Dark Chemistry

Loud roaring sounds of the clouds echoing throughout the busy town. Everybody was rushing to their destinations before the heavy rainfall. I was looking at the busy street and enjoying the mind blowing gift of nature, standing on my small balcony which was containing many flower plants. A few minutes later it started raining cats and dogs.

Cold breezes, the sounds of raining, and the wet smell of nature during rain is really amazing especially in the evening. It blows my mind, relaxes my body and nerves.

When soothing smells of roses and lilies hit my nostrils, I closed my eyes and took a deep inhale. Darkness was surrounding me but the only lights I could see were coming from the street and the lightning.

"Talia!" My mother's voice came from downstairs.

"Coming, mom!" I got up and walked downstairs.

I have such a typical strict, hot tempered and at the same time a very loving, caring mother. I got the exact same feature from my mother. Long dark hair that falls on the ass, dark eyes and flawless fair skin. Everybody says that I'm the younger version of my mother.

"Your granny finally agreed to visit the doctor. She is coming tomorrow morning and told me to book an appointment." Mom sighed.

"That's impressive, mom." I laughed.

"And I don't wanna hear any complaints from her about you. Be careful when she's here." Mom smiled tightly.

Well, my granny, my mother's mother never agreed to visit the doctor so we have to manipulate her in many ways. She thinks that she can heal without medicines and the doctors are useless. They just prescribed a bunch of medicines and that's why she became more weak.

She has even problems with everything we modern people do.

I had to wear a scarf when I went outside and had to wake up at 6 am in the morning, whenever she came to our house. Even mom and dad fear her grumpy mood. This old lady even hates my two best friends because she thinks they're impolite, irritating and foul.

But she loves us unconditionally. And actually I enjoy her grumpy mood.

"I don't do anything stupid. She always finds a problem in everything."

"Don't talk about her like this. She's your grandma. She does that because she is a cultural and pious woman and she's not used to living in the modern decade. Don't disrespect her. You know she loves us more than anything in the world."

"Yeah, I know. I'll be careful. I won't upset her anymore." I nodded.

"Good."

"You know you're more lazy than Nova's cat, Natalia." Ellerie scoffed.

Ellerie, six years old baby brother of mine who has a big smart mouth and a tiny figure. He has some weird habits like throwing things here and there when he gets angry, bringing things from neighbors house without telling them though they know it's his habit, wailing and screaming 'mom' for simple reasons.

"I'm not." I slightly pinched his cheeks.

"Don't touch me with your hands."

"Do you want me to touch you with my legs?"

"What! Mom!"

"Natalia!" Mom warned not to make him mad.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" I grinned.

"I told dad to bring chocolate ice cream and chocolate muffins only for me." He smirked.

"Then I'm gonna steal all of them from you." I grimaced.

"Mom!" He started wailing.

My father is a big grocery store owner. He's a very charming and handsome man. Ellerie got my dad's hazel eyes and brown hair.

Many women who come to dad's store regularly have a huge crush on him and one day mom saw a young woman trying to flirt with dad so she grabbed her hair right then and threw her outside of the store.

Dad and I were laughing at that funny scene but mom was so angry that she shattered a vase right there and made us hide behind the shelves.

"If you steal my muffins again, I'll tell everyone that you're a thief who steals muffins and ice creams. And then I'll ask uncle Jacob if he can arrest you and throw you into the jail." Ellerie smiled widely at his own idea.

"No way." I surrendered as I held my hands up and laughed.

Aunt Hannah Hernandez is our neighbor who lives next to our house. She's a kind and generous woman. Her husband, uncle Jacob Hernandez is a police officer. She has a ten year old daughter named Nova. She's quite adorable and brilliant.

I made my way to the kitchen with mom and helped her to serve the dinner. A few minutes later, dad arrived at home with Ellerie's favorite ice cream and chocolate muffins.

"Thank you dad!" I heard Ellerie yelling and dad was chuckling.

"Here's my princess. How was your day, my little girl?" Dad smiled as I went to the living room.

"It was good. How about yours?"

"Busy as always. I've heard that your granny is coming."

"Yes. She finally agreed to visit the doctor." I hummed.

