ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ

𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘰 𝘈 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦

♛♛♛

Silver and hazel met.

With the lack of emotion in his eyes, the silver poured and glowed straight through hers. She gulped. Her nerves were unsettled with his most cold eyes staring straight through her.

Hazel looked away. The intense stare immediately sent unsettling sensations through her system. The girl kept strumming to her music—low enough for her to be aware of her surroundings.

Hazel kept herself occupied by scrolling through her phone. She didn't have any social media accounts and relied solely on Twitter to keep up with celebrity news.

She went into her photo album app instead of playing games. She selected the first photo after scrolling to the very top.

"How'd the deal go tonight?" One of the men asked.

Hazel glanced up at the males and immediately recognised the silver-eyed man who had joined them.

Because he had his back to her, she couldn't see his features, to which she so desperately wanted to see.

The young woman's mind wandered in all directions as to how gorgeous he must be—basing it on the single glance she had at his lips and eyes.

Her attention was drawn to his hair, which was a dark brown that bordered on black due to the darkness. And from the back perspective, she could tell he was muscular—very muscular.

The question stated only a moment ago was then answered, by him.

"They bought it."

An awfully attractive voice had spoken, a deep octave slightly etched with a terrifyingly powerful dominance to it—something that made Hazel's spine crawl with goosebumps.

The blonde-haired man with a cigar laughed, almost sinisterly.

"Of course they would, no one can say no to the Devil,"

Hazel frowned at the term he had used. Devil?

It was odd per se. Never has she heard someone call another the Devil. It would've rather been offensive, wouldn't it?

With the cigarette between his lips and his hands in his pockets, the captivating man didn't reply. He seemed detached on something else or maybe just he didn't care.

The other men chuckled, the laughs deep and in harmony with each other. Hazel ignored them blandly, returning her focus to the device.

She scrolled through the pictures, making sure to take in each photo with her eyes and heart. Each photo was from when she was a lot younger—well, last year to be exact. At the beginning of the previous year, where everything was happily normal for her.

As she scrolled, her fingers stopped moving as they landed on a specific photo.

The aching girl looked down at the photo with blurry eyes. The much happier and spirited girl was lying in the grass, her mother behind her, brushing her fingers through her red hair.

On the other side was a blonde girl, she was much taller and older looking. Bright brown eyes and a perfect smile.

Too perfect. Hazel thought. Hazel eyes tearing and falling.

She continued to study the photo, she noticed how perfectly happy they were. Her father took the photo behind the device with a grin of his own.

Hazel and her older sister are in the grass with their mother, her blonde hair matching her sisters.

The photo was taken in their backyard, it was exceptionally small but still pretty. With flowers blossoming every spring and white snow filling the confronted grass every winter.

Unfortunately, now that garden is only consumed with dead weeds and empty holes the neighbours dog creates when they let him loose.

Hazel cried silently, tears uncontrollably forcing out of her eyes while she clicked her phone shut. The chocolate in her hand had now been placed aside as she furiously wiped at her tears.

The young girl hadn't noticed the men from before were now gone, except for one.

On the other end of the bench sat the male. And Hazel noticed movement, snapping her blurred eyes towards the motion.

She jumped in her seat when she realised there was an extremely large man next to her. His large form was towering over the area and his build firmly made little Hazel look like an ant compared.

The dim lighting did nothing to affirm his features, although, Hazel knew it was the attractive man from before. From the demanding contour he held and his overly large form, she knew it was him.

And that overall had only made her anxious.

Remembering the silver eyes that glowed, they switched right to her at that very moment, causing her own to widen.

She didn't look away, his eyes had captured her own, impossibly compelling her eyes to not look away. The silver orbs glowed, they shone darkly but lightly—if that was possible.

The dark didn't do much to confirm his features, like previously. The dim light from the moon only allowed his eyes to be seen.

"Want to talk about it?"

His voice caught her off guard, the tone was completely unemotional, but his voice was this raspy yet extremely deep mixture. The same skin-crawling voice from moments ago.

She couldn't tell if she was mesmerised by it or not. Confused even, not being sure why she felt so pulled to the voice.

Said man looked away from the young girl. His focus returned to the path in front of them both. They were dead, his eyes.

Hazel remembered the question, and then remembered why she was crying. Talking about it would make her feel a lot better, she knew it would.

She didn't have any friends to talk to about it, neither did she have anyone, in general, to talk about it with.

Though, Hazel was intimidated by the male beside her. The threatening mixture of dangerous and powerful was what he contained, something she's come to stay away from her whole life.

But he was a stranger. Presuming to talk to a stranger would be better than anything—surely better than holding it in.

Besides, she wouldn't ever see him again. He was a stranger.

Taking the risk, she replied to his question.

"Not if you don't mind," She whispered, her tone was excessively soft and had the slightest nervous shake to it.

He shook his head, leaning back in his seat with his legs spread. Returning to her eyes again he stared at her deeply.

"I don't." He replied in a dark, deep rumble. Hazel gulped and shrugged off the goosebumps.

Exhaling, she broke another piece of her chocolate and dissolved it into her mouth. The music in her ears had stopped unknowingly, and she took out the earphones.

