Page 40 of Mysterious Teacher : Arrival
Taking the flower, she smiled and walked on heading into the busy part of town. For hours she wandered, discovering her new home, so different from what she’d known.
But as the day came to an end and the sun made its way out into the Pacific Ocean, she wondered where she would sleep that night.
Somehow, the city didn’t seem safe to her. Too many men wandered about, aimlessly walking through the streets and propositioning every young woman they came across.
“Stop it!”a woman cried out from around the corner. “Gerry, get off of me.”
Sonya hurried to the sound of the scream.
“Don’t be afraid, little darling,” the bearded man said as he struggled to keep a hold of the uncooperative woman. “If you’re nice to old Gerry, I’ll make you a star. That’s what you’re doing here in California, isn’t it. You want to be a star. Well, cozy up to me, darling. You could be the next Judy Garland.”
“Let go of me, Gerry!”the woman said as she pushed away from him. But she seemed inebriated and had trouble fighting him off. “You’re being a pig. I don’t want to be a star that badly.”
“Baby, baby. You don’t know what you’re missing. I told you I’m a big star at the Black Keys lounge.” He leaned in to kiss the unfortunate woman.
The woman turned away and her fuzzy gaze met Sonya’s.
A strange stirring surprised Sonya. Hunger suddenly took over, almost uncontrollable. She didn’t understand the sensation that filled her, but it grew in intensity. She walked up to the pair, her hungry eyes on the unpleasant man.
“Excuse me,” she said as she tapped on his shoulder. “Excuse me, sir.”
He glanced back at her. “Hold on, darling. I can only take one at a time.”
“I do believe that the lady is not interested in your advances. Please let her go.”
With a firm grip on his prey’s arm, he shifted around to face Sonya. “I beg your pardon?”
“I have no doubt that you heard my request, however, if need be, I will repeat it. Please let the lady go.”
The man snickered, his lips taking on an ugly slant. “And I suggest you move on and let us figure this out ourselves. The lady is lucky to have caught my eye.”
“The lady is clearly intoxicated, and it would be best for everyone involved if you could recognize her incapacitation.”
“Oh,” he said with a mocking grin. “I recognize it all right. In fact...I’m counting on her incapacitation to make this smooth and easy...if you’ll just step away and let us be.”
“I cannot step away and let you take advantage of this woman.”
He growled as the woman struggled against his hold.“You can’t order me around.Not me, the magnificent key piano player at the Black Key Lounge.”
“I’ll ask you one more time,” Sonya said, sensing a force in her that she never knew she had. “Let her go.”
“No,” he growled, turning to her.His eyes had turned all black.
Sonya blinked her eyes.Did she just see that?
“What kind of a monster are you?”she asked.
The man shook his head.“What?”His eyes had turned back to normal.
A vision of the man in a dark basement with a woman chained up appeared in her mind.“You’re keeping a girl in your basement.”
The man laughed and then his eyes flashed, turning black.“How did you find out?Who told you?It was a long time ago.”
“What happened to her?”Sonya asked.
“Dead and buried.”The man smiled.
Sonya’s blood boiled.She grabbed his wrist, forcing him to release his hold on the young woman.
