Dream City Ch. 11

I rushed right over to Sadie's place to tell her what she needed to hear. She answered the door wearing a pink robe, smelling fresh from the shower she recently took. Before I made myself comfortable, I had a little present for her that she would greatly appreciate; my way of saying thanks for saving my ass more than once.

"Herbal brew," she said, taking a whiff of the package. "Thank you. I'll get the kettle ready. Would you like a cup?"

"No, I'm good," I said.

While Sadie had the tea kettle ready I made myself comfortable on her velvet couch, looking at the posters displayed on the walls; posters of rock legends from the past she greatly admired. There was one of The Beatles during their long haired days, along with Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Garbage. Sadie did remind me of Freddie Mercury; the power to command an audience and the trademark broken mic stand both used on stage, along with the beauty and attitude of Shirley Manson. One day Sadie might be next in line in gaining legendary status if she hadn't already.

"Nice," I said.

"Legends," said Sadie, "every last one of them. I wished I'd seen them on stage. They all made an impact on my life."

The tea kettle whistled and Sadie poured herself a cup of that fresh brew I could smell from here. It had a sweet scent but not to my liking. Sadie sat on the couch with her cup and saucer while I filled her in on what went down earlier. I quickly got her attention once a certain name was brought up.

"I found Otto," I said.

"What?" She asked.

"Or rather he found me."

"When?"

"Oh, a moment ago."

"Please tell me you captured him."

"No, but he did take potshots at me in Rosie's Diner. No one was killed but a few were seriously hurt."

"Wait, Otto had a gun? He's never used a weapon in his whole life."

"I could tell. His aim was way off and he wasn't even trying to kill me."

"He's nothing but a drug addicted little twat. Why would he start using weapons in public?"

"Someone threatened that little shit or made some sort of deal with him. Either way Otto is no professional killer."

"Should I be worried?"

"About Otto? No, I wouldn't worry about him. Some assholes are so desperate."

"Excuse me?"

"The one pulling all the strings. I foiled every attempt on my life and they send someone as low as fish shit to take me out. Next thing you know they'll send a herd of elephants to stampede my ass."

With my luck I'll get struck by lightning or flattened by an asteroid.

"I'm getting dressed," said Sadie, slamming the cup and saucer onto the coffee table.

"Where are you going?"

"I can't stay here all day. I need some air, and to find me the nearest pub to get myself shit faced."

"A bit early for that don't you think? Just stay put and rest for awhile."

"I've rested long enough."

Sadie couldn't care less what time it was. The waiting and wondering had been rough on her and I didn't blame her. Her mood might have been different if I had captured Otto. One thing was certain, the next time I see him he won't go very far.

"If you insist on coming along," she continued while getting dressed, " fine by me, and don't worry it's on me."

"I like that."

Sadie locked up nice and tight; four locks was more than enough for her, especially, in the city we live in. The only real security I relied on were my fists and shotgun.

"Can't be too careful," she said.

"You sure that's enough?" I asked.

"I thought about getting ten locks, but I didn't want to scare off the neighbors."

"Fear keeps people motivated."

"Is that what they told you in the forces?"

"Among other things."

We made our way towards the elevator when something unexpected happened to the both of us. Suddenly, I felt warm and light headed. Sadie held onto the wall, keeping herself upright until slowly collapsing right before me.

"Sadie?" I said.

I was about to pass out myself, but not before I discovered something small piercing Sadie's neck. I didn't get a good look at it until I touched the back of my own neck, pulling off the very same object she had; a small dart, obviously loaded with a tranquilizer or some form of drug. I went down hard, lying right next to her. Before my eyes closed I heard laughter or at least I thought I did, coming from female vocal cords.

The sound of a running drill woke me up, leading me to discover I was tied to a chair, in someone's apartment other than Sadie's. Speaking of which, she too was tied up across from where I sat. My coat and shotgun lay scattered, far enough away from my reach.

"What the hell's going on?" I asked through blurred vision. Once restored I attempted to wake Sadie up. "Sadie? Sadie, wake up."

