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The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
| ART OF THE DARK BY SHADY & CABBIE ESQ. |
CHAPTER 12 |
PART TWELVE
Fluorescent lights hang from the ceiling, illuminating the infirmary with a harsh, greenish-white that overpowers the natural light coming in from outside. Roseanne steals glances out of the tall, barred windows as she passes them by, pushing a laundry cart. She closes her eyes when she steps through the patches of late afternoon sunlight, enjoying the warmth on her skin. In those few seconds, she imagines she's free...sitting on her own private beach somewhere, far away from everyone and everything.
"Hey, Delgado," a brash, female voice says...and Roseanne looks over at the guard standing there, watching her from her post.
"This ain't the fuckin' promenade deck. Move it along."
Roseanne gives her a quick, evil eye, then picks up the pace a little. She turns away from the windows and pushes the cart past the guard, through the main ward of the infirmary...all of the non-critical cases, lined up in two neat rows of beds, one on either side of her. She looks back and forth, scanning all the faces for Oba. A few of the prisoners give her cool stares as she walks by, trying to intimidate her, even in their weakened states. But Roseanne just shoots it right back at them...feeling empowered by her new abilities.
Losers... she thinks, as she locks eyes with one particularly mean-looking woman, sitting up in her cot, with one arm hanging in a sling. She tips her head back a bit, looking down her nose at Roseanne in the classic ghetto stance.
"So whas'up, chica?" she asks, laying it on thick.
Roseanne stops, just for a moment...eyeing this woman who had tried to beat the living tar out of her several times since she'd arrived. One of the most feared prisoners in the joint...one she hoped would never notice her. But she'd picked Roseanne right out, because of her atypical, delicate appearance...a real girlie-girl in the middle of butch central. The only thing that kept this bully from having her way was Roseanne's friendship with Oba...the woman's mysterious, creepy vibe freaked most people out.
"You gon' say somethin', bitch?" the woman prods, and Roseanne finally breaks her stare to glance back at the guard...who is watching them carefully.
"I mean, how'd you pull THIS detail, huh? Only the sweethearts get to push the carts...so who's ass you been kissin', huh?" she continues, making kissy noises.
Roseanne smirks, feeling a giggle coming on as she starts to walk away from her.
"How's that arm?" is all she says...and the woman nearly spits.
"Ohhh, you wait, baby...you just WAIT 'til I get outta here," she says loudly, to Roseanne's back...but then she sucks her breath in, feeling a sharp stab of pain in her broken arm...as if someone had just hit it with a baseball bat. She screams out in such agony, it sends the guards and nurses scrambling.
But Roseanne just keeps walking, grinning from ear to ear. She sighs with satisfaction, as she gets to the end of the ward...to the last bed on the right, that's curtained off. Roseanne looks around, making sure no one's paying attention before sneaking over. She peels the curtain back and sees Oba lying there, eyes closed. Roseanne smiles, stepping inside and pulling the curtain closed.
"Oba," she whispers.
The sleeping woman opens her eyes, then looks over at Roseanne, as she sits down on the edge of the bed.
"Hi...how're you feeling?" she asks kindly, reaching for her hand. But Oba yanks it back as she sits up, pushing away from her...which changes Roseanne's smile to a confused look.
"Oba, what...what's the matter? What's wrong?"
"Why did you come here...what do you want?" she asks, abruptly. It's the first time Roseanne's heard her voice in days; and it sounds so different now, so...apprehensive. Not at all like her usual calm, collected voice.
Roseanne shakes her head. "I just...wanted to see if you were okay."
Oba looks her up and down, like she's searching for something in particular...and Roseanne notices that she won't look her in the eyes for more than a second. It worries Roseanne to see her friend still like this, after all this time...so she backs off a little, standing up.
"I thought you'd be...back to normal by now. What happened?" she asks, swallowing hard. "What did I DO?"
Oba relaxes a bit, at Roseanne's distance...but she still avoids her eyes. "You still don't know?"
"No, I don't. Oba, please...if I hurt you, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to."
