I just want to say thank you for a little over 100 followers! I’m touched people are even paying attention this blog and reading my crappy story and reblogging my crappy gifs. The process of writing that stuff is incredibly hard. I want to make it good, interesting and unpredictable. The few comments I’ve gotten on the story really mean a lot and for all the support I want to say thank you.
You exhaled deeply, running your sweaty palms against your thighs to rid them of the slight moisture. You had no clue why you were so nervous. You swallowed a dry lump in your throat before reaching for a lukewarm water bottle who-knows-how-many-days old in your cup holder. You took a sip and checked yourself in the rear view mirror. You were parked in front if this tall, illuminated building for a really random job you were offered last night on your community sub-Reddit.
You opened the car door and grabbed your purse, the height of this building really hitting you seeing it up close. You tightened the belt of your felt coat, the fresh breeze making you shudder despite being well-dressed for the chilly weather. You whipped your ponytail as you slammed your car door, taking assured steps towards the sliding doors. The heel of your black knee high boots clicked rhythmically against the bright white linoleum flooring as you approached the front desk. Your eyes shifted around the very minimalist, blinding, white decor, briefly lingering over a framed picture of a bone marrow close up hung above a water machine. You stopped at the front desk, eyes still looking around. The man at the desk didn’t bother looking away from his computer, typing and clicking away.
“Can I help you ma’am?”
You looked down at the well dressed young man and forced a polite smile on your face.
“I’m here about a security is-” you stop as you were suddenly interrupted.
“Ms. Raven?” you heard coming from your left.
You sharply turned your head towards the voice. An Asian man dressed in a well tailored, impeccable black suit greeted you with a reserved smile. He briefly pulled his left sleeve up to look at his expensive black watch, never once faltering in his steps. He looked up, his piercing gaze straight into your eyes.
“On the dot.” he said, stopping right in front of you.
He stretched his right hand in front of you for a quick handshake. You flashed a smile before shaking his hand firmly.
“My name is Dr. Pryce.” he said before turning to the clerk. “Please print a temporary level 4 clearance for this lady.”
The clerk immediately went at it.
“Feel free to leave belongings at the front desk.” he said gesturing to said desk.
You promptly nodded and started unbuttoning your black coat. You took your phone and slipped it in your jean's pocket, before putting your things neatly on the glass top. You straightened your white button down shirt before taking the freshly plasticized pass from Dr. Pryce’s hands. You looked up at him, but he already turned on his heels.
“Follow me.” he said firmly.
He took you to the glass door he came from and pointed to the scanner on the right side of the frame. You brushed your card against it after he scanned his and followed him through a number of indistinguishable corridors. Something about the place made you feel uneasy. You weren’t sure if it was the conspicuous cleanliness of the white walls or the hospital smell. Your eyes darted from one side to the other, even the handful of employees that crossed your path all looked the same. You swallowed a dry lump in your throat, snapping out of your thoughts just in time before bumping into Dr. Pryce.
“Have you read the report I sent you?” he asked as he pushed the button for the elevator.
He looked you up and down and held your gaze.
“I have... Actually, I skimmed through it. Security reports are mostly made to seem like the threat is bigger than it actually is so you buy even more expensive security for the exact same lame protection.” you rambled, avoiding his eye contact.
“Is the problem benign then?” he asked, stepping into the metallic box, followed by you.
You watched him press the level and caught his glance as he turned towards you. You scoffed.
“I'd have to see the actual system. Reports don’t tell me much.” you paused. “Though, it did say 27,394 attempts if I remember correctly. The person trying to get into your files is... persistent.”
“We carry extremely sensitive information here.” He said, holding his strong gaze into yours. “I didn’t make you sign any contract, but I think you know your line of work is... illegal. I assume you understand the ramifications if you were to leak any information, correct?” he said very flatly.
You were a little taken aback by the blackmail, but quickly composed yourself. After all, you were inside the building of a multi-million dollar company. Despite them needing your help, they weren't actually obligated to offer you any kind of security given the nature of the job. You cleared your throat.
“I know nothing.” you said looking at the ceiling.
“Me neither. Let’s keep it that way.” he said, an oblique smile stretching his lips.
You followed him through a few more of the same corridors and stopped in front of a small black door. The word "Security" was plated in silver, levelled with your eyes. The only thing that differed from the entire decor. Wide windows ran across the surrounding walls, illuminating the inside with more bright white neon light. You could see inside was a decent sized office, with multiple desks at which a computer was placed. It wasn't very busy, in fact, only one desk was occupied.
