"I can't believe that asshole! It's a blizzard out there, how could he make you stay late?" Jenny said, he voice tinny and distant from April's cell-phone. April looked up at the fat, gray clouds, almost impossible to see through the veil of snow falling around her as she walked down the street.
"It's my own fault, I didn't even say no." April replied.
"Bullshit! He can't just walk all over you like that!" Jenny said. A crackle of static came across the line.
"Hey, I think I'm gonna lose you. The storm must be messing with reception." April said. Jenny replied, but her words were garbled and meaningless. April pulled the phone away from her ear and checked the screen, no bars, no reception. April sighed, and put the phone in her purse.
April tried to make out the houses and shops on the street around her, the veil of snow making navigation by landmark next to impossible. She glimpsed a red, black, and green sign reading "Domingo's" above one of the dark shop doors and smiled. April turned left at the next intersection, happy that at least she was going to be able to find her way home. Her pace increased as she counted off the buildings, hers was the forth on the left, the Gothic gate always left unlocked.
Except, as April pushed on the gate, she realized it was neither Gothic or unlocked. April turned looked up at the windows of the building, and gasped. "Oh god, no, no, no, no." She said. This wasn't her apartment building, it wasn't a building she recognized at all. She dug in her purse for her phone, the blue green display informing her she had no service. There were no lights on in the buildings around her, and yelling for help didn't occur to April.
April turned and went back up the street hoping to retrace her steps. She reached an intersection and turned left. And through the blizzard she went.
She wandered through snow up to her shins, and growing ever deeper, looking around in growing panic for a light on in a house or a shop, a police car patrolling the streets for lost citizens, any chance for someones help. April tripped on some piece of frozen trash hidden in the snow, her fall cushioned. She staggered back to her feet and faced the opposite side of the street, and saw the distinct red and blue burn of a neon 'open' sign cutting through the murk of the falling snow.
Who knows how many chances for escape she missed by forgetting to look to her right, but April seized upon this one and began trudging through the snow toward the light. She drew closer to the sign and a door, light leaking out from the darkened windows, materialized from the snow. She flung herself at it and her forehead smacked into the paned glass, the door locked. April let out a moan and sunk to her knees, curling upon herself.
There was a clatter at the door, and it opened, blissful scalding heat assailing April's exposed skin. April felt, more than heard, someone speaking from above her the sounds making no sense to her chilled body and mind. She opened her mouth to reply, but only the croaks of a cold ravaged throat escaped her lips. April heard a noise of concern, then felt strong, hot arms lifting her away from the world of cold and snow. She felt herself being carried into a room, and the harsh glare of fluorescent lights made her eyes ache and she squinted. The man carrying her became an indistinct blur, his features contorted and exaggerated by her adjusting vision, a cruel smile of hate present on his lips.
April screamed.
The man carrying April almost dropped her. "Let me go!" April yelled. The man set her down and backed away, hands held up in surrender.
"Fuck, okay, sorry. I'll drag you in next time." The man said. April's eyes had adjusted to the light, and she took in her surroundings. Racks of camouflaged jackets, hats, pants, and gloves stretched in front of her, the smell of old unwashed bodies, dirt, and death filled her nose. Hung on the walls around her were packs, bags, hats, and every kind of tool one could need to survive in any location on the planet. All old, some rusted, most incomprehensible to April. A glass counter stretched along one of the walls, filled with a staggering and absurd array of weapons of death; guns, rifles, knives, swords. April groaned with the realization of who had taken her in, and where.
"You okay there?" The man asked, suspicion and wariness tainting his voice. April looked over at him, her face blank. He no longer looked like something from a nightmare, just the kind of man you expected to see running an Army Surplus. April turned from the man and strode to the door.
"Whoa, hey!" The man called after April. "You'll freeze out there, you can't go back out!" April didn't hesitate and reached for the door. The man lunged forward and grabbed April's wrist. Something primal inside April asserted itself and she spun and raked her nails across the man's face.
"Christ! Insane bitch, you wanna go kill yourself I won't fucking stop you!" The man yelled as blood oozed up from the wounds across his cheek. April looked at the man, looked out the door, and sighed. The must of the store invaded her lungs.
"Can I borrow a jacket?" April asked, her voice a small rasp. The man snorted.
"You wanna off yourself, you ain't using any of my shit to do it." He replied.
"No. I'm not going out." April said. "I'm just really cold." The man looked at the water dripping off her thin coat, saw her slender pale frame trembling underneath. "I'm sorry about your cheek. You just scared me." April said. The man sighed.
The man stepped behind the glass counter, and bent down. April heard a boxes being shuffled around and opened, and then the man stood and held a coat above his head. An officer's great coat made of pure black wool, shining golden buttons worked their way up either side of the chest to a high collar with gold epaulets on the shoulders. Silver thread wove an intricate pattern of leaves and ivy along the cuffs. Made for a man of average height, the coat would cover her from neck to boots. April fell in love with it.
April snatched the coat from the man's hands, and climbed into it. She stroked the wool, the feel of it against her hands and neck reminding her of affection she had not felt for years. She sighed.
"Yeah. It's a great coat. Kinda surprised how good it looks on you." The man said, filling the silence between them.
"April." She said. Her gaze was stuck on the coat, her hands stroking the buttons with soft fingers.
"Oh. Uh, I'm Jake." He replied, extending his hand. April nodded, then closed her eyes.
Nothing April had ever worn had felt so right. Sleek and beautiful the coat evoked an aura of control. It radiated the calm and measured aggression of supreme dominance. This was a coat that measured its security and protection in the awe in fear it inspired, the elements themselves afraid to tarnish something so beautiful and so violent.
Jake noticed the fear in April's scent, the exhaustion in her eyes, from the second he saw her laying in the snow in front of his door. She shook violently when he carried her inside, and she wobbled on her feet when Jake put her down. As April played with the coat this all disappeared. Her body flushed with renewed vitality and her body seemed to fill out the coat more, her features grew sharper, more beautiful, her confidence became a physical presence pushing upon Jake's mind.
April opened her eyes and found Jake's. He saw lust, anger, and dominance flash through her eyes. Jake's pulse quickened, arousal and fear competing in his mind. April stepped closer to Jake, her eyes never leaving his.
