The world stopped turning. Or maybe it was just the bar. The hubbub morphed into a distant buzzing, and the strobe lights, into blinding flashes. The contact of Orion's hand on my arm wasn't an iron grip, but a mere touch, and yet, it immobilized me more surely than any restraint. My legs were unresponsive, and my throat went dry, unable to utter a word.
"The contract is sealed." The phrase echoed in my head, absurd, illogical, terrifying. It was the kind of dialogue you hear in B-movies, not the kind of thing you experience in a suburban bar. Yet, the intensity in his blue eyes left no doubt. He wasn't joking.
He pulled me along. Not forcefully, but with a silent authority. The crowd parted in our wake, as if sensing the danger emanating from him. It was a choreography of avoidance. People stopped dancing, drinking, laughing, just long enough for us to pass, then resumed their lives as if nothing had happened. To them, we were just a fleeting shadow. To me, it was the beginning of the end.
Outside, the cool night air was a breath of relief, but the tension remained palpable. Orion guided me towards a car. A black sedan, immaculately clean, that seemed to belong to another universe. Far from the dirty streets and the smell of fried food. It was a predator on wheels. He opened the passenger door, the movement sharp and final. A silent command.
I got in, my body acting without my permission. The silence inside was deafening. The dark leather, the absence of dust, the dashboard lights that danced. This was Orion's world. A clean, cold, dangerous world.
"Who are you?" The question burst out, my voice trembling despite my best efforts.
He didn't answer. He started the car, and the engine purred softly, like an awakening animal. He ignored my question, as if it held no importance. My heart pounded, and fear began to morph into anger.
"Where are we going? I have a name! I'm not yours!" I shouted, my voice louder this time.
He turned his head towards me, and the intensity of his eyes pierced me. That gaze wasn't that of a man. It was that of a force of nature. His face, half in shadow, was strikingly handsome, cold and cruel.
"You owe me a debt," he said in a low voice, without a trace of emotion. "Now, you will repay it."
The car accelerated, and the city blurred into a streak of colored lights. I was a prisoner. Trapped in a car speeding towards an unknown destiny. I didn't know what this contract was, but I knew one thing: my life would never be the same again.