Oba closes her eyes at that. "Yes...I know dat," she replies, and Roseanne sighs.
"Well...good. Now you can tell me what the hell's going on with you...why're you acting like this? It's like you're...SCARED of me, or something. Why?"
Oba doesn't answer...instead, she turns her face toward the wall, which makes Roseanne nuts.
"And why won't you LOOK at me? The hell is THAT about?" she says, anxious...but trying to keep her voice down.
It takes her a moment, but finally, Oba says: "I can't."
"You can't WHAT?"
"I CAN'T...LOOK at you, cher. I just can't."
Roseanne waits for more, but it doesn't come. So she throws her hands up in frustration. "Oba, will you please...PLEASE, talk to me? I have no idea what the fuck you're going on about, and you're really starting to scare the shit outta me! Now TALK TO ME!! Please..." she finishes, walking over to the wall and slamming her back up against it.
"Okay, look...look...I'll shut my eyes," she offers. "Does that help? Will you talk to me now?"
Oba glances over at that...and sees her there against the wall, head tipped back, eyes shut. She breathes a little easier, taking her in for a moment before speaking.
"I'm sorry, cher...I do not...MEAN to treat you like 'dis. But jou must unnerstand...jou are not jourself anymore."
Roseanne almost looks directly at her, but catches herself. She squeezes her eyes shut tighter. "What're you talking about? OF COURSE I'm myself...I feel FINE. In fact, I feel GREAT! Do you have any IDEA what I can DO now?" she says, with new energy.
"Oh, Oba, it's...it's so much more than I ever imagined. I can't even find the words to describe it. I can leave this place for hours at a time...I can see, and touch...and interact with people thousands of miles from here! It's INCREDIBLE!"
"Jes...jou have become...quite powerful," Oba replies, watching her sadly...her animated body language, as she relives the highs of the last few days' exploits.
"And I can manipulate anything...ANYONE...ohhhh, you shoulda seen it, Oba...that day in the visiting area...oh, my god. It was...unbelievable!" Roseanne squeals, with a girlish giddiness...remembering the intense confrontation with Todd. "There was so much POWER in that room...so much that the room couldn't hold it all. The windows just...shattered..." Her voice quiets down to an intense whisper, her body shivering with the memory...so angry, and so frightening...but so sensual and intoxicating at the same time...
"Can you see yourself, my lover? Can you see how you tower over the children in their cradles?"
"Yes..."
"You want to pick them up, don't you?"
"Yes...I can help them."
"Oh yes...of course you can...you will help them. You will pick them up...you're picking them up, my lover, with your powerful hands...powerful hands, closing around their throats, my lover..."
"No...stop..."
"Ohhhh...NOW look who's so tough...my sugary pet...my little lamb...you're killing them, Todd...right in front of Tea. Imagine that...your wife...your beautiful wife...is watching you kill her very own children. Do you see now what she's been seeing all along? She had to run from you...because she knows what you're capable of. You and I...we fuck in the mausoleum because *I*...am NOT afraid of you...because *I* can cripple you - I enjoy crippling you. I am SO much more than you...you little...piece...of...shit."
Roseanne smiles broadly, as she strokes her own neck, then moves down to her shoulder...to the bite mark...the place where Todd took his own little piece, and left a little of himself behind.
"Oh, Oba...you shoulda SEEN HIS FACE. He was SO SURE he had me, cocky little bastard. But I showed him...showed him what he REALLY is..." she laughs. "I brought the dream to him, that image I planted in Tea's head...I showed him, and he FREAKED! And then, I added the icing..." she says, gesturing with her hands.
"...I told him that Tea was with Dean...and that they were probably screwing each other's brains out by now!" she finishes, giggling madly for a moment...then it subsides, as she realizes Oba's being very quiet.
"Anyway...I wish you coulda seen it."
A short silence...then Oba says: "I HAVE seen it."
Roseanne has to open her eyes at that...she desperately wants to look at her, but doesn't want to spook Oba anymore than she is already.
