Chapter 2

Two Can Play the Game

Elizabeth sauntered over to her soft, plush couch and dropped a small stack of papers on the coffee table and slipped off her red, peep toe pumps. She plopped down on the couch and spread out, resting her head on the pillow. She had worked later than usual, not coming home until past 9:00 because of how much work she to do. Now after a long, long, exhausting day, all she wanted to do was get a good night's sleep. But unfortunately, she still had work to do that she couldn't finish during the day. So finally she pulled herself up and walked into her bedroom. She undressed, changing from her knee length, black pencil skirt and bright red blouse to her favorite pink and black sweats from Victoria's Secret. She then quickly pulled her shoulder length, dirty blonde hair into a high ponytail.

She walked back out to the living room and took her seat on the couch. She pulled her legs up close to her chest and grabbed the stack of papers. She began the time-consuming, dreadful task of reading them.

It was nearly 1:00am when Elizabeth felt herself falling asleep as she read the papers. She was almost finished, and that thought kept her going, trying to finish as quickly as possible. So she sat in the dark apartment as she read the papers, the only light coming from the table lamp next to her.

Soon, a sound at the door made her bolt upright, scaring the sleepiness out of her. She watched the door cautiously, listening intently to what sounded like someone trying to unlock the door, but having trouble. She was about to grab the lamp beside her, the closest thing that could be used as a weapon, in case it was needed, but was stopped when the door opened. When she saw who it was, she sighed in relief, but rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Will had pushed his way in, making out with some girl. Obviously not taking his lips away from hers, seeing as he couldn't open the door. Will and the girl both seemed oblivious to her presence, and thinking they would go to his room, Elizabeth made a small sound of disgust and turned back to her papers. But she couldn't concentrate. The two were still in the living room, not really moving. She winced as she heard the moans. It sounded like they were eating peanut butter. She let out a huff, but held out hope that they would move on to his temporary room.

But then something hit the back of the couch and Elizabeth turned around. The girl was backed up against the couch by Will, no more than two inches away from her. They still had not broken from each other or realized she was there.

God, you'd think they'd need to breathe sometime, Elizabeth thought.

"Will," Elizabeth hissed. Neither of them showed any signs of hearing her. The girl began to fall backwards onto the couch, practically falling on her. Elizabeth jumped from the couch quickly. She picked up her shoe that was by the couch and threw it at Will, hitting him on the head.

He pulled back and held his head, looking at Elizabeth with an angry glare, his date blushing silently and sitting up.

"What the hell?" He exclaimed. But then he looked at the couch and saw her papers, then looked at Elizabeth again. "Oh, crap. Sorry about that."

"Um…who's this??" The girl asked Will. She was a young girl who looked to be no older than 21. She was tall, blonde, and thin; the perfect 'Barbie' girl. She was wearing a tight, sequined, pink dress that was practically crotch high and it was low cut, hardly leaving her fake boobs to the imagination.

"Oh, right. Gigi, this is Elizabeth. This is Elizabeth's apartment; she's my sister's friend."

"Oh really? It's so nice to meet you!" The woman named Gigi said excitedly.

"So, how do you two know each other?" Elizabeth asked half heartedly, but making a nice attempt to be polite.

"Well, Will and I met at a night club tonight and he was just so charming I couldn't resist," she giggled, hugging Will's arm.

"That's…great. But I have work to do so I'll just go finish it in my room. And I would appreciate if you didn't do it on my couch."

"Oops, sorry about that," Gigi giggled again. She sure liked to giggle. Elizabeth began to gather her things and was ready to head back to her room when Gigi stopped her. "It was nice meeting you. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

"Aw, aren't you naïve? It's kinda cute. We won't be seeing each other again," Elizabeth stated, causing a confused look from Gigi.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently, looking from Elizabeth to Will. Will was visibly growing frustrated and slightly embarrassed.

"Let's just say it's not uncommon for Will to bring home girls. And it's even more uncommon for me to ever see them again."

Gigi's grip on Will loosened and she stepped away from him, glaring at him with an expression mixed with hurt and anger "Is that all this is? I'm just a one night stand for you? What do you think I am? A slut?" She exclaimed.

"To be fair you did just meet him…" Elizabeth muttered. Gigi looked at her but didn't give a reply. She instead turned back to Will.

"Gigi, it's not like you're making it sound," Will tried to defend himself.

"It's…exactly like you're making it sound," Elizabeth corrected.