"That's good. But if she keeps hiding her sickness like this, it'll be worse later." He sighed.

"Yeah. But she doesn't want to understand that." Mom sighed too.

After dinner I headed upstairs and entered my bedroom.

I'm in high school and the next year I want to admit myself into a good college in the city so I was trying hard.

It was already 11:40 pm when I finished my assignments. After a few moments of scrolling through social media, I shut my laptop and walked into the bathroom. Finishing my daily night routine, I turned the lights off and got into the bed.

Our town is blessed with natural beauty, surrounded by a big forest from the southeast part and the ocean. The ocean has passed by the west side to another city flowing behind the deep forest. To the north side, there is the main road and railway station by which people communicate with cities.

Though this town is almost inside of a forest and at the edge of the country, it's quite developed. Many travelers come here every year to visit the beautiful, enchanting beach. This town is a hidden little paradise inside the globe without a doubt.

The sky was clear, stars were twinkling and the moon was shining brightly as the rain stopped pouring. Moonlight was showering my room through the open windows. The sweet smell of roses was coming from the balcony, the thin curtains of my room were dancing with the wave of cold breezes.

I smiled widely and sat on my bed and looked outside through my bedside window. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply as a cold breeze mixed with the smell of roses and lilies hit my nostrils and filled my lungs.

It felt like I was in heaven.

I wanted to walk on the moonlight showered street during the midnight, I wanted to shiver when cold breezes would hit my skin, I wanted to stand beneath a street light which would illuminate me, I wanted to watch those twinkling stars in the dark sky everyday.

I wanted to enjoy many many moonlight nights alone when the whole world would remain sunken in deep sleep.

I laid down and smiled as the moonlight was showering me. A few minutes later my eyes felt heavy as I fell into a deep sleep.

***

"What if our parents find out that we're in the night club?" I leaned against the wall in the corner of the hallway and looked at my best friend Marjan McCarthy.

"They won't find out. We'll tell them that we three are going to a restaurant for dinner." She smirked mischievously.

"Wow, we're going to a club and our parents will know that we're going to a restaurant. This idea is insane, we're insane." Reema Morales, my other best friend laughed loudly.

"Shhh.. someone will hear us." I whispered.

"What about our dresses?" I frowned.

"Leave it on me baby." Marjan winked.

Marjan, Reema and I have been attached to our hips since we're kids as our parents are pretty close friends. Marjan is a chilling and charming girl with brown hair and hazel eyes. Reema is talkative and has a big mouth with short zed black hair and black eyes.

We were planning to go to a night club for the first time in our life and of course without our parents permission. Actually Marjan had gone to a club twice with her cousins before so it was mine and Reema's first time.

As we belong to typical strict families of Bangladesh, our parents would never allow us to go to a bar or night clubs. If we go back home drunk then they will kick our asses and throw us out of the house. Night clubs, bars and alcohol are totally banned for us.

"I heard that some students of our school also go there everyday night. What if they catch us and tell our parents?" Reema whispered.

"I think they won't leak because they wouldn't want to be exposed." I mumbled.

"Yeah you're right. Be ready at 7 tomorrow evening. I'll pick you two." Marjan muttered.

"Well, well, well.. What are we missing?"

We paused when we saw the familiar caked faces with bitchy clothes, Delilah Lawrence walking towards us with Amrin Knowles and Sima Vanderwood behind.

"And why do you care, granny?" I snorted.

"You should restrain your fucking mouth bitch or you won't like the consequences." Delilah looked at me like she was gonna bite me.

"Oh yeah, granny has a rattan stick." Marjan laughed.

"You three stay away from my boyfriend, especially Natalia. If I see you're looking at him anymore, I'll pluck your eyes out of their socket and then I'll shallow them with some tasting salt." Delilah pressed a finger on my forehead and tilted her head.

"I don't look at your ball less boyfriend. We're not pathetic like you." I slapped her hand and removed it from my head.

"You won't learn how to talk until I break your jaw." She hissed.

"Why don't you go to your boyfriend and suck his three inches dick instead of teaching us how to talk to someone like you?" Reema inputted.

Marjan and I laughed out loudly. Reema knew how to defeat Delilah.

