Hollywood After Dark Ch. 09

We didn't say anything as the three of them followed a step or two behind me, Kirsten walking behind Natalie and Petty as we moved towards the building. A Fresco style old house, the paint was peeling and the windows were covered in soot in the corners, but otherwise the place seemed to be in good shape. I had picked this place because I knew Jose would be able to find it - it was his mother's. We used to all come here and play poker on Friday nights, back when the business was still a little shaky. Nickel and dime stuff, but his Ma had always doted on us and made us feel welcome, a home away from home, even for big burly lost souls like us. She had since passed, but I knew the neighborhood to be safe and more importantly, central to the neighborhood right before I set out for Katherine and Mila.

Leading them inside, I was glad to see that Rachael was there already, sitting on an empty liquor box some kids had probably left. She rose to hug me or kiss me, I'm not sure which because her eyes were hard to make out in the dull light, but she stopped suddenly when she saw the rest of my weary companions enter.

Sensing the awkwardness in the room, I turned to face everyone.

"Rachael, I'm sure you know or at least know of Kirsten and Natalie. They are here to help us out despite earlier attempts to try and kill me," I said, trying to keep my voice flat and low, not show any real signs of emotion to anyone.

Rachael studied me, then them, for a moment and then went over and the three shook hands. Petty lingered behind, her body tense and rigid like a cat that had been kicked too many times. She waited to be brought into the group. Moving over towards her, I put my hands on her shoulder and firmly but gently guided her towards the three young actresses.

"This is Petty," I said, feeling more like a father than an ex-boyfriend. "She knows first hand the horrors of Antamount. She wasn't part of the plan but I can't ignore her now. Can I trust the three of you to take care of her while I deal with this shit?" I asked.

At first no one said anything. Kirsten was looking at the floor and Rachael was still on edge over the extra people being involved. Natalie sighed and looked up at me, our eyes locking.

"We will I guess. I mean, we have all been used by Willis in some way, right? We need to look out for each other,"

Kirsten nodded and put her arm around Natalie's shoulder, giving her a hug. I saw a look of perplexment on Rachael's face, but I didn't really have time to explain the complexities of their lesbian relationship to her. The three girls moved towards Petty and led her over to one of the boxes, setting her down gently on it as she pulled her knees up to her chest, inadvertently revealing the fact that she had no panties on.

I lingered for a moment, not sure what the best course of action was, and if leaving these four women who had all suddenly become important in my life, here was such a good idea. Calling over her shoulder though, Rachael snapped me out of my daze.

"Jose and two of his employees are around back of the house Alex, you should get going before it gets too much later," she said, turning her attention back to Petty. I nodded at her and headed towards the door.

"Be careful Dean," I heard a voice call to me. Spinning around because I didn't recognize the name, I saw Natalie standing there smiling at me.

"What did you say?" I asked, puzzled.

"Nevermind," she said with a soft, gorgeous smile. "You just reminded me of someone. Good luck,"

Shaking my head, I walked out the front door and around back, the street lights leading the way through the maze of broken bottles and discarded food wrappers. I made my way through a hole in the chain link fence and stopped, unable to contain a smile at my only piece of good fortune in a long, long time.

"Hello Jose," I said with a grin.

JAIME'S STORY:

When I fell through the plate glass window in Eliza's house, I hadn't really anticipated the landing. By that I mean, I knew I would come out on top of Eliza herself, but I didn't really account for things such as broken glass and the pain of hitting a hard floor. As shards stabbed into my arm, the pain of a thousand pin pricks all at once, I had the wind knocked out of me as I struggled to stay in control.

Eliza had rolled onto her side and that's where the brunt of my fall landed. I had jumped through the window at her with a plan of using the bat to knock her down, but that didn't really work as well as I thought, for I hadn't taken into account the logistics of her countertop. Instead, I ended up half leaping, half stumbling through the window as I landed atop her, my shoes sliding across the marble top as we collided. The force knocked her against the wall of the hallway and I landed on top of her, pinning her down with my shoulder. As she turned to look at me with a daze look in her eye, a slight cut across her forehead from an errant piece of glass, I made my move.

Dazed as I was, I managed to pin her down with my knees, my full weight on her shoulders as we both sat there panting and out of breath, my bat in my hand.

"Remember me bitch?" I said with a sadistic smile at her, tapping the bat on the floor. Eliza looked puzzled and scared.

"Jaime? What the fuck are you doing?"

"Paying you back for everything you took from me. Respect, dignity, pride, all of that," I said in a bitter, hateful voice. Brushing my hair out of my eyes, I was relishing the look of terror in her eyes.

"I...I don't understand," she said.

Reaching back with my hand, I slapped her across the face.

"Don't be cute with me whore," I spat. "You know exactly what I mean. That little incident in Vegas? The one in the jail? I told you I'd get even for that and, well, here I am,"

A look of remembrance passed over her eyes as Eliza's eyes welled up with tears.

