Two of the demons quickly rushed Winston, but the short demon, which had done the talking, held back. He appeared to be leading the others, and Sarain recognized him as the beast she had seen Sephor talking to earlier when she had eavesdropped on him in the strange arena-like room. Sarain saw him motion two beasts towards her while saying, “Grab her and bring her back to the lair.” The small demon turned to the remaining group and ordered, “Stop wasting time and hurry up and kill him. Night is almost over.”
The rest of the group quickly followed after the others and began flooding Winston, attacking him like rabid animals. Though Sarain was too busy to be concerned with Winston’s outcome, the demons sent after her were grabbing at her arms and trying to hold her down, but they had nothing to bind her with and soon found that her slender arms were slipping from their grasps. One of the demon’s claws scraped up her arms, digging into flesh, but Sarain hardly noticed the pain. She swung her leg around kicking the monster in its jaw, and causing it to lose all hold on her. The other beast took her distraction as an opportunity to rush her from behind, but she swung her arm back and knocked the creature back with incredible force. It crashed into a stack of boxes, which came tumbling down on top of it. Sarain then jumped on her other attacker and began beating the demon with her fists, pounding it into a bloody mess. Its skin was hard like a slick shell, much like that of a beetle. She let out all her pent up frustration on the beast and started screaming at it as she pulverized its face and chest till her own hands began to bleed. The creature stopped moving beneath her, and it was unclear if she had beaten it to death or just into unconsciousness.
Sarain took a shaky deep breath, with the sounds of scuffling nearby, and remembered Winston. Had he been able to take on the group of demons? Her thoughts were interrupted when something swiftly grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up. She spun around ready to fight whatever it was, but stopped when she recognized Winston. He was a little cut up, but more or less alright. Sarain found herself surprisingly relieved to see him, something she never would have thought she would be, but with times like these he was the closest thing to a friendly face. His presence there showed that she may still have a chance of escaping this alive.
Sarain noticed that some of the demons laid on the ground while others still fought in a dog pile, unaware that Winston had slipped out. These creatures really were stupid, she thought to herself.
Winston tugged on her arm, snapping Sarain back into reality, and said, “Come on, we got to get out of here right now.”
She nodded and followed Winston out of the warehouse. Outside was still dark, but the sky was growing bluer; dawn was approaching. Normally Sarain wouldn’t leave demons still alive if she could help it, but there were far too many for her or Winston to kill. They had no other choice but to run. The demons would soon notice their escape and be on their scent trail and with morning coming soon, Winston would no longer be able to run. Given the sun would also hinder the demons from following, but it would likely trap or take Winston completely out of commission.
Sarain knew she could always leave him behind, after all, he was just another vil sang; she herself had killed many. But she felt obligated to help Winston as he helped her; he wouldn't be running for his life if he hadn't saved hers. Though she couldn't understand why a creature, evil by nature, would betray his own kind for someone who hunted them.
Still, their fates seemed sealed; demons could follow a scent like a bloodhound. It would take an act of god to pull them out from this mess.
As they ran down deserted alleyways past crumbling buildings, Sarain knew that they could take no refuge in any place without being followed. Dawn was nearing, and she began to see the desperation in Winston's face. He didn't have much time left.
Then a rumble came from above, but not that of a demon, it was that of an incoming storm. The sky instantly broke down with heavy rain, soaking them both. To Sarain, the water felt like it were trying to wash away the horrible experience of her capture, but to Winston, he knew that the heavy down pour would wash away their scent; with this they could escape.
Sarain turned to Winston as if reading his thoughts; now they only needed somewhere safe to hole up in. They stopped to figure out their location and Winston surveyed their surroundings.
Meanwhile, Sarain couldn't help looking at him, and wondering why he had went so far to save her; why save her at all?
After a moment, Winston seemed to recognize where they were. Then he noticed Sarain's gaze, she looked him in the eye for a moment; his eyes were a vibrant blue, but didn't glow. She had never realized how human vil sangs could be; she was so used to always seeing the demon in them. But now with her violet eyes being the only abnormal pair there, she was the one looking supernatural.
At that instant, Sarain suddenly became aware that she was staring, and quickly turned her head, then said, "Do you know where we are?"
Winston nodded silently, a little shaken, then replied, "Yes, and I know a place that we can go."
He studied her for a second, wondering what she could be thinking, and with a question in both their heads; were they still enemies?
The storm blocked out most of the sun, so when Sarain and Winston finally arrived at their destination it was nearly dawn, but the sky was still a darker shade of blue. Sarain recognized where they were, they were at the Velvet Rose.