"What do you mean?" she asks...and she hears Oba breathe a heavy sigh.
"Roseanne...tell me someting. Jou really think that jou...CREATED dat image you sent to your...enemy? Jou really tink dat was all...YOUR doing?"
The question sends a chill down Roseanne's back. "I don't know what you mean. Of course *I* created it...how ELSE would it have been created?"
Oba sighs again, at her lack of comprehension. She stares at the chinks in the white concrete wall, which becomes a movie screen of sorts, to project her thoughts onto.
"The demon in de long, black coat...so black..." she starts, whispering the words so quietly that Roseanne almost doesn't hear.
"What?"
"...long coat, long hair...flowing wild in de wind, on a beach, at sunset..."
Roseanne's eyes widen...and she moves closer to Oba, who keeps her eyes to the wall.
"How did you...how could you know that?" Roseanne asks, but Oba continues over her.
"He kills de children while de mother watches...he...chokes dem...bashes der heads open on trees...and she is helpless to stop him."
Roseanne just stares at her, amazed...and worried. "How do you KNOW all that?" she asks again, with more firmness in her voice.
Oba sniffles, like she's crying. "Because I have SEEN IT, child...don't jou unnerstand that yet?? THAT...is what I have seen in YOUR eyes!"
"What?!"
"Jou did not CREATE dat image, cher. How can jou create...what already exists?"
Roseanne's mouth falls open at that, as Oba covers her own eyes, not wanting to see even the traces of it on the backs of her eyelids.
"Oh, Roseanne...jou do not realize what jou have done...to yourself."
"Oh god, Oba, what the FUCK are you talking about?? Speak ENGLISH!!"
"Jou are extremely powerful now...dat is true. But it won't last...and in de end, it will be your undoing. Jou are lost."
For a moment, Roseanne has no idea what to say. None of this is making any sense to her, and she rubs the spot between her eyes, feeling lightheaded and dizzy all of a sudden.
"Would you please stop talking at me like some goddamned fortune teller? 'I am LOST,'" she repeats, in a mocking tone. "Lost to WHAT? What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?"
"It MEANS...dat jou are tainted. Jour spirit has mixed with his, and now...he lives in YOU."
Her words seem to still the entire room...and Roseanne looks directly at her, without thinking. Oba gasps, turning her head away even more. Roseanne wants to reach out, shake her...make her take the words back. But for some reason, she can't...she pulls her collar down, unconsciously, and runs her hand over the bite mark...the bruise that wouldn't heal.
"Are you telling me that Todd...really IS a---a demon of some kind? Is THAT what you're telling me??" she whispers, crouching down low to Oba's eye level.
Oba just shakes her head. "No. Jou need to learn...to look past the flesh, cher."
"Well, if he isn't a demon, then WHAT IS HE??"
Oba stares into the wall again, her eyes glazing a little. "He is a man...a man who has been touched by evil in the deepest, most horrible way. It must've happened when he was a child...I can feel it coming from you, cher, his...lost innocence...fear and...torture...sickening pain. Anger...rage that he cannot contain..." she trails off for a moment, overcome by what she senses.
"...it has changed him...his entire being. He has gone beyond dis world without ever leaving it...and he lives in both worlds...de natural, de supernatural, but...he belongs to neither."
Roseanne gapes at that...and can only shake her head in disbelief, as Oba covers her eyes. "He has a most...rare...and terrible spirit, cher. And now it has touched YOU."
Roseanne says nothing; but she looks up at the ceiling in frustration, getting fed up. She starts hearing noises outside the curtain...the familiar footsteps of the guards. So she stands up, looking down at her traumatized friend.
"So...are you saying he's MORE powerful than me?"
Behind her hands, Oba laughs, sadly. "Dis is no contest, cher. Jou are aware of your abilities...he is only partially aware of his. He knows dat...someting is different about him...knows dat he is capable of terrible tings...knows dat he can sense what others cannot. But he does not WANT dese abilities. He just wants...to be able to love his wife and children without being afraid of that...thing...inside him."
