The Making of a Wasteland Pt. 7
#7 of The Making of a Wasteland
I hope you can forgive me for not indenting this, I type it in a document, indent's don't transfer over, and I don't particularly feeling like doing it for every paragraph/quotation.
Warning: Seems that violence has made it's return to the story, if you've read all the other chapters it shouldn't be a problem, but you know it's violent don't read if that bothers you.
I didn't immediately notice him. It took a firm hand on my shoulder become he became a reality in my mind. Upon noticing the taller wolf in his trademarked black suit, my stomach began to turn at his very sight. For men like him there was no such things as coincidences; us being in the same place was of his choosing.
"Hello Miles. I didn't expect to run into you here," The Boss said, "Who's this beautiful young girl?"
"This is my l-love, Anna. Anna this is my boss Mr...uh"
"You can just call me Mr. Gallagher," He responded, holding out his free hand in front of Anna, "Nice to meet you young lady."
She offered her hand as well, and it got swallowed in his bigger hand, and they shook, "Nice to me you too Mr, Galagur."
With that being said, to my pleasure, their hands became separate entities again. It was then he turned his attention back to me, "It's really lucky that I ran into you here, I forgot to give you this last night. Guess we just had too much fun last night, am I right?"
"Yeah... thanks." I replied, taking the object he had pulled from pocket. The object was a phone of the touchscreen kind; one of the ones that was too big in most adults hands, so in my hands it was practically a tablet, or even a small TV.
"Keep that with you, my boy. If I ever have any need of you I'll call," Mr, Gallagher said as a fare well of sorts before turning to leave. Though he stopped before actually getting very far, "If you have any need of me either you can just call."
I nodded, and with that he was out the door. It was only after he left that I realized I hadn't been breathing. I looked over the phone he had given me, have contemplating to simply leave it in the booth or so much as stomp it into a billion pieces, bu t instead I, with much difficulty, slipped it into my pocket.
All of a sudden I didn't wanna be there anymore so I got to my feet, put the money on the table, and quickly walked to the door. I didn't have to look to know that she was behind me, her rushed footsteps made it very clear that she was there.
"Miles slow down!" she yelled from a few feet back. It wasn't until then that I became aware of my arduous pace. It was then that I stopped and turned to look back at Anna, only to be collided with by her.
I wrapped my arms around her tightly, pulling her into my chest. I felt her arms around me as well, and it relieved me. I had allowed myself to believe that simply being with Anna would be enough to escape the mess I had gotten into, but that seemed not to be the case.
The idea that the man expected me to do more of the things that'd bring me further from the Miles I wished to be. That wasn't my main worry though, eventually Anna would get dragged into it all. She'd either get hurt by it, or learn to hate me for it all; either would break me.
"Let's go home."
"Okay."
With our embrace broken, I had to settle with the warmth of her hand in mine and her head on my shoulder. We didn't share another word the entire way back to the room.
"I'm gonna go take a shower," I said before quickly making my way past both beds, and into the bathroom. I closed the door sharply, turned the single knob to mostly hot, and then my clothes quickly found the floor.
I pulled back the curtain and stepped over the side of the tub, to be greeted by the hot water. At first touch I flinched, but my body quickly became accustomed to it. The feeling of the hot water running down my head and through my gray fur left me statuesque; simply moving became too much of a chore.
I don't know how long I simply stood there before the bathroom door opened and a soft voice accompanied it, "Miles, can I join you?"
"Mmmm... if you want."
In a matter of moments the shower curtain was being rustled and I was greeted with a small, familiar body. She hugged me tightly, so much so that the water raining down on us from the shower head could find it's way between our masses.
"Miles what's wrong?" Anna asked softly. Her voice filled with a distinct tone of worry, that made me feel even worse than I already had before.
"It's nothing really. My stomach just kind of hurts. I think I ate too much," I lied, then rubbed her head softly, "Don't worry I'm already feeling much better."
On that day no soap met fur, but instead we stood there for a full 45 minutes or so simply embraced as we were. If not for the cooling water, I can't be certain that we wouldn't have just stayed like that for ever.
That simply wasn't the case though, and when the water got to be bone-chillingly cold, it went off, and I grabbed towels and handed her one. The towel in my hands was quickly against her fur, while her's was against mine. Washing and drying for us wasn't an individual affair; it had become another intimacy between us.
It was another time for our paws to explore the other; for her hands to rub along my length, and for mine to graze along her precious folds. It always ended explosively, with us both trembling with feeling, and often sprawled out all over each other.
That wasn't tonight though. When our fur was only mildly damp and we'd given up getting it any less so, my digits didn't find their way anywhere near her delicates. Instead they found themselves resting on her face, cupping her cheeks, and eventually bringing her muzzle to mine.
It's quite amazing how such a simple contact can be so much to someone. The simple feeling of her soft lips smashed up against mine always catches me off guard. If I had to try and place the feeling, I'd call it lightning; I've never been unlucky enough to be struck by it, but I'd assume they're somewhat similar. They're both instant and intense, making reactions impossible and changing everything entirely. One just happens to be good while the other is bad. One things certain though, if I never got to experience this again I'd prefer to be struck by lightning.
