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Midnight

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Midnight

((  Part 1  ))

 

At midnight Jade dragged Riley out of her house and into her truck. Sleep-deprived as she was, Riley barely registered what was happening until Jade slapped her shoulder when the truck shut off. Riley jerked forward in her seat, the seatbelt—she didn’t remember buckling up—locking and tightening against her chest. She leaned back against the seat, unbuckled, and rubbed her eyes.

“Where are we?” she murmured, a yawn marring her sentence.

“At Aris’ college.”

Riley blinked. Jade was willingly on campus? She cast a glance to her red-headed kidnapper and couldn’t help but grin.

Jade wore all black—from her solid black sweatshirt, to her cargo pants, to the bandana tied over her red hair. Her feet were hidden by the dash, but Riley assumed Jade was wearing black shoes, too. Jade gestured to the backseat, where, somehow, some of Riley’s black clothes were waiting for her. They were in a pile, so no doubt Jade had grabbed whatever she saw and tossed them into the truck. Which, hilariously enough, was also black. Though the paint was beginning to chip and reveal the metal beneath.

“You said you’d help me decorate.” Jade explained, pulling two plastic bags from behind her seat and placing them on her lap.

“Did I say that when I was sober?” Riley countered, arching a brow. She grabbed the clothes and pushed her seat back to change out of her pajamas.

Jade shrugged and looked away. “I talked to a few people during the day and found out Aris’ schedule. We can hang things around there.”

“You talked to some people?” Riley pressed, smirking as she pulled a jacket over her arms.

“Talked, threatened, I don’t really see the difference.” Jade grinned back at Riley. “Looks like you’re decent now.” She gestured to the building in front of them, one of the many on the large campus. “This is her first class.”

“I’m going to guess you didn’t get permission to do this.” The two exited the car and walked onto the grassy lawn in front of the cement building. Jade laughed.

“Permission? Hell, I couldn’t even get half the student body to talk to me.”

“Maybe if you didn’t look like you were going to punch people half the time.” Riley offered. Jade sneered and walked up to the front steps of the building. Two large pillars stood on each side, framing the doorway. Jade dropped her plastic bags and pulled out—oh, well, definitely not birthday decorations.

“You brought spray paint!?” Riley hissed, grabbing Jade’s wrist as she reached for the red can. Jade grinned madly.

“Hey, if I tried to put up banners, they’d be down before Aris even got here. Enough spray paint around the campus and she’s bound to see it.”

“She’s going to get in so much trouble.”

“I didn’t say to write her name! Fuck, I’m not that much of an idiot. Just write things like ‘happy bday champ’ and things generic like that. She’ll know it’s for her, but she won’t get in trouble. And neither will we, if we can get this done fast enough.”

Riley groaned and released Jade’s hand. “If house arrest wasn’t bad enough, Aris is definitely going to take away your drinking privileges.”

“She’s not my mom!” Jade griped, frowning as she shook the red can. “She can’t house arrest me and she can’t take away my booze.” She rolled her eyes and turned to the pillar, beginning her first word.

“I don’t know, she was pretty angry when you got out of jail.” She whistled and grabbed a green can. She shook it as she said: “And you looked pretty scared when she locked eyes with you.”

“I was not scared.” Jade huffed, shaking her can again. “Besides, you still owe me for saving your tail from the slammer.”

“‘The slammer,’ really? That’s what you’re going with?” Riley snickered and turned to draw on the opposite pillar. “And I do not owe you. I paid for your drinks when you got out! It’s not like you were in there long, since tall, dark, and handsome paid for you ticket out.” She said her last sentence with a hint of revulsion.

“I didn’t ask him to, if that’s what you’re implying.” Jade began to paint the words again.

“Oh, you don’t have to.” Riley chuckled. “I think he’d do anything for you. I’m pretty sure you have your own personal creep-slave.”

“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point.”

“I’m not sure if I have—have I said he’s too slick for you? Maybe that he’s up to something? Oh, I know, maybe he’s just in this to get in your—”

“Wow! Okay, Sherlock, calm down! Shit, dude, it’s not like we’re dating or anything.” Jade stepped back from the pillar, where she had written ‘party!’ in big letters. She nodded, satisfied, and tossed the can in one of the two plastic bags. She looked over at what Riley was writing.