"Gigi, please," Will tried to console her but it was too late. Without so much as a goodbye, Gigi walked passed him and he attempted to reach out to her, but she dodged him and left, slamming the door behind her.

Elizabeth just stood there looking after her, still holding the stack of papers in her arms. Will looked at her with a blank expression, his hands partly in his pockets. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I just thought she should know what an ass you are. She may have been a slut, but she seemed sweet." Elizabeth flashed him a self-satisfied smile.

"Please, you're calling me an ass? You're a snide, neurotic bitch!"

Elizabeth snorted. "I'll admit that I'm neurotic and a bit over obsessive, but"

"A bit? Yesterday you snuck into my room and rearranged my closet, separating my clothes by colors!"

"It was disorganized. Are you seriously gonna pretend that it doesn't make you happier when it's organized?"

"I don't have to pretend! It's like I'm living with frickin Adrian Monk!"

"Then don't live here! It's been three weeks; how long does it take to find an apartment?"

Will went silent for a moment, contemplating whether or not it was smart to tell her the truth, "Well, actually…I also lost my job. So I don't even have money for an apartment."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and her nostrils flared. She was too angry to say anything, instead she just turned on her heals and left the room, slamming her bedroom door.

--

It was Friday night and Elizabeth and Erin were at a club after both having a long week at work. The two were out on the floor dancing and having fun. Soon, Elizabeth left the dance floor and maneuvered her way through the throngs of people in a quest to get a drink. She made her way to the bar and sat on a stool, motioning for the bartender.

"A Blue Moon please."

"I'll have one too," a masculine voice said from behind her. She turned around and saw a tall, handsome man. He was wearing slacks and a nice, button down shirt and blazer. He had short brown hair, piercing blue eyes that practically melted her soul, and a jaw that looked as if it were chiseled out of gold by God himself. When the bartender gave them their drinks, Elizabeth pulled a few dollars out of her small clutch, but with a quick motion, the man smiled and pulled money out of his wallet and paid for both of their drinks.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," he said, sitting on the bar stool next to her. "You know most men tell girls that they must be from heaven, but as hot as you are, you have to be from the hinges of hell," he said smoothly, winking.

Elizabeth couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Are you serious? You're really gonna try one of those lame-o pick up lines, huh? You know, you really aren't as suave as you look." Elizabeth was still laughing as she spoke.

"Okay, okay, so you're not one of those girls. Let me try again. You're so sweet you…"

Elizabeth held up her hand, silencing him. "I'm gonna stop you there. Just say your name. If you wanna tell me I'm beautiful, go ahead and throw that in, but you really don't need more than that."

The man chuckled. "I'm Matt, and I think you're beautiful."

"Very nice. You take direction well; I like that," she flashed him a brazed smile. "I'm Elizabeth. Matt took her hand and kissed it gently, causing an eye roll from Elizabeth.

"What; too much?"

"I'll let it slide."

Elizabeth found herself smiling as the two sat there talking for a few minutes. As cheesy as he was to begin with, Elizabeth actually found herself intrigued.

Meanwhile at the other end of the club, Will walked in with some friends, goofing off. As they got in, his friends found girls almost immediately and went separate ways, but Will stood where he was near the door, smirking when he saw Elizabeth sitting at the bar with a man. Will's smirk turned into an evil smile. He swaggered over to them, walking up behind Elizabeth.

He put his arm around her shoulders, surprising her and causing her to jump slightly. "Hey, babe. Thanks for getting my beer," he took her beer and took a swig, smiling at the look on both of their faces.

"Wait…what's going on?" Matt asked with his brows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean 'what's going on'? Isn't it kinda obvious? You're hitting on my girlfriend." Will bit his lip, trying so hard not to laugh.

"Sorry, man, I didn't know she was taken." Matt stood, towering over Will by a few inches. With a disgusted look to Elizabeth, he left.

"Will!" Elizabeth screeched.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine, you're getting back at me for ruining your night with Gigi. That's fair; that's your prerogative. Now I respect that since you got me back, you will leave me alone for the rest of the night. Which actually brings me to another point…what the hell are you doing here?"

"I came here with my friends, god, you don't have to be so touchy."

"So will you leave me alone?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Will said, but at the same time, he purposely tipped the beer, causing it to go down her shirt.

She shrieked and jumped up, "Will, what the fuck is wrong with you?" She exclaimed.

