CHAPTER 3: ACCIDENTAL KARMA

AUTHOR'S POV Five years later, A woman stood at the edge of the bridge, her hands on the railing, clad in a cheap red satin dress. Her auburn hair danced along with the wind as she stared at the city lights afar. It looked beautiful, ethereal, and undisturbed. She looked up at the pitch-dark sky; the absence of stars tonight was expected. The little jewels of light only came out to play in pitch-black darkness. Someone once told her that the amount of light the earth reflects determines the number of stars in the sky, provided it wasn't a cloudy night. Talia sighed and stared at her reflection on the calm river under the bridge. The image of a beautiful woman was staring back, but what she wanted to see were her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to mask her feelings, her eyes would always speak out her hidden emotions. A sigh escaped her lips, and she turned to get down from the railing. That was until she saw a figure jump in front of her. She shrieked, her body jerking and her foot losing its balance, causing her to stumble over the bridge, and down she went. Her hands flailed before her as she tried to gasp for nothing but air. Gravity proved to be a bastard as it continued to push her down. Her eyes connected with those of the man who was now hanging over the bridge with his hands stretched out, as if to reach out to her. Was that what he was trying to do? Did he think she was going to jump? ...she thought. She was always going to take my own life, but I was too scared to even do that. All her life had been based on fear; she had dined and wined with fear. “Thank you.” She whispered to the night, to the man who had been her savior in two ways. She sighed, her eyes closing as she waited for the impact of her body slamming into the river. Splash! Her body felt slow under the water, but it was sinking deep into the river pretty fast. She didn't try to help herself swim back up, not that she knew how to swim. 'Is this the end?' She looked up and saw a blurry image of the moon before her body began to spasm. 'Don't fight it! Don't fight it.' Slowly, her eyes drifted close, and she succumbed to the darkness. ************************************* Meanwhile, the man on the bridge was already panicking. He didn't mean to scare the poor lady; all he wanted to do was stop her from jumping, or at least it looked like it then. “Please help! A lady fell of the bridge.” He yelled as he stopped so many cars that were trying to zoom past. Some listened, and others didn't. They told him, “She clearly wanted to commit suicide; who are we to stop her?” “Get out of my way; I have somewhere important to be!” But in a matter of minutes, he was able to gag a crowd, most of which just stood by the bridge, staring at the calm water. A sleek black car was driving down the bridge but got stuck in traffic. It's been ten minutes, and the driver had to get down to check what was going on. When he got back, he got into the car and shut the door. “A woman committed suicide on the bridge; the traffic won't clear anytime soon. Shall I make a detour?” “Are you asking me how to do your job?” A cold voice spoke out from the backseat. “No sir. I'll turn around now.” The driver swerved left and right and reversed until he was out of the lane. A phone rang in the car, and the man in the backseat picked it up. “Where are you?” The voice at the end of the line spoke out. “Heading home, why?” The man replied. “Your mate is in danger.” The woman spoke out. “I know.” He shrugged and dropped his head backward. “Of course, I know that. Why aren't you doing anything about it?” The woman squealed. “She wants to die; let her be. I'm not playing knight in shining armor.” “I don't care, Zane. You're going back there to save her.” Zane chuckled. “So, you knew where I was?” “I sensed her, and that's when I found you. She hasn't gone yet; you need to help her.” "Fine, Reina, you owe me.” He cut the call and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Take it back to the bridge.” When they arrived, it was still chaos, and the traffic was even worse. “So troublesome.” He frowned as he ran in through the midst of the parked honking cars and the crowd, which just stood by watching. He held the railing of the bridge, and before anyone could stop him, he jumped into the water. “Hey, what was that?” “Did you see him?! He was so fast!” “Is that a human or a robot? How could he be that fast?” Everyone spoke in amazement as they looked down at the water. “Where's the fucking ambulance?” The man from earlier yelled out. “They're on their way.” Some from the crowd answered him. “They should have been here by now!” “Chill out, man. Do you see the traffic? I doubt they'd be able to make it in time to save the lady.” Zane, on the other hand, swam down to the river bed to get his mate out. He held her to his chest with one arm and swam towards one pillar holding the bridge. “Do your thing, Reina.” He whispered to the air and threw Talia over his shoulder. Claws sprouted out of his fingers, and he slammed them into the pillar, making his way up. And without a second glance at the petrified humans who had just witnessed the most bizarre thing that day, he made his way back to the car, his driver in tow. As they drove off, a purple spectrum filled the night, and soon everyone began to wonder what they were doing gathered around the bridge in the first place. A man dressed in all black, blending with the shadow himself, seated in the dark corner of a coffee shop miles away from the bridge, smirked as he lifted a very sugary cream coffee to his lips. “Interesting.” *********************************** Zane walked into his expensive apartment with Talia in his arms, wet and covered with his suit. Reina stopped her pacing in front of the door and ran to him, trying to peek at the unconscious bundle in his arms. “Is she okay?” “I didn't try to perform CPR.” “Are you crazy?! That's the first thing to do in situations like that.” Reina growled at him. “I have you.” Zane said it with finality and placed Talia on the couch, covering her properly with his suit. “Wake her up.” “Don't be silly. I can't just wake her up.” Reina twirled her wrist and flicked her fingers, a purple film following her movements. “I have to remove the water in her body.” Zane glanced at his unconscious mate, his eyes trailing her white face, and scowled, “So troublesome.”