Orpheus' Fallen Angel Ch. 03

Continuing to follow Superstar, Orpheus catches up with her near the pool tables. Superstar looks at Orpheus, who, only with a nod, silently reassures the stripper of him waiting for her. Superstar disappears from Orpheus's sight as she strolls into the employees-only hallway leading to the dressing room.

Orpheus finds an available pool table at the far corner near an old leather couch. As he racks up the balls on the table, Orpheus notices Hound approaching with a beer. No doubt from the twenty Orpheus gave him. However, since Hound steered Orpheus in Superstar's direction, which will lead him to Angel and maybe a three way, Orpheus deems Hound somewhat worthy of a minimal amount of respect.

"So, how was it?" Hound asks, eager for details.

"Memorable." Orpheus smiles.

* * * *

"You want what?" Moth questions.

"We want a cut of the money that bitch gave you." Zippy tries to be assertive while holding his hand out. "Five hundred dollars, five guys. Do the math."

"Oh, really? Well, here's my cut of the money." Moth holds out the five hundred dollars, puts it all in his trousers pocket, then shows his open and empty hands. "And this is your cut." Moth gives the finger to Zippy with both hands.

"Asshole." Blurts Zippy. "I don't why I hang out with you. This whole night has been a waste of time for me."

"Oh, I'm sorry if you had better things to do other than staying at home, watching soft core pornography on Metro TV." Moth sarcastically exclaims. "Maybe you can stop thinking about yourself for a minute and think about what the fuck I've been fucking going through!"

Before Moth has a chance to continue ranting to his friends, the banging from the truck of Moth's car rudely interrupts him, which only infuriates Moth, causing him to stoop over pass Zippy and Pin to the trunk, unlock and open the trunk's lid, allowing Greenie to kneel up to get out.

"WHAT?!?" yells Moth. "What the fucking fuck do you fucking want now?!!"

"I'm feeling really shitty, guys." Greenie pleads, looking sicklier than before. "I really need another bump."

"You think you're the only one here who has problems, bitch?" Moth quarrels. "It's not just you."

"If you don't want to fuck me then just let me go." Greenie pleads.

An irate Moth grabs Greenie by her jacket and violently yanks her out of the trunk, Greenie tries to stand on her feet as they scrape against the pavement, but Moth pushes her, causing her to fall backward, hit the back of her head on a dumpster and semi-consciously slide down to the ground.

"Is this all I have to show for?" Moth yells out to his gang. "Four months of looking for that blond cunt. Four months of dead ends, blind allies and cold trails. Four months of looking like some asshole who can't deliver what he fucking promised and not making it to the big time."

"And just when I was beginning to think that bitch probably never left Kane Hill and just give up, I find out where she is. I'm thinking my ship has finally came and I know where to get the tickets."

"So, I gather a crew to help me out, I get the girl, she was hard to catch but we got her all the same. And what do I get for the shit I had to endure? Did I get a chance to work for the biggest crime lord in Plutopolis? No. Did I get a huge cash reward that's more than five hundred fucking bucks? No. Did I get respect? No. Did I get some much as a thank you. Fuck no!"

"You know what I got? Five hundred dollars...AND A FUCKING JUNKIE WHORE!!"

Moth catches his breath while Pin and the others are concerned about his mental state. As much of an idiot and an asshole they know him to be, they know not anger him further when he's' this enraged, especially if he has a gun.

Moth pulls out his gun and the others became more concerned about their own selves, wondering who Moth plans to use his firearm on.

"So I guess I'm just gonna have to cut my loses." Moth says.

Moth hurries to Greenie slumped on the ground against the dumpster and press the barrel of his gun to her head. "Five hundred may not be a lot but it'll take me further than you ever will. And If I have spill some blood to get any fucking respect in this city, then..."

Moth is abruptly interrupted again, this time by his cell phone in the pocket of his tacky purple leather trench coat. The cell phone rings several more time as Moth pauses in silence as does Pin and the others.

"You should get that before you kill her." Zippy suggests. "It might be good news."