"You bitch!"

Delilah rushed toward Reema and was about to slap her but Marjan grabbed her hand and shoved her back. She was almost falling on the floor but Amrin and Sima grabbed her.

"You three will regret it later!" Sima gritted her teeth.

"And look who is threatening us. A tiny maid." I chuckled.

"Ouch! We're scared!" Reema fake-widened her eyes and laughed.

"We'll see you later." Amrin pointed at us as they stormed down the hallway.

Delilah's father is the mayor of our town. She's quite infamous in our school for her rich lifestyle and itchy bitchy behavior. There are rumors that she slept with many rich men and takes drugs and alcohol. She always walks with two chickens named Amrin and Sima. Their fathers are also renowned businessmen in the town. They walk with some power like they can behave whatever they want.

Delilah has a boyfriend named Fardinn Matthews. He is the popular boy in our school with a huge attitude. His father is the commissioner of the town. He's also the captain of the school football team.

We had been good friends for a few months. I helped him with some study materials and then became friends. But Delilah ruined it by telling the whole school that Fardinn took drugs and bad things but blamed me for the rumor. After that Fardinn stopped talking to me though I tried to explain, he neither talked to me nor listened to me.

School went well but we were afraid thinking about Dalilah would do anything stupid. But surprisingly she didn't do anything, except throwing us ghosty glares. It was quite funny because she looked like a circus joker with a ghosty look on her caked face.

Returning home, I took a quick shower and moved downstairs to help my mother with making dinner. When dad returned, we had dinner together.

I came to the living room and turned on the TV as I sat down on the couch.

"A few fishermen discovered a dead body on the seashore behind the mangrove forest of Monpura town this afternoon. Monpura police arrived there immediately and sent the dead body to the forensic department." A news anchor read the news.

"Talia, give me the tv remote! I wanna watch Oggy!"

"Shut up, Ell ! Let me hear the news!"

"MOM!" Ellerie started wailing.

"What happened again!" Mom shouted and came to the living room.

"Mom, just hear the news. Please." Mom looked at the TV while dad came to the living room and sat on the couch.

"According to the senior officer Jacob Hernandez's speech, the killer cut the victim's hands and tainted his face badly. "

"The dead body is almost unrecognizable. But monpura police are trying their best to find his identity. We haven't gotten any information from the forensic department yet."

I gulped the lump in my throat. I had watched many Korean psycho thriller movies where psycho killers kill people horribly. But I never imagined something like that would happen one day in my town. That was horrendous.

"This is so horrible, God. Now nobody's safe in this safest town. I never thought this would ever happen." Dad sighed and shook his head.

"Please stay cautious when you're outside." Mom looked at dad, worries clearly visible in their eyes.

"Yeah, we all have to be cautious. Natalia, don't go outside unless it is necessary. Okay?"

"Okay, dad."

Natalia's POV :

".... Talia! Get up! "

"Mom said you're late!"

"Natalia! You little cockroach! Get up!"

Why was I hearing a kid screaming by my name? Maybe some neighbor's kid appeared in my dream I thought.

"What the- oh my God!"

I jumped off of my bed with a pillow as my *ss met the cold floor with a loud thud.

Someone splashed a blatant amount of water on me. I was totally f*ck*d *p.

I rubbed the water off my face with my palms and tried to open my eyes. But they were burning like hell.

A few moments later of rubbing and blinking, I finally managed to open my eyes and looked ahead. Ellerie was standing in front of me with a small bucket while laughing his hearts out.

"What was that?" I asked blankly.

"A full bucket of water." He giggled.

Amazing! God this kid's gonna give me a heart attack one day!

I rubbed my eyes again to see clearly, it was a sunny day though the sky wasn't so clear.

"You know what, I know some cockroaches. They love to snatch toys from naughty kids like you. I'll tell them about your remote controlled car." I snorted.

"What! NO! MOOOOM!" He stormed out of my room in one blink.

Why does he always overreact?