The poor girl was out cold. Whoever knocked us out stood there with their back turned, humming some tune I didn't recognize. She had long dark hair, about five feet six inches, dressed up as a dominatrix, pulling out some tools from her leather bag, one of them being the drill I heard just now. I had a feeling I wasn't going to be punished for being a naughty boy.

"Hey," I said, trying to get her attention. "Hey! I'm talking to you."

"Relax, lover," she said, "I heard you loud and clear. Just relax, because we're gonna be awhile."

She took out a hammer and nails, a pair of pliers, piano wire, brass knuckles with spikes; tools of the trade.

"Look lady," I said, "I'm not into any freaky shit, so whoever you are take it someplace else."

"You have any plans? Wouldn't you rather stay with me than go out there, hunted down like some wild animal? From what I heard it's open season on Johnny Octane."

"What? Who the hell are you?"

She stopped what she did and faced me, showing off the manikin mask she wore. I had to admit the voice did sound familiar, but I couldn't picture who it belonged to.

"Isn't it early for Halloween?" I asked.

"You don't remember me?" She asked, feeling disappointed. "It's the mask, right? Back in the day I did wear something...different. Maybe you'll remember this."

She lifted up the mask, giving me a peek at what she really looked like. Half her face wasn't her own just as I remembered. Only the left side of the face, from her eye to her jaw was fitted with prosthetics. I knew who she was and what really happened to her.

"Ah, shit," I said, "you too? That's all I fucking need, another whack job up my ass. Please don't tell me you ran into Steve-O."

"Who?" She said, covering her face again.

"Never mind. Let's just say I've been on a roll."

"You certainly have. Now that we reintroduced ourselves, it's time to play."

Her name is Jennifer Chang, a former fashion model and artist; born and raised in Chinatown with the looks to make any man drool. We did have a casual fling; strictly casual because she didn't want any press to know about her personal life. Then one night some asshole started shooting up the club she went to, killing ten and wounding twenty. The left side of Jenny's face was destroyed from the blasts fired in her direction. The asshole was tackled and beaten to a bloody pulp before the cops came and grabbed him.

After her miraculous recovery, Jenny's life was never the same. Her modeling career had ended and all the endorsement deals were taken from her. One day she snapped, believing everyone had turned on her, blaming her disfigurement on rival models. What did she do? She killed them one by one, stripped the flesh off their faces, and wore them for days at a time without her prosthetic features.

Things got chaotic when she formed a gang, leading them into destroying anything that associated with modeling. Scent bars, clothing boutiques, makeup shops, and salons were burned to cinders. By then she was no longer Jennifer Chang. Due to those masks she wore like the one now, the press had labeled her, "The Mannequin." She hated that name and would have burned the city down if she wanted to after that insult, but thanks to me it didn't come to that. The last I heard she was committed for psychiatric evaluation. Apparently, the one in charge saw fit to arrange her early release. What's worse was the asylum's location was in good ole' Creakton County.

One other thing Jenny pulled out of her bag was a cattle prod. It seems she was in no hurry to kill me; only to have fun with me first.

"I take it apologizing," I said, "is not a good time?"

"Apologize for what?" She asked. "Sending me to the nut house? Not paying me a visit? Oh, we're beyond forgiveness. You see what I'm holding?"

"Yeah, and I'd be careful if I were you."

"Oh, don't worry, I know exactly what to do. You see, sweetie, I'm going to hurt you with this, and then you're going to suffer."

"I've heard that before."

"All I want from you is a scream. Just one little scream. I think I deserve that much. Can you do that for me? If you give me what I want, I promise I'll kill you quick. If not then I'll have to kill you nice and slow like I did to those models years ago. You should have seen what I did to them. They all screamed before I had a chance to torture them."

"Torture is not your thing, and if you expect me to-."

Jenny poked the cattle prod onto my chest, giving me that shocking, twisted, and painful experience. No matter how many times she shocked me, I never gave her the satisfaction she so desired.

"Scream," she said. "I want you to scream like I did that night. High pitched. Crying my eyes out."

