Fear the Night

Chapter 12: The Meeting

Yukio tapped his foot impatiently as he waited under an awning the next morning, waiting for Natalie. He wore a hooded sweater he’d left at Isabella’s weeks ago and had been hiding his face whenever he saw a Suit pass by under the hood. He had dark circles under his eyes, even though he’d slept that night; restlessly but he’d slept. His once spiked hair was now tousled and laid down in a mess under the hood he kept on his head.

He sighed as he looked down that street, staying under the awning of a small shop that was closed at the moment. He was anxious to see her, not just to ask for her help, but also because she was so pretty… Maverick had been right, he was attracted to her.

“I found you!”

Yukio shouted with a start and whirled around at the loud statement from behind. He sighed in relief when he found Natalie giggling in delight that she had succeeded in startling him, making him smile warmly at her.

“Did I frighten you, Yukio?” she giggled, cutely and Yukio shook his head in exasperation.

“Yes,” he admitted then looked around cautiously, remembering what he had to do and stepped closer to whisper, “I’m gonna have to ask another favor of you, Natalie.”

“What is it?” Natalie frowned in wonder and Yukio sighed, taking her hand.

“First, I have to take you to meet someone,” he replied, gazing at their hands. “He’s a friend of mine.”

“A friend?” Natalie echoed cautiously, starting to pull her hand from his grasp. He looked at her face and saw uncertainty cloud her eyes.

“I know how it probably sounds,” he said, quickly, “but this favor I need…it’s an emergency. Someone’s hurt. Trust me, I won’t let you get hurt.”

Natalie swallowed and studied Yukio for a moment before she nodded and he sighed in relief.

“Come on,” he urged, taking her hand again and leading her down the street. “We have to hurry. It’s my sister---Well, she’s not really my sister, she just acts like it. She need a doctor. Well, I’ll let Mave tell you about it. I’m sure he will.”

“Mave?” Natalie echoed as he led her around a corner.

“Yeah,” Yukio replied. “You’ll meet him when we get to Izzy’s pad.”

“Izzy?” Natalie breathed then gasped and ran ahead to look at him with wide eyes. “Why didn’t you say it was Isabella in the first place?!”

Yukio frowned in utter confusion but before he could ask her anything, she dashed off in the direction of Isabella’s pad and he darted after her. When they reached the pad, Yukio glanced around nervously before letting Natalie in. She immediately ran past Maverick and sat at Isabella’s side.

Maverick, standing in the middle of the room, trying to look intimidating, shot his gaze from her to Yukio who closed the door and Maverick snapped, “What the hell was that?!”

“Apparently…she knows Izzy,” the other man replied, pulling off his hood and walking closer to Maverick. “Don’t ask me how. I swear, I’ve never seen her before yesterday.”

Maverick frowned then gazed at Natalie who was staring at Isabella with nothing but worry and concern written over her features. She suddenly looked up at him with wide, sapphire eyes and asked, “What happened?!”

Yukio opened hit mouth to reply, but Maverick held his hand up to him as a signal to keep quiet.

“I’m asking the question here,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “‘Who are you?’ is the first one. The second is, ‘How the hell do you know Isabella?’”

“My name is Natalie,” she replied quickly and surprisingly unafraid. “Isabella is a dear friend of mine. We’ve known each other since we were children.”

“Wait a minute,” Yukio cut in, ignoring Maverick’s glare sent his way. “How can that be, when you and I only met yesterday?! I’ve known her that long, too!”

Natalie instantly straightened and both men saw her blush before she looked back at Isabella. She took a moment before replying, “W-Well, she told me about you, and…I had seen you from afar a long time ago, but I was too afraid to let Isabella introduce me to you. I…sort of purposely bumped into you yesterday.” She finally looked up at him, her cheeks almost as red as her hair. “I really wanted to meet you, Yukio.”

“I told you,” Maverick muttered at Yukio who only stared at Natalie in wide-eyed disbelief as she turned back to Isabella. “You’re surprised at her deviousness, aren’t you?”

“Not devious,” Yukio corrected, not looking away from Natalie. “But…that was rather…sneaky.”

“Well, either way, I’m satisfied,” Maverick smirked, patting his friend on the back then stepping in front of Natalie to stare down at her when she looked at him.

“She hit her head yesterday afternoon,” he explained. “She hasn’t opened her eyes, but she’s breathing. She needs a doctor. I have a friend in the woods who’s a doctor, but…” He trailed off and sighed, unbelieving that he was giving away so much information after meeting this girl seconds ago then continued, “It’s hard for us to move during the day. The Suits are after us, and we can’t go at night.”

“Of course,” Natalie nodded in understanding. “May I ask if you have a plan?”

“You may, and we don’t,” Maverick sighed, looking at Isabella in guilt.

“We were hoping you might be able to help,” Yukio chimed in, stepping next to Natalie. “I wasn’t sure how, but I was hoping you could help.”

“Of course I’ll help!” Natalie assured them. “And now that you’ve told me you don’t have a plan, I think I know how to help there.”