I shrugged and walked into the bathroom. I looked at the sink mirror but God I looked more pathetic than a beggar who sleeps on the street. My silky long hair looked like a bird's nest. I always braided my hair before sleep but the previous night I was so scared to do anything after hearing that news.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face quickly because it was already 8:30 am and my class was at 9. I made a ponytail bun of my naturally wavey long hair. I changed my nightgown and slipped into a white loose shirt and grey jeans. I quickly grabbed my backpack which I luckily packed last night and ran downstairs.

"Good morning everyone!"

"Good morning, my little princess." Dad smiled.

"Mom, tell her something! She wants to give my favorite remote controlled car to that awful cockroaches!" Ellerie looked at mom with puppy eyes.

"Stop your crocodile tears, little bro. You splashed a bucket of water on me! And you ruined my mattress!" I complained.

"Don't act like a child, Talia. You're already late." Mom shook her head.

"Oh yeah." I shoved an egg in my mouth.

Mom glared at me but luckily didn't burst out.

"Dad let's go. We're late!" I mumbled while struggling with the egg in my mouth.

Ten minutes later, we finally reached in front of my school.

Bidding my father goodbye, I ran towards my classroom and luckily my teacher hadn't arrived yet. I sighed in relief and walked into the classroom.

"You're late today." Reema uttered.

"Yeah. Ell splashed a bucket of water on me in the morning." I huffed and sat down beside my friends who were sitting on the last bench of the left row.

"What?!" They laughed out loud.

Before I could say anything Mrs. Gomez, our Mathematics teacher entered the classroom. This lady is nice but boring.

"She looks cool today." Reema whispered.

"Didn't have a fight with the husband today I guess." I giggled but it was a bit louder.

"Ms. Rauf are you here to offer us your giggling sound instead of learning some mathematical formulas?" Mrs. Gomez threw daggers over her ugly glasses.

"Sorry, Mrs. Gomez. Actually I was listening to you attentively. But suddenly I felt a lump in my throat so I coughed."

"Then can you please enlighten us by explaining the difference between integration and differentiation?"

"Ah.. I- I just you know. Ijustnevereverheardthosewordsinmyentirelife." I blinked and smiled awkwardly.

Her jaw dropped on the floor as everyone started laughing.

"I don't want to waste my precious time on you Ms Rauf. You may sit down."

"Thank you, Mrs Gomez."

After that she went back to her boring lecture again. In mathematics class, my eyes stay on the blackboard but my mind goes somewhere else and my brain sleeps peacefully.

In the lunch break, we headed to the cafeteria for lunch. We sat on the usual corner side table.

"We're tired of this scenario." Reema growled at Delilah and Fardinn feeding each other like a perfect sweet couple.

"Don't give a sh*t." Marjan rolled her eyes.

"You heard the news about yesterday? Someone killed a man horribly and threw the dead body on the seashore behind the forest." I whispered.

"Oh yes I was about to say that. I almost had a heart attack." Reema uttered.

"Yeah. I think it's a perfectly planned murder." Marjan whispered.

"I think it's some psycho killer and we should postpone our plan." I huffed.

"Of course not!" Marjan frowned and scoffed.

"Oh girls! I forgot to tell you something. Granny is coming today! I think she's already arrived at my home."

There was a dead silence for a few moments between my two best friends.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" Reema opened and closed her mouth.

"No, I'm dead serious." I bit my bottom lip.

"God. Why is this happening to us?! At first a murder occurred yesterday and now this old lady is already in your house." Reema rubbed her face with her palm and sighed.

"Don't worry. We're going to the club tonight and your granny won't be able to stop us." Marjan smirked.

Reema and I looked at each other and then looked at Marjan.

After school, I headed back home and met uncle Jacob on my way. We had a small conversation about the murder. He told me to stay cautious as everything was messed up in the town because the victim was a journalist.

The police were thinking that the murder was connected to some organized crime. Perhaps that journalist found out some important evidence about some big criminal organization so they killed him. It was not a psycho killer's case.

But apparently the guy who had killed him was a psycho.

In the evening, I got ready as we planned. I slipped into a big loose white shirt, a pair of black jeans and white sneakers. I straightened my long hair, made some curls on the top with a curler and let them hang down my back. I put a scarf on my head. Then I applied some light makeup, mascara and cherry lipgloss to complete the look.