You looked down at the doorknob as Dr. Pryce entered a security number. You walked in after him, taking a good look around. He took you at the back of the office, to an empty desk and visibly unoccupied station. He gestured you to take a seat.
"Neat facilities..." you said, letting yourself fall into the comfortable leather chair.
Not expecting an answer from Pryce, you quickly got to work, getting familiar with the computer and starting to navigate through commands. You opened a command prompt and launched a complicated stream of scripts, a bunch of lines writing themselves white on black in front of your eyes.
“I don’t know who would have the courage to try and hack your system 30 thousand times.” you said, finding yourself talking to fill the silence. “You’re even lucky the guy that’s supposed to be in his seat launched the re-encryption program once you almost got broken into.”
You typed away on the keyboard, skimming over the security programming. Dr. Pryce let out an audible chuckle which caught you off guard. You quickly looked over your shoulder before shifting your attention back to the screen.
“It’s an automatic command. I implemented it myself.” he said flatly.
You chuckled as well, nodding approvingly.
“Smart.”
"I's a simple chain of execution. A dummy could code it."
You went at the codes, rewriting a couple of lines like a robot. You were so used to going over pages and pages of codes and writing most of them yourself, it became an automatism. You could spot most coding errors within minutes.
“Your security system is extremely rigid.” you noted, finding a nook you tried to flatten. “Rigid, but excellent so far...”
You launched another script which prompted a loading bar slowly increasing. You spun your chair towards Dr. Pryce.
“Why message me? You easily could've gotten police on this.” you said, crossing your arms over your chest. “It’s a solid enough case of ‘someone’s trying to steal my stuff’.”
Dr. Pryce’s brown eyes glossed over the screen before finding your quizzing stare on him.
“Police? They're good for nothing." he said rolling his eyes. "I would solve this issue myself if I was competent. I am but a simple scientist. I read on that Reddit website that you are one of the best hacker there is. What luck you happen to be in Hemlock Grove...”
“You’re being too humble Dr. Pryce. My work isn’t exactly noble.” you said, frowning.
“I hoped you could help us find who’s behind this attack... and what they’re after.” he said between his gritted teeth.
You turned back towards your screen, watching the 99 turn to a 100% before resuming your coding.
“Fortunately, or unfortunately for you, they didn’t leave any trace... as they couldn’t quite get in. They did damage your system though.” you said, pointing your index to the ceiling and waving it in a reprimanding fashion.
Dr. Pryce quickly took a look at his watch.
“Well, I have a meeting. I will leave you to it. Meet me in the lobby in an hour.”
“Perfect. Just enough time to patch.”
He nodded and quickly walked away, leaving you almost alone in the room to do your craft.
The hour passed too quickly and you found yourself barely finishing the reconfiguration of the security codes. Rushing the last line, but sealing the job well enough. You reset and re-launched the system, before getting up. You stretched your slender arms, folding them behind your head. You tilted back, cracking your upper vertebrae and releasing a lot of tension in your back and shoulders. Despite the chair being comfortably adjusted, you couldn't help your terrible posture in front of a screen. You yawned, closing the door to the security room. You took a handful of steps before realizing you were not quite sure where you were going. Off the top of your head, you managed not to get lost too much in the countless corners of the facility and found yourself in the lobby a minute... or five late. You found Dr. Pryce pacing at the desk.
"I restored and rearranged your entire security. I don't know if you often ran into false quarantine alerts, but it shouldn't happen anymore now and can't be influenced by outside factors either." you said, vividly catching his attention.
"Thank god." he muttered between his teeth, a bit of anger showing through.
You furrowed your eyebrows, unsure what to make out of his reaction.
"I uh... Also want to inform you that some people think their incognito browsing hides all the... content they look up. Newsflash: it doesn't. So I wiped a few viruses."
The doctor made a disgusted face and rolled his eyes. The clerk handed your things back without you needing to ask him. You nodded a thanks his way, noticing the slight blush on his cheeks and proceeded to put your coat back on.
"I almost forgot, your compensation is in my office. Just one moment..." he said as he was handed a pile of files from the clerk.
"I'll wait..." you said, standing awkwardly next to the counter.
