The Mysterious Demon

-Nickolas’ POV-

It’s been a couple of weeks since that day. The day Dominic went missing.

That morning, the lads and I had woken up with hangovers and no idea where we were. There were blankets and alcohol bottles lying around us everywhere. It was safe to say that although we weren’t at the party we went to, it seemed we had brought the party back to wherever we were. Eventually, after looking around some more, we confirmed that the house was Dominic’s with the training room being our biggest clue.

After everyone had fully got up, went to the bathroom, and cleaned up a little, we went into the kitchen looking for medication and was surprised to find a drawer full of medication which was highly convenient. Jason was the last to come out of the bathroom and told us that Dominic wasn’t in the house which concerned me straight away but then calmed down, reassuring myself that she’d be street fighting or with Xavier.

A few minutes later the front opened, catching all of our attention. Dominic walked through the door with her head hanging low, hood covering her face in its shadow. I grinned at her calling, “Dominic!” and rushing towards her whilst she starting putting a few things in her bag which confused me but I ignored it. “Where were you?” I asked putting a hand on her shoulder but she didn’t look in my direction and instead walked passed us and into her room which made me frown.

“You think she lost a fight? Or something?” Zack asked quietly so she couldn’t hear. Jake slapped the back of his head. “No way! You stupid?” he scolded.

“She hasn’t lost a match in months so it’d be unlikely, she might just be tired,” Blake said and I nodded.

However, her bedroom door opened right after that and she rushed passed us again before stopping at her front door holding a bag in her hand. I walked towards her, the others following. She looked back at us and hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “the keys are on the kitchen shelf; take it and leave when you’re ready” her voice was low and pain-filled but before I could ask her anything else, she left. I ran after her but she got on her bike and drove off.

Now, two weeks later, I’m filled with nothing but worry. My only family member whom I miraculously found was now gone once again but I couldn’t accept that. I refused to.

I sat in class, hoping that one day she’ll walk in the door but she never did. I wanted to come to school in order to try to distract myself from the situation but it only made things worse. I had my gang members all over America looking for her and yet they haven’t seen a trace of her anywhere.

I ran my hand through my hair for the thousandths time which caught Zack’s attention who was sitting next to me. “You stressing yourself too?” he asked which made me cock an eyebrow, “‘too’?” I asked and he nodded, pointing towards Blake who was on the other side of the class who would look normal to anyone else but to us, who’ve known him for ages, you could tell. His muscles were tense there were small wrinkles on his forehead, his hands in fists and eyes covered by a thin layer of gloss. He was just as worried for her as I was even if he tried not to show it.

Zack looked back at me with concern written on his face which made me sigh, “I don’t know man, I’m worried something’s happened to her. I’ve looked almost all over the country.” Zack thought for a moment before, “have you talked to Xavier?” he asked. “I checked the bar, she hasn’t been seen in two weeks.” “That’s not what I’m asking. Have you talked to Xavier?” I sighed again and shook my head. He then gave me a look and I knew exactly what he was trying to say, ‘fuck up man, and go talk to him.’ “Fine fine,” I say and he smirks. It was confirmed, after school, I was going to see him.

Once school was done, I climbed into my car and started driving to the bar. When I made it there I rushed out and hoped that she was inside. Although I had checked already, I still hoped. I hoped that when I got to the street fighting area, I’d hear people scream the Mysterious Demon’s name as she came out or as she finished her opponent but instead the whole place was quiet with a few complaints saying that the Mysterious Demon and the Champ should come out. This made me furrow my eyebrows. Was Xavier not here either? Regardless, I went to the back and knocked on a familiar door, and surprisingly, it opened.

“What do you want?” Xavier asked once he was revealed. His voice was rough but that wasn’t the only thing that shocked me when seeing him. He had a grey hoodie on which was crumpled and stained as if it’d been worn for weeks. His hair was messed up and his face didn’t look egotistical like it normally would. He looked exhausted, in pain. His face was similar to Dominic’s on the day she left.

“Have you seen Dominic? I haven’t seen her in-” “-two weeks” he interrupted and looked me right in the eye where I could see regret. “Yeah,” I say, unknowing what else to say.

He then opened the door wider and moved out of the way too let me in the room which surprised me even more. “You don’t usually let anyone in the room.” He chuckled softly at what I said before turning to me again after closing the door. “I haven’t seen her in two weeks and seeing you reminded me of her.” I nodded in understanding.

“So, where is she?” I asked again and he sighed, almost in frustration. “I don’t know,” he finally said which made me frown deeply. “You ‘don’t know?” he glared at me slightly but carried on. “Two weeks ago, the night before she went missing, she came street fighting. When she was done with her match… I told her to quit.” My eyes widened and I charged up to him until I was in from of him, his hood curled in my fist threateningly.

“You told her to quit?! Are you fucking insane!? You know how important street fighting is to her! No wonder she fucking left!” I shouted which made him look at me with a mix of anger and guilt, “she was targetted that night! I had to get her out of here!” I hesitated for a moment but my anger didn’t settle. “She’s stronger than that for fuck’s sake!” I exclaimed which made him relax and merely take the hoodie out of my hands.

“Holding her hoodie like that will damage it,” he said calmly which diverted my attention. He saw my expression and explained. “This was Arthur’s -Dominic’s stepbrother’s- hoodie. Dominic usually wore it during her fights and prizes it but… she left it here with her jacket.” He then looked towards a hanger where her jacket was placed. The initials gleaming back at us. I recognized both of these things because it was what she was wearing when I first saw her as the Mysterious Demon. “I gave her t-that jacket” Xavier’s voice cracked which made me turn to him but his expression remained hard.

I slowly walked towards the hanger and pulled the jacket off and held it close to me. The jacket was in prime condition, I could tell she loved it and tried as hard as she could to keep it well kept. So her decision to leave it behind must have been painful. Another thing was that her scent was on it, a scent that I didn’t know I had memorized.

My eyes glossed over despite trying to stop it. I looked at Xavier to see him gripping at the hoodie himself, eyes shut tightly. He said I would damage his hoodie but it seemed he was doing just as much damage himself. He was another person who cared about Dominic, possibly more than I did.

“Do you think you know when she’ll be back?” and he gave me the reply I had feared,

“No.”

.