The shock treatments kept coming. I still remembered my training; pain didn't exist. Pain is not real.

"Scream!" Jenny shouted. "Come on, out with it. You know you want to or are you too ashamed to do so?"

"Fuck you."

"Not today."

Another shot forced me to bite my own lip and bleed. Lucky for me we were interrupted.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Sadie asked.

"Finally," said Jenny, "look who decided to join the party. Sorry if we started without you, but I just couldn't wait."

"Johnny, who is this wench?"

"She's...another old friend," I said, licking the blood off my lips.

"For fuck's sake, how many old friends do you have?"

"One too many."

Jenny put aside the cattle prod, pulling out a switchblade razor from her bag. Before getting back to me, she went on intimidating Sadie just to get under her skin.

"This the new girl in your life?" She asked, taking a whiff of her fragrance. "Smells fresh, with a hint of lemon. Smooth skin. Strong cheekbones. What I wouldn't do to get a face like that."

"Piss off, you cunt," said Sadie.

"Now that was rude. If I wanted to I'd remove that one remaining eye, and you can go on living the rest of your life in total darkness. Lucky for you that's not what I want."

Jenny kicked the chair over, knocking Sadie to the floor.

"Hey," I said, "leave her out of it."

"Making demands?" Said Jenny. "You're hardly in a position to do so. Don't worry, after I'm done with you she'll be next on my things to do list."

"I'm not screaming for shit. I don't want to disturb the neighbors."

"They're the least of your worries."

A quick reaction led me to shove her down with my right foot, hard enough to have her trip over Sadie. She dropped her weapon; from all the excitement she never bothered to pick it up. Hopefully, it was within Sadie's grasp. I, on the other hand, began working my way out of my own bounds.

"Sorry about that," I said. "What were you saying just now?"

"All right," said Jenny, "no more ms. nice bitch."

Once again Jenny reached into her bag, pulling out two more objects. She hadn't realized Sadie had begun cutting the ropes using her own switchblade.

"I'm going to give you two options," said Jenny, bringing the two objects up close. "This is option A."

Option A was a vile of liquid. It looked as clear as water, but I knew that wasn't it.

"You know what this is?" She asked.

"Perfume sample?"

"This is sulfuric acid. I could pour this little puppy all over your pretty face, watch the flesh fall right off your thick skull. Would you like that?"

"Nah, it won't do wonders for my complexion."

"No? Well then there's option B."

My next option was a pair of garden shears. Jenny really knew her tools, especially, for this special occasion she had planned for so long.

"How about these lovely things?" Jenny asked. "So nice and sharp. You know what will happen when I use these on your hands?"

"A free manicure?"

"Better yet, how about I pull down your pants and turn you into the woman of your dreams?"

"I thought you were the woman of my dreams."

"You know, fuck it. I'll use both. Let's see if you can resist screaming by then."

"Wait, there's one thing I gotta know. How did you get out?"

Jenny laughed like it was one big joke, but explained in detail how she ended up back in my life.

"It's funny, really," she began, "someone arranged to have me transferred, but all they did was ship me back here."

"Who?"

"I don't know who, but they did offer me money just to hunt you down."

"Money?"

Jenny ceased what she was doing, explaining to me about the prize offered by those in charge.

"Oh, you didn't know?" She asked. "There's a bounty on your head. A little bonus just to see you dead."

"Bullshit," I said. "Exactly how much?"

"Fifty thousand. Tax free."

If she knows then so do the other three, leaving them even more dangerous and more reason to kill me.

"Let me guess," I said, "you're here to collect."

"To hell with the bounty," said Jenny. "No amount of money in the world can add to the pleasure I'll have in taking your life. I'm doing you for free, babe."

"I'm flattered."

Jenny resumed taking the rest of her tools out, leaving me to continue working my way out of the ropes.

"You know," she continued, "I came close to knocking on your door the other night, but you had your hands full with red here, so I waited. I followed you all the way out here and took cover in the apartment across the hall. Unfortunately, someone was still living there and she needed to leave."