Dr. Pryce nodded and you clutched your purse, aimlessly pacing around the waiting area.
Dr. Pryce took the elevator to his office and piled the folders on his desk. He quickly went through his organizer and found a white envelope, seemingly filled with a lot of cash. He exit his office and continued his long steady strides towards the elevator. As the elevator closed, a pale delicate hand slipped between the slit of the doors, stopping them from closing and a tall slender body slithered itself in.
"Roman." Dr. Pryce greeted, faking his enthusiasm.
"What the fuck Pryce, where the fuck have you been?" he said between his gritted teeth.
"Busy with meetings. Is there a problem Roman?" Dr. Pryce asked nonchalantly.
"I'm running out of... stuff. When is it going to be ready?" Roman said, the tone in his voice lowered.
The doctor scoffed and turned towards the young man.
"Don't you remember how your lovely mother got a warrant and forced us to shred any file on Oroboros?"
"What does that ha-"
"That includes flushing the entire tank, Roman."
"The police already searched. They found nothing." the young man said in between biting his nails with anxiety.
The elevator dings. Dr. Pryce calmly stepped out, followed by a visibly upset Roman pacing up to him.
"When the fuck is it going to be ready again?" Roman whisper-shouted to Pryce, conscious of the people now walking around the hallways.
Pryce crossed the glass door towards the front desk and found you pacing, leaving Roman behind, hanging.
"There you go Ms. Raven."
You sharply turned around at the sound of your name. You smiled and reached out to grab the white envelope. You tore it open and quickly ran your thumb over the green bills.
"I threw some extra on top for your discretion." he said finding himself at his turn filling silence.
You looked up at him before slipping the cash in your purse.
"Was a pleasure to work with you." Dr. Pryce said, hand out for a handshake.
You shook his hand, puzzled by his statement since you didn't get to see him for more than 10 minutes.
"Same..." you simply said before turning on your heels.
Roman shot bullets from his eyes through the glass door, towards Pryce. As you shook hands, he recognized you from the other night. The young man pushed the glass door, forgetting about the pass he left on his desk and walked up to the front desk.
"Print me a full clear pass." he said, slapping his hand on the glass top, not once taking his eyes off you.
The clerk, not bothered to look up simply said.
"I'll need an I.D sir."
Roman scoffed and turned to the clerk.
"You know who the fuck I am. Print it." he commanded firmly, still keeping his voice low, but dangerous.
The clerk looked up and immediately regretted his arrogance. He swallowed the lump in his throat and began printing a copy of Roman's all access pass as the latter headed out the door.
You stood a few feet away from the entrance door, a cigarette between your lips. You ran into an acquaintance from your history class at Hemlock University that interned here and managed to get you to small talk with him. The guy looked behind your shoulder and suddenly changed his expression from candid to tense.
"I better go." he said flashing you a shy smile. "See you later Genevieve!"
Puzzled, you followed him with your eyes as he left.
"Genevieve?" Roman said, slightly surprised... or maybe insulted?
You turned around, finding the tall young gentleman, lighting himself a cigarette as he walked closer to you. It took you a second to recognize the man you kissed behind the bar you don't work at. His hair was slicked to the side as opposed to dangling around his delicate face, his eyes as restless and his gaze piercing as ever. You smiled an amused smile as you decoded his facial expression.
"Raven's my middle name." you snickered, smoking your cigarette while holding his stare.
"Hm." Roman simply hummed. "What are you doing here?" he asked, failing to hide the scorn in his voice with curiosity.
"Small town I guess." you shrugged, oblivious.
Roman scoffed and you giggled, trying to hide your smile behind the hand holding your smoke.
"Besides, I could ask you the same question." you said before taking a long drag of your cigarette.
"My name's on the building." he casually threw out, taking a step forward to close the distance between the two of you. "You left me so high and dry the other night." he whispered seductively as he towered over you, his eyes glossing hungrily over your delicate features before hooking themselves in yours.
Not wanting to find yourself in his intoxicating embrace again, you placed a hand on his chest, keeping him from leaning too far in. You flashed a devious smile, looking down.
"You didn't seem too bothered when you left with that other chick..." you said playfully, taking your hand back to smoke some more, pursing your lips in a taunting smile.
"Hm yeah..." he said, reminiscing the night. "We fucked in my car." he said looking around, as if he was bored. "Not nearly as much fun as I hoped I'd have with you."
