BLOODHOUNDS #3: The Malice

Leila Morrow

I'm a workaholic, and I need help.

That statement has been going into my mind lately. I usually work four to five days a week, from ten to twelve hours. As a sports photographer, I must always be ready because everything happens simultaneously, and you can only choose one specific scene to shoot.

That's why there are at least four sports photographers in a game.

Lately, I've been taking more shifts because Poppy was sick. She got into an accident recently that caused her to break her ankle.

She was skateboarding. Yeah, I know.

That's why I've been doing her work and mine. I've been going to the stadium daily to take photos of the players, the game, the practice, and even the mascots. Adding the fact that I've been working for twelve days straight without rest.

I'm a living zombie, and today is my last shift for the week.

Jaz gave me four days off because I looked tired and always worked extra to fill Poppy's place. Poppy thanked me and promised to treat me to a nice dinner once she recovered.

Now, I only have 5 hours left to finish my shift.

I'm this close to freedom.

I grabbed my camera and walked out of the staff waiting room. I make my way to the second floor of the bleachers so I can take photos when the stadium fills with fans. I smiled, seeing the combination of red and white.

My eyes caught a little kid running towards his dad with a hotdog, and he yawned so big, causing me to yawn with him.

I'm so tired and sleep-deprived that I know damn well that the last five hours will be hell. I grabbed my tripod and walked out from the second floor to go down. I need to hold my other camera lens.

Because the game will start in ten minutes, the place is so crowded, with fans rushing to get into their seats. My body tried to keep up with it because I was against the crowd.

"Almost at the stairs, Leila."

Before I could reach the stairs, I was pushed by the crowd to the side. My first instinct was to save the camera because it's my lifeline. As I took a deep breath and held on to my tripod for dear life, someone bumped into me from the back and casually kicked my tripod.

Everything happened in slow motion.

My eyes were set on the camera, slowly kissing the floor, shattering itself into small pieces. My first reaction was my eyes popped out of its socket, and I screamed. I turned to the man in a suit who kept walking with his friends.

I ran towards him and grabbed him by the arm, turning his attention to me.

I gasped when I saw his face. His short black hair was styled neatly, making him look approachable. His dark brown eyes were captivating like it's hypnotizing me into oblivion. His glasses made him look like he conquered the world. This is my first time seeing such beauty from a man. How can he be approachable and intimidating at the same time?

"What the fuck do you want?" His first cold remarks made me realize why I stopped him.

"Are you fucking blind?!" I screamed at him and showed him what he had done to my camera. My eyes were glued to his as he turned to the man beside him.

"Did you trip her?"

"You did, sir."

"Give her fifty thousand dollars." He told the man beside him, making me raise my eyebrows and tilting my head to the side.

What is wrong with this man?

"You bumped into me and destroyed my camera." I was pissed, and those words came out like a sharp blade. His dark brown eyes were looking down at me.

He was mocking me.

The man beside him gave me a check for thirty thousand dollars and twenty thousand dollars cash. My eyes were locked with his, and he didn't even bother apologizing for the damage he had done to me.

"We're sorry, miss." With that, he turned around, putting his hands into his pocket, and left like he accidentally bumped into the air.

I put the check and the money into my pocket. I grabbed a plastic bag from the food stall and put all the shattered camera pieces into the bag, saving the memory card. Jaz will kill me for this, and I just lost my lifeline, which made me so angry.

He didn't even bother to say sorry.

My eyes were glued to the camera, and I cried as I ran to the office where Jaz was. When she saw my camera, she gasped. She knew exactly what I felt when I saw it broke, and she looked at me with her jaw on the floor.

"What happened?"

"A man bumped into me and tripped my tripod." She looked at the plastic bag in horror.

"What did he do after you told him?"

"He gave me fifty thousand dollars to pay for the damage, but he didn't say sorry."

"Who and how can someone have that much money on the spot?" I was wondering the same thing.

