[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Anael sighed heavily as she stepped into the dark bar. She didn’t know what she was doing. Gabriel would probably send her to Hell for several eternities for this one act. She was supposed to keep the boys away from these places, but the boys were insistent. Nick had conned her into meeting the boys here. They wanted to get a bite to eat, and insisted that this bar gave the best food. The familiar smells of cigarettes, vomit, and beer attacked Anael’s senses. She felt utterly sick as she walked deeper into the dark pit of Hell.

Anael’s eyes traveled about the bar in pity. The people encased within the bar had already given their lives to the Devil. Each man at the bar sat hunched over, nursing a large pint of alcohol. They spoke not a word to one another as the juke box blared old tunes amongst the clouds of smoke. Their eyes were settled with large black bags beneath them, staring into their murky alcohol. It was as if the alcohol was a substitute for God’s love. Anael could see the devastation. Their eyes held no opportunity to peer into their souls “ their eyes were blank. Their bodies were either ripe with gluttony or starving like thin skeletons in Satan’s bedchambers.

Anael turned away from the pitiful sights before her, wanting to run out of the hell-hole. She seemed to loose touch with reality as she stumbled through the dark bar. Her heart was aching with pity for these sinful gluttons. She wrapped her arms across her stomach, slowly proceeding deeper into the wicked atmosphere. She wanted to find the boys as soon as possible. She felt so out of place as she stepped around the bar. She didn’t belong in this place. She never wanted to belong in this place.

“Hey, Cutie!” a loud voice called, piercing through Anael’s sorrowful thoughts. Anael felt a hand loop around her upper arm, yanking her toward the bar. She yelped in surprise as she fell onto a severely obese man’s lap. His hands were thick and scaly as his eyes raked down over Anael’s modest body. She gagged at the smell of stale alcohol floating off the man’s yellow teeth. “Look, an angel fell into my lap, fellas!”

“Please, sir, let me go,” Anael whispered, pushing herself away from the man’s lap. She proceeded to walk away, but the man reached out and snatched her upper arm. He wrenched her backward. Terror filled Anael’s heart as she struggled away from him. “Please, sir, I’m looking for my friends.”

“Well, you already found them!” he slurred.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

“Why don’t you come home with me? I’ll show you a better time than those friends of yours. You’ll love every minute with me!” he declared with a boastful smile. He allowed his fingers to trace down her right hip. The look of desire burned within his glassy eyes. His tongue uncurled from inside his sore-covered mouth. He grabbed a fistful of her long honey curls, yanking her toward him.

“SIR!” Anael whispered, the fear rising in her chest. Something from her past began to explode inside her mind. She was sent backward into a pit of darkness surrounding her past. In her mind, she felt hands from another groping at her body, feeling for her. She felt as if her innocence was tainted with each pinch and poke. She screamed out within her imagination, finding someone covering her mouth to prove a muffled effect. Anael’s mind provided a terrifying picture, causing her to become emotionally unstable with the man holding onto her now. “Stop touching me!”

“Awe, Honey, we’re just trying to have fun,” the man soothed, bringing her face closer to his own.

“STOP TOUCHING ME!” she screamed again, trying to fight off his strong embrace. Her mind sent alarms of threaten menace throughout her body. Her hands began to sweat as her eyes went wild with abandon. She beat her small fists upon the man’s thick chest, trying to get away. The man roared with laughter, pulling her closer. Anael was fighting with all her might, but to no avail.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” she screamed once more.

“Stop resisting me, woman!” the man screamed, raising his fist toward her.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!” a menacing growl erupted from behind. Anael felt two strong hands loop around her shoulders, pulling her away abruptly from the filthy man’s grasp. She stumbled a few steps, until her rescuer steady her upon her feet. She thanked the Lord as her rescuer reached up to shove the obese man into his stool. “Don’t you EVER touch a woman like that again! She’s not your piece of meat! She’s a person, damnit. Got that, chubby?”

Her rescuer never gave the man time to reply. He quickly ushered her out of the bar. Once they were within safety of the streetlights, he grasped her lightly around the shoulders. Anael glanced up in utter shock. Her mind ceased to function as she stared into his chocolate colored eyes. She brought her hands up to her mouth, trying to compensate for the shock.

“Miss Lupe, are you alright?” AJ whispered.

“You?” she murmured in astonishment.

AJ smiled faintly, his dark eyes glistening from the street lighting. He leaned against the wall, releasing Anael’s shoulders. “I’m sorry that you don’t believe that I’m a good person. I know that you detest my promiscuous behavior, but those women want me. I fully believe that a woman should not be subjected to that type of torture. I know what a good person you are, and I didn’t want that to happen to you. So, are you alright, Miss Lupe?”

“After what you did… Please, call me Grace-Anne.”

“Alright, Grace-Anne, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she answered, still greatly surprised.

“Good.”

“Mr. McLean””

“AJ, call me AJ.”

“Very well “ AJ. Thank you for what you did in there.”

“It was nothing. You looked absolutely terrified. Are you sure that you’re fine?”

“Yeah, it was just an awful nightmare.”

“Why don’t I go tell the guys that we’re going back to the hotel?”

“Excuse me?”

“What’d I say?”

“We’re going back to the hotel?”

“You really think that I’m letting you alone after what happened?”

“I thought””

“Like I said, Grace-Anne, I’m not a terrible person,” he answered with a sheepish smile. He nodded toward her, slipping back into the dingy bar. Anael glanced up at the sky, watching the faded starts begin to twinkle a little brighter. She smiled faintly, admiring God’s creations. Something had turned with AJ’s heart. Something…

Anael smiled brighter at the idea - Maybe there was hope for Mr. McLean after all.