Bad, Bad Blood
Chapter II – Rain Falling In Sheets
The platform for the 6 train headed downtown was fairly populated for the late hour. At three days before Halloween, Faye wasn't surprised – there would be parties going on all over the city, especially in the Village where she was headed. Her apartment was located upstairs and next door to one of the better bars in the neighborhood and she openly sighed as she realized she may not get much sleep that night due to the din of partygoers below.
"Long night?"
She jumped as she realized the voice came from right next to her. She glanced over and saw an older woman standing beside her, smiling gently.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, dear. If you don't mind me standing here, it's safer for both of us to look like we're here with someone else. Can't be too careful on holiday week nights."
"That's true." Faye's lips curled down a bit. The woman had a point, although people didn't normally just casually chat with each other on the subway. Even though she was older, she was no less likely a pickpocket than anyone else.
The woman didn't say anything else; she just continued to stand three feet away and watch for the imminent train. Faye reset her shoulders and absentmindedly rubbed her hip where the brace sat chilly against her skin. Her body was getting used to it; the initial bruises from its introduction were fading. She was daydreaming about what she'd do first as soon as it was off when she realized the train had arrived. Pushing on, she glanced down the platform and did a double take. She could have sworn the creepy guy from the bar had gotten on the train a few cars down.
Seeing nothing, she shrugged it off as paranoia. Ever since she was told she couldn't move faster than a brisk walk, her mind was always alert to danger situations. She had changed her usual routes around the city so that she would always be in populated places and would only travel during high-volume times. It wouldn't do to be somewhere she couldn't run away from. She resented her impotence so much that she had invested in a bottle of pepper spray to keep in her purse and had finally purchased a shotgun with her firearms ID to keep in the apartment.
The ride down went without incident and with little difficulty she climbed out of the station onto the street. It was only a block or two to her place, but the roads were bare and rain was starting to spit. Faye cursed herself for being so scared of her own neighborhood after living there for three years, but she palmed her pepper spray and walked forward as single-mindedly as she could, determined to look like she would be a mistake to fool with. A couple hoodlums eyed her from stoops and alleys as she made her way, but there were thankfully no cat-calls or gangs hanging out on the sidewalks to hinder her progress.
The bar beneath her place was full that night, and though she sighed again at the noise level, her nervousness faded in the warm glow from its windows and the sounds of a crowd. She took her keys out and started fitting them to the lock, hoping to beat the imminent deluge inside. Thunder rolled across the sky and it began to rain steadily.
"Faye! Oh my gosh, Faye!"
The high-pitched shriek ground on her nerves and she cursed the world. Turning with a forced smile, she greeted her old high-school classmate, Katie Jones. Katie was fresh to the city and had moved into her neighborhood with dreams of becoming an actress. Faye only knew this because she had been almost assaulted by Katie one afternoon when the girl had rushed-hugged her in the market and prattled off her long life story since graduation. The girl was a good-natured chatterbox, fully-funded by daddy to have her big adventure in the city and about a dumb as a post when it came to self-preservation. The girl would tell strangers anything. There was being friendly, and then there was being stupid. Knowing only a few people, she was constantly calling Faye to come out with her.
Katie bounded up and grinned a mile wide. "I'm so glad I ran into you! I was just next door and thinking how much you'd love it. We could-…" She saw the keys in Faye's hand. "Oh my gosh, do you live here? Right next to the bar? You're so lucky! And it's so convenient! Come over and have a drink with us. Please?"
Faye stared and wondered how a twenty-six year old who went to the same schools as her all their lives could still bounce around and talk like a fourteen-year-old. Then she remembered Katie's family was extremely well-off, and Faye's was fractured at best.
"That sounds really good, but-…" She was going to say that she was tired, that she had just come from a wild bar, that she was doing something, anything, early tomorrow morning, but Katie had only heard the yes she was looking for and took her hand to lead the way. They were through the front door and sitting down before Faye could get words out. The bar was one of those legitimate European pubs that kept their furniture wooden and sturdy and kept their bar clean and stocked with basic British staples and the house brew. Fights broke out from time to time but the crew would be lucky to reach it before the patrons had already thrown the offenders out themselves. This was where the locals came and with their blessing allowed newcomers a place at the bar provided they showed some respect.