"Oops…" was all he said, though he didn't really mean it. By now they had attracted the looks of a few people, including Erin, who stood on the dance floor with her arms around a man, but looked on with horror. Elizabeth ran away from Will, into the bathroom. Erin ran after her, slapping Will on the back of his head when she passed him, eliciting a small 'ouch' from him.

--

Elizabeth stormed into her apartment, Erin hot on her tail. "I hate him!"

"I know he's sometimes hard to handle…"

"Hard to handle?" She exclaimed. "Hard to handle is a puppy that isn't potty trained. Hard to handle is a two year old with ADD. You're brother is so beyond hard to handle that it's actually quite frightening." Elizabeth stormed into the guest room where Will was staying without waiting for an answer.

"What are you doing, Elizabeth?" Erin asked cautiously and hurried in after her.

"I'm getting back at him!" She began rummaging through all of his things.

"How?"

"I don't know!" She continued searching for something of his that would help her decide what to do in order to get back at him.

"Elizabeth, I really don't think this is a good idea," Erin complained worriedly. She kept looking behind her in the direction of the front door. As far as she knew, Will was still at the club, but she didn't know when he would be back.

"This is a brilliant idea! I need this! I need catharsis; I need retribution! Don't ruin this for me!" She cried manically.

Erin was silent for a moment. She had an idea of what Elizabeth could do, but she wasn't sure if she should tell her or not. Finally she decided to help her friend. "Okay, I might know what you can do."

"Really, what?"

"You know your collection of stuffed animals?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Will…is deathly afraid of stuffed animals. Ever since he was, like, four years old he has had recurring dreams of stuffed animals coming to life and killing him in various ways. Usually very disgusting and gory ways."

A small, wicked smile grew across Elizabeth's face as she realized what Erin had in mind.

"Perfect." The girls ran into Elizabeth's room and pulled stuffed animals down from shelves and closets, and wherever they happened to be and put them around his room. Elizabeth arranged some sitting on his bed, which was across from the door. She arranged them so that when he walked in, they would be looking at him. They filled the room with them, and then, satisfied they walked into the living room for a night of the Food Network and waited for Will to come home.

Soon it was nearly midnight and Will had yet to come home. The girls, both very tired, decided to go to sleep instead of waiting for him. Elizabeth got her pajamas on and snuggled in bed.

--

Will came home around 2 am. He walked tiredly to his room. He pushed open the door and turned on the light. His eyes widened in horror as he looked around him.

The small, unnaturally stuffed creatures, with their big happy clown-like faces, were staring at him with their large, unblinking eyes, smiling like loons. He had had a dream like this before. Had his nightmares finally become a reality? Or was this another nightmare. This had to be a nightmare…and he knew what happened in his nightmares, and it never ended well for him. In his nightmare that had been similar to this, they had been waiting for him, plotting their revenge. The damn things didn't like begin stuffed! Couldn't people see that? If they understood, he wouldn't have had to suffer. But nevertheless, the things had been waiting for him and they clawed him to death.

"It's okay, creepy stuffed animals, I'm not gonna hurt you." Will said, backing his way out of the room. But then he realized something. This wasn't a dream. He knew in real life they wouldn't come to life-that didn't erase his fear of them-but it did make him feel slightly better. Will was overreacting. He knew who was behind this. He grabbed a pair of scissors and took one of the stuffed animals.

Slowly, he cut the head of the pink and black zebra. Then he did the same to a cuddly, brown teddy bear. The next stuffed animal to go was a poor little doggy with big, floppy ears. Will did this to about 10 stuffed animals. He picked up the heads and slowly walked through the hallway. Silently, he creaked open Elizabeth's bedroom door and peaked his head in. When he saw that she was asleep, he walked in and dropped the heads onto the bed and quietly made his way out. He took the rest of the stuffed animals out of his room and put them in the living room, hoping that would keep at bay any nightmares, and fell asleep, excited for Elizabeth's surprise tomorrow.

--

"Ah!" Elizabeth's scream jolted Will from sleep. His first instinct was to run to her aid, but then he realized why she was screaming. He chuckled, and casually walked out of his room and into hers, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed against his chest.

Elizabeth was standing next to her bed, having jumped from it quickly when she saw the heads of her beloved stuffed animals.

"Oh no, what happened?" He chuckled.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him and grinded her teeth. "This is war." She muttered.

--

So mean. I can't believe he would do that to poor, defenseless stuffed animals lol! Please review!