"Take my backup camera and get to work. We can't waste our time for now." She's right. I grabbed her backup camera and promised not to break it. She trusted me and gestured for me to go.

I went down to the field to photograph the players warming up. I was busy taking pictures of the Red Eagle team and had to move on to the White Claws team when my eyes caught the sight of the man who bumped me earlier.

He talked to the White Claws' coach like he owned the team. His eyes were observing the players' every move, judging them with his dark brown eyes. The coach nodded at everything he said like he was a fucking god.

After that, he went to the VIP seats with his minion.

I checked the time, and there were still twenty minutes before the game started, and it would be enough for me to teach him a lesson. I ran towards the food stall and bought two big cups of Coke. My heart beat in excitement as I made my way to the VIP section.

The guards let me in after seeing my lanyard and my camera. I put the cups on the table and put my camera on the seats a few rows behind him. When I approached him, my chest was boiling in anger.

I need to teach him a lesson.

When I approached him, he didn't even look at me. He and his minion's eyes were locked onto the White Claws team. I threw both coke-filled cups straight at his face without any warning.

"Fuck you, asshole."

Leila Morrow

I am usually good at controlling my anger, but not today.

I don't care if I'm embarrassing myself for my actions, but this is not my first time encountering someone like him. The difference is that his reaction was something that I didn't expect.

He didn't even budge from his seat or even bother to look in my direction. He closed his eyes, and before he could react, I planned to run away, but he caught my forearm without looking at me. He pulled me to sit on an empty chair beside him that was already wet from the coke that I threw on him.

His grip on my skin burned me, and my ass turned cold because of the coke. I tried to pull my arm away from him, but his grip was too firm for me even to slip.

He got up and dragged me up.

People saw the scene, but none of them said a word or even tried to help me. I wanted to kick him, which only made him turn to me.

His eyes landed on my ID, which I always have wrapped around my neck. He kept dragging me, and when he found the nearest room, he opened it and threw me inside. He turned off the lights, and I regretted not seeing where the switch was.

"Leila Morrow." I got goosebumps when he said my name. I was busy running to hide. I tried my best to feel everything to find my way to hide.

"Do you think trying to hide under the sofa is a good idea, wildcat?" I froze, and how did he know I was going to hide under the sofa? "Is fifty thousand dollars not enough for you?" He added.

"You should apologize." Where did I get my balls from?

I was waiting for an answer, but the man wasn't saying anything, or I hear him move. I was going to run towards the door when a hand wrapped around my neck, pinning my body to the wall.

"Starting tomorrow, you and your whole team will be fired. None of you will able to get jobs in the future." He gripped tightens around my neck, slowly cutting the airways. I clawed his arm, and he let out a low chuckle.

"It's been a while since I strangled someone to death." What?

"Let-" I dig my nails into his skin, hoping he would let me go. I could feel my lungs slowly running out of air, and he let me go, letting me fall to the ground. I was coughing and tried to get up from the floor, but my lungs still needed some time to recover.

How the hell did he manage to see me in the dark? I can't even see a thing.

"I'm going to report you to the police," I said as I got up.

"Sure."

"I'm serious. I'm also going to sue you for assault." My body was still shaking after being choked earlier.

"Go ahead."

"I'm going to throw you in jail and make sure you rot there." He let out a low chuckle, and slowly, I could feel his presence in the dark. His hand grabbed my hair, pulling it back. His other hand landed on my neck, trailing to my breast and stomach, and I pushed him away.

Silence filled the air.

I tried to find the door by feeling everything, and tears filled my eyes because of how stressed I was after encountering him. When I saw a doorknob, I opened it, but it was not the door. A low chuckle escaped him, and I stood still to process where exactly he was.

"If you think I'm scared of you, you're fucking wrong." I'm fucking scared.

Another silence filled the air.

