Chapter 5 The Girl With The Green Eyes

Sophie's POV:

I trusted him. As I stepped out of the Mustang, I called Derek's name.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied just as my opponent finally showed up.

"Impressive!" he called out, climbing from his own car. "Does that mean I owe you a drink?"

I grinned, feeling proud of myself while Derek and Ayden broke into laughter. Those two always knew how to act like kids when the mood struck them.

Derek rolled his neck and tossed my jacket back to me.

I shot him a look while joining my opponent. For a while now, Sophie had been behaving so strangely. Why all the warnings lately?

Derek's POV:

Something about Sophie's eyes grabbed my attention; I found myself wanting to learn more about her.

With a shrug, I wandered off, hoping to spot the girl with green eyes. Since those two kids hadn't taken their bikes, she couldn't have gone far.

Her gaze really stuck with me. I wanted to understand her better. There was nothing flirtatious about the way she looked at me-completely different from most people these days.

Too bad for them, I just wasn't in the mood.

As I scanned the horizon to see if I could spot him, my attention shifted to a young man stepping out of the alley, glancing behind him as though checking whether anyone was tailing him.

I moved closer and realized it was the same kid I had bumped into earlier, the one who had been with the mysterious girl with the green eyes.

Reaching the entrance of the alley, I looked around, unable to pick him out among the crowd of teenagers celebrating like they always did at the end of a race, then I turned my gaze back toward the narrow passage.

I had no idea why I kept staring into that alley or why something inside me urged me to walk in, but I felt pulled in that direction, as if something there needed to be found.

I took a step forward, lit a cigarette, and only a few paces later, I noticed a pair of legs behind the trash bin.

At worst, it was just two fools fooling around behind the dumpster, which was never discreet. Everyone passed this alley whenever they needed a place to relieve themselves.

As I passed the dumpster, I looked over, and my blood went cold on the spot.

Lying in front of me was the bare body of the girl with the green eyes.

Alix's POV:

When he finished what he wanted, he let go of me, and I crumpled to the ground. I had no strength left, not even the will to make the smallest movement.

"You better shut your big mouth!" He released me while getting dressed again. "No one will believe you anyway!"

I heard him walk away, and my tears began to fall in silence once more.

I had just lived through the worst nightmare any woman could imagine. My body had been violated and taken, and I had been powerless to stop it.

I stayed there, numb on the ground, thinking of nothing except how much I wanted to die.

How could I go on living after what had just been done to me?

I did not even have the strength to dress myself. My body felt so battered that I no longer knew how to move.

I just wanted to die at that moment, I told myself as I closed my eyes and held my breath.

As I resigned myself to stopping my own breathing and ending my miserable life, a noise came from beside the trash can. I opened my eyes halfway; his green eyes were staring at me with disgust.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, clutching his head and spinning in place.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I did not want to look at him. I was half‑naked in front of him, unable to speak or move enough to cover myself even a little.

All I could do was cry and pray that he would leave as quickly as possible and let me die behind that trash can.

When I heard him kick the trash can, my shaking grew worse. I waited for him to finally leave.

For a few seconds, I heard nothing except laughter growing closer.

I trembled even harder, still unable to move or cover myself.

Derek's POV:

I did not know what to do when I saw the state she was in, and I vented my anger on the trash bin.

She was shaking so badly that I could not touch her or comfort her after what she had gone through.

I leaned against the trash bin after hitting it several more times, just as a group of boys started heading our way.

I glanced at the girl with the green eyes and realized I could not leave her there, and I could not let them see her like this.

"Sorry." I said as I moved in their direction. "Can you go piss somewhere else?"

"Why is Speed Breaker having an issue?" he asked me, trying to look behind me.

I positioned myself so he could not see the girl behind the trash bin, although I suspected they had already noticed something.

"She's sick, so she took off her top after throwing up, and well, you know, she's young and it wouldn't be right for the guys to gawk," I replied, forcing a smile.

"No worries, man, we can go somewhere else," he responded, understanding.

"Cool, thanks!" I said to them as I watched them leave.

I ran a hand through my hair. It had been a close call, but I needed to get out of here.

"Yo Speed Breaker!"

I turned around, surprised as the guy came back toward me.