A few minutes later I heard Reema and Marjan's voice downstairs. I quickly moved downstairs and met two nun-looking Marjan and Reema sitting on the couch with granny and Ellerie.

And of course there was a reason for this baggy clothes and scarves.

"You look beautiful." Reema said sarcastically.

"And you two look stunning." I rolled my eyes.

"Why are you admiring each other's look? Are you going to see a patient or a wedding ceremony? Are you girls hiding something from me?" Granny raised an eyebrow and looked at us up and down.

"No, granny. Is there anything ever exists which we could hide from you?" Marjan laughed awkwardly.

"Whatever. Natalia, your mom was telling me that she didn't know about your friend's car accident." Granny looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Which friend?"

I was confused. I looked at Marjan and Reema. They were blinking and moving their hands and mouth. They were gesturing something.

"Oh yeah, that friend. Actually that accident occurred this afternoon and mom was busy so I forgot to tell her and you. But she's in a very critical condition." I lied neatly.

"But your friends were saying that the accident occurred in the previous evening." Granny crossed her arms on her chest.

"Yes, exactly. But I got that news in this afternoon." I smiled awkwardly.

God I was lying smartly but she was about to catch me.

"Yes, granny. We also got the news this afternoon and informed her." Reema grinned, showing her teeth.

"Oh whatever. But don't be late. I repeat Don't. Be-"

"Don't. Be. Late." We said in unison.

Natalia's POV :

We got into Marjan's car and five minutes later Marjan parked the car behind an abandoned building.

"Take all your stuff and change quickly before anyone comes here." Marjan turned off the lights of the car.

Yeah, we were not going to a club dressing like this.

"We're really insane!" I laughed.

"Hell, it was so easy to fool your granny!" Reema laughed.

"Stop talking and change quickly!" Marjan whispered-shouted.

I slipped into a black spaghetti straps short top, its sweetheart neckline made my breasts more prominent and revealed half of my stomach and belly button; a black skirt which just reached my mid thigh and black net stockings. I applied mascara, winged black eyeliner and matt brick colored lipstick. I completed my outfit with black stilettos and black leather jacket and let my half curled hair free.

Reema put on a long sleeved, v-necked white glittery short party dress with brown stilettos, applied black eyeliner and red matt lipstick. Her short hair was shoved back through some black clips.

Marjan threw herself into a long sleeved, square-necked golden fringe dress that reached her mid thigh with matching heels. She made smokey eyes, applied maroon matt lipstick and let her straighten hair fall on her back. Reema applied some glitter on our cheeks, eyes and necks.

"If granny catches us like this... " Marjan smirked.

"I'm sure she would have a heart attack immediately." I laugh as well as Reema and Marjan join.

Ten minutes later a club came into view. It was a big black coloured building that was almost invisible, only on the top of the building had written Cimitero with big giant words that were illuminating with red lights. The 'O' was a flaming skull and the 'I 's are skeleton which made the whole building look more scary.

"What does that even mean?"

"That means the cemetery in English. People say that the owner is from Italy." Marjan explained.

The whole area was dark and calm, very few lights were on. It was more like a graveyard than a night club.

"What a freaking weird name! Is it a club or graveyard?" I laughed awkwardly.

"It looks like some horror film's shooting set!" Reema chuckled.

"I don't wanna go inside!" I threw my hands up.

"Come on, Natalia! I've come here twice and there're a lots of people dancing, drinking and f*ck*ng inside! You're judging a club by its cover?" Marjan laughed .

"It's judging a book by its cover b*tch." Reema rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, same things." Marjan shrugged.

Two intimidating looking bulky men around six feet in black suits were standing in front of the large black wooden door. I was d*mn sure they were not from here. They checked our ID and let us get inside.

Inside the club everything was black due to neon lights. Smells of alcohol and weeds hit my nostril and made my stomach knot immediately. People were dancing on the dance floor, laughing, drinking and flirting. Bartenders were serving drinks continuously without any break. There was a staircase on the left corner of the room that led to the VIP section upstairs. On top of the stairs, there were two guards standing all in black.

"We can't get into the VIP section. I've heard that there are many stripers and many private rooms for intimacy." Marjan spoke a bit loud through the blasting music.