She looked up at the building, completely drenched in rain, and turned to Winston and said, “If I was able to find you here, don’t you think Sephor’s men will be able to too?”
Winston looked back at her, he noticed that she had said “Sephor’s men” and not his people, but he didn’t want to bring attention to it, he had a feeling that it would only make Sarain revert back to her old ways. Instead he told her, “I know people know I come here, but trust me, it’s a safe place.”
Sarain shrugged, and thought why not hide out at a brothel, her life was going so great at this point.
They went inside, right through the front door. Sarain hadn’t seen the lobby on her first visit, just a whole lot of Winston and a few other people. The lobby, to her, looked very tacky, like a cliché brothel in some cheesy movie. There was red shag carpeting, maroon and gold wallpapering, old plush-looking sofas, table lamps with colored veils over the lampshades to dim the lighting, and vases full of roses on nearly every end table. The room smelled of perfumes and freshly burnt incense.
There was a woman sitting at an old desk with a cherry wood finish. She had blond hair and looked to be in her twenties, she was attractive, but wore too much makeup, and her clothes looked too binding to Sarain; like the woman was trying too hard to be sexy. The woman smiled at Winston like she knew him, then turned her attention to Sarain and gave her a funny look.
“Now you’re bringing your own girls?” the blond woman said to Winston.
“I am not his girl,” Sarain quickly said, a little too defensive.
Winston chuckled at the thought, and joked to the blond woman, “I figured that I would help you recruit, being your best customer and all.”
The woman laughed, but Sarain wasn’t finding any part of their conversation funny. Winston chatted with the woman further; while eavesdropping, Sarain learned that the woman’s name was Alorea, who had gotten up and walked over to Winston, and was now standing next to him as he explained a vague version of their situation. It was obvious the woman knew what Winston was, and she didn’t appear to be scared. He told her that both he and Sarain were on the run from some very unfriendly acquaintances and that they may come there looking for them, and that they would need to be kept hidden.
Sarain began to step away, bored with their conversation, but Alorea quickly turned to Sarain and said, “Please don’t track water all over the carpet and furniture.”
Sarain rolled her eyes and stood in place. She would hate to ruin such a wonderfully cheap looking room, she sarcastically thought to herself.
Then Alorea continued her conversation with Winston, Sarain noticed that she would touch his arm every so often while talking to him. How much more obvious could she get?
Sarain ignored them, and looked down at her clothing, she was now very aware that she was still wearing the same revealing red dress she had worn to the club to blend in the night before, no wonder the woman had thought she was another working girl. The dress was now dirty and caked with blood. It was severely torn on the back and leg area of the dress, she must look like a mess, she thought. Sarain didn’t really care how she looked; she just wanted to get into something cleaner and less showy. She was still soaked and dripping, and she assumed Winston was too.
And as if reading her mind she heard Winston say to Alorea, “Could you have someone get us some towels?”
She rang a small hand bell and another attractive young woman entered the room, this one a brunette, who asked Alorea what she needed. Alorea instructed her to get towels for Winston and his guest.
Sarain then interrupted by saying, “Could you also get me a change of clothes?”
Winston turned to her and said, “It’s a shame really,” referring to her damaged dress, “I think you look good in red.”
Sarain hoped he was kidding, but when Winston got into his cocky attitude sometimes his comments were hard to read. She ignored his remark, and he went back to talking with the blond. After a moment the brunette came back with two fluffy white towels, and a silky green dress draped over her arm that looked like a nightgown. She handed Sarain the gown, who was thinking how the dress was not what she had had in mind. And then she wrapped the towel around Sarain, touching her shoulders in the process. Sarain flinched when the woman did this, not expecting or used to human contact, and everyone appeared to notice. The brunette looked at Sarain a little shocked by the reaction, and then looked at her directly in the eyes, which Sarain had been trying to avoid. The brunette gave her a peculiar look once she noticed her eyes, and Sarain quickly looked away. The brunette backed off and went to Winston and wrapped his towel around him as well.
Winston continued to chat with Alorea for a moment longer until finally she said, “You both must be tired. I’ll show you to a room.” She led them down a short flight of stairs, and into an underground level of the building that Sarain hadn’t realized was there. That would make four floors total to the large brothel. She walked them down to the end of the hallway and stopped at the last door on the left.
“This is your room,” Alorea said and began to leave without further instruction.
Sarain quickly looked up with a sudden thought and said to Alorea, “Wait, we have to share a room?”
Alorea stopped down the hall, turned around and said, “We are often quite busy, we can only spare the one room.” She then continued to leave.
Sarain looked to Winston who was smiling at her, and she said to him, “There is no way I am sharing a bed with you.”