Roseanne takes that in, tipping her head back a touch. "You sound like you feel sorry for him."
"Child, I am just affected by what I feel coming off of YOU. It is...deep...potent...and dat is merely residual. I don't ever want to see dis man face-to-face."
"Uh-huh. Well, he may have had a hard life, but I'll tell you something, Oba...he's not someone to feel sorry FOR. He's a shit. The absolute lowest of the low, and he deserves everything he gets. Now if you'll excuse me, I don't have time to stand here and listen to this crap anymore," she says, seething as she grabs the curtain...then she stops, taking a breath.
"Look...I'm sorry about what happened to you, I really am...but if you expect me to believe that TODD is some kind of fucking warlock, you're outta your mind. Just because he's a bastard and got beaten up by his father, it doesn't make him special. He'll go down just like the rest of them."
"Roseanne," Oba calls, with a firm tone. Roseanne turns slightly, but doesn't look at her.
"Do yourself a favor. Let it go."
"What?! Are you nuts??" she hisses...but before she can turn around, one of the burly female guards pulls the curtain away, and grabs Roseanne by the shirt.
"Goddammit, Delgado...the hell do you think you're doing? Get over here!"
"I'm not letting ANYTHING go," she says to Oba, as she struggles against the guard. "I didn't do all this work for nothing! They're ALL going down...every single one of 'em!!"
Oba finally turns to look at her, braving Roseanne's eyes to say what she has to say. "I am warning you, cher, for your own good...LET IT GO. Because if you do not...jou WILL regret it."
"Oh, fuck that!! And FUCK YOU!! I dunno WHAT you're trying to do, but I'm not scared of you, I'm not scared of HIM...I'm not scared of ANYBODY!!"
"You're GONNA be scared of ME if you don't shut the fuck up right now!!!" the guard yells...and the other inmates look on as Roseanne gets dragged down the hall and out of the ward.
Oba looks after her with a mixture of pity and helplessness, knowing what Roseanne is about to get herself into...and knowing that this was the last time she would ever see her.
******************
From the very start, love had always empowered Todd, except it had never been quite enough to save him. A fact he intensely wants to change. The feel of Starr's lasting hug serves as a sweet reminder that he's human, that there'd been a time when a glance from his direction evoked interest as opposed to...rejection or fear. Digging down, as if digging into a satchel full of treasures, he pulls up an image of Tea reading a letter on the steps of the penthouse, raising her eyes and smiling at him - he had been watching her from his desk, watching her crease her brows as she pored over a demand letter from a client, watching her concentrate on the words in front of her with an unconscious chewing on her lower lip, a move that had made him want to kiss her. He remembers how her severe expression disappeared entirely when she caught him - how she lit up at the sight of him eyeing her.
The red light changes to green and he punches the gas, contemplating that look of Tea's on the stairs, so open to him. Come on, Manning, he tells himself, that kind of love doesn't just go away. No, the kind of love she gave him will beat out a bit of hurt - she simply needs time, she's looking anywhere she can to get a sense of safety because she's been through hell. He knows that kind of hell. Desperation made her choose...Shelton. And he's sure whatever it is that she's seeing in him...he's sure it's nothing.
He decides in that instant that he's going to give her the safety she's dying for...yeah...he's drawing strength from Starr's love, from the recall of Tea's love, from Tea's own strength. She survived Roseanne's evil before - she'll survive it again. And he's not going to fuck it up, either. No...he's been too entrenched in this stuff with Roseanne - and it's his imagination gone wild with jealousy and grief. Simple, easy to understand, beatable. He's going to do this, do it right.
Taking a cleansing breath, he maneuvers the truck into the parking lot of RJ's bar, hogging a couple of spaces. Climbs out, slams the door shut and adjusts his long wool coat, black as night. He saunters towards the door, liking the cold air, liking the feel of being grounded, and he's thoroughly unaware of several people getting out of his way - unaware of the power he emits.
