Chapter 585: +Chapter 585+
Angelo made a move to step back but Nikolai only held him tighter. "You blew up our date." He accused in turn.
Nikolai’s smile was gentle, "I know a place..."
Angelo narrowed his eyes, Nikolai saying that couldn’t be anything good. "Where?"
Now Nikolai let him go, his fingers trailing down his spine and across his waist in his reluctance. "Come."
He took Angelo’s wrist and walked in the opposite direction of the blast, sirens and loud voices coming from the flattened club which burned in the aftermath of the explosion.
Angelo docilely followed along, it was a cool night, the skies clear. There wasn’t always a steady power supply downtown and even in the places there were, the bulbs and lamps had been smashed out by thugs so there were a lot of dark patches; this made for a perfect background to better see the clear skies, a silvery half moon providing zero illumination.
There was a cool breeze blowing as they walked past seedy motels and patched up houses, the lighting from the few working streetlights getting dimmer and dimmer the farther they walked.
There were groups of people huddled in shadowed corners and although they said nothing as two very out of place people walked past them, their beady eyes were fixed on them.
Angelo walked over a huge crack in the pavement, calm despite their dangerous location. He didn’t think that Nikolai would have a reason to be this familiar with downtown Haines.
The Lauder Mafia might be unorthodox but they were a Mafia House nonetheless, most of Nikolai’s interaction with downtown should have been from the lofty position of a Mafia King.
Only the lowest scum of Haines scurried around these parts of downtown, it was a world of its own.
They walked past a couple of metal benches on the side of a street, they all had covered bumps on them, some sitting, some lying down. It was still far too early for the occupants of this part of the city to be asleep.
Angelo frowned at the creaking gate of an abandoned factory, the expression deepening when he glimpsed the clinic next to it. It looked to be in worse shape than the factory but was somehow still functional.
The neon sign in front of the clinic flickered ominously, the lights coming from the interior dim and shady.
Nikolai picked up on his strange behavior before he did, slowing down when he noticed Angelo’s attention lingering on something.
"What’s wrong?" He asked softly, stopping.
Angelo shook his head, "It’s probably nothing. This place just looks a little too familiar." Nikolai held his wrist but Angelo started walking first.
Nikolai pulled him back, curious. "In a good way?"
Angelo had no choice but to come to a stop again, his attention fixed on the unlikely factory and clinic combo. He hadn’t had much of a reason to be here before and after he met Silvia.
But for the few days he had been on the run before he bumped into her, he had been in a lot of dangerous situations, somehow surviving on the fringes of hell.
"Yes," Angelo said with an absent smile, getting caught up in memories.
A decade ago, the factory and the clinic looked much better than it did now but it was no more safe. The factory had still been out of business because the thugs around treated it as their very own storage. Only businesses with strong influences flourished downtown.
The clinic however, was a completely different case. In the underbelly of the city, drugs were more common than groceries and for a clinic who would give out free syringes and provide a warm place for people to momentarily stay, it was treated far better than the churches around here.
It was why even after years, the clinic was still up and running, despite being very rundown.
"It was when I was on the run," Angelo started, making another effort to pull Nikolai forward again.
This time the Mafia King listened to him and got with the program, leading the way once more after one last lingering look at the scene.
Angelo had never told anyone this before, not even Silvia. There had simply not been a time to. His relationship with Silvia had been one of few words, and it was still very much the same now even after their relationship had improved.
It really wasn’t a bad memory, it was one of the few good ones he could still remember from his childhood.
"I was a scrawny little male Omega who had only been a few streets away from the houses we lived in," There was no bitterness or sadness in his tone, only a hint of nostalgia. "An easy target anywhere, and especially so downtown."
Nikolai listened with an empty expression, his hold around Angelo’s wrist tightening enough to bruise.
"I had to think fast on my feet or I would have been dead before I could even be found." Despite his gruesome words, Angelo’s tone was wistful, like he was remembering a pleasant past.
"I managed for a few days until I was cornered, my chances were slim, they wanted more than the little food I’d managed to scrounge up." Angelo turned to Nikolai with a smile on his face, noting the Alpha’s dark expression.
"A savior wasn’t in my vocabulary at that time but despite that, I got one. He was about my age but somehow scrawnier than I was even though he was an Alpha..."
Nikolai listened intently with an odd expression growing on his face, almost forgetting to pay attention to where he was going. This was the most he had ever heard Angelo speak, it made his throat close up.
"He had a gun though and after he dropped a couple of them, the rest ran off." Angelo trailed off, his gaze distracted like he was trying hard to remember something. "He left before I could thank him, I still don’t know who that was, and I’ve never come across him again."
"If you could, would you?" Nikolai asked, his tone hiding a secret or two.
Angelo thought about it, "I don’t know. I’ve killed a lot of people." He didn’t say that regretfully, simply a matter of fact. "It would suck if he were one of those."
A smile grew on Nikolai’s face, slowing to a stop so they could cross the street. "And if he wasn’t?"
Angelo still looked reluctant, looking up at Nikolai after they had gotten to the other side of the street. He hadn’t expected the Mafia King to focus on this particular point.
"We could be enemies," He shrugged, "I’d rather not meet him again."
The smile that had been growing on Nikolai’s face dissipated, but it was only for a moment. They had also gotten to their destination.
He didn’t chase down that line of conversation further, focusing on Angelo as the Omega’s eyes widened.
Nikolai wasn’t surprised that neither of them could recognize each other. They had come so far from who they used to be...
He didn’t focus on the wispy memory; saving a male Omega with eyes that took up most of the space on his face had been purely on a whim.
"An amusement park?" Angelo spoke in a whisper even though it was just them on the street.
Nikolai took the step forward and closed the distance between them and the locked gates. Deftly unlocking it with a single hand.
Angelo couldn’t say if he was more surprised about Nikolai bringing them here or about him having a key to the park. He scanned the interior, it was too dark to see anything but the hulking figures of stationary park rides, it was eerie.
"Is it safe to be in here?" He had to ask as the Mafia King started off in a random direction.
He knew that Nikolai could perfectly see in the dark but the Mafia King’s definition of safe was incredibly concerning. He really didn’t want to take a bloody Alpha back with him.
"Why? Expecting zombies?"
Despite Nikolai’s teasing words, Angelo found himself looking over to the park. It was straight out of a horror movie set, zombies would look right at home in the deserted park.
Nikolai never let go of his wrist, his hold firm, not even when holding him was an inconvenience to him, he made do with just one hand.
He felt more than saw Nikolai tinker with something in the strange building they walked into, a clank ringing out at the same time that the entire amusement park was flooded with light.
Angelo was momentarily blinded by the light and when his eyes adjusted, Nikolai was right in front of him. There was a new expression he had never seen on the Alpha’s face before, barely banked excitement and anticipation.
"What do you think?" Nikolai asked calmly for all the emotions his eyes betrayed.
Angelo stepped out of the strange building which he now recognized as a maintenance building, lights reflecting in his eyes as he took in the amusement park.
It was in perfect shape, a hidden gem in tbe murky depths of downtown Haines.
He looked away from the blinking, colorful lights back to Nikolai, a smile on his face wide enough to show the single dimple on his left cheek. "It’s alright."