She struggled to find a good, polite excuse when an excellent one drifted into her line of sight. The creepy guy from the party was here, sipping a dark beer at the end of the bar.
"I can't, Katie. It's not a good night. See, there's this guy-…"
She was already barreling through introductions and Faye realized there were three other men at the table. Katie had always been good at roping in new guys. "So this is Robbie, and Evan, and Steve. They're in town from California. Robbie's a firefighter paramedic, right? The other two work for some investment firm."
She shook their hands in greeting and tried to decline the waiter when he came by to take the next round's order, but the guys insisted and ordered her the house beer along with theirs. Since Katie had trapped her in the seat next to the wall and she couldn't easily slink out and they were all already asking her about life in the city, twenty minutes had gone by before she realized that her beer was half-gone and she was actually having a good time. Playing off Katie and going on about how great the east coast was compared to the west while simultaneously picking up and returning flirtation cues, an hour and two more rounds went by.
Now with no intention of leaving early, she got up to visit the ladies room. As she edged down the crowded bar towards the back, she caught sight of the guy, leaning against a wall and flirting with a woman. They looked like they had been talking for awhile. As she passed by, he glanced over and caught her staring at him. She sucked in a breath and looked away, but not before noticing he'd smirked at her before turning back to his lady friend.
The spot on the back of her neck burned all the way there, exactly where she imagined eyes staring at her.
When she returned from the bathroom, she was relieved to see the guy and the woman were no longer inside. At the table, seating placement had changed – Katie had moved to sit between Evan and Steve, she couldn't remember which was which, and Robbie had taken Katie's old seat. He stood to allow her into her spot and she edged in gingerly, wondering if he expected her to fawn on him the way Katie was hanging all over the investment twins. Faye was drunk, but not that drunk, and she watched with the slightest twinge of envy as Katie sat as cool as Scarlett O'Hara, keeping both boys focused on her as she flirted shamelessly with the both of them.
"So you live nearby?" Robbie smiled once she'd taken a sip of her beer. She nearly choked on it.
"Who told you that and why would you bring it up?" It wouldn't do to have some random group of guys knowing where she lived. She cursed Katie for clearly running her mouth while she had been in the bathroom.
He looked playful. "No one told me, except you just now. It's a clever ruse. How close? The bar's going to close soon. My buddies and I would be glad to buy more drinks if you girls are willing to host the after-party."
Katie heard the tail end of this and her face lit up like Christmas. "Oh my gosh, yeah, that sounds like so much fun! Faye lives like, right next door. This place has package goods, right? Faye! After-party!" She reached across the tables and grabbed Faye's hand, nodding.
Faye's eyebrows furrowed and she bit her lip. "I don't know. Um, the place is a mess. It's not really big enough for this many. I don't think so."
The bartenders shouted over the din for last call. The guys went up to buy one more round and Katie leaned over the table. "So? Am I good or am I good? He's really into you. If you don't want to have everybody over, no big deal. But I bet your place is big enough for two." She winked obscenely. People on the Brooklyn Bridge could have picked up on it.
"No, really, thanks anyway, but-…"
The guys came back, but before Robbie could sit down again Faye edged out and reached for her coat. She winced as her hip knocked his and she felt the metal push against her skin. He'd probably felt that. From the slightly confused look on his face, she guessed he had. "I'm gonna actually go to bed. Gotta be up early tomorrow. You guys all have a fun night, thanks for having me."
She pushed out of the bar while the guys and Katie called after her and she stumbled onto the street, avoiding the droves of drunken revelers as best she could. Deep breaths of the slightly ripe city air brought sobriety closer and she sighed deep as she reached for her keys. Katie was a grown woman and she knew what was best for her, Faye decided. If she wanted to flirt with strangers, fine, but Faye wasn't about to invite just anyone right into her home. That's how people became Law & Order episodes.
She had barely opened the door when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Spinning around and expecting to see some violent drunkard or mugger, she clutched tight on her purse and focused in on Robbie. Exhaling, she smiled slightly. "You scared me."
"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to. You live this close, huh? I figured a subway stop or two away."
"No, no, this is me. I had a fun time, but I need to get to bed, really. You should head back to the bar. Katie would be much more fun than me."