He held your stare down as he said the last part, smoking his cigarette calmly as if saying that kind of thing was normal.
"You shall never know..." you said smiling, flicking the filter of your cigarette to the side and blowing the remnant of smoke in your lungs to his face.
"Never say never." he said winking, sharing your mischievousness.
You couldn't help but scoff, taking some steps backwards.
"Goodbye." you said bowing your head slightly, taking a theatrical exit with your arms out.
He raised an eyebrow as you turned your back to him. He watched you walk back to your car, gnawing on his bottom lip, admiring your slender legs carrying your beautiful frame away. You opened the door and glanced over the top of your dark gray car. His eyes were still riveted onto you, mumbling words you couldn't read off his beautifully plump lips.
"Genevieve Raven..." he mumbled, your name crossing his lips in a fine mist and vanishing into thin air.
You lifted your head up, getting a good read out of the giant neon way above Roman's head on the building.
"Roman... Godfrey..." you breathed out, stepping into your car.
Here begins my story. Can’t be bothered to write a prologue or warnings, whatever kids put before their stories these days. Enjoy the mystery.
"Mint Julep!" you said flatly, sliding the short glass across the dark wooden bar.
The lady didn't bother giving you a smile or anything before slapping a bill on the bar and disappearing in a crowd of people. You grab the piece of crumpled paper and rolled your eyes, not even a tip. You let out a faint sigh, grabbing a damp washcloth on the counter to wipe a few rim marks on the surface. You dump the cloth in the sink and spot a young man sitting down a few seats to the left of you. He hunched over the bar, his arms crossed on the counter. You swiftly make your way towards the new customer and lean on your left elbow.
"What can I get you?" you say, a devious smile on your face.
The young man laid his seemingly tired, beady, blue eyes on you, scanning your face briefly before moving down to your generous cleavage. He wasn't even trying to be discreet as he checked you out. His hair was a light shade of brown, with a long fringe messily tucked behind his ear and short back. His features were sharp, the skin sunken under his eyes and tightly hugging his cheekbones. His pink lips were full and his smile minimal. He was dressed nicely in a black button up shirt and pants. He pinched his lips together, not bringing his eyes up to yours.
"Whiskey." he said of a low raspy voice.
You take an impulse off the counter and nod, murmuring a quick "Coming right up". You grab a short glass and a bottle of whiskey, pouring the glass before putting it on a coaster in front of the man. He grabs the glass and twists it between his long narrow fingers, swirling the amber liquid before lifting the glass to take a quick whiff. You watch as he takes the shot in one swift gulp, slamming the glass on the bar. He uses his thumb to wipe the side of his plump lips and slides the glass back your way. He gives you a sharp look as you turn towards the now empty glass. You look up into his blue eyes.
"Another one. 2 inches, straight."
You smirk and bring back the bottle to pour his second drink. You turn towards the shelves and as you screw the cap onto the bottle to put it back, you hear him.
"I've never seen you before..."
You catch him straightening his head as you turn around. You look down at your legs, one covered in tattoos and the other one bare, both free of fabrics from your black shorts, then you look back at him. He clears his throat and lifts his glass up to his face. You chuckle, grabbing another bottle to make someone else's order.
"Because you know everyone that works here?" you say as you wipe a tall skinny round glass dry.
He watches you as you mix the content of a long island ice tea in the shaker and takes a sip of his whiskey.
"Hemlock Grove is a small town..." he says, flashing you an awkwardly fake smile for a split second.
You pour the woman the drink and take another order.
"I'm filling in for a friend." you say, messily pouring 6 tequila shots over the glasses on the counter.
A group of young adults downed them before going to the pool table. You wipe the counter of the salt and grab all the cash on the counter to stuff it in your apron. The young man straightens up on his stool and puts his glass down. You turn towards him to grab his glass.
"Another one?" you ask playfully.
He raises his right forearm and shows your two fingers.
"Vodka. Shots." he simply clarifies.
You shrug your shoulders lightly.
"Oouh, are you waiting on someone?" you say grabbing a bottle of vodka.
You pour the two shots in front of him and watch as he grabs one. You put the bottle away and resume your wiping of the counter.
"No. It's for you."
You perk an eyebrow up as he raises his glass to his lips.
"You're allowed to drink on your shift right?" he asks.
