inside I mean.

"Yea. I'm good now. I'll just stay inside with my friend Layla" I said and stood up. So did he.

"Ok. Let me at least escort you" Gabriel offered. I took his hand and we walked back into the building.

"This is where I'm leaving you" he announced when we stopped in front of the entrance, from where I could see Layla on the dance floor. "I drink my coffee every morning in the nearest Starbucks from here. If you ever wish to talk. I'm there" he said with a wink, and than disappeared between in the see of people on the pavement. Wow. He was handsome. But what about Harry? was he even a friend of mine? No. Friends don't kiss each other like we have yesterday.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Layla screamed over the blasting music. She pulled on my hand, directing us over to the street line. "What do you say we go home?" She asked pleadingly.

"You? Go home before the party is over?" I asked bewildered "who are you and where is my best friend?"

"Very funny" she scoffed and raised her hand. Within a second a black taxi pulled up and we stepped inside.
Layla told the driver where to go and we both leaned against the headboard.
"Where were you by the way?" Lay asked after a moment.

"I-I" I really didn't want to remember what happened in the alley. Let along talk about it "I went to get some fresh air" I lied.

"It was hell of a long intake of breath. Took you nearly two hours" she said.

"Yea. The air inside this club was really not something I would call 'fresh'".

"There you go Ladies" our driver said, when he pulled over near our building, interrupting our small conversation.

"Thank you sir" I said and handed him the money. We quickly slid out of the taxi and went straight to my apartment. Layla stays at my place every time we go out and come back early in the morning. Because unlike me she has parents she could wake up if she walk inside her house. The only thing that welcomes me when I go back is silence.

"I'm going for a shower" Layla announced, I just mumbled 'mhm' as a response, to nackered to do anything.
I was so glad this day was finally over. I walked over to my oh so comfortable sofa and just threw myself at it.

"Bed. You're the love of my life" I mumbled into the canvas.