After the lightning between us came to an end, we simply found our way out of the bathroom and back into the main room. The only light existing in the room was coming from the TV. Somehow it had happened to be on one of those music channels no one actually watches, not entire sure how that happened, but it gave me an idea.
I spun around a bit dramatically before bowing my head and offering her my hand, "May I have this dance?"
(A/N: I had a song in mind, not gonna put Lyrics, but the song is _All About Us_by _He Is We_if you were curious)
She giggled, probably due to my spectacular performance, and gave me a nod before giving me her hand. What occurred after that was probably the worst display of dancing ever. There were spins and twirls in a song that didn't exactly support them, and they were entirely off pace. We stumbled about more than actually gliding around our carpeted dance floor, and quite a few feet got trampled. The closest thing we had to a disco ball was the bright light glimmering from the TV set, and we seemed to have forgotten our fancy costumes, well any costumes for that matter. If I had to rate our performance it'd just barely be Oscar quality.
The song eventually came to an end, and our terrible dancing did with it, but the desire for motion didn't leave us. Jumping across the beds playing the floors lava became our new dancing, and we did that for quite some time before simply collapsing on one of the beds, both of us now at the point where sleep seems like a nice diversion, and then we proceeded to find it together.
The sleep didn't last long though. In the hours leading up to the morning I found myself awake to the sound of a distant ringing. It took me a moment to realize that it was probably the phone the boss gave me that I had left in my pants in the bathroom floor. I slipped up from the bed, gently working out any overlapping body parts between Anna and I, and then quickly found my pants and dug the phone from them.
"Hello"
"I'm outside. We have work to do, my boy. Get some pants on and get out here."
With that the call ended, and I scrambled to get dressed, so as to not keep him waiting. He struck fear into me. He was the kind of man that had power, and wasn't afraid to use it. He'd killed his own man without reason, and I assume he's probably done much worse. If he had any reason to kill me he wouldn't hesitate, or Anna for that matter. Taking a few minutes to get outside probably wouldn't be that kind of reason, but with a man like him you could never be sure.
After getting dressed I started to leave, but stopped at the sight of her. I didn't want her to wake up alone without a clue as to where I was, so instead I walked over to her and nudged her awake. Her eyes opened and she looked at me groggily, "*Yawn*, Miles what time is it?"
"It's about 3am. I have to go to work, I didn't want you to wake up, and wonder where I went."
"I don't like waking up alone."
"I'm sorry, I promise I'll spend all the time in the world with you later. I just can't be here now."
I sat down beside her on the bed and pulled her into my arms, holding here for as long as I felt I could. Deciding that I'd better leave now before I couldn't at all. I brought my hand to her cheek and let it linger there for a few seconds, before it became a tool to coerce her mouth to mine. Our exchange didn't last very long; I was in a hurry to leave, and she was practically back asleep against me.
"Goodbye Anna, I love you."
"I love you, too big brother."
With that I laid her back down and covered her up. I gave her a gentle pat on the head before walking towards the exit, picked up the room key, and exited into the early early morning. Everything was dark, with the exception of a few street lights, the occasional passing car, the exterior lights of the lobby building, and of course the limo in the parking lot that was sure to lead me back to an unimaginable hell.
On the walk to it my mid raced, every though in my head a variation "go back inside" or "tell him you won't do it". Even so I trudged on, knowing such thoughts would lead to my demise, and when I came in proximity the driver door opened and within a moment the man had the back door open, ready for my entrance.
"Hello Miles, fancy some mischief in the morning?" Was the response I got upon climbing in. The entire back of the limousine was filled with a lot of shady looking men that could pass for any given brainless, but dangerous, henchmen ever.
"What do we have to do," I asked, the sheer volume of man power in the vehicle telling me there might be a small war coming.
"My dear boy we don't have to do anything. We're simply taking whats rightfully ours from a mere ant." He responded, before taking a sip from a wine, I failed to notice until then. While the boss merely sipped from his wine glass, the many other brutes chugged bottles, and talked about their favorite crimes they committed.
"Yeah I pinned her down in an alley and took her right there. She wouldn't stop screaming for help, even after a few blows to her pretty face, so I took a knife, cute off her pretty white tail, and gagged her with it. Best sex I ever had," One of the men bragged, causing a humungous uproar of everyone else in the car, and bringing me to chills.
"Pssh... that's every weekend for me buddy," another retorted, "I like taking wives and making husbands watch, and then vice versa while I'm butchering the poor bastards."
That limousine became a one up contest. Every man in the car telling something worse than the last. They simply became so horrific that such things are burned into my mind, and I don't wish to pass on the burden, so we simply arrived at one of those home owned stores that carries nothing in particular.
The door to the car was soon opened and I made my trembling legs reinforced me as I was found my way on the pavement, Mr Gallagher was behind me, among a few other of the thugs.
I felt an arm rest on my shoulder, before the familiar voice met my ears, "Miles, this man hasn't paid the modest fees we offered him for our protection, so we must persuade him. Sorry about the guys in the car, I could see that bothered you, but you'll find all that stuff to be child's play soon enough. Now stay by my side protege"
With that his contact with me ceased and I followed along like the obedient dog I felt like. The thugs made short work of the breaking in, and within mere moment of the door being kicked in, the sounds of screams and breaking possession filled the early mornings.