* * * *

Mr. Bruun stands Angel on her feet after pulling her out of the limo. Angel's naked body shivers from the cold night air, but luckily the tears stop flowing, allowing Angel to surveys around her to find the limo parked in a scarcely-lit driveway with warehouses on both sides which goes as far as she can see. As Angel's vision clears, she sees Lady J looming to her with a simple brown leather dog collar in her hand.

"Don't move." Lady J orders.

Angel stays still as Lady J wraps the collar around her neck and fastens it, then attaches a clap-on chain leash to the collar.

"I hope you like it." Lady J holds the loop-end of the leash. "I got it from the pet food aisle at the F-All-Mart."

Although Lady J didn't expect any thanks from her new blond pet for the gift, she hoped for some kind of response, but Angel remains silent, avoiding eye-contact. Angel doesn't notice Lady J reaching in the pocket of her jacket then reaches for Angel's face. Angel tries not to react when a blade ejects from Lady J's switchblade but gasps as it hovers near her cheek. Lady J takes Angel's jaw to moves Angel's head to make eye-contact.

"I'm going to cut your feet free." Lady J states. "Don't run."

Lady J squats down to Angel's feet and where she cuts and pulls off the duct tape bounding her ankles. The blade retracts back in the handle of the switchblade as Lady J stands up and takes the leash.

"Mr. Bruun, watch the limo." Lady J orders her chauffeur. "Follow." Lady J orders Angel as she pulls at the leach.

With Angel in tow, Lady J takes a few steps to a steel door of warehouse, where she unlocks the door and opens it. As Lady J guides Angel to walk inside first, Angel's feels her stomach churn since she can see only darkness pass the door frame, dreading about what is waiting for her.

As Angel steps in the dark warehouse, Lady J follows, shutting the door behind her, cutting out the light from the outside, leaving Angel and the woman holding her leash in complete darkness.

A few seconds later, Lady J flicks on the light switch and the florescent lights over them illuminate, allowing Angel to fully see the interior of Lady J's playhouse.

Her stomach doesn't feel any better.

* * * *

Holding on to his pool cue, Orpheus puts down his bottle of beer to check the time on his watch as Hound considers his strategy in the game of pool he shares with Orpheus. It's been thirty-five minutes since he parted with Superstar, waiting for her so they can leave together.

When it got pass the twenty minutes Superstar informed him of, Orpheus just put it down to her being fashionably late. When the twenty minutes then became a half-hour, Orpheus begins to find Superstar's lateness getting unfashionable. At twenty-five minutes, Orpheus contemplates whither to leave without Superstar and go to the Hotel Carmen by himself to find Angel, but realizes even though he knows how to get to the Carmen, Superstar failed to tell him of Angel's room number.

Even if Angel was hiding at the hotel, Orpheus wouldn't so easily find her waiting in the lobby, leaving him with the option of knocking on every door in the hotel, which would be time-consuming...and undignified.

Deciding to be a bit more patient, Orpheus eases himself back to the here and now, intending to finish his bottle of beer and finish the pool game with Hound, only to find his patience tested again as he waits for his scruffy, apparently indecisive, pool partner to make a shoot.

* * * *

In their usual formation, Moth and his gang enters the lounge area of the Blue Shadow with Moth taking lead with Pin and Oxy Mo at his sides while Zippy and Zane haplessly follow as they all visually survey the club.

"There." Oxy Mo launches out his arm to point. "At the pool tables."

"Put your fucking arm down, ya idiot." Moth slaps Oxy Mo's arm down. "You want to give us away, stupid?"

At a short distance, Moth observes the brown-haired man in the sleeveless shirt at one of the pool tables.

"That him?" Moth looks to Pin.

Pin retrieves the photos he found in Angel's hotel room and shows Moth the picture of Angel at the beach with Orpheus, the same guy Oxy Mo pointed out.

"What do ya think? A boyfriend of the blond?" Pin speculates.

"Let's find out." Moth turns around to give his gang his orders. "Zane, go cover the back entrance is case he bolts. Zippy watch the front door. Pin and Ox, with me."

"What about the bouncers?" Pin asks.

Moth gives an intense gaze for a few seconds.