"If you think I'm bluffing about reporting you to the police, you should know I'm not playing around. This is a-"

"Go ahead, wildcat. The door is on your six o'clock." I booked it. I turned to my six o'clock, opened the door, and ran out. It felt like a horror movie, and this is probably my nightmare.

I grabbed my camera and ran to find Jaz, ignoring that the game was starting. I ran through the stadium to see her, and when I did, I cried.

"What? What happened?" She asked, but still working.

"I-"

"What happened, Leila?" She asked again, but this time, she put her camera down. She grabbed me by my shoulders, scanning my body for any damage.

I pointed at the VIP section, but he wasn't there.

My eyes tried to find him in the White Claws team seating area. I planned to tell Jaz about him, but before I could speak to her, his eyes caught mine. I was sure he couldn't see me because I was so far away from where he was standing now, but I guess I was wrong.

"Do you know who he is?" I pointed at him. I need to know who he is, and Jaz is the only person who can answer because she knows everyone. Her eyes were set on the person that I pointed at.

"Oh." She turned to me, raising my eyebrows, "That's Ares Young."

"Ares Young?"

"Yeah. He's a billionaire, and he owns the White Claws team. Rumors said that he killed people before and got away with it." My eyes were about to pop out of its socket hearing it. My lungs suddenly decided to betray me by not letting me breathe properly. "We were warned not to mess with him before, and he's bad news." Too late, Jaz.

Too. Fucking. Late.

I turned to see him again, and he still had his eyes on me, which made me feel sick. I still could feel his hand on my throat, choking the life out of me.

"You should rest, Leila. You've been working too much, and it's taking a toll on you." She's right.

I was so sleep-deprived that I couldn't even think straight. What the hell did I think? It's a good idea to throw two cups of Coke at someone like Ares Young, right? I was having a fucking nightmare today. That's why I hallucinated everything.

"I'm going to rest, Jaz. I need one so bad."

"Yeah. Go home and rest. I'll handle it from here." I nodded and walked towards my locker room to grab my things. As soon as I arrived, I removed my shirt and bra to change into my black silk dress.

Before I could put on my dress, the burning sensation on my neck bothered me, and I looked at myself in the small mirror attached to the locker door.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"This is all just a nightmare, Leila. Calm the fuck down." I whispered to myself.

"A nightmare, wildcat?" My whole body turned numb hearing his voice. I turned slowly and found him leaning against the wall, crossing his arms in front of his chest and crossing his legs by the ankle. His dark brown eyes were filled with sadism.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" His eyes went down to my body, and I covered my body right away after realizing he was looking at my breast.

"I was going to kill you, but I think I've changed my mind."

Leila Morrow

My mom once told me not to believe strangers because they never have good intentions. I put on my dress, grabbed my bag, and ran out of the locker after Ares told me he would kill me and had changed his mind.

I kept looking back to see if he was following me, but he didn't.

I took a cab and went straight home. When I entered my apartment, I closed all the windows and locked the doors. I was so scared that I didn't think I could sleep later at night.

I was pacing back and forth in my living room, trying not to break down. My body slowly betrayed me, and I threw myself on the sofa, my eyes slowly closing. My phone vibrated on the kitchen counter, and I got up to check because it could be Poppy or Jaz.

Unknown number: Did you get home safely, wildcat?

Ares Young

After sending Leila the text message, I threw my phone to the table and showered. That woman decided to drench me with two cups of Coke, which caused my body to feel sticky like I had just showered with sugar.

Long jet-black hair and grey eyes.

Something about her captivated me. She was trying so hard to be brave when she was a scaredy cat.

Scared wildcat.

I walked out of the bathroom, put on my hoodie and sweatpants, and was ready to eat dinner after a long day. Tim already bought me dinner, so tonight I'm just going to rest and think about more ways to scare Leila.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I glared at my sister, Ariana, sitting on the sofa, looking at the ceiling like a crackhead.

"Why? I can't be here?" She snapped without looking at me.