Turning to the man, she gave him her undivided attention and looked at his darkened face, purposely avoiding his steel eyes.

"Well, my mother kicked me out of my home tonight," She sighed longingly, the images of the said memory appearing in her mind.

She frowned deeply as she recalled her mothers slurred words and stumbling body, her father's emotionless gaze and uncaring soul.

"I'm not sure why she hates me. She says her death was my fault, it wasn't though," She whispered more to herself than the stranger.

The man's eyes had darkened a fraction, somehow the image of the small girl being hated on wasn't something he wanted to picture.

Hazel glanced to her lap, swirling waters blinkering around her orbs.

"Why?" He questioned, his eyes watching her closely.

She frowned again and looked up at the man, confused.

"Why what?" She questioned confused, peering up into his eyes.

He glanced behind her and ran a hand over his thigh once and then repeated himself.

"Why did she kick you out?"

Averting her gaze, she remained unsure of the answer to his question. She knew it had something to do with the unknown hatred in her mother's heart, but the actual solution was devoid.

"She was drinking," Was all she could say, and it was all she could answer.

It then went silent.

The silence wasn't necessarily uncomfortable but it wasn't comforting either, it was more silence between two strangers.

"I might go back home a little later. Usually, they're both passed out before 4." The girl mentioned—the last piece of chocolate was then taken into her mouth.

The wind had picked up around them, whirling the cool breeze against the girl's blotchy skin. Her red hair flowed with it.

"Who's death?" The male asked her, causing Hazel to freeze in her seat.

She wished she'd kept that part to herself, just kept rambling mouth closed. But now she had to disengage the question to the man.

"Uh," She scratched the back of her head, her other hand holding tightly onto her phone.

"Is it okay if I don't want to talk about it?" She asked weakly.

Looking over at her, his piercing eyes met hers as he gave her half a shrug—a careless one. His eyes had then glanced down towards her tightened fists before he looked back up.

"That's fine." He replied rather flatly.

Hazel exhaled quietly and relaxed when the question got brushed off. She most definitely did not want to talk about that night, ever.

The girl had finally glanced at the man after several minutes of avoiding his gaze—his gaze was carefully watching their surroundings.

She looked at him almost curiously. He came off so mysterious to her, it was almost eating at her to place him into the light just to see his features.

And as if he could sense eyes on him, he slowly looked away and peered into her eyes, again.

Hazel immediately felt embarrassed for being caught and looked away almost instantly. Her already red cheeks turned impossibly redder.

The phone in her hand became her new interest. Looking at the device as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Are you from around here?" Hazel blurted out, wanting to know a little more about the stranger.

It was silent for a while before he answered.

"No."

His answer was a clean and simple one-word response. She frowned at that.

"Well, where are you from then?" She elaborated, hoping that the intimidating man wouldn't get mad at her for asking another question.

She glanced up at him again, curious to know if he was looking at her still, to which he wasn't.

It was obvious to see the hand that ran through his hair—hair that looked thick and dark. He launched his large arms around the seat and reclined back comfortably.

"I move around a lot." Was his answer. Now, it wasn't a sentence, but it was more than one word. To which Hazel appreciated.

"That must be nice... travelling," She replied, her eyes refocusing around the area.

He hummed deeply, the automatic rumble made Hazel shift uncomfortably in her seat—due to the tingly feeling she got hearing it.

She shifted in her seat again, her hair slightly brushing with the wind. And as it blew past them, the almost heavenly scent of a manly fragrance engulfed her senses.

The smell was somehow alluring. A musky and manly tinge.

Abruptly, a phone rang—the phone belonging to the man beside her. She peeked at him taking the phone into his hand and answering it.

He didn't say anything as he answered, only the sound of a rushed voice on the other side. She glanced towards his eyes, deceitfully they looked lifeless, blankly staring at the path in front of them.

"Keep him there. I'm on my way." He spoke into the phone with a tinge of anger to his already dark voice.

Hazel looked away immediately when he hung up, easily placing the phone back into his pocket.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw him stand, he ran a hand through his hair and then made a move to step away from the bench.

"Wait!" Hazel called, her own voice shocking herself.

The man stopped, his head turned slightly to one side. Not looking at her directly, only tilted enough to hear whatever she had to say.

Still conveyed by the dark, she spoke to the figure.

"What's your name?"

Anxiously, she waited for his response. Hazel wanted to thank him, she had finally talked about what was on her mind—even if it were only a few sentences.

And she was grateful for the company, even though it was mostly silent. Though, still grateful.

He glanced at her with his cold eyes, the muscle in his jaw ticking in the process.

"Julius."

She smiled slightly, though before she could say her name back, he turned away from her and blended in with the dark.

Hazel's smile faded. Knowing she was now once again, alone. That's how it's been for months now, just her and herself.

She plunged her earphones back into her ears, now blasting Lizzo to keep her mood uplifted.

Unknowingly, she closed her eyes and let herself drift off with the music. She didn't sleep, because she knew that would be stupid. Aware that there was a darkness lurking around these streets.

Although, unaware that the man she just relived to was truly that lurking darkness himself. Though that certain darkness had commanded two of his men to keep watch over her. So the young girl he had just listened to, was safe.