Bar Haven: 2nd floor (Orphanage)
10:01 P.M.
She has to talk with the white-haired male, but she'll just do it after his shift. It was a cold night, but she decided to take a shower to wash off the sticky feeling she was itching to strip off since the incident in her dorm. The girl was smart enough that the boy was driving her off her limit to do something, but the last time she was driven off her edge she did something reckless.
Reckless as burying someone alive before stealing her mother's body and cremating it. Then moving to another country like an innocent pigeon from New York.
And now, she's paying the consequences —
After finishing her meal, Raine washed the dishes and placed them on the table for Dione to take downstairs. For sure, she didn't forget to put the payment on the plate with the utensils sitting on top of it. When she turned around to exit the room, she noticed Dione's untidy bed after sighing, she took time to fluff the sheets and pillows. Out of clumsiness, she dropped the last piece of the bolster on the floor. Upon grabbing it, she crouched down and got struck by the sudden realization.
Raine wanted to take it out from under the bed, but she was too suffocated by shock and began to be nauseated. She bolted upwards and tossed the bolster on the bed before sprinting out the door. The girl can't help but perspire and shake in her boots as her wobbly legs took her somewhere far from that horrible sight. As her breath normalizes and her heart races slowly, Raine heard someone crying along the hall, she followed it and her hearing brought her to the farthest side of the hall. There, she saw a hidden place blocked by a wall and shadowed by the darkness. The girl was hesitant at first because she had always believed in ghosts, but the voice sounded familiar so, she sucked it up and went with her hands clenched tightly.
"Menthos! Why are you crying?"
The moment the boy saw her, he immediately wiped all his tears away before running up to her and hugging her, apologizing and begging her not to tell anybody that he cried. Soothing his back and running her fingers along his hair, Raine hugged him back before crouching down to find the reason for his tears, "It's Frère! He- he's working again," his adorable voice cracked as he followed his sniffles with hiccups, "I hate it when he works! He even stopped going to Art school because of his job," His voice muffled those last parts for he leaned his face on her shoulders.
She wasn't supposed to smile while looking at the young boy, but the girl can't help imagining it was the boy's eldest brother, Dione, who was crying and showing her his vulnerable side. From the looks of it, that will not be possible. Raine faced the young boy and wiped his wet face with her thumb before explaining, "He's working for your family..." she sighed when another batch of tears came out, "Your brother may not show the slightest care, but he's doing it all for you."
Raine thought of another way to make him feel better so, she snapped her fingers and said, "If it makes you feel better, Your Frère Dione really makes mean cocktails, and his bartending skills are exquisite!"
To no avail, Menthos cried harder and threw her hands off his shoulders before running past her while shouting, "You don't know!" he said multiple times before switching to another sentence, "You didn't see his other works."
The girl caught up with him, but when he looked at her, his eyes were not so meek-looking anymore. It made Raine let go of his arm, "You'll never know about those, Sœur Raine," Menthos whispered before leaving the girl stunned and guilty.
She sighed, "Poor boy," As she was following the boy's movement, she felt an epiphany dawned on her. Menthos knew about his brother's other jobs. Prostitution and the Assassination jobs. At such an early age, he was exposed.
"I guess I'll have to talk with Dione over some mojito..." She said to herself before she formed her lips into am 'o' shape, surprised at the fact that he was able to name more than one alcoholic beverage in one night.
"Damn... I pronounced that right!" Raine cheered before twirling her way towards the staircase where she started to hear the loud music and the series of disco lights illuminating the steps. A couple was kissing on the last step of the stairs near a friend who was vomiting er guts out of the corner. The scene bothered her, but it cannot be compared with the one she saw in Dione's room.
Now she knows why the maintenance cost in this place is higher than the roof.
She took a big breath and reminded herself that this is for a good cause, "Now my business on that walking piece of dandruff." Raine kept making herself amazed by the change of vocabulary and tone as she walked down and made her way to the bar stand.
xXx
Paris, France: Bar Haven
11:00 P.M.
The 2-minute walk became her next mountain climbing experience. The great wall of China looked pretty short compared with her travel through those horny beasts and a heaping sweat of unemployed dancers. It took her 10 minutes to get and once she got there, one senior offered her a drink and tried to get in a conversation with him, but she sent him off by saying she was waiting for her boyfriend over the next counter.
"Where?" The man asked as he consistently peeked over the other counter.
"The white-haired bartender. He works here," she said, hoping he'd just walk away.
And he did.
But before he left, the old man chuckled and whispered in her ear, "If you didn't want older men, you could have said so," he spoke as Raine choked on his booze-infused breath, "The Howler is exclusively for rich guys only. There's no way he would be in a relationship with a little untainted girl like you..."
Shaking her head, Raine climbed down the high chair and walked up to the male but something's wrong with him. His hair was a different shade of white and the design of his vest was far from his usual costume. Nevertheless, Raine leaned on the counter and called him, "Excuse me," she politely asked loudly.
When the bartender turned around, he was not Dione. She should have taken the first hints towards him.
She bit his lip and prevented the sorry word before smiling to the wrong person, "Oh, I thought you're someone else."
The other staff squeezed lemon inside of the shaker before tossing it carelessly behind him. He tossed the can of beer from the fridge to the person behind the girl. Raine docked down and gasped at the little flip, "You're a little too late for the howler. This night was his first auction and the buyer already took him to the alleyway for a service," the bartender winked after taking off his shirt to wipe the wet counter. The black-haired female casually covered his ears as all the people behind her cheered at his rogue bare chest, sweating with margarita scented sweats.
So, the Howler was Dione?
"A-alleyway?!" She exclaimed.
"For a service..." answered the bartender.
"Service?!" Raine questioned, slapping his hands on the glass counter to pacify the crazy mob around her.
This time, the staff didn't answer verbally, but instead, he formed a circle with his index finger and thumb before inserting his middle finger inside the hole at a fast pace. Raine blushed and rushed towards the exit, pushing the dancing customers. She wished that no one would pull her and bring her to the dance floor.
It's too late when someone hugged her from behind and slow danced her under the glowing plasma ball. She kept pushing him away, but she was getting dizzy from all the lights and noise, especially the mixed smell of cologne and undetermined pungent liquids.
'I hope I'd make it there in time,' Raine thought after closing her eyes and letting the man hugging her dance with her while she grasped the hard and heavy metal inside her pocket.