You don't answer. An oblique smile stretches his lips as he locks eyes with you. He flicks his wrist at you as to signify "go on".
"So drink." he adds, nodding down.
You smile and grab the glass, taking the shot in one go, barely tasting the vodka. You feel the warm liquid go down and slam the glass on the counter. You lock eyes with the stranger.
"Good girl." he says, a wink flying your way.
You poorly hide the smile trying to stretch your lips as you take away the glasses.
"So what's your name?" he asks, leaning on the counter eyeing you down again.
"Rae."
"Roman." he says gently nibbling on his bottom lip. "What time are you getting off?"
You chuckle as you wipe your hands on your apron.
"Break time." you say as you tag team your partner.
You snigger as you untie your apron and go in the back. You grab a blunt out of your bag as well as your phone and head out the backdoor. You light your mix of tobacco and ganja and take the first hit. You feel it ease the tension in your neck and shoulders as you pace around the dumpsters. You feel the cool breeze wrap around your bare legs, caressing the soft skin and raising tiny goose bumps. You mindlessly click your nails against the touch screen of your phone, going through your text messages and emails, stretching the length of your blunt over the 15 minute break.
You lean against a brick wall, taking a long drag, about halfway through your smoke, when you catch a shadow in the corner of your eye. You turn your head towards the movement and catch Roman. You lower your hand from your face.
"Following me now?" you say loudly, the echo murmuring after your voice.
You hear a faint, dark chuckle as he steps closer, smoking a cigarette himself. He draws a puff out and steps under the light you were standing under.
"The other one wasn't as pleasant to look at." he says, throwing the butt of his cigarette on the floor and stepping on it, hands in the pockets on his black pants.
You can't help, but giggle at his remark. Roman blatantly checks you out again as he circles around you. You look down as you take a hit out of your blunt and ghost it out, not really minding how upfront he was. Roman stops in his tracks and looks up at you. He takes a good sniff and sniggers.
"You're smoking something a little different aren't you?" he says, licking his lips.
You look up at him and shrug coyly, bringing your fingers to your mouth to take another puff, holding his stare. Roman steps in front of you and lowers his stare to your lips. He slowly reduces the space between the two of you and takes a hand out of his pocket. You feel his nimble fingers snake their way around your waist, placing themselves on the small of your back. He gently pulls you off the wall and presses you softly against him. A soft whimper crosses your lips.
"Hit me." he whispers to you, leaning in and tilting his head to the side.
You take the smoke of your blunt into your mouth and place your hand delicately on his shoulder, your fingers slightly going up his neck. You tilt your head up and slowly blow the thick gray smoke into his slightly puckered lips. He sucks the smoke into his mouth, gradually closing the distance between your lips. Without even realizing it, you leaned in too, closing your eyes until your lips finally meet his. They were soft and plush, warm and very delicate. You feel him gently dig his fingertips into the skin of your back. Roman gently parts his lips and deepens the kiss, blowing a little smoke onto your lips. You feel his tongue brush against your bottom lip and let out a faint, but drawn out moan as he pulls your hips closer and tighter to his. You both blow the remnant of smoke out of your lungs through your nose as the kiss becomes more intense. Your fingers find themselves entangled in his dirty blonde hair as you melt into his arms. The kiss was intoxicating, like the whiskey and cigarette taste on his lips. You moaned a saddened moan as he broke the kiss off. His lustful gaze lost onto the beauty of your face. You keep your arms around his neck and find yourself wanting to get even closer to him, the clothes feeling like miles. You couldn't put a finger on it, but the boy was mesmerizing.
"Come home with me." he whispers into your ear, his lips brushing against your jaw.
You bite your lips to keep yourself from moaning too much, his gentle touch lighting a spark of desire in your stomach. You flick the ash off the end of your almost finished blunt and take another hit. You close your eyes to enjoy his soft touch before feeling a buzz in your back pocket. You quickly move away to take a look at the text message you just got.
"I can't." you say weakly.
You wanted it. You wanted it bad. You clear your throat, coming back to your senses.
"I'm working." you quickly say before peeling his arms off of you.
You step away, despite feeling like your knees would give up. You finish your blunt on the way to the door, not looking back to the beautiful man you just randomly flushed.
"You still haven't told me when you get off?" he shouts, his voice breaking at the end.
You pull the heavy door open and look over your shoulder at him, throwing the remnants of your smoke on the floor.
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