"Girls let's go to the bar and try something." Marjan clapped her hand together.

"Yeah! Let's go! " Reema cheered.

"What if mom and granny smell alcohol on me?" I shook my head.

"I brought three toothbrushes and toothpaste with me." Marjan gave us a mischief smile.

"God! Marjan, you're really something!" Reema chuckled.

We walked towards the bar. There were now a few people because everyone was busy dancing on the dance floor. A handsome looking bartender with brown hair and grey eyes came toward us.

"Hey s*xy ladies! What can I get for you?" He asked with a mischief smile.

"Three tequila shots for us." Marjan ordered with a shy smile.

"Is it also awful? " I asked Marjan stupidly.

"Looks like it's your first time in a bar." The bartender smirked.

"Yeah, you can say that." I gave him a tight smile.

"That makes sense." He chuckled. "Wait a minute, I'm giving you something so cool."

The bartender took three glasses and started pouring a bottle of whiskey then passed them to us with a charming smile.

We had a great conversation with the bartender and an awful experience with the alcohol. He was quite friendly and charming. He told us about his county, culture, family and traditions. His mother was Bengali and his father was Afghani. They fell in love and got married. So he often used to come here before he settled down here.

Now, I was standing confused in the middle of the dance floor with my two crazy friends who're dancing like frogs. I was feeling shy at first but then both of them encouraged me and the alcohol did it's magic.

I swayed my hip and shook my whole body with the rhythm of the music. I was feeling like I was in another universe. Reema and Marjan start screaming when I roll my hip.

I was moving my body like a shameless horny high school girl. I was so confused about myself but at the same time I was enjoying that moment and I wanted to enjoy every moment right then. An euphoric shiver ran down my spine. It felt like I was floating on the cloud.

"Talia has a s*xy hidden talent inside of her." Marjan giggled.

"Such a hot, s*xy dancer and we didn't even know until today." Reema laughed.

I started giggling at their comments.

But suddenly I felt like I was being watched. I looked around but everybody was busy dancing and drinking, who would look at me. I mentally laughed and tried to brush it off. But anxiety was swallowing me.

A cold shiver ran down my spine and my heartbeat stopped when I looked over Reema's shoulder.

Someone was really watching me.

He was standing on the balcony of the VIP section with a glazing glass of alcohol one hand, other in his black slacks pocket and watching me with those mesmerizing ocean-blue eyes.

His black t-shirt tightly hugged his body, enabling his muscles and arms to contrast and bulge. He was watching me without blinking nor shifting his eyes elsewhere, not even drinking from the glass. He was still like a statue, plump pink lips slightly parted and sharp jaws clenched.

His dark hair was messy like he ran his big tattooed hand over it many times. I stopped dancing while the song ended.

I was feeling as if everything stopped beside me and my heart was hammering inside my ribcage.

"Natalia!"

I was so engrossed by the man that I hadn't heard anything of my friends were talking about.

I was possessed, possessed by his unreal and devilish beauty.

"We have to go now! Delilah is here with Amrin and Sima. Fardinn and his friends are also here!" Marjan spoke urgently.

That was it. It pulled me out of the hallucination.

"What?! Did they find out we're here?!" My mouth was hung open.

"We're not sure. But we have to leave now." Reema uttered.

"Yeah, let's go!"

I looked at the stranger from the corner of my eyes while talking to them, still in the same position, no blink, no movement, not a hair out of place, even holding the glass like before.

He was very tall and huge. For some reason he looked very dangerous and scary. The more I kept gazing into those ocean-blue eyes, the more he seemed to enjoy it.

We were almost close to the exit when I felt like looking there one last time. I snapped my head to the VIP section's balcony and widened my eyes to see him in that same place, same position like he was a living statue. His mesmerizing eyes were still on me.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and I gasped loudly.

"Woah, it's me Natalia!" Reema chuckled.

I quickly turned to the stranger but my heartbeat stopped again because for the first time I was seeing a movement.

A small sinister smirk lifted up the side of his mouth while his cold blue eyes were telling me something.

And it was a vow. A vow of a predator to hunt down it's prey, no matter what.