"In other words you killed her."

"She was an old lady and nearing death anyway. I did her a favor. She's laying in the tub right now if you want to see her."

"Thanks, I'm good."

"Well, enough about her. Time for that scream you owe me."

"Yeah, let's all scream for the Mannequin, right?"

Jenny slapped me backhanded so hard my teeth rattled. I thought the insult would keep her distracted while Sadie worked on the ropes.

"You had enough?" I asked, receiving a closed fist to the jaw, almost knocking me to the floor.

"Don't you ever call me that," she warned me. "That name was an insult. A complete disrespect to my well being."

"Well being?" I asked, keeping her focus on me.

"I was a supermodel. I was going places, but you screwed it up when you let that maniac get close to me."

"You're gonna blame me for your predicament? First of all, I wasn't your fucking bodyguard, and second of all, you wanted to keep our relationship a secret, remember? It's not like we were dating, so don't go pointing fingers at me because you had a bad night. Why don't you fucking wake up and move on like any normal being would do?"

"Wake up? I'm wide awake right now, and you're going to experience the very same nightmare I had."

I was close to slipping out of the ropes when Sadie managed to get herself free. Quickly, she picked up the wooden chair, slamming it onto Jenny's back when she wasn't looking.

"You actually shagged her?" Sadie asked.

"It's a long story," I said, finally slipping out of the ropes, rubbing the circulation back into my wrists.

"How do you feel?"

"Energized. Now, we need-."

What I wanted was to interrogate Jenny and get some answers. Before getting a chance, she gave me the slip and once again it was off to the races.

"Fuck," I said, grabbing my coat and leaving my weapon behind.

"Johnny," said Sadie.

Jenny had already taken the elevator, leaving me to chase her down the stairs; lucky for me Sadie lived on the first floor. By the time I reached the lobby she was already out the door, punching the ignition of her red corvette. Before going any further I jumped on board, clinging to life on the roof. I reached right in to block her view, desperately trying to get her to stop. During the struggle I ripped off both her mask and prosthetics.

"You bitch," she said.

"Pull the fuck over," I said, "I wanna talk to you."

"Don't you know when to stop talking?"

Right and left she steered, making bold attempts to shake me off. I held on as tight as I could, though I wasn't sure for how long; fingers started to grow numb. To make matters worse I heard the sweet sounds of police sirens right behind me. It was all I needed for this already fucked up day. One cop was already yelling through the loudspeaker, ordering Jenny to pull right over. Instead of doing so, she took a hard left, forcing pedestrians to clear the area. Jenny drove by every red light, causing the drivers ahead to lose control. She was having too much fun; couldn't care less who she ran over.

"Pull your vehicle over!" Yelled the officer. Soon we were chased by an entourage of patrol cars.

"You better pull over," I said, "before they make you."

"Hey, Johnny," Jenny asked, "I forget, are you a good swimmer?"

In other words, the river was dead ahead and she showed no signs of slowing down. We were just about there, but Jenny had no intention in taking a swan dive.

"See you, lover," she said, jumping right out of the driver's seat, making her getaway.

I rolled right off before the vehicle hit the water. It's a shame, though; it was a nice looking car. My hard landing may have caused some black and blues to show up all over my body. The entourage of patrol cars pulled over right in front of me. Every cop stepped out with guns drawn, pointing them straight at me.

"Put your hands up!" One guy yelled.

"What?" I asked.

"Put your hands up!"

"For what? You're letting her get away."

"This is your last warning."

"Are you guys drunk? Go after her."

One of them had the gall to fire a warning shot. I decided to play along, allowing them to arrest me just to know what they really wanted.

"You're under arrest," the cop said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Destroying public property. Attempted murder. Fleeing the scene of a crime."

"You're out of your fucking mind. You really want to waste my time with this shit?"

"Not another word."

The only thing I did wrong was flee the scene, obviously referring to Rosie's Diner getting hit. It was all bullshit whether they knew it or not, but trying to reason with these guys would be short of a miracle.