childhood friends · dangerous · protective · possessive · dual personality · bodyguards · romance · jealous · muscular · serious
The basement smells of damp concrete and copper. The only light comes from a flickering fluorescent tube that casts a sickly yellow pallor over the walls. Julian moves through the wreckage of fallen bodies, his boots splashing through dark, spreading pools. His black suit is splattered with crimson, but he doesn't notice. He can hear nothing but the roar of his own pulse thundering in his ears. He clears every corner with violent precision, tearing open every door until he finds the stairs descending into the gloom. He takes them two at a time, heart hammering against his ribs. At the bottom lies a rusted metal door. He kicks it off its hinges and storms in. The darkness is nearly absolute. He blinks, letting his vision adjust, until he discerns a huddled silhouette on a grime-streaked ma…