NEON GROVE

"Anthony?!" Annabelle turned around and instead of her, Anthony was looking at the suitcase.

"Thanks for bringing my stuff, hope it didn’t inconvenience you," he said then pulled the rolling suitcase to his side.

He started to notice how quiet Annabelle was being which isn’t how she behaves around him, and because of that Anthony got a sense that something was wrong that he didn't know about. 

This had to be different and unrelated to him being exiled from her family mansion, he thought.

"Hey, what's wrong? You’re acting like you’re hiding something from me, are you?" He got closer, trying to comfort her.

"No it's nothing, don't worry ab—" she said with her head lowered but the moment she looked at Anthony, she paused abruptly.

She became angry, scowling, and defensive all of a sudden, saying "You're not using that on me right now are you?! You promised me that you'll never try it again”

Her sudden outburst caught Anthony off guard, leaving him speechless for a hot second. Though she looked angry, He could tell that she was trying to deflect his questions by accusing him of what he wasn’t doing.

Maintaining his calm, he replied "Of course, I wasn't. I remember how bad you took it when I told you the truth and you almost broke off our engagement, so why would I risk it? Hehe" he chuckled in an attempt at calming her

She thought about it, saw that she was wrong then apologized "Sorry"

"So have you found a place to stay yet? You know you shouldn't be moving around with a suitcase in places like these, without having a specific place to stay." she looked concerned.

Anthony smirked "You don't have to worry about me babe, I already have a place to stay and that's where I plan to head to immediately after I see you off"

She frowned suspiciously "I hope it isn't somewhere around here. I heard rumors that this area isn't safe, especially for nonlocals"

Neon Grove is very notorious for being one of the most dangerous places in the entire district, especially at night, and rightfully so.

"Of course not. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be safe" he smiled and she saw that he was being honest about his safety not being an issue so she dropped it.

"Alright then,” she said

They finished talking but she looked hesitant about leaving which was more confirmation to Anthony that something fishy was indeed happening at home that he wasn't aware of. 

Since she didn’t want to tell him, he couldn’t force it out of her and so he let it go.

He spread his arms wide open, letting her know what he wanted and she came in for a hug. This was the only way he could comfort her for now.

He waved for a taxi which stopped right next to them and she got inside, they both waved each other goodbye and the taxi drove off. 

Anthony waited for Annabelle's taxi to go beyond the horizon, making sure that she wouldn't be able to see that instead of getting into a taxi and going somewhere else, somewhere safer like he promised he would, he went into NEON GROVE Street which is the center of all the dangerous rumors Annabelle was concerned about.

Regardless of how bad and like the slums the place looked, Anthony didn't look surprised, instead, he chuckled "it's been a while. Didn't think I would be walking around here again"

Like the name says, NEON GROVE has a lot of neon light from shops and buildings placed almost everywhere so even though it was evening time, the place still shone bright.

By this time, the night-walkers have already come out and were busy looking for "clients" while small gangs were posted at their usual spots, and here comes Anthony, walking past all of them with his suitcase.

They all stared at him with opportunistically because they could tell that he was new here.

"Hey baby, you looking to have a fun time this night?"

From across the street, a few out of a group of the night-walkers called out to Anthony while showcasing what they had to "offer" but he outright declined their advances by raising his left hand and showing them his wedding ring.

"That doesn't matter baby, we can still have fun together and the little misses will be none the wiser," said another nightwalker, standing with a separate group on the side of the road he was walking.

Anthony chuckled, saying “No, I’m good”

Nightwalkers are often time easy-going, so even though he was declining, because he was doing so politely, it made them like him even more, especially her.

He walked passed that group too and she separated herself from the others "Hey, since I like you so much why don’t I give you a piece of advice" she said as she got to him.

"I'm guessing you're new to this neighborhood so I'll give you a little heads up, don't go too deep into that area over there. That spot is off limits to newbies" she pointed at a particular intersection that had the most neon lights than the rest.

“Why not?” Anthony asked.

"That's where the tough guys are, and honestly you look like a big target, so just avoid them, okay hun?" She winked at him.

Anthony who was looking in the direction she was pointing at, chuckled, completely disregarding the advice she had just given him

"Thanks, but I know what I'm doing," he said boldly.

"Okay tough guy, pretend I didn't say anything then and I'll be seeing you next time, or not" she said then whispered into his ear "The name’s Tessa by the way, and here's a little gift for you"

She kissed him on the cheek, catching him off guard.

"!!" Anthony didn't say anything back, he only pulled out his handkerchief from his back trouser pocket and cleaned the lipstick stain.

He continued his journey, heading to the exact road she told him not to go, and just like she said, the small gang members there made their appearance in front of Anthony, blocking his way.

"Look who we have here boys, fresh meat!" said the gang leader, walking up to Anthony, slouching and having his tongue out like a snake.

He circled Anthony while the others blocked Anthony's path. They all grinned like they had been waiting for this.

Turns out one of them had seen Anthony speaking with Tessa earlier and came to tell the leader about it.

"What's your name, city boy?" The leader asked but was met with silence from Anthony which infuriated him more than he expected.

"Looks like we have a tough guy boys—" he mocked but was interrupted by the tallest and fastest member of their gang.

"I don't like the way this guy’s looking at us bro, maybe we should just let him go," the big guy said looking a bit nervous.

"Why are you getting scared?! What can one guy do when we've got him surrounded, huh?" The leader who talks with a lisp said to try and boost their morale.

The leader bumped Anthony on the shoulder as he left his back and went to stand in front of Anthony.

"You look lost silver, where do you think you're heading in my territory?" He tried to intimidate Anthony but it wasn’t working.

Without saying anything, Anthony pointed at a story building standing at the end of the road. It was a hotel and it was secluded from the other buildings on that road.

Curious about where Anthony was pointing, they all turned to see that it was that exact hotel and instantly all their demeanors changed.

They were terrified and pessimistic with the expressions they had and their shoulders dropping.

The gang leader gulped while sweating profusely.

"Th-that place is off limits to anyone who isn't high up in the Mob, including us, so I think you're mistaken" his mouth felt extremely dry and his eyes droopy.

Anthony scoffed and without feeling the need to give them any answers he continued moving forward, going through them, and the moment he walked past the leader, the man grabbed onto Anthony's shoulder "Wait, you can't just ignore—"

Before he could finish, Anthony turned around and stared right into his eyes, having the veins in his neck bulging outwards.

His once beautiful ocean blue eyes didn't look alluring any more, especially with the neon lights reflecting off of them and highlighting the spiderwebs that were the veins in them.

The fierce look, intensity, and steadiness in Anthony's stare were enough to make the leader weak-kneed, losing all control of his lungs and his breathing stopped.

He was suffocating and trembling in fear while Anthony stood over him with murderous intent.