She stumbled over the toilet. Her arms were shook as she leaned over the porcelain bowl. Her blonde hair skimmed the water as the acid in her stomach churned. The heat, the sweat, the nausea. She tried to keep it together but she couldn't even clench her palms. Then it hit her, she hurled into the toilet she clung desperately to.
She hated it. The drinks, the men… but she kept coming back. Her heels grated against the floor as she heaved into the toilet. She pulled down her sequin dress and tried to catch her breath. A young blonde man helped her up.
"C'mon, up you go… Remember…The more you drink the easier it gets." He pulled her face up and fixed her hair. He drew a dark lipstick from his back pocket and smothered the violet hue on her lips. He sighed at her. She looke worse for wear. He straightened her back and presented her to a man standing at the entryway of the bathroom. His crimson hair was slicked back into a rough ponytail.
"Good job Demyx, you can raise the dead." He took her hand and looked at her.
"She needs a break…..."
"She's new. If she can't keep up with the pace we'll find some one who will."
"No I can." Her voice strained against the echoed walls. Both men gave each other a concerned look.
"You know Blondie, damaged merchandise isn't worth very much in our company." Axel slicked back a disheveled hair strand. She tightened her fist. "That aside….Youre still a person…..you need to remember that….." She wouldn't look up. He knelt down infront of her and turned her shoulders to him." The boss finally gave you a alias. Congratulations. Youre know known as The Witch." She weakly smiled up at him and then rested her hands against her own chest.
"Alright, its show time Queens." The blonde haired man clapped back and swirled to the door.
" Back's straight guys….Boogy's here." Demyx opened the door in anticipation. A stout thick waisted man walked through the frame. He walked up to the girl and roughly tilted her face to meet his. He was rough with her, Demyx and axel shot glances at one another.
"Hey careful ther-" His grip tightened against demyx's outburst.
"The client has asked for a new host." He wiped his hands with a pristine cloth.
"What?" Axel looked at the girl, losing a client was bad, but having one switch mid payment was unheard of.
"He wants something different. A girl that has quality to her." He grabbed her wrist and pulled the blonde up. He looked at her. He spun her around.
She couldn't react fast enough, she struggled to pull away.
" She has no defects. No tattoos. Small hands. A slender figure. Clear skin….."
He sighed with anger at his throat.
" What the HELL does he mean by quality?... Did you do everything that was asked of you?"
Namine nodded sheepishly.
The old man sighed again.
"I don't know What it is but fix it. Both of you." He shoved her towards axel. He held her firmly.
"Damaged merchandise doesn't sell, Got it memorized?."He stood infront of the girl. The bulkier man scoffed at him.
"You've got some nerve Axel." Demyx frowned at bogeys remark. The heftier man ade his way out the room. Demyx went up to namine. Axel assured her she was safe, reguardless of people like him. She was under good care aslong as he had a say in it.
"He forgets who you are, Axel." Demyx assured him as he slipped a black sequined dress towards the girl. "A basic black dress."
"Bitch Dafaq." Axel smacked him. "Didn't you hear him? We don't need Basic Bitch status. We need Extra As Fuck…."
"….Its what he wants right?" She looked at herself in the mirror. Her make up faded off her porcelain skin. Lips as light pink as tulip petals. Her eyes glowed with the smight eyeliner and brown eyeshadow. She looked at herself then her smile slowly faded.
" Guys like black….right?" She perked up a bit.
"Y…yea…. You okay with that?" Demyx stood behind her giving her a worried scowl.
"I have to be…"
Half way across the city there was a boy in desperate need of a phone call. No matter how many times he rang her, she didn't pick up. Today was the seventh time that month.
"1:47 am."
He paced in the back alley. His break was almost over.
*Ring...Ring...Ring...*
It went to voicemail. Again.
"Namine...Damn it...just pick up your phone for once..." He ended the call, scratching the back of his head. He let out a sigh of frustration then pulled himself together.
"Hey, Roxas." His boss was checking up on him."You...okay there, Kid?" He folded the hand towel and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. The light from the zippo flickered against the scar that ran across his face.
"Not your day I take it." He hit his cigarette. "Go home. you look like shit. The crowd tonight isn't tipping anyways."
Roxas shook his head.
"I made a promise."
"Scram kid. I don't need you here tonight. You're not bound to this place, you know that." he scuffed his hair." How longs it been? Since you went to go see your brother? "He went silent. "See? Perfect. Now go visit him. Don't you work there?" Roxas wasn't planning on answering that. Squall sighed.
"Youre too smart to be doing this Roxas. You were at the top of your class...now you're here at the bottom of Hades's pit serving the scum a glass of venom ...on a nightly basis at that...Go on, get some rest, and go see him. That's an order Blondie."
Roxas agreed at the end. He thanked him and went to gather his stuff
He headed toward his apartment complex in the hospital. He clutched his medical coat in one hand and his bartending apron in the other.
"I almost have enough saved up…."