"They'll be fine as long as they don't get in my way." Moth cockily answers. "Oh, and Zippy. Try not to jerk off."

Moth lightly chuckles as he with Pin, Oxy Mo and Zane walk out on Zippy.

"Asshole." Zippy murmurs.

Moth closes in on the pool table Orpheus occupy as Hound sits on a stool against the wall after failing to sink the tenth ball in the side pocket. Setting himself on the wall side of the table, Orpheus place his beer on the edge of the table and leans forward as he aims his cue to the cue ball in an effort to sink the tenth ball and the eleventh ball.

However, Orpheus gets distracted when he notices a man with an unimpressive goatee and strange standing hair in a purple leather coat standing at the other side of the table, looking directly at him.

"Get a problem, dude?" Orpheus politely asks.

"No, but you're about to." Moth pulls a side of his coat to flaunt the Webley tucked in his red trousers.

Still holding his stance with his cue in hand, Orpheus looks to his left as the big and menacing Oxy Mo walking to him. Looking to his right, Orpheus sees Pin sitting at the corner of the table.

"What do you want?" Orpheus questions.

"I want to know why you're asking questions about a certain blond girl who used to work here." Moth inquires.

"You work here?"

"No. But I plan to one day own this place."

"You a cop?"

"Do I look like a fucking cop?"

"You look like something out of an 80's rock video."

Hound bursts out laughing drunkenly by Orpheus comment. "Oh, burn, amigo."

"Let's take this outside." Moth demands.

"Let me make this shoot first." Orpheus focuses back on the cue ball.

"No, I think you and me should go out now."

"Sorry, dude. I'm strictly-chickly. Maybe you should go to the Toolbox on Mercury Street."

"Hey! Maybe you're not aware about you situation!" Moth leans forward over the pool table. "I got..."

Orpheus gives a fast and hard thrust of the cue to the cue ball but instead of hitting the tenth ball, the cue ball flies off from the green surface of the table and impacts on Moth's nose like a swift punch. Moth quickly clinches his nose with both hands as he backs into the clutching hands of Tiny.

A second after the cue ball hits Moth, Orpheus grabs his nearly empty beer bottle and backhandedly throws it at Oxy Mo, shattering into pieces as it collides with his face, leaving the remaining beer to splash into his eyes and temporally blinds him, causing the mook to lose his footing and fall sideways on the wall, nearly falling on Hound.

The second the beer bottle smashes onto Oxy Mo's face, Orpheus turns to make a hasty retreat. As Pin moves to block his path, Orpheus does a quick twirl of the cue and swings the thick end at Pin's head, striking him directly at the ear, shattering the cue on impact and leaving a severe ringing in his ear as he falls to the floor.

Unable to pull his arm from Tiny's strong grip and not wanting to waste time with threats, Moth pulls out his gun and fires at close range at the bouncer's stomach, then fires two more in the chest. The beefy hands restraining Moth's arm slips away as the bouncer collapses on the floor, allowing Moth move about again without giving the man he just shoot and killed a second thought.

Moth spots Orpheus retreating to the employees-only hallway to escape through the back exit. Attempting to stop him, Moth starts firing frenziedly at Orpheus, not caring about innocent bystanders. Running from Moth while ducking and dodging the hail of bullets after him, Orpheus sees Zane blocking his way, aiming his gun at him. In the second it takes for Orpheus to focus on the gun, he sees the finger squeezing the trigger.

Orpheus drops to his knees and uses his momentum to slide forward as Zane fires his gun at him. Continuing to slide on his knees, Orpheus knocks his head back to dodge the incoming bullet as it zooms over his face. Oddly enough, another bullet whizzes by from the opposite direction, obviously from Moth, and grazes Zane's shoulder. The sudden pain Zane feels distracts him as Orpheus slides into his legs, knocking him off the floor like bowling pin and hits the floor face first.

Near the entrance to the hallway, Orpheus springs to his feet to make a dash out. But halfway through, Orpheus stops to the sound of clicking from an empty gun and looks to Moth holding his at his elusive prey, still pulling the trigger over and over with no shots firing.

Orpheus gives a smug grin to Moth and then gives him the finger before running down the hall to the back exit.