"Where have you been!" Danni asked coldly.
"What do you mean?" Tyler tried to come up with a good lie but came out empty-handed.
"You are off for a few days without explanation, then come in for one day before taking another off! Roxy seems like a bad influence to me. You were doing great before she came along."
"Large Cappuccino for Dannielle?" The barista called out.
"Oh, that's me!" Danni replied, making her way to pick up her drink. "There's something different about you too. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't seem good. You seem focused yet tired at the same time!"
"We know, and we're sorry. Things have gotten in the way. How about we all go out to Club Nightmare tonight? You, us and the guys?"
"You know what, I might just take you up on that offer! 8 pm tonight sound okay?"
Roxy nodded and pulled Tyler aside.
"What are you doing? We have an assignment tonight! Grand Master will not be happy if we don't follow through!"
"Relax, Roxy! I have a plan. Let's head back, and I'll explain it." Tyler got on the back of Roxy's bike and put on his helmet, calling for Roxy to join. She waved one last time to Danni before swinging her leg over the bike, putting on her helmet and making her way to the safe house.
Tyler laid out a set of blueprints of a tall building named "Prince Accounting" scribbled on top of the table. He pointed to the building next to it, "We can create a zip line here, leading to the middle of the building, where you can take out the mid guards while making your way to the top floor. I'll make my way from the ground and meet you at the top. You said The Grand Master has already sent a couple of Prowlers to threaten him to transfer the money he stole from countless innocent people. We're just the muscle men if he doesn't." Tyler explained.
"Well, let's hope he has some common sense, so we don't have to eliminate him. I don't want you going alone either I'll come from the bottom with you. Cameras and alarms will all be disabled by team beta, so as long as we are quiet, we don't need to worry about the police." Roxy paused, "So, how are you planning to juggle the club and the target?"
"If we don't take on both sets of guards, the alarm will be raised, right? If this Poppy Root is supposed to be as good as they say, I should be fine. And funny, you should ask. Club nightmare is two buildings away. Next door to the zipline. All we need to do is excuse ourselves and head off. We shouldn't be too long, I think."
Roxy sighed in disbelief. "Tyler, we don't even know if you truly are of Hunter decent. This could end badly! Just like it will for Danni, Tyler. She cares about you, worries about you. You haven't made any contact with her as she said, so blowing her off will cause problems! I don't even care about how she sees me. You need your friends, especially in the Hunters."
Tyler stared into Roxy's eyes. His words turned cold; "I gave up my friends and family when I joined. I knew I wouldn't have much time for them. So I'm sticking to the tenants I swore to follow."
"Do not blame your ignorance towards your friends on the Hunters! You chose to wear the hood. When all is said and done, your friends are the ones let down, hidden from. You always can make time for them. I know I don't have friends, but I was going to make plenty of time for you when I first met you! You were never supposed to be in this life with me. They love you, Tyler, and you're starting to push them away on purpose. We may be Hunters, but we control our lives." Roxy wasn't angry or annoyed; she was calm and relaxed; she understood what Tyler was saying, even if she didn't want to believe he was right.
Tyler and Roxy waited until nightfall before heading to Club Nightmare. Roxy donned a pair of skinny blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a denim jacket. She gazed into the mirror before her before pulling up her shirt to reveal numerous scars of different shapes and sizes. Some from knives, others bullets and saws. She knew what each one was from, a different story for every self-stitch, makeshift splint and removed shard covering her body.
This history, these scars; I don't ever feel like I can be me! I'm always hiding beneath a hood, under a shirt! Hell, I don't even go into pools anymore. But, I did sign my life away when I joined. Maybe Tyler was right. Perhaps it is the Creed. Roxy thought, pulling her shirt back over her scars. She wiped a single dewdrop tear from her eye and knocked on Tyler's door hard. He opened the door in just his jeans, black and skinny, almost like Roxy's. His body was lean and muscular, with scars dotted here and there, but nothing like Roxy had to bear. If only you knew how bad you would end up in this life. She thought to herself, imagining the pain she had endured wearing the hood.
"Are you ready to go?" Roxy asked, slightly stumbling on her own words. Looking up and down at his body, she thought, 'He's perfect. Then, after getting her composure back, she asked again.
"Let me grab my shirt, and I'll be right back." Tyler reached for his plain black shirt, the shirt sleeves tightly fitting around his large arms and the torso snug around his abdomen. "I'm ready if you are!" He told, watching Roxy slightly drool. She couldn't help but stare. She adored Tyler; to her, he was perfect.
She grabbed ahold of the collar of his shirt and held him close. Then, closing her eyes and praying he didn't push away, Roxy moved her lips closer to Tyler's before locking. With their lips moving in synchronisation, Roxy couldn't help but moan.
Tyler wrapped his hands around her head, pulling her closer - he pulled her towards the bed and laid backwards, taking off her denim jacket. She pulled off her t-shirt, forgetting all the fear she felt before. Tyler grabbed her waist before un-clipping her belt, sliding her jeans down, and removing his own.
Slipping under the duvet, the room filled with moans and groans as things got hotter. 'She's incredible! Everything about her is fantastic! Is this what love feels like? 'Tyler wondered, taking a big whiff of the coconut shampoo she still radiated like when he first met her before taking the next step with Roxy.