You guys might be happy to know that after a burst of inspiration I have some good ideas in place for the closing parts of Blondie. Yep, that's right. There are only a few chapters left after this one. I want to take a moment to thank everyone for the continued support so far, too.
Credit for my inspiration goes to Corrupted-Mooch over on DeviantArt for her wonderful piece of Tiffany artwork, alongside the song 'Echoes' from the new album by Celldweller.
Let's get started! I'm sure plenty of you have been waiting for this new chapter!
Blondie – Part XIV
Doubt – there was no way to push it aside any longer in the aftermath of all the passion. It took so long, but finally the gravity of all that had happened was sinking in – crashing home with reckless abandon. After all, a person could only lose so much in one night before finally going over the edge.
The unmistakable sound of cascading water sounded from across the dishevelled hotel suite – muffled only by an overly artsy heart-shaped door. A sobering wave of realization swept across Mike, as he laid back against the cushions, exhausted and bare, and took in the sight of strewn bedsheets, crumpled clothes and plush velvet carpets.
This whole thing had been planned, orchestrated since the very beginning. As much as he hated to admit it, the very thought of uttering those dreaded words aloud, he couldn't contain them any longer. Keeping them in hurt just as much, cut so deeply that they left of a dull, aching pain within.
"She used me…. Since the very beginning, Kyu's been leading me down a path… and I followed her… trusted in my fucked up feelings and listened every time she gave me advice…. 'Advice', that's a stretch given where I've ended up."
A painful frown took to life, twisting his features, one of his fists clenching under a newfound wave of frustration. It was hard to put a finger on the right feeling. Hurt was at the centre of his fragile heart, but there was every right to be pissed off as well.
"This is annoying…. No, it's more than annoying. It's-"
A spark of silver flashed across his thoughts – awakening another realization, something he hadn't come close to noticing until now. It sent a worrisome pang across his chest.
'I'm alone in another world entirely and there's no way back… no way back unless I can persuade Kyu. She can keep me here as long as she wants and there's nothing I can do about it.'
Something needed to be done, as soon as possible. A shallow breath fell out – one born from what felt like an almost endless night of misguided feelings.
Yet all the while, images of a certain blond, petite but curvaceous in an elegant way, kept on coming back. They sat there, languishing within his thoughts, eating away like termites through woodwork.
Everything went down happened so quickly. In a blink of an eye Miss Maye found his number on Jessie's phone, a turbulent argument erupted, and in the space of mere hours, the singer found himself whisked away, tempted and left in awe of a land beyond his imagination. All the while, the fingers of the pink-haired mastermind coiled ever tighter with each step taken.
"She chose the perfect moment to strike… pulled me away when I needed help the most. Dammit Kyu you're important to me but… who's in the wrong here?"
Was it down to him for believing so whole-heartedly in every little seed the fairy sowed within his head, or the fault of Miss Sugardust for knowing she could get away with it? Dammit! The whole thing hurt to think about.
Through all of the confusion, all of the unease and the terrible fear of walking on eggshells for fear of being trapped here, Mike exhaled, slapping himself with a dose of cold, hard realism.
One thing above all else was important.
"I need to get back home to Glenberry. Even if it's just for a little while… to clear my head of all this bullshit and think things through."
Thankfully, he had the perfect idea. True, it was a painfully simple plan at that, but it held just the right tone to work – he hoped.
Blinding rays of pink spun across every corner – the bathroom door swinging open in a haze of steam and fairy dust.
Kyu emerged with a smile, her lover half wrapped in a towel – boobs and wings still very much on show. Sure it was a tempting sight – but there'd been more than enough temptation over the last twenty-four hours to last a lifetime.
She buzzed across the lounge, plopping down beside Mike like a featherweight, an all too pervy smile plastered across her lips. "Dayum playa! Six times in one night! Six. Not quite a machine just yet… but fuck me kindly you're getting there! Your night of passion with Jessie showed you the ropes, am I right?
Mike grimaced at the thought – not quite sure which was scarier, the fact she knew every element of his love life without fail, or the fact he banged this fairy across the room six times straight and she could still manage more.
'No. Enough with the bullshit Winters. You're getting side-tracked and that's the last thing you need. Stick to the plan.'
The plan – his lifeline. Trying his best to shadow the unease across his face, Mike pulled out the smoothest smirk he could muster, taking the roll of playboy not through choice, but through necessity.
"Give me a few and I'll be back on form."