Axel took one last hit from his cigarette before crushing it against the concrete. He shut the door and leanned against the Lexaeus brand name car. He waited in silence.
A silver haired teen carried a petite young girl in his arms.
"What…. the hell…" He waited for his partner to get in. The silver haired man layed the girl across the back seat and covered her with his jacket. Axel looked over and cursed under his breath.
"How is she?" He was annoyed.
"She's out cold. He over did it." The silver haired man sat next to him.
"...Damn." Axel Pulled the jacket down, she had several small faded bruises running across her spine."She's been working her ass off, Riku"
"She needs rest." Riku's tone was cold."Its the third time he's done this to one of our girls…. Why isn't he black listed?"
"He's one of the Vip's. There's no reason to put him out like that. They don't care…"
Riku looked back at the seat and noticed something was off.
"Hey…Girl….." He knudged her in efforts to get her to wake up. She wasn't moving. He turned her over, a faint line of blood was slowly trickling out of her mouth, her lips were brused. Riku looked at axel with concern. The redhead cursed under his breath.
"we need to take her to a hospital….…Didn't you...say some one at some hospital owed you a favor?"
"That was…a different kind of favor….." Riku didn't look at axel's smrk.
"Oh really?"
"Lets get going."
"Lead the way…Slut." Riku was about to interject when axel sped off.
They drove across town.
2:15 am Twilight's Medical Center Campus.
Roxas was half way to the hospital when he heard a car zooming by, it almost hit him.
"Watch it! Jerks!" He flipped the car off. the car flipped him back. He puffed.
"Ugh! What douche bag has flames in their damn car window anyways….stupid posers." He was steaming.
He made it to the west wing of the hospital dorms, he managed to get past security w considering the awkward conversation he'd have to have about where he'd been for the past month. His room was quiet. Dark. He threw his bag on the couch with a dull plop and walked across the living room to the took off his apron and leaned across the sink. He looked up. the dark rays from the moon danced on his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked at him The white uniform Squall made him wear made him look like he was attending some sort of Hosting event. He chuckled.
"Man….I look …like shit."
"I don't think so." The lights turned on, blinding Roxas.
"Gah!" His blood pressure shot up."What in the hell-" He felt his body pushed to the floor. A sock covered foot kicked him down. He looked up at a fake blue baseball foam bat.
"Intruder."
"Say What? This is my unit-"
"Was, loser. Its mine now." That voice...
"Hayner?! The hell is your problem?!" His eyes focused on the honey highlighted teen.
"My problem? You wanna know my problem? Hah. That's rich." He thumped the bat down onto Roxas's head. Roxas gripped the bat and pulled it forward. He sent the 21 year old toppling off him."Not so fast!" He cheap shot Roxas and aimed to the gut.
"OMPH!" Roxas curled against the pain but he managed to get Hayner under him.
"You LEFT me to DIE mother fucker." Hayner aimed for his hair.
"You're being dramatic."
"You left me to do the whole assignment with Pence. Do you think we passed?!" He pulled the blonde hair down against the tile and rubbed his face against the cold floor."You bone head! you're a real piece of work, you know that?! Leaving me with Pence!"
"Maybe if you studied, you wouldn't have failed-"
"THREE WEEKS OF FUCKING OFFICE DUTY SHIT HEAD. THREE WEEKS.." He pulled more energy and toppled Roxas over. He pinned his hands at his sides. He leaned in close to his face. Roxas froze, he felt the weight of Hayners body against his arms.
"Three weeks...and you weren't anywhere to be found." He could hear the tone in Hayners voice drop. Roxas felt guilty.
"Hey...listen...I didn't mean to leave for so long...its just..." Hayner lunged his front teeth toward Roxas's cheeck.
"TREE FOOKN WICKS"
"AGHJSSFHHH!" Roxas screamed. He turned and caught the shower curtain between them. it fell and clouded their vision. He pushed him off Hayner rolled across to the other side of the room. "You dusty ass BITCH." He grasped his face. Hayner stood up, Roxas guarded, awaiting retaliation.
"You..." His expression showed how hurt he really was. It tore at Roxas.
"Hayner...listen..."
"I'm dating Olette." Roxas froze.
"...What?" Roxas saw the that fake smile Hayner tried to pull, but He wasn't having it. "And Clouds the Head of the of medicine department now, how shitty is that?" Roxas pushed him.
"Don't give me that. You're dating Olette?"
"Shes a nice girl."
"Bullshit." Roxas pushed him again.
"She is."
"You don't like girls." Hayner's smile forcefully coiled itself.
"You don't know anything about me anymore, do you? At least I'm not hiding shit."
"Whats that got to do with anything?" Hayner sighed and walked over to the tub and put the curtain back up.
"Sora's condition is stable now by the way. Not like you care." Roxas reacted to that last line and he left the room.
Hayner sighed and furrowed his face against his hands. He sat on the edge of the tub. A heavy sack flung him backwards. it spilled out in the tub. He saw stacks of money.
"Roxas...this...where'd you get this?"
