In Another Lifetime ~ Hariana

Chapter 2 - White Mask

"'WHITE MASK STRIKES AGAIN' - I'll tell you something, three murders in one month...Somebody has to find this lad. If it were me searching I would've found him long before his second strike, mark my word." Donald affirmed which caused Evelyn to roll her eyes.

"Oh please, he'd kill you before you could even blink." The twenty-three year old woman contradicted as she kept her eyes on the red diabolo she was practicing with, "But where was it this time?"

He kept his eyes on the newspaper, disregarding her comment, "Spain. And once again, a Duke and his family." He shook his head, "I don't get what this man's problem is."

Evelyn concluded her practice and rested her diabolo on the table, sitting on the bench facing Donald whose eyes were glued to the newspaper, "Who knows." She replied before the sound of the automobile's door opening distracted her and she watched James step outside to join them.

"Ari's not back yet?" He asked, running his fingers through his messy hair, receiving a head shake from the raven haired woman, "That's too bad, I've finished the new piece I was working on and wanted her to hear it."

"Mmh." Evelyn mumbled before she got up and walked past him, without directing her gaze at him. Lately, she was always cold towards James, and the young man never understood why. Donald chuckled at the scene, which got James' attention.

"Women." He laughed, his eyes moving back to the newspaper in his hands.

~~~~~

People from Nice were quite cordial, and there was a lot of music and a lively environment around the city, so Ariana assumed people might be preparing a type of festival or so. Though, with the large amount of citizens, it was almost impossible to view the different stalls, let alone stop to buy something. Maybe if she went somewhere else there'd be less people? The brunette decided to give that thought a try, pushing through the crowd until she reached the end of the street to an open space, feeling relieved that she could freely breathe again.

"I'll remember not to come here around this hour tomorrow."

Not too far, she noticed a few clouds approaching the city, though overlooked that observation and started towards another part of Nice. There was still that high-spirited feeling, only with less people and more room to move around.

 "Miss, would you care for some apples? You won't find better ones anywhere else in the city!" The lady selling them promoted.

"It's all right, thank you." Ariana refused politely and kept walking forward, before coming to an abrupt stop as she noted a little boy running to the middle of the road and an automobile swerving suddenly and crashing against a post light. Without even thinking about it, she rushed towards the boy who looked up at her with a frightened expression on his face. He was almost run over, so nobody could blame him.

"Are you all right??" Ariana crouched down and asked in concern.

"Hey! Look what you've done!" A man, who Ariana assumed was the chauffeur, yelled angrily at the little boy who shivered in fear, as he pointed towards the damage in the front of the expensive looking vehicle.

"I'm sorry, sir, but this boy is just a child, could you please not be so rude towards him?" She knew she should know her place and keep quiet, but seeing an adult treat such a young child the way the man was doing...She just couldn't control her own vexation, "You can go now." She smiled at the boy who was quick to run far from the current scene.

The man looked like he was about to say something, but another man's voice interrupted him. Ariana saw someone come out of the automobile and walk towards her, looking up at the tall figure approaching her.

"Duke! It's all right, I got thi-"

"Silence." He commanded, his blue eyes staring intensely at the tiny female which gave her goosebumps for some strange reason, though she maintained her gaze back, "So, are you the one at fault for my vehicle being in the state it is now?"

She wasn't about to inform him of the little boy and cause him more problems, so instead of responding to the man's inquire, she opted for another way, "I'm very sorry. I-I don't really have any money to pay. But...I mean, I can work for it."

The Duke kept still, simply glaring at her under his long eyelashes and leaving her quite high-strung awaiting an answer on his behalf. She hadn't realized the Duke had moved his hand until it was lifting her chin and the older man was advancing further until their faces were inches from each other. The smirk on his lips and his next sentence left her body frozen for a few seconds.

"You have quite a pretty face, and even though you look young you already have the curves of a woman, so I don't see why not." He whispered and she felt disgusted.

"No wait, I didn't mean it like tha-" Ariana moved her arms to free herself from his grasp, though accidentally scratched the Duke's cheek and gasped loudly as she took a step back, "Ah I apolo-"

"Why, how dare you!?" The other man who had been standing close by shouted, the quick motion of his hand raising so as to hit her making her flinch. There was nobody around to help her, now the decision of leaving the crowd of people becoming one she regretted for there was no way out of this situation. That is, until she felt her body lift from the ground and two strong arms rapidly carrying her on the person's shoulder, out of the middle of the road and towards God knew where. Ariana was in shock by the sudden turn of events...What was happening??