Upon entering the state of the interior matched the sounds heard moments before; fragments of wood filled the floor and glass shards alike, and then of course there was the plump feline, putting up a hell of a fight, being held down by multiple men.
"You bastards! I won't pay scum such as yourself," The man hissed, claws extended, still trying to break the holds on him.
"Men place make Mr. Bartoli more open to negotiations for me, I haven't much desire to get blood all over myself." and with that the various men took their turn delivering punches to the man; after a few blood covered him and various areas of his face were contorted by whelps, his right eye was swollen shut, and his left was close.
Moments later another scream came from further into the building and then another of the men came dragging a young girl. She was a young feline, my age or just a bit older, and from the scratches present on the man's face--and the bloody lip of hers--I could tell that she put up quite the fight.
"No not my Abigail, shes all I have left. Please don't hurt her," The man sprung to life at the sight of her, and his violent fits now mere pleas. The entire display sickened me, but I stood still, afraid that simply moving would illustrate my disgust and I'd find myself in their very situation.
"I'll give you one last chance to give me the money I rightfully deserve," the Boss said calmly, "otherwise she's at the mercy of my thugs."
"I don't have it! I haven't a dime! If I had any money don't you think I'd give it to you?!?! Please just let my baby girl go." The rather fat man was sobbing now, his pleas truly all he had to offer. The boss looked unfazed by it all, and I knew that his decision was already made.
"If I let her go then It wouldn't be fair to all the ones that didn't get let go. It's strictly business though, being a business man yourself I'm sure you understand"
"Fuck you!" Mr. Bartoli yelled, and with the speed a you don't expect of a fat man he broke free of the men and the impact of his claws caused Mr. Gallagher to stagger. For just a moment the calm and collected man that was the boss broke and with an enraged grunt, his fist connected with the cat knocking him back against the wall a few feet behind him.
"Change of plans, the girl's gonna die in her own bed. Her body is gonna become a mere tool for the enjoyment of any man that so wishes it; whether he simply wants sex of something to hit. I can assure you that, because of your actions, she'll wish she were dead long before her heart stops," All the while the boss touched the claw marks on his cheek, a smile laced his muzzle.
"Come on boy. No need to waste our attention on that pathetic piece of shit anymore," He led me away from crying man and back towards the door way, only to stop before exiting, "If you want a turn with the young thing I can arrange it, better hurry though while she's still pretty. Those men are simply barbarians, she'll probably be skint alive before the nights over."
I shook my head, I felt as if simply opening up my mouth to speak would result in vomiting. He seemed to notice my unease and gave me a pat on the back, "I know it seems cruel, but you'll get used to it all."
With that I was led back to the limo and we were with a few words we were off. Of course that wasn't the end to it though. In the next few minutes, much to my displeasure, we would whiz right past the inn that had all but became home and continue down the road.
"Isn't the job over?" I asked, hoping that it was simply a mistake and the car would turn around and I'd be back with Anna soon.
"It is... but I wanted to give you a tour of whats mine," He responded and after a few more minutes of driving, we pulled into a huge parking lot fitting to the building it was designed for. The building, although not scraping the sky, it was still tall enough to marvel at.
"I own it all my boy," He said, as if reading my mind, "It's much better from the inside though. I'll give you the full tour."
The automobile came to a stop shortly after and I was then led into an elevator. The first floor we came to was a fancy restaurant, the kind with reservations and small portions. You know, the real deal.
"Miles, anyone who isn't a gun wielding psychopath simply knows me as Mr. Gallagher, entrepreneur and local Millionaire, a simple man who owns a fancy restaurant and hotel," He explained, "What do you think of it all."
"It's great," I responded, not really paying attention, instead being haunted by the thoughts of what was probably happening to that girl. Of course nothing gets passed Mr. Gallagher and I found myself being wheeled off back into the elevator again. He tapped the very top button and after a minor delay the elevator came to live.
After a full minute or so the doors opened tp unveil the biggest room I had ever seen in my life. The exterior walls were glass, giving the most magnificent view ever. To the left was the living room, equipped with a giant TV, a sectional bigger than Mine and Anna's entire hotel room, and spotless white carpet.
I didn't get the pleasure to go in there though, but instead I was led into the equally impressive kitchen. Through a maze of counter tops and barely used kitchen appliances, I eventually found myself before a dining table. I pulled out the chair in front of me and tool a seat, knowing that was probably his intention. He took up the chair opposite of me.
"Miles I was like you once. I wasn't as young, Probably 23 or 24, but when I found myself but a lackey in this business. The first time I saw something like you saw tonight, I did many things; I ran, I puked, Held a gun to my head, but instead I found alcohol to be a better solution."
"Will alcohol make me stop seeing her face?" I asked; I didn't receive an answer, not a verbal one anyways, but instead was greeted by full bottle in front of me, and a pat on the head,
"You can only hope my boy. You can only hope."