"Here, take my sweater." He did so by pulling off the sweater tied around his waist. "She won't make her way through the crowd in just a bra."

"Thanks, man. I'll pay you back for this."

"Don't worry, seeing you run is already a gift for me!" he said as he walked away.

I looked at the sweater, thinking that at least it could cover her a little when she walked through the crowd, but would she even let me help her?

Alix's POV:

I tried desperately to pull up my shorts and underwear while he was talking, but I could not do it as my body refused to move.

"Listen, tell me if you don't want to." he began speaking softly. "I have a sweater here, I could give it to you to put on so that I can take you back to your friend."

My god, Marina! There was no way she could find out what had just happened to me. She would call my mom, and they would be so traumatized by what had been done to me that I would never be able to look them in the eye again.

But honestly, who would I ever be able to look in the eye?

"I'm going to come closer to help you put it on, if you don't want me to, say so. I promise I won't do anything to you. I'm just going to help you put it on," he told me in a neutral voice.

I still did not have the strength to respond to him. My god, let me die! Why did it have to be the man with tattoos who found me like this?

"I know. So you can trust me, I'm not going to take my eyes off you for a single moment. I'm going to count to three."

He began counting, and when he reached three, I heard him move toward me slowly while I flinched at every step he took.

"You need to open your eyes so you can trust me. I know it's not easy given the circumstances, but I want to see your eyes in case you have any doubts about my intentions."

"I'm trembling so much that I feel like my bones are going to crack."

"Please, look at me," he gently said, and I could sense his scent close to me.

"I won't do anything to you," he insisted. "I just want to help you."

"I don't know why." His voice seemed soft and reassuring for a moment, and I timidly opened my eyes, fully sinking into his, which were only a few centimeters from mine.

"I won't look away for even a moment," he said as he stepped a bit closer. "I'll help you put on the sweater, and when that's done, I'll adjust your clothes."

I closed my eyes at that sentence. By that, he meant my shorts and underwear.

I really wished I could die at that moment.

"Please open your eyes and look at me," he told me again.

Even though I did not want to open them and wanted to stay in the dark, I felt his gaze pressing on me, and I opened my eyes again.

He gave me a reassuring smile and came closer, never breaking eye contact, and pulled the sweater over my head in one smooth movement.

He touched my arm to straighten the sleeve, but I instinctively pulled away.

"Sorry. We can leave the sleeves like this," he told me, clearly worried about how I reacted.

He did not break eye contact, and neither did I.

"You'll need to stand up; it'll be easier for me to help you dress."

I began crying even harder. Why did it have to be him helping me get dressed again? Why had he come into this alley?

"Don't close your eyes. Look at me," he pleaded.

He placed his hand on the sweater's sleeve as I opened my eyes.

"You know how to stand up."

I shook my head weakly, and he slipped his arm between me and the wall while keeping his eyes fixed on mine. I knew he was far too close, but for some reason, I was not afraid.

Was it because of his intense, neutral gaze that remained locked on me?

In an instant, he pulled me up, and before I realized it, my clothes had been adjusted.

He stepped back toward the trash, and I collapsed to my knees again, still unable to regain control of my trembling body.

Derek's POV:

Without knowing it, I caught her so her head would not hit the ground. Feeling her trembling and crying against my chest made me realize that I was hurting for her too.

How could someone do that and walk away as if nothing had happened?

How could someone inflict so much suffering on another person?

How could someone violate a woman and leave without even looking back?

I felt hatred rising in me as I pulled the hoodie up and lifted her into my arms.

There was no way I was leaving her here, and even less that I would let her go home alone.

So I decided to take her with me.

We moved through the crowd like that, with her curled against my chest, crying, while I held back the anger pushing me to go after that little fool.

"Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?" I asked her as I approached my motorcycle.

She shook her head no. At least she knew how to move again.

I set her against the Ducati, keeping one hand on her so she would not fall, and grabbed my helmet with the other.

"I'm going to have to take off your hood." I spoke softly to her.

I gently let go of her and removed her hood, revealing her face hidden beneath her long black hair. I reached out to fix her hair, doing it unconsciously until she lifted her head slightly.

I placed the helmet on her while holding her gaze, then lifted her onto the Ducati, where she slipped her arms into the sleeves and took off at full speed.