He leaned in, placing a soft kiss upon her lips. "Hey Kyu… You don't mind sending me back home, do you? You know… to pick up some clothes and stuff. That okay? I'll call you when I'm done and you can bring me back."
For the smallest moment, a look of suspicion fell into place, accompanied by a short, teasing wink. "Hmmmm…. Sure thing bro! I'd put on some clothes first though."
Sniggering, apparently amused in some weirdly childlike way, Kyu gave his bicep a poke with her forefinger, praising him with an impressed whistle. "Someone's been working out, too."
It showed – of course, it did. There was only so much crap a guy could take going around in his mind before needing some kind of outlet. The gym worked wonders between his recent meetups with Tiffany and Jessie. It had its awkward moments when Kyanna turned up, true – that all too familiar air of tension, but otherwise it was still cool.
His reflection staring back in a magically floating mirror, Mike went about throwing his outfit back together. By the time everything was in place, he gave a roll of the eyes, far from impressed. He couldn't expect much less after such a rough night – rough being the active word. The shoes lacked their shine, his shirt crinkled, and his pants creased.
The best he could give to Kyu's earlier compliment was a tired smile. "I sure as shit don't feel someone that works out right now.
Standing, struggling at best to keep up the façade – he looked Kyu up and down, drawn for the smallest moment to her finer womanly features before abruptly snapping his eyes back.
"You good and ready to send me back?"
Kyu hung on the weight of his words – her abrupt pause only making him more nervous. "Alrighty! Stand still for a sec, kay? Oh and…"
Fluttering on those crystalline wings of hers, she reached out for his shoulders, giving a goofy grin. "It's a good job you didn't eat breakfast… cuz the ride back sure as fuck's gonna empty your stomach."
As her fingers clenched tight, Mike felt his world spin backward, everything around him inverting in a wobbly, almost trick-house kind of blur. Piece by piece, the fabric of the room twisted, a magical hole ripping through. Like an open void it stared him in the face, so gaping, purple and foreboding.
"Alley-oop!" Kyu let him go, his body yanked legs first into the doorway like a vacuum.
This feeling, so hot, so fiercely intense that it sent every nerve of the body into a sparking frenzy. He'd felt it before. A thousand thoughts cascaded – finally stopping after the spinning of a roulette, upon one single moment.
"The first time I felt love magic in my body…. It's exactly the same…."
Unable to cope with the enormity of the void, his body fizzling red hot, Winters let out a faint rasp of breath, closing his eyes. A flash of white took his world by storm.
Cold. So very cold. A veil of darkness lifted after what felt like the world's longest and most discomforting sleep.
"Ohhhh shit…."
Mike crawled upward from his little ball, vision falling back into focus after a jittery start. Comforting surroundings brought his quickened, thumping heart to ease. A kitchen counter with a small fruit bowl – the all too familiar wide screen television, and of course, the notorious leather couch, except this time:
"So you're the one? I've been waiting for you, Mike Andrew Winters…."
Again, the world turned in a veil of powerful light. Before Mike could so much as speak, black entered his vision. Fairies, fairies in the most excessively chique onyx dresses, two of them, both more than well-endowed, swooped in from the sides, grabbing him by the arms and yanking him upright. What were fairies doing in his apartment? More of Kyu's games, maybe?
"Don't you dare move. We're watching you, big boy."
The one on the left, long golden hair pooling down her back, only tightened her hold, the wings pultruding through the slits at the back of her dress beating at double speed. Her complexion, nothing short of flawless in its presentation and dotted with a most lovely tint of strawberry red freckles, held the most wary frown.
"That'll be quite enough," a regal voice, sounded through the struggle, one so highfalutin and stern that all Mike could do was shudder. "Maryanne, Constance… let him go. You're dismissed."
"But Miss-"
The blond fairy's protests fell silent, obviously stopping herself out of futility. "If that's what you want… but be sure to send word if you need our help."
Her eyes of shiny blue narrowed, turning frightfully cloudy and dark. "I don't trust him…."
A sharp clap of the hands pulled open a magic door from the nothingness. Dropping to the floor, eyes wide as this near-storybook series of events continued to play out, Mike watched as the two fairy's took a few paced steps back.
They were a little short as far as magical creatures went – at least based on his short trip to Sky Garden anyway. The wavy-haired brunette of the two, much to the disdain of her counterpart, gave a short, curious smile toward the singer before they turned and left, pulling the magical hole they'd made shut from the other side like the zipper on a sleeping bag.
