Ryker’s POV

“I’ll meet you up at the club in an hour! Be ready!” Viper wiggled her fingers in farewell as Crow locked the door behind us. For the first time, the old owner of the ink shop would join us in a celebratory occasion. It was the shop’s tenth birthday and both Viper and Wolf wanted to bring Crow and me along to the Chaos Club for drinks. The old man agreed to close up at 5:20 today.

Watching my co-workers go around back to collect their cars, I lingered at the door. A terrible ache started in my chest. Was I having a stomach ache, or was it guilt that I hadn’t checked on Rae and LP for two days? It must’ve been the guilt. If I walked quickly enough, I might be able to get ready and quickly peek in on the girls. The busy street stood in the way of me and the place where I parked my motorcycle. Okay, I had lingered a good eight minutes in my sullen daydreams. It was time to cross.

Hood up, head down, I marched quickly to the light post, pressing the warm metal button to grant me access across the street. Patience was running thin as the stop lights were still on green. The little white man had not flashed yet.

A figure clutching tiny hands babbled in a familiar voice.

“Now hold hands, JC. No Arabelle, hold my hand!” LP’s voice scolded. Peeking up, I glanced towards the younger sister. A girl about the same age chattered to Lily-Pearl.

“Do you want me to carry one of them?” The woman asked. LP shook her head. I twisted away as a child stepped near me.

“It’s okay, Kenadee. Jonathan-Christopher, please hold my hand!” LP commanded. The little boy, about two years old, held his aunt’s hand after dropping the rock he had found. The cars slowed to a halt as the walking figure appeared. The fear in my chest hadn’t lessened. The tightness only increased.

Giving them plenty of space, I walked two feet behind LP. The girl, Kenadee, led the way as they quickly crossed the street. Red-orange lights flashed numbers that totaled the time we had to cross the hot pavement. But it was counting down something far worse.

“JC! Come back!” The little boy had slipped from the grasp as the single digits flashed. LP and Kenadee had already crossed the street but a car was making an illegal turn on a red.

JC stood right in its path. The panic in my gut worsened as I watched the car near the child. It seemed as if time had stopped. Yet my mind remained calm as my body flew into action.

Scooping up the boy, I jumped out of the way as the driver flew by and rolled to the cement sidewalk. Of course, the woman was texting while speeding twenty miles over the limit. The street was nearly paved in the blood of a young boy, but under my promise, I avoided that.

The old Stryke would’ve laughed as the black turned to red.

JC Carlile was as pale as a ghost as I placed him on the side walk, safely out of danger. He shivered from fear. LP and Kenadee called his name and sighed from relief.

“You okay, kid?” I asked him, kneeling down to his level. The brown haired boy bobbed his head in response. He looked just like his father.

“Watch out for cars.” I ruffled his hair like I was just some stranger playfully teasing the kid, not someone who saved a life and was trying to hold to a promise.

“Oh thank you!” LP came over to me, scooping up the child who remained silent with eyes wide with linger evening fear. Checking my watch, it was 5:30. I needed to hurry. All of the near death experience had been less than a minute. Oh how it could’ve been different.

“It was no problem.” I responded. LP turned to Kenadee to switch hands and rummage through her purse. I didn’t stop to listen to anything else, but turned and disappeared through a crowd of passersby from a nearby park. My motorcycle was close and I just needed to get away.

It was where I parked it. The black body gleamed as if it held a hidden secret. Placing my helmet on my head, I buckled it with shaking hands. I cursed lightly as it took me four tries to get it on my head correctly. That experience shook me.

When I finally was all adjusted, I kicked up the brake and started the bike. Zooming off into traffic, I quickly arrived at the apartment I was staying at. Parking the vehicle, I started towards the large, dully painted complex. It was cheap, but not nice looking. The rooms were small and shabby, but the neighborhood wasn’t too bad. The rates were cheap per month.

Locking the door behind me, I threw down my helmet on the deflated couch. The kitchen light flickered on an off occasionally as I jolted the fridge door open and helped myself to a slice of cold left over pizza. In my apartment, there were only three rooms. The kitchen and living room was fairly open and joined together, a door to the small bedroom and closet, and a separate space for the bathroom.

It was still a little sketchy.

Forty five minutes later, I managed to shower, dry off, changing into a nice black leather jacket, jeans, and a shirt, and eat another slice of pizza. If I had a TV I would’ve entertained myself by watching a few shows, but I had to leave soon and I was lacking in the entertainment department. My truck was parked downstairs by the motorcycle. I might as well take my faithful black truck. We’d been through a lot together and I didn’t want to part with it. It hadn’t broken down once and I thought that was a lucky streak.

Grabbing my phone from the charger, I glanced down through the contacts. Rae’s old number was still there. She might have changed it, but I couldn’t be sure. A pang of longing shot through me until I turned the device off.

I had promises to keep, but I could take a break and try to enjoy myself.

Notes

Ryker's POV!!! Don't worry, JC is to cute to kill off...for now XD

I don't know, what do you guys think of JC and Arabelle?

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