3. Blood Diamond - Chapter [1]

"Oh my god… Where am I?" A girl, who was slumped up against the counter, groggily asked as she awoke from a rather 'rough' night. She awoke to be in a bar, hopefully still in her home continent of Europe, and looked around. There were some drunk men playing pool in the corner, a bartender serving a man some beer to the left of her, more men talking somewhere behind her. All the men she could see were wearing something black and all of them looked a little shady, to say the least. It didn't seem natural to her and everything was a little too creepy for her. The girl got up off of her bar-stool, trying to remember exactly what had gone down the night before and why she was in some shady bar. I remember walking down the street then everything gets blurry and fuzzy. I don't know what happened after that. Now I'm in some bar. What the bloody hell happened? She thought to herself, a hand rubbing her throbbing head. Whatever had happened last night was eating away at her. She decided to ask one of the men, one that seemed a little more sober than the others.

"Excuse me sir." She said, tapping the man on the shoulder. He turned towards her, a frown on his face. "Um…Have you been here all night?" She wasn't normally afraid of people, but this guy looked dangerous. People like that always made Alexi hesitate on talking to them, she never wanted to get them mad. For, she believed, if they were mad, they would attack and fight. Alexi may have been in a couple of street fights before, but fighting was only a last resort for her if she couldn't talk things out. She wasn't a very violent person.

"Sorry Miss, but I haven't. Try asking the bartender over there." He said, pointing over to the bartender who was pouring more alcohol into a man's glass. The same man she had seen earlier but with a different drink in his class. Oh great, an alcoholic… She never had great experiences with people who were drunk, it always ended up with blood and tears.

The girl slowly made her way over to the bartender, taking a seat at one of the empty stools. "Bartender, can you tell me what happened last night? I can't remember a thing." She said, getting right down to it.

"Well Miss, you came in here around eleven or so at night with blood on ya." The bartender started off, trying to spot her in his memory between all the other people he sees in a day. "Ah, you were with someone. A boy with shaggy blonde hair; he seemed older than you might I add. Anyways, the fellow traded some words with ya, gave you a piece of paper, and left in a hurry. Tha-"

"I was with someone? And he gave me a piece of paper?" The girl muttered, mostly to herself than to the bartender. "Did anything else happen? Did I say anything to you?"

"Aye, you did. You asked me for something to drink. I gave you so water." He answered her last question first, trying to remember if anything else had indeed happened. "Not that I remember lass. You fell asleep soon after that."

The girl nodded as she said, "Thank you bartender. If anyone asks about an Alexi Ramova, tell them I went to find someone so don't come looking for me. Unless it's that guy, tell him I went looking for him." With that Alexi headed for the door. She was walking out the door as someone else was walking in. She bumped into the person and stumbled back.

"Sorry, it was my fault." Alexi and the person said in unison. She looked up at the person she ran into and her eyes widened. "It's you! The guy from last night!" She exclaimed, her month opened slightly as she pointed at a tall, shaggy blonde haired guy. He had blue eyes and seemed to be about twenty. The guy grinned and pulled Alexi into a nearby booth. He motioned for her to be quiet and pull out the piece of paper he had handed her the night before.

"Have you gone there yet?" He asked with a hushed tone. It seemed whatever he was talking about was private and exclusive. Alexi shook her head, looking down at the words scribbled on the paper. Left door, third stall. BD is underneath the tiles.  She read the words on the paper to herself. She didn't understand what he wanted her to check out. She was about to ask when he started talking again.

"I would go in there, but I'm not a lady. That's why I seeked you out!" He explained, seeing the confused look on Alexi's face. "I heard that the BD, Bloody Diamond, might be hidden in there. But where the real 'there' might be is a mystery. I'm trying here out first then a bigger, more important place. I also have a meeting with some Intel so they might be of help." He stopped so Alexi could take in everything and not get lost. "C'mon! You gotta keep your end of the deal. I saved you from that really bloody fight so you have to help me find the BD. You said it yourself, 'A deals a deal'. Now will you go in there or not?"

Alexi, knowing that those words were like something she would actually say, could only nod her head. At least I got some answers. But now I have even more questions to be answered… She looked around before she got up, heading to the ladies room to see if the Bloody Diamond was there. Why a diamond would be there and why it was bloody was a mystery to her.