The Fugitive

And here, she started to believe she and Niko were friends, yet he replied so coldly to her. Esme's face hardened, hiding the pain his words stirred in her; she stared back at him as her body went numb again. Maybe it was better this way? 

Niko was attacked last night, and she was sure now it was because of her. Yet, she could not blame his hate towards her. She deceived him, and to find out that she used to be a Hellhound, of all things, was similar to finding out a human was a hunter. 

Esme lowered her gaze and nodded in response, accepting his hate. She started to turn around and halted in shock as Niko pulled her into a near bone-crushing embrace. She tilted her head up and out of his stone-hard shoulders and gasped for air. "Niko?" He didn't respond, so she tried again though her lungs were burning and straining to breathe. "Are .. you.. trying to.. kill me.. through a-a hug?" She gasped, and he released her body.

Esme nearly fell forwards from the rush of oxygen and feeling in her body again, but Niko held her upright by the arms, rebalancing her. Looking up again, she paused after seeing Niko's sad gaze. His hand swept a strand of her hair behind her ear, and then in one quick blur, he was gone. 

Had he looked at her in disappointment? It made her sigh and hope that after their hug, she had not lost a friend. She turned back to her locker in a daze, her movements robotic while her mind spun so quickly with plans, ideas and, of course, her past. 

By the time she was dressed, Esme had started to wonder if it was wise to return to Gabriel's VIP lounge or to leave now. But then she was reminded of her bag and the only belongings she held onto; she pulled her shoulders back and held her head high and decided to take that risk. Walking out of the staff room, she wore a simple skin-tight black polo top tucked inside khaki wide-leg trousers, half her dark brown hair pulled back by a clip, and the rest flowing down her back in waves.

Esme ignored some of the stares she felt on her back as she walked by customers and staff alike; it was most likely her height and the pointed heels she wore making noise against the floors that attracted their unwanted attention. It took everything in her not to look back at Niko, who, from her quick assessment of the bar, was sitting down on the phone speaking that language again she couldn't understand. 

Esme found herself standing outside the double doors to Gabriel's VIP room, and she took a moment to still her galloping heart. However, the door swung open, causing her heart to almost leaping out of her chest. Esme stared back into the green eyes of Luther; one eyebrow arched at her hesitation before he stepped back to let her enter. She nodded her thanks and walked through, her gaze moving over to where Gabriel was; his attire was now more put together as he walked to the piano in the corner of the room, sliding his phone into his breast pocket. 

For the rest of the day and evening, Esme barely muttered a word to the King and Luther. They were preoccupied with their work while she was lost in her thoughts. Luther would pace the room with any news he had to tell Gabriel while he sat on the piano playing the whole time, replying and giving orders. She didn't listen to most of what their issues were and instead followed Gabriel's swift fingers across the keys in a trance.

Esme only went near either of them when they wanted a drink and then later turned her face away when a particularly beautiful leggy blonde-haired human arrived for Gabriel to feed off of. Her body burned, and her temper rose from the scene before feeling a stabbing pain in her chest. It made her shift uncomfortably on her feet, and she clenched her hands into tight fists, her knuckles going white. It was then Esme realised she was feeling jealous at what looked like an intimate moment between the vampire and feeder.

"I mean.. he's sucking blood from her neck.. Intimate.. yuck!" Isana said with a huff, trying to cheer her up, but surprisingly, her wolf was also jealous of this pretty blonde.

The woman's giggle after and smirk in Esme's direction as she stroked Gabriel's chest made her shoot daggers in the blonde's direction, her body nearly shaking from the woman's action. She had no idea who Esme was, and she was trying to flaunt it in her face? If she knew Gabriel and Luther were vampires, did the woman not think it was stupid to annoy her? Or did she have Gabriel's protection? 

The thought made her want to shift on the spot, not to kill her but to scare the bitch into submission. Her wolf barked in her mind in approval. 

Gabriel snatched her hand and swung it away from him; his face, unimpressed by the girl's action, which made the she-wolf feel a little better, though she still made herself busy, not looking bothered by their exchange. Maybe he heard her thoughts? Now that was embarrassing. 

Esme sighed, she knew there was still some tension between her and Gabriel throughout the time she was working in there, but she put it down to what happened between them earlier than anything to do with Niko. If he told Gabriel any news about her being a Hellhound, then she would already be dead by now, or at the very least, interrogated by the fearsome Vampire King. Yet Gabriel barely glanced in her direction, and the only looks she received from Luther seemed to be in the form of pity or over the top flirting that would set Gabriel's features into a scowl. 

By the time her shift came to an end, Esme barely muttered a goodbye as she threw on her backpack and stumbled out of the double doors and to the staff room. Within the next thirty minutes, she was dressed in black jeans and a plain black hoody, trainers and her new favourite leather jacket, sitting on the highest billboard in the city. Esme's legs dangled across the top of the picture as she gazed upon the sea of lights from the large hill on which the structure stood.. From there, she could see the route of the roads and alleyways that led to the opposite side of the city where her old apartment was.