A bouncer at the front door nods to Todd, "Mr. Manning, go on in." A group of young punks smoking outside the entrance turns to look, and Todd glances briefly at them. Cool stares all around...then they all turn back, sniffing, taking on airs.
And the bouncer shrugs, "Just kids, don't mean nothin'."
"Right."
"Go on in, sir," the guy says again, smoothly, Todd breezing past him.
Pushing the doors open to the bar, he gives the place a once-over and doesn't see RJ. Music thumps throughout the place and there are pockets of people, dancing, talking, so he's forced to move through the crowd towards the counter...eyes are on him, but he doesn't notice. He possesses the room - takes up space - and some resent it because he isn't one of them, he's an outsider.
A dark-skinned woman slithers up to him, taking a risk, and stops his progress. "Hey...you new in here."
"What's it to you?" he grumbles, unable to step around her unless he physically insists. But he doesn't feel the need to...push.
"I like fresh meat," she says, with a lovely, sexy smile.
He chuckles, "Shit. You're lookin' in the wrong place."
"Ooooh honey, I don't think so," she breathes, "You're something to behold."
"That right?" He looks down at her and her girls are all watching...and so are their men, alternating between discomfort at her trying to show everyone up by being the one to get the stranger, and annoyance that he appears to be brushing her off. Brushing off one of their girls.
She shimmies up closer to Todd, flaunting her full, barely-covered breasts - she tries to get him to dance with her, her arms reaching for him but not touching, her body writhing sexily mere inches from him, her heat mixing with his creating this undeniable energy between them, except he doesn't give in to it. He stands there utterly unaffected, bored even. Finally, licking his lips because he wants a drink, he says coolly, "I gotta run, watch yourself." Steps around her and she's humiliated, waving him away.
But one of the men who's a part of her group doesn't like the glaring insult, so when Todd reaches the bar - leaning forward on it and asking for a coffee - the tall man approaches him, spitting, "What's wrong with you - don't like that nice woman who's showin' an interest? She not good enough for you?"
Not hearing the woman's defender, Todd doesn't turn, sipping the black coffee instead. He focuses on the steam rising from the liquid - listens to the gentle rhythm of the music...he's so resolved, so prepared...he's going to be Tea's hero, the shoulder for her to cry on, her safety net...yeah, it's right here in the palm of his hand...he's got the whole thing planned.
"Hey, I'm talkin' to you," the man seethes, "Listen the fuck up, man--"
"Or what?" Todd straightens up and looks directly at the man, surprised to see fear in his eyes. He doesn't know why it's there...not really. Should be an even match, both being same height, same weight.
"You dissed our girl...it ain't right. I'm here to fix it."
Todd just stares at him, expressionless, which really freaks the guy out...then says calmly, "I'm married. Not looking for anything here...I'm just meeting someone on business." The man simply takes it in, considering it...then Todd leans forward a tad, and adds in a soft tone, "But you tell her, if I wasn't married - she'd get a lot more than what she came lookin' for. Might even be sorry."
The man looks Todd up and down and backs off, "Hey, no problem, man." Disappears into the darkness of the club.
The coffee tastes good to Todd - black and bitter as hell. Growing impatient, he searches the room once more for his "only friend in the world," finally asking the bartender. Before long, though, RJ does make his appearance, moving through the crowd easily, heading right for Todd.
"You clean up nice," he says, an expression of mild satisfaction dancing across his features.
"So do you."
RJ laughs a little at that. "Right. Let's get to business, shall we? Got some info for you."
"Get to it."
"Let's go in the back."
****
The club from behind the walls of RJ's office becomes muted, the music and sounds of people combining into a rhythmic hum that's almost soothing in just how undefined it is. How nicely the noise blocks out internal noise...how great it is to just listen. Todd sinks happily into a cushy chair and grins at RJ, nodding, "Nice."
RJ is taken aback by this sudden change in Todd - he seems...way too relaxed, too even keeled. He'd been watching Todd since he got to the club - let him alone because RJ was curious, untrusting. But to his surprise, he admits that Todd managed the woman coming on to him quite ably, not to mention her friend. Yes, instead of going nuts on the dude, he said a few choice words and the whole thing ended, without incident.