He grinned. "Need to get to bed, huh? But that's so lame. We're out here for a good time and out of the first girls we meet, half of them want to abandon us. Very bad hospitality you have here in New York."
She shrugged. "Sorry. I'm sure you'll find more hospitable girls."
The sentence was barely out of her mouth before he pulled her face to his and kissed her, deep and drunk, as if he could convince her otherwise. It having been awhile since she was last wooed, she let herself fall into it for only a moment before pushing away. "No, thanks. Not tonight."
"Tonight," he smiled again, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in again. "Live a little, Faye. I promise you won't regret it. "
She felt her eyes narrow and the alcohol turn from sweet to sour in her veins. Suddenly this wasn't funny or cute. "Get off me, Robbie. I'm saying no."
"That's not what you were saying between the lines in the bar back there. We've been flirting for hours. Come on, babe, let's have some fun." He released his hold on her waist long enough to turn her around and start to push her up the stairs.
She writhed in his grip, damning herself for not palming the pepper spray when she had the chance. "No, you asshole! Get off of me and get out of my building! Let go!" He was stronger than she was – most men were – and she couldn't do much to stop his advance. So she did the best thing anyone could do to prevent rape in New York City – she screamed.
"Fire! Fire!" she yelled at the top of her voice. It was a sad truth that if you yelled "rape", not many people would come running to tango with some thug with a switchblade or a gun. You yell "fire" and people respond damn quick. You can at least count on a couple 911 calls.
No one yelled back though. It must've been too loud outside the bar. As she struggled against his grip, even trying to go dead weight in his arms, she realized she was in deep shit. She wasn't too heavy for him to throw over his shoulder, which he did with a laugh because through the haze of alcohol he still thought it was all a joke. Her eyes started to eke hot tears of desperation as she realized that even though she could refuse to key him into her apartment, he'd still be strong enough to mess her up in the hallway.
Hanging over his shoulder and trying to prop herself up off his back, she saw at the foot of the stairs standing right outside the doorway a male figure obviously looking up at them. It had to have been one of his buddies from the bar, Evan or Steve. Praying that they weren't all drunken monsters, she screamed down to him.
"Help me!" He continued to stand there, hands braced on the outside of the building but clearly staring up at them. The rage built within her chest as Robbie almost lost balance and bounced them off the wall. Elbowing him deep in the shoulder blades, Faye screamed down to the guy again. "Jesus Christ, get the fuck in here and help me!"
Robbie buckled under the sharp blow and collapsed under her. She felt herself slip off and start to topple over the banister. Grabbing it, she was able to effectively balance herself on it and missed the part where the guy from outside made it up the stairs in what seemed to be a blink of an eye. Everything was moving at light speed, really, and yet while clutching the rail-thin wrought iron she saw the guy pick Robbie up by his shirt and literally throw him down the stairs. It was some Patrick Swayze Roadhouse move and it would have been more impressive if it hadn't been so brutal. Whoever the guy was, he had to be benching high digits because Robbie didn't crumble like a house of cards, but instead caught plenty of air and took it hard to the forearms and shoulders and lay there moaning in agony. He hadn't even had time to put up a fight – one toss and he was out for the count.
Faye was actually too paralyzed to let go of the handrail, afraid that if she moved her balance would be thrown and she would fall the half-story to the cracked linoleum below. In the dim stairwell light, her savior approached slowly and held out his hand for her to take in her own time. Slowly she unclenched a palm from the metal and reached for his, and once her grip was comparable to a woman's in the throes of childbirth she eased her unburdened leg down to the steps. Finally she brought her other leg down and leaned against the banister to keep herself from collapsing.
"Thank you," she breathed. She would not cry. Not in front of this stranger. Crying would come later, along with a new handgun and a LifeAlert necklace. She looked everywhere but at his face.
Below, she heard male voices expressing concern, and she glanced down to see two guys picking Robbie up and taking him back out into the street, thinking he'd just suffered a bad fall. Recognizing both Evan and Steve below, she finally looked up at her rescuer and felt a fresh jolt of adrenaline bolt through her. God didn't play dice with the universe every night; tonight's game of choice was clearly Russian Roulette. It was the guy from the party and the pub.
"You're welcome," he smiled, extending his hand again. "I'm Jerry."