That left Mike alone in silence – a terse veil all too quickly shattered by the sound of sandals clacking across the hardwood. Gold fell into his line of sight, laces and bracelets so divine that their shimmering radiance hurt his eyes!
Slowly, speechlessly, nearly suffocated by this amazing aura alone, the blond craned his head upward, taking every inch of the tall, gorgeous stranger – a woman so intoxicating his lungs almost failed to draw air. A long robe of white and red, her utterly flawless skin giving off a natural glow almost like magic. Locking eyes with her was an overwhelming task, too, the purest, most divine emerald green – one so alive with light it made his own pale in comparison.
Then and there, letting out a snooty, impatient breath – this woman, this being, folded her arms. Was she curious or annoyed? Mike could barely tell through the mire dragging down his thoughts.
'I don't know what's going on anymore…. She's not human…. Sure, she looks more human than the fairies but…. Goddammit… The longer I look at her the more it feels like I'll melt into a puddle….'
She sighed, casting aside the golden wreath upon her head in a firework burst of sparkles, bringing down those eyes, so dangerously pure, for a second time. "Surely you don't intend to stand there and idolize my beauty all day, mortal? Stand up."
As though a soldier obeying his superior, thoughtless and automatic, Mike responded to her voice, unable in any way to resist. Something about her, between the energy pooling from her body, to the endless amounts of trinkets, to the very feeling she brought to the room, served to render him useless.
"Wh-who," the blue of Mike's talent crackled across his body, so strong compared to the usual he could feel it flooding his very inch. "Who are you? W-what're you doing in my apartment?"
The intruder's lips curved into the faintest of smiles. "You stand in the presence of Theiatena Venus… the goddess of love. For you to warrant me stepping down from my throne? You should be honored."
A cascade of thoughts from the night before rushed back to life, old snapshots replayed on a greyed theatre screen. In an instant, Mike took a nervous step back. The truth was out there, so perfectly clear.
"Y-you're Kyu's boss. That Venus…. You run Sky Garden…."
"Hmmm," Venus turned her back, taking over the couch and seating herself. "For all I've heard about you, you're quite slow to catch on. Come. Sit down. I intend to have a word with you, Mike Winters."
This didn't sound good. Everything screamed of problems, in fact. Venus was here – in the magnanimous flesh. Not only that, there was even a dining chair sat neatly in front of the couch. She was waiting – had been waiting for a while.
"Don't flounder any longer. It's already taken a great amount of effort on my part to wait for your arrival."
Mike came across the room without a word of complaint – doing what little he could to straighten his messy clothes before sitting down, the eyes of the elegant woman boring into him like some kind of inquisitor in a movie.
From a wormhole of golden magic, Venus pulled a pink piece of paper, A4 in size with fancy, sparkly edges, glittery dust pattering against the coffee table with every little movement of the item.
"You're… gonna have to explain why you're here." Mike faltered at every step, his tongue tripping over the words as they came out in a nervous mess. "If this is about-"
"Be quiet." Venus silenced him again – placing the piece of paper down against the glass of the table and shaking her head. "If anything… I came here to see you for myself… to see why Miss Sugardust warrants breaking so many rules… my rules… to turn you into something worthwhile."
"That and," the goddess brought the digits of her left hand to rest upon the paper, "Terminate your contract, of course. This has gone on long enough… to the point where risks have become apparent."
What was there to say? No amount of rambling would be enough to please this obviously divine woman and her cold, focused curiousity. Mike thought in overtime, mustered everything he could, but in the end, only let out a small, fragile sigh.
'I'm beaten before I even start here. She's here because knows what went down. Strange how Kyu thought she could get this much past her without noticing.'
"Look… Venus… 'Miss Venus' I heard you like to be called…. I don't know anything apart from what Kyu told me last night. She wants me to give up what I have here and become some playboy…. She keeps saying I have potential but… at this point... I dunno, fuck."
"Ironic." Venus let out a short, mocking chuckle. "She wants you to help her based upon trust - and yet she refuses to tell you the whole truth. You poor fool. The loss and confusion in your eyes is simply pitiful."
What? There was more to the story than Kyu's grand plan of creating the ultimate charmer of women? Her explanation had already been long, hard to figure out, and laced with seduction. Now Venus sat here hinting at even more.
"Between me and you," Mike scoffed, all too bitter over his recent feelings of betrayal. "I don't want to help her. If you're telling me she has more in store… that's all well and good… but I-"
Again, Venus silenced him with a brief raise of her hand, willing quiet upon the room. For a second at least, she seemed lost in thought, before coming back with a distant expression - one of faint sadness.