“Ri!” Jade yelped. “What are you doing!?”

“What’s it look like? I’m confessing your undying love to Aris in the shape of a heart.” Riley stepped back where a massive green heart had been drawn. She grinned over at Jade, who grabbed exasperatedly at her face.

“Remind me why I keep you around?”

“Because I’m the other corner of the triangle?” She tossed her can into the bag before Jade picked it up.

“I don’t even know what you’re saying. C’mon, let’s move to the next place.”

Riley followed her with a large smile on her face. The next area was a rectangular brick building. The entrance way was rather unexciting and didn’t have any surfaces to draw on. Jade dropped the bags on the grass and pulled out gasoline from one. Riley’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You want to burn a message in the grass?” Riley asked, crossing her arms. Jade walked forward a few paces and, classically, shrugged.

“Harder to cover up that way. Spray paint the door over there, or something.” She gestured to the brick building. Riley shook her head as Jade began to spill gasoline.

“She’s going to hate this, you know. Why didn’t you just get her a card?”

“Cards are lame.”

“I got you a card for your birthday.”

“You said it, not me.” Jade smirked at Riley. Riley stuck out her tongue. “Besides, I had all this around the house, and with my low funds, I can’t really go out and buy her anything cool. She’ll at least remember this birthday.”

Riley shook her head and picked up a blue can of spray paint.

“Don’t draw another heart,” Jade warned.

“No promises.”

A moment later the smell of fire filled the air, burning grass making the darkness shudder around the small flames. Riley turned around to see ‘hapy bday’ burning in the grass. She frowned.

“You forgot—”

“I know I forgot a ‘p.’” Jade grumbled. “Makes it…better…that way.”

Riley arched a brow and laughed. “Really? Well, she’ll definitely know it’s from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jade crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “I spell fine most the time.”

“Hey, I’ve been victim to your text messages, Red.” Riley shrugged. “The truth is in the pudding.”

“Oh and I’m the one that uses lame phrases.” Jade chuckled. “C’mon, there’s only a few more places to hit up.”

A flashlight shined on Jade’s chest. Riley and her whipped around to see—Oh for the love of God!

“What a surprise to see you here, Private.” A’doxia said, sneering at them several feet away. She wore a security guard uniform and her hand sat atop her tazer.

“Why does she call you Private?” Riley whispered.

“Don’t ask me.” Jade muttered back. “To be honest, I think she just doesn’t know my name.”

“You realize you’re defacing university property, right?” A’doxia cooed. Her flashlight hadn’t wavered from Jade, almost like she hadn’t even noticed Riley was standing there. Jade groaned.

“Relax already—”

“You’re resisting arrest. Afraid I’ll have to take you in.” A’doxia unhooked her tazer. Jade turned and sprinted.

“I fucking hate those things!”

Riley blinked, A’doxia’s light flickering to her.

“And you, too? Boy, oh boy, are we going to have fun tonight.”

Riley felt vomit bubbling up in her throat. She grimaced and raced after Jade, A’doxia following right on Riley’s heels. Riley caught up with Jade and yelled: “Why does shit like this always happen to you?”

“You tell me—I only get into this much trouble when you’re around!” Jade shouted. She turned and rushed to the parking lot, the truck almost fading into the darkness around it.

“How mad do you think Aris is going to be if A’doxia follows me home?” Jade said.

“I’d say pretty pissed.”

“Think I could pass it off as a birthday prank? Dox doesn’t seem to hate Aris as much as me, so maybe she’d—”

“Go along with it? Are you insane?” Riley cast Jade a look. “I think that’s probably the worst idea you’ve had all night.”

Jade huffed. “You’re always so dramatic. “Oh hey, I never asked, what’d you get Aris?”

“You’re asking that now?

“Running from Dox is sort of a normal occurrence for me.”

“I got her a starbucks card.”

“Ah, what? Dude, starbucks sucks.”