"You can't, so get the fuck out of my house." I hissed as I opened the plastic bag. Tim's choice of food for tonight is immaculate. He bought me chicken tenders and wings.

"It's been a year, Ares. Don't you miss me?" She walked towards me, stole my chicken tender, and sat facing me.

Ariana lives in New York, and she's currently taking over the family business, acting like a doting daughter. People described her as the perfect Jewelry Princess because she's poise and eloquent.

What people don't know is that she's fucking crazy.

"What are you up to these days, brother?" She raised her eyebrows, munching the chicken tender mockingly.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" I took a bite of the tender, planning to ignore her for the rest of the night.

"Just checking if you're still alive or not." I kept eating my food when Ariana decided to slide her phone to me. I grabbed it and looked at the contract that she was in.

"I need money." Of course. I knew she never came to me without wanting something.

"Out of all people, you decided to deal with Kaleb?" I threw her phone back to her, and she let out a long sigh.

"I never knew he's a fucking psycho, like a legit psycho!" She ate her chicken tenders in one bite.

"You're a fucking adult, Ariana. I'm not giving one billion to your fuck buddies just because he's a psycho." I rolled my eyes, and she sighed.

"Should I ask Mason or Asher?" I almost threw my food at her for asking such a dumb question.

"Get out of my apartment, Ariana." She huffed and made her way out. She knew that she couldn't change my mind, so she didn't even bother to beg.

Besides, if she thinks she can get out of a deal with Kaleb Cesborn, she's a fool. That man is indeed psychotic, and I don't even know how and why she decided it's a good idea to be with him.

I finished eating and grabbed my phone to see if the wildcat would reply to my text.

Wildcat: Go to hell.

I changed my hoodie into a long-sleeved black compression shirt, topping it with my black leather jacket and pants. I grabbed my helmet and went down to get my bike. I drove my bike to the headquarters, and Kayden and Tatiana greeted me.

He has his arm around his wife's shoulder, and she laughs at something he said. Kayden is fucking boring, and I don't know why Tatiana sticks with him.

"Hello, beautiful princess." I greeted her, and Tatiana snapped her head at me.

"Ares!" She waved, and I got a glare from her annoying husband.

"Let's play another game of chess, Mon Avenir," I said in Kayden's tone, and I put my helmet on the bike and walked towards her, which caused Kayden to put her behind his band.

"Stop contacting my wife, or I'll have to cut your fucking balls, Young," I smirked and gave Tatiana a wink, which made her giggle.

Tatiana is adorable.

"Let's go." Kayden pulled her away to their car.

"Call me, baby!" I teased them, and Kayden gave me a middle finger. I walked into the building and went down to my computer room.

"Jesus Christ!" I bumped into Mason, who was busy looking at his tablet. "Why the fuck are you here?"

"Hello, Young." Ana joined us.

"Did you two fuck in the computer room?" I narrowed my eyes at them both, and I knew they wouldn't sleep with each other, or else I had to take care of Mason's funeral.

"We did." Ana slipped her arm around Mason's, and he pushed her to the wall. Ana stood beside me and asked, "Want to join us next time?"

"Have a foursome?"

"Threesome, idiot."

"No, it will be foursome since Asher will also join us," I smirked, and every time Ana heard Asher's name, she reacted weirdly.

"I will never fuck Asher, disgusting." I laughed at her statement.

"Yeah, do you think we didn't hear you fucking each other last week? You were begging him for more, too." I said, and Mason chuckled before walking away.

"Why are you so annoying these days? I guess girls are not a fan of you anymore." She raised her eyebrows.

"How do you know? Should we fuck?" She gave me a middle finger before walking away. I laughed and entered the computer room.

I put Leila's apartment address into the system and opened all the CCTV around her apartment, her hallway, the building across her, and every angle with the best view of her apartment.

"What the hell are you doing now, wildcat?"