Kill Me, My Love

Chapter 6

"Portland"

In the morning, a few events transpired that knocked Lina off her course. Sam had disappeared somewhere, and Nathan received a phone call and argued with someone for a long time. When Sam returned, Nathan had finished his call and began to shout at Sam.

All this time, Lina sat in the bathroom, not daring to come out. The men shouted at each other and cursed terribly. From fragments of their argument, the girl only heard that someone had been killed, that they needed to leave urgently, and that nothing bad would happen if they changed their route. Eventually, someone knocked on the bathroom door, and she had to leave her hiding place.

"Get ready," Sam said coldly, propping the entrance door with his body.

His arms were crossed over his chest, and his face radiated suppressed rage.

"I'm already ready," Lina replied, searching for support in Nathan's gaze.

But he was busy tapping away on his smartphone, not paying attention to anyone.

"Then let's go," he said and opened the door, stepping into the hallway.

The girl calmly followed him.

Outside, a surprise awaited her – a new car. A dark gray sleek beauty with an elongated front and matte glass.

"What is this?" she asked, astonished. "What happened to yesterday's car?"

"Back to where I got it. Returned it to the owners because Nathan-good-boy doesn't like devilish tricks."

The man opened the door and, as usual, took the driver's seat. This time, Lina decided to keep company with the silent light and settled next to him in the back seat.

Sam merely scoffed at her behavior and turned on some music group that sang about sex, drugs, and freedom.

The girl once again immersed herself in observing the landscapes and seemed to fall asleep midway through the drive.

She woke up only when they were entering the city.

"Where are we?" she asked sleepily, looking at Nathan.

"Portland, certain problems have arisen, so we need to resolve them quickly and continue our way."

"Resolve quickly?" Sam grimaced ironically. "I doubt you'll manage to sort them out quickly. By the way, don’t expect my help; I plan to spend the night with whiskey and a few naked prostitutes."

"I don't need your help; just take me to northwest Portland on Seventh Avenue. We can go our separate ways by tomorrow."

"Great," Sam snapped back.

"Wonderful," Nathan added.

They didn't communicate any further, and Lina was frozen in delight. The car was just driving over a huge bridge, revealing an incredible view of the river and glass skyscrapers ahead. The city impressed with its noise, the crowd of busy people in business suits, women in tight skirts and high hairstyles. The center exuded an atmosphere of haste, coffee in paper cups, and pastries from the bakery on the corner. The girl wanted to absorb every honking signal, not miss a single shout from an annoyed driver, or from a cyclist who was moving on red. She pressed her face against the glass and watched this explosion of hormones that surrounded every Portland resident.

"Do you want to take a walk?" Sam suddenly asked, pulling her from her street contemplation.

"Yes," the girl exhaled excitedly, unable to contain her happiness.

She couldn't believe that Samael would actually let her step outside. And that she would stand among people, like an ordinary mortal.

"Then we’ll drop the light off now, and I'll treat you to breakfast at a central café. It’s always busy there."

"I doubt it’s a good idea; my parents wouldn't approve," Nathan indifferent interjected.

"First off, we shouldn’t have even stopped in Portland!"

"If it weren't for your dark ones and their games, we wouldn't have stopped anywhere!" Nathan snapped, drilling the front seat with his furious gaze.

"Nothing has been proven yet, but you’ve already jumped to conclusions. I’m fed up with your accusations. When there’s a murder or an epidemic or a disaster, the dark ones are immediately blamed. And you with your white wings – never accountable for anything. Damn saints," Samael cursed, slamming the gas pedal.

The car immediately accelerated dangerously, but the men didn’t care.

"What can you do when you adore chaos and destruction? Frankly, we don’t care about all your disgusting entertainments, but at least you could cover your tracks. Otherwise, you look for witnesses, erase their memories, forge documents, destroy evidence... I've had it up to here for the last five hundred years."

"Who’s to blame that you messed up and were expelled from Elysium to this sinful gray land? Atone for your sins, light one," Sam grinned and abruptly stopped the car. "We've arrived."

The vehicle stopped in front of a brown five-story building with broken windows and obscene black graffiti. The street was completely empty, no passersby, only trash and a few homeless people sitting on the curb, sipping from a questionable drink.

"Unwelcoming place," the dark one commented. "So, Lina, do you want to see what the work of these saints looks like?"

"I do," the girl nodded eagerly.

"Don’t involve her in this any further. If you want to see what all the elders were in a tizzy about, then let’s go. But Lina will stay in the car," Nathan coldly uttered.

“No, you won’t give me orders,” Sam replied and got out of the car.

Ignoring the light one’s disapproving look, Lina also climbed out onto the street. The air was filled with an incomprehensible stench. The girl barely held herself back from covering her nose.

"I think we should go in here," Samael pointed at the shattered entrance doors of the building. "Let’s go."

He grabbed Lina by the hand, and at the moment their palms touched, a troubling, intoxicating shiver coursed through the girl’s body. A strange electric charge, unlike anything she’d felt before. Unknowingly, the dark one seemed to sense the same, as he momentarily paused before sharply moving forward, dragging the bewildered Lina behind him.