"Oh fuck," she said. I couldn't help but laugh at her and the situation. From the look of her, I had been interrupting something rather intimate, as the clothes she was wearing and the way her skin seemed to glow indicated a quick fuck before hand.

Unfortunately, just as my brain began to process the idea of someone else being in the house, that someone was hitting me in the back with a candelabra. Hard.

Flying off of Eliza and landing with a thud, my back on fire in pain, it was my turn to roll over and look surprised. Standing there holding the gold three pronged candle holder was Rose McGowan, naked as the day she was born but sweating and very angry looking. I looked towards my bat, which had rolled harmlessly out of my hand as I fell, but Rose was quick and kicked it even further out of the way.

Making a move to get up, she took an angry step towards me, lifting the weapon over her head in a threat.

"Don't you fucking move Ms. 1-800-COLLECT," she said coldly. We locked eyes and held each other's gaze, the air in the room incredibly tense and electric. We were sizing each other up - her on if she could actually get me and knock me down, me on if I could get out of the way in time.

Eliza meanwhile, had staggered to her feet and swayed above me, wiping the blood off the top of her head. She too had that same hateful look in her eyes that I had before, only this time she looked really, really serious.

"Kill her Rose," Eliza said. I felt my spine shiver as a drip of sweat ran down the back of it.

Rose kept her eyes directly on me, but her face changed. Now she was the one looking scared and worried.

"What?"

"I said kill her. She broke into my house, a scuffle ensued and it was self-defense. Kill her," Eliza said. There was no hesitation, no remorse, no nothing in her voice except for pure hatred. I too felt the same thing towards her of course, and if it had been me standing there I wouldn't have hesitated at all. But for the first time in a very long time, I suddenly felt scared for myself, scared for my life.

"I can't do that Eliza, then I'll be a murderer," Rose said.

"Fine, I'll do it," she snapped, taking the weapon from Rose's hand. Using the spare moment, I scurried to my feet and got out of the way just as Eliza lunged at me. Rose screamed as I moved, stumbling to keep my balance as I ran towards the back of the house, Eliza right behind me.

Hurling myself into the bedroom, I shut the door hard just as Eliza came crashing into it. She slammed into it sharply but didn't fall over. Instead, she only grew angrier and angrier at me.

"You FUCKING BITCH! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" she screamed as I held my weight against the door, keeping her from opening it. Scanning the room quickly, I noticed that there was no windows, no extra doors anywhere, just a bed and dresser and a closet. I had practically no choice now I realized - I couldn't go back out there, because Eliza would kill me for sure. But staying in here meant that I was trapped and completely at her mercy. Fuck!

The door started to thump harder now, as Rose and Eliza were putting their full weight into it, trying to break it down. With each successive shove against the finely made wood, I bounced off more and more from the frame, barely able to hang on or keep my balance. I knew I couldn't do this for much longer.

I weighed my options quickly - and I mean QUICKLY: I could try and move the dresser in front of the door, hoping that it would hold against them trying to get through. But it was on the opposite wall and there was no way I could get to it before they broke through. I could turn and face them when they came through the door, but that would be a serious risk because there were two of them and I didn't know if Eliza had a gun or not yet.

That left the final option, which was to make a break for the closet. It seemed small enough, coats and things hanging in it, which meant I might be able to get there and shut the door before they came in, hopefully locking it and if not, at least holding on for dear life.

Hearing the wood start to splinter as the thuds became more and more violent against the door, I chose the last option and bolted towards the closet. I got there in two or three steps, but not before twisting my ankle and stumbling a bit, the pain making me cry out loudly as I hobbled into it, shutting the door quickly behind myself and fumbling for a lock.

Just as it clicked in my sweaty, trembling hand, I heard the door finally give way and Eliza and Rose come bursting through. I knew they were going straight for the closet based on the way their feet were moving towards me, and I braced myself against the door, holding the knob as tightly as possible.

One of them yanked violently at the door as I held onto it, my muscles tensed in my arms. The door held thankfully, as they let go of it after the first attempt. I had no room to move in the closet, which worked to my advantage - it made it very hard for them to hope to break down the door. Sensing this, I saw them step backwards.

"You can stay in there as long as you want Jaime, I don't really care," Eliza said in a taunting voice.

"Why's that?" I called back. "You going to call the cops? I'm sure they would LOVE to hear about your little sexual escapades and threats of murder and assault on me,"

"Shit, you must be trippin," Eliza replied. "The cops aren't coming anywhere near here. But I am going to talk to Salma and see what she says to do. So you just wait right there,"

I hadn't planned on the Salma angle - in fact, I had only planned on coming in, beating the shit out of her, and leaving. I wasn't worried about her personally, but I did know that her connections meant that if she wanted, I could be a dead woman.

"Or you can come on out," Eliza called again, her voice further away this time. "But I promise you, you won't like what you find out here,"

CHAPTER 10 (The Finale) - COMING SOON

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