"He needs the surgery. I'm making it happen. Five million right? Even if its experimental. He'll do it for five million."
"You have Five months left. There's no way...Listen...Realistically, you cant just-"
"My bank has 2.5 million already." He scowled."That bags nothing…."
"Wh...Roxas...How'd you get this much-"He brushed it off.
"Namine. I don't know what the hell shes been doing but shes 80% of the reason why we were able to make so much so fast."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know. The account just keeps going up. I tried calling. I tried going back to the bank and asking but they can't disclose details."
"It's been a few months since I've seen her." Roxas clenched his fists. "Looks like you've been busy your self." Just saying Roxas was hurt was an understatement.
"Listen...Olette, She's-"
"Forget it." Roxas left the room.
Hayner looked down at the bag and frowned."Roxas..."
Roxas opened the door to the hall, the light was warm. He headed towards Sora's room.
3:45 Am Emergency room.
"She's worse for wear. But from what I can see, she really needs rest." The tiny asian girl glared.
"Riku, You of all people. " She knuckled the back of his head with her fist.
"Nice friend you got there." Axel chimed in as she set the gauze down.
"Who are you? Sit your Hot Cheeto lookin ass down." She focused on the blonde girl.
"I'm new here. I don't want to get fired. Don't make me test the waters with your out of the blue problems!" She silently screamed at both of them. The other medical assistants around here were giving her confused looks, she pulled the privacy curtain all around them.
"Yuffie, c'mon. She's one of best girls!" Riku pleaded.
"You're about to be in a worse condition than she is-why are you guys pumping shots into this poor girl i can smell the-" She expression changed completely she put the stethoscope on and tried to find her breathing pattern. She looked around the toom and got up. "Step back." She wasn't messing around anymore.
"Riku. I'm only going to ask this once." She pulled the girls arm up right. "What drugs were administered?" Riku's eyes flashed in confusion, Axel stepped in.
"None. " She pulled her other arm.
"None my ass. See this? On her wrist? That's a punctured vein." Axel looked up at Riku. A cold realization hit both of them.
"Yuffie, we didn't-"
"Any type of methamphetamine, Riku, can cause easily cause an over dose. Sure….we get those all the time here….its no big deal….but when you mix that with alcohol and you've got one lethal cocktail." Axel sat up. "I'm going to do blood work on her. Shes going to have to stay here over night. Fron the looks of it….shes not out cold because of fatigue you asshole." Riku shot a worried glance over to her, she layed still in the bed. "I'm putting her in the intensive care unit." She growled a both of them.
"Yuffie we didn't know she-"
" I'm not stupid. I know what you do guys do, I know what your clients do with pretty girls like her." She glared at Axel. "Whatever happened tonight…..Someone fucked up."
Axel looked at Riku, he pulled him outside wit him. He was quick with his words and dialed a number.
"This wasn't supposed to happen…Stay with her…"
"Who are you calling?"
"Vexen….he's the one that sells to the clients…..i need to know what he sold to him."
"Axel…" Axel's face showed deep concern. He made his way back to his car.
" Keep things under control." He sighed and sped off.
Riku made his way back into the Emercency room, the small girl was drawing blood from her.
"Yuffie, I-."
she grunted.
"Thanks? Please…keep your gratitude. You guys both owe me your left nut when I'm done."
Her lips ran pale, eyes drawn blank, the blue in them turned flat. A man dressed in a black suit before them. His voice sounded like a felt tip marker against construction paper.
" You're Next." The older man grasped her arm, pulling her close to him. His two other companions dressed in white moved her close to the door.
"Get off of her." The red haired male ordered, the white suits stopped what they were doing. The older man ignored him." Girly, Tonight your name is Xion. " The man threw a short black wig at her. The slender male shoved him up against the wall eliciting a heavy blunt cough. A wave of fear crept in through the white suits.
"You don't handlethe merchandise. " The men took a step back. the man scoffed at him and brushed his shirt off.
"Just because you're his nephew, it doesn't give you status. It doesn't give you respect, child." He clenched his fist.
"Know your place,Mr. Dizlocks." The blood in his voice tore at them. He crushed the man against the wall. the sound of drywall scraping against his face ran chills. "You? You're nothing." He dug his nails until a dulled scrape popped. Blood ran from the mans wrist and fore arm. The uncomfortable gasp of an older man silently layed across the room.
"Got it memorized? Nothing." He pulled out a handkerchief from his vest and threw it at his face. The man gritted his teeth. He walked over to the blond, and cupped her face. He wiped the smeared mascara from her eyes." This client prefers for you stay in character. Make sure the wig doesnt fly off. Respond to the name Xion, and Xion only. Its important you do not engage. Don't speak,Don't sigh, eyes forward. " The blonde swallowed hard and stood straight. She slipped on the wig and brushed off her nausea. ."Remember. The commission with this guy is killer."The slender man gave one more reassuring nod and left the room.
"Hurry up, Girl." The older man threw the handkerchief on the floor and brought his own out to wipe the blood. His smile was venomous.