“Whatever! I see Aris there all the time!”

“Yeah, and you’re not helping her bad habits!” The grass ended and Jade ripped open the driver side door and jumped in, locking it in the process. Riley did the same with the passenger, and A’doxia stopped when the lights turned on.

Riley glanced at Jade, who had a crazed look in her eyes.

“Hey, no.” Riley said, snapping her fingers in front of Jade’s face. Jade swatted Riley’s hand away.

“It’d be so easy. Hit the gas petal—no one would know.”

I would know. I don’t want to be connected to a murder.”

“It was in self-defense.”

“You were defacing property.”

Jade pursed her lips. “You’re no fun. Do you and Aris have tea or something together? You sound just like her.”

“As a matter of fact—is A’doxia on the phone?” Riley paused and watched as A’doxia calmly walked up to the driver window and tapped on the glass with the phone.

“It’s for you, love.” She said. Jade rolled the window down just enough so A’doxia could drop the phone in and held it up to her ear.

“Who is it?” Riley asked. Jade’s face went white.

“Stop—no I wasn’t—calm down—okay that’s fucking fantastic—no, no I don’t—why does Dox even have your number? Aris! Calm down! Chill—you’re what!?” Jade pulled the phone away from her face and shoved it through the crack in the window. She started the car and veered out of the parking lot. Her and Aris didn’t live far away from the school, yet Jade felt the need to speed through ever light, every stop sign, and didn’t even shut off the car when they rolled into the apartment driveway. She threw herself out of the truck and Riley scrambled after her.

“What!?” She howled for the hundredth time. “What’s going on? Was that Aris on the phone? How did A’doxia have her number?”

Jade entered the tall building and skipped the stairs with her long legs, making Riley work harder to keep up. When they reached the third floor, Jade dashed through the hallway and unlocked her room door. It slammed against the wall, probably waking whoever lived on the same floor. Jade stood frozen at the door. Riley walked in beside her, peering into the room that was no bigger than an average hotel room. The kitchen stood by the large glass doors that exited onto the balcony and, standing at the sink, was Aris.

And she was on the third bottle of wine, pouring it down the drain. Her blue eyes stared right at Jade. Jade collapsed to the ground.

“Not the booze,” she whispered.

“Not only were you on house arrest, but then you went and did something that could get you in serious trouble? Get you fined, or worse, sent to jail again?” Aris used her free hand to rub her eyes. “It’s a good thing I was able to convince A’doxia not to say she saw you tonight.”

Riley frowned. Oh, this was certainly not good. “What did she want in return?” she asked, her voice barely over a whisper.

“She wants Jade to treat her to dinner tomorrow.” Aris replied.

Jade rolled into her back and stared up at Riley.

“Please kill me.”

Riley snickered. “I told you it was a bad idea.”

“Oh, c’mon! There’s a knife in the kitchen! It’ll be quick and painless.”

“Do you need a ride home, Riley?” Aris asked, smiling over at the shorter woman.

“I can walk.”

“Oh, no, you can’t walk at this time of night!” Aris placed the empty glass bottle next to the other two on the counter. “I can—”

“I’ll do it,” Jade grumbled, standing. Aris arched a brow.

“You’re going to run off and buy more alcohol if I let you take her. There’s no way—”

“I don’t even have my wallet. See?” Jade gestured to the bed nearest to the door. On the side table was a small black wallet. “It’s right there.”

“You were driving without your license?” Aris hissed. Jade threw her hands up.

“Woman, would you chill? I have my license in the car!”

Aris didn’t look convinced. Jade flipped her off and grabbed Riley’s arm.

When Riley and Jade hit the road again, Jade didn’t turn on Riley’s street. Riley shook her head and laughed.

“Really? How are you going to buy booze without—” Jade cut her off.

“Oh, I’m not. I’m skipping town for tomorrow. There’s no way I’m going on a…” She trailed off with a look of disgust. “No.”

Riley laughed. “You are so going to get on Aris’ nerves. You realize she’s going to ground you for months, right?”

“She’s not my mom!”

But Riley knew better. She had seen the birth with her own eyes. Oh the horror.

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