And he was drinking coffee. Yeah, he cleaned up real nice.
Todd wants the report though, "So let's hear it, man."
RJ sniffs, snapping out of his train of thought. "Phone call places Shelton in the southern portion of central England, probably London. Don't have a specific location yet, but we're working on it."
Todd waits, expecting more. "That's it? That's all you got?" That even keeled temper lessens, understandably though.
"Well, no...I got one more thing."
"What?"
"I checked with all my sources in London after my boy traced the call. Apparently, there's word on the street of a major bank job coming up, so...my guess is, Shelton's on the crew."
Wrenching himself out of the chair, Todd paces the room, running a hand through his hair, shaking his head. He starts talking without quitting the movements. Back and forth. "Not good enough, Gannon...we're running out of time."
"You think I don't KNOW that? Look, man, we traced him to London. We HAVE A CITY. It's just a matter of figuring out EXACTLY where the sonofabitch is holing up...so we should have a make on him no later than day after tomorrow...or the next day, at the latest."
"That's not...fucking...good enough!"
"Todd - what else do you want from me? I'm doing the best I can here." RJ settles back against the edge of his desk, disheartened, too. He studies Todd...and sure as hell doesn't want to deal with him losing it again. He didn't want to bail him out of jail again. Looking inwardly, RJ realizes he's battling that war again - who's better for Tea? What's the best for her?
"There's gotta be something...you mean to tell me that your 'sources' couldn't GIVE you his exact location? I mean, come on, man!! Come on..." Todd's eyes are clear, and the pain of loving Tea is shining through, getting to RJ.
"I DID ask...they DON'T KNOW. Crews don't exactly ADVERTISE their whereabouts, man...it's usually bad for business," he says sadly, "We've just...hit a bit of a wall, and I can't think of anything else to do right now."
Todd stops pacing...looks at RJ...and says, "There IS another thing we can do."
"What?"
The music thumps wildly, the crowd getting high on the music, and on whatever else is floating around the place. Todd breathes that energy in; he can feel it even from here...inside of himself. It's firing him up.
"Let's go talk to Roseanne. She knows where they are."
RJ sighs tiredly at that, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Yeah...Roseanne. Right. Like the last time you talked to her? No way in hell."
"Nah...it's okay. I'm all right. I can deal with whatever shit she throws in my direction."
The way he says it, sounds legitimate, sounds real. RJ rubs his lips together, straightens up...then walks around Todd, considering him. "Okay...let's just SAY I believe you - let's just SAY I take a chance...she knows something---"
"She doesn't know 'something,' she KNOWS. Forget your computer geek, and your crime bosses...forget that shit. SHE knows it all - we just have to pull it out of her."
"Uh-huh. Well, it's not really Rosie I'm worried about. How the hell can I know how YOU'RE gonna act? Man...you lost it with her. Hugely...and let me tell you, I ain't up for that shit again."
Todd sniffs and grabs hold of RJ's shoulders, "I saw my daughter tonight. I'm okay...look, I get you, I get how you feel about Tea. This is all about her...getting her back home. We both want that."
He's so rational, so with it...RJ looks hard at Todd, then shrugs him off. "Well...why would she tell you ANYTHING?"
"Because WE'VE got the power, Gannon - we're on the outside. No matter what she says, she's got nothing on the inside...we can make her life better, more comfortable."
"Why do I think she doesn't give a good fuck about that?"
"I want to try. Let's at least TRY IT...I mean, we're sitting on our asses anyway. Look, if she won't give, or she's yanking our chains, if we walk away empty handed, fine. Nothing we can do. We wait for your guys to get back to us."
Someone knocks on the door, RJ shouting, "Yeah - come in."
It's the bouncer saying, "Boss...someone here lookin' for you."
PART TWO
2002 Copyright by Shady & Cabbie Esq.
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