Back in the bike gang days, they would wake up every day in the same bed, having spent the night by having passionate sex, and they'd look at each other for a bit before going off for the day, coming back to the warehouse and screwing each other again at night. And sometimes they would spend hours talking in over-melodramatic romantic conversations, pulling flowers out of nowhere and scattering them about. And sometimes she'd hit him, and sometimes they argued and then she hit him, and sometimes they actually just slept, and sometimes they'd deliberately go out to pick fights with the rival gangs in order to make themselves hornier.

   And they always thought the other would be there, that they were unstoppable and a white tomorrow was waiting for them.

   Now he woke up in bed with a monster, and he spent his days being bored, being suicidal and praying she wouldn't want to have sex tonight. And she woke up in a cell, spending her days being bored, being angry, being raped by her guards.

    No white tomorrow. No hope.

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Sweet Poison: a tale of relationships

 Chapter 7

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"We're having a dinner party tonight, dear."
    "Anyone I know?"
    "Oh, the old families."

    He knew them. Pretentious evil-minded bastards.

   "That's nice dear."
    He resisted the urge to drum his fingers on the dining room table. It wasn't proper, and it would get him hurt. Worse, it could get Jessie hurt.

    "Darling, before that, I would like to visit the prisoner."
    "Why do you want to visit that jumped up little slut?" she snapped, her mood changing from passive superiority to enraged spite.

    "We do have an agreement."

    She smiled, slipping back into the mask she wore. "You're right dear, we do. You can do so for an hour after six."
    "Thank you, dear."

    He continued to eat his breakfast, wishing there were donuts with it, before getting up and heading off to the gardens again. Once he was gone, Jessebelle called one of the guards over.

    "The slut in the basement. Put her through hell before six. And remind her what will happen to her if she tells my husband about it."

-

"See, at least you aren't nasty to me."

   The Magikarp happily gathered around the bread he'd thrown for them while James watched with a slight smile.

   "I don't really know why I keep talking to you. Do you even have ears? Ah well. Need someone to talk to, or I'd go mad. And y'know, after saying that I get the urge to suddenly go 'Blblblblbl' and dance about in a weird way. And I would anywhere else, but if I'm seen here, then…

    "Yeah."
   James looked around at the garden, the beautiful place he'd loved as a child and still did now. He loved the roses, the trees, the little river, the whole deal. But now he was looking at it and he was starting to see something nasty in it. It was the layout that did it- it wasn't real, it wasn't like it would be in the wild. It was fake. Fake like so many things about his family, and he'd spent his life trying to get away from them, and now reached out and pulled him back.

    "It's all shit," he said. "Might as well kill myself now. Jessie said that once. And I really would like to. God help me, I would like to, but Jessebelle would be angry and take it out on Jessie. And I don't want her hurt- oh bugger it, she's already been hurt here. And I can't do a fucking thing and it hurts. It claws at me, all the time." He squatted and looked over at the Magikarp again. "This has to turn out all right, doesn't it? It can't stay like this forever. Right?"

-

She paced around her cell, around and around, occasionally lashing out at the wall with a  jumping kick.

   "I don't know where to begin, don't want to hear it again…"

    In her mind's eye, Jessebelle was all around her and she kicked out again and again. She sang all the time now. It kept her spirits up, stopped her getting bored and lonely and cracking again like she had earlier.

    "I don't believe anymore…"
    Depression had to be fought, it wasn't an option, but dear God it was so hard to try and remain strong. She needed someone, anyone. She needed James to remind her how god-like she was. She needed someone she could hit without fear of reprisal.

    "And this is all I know, I know I've heard it before, I don't believe anymore…"

    And the door opened and the guards came in.

    "Miss us, bitch?"
   Jessie glared up and said nothing. The first guard in backhanded her, knocking her into the wall, and signalled for his buddies to move in. Grabbing her, they tore her clothes off and forced her down…

    …and she laughed. Over and over, in an ugly grating cackle, she laughed.

    "What are you doing?"
    She stopped abruptly and grinned. "You're all going to die. Once I get out of here, you're all going to die."
    "Shut up."
    "Every last one of you."
    "Shut up."
    "Don't like the truth, eh?"
    "The truth is that you're ours for a few hours and we're going to make you-"

    "Blah, blah, blah! Heard it before! You think I'm going to just-"
    They gagged her and then began.

*****************************************************************

Jessie shrugged and wiped the blood off her knuckles onto the unconscious gang leader's face. Waving at the bar patrons, she and James walked out into the city street.

    "We are the great Darwinian theory proof. We are the fit and we kick their posteriors."
    "They do seem to get weaker every time we meet them, don't they Jess?"
    "Yeah, they waste valuable fighting time running away scream 'Not the chain, god not the chain'. I wonder why?"
    "And Chopper et al had actual problems with these guys? Maybe he just needs to crossdress. That could be the reason for our success."
     "Heh. Come on, let's go. Onward to the white tomorrow!"
    "Amen and halleluiah."