"You're more like her than I believed possible. Of course you won't help Kyu. One look into your eyes and I can see as much. Your heart already belongs to another. A pure love. Genuine and unstained by baseless lust."
Mike stalled – trying for a moment to figure out the 'her' Venus talked about. She must've been Kyu. Just how were he and Kyu alike, exactly?
Shrugging it off, he snapped back to the love goddess – eying her with a deep, rainy frown as he caught those jagged words about 'pure love'. She could see right through him. Of course, she could.
"There's no point me saying it. You already know how much I care about Tiff…. She's the only one I wanted from the start. Nothing I can do now though, is there? I don't think 'sorry for fucking your mother' and a box of chocolates covers it."
A small titter and nothing more. Venus stood from her conquered leather throne, closing the gap. The way she looked at him, so deep with just the slightest hint of warmth, gave way to a nervous jitter.
"You would be surprised how the power of honest love can overcome almost anything. Interesting… very interesting indeed…."
She did little more than place one of her pristine hands atop of Mike's. In the single fraction of a moment, the very room distorted in a hailstorm, his very sense-of-self exploding into a thousand pieces. Power beyond the likes of anything, so fiercely violent and yet so beautifully delicate, blasted through his veins. There was no need to explain the torrent flooding his entirely – no, he just embraced it.
'The power of a goddess…. All the good and all the bad rolled into one. It's perfect….'
Mike was desolate, slumpimg against the back of his chair and gasping for air – his lungs still seizing in utter shock. He could see, and yet he couldn't – almost as though a golden hue distorted his sight.
"W-w-w." he wheezed with urgency. "What d-did you do to me?"
"Nothing, nothing at all," Venus assured, moving her had away. "I decided to get a deeper read on you, Mike. I wanted to feel for myself just how much 'potential' you supposedly have…"
Winters coughed. "What do you think? All bullshit or-"
Venus edged back – her disinterest replaced with a look of vague engagement. "It seems I was right in giving Kyu this job at first… regardless of the outcome. You're skilled yes… but that does not mean you're exceptional."
Venus took the pink paper from the table again – now she looked serious. "All the more reason for me to put an end to this before it gets out of hand. All I require is your approval by way of signature…. I implore you to accept. It's not often I ask… especially when a situation demands action."
So, this was it. After all the ups and downs, the lady of love herself was bringing things to a close. One small scribble of pen against paper, and Kyu would be gone – never to be heard from again. Her plan, whatever it was, would end here and now, the truth would be forever lost.
No – it was too soon. A lump forming in his throat, Mike nervously declined, daring to take the paper from her hand and fold it up. "Give me a little time first…."
Venus almost looked impressed with his sudden show of backbone. "You stand before a goddess and yet you still refuse? Brave... I shall give you that much. Again, the look of confusion upon your features speaks louder than words. You want the truth, don't you?"
Mike stood his ground. "You're damn right about that. Give me a couple of days… that's all I ask…. Since you seem so hell bent on not telling me what Kyu has in mind… I'll ask her myself. Once I know the truth, I'll rip this paper to shreds, myself."
There came an abrupt pause – the green-haired deity again looked to be in deep thought. The way she sat down again, one gorgeous, golden leg folded over the other as she pattered a fingertip against her chin in thought.
The silence was all too agonizing. Mike continued to wait, his heart thundering louder and harder than he ever thought possible. A shudder overtook his paper holding hand, one he quickly fought to keep in check by gripping harder.
After what seemed like an eternity, Venus gave her approval with a 'thumbs up' gesture, one that felt too much like a roman empress giving reprieve to slaves fighting in the arena.
"I'll allow it… but purely because of your honest intentions toward the girl with the golden hair. 'Tiffany' wasn't it? I cannot fault the devotion you hold within. It reminds me far too much of somebody I once knew."
Venus stood up, giving Mike one last, magnanimous hand gesture – holding him in pause. This time slower than the last, she came closer, far closer than before. Her very aura caused his body to crackle and twist in that all too deep shade of blue.
Not a word she spoke, instead eying him up and down – it was as if she was looking for something. She scrutinized every inch from head to toe, before finally releasing a tiny, almost tired sigh.
"It is terribly ironic that I meet you now of all days. Indeed, the hearts of humans have a strange way of letting their intent hold sway. While you mortals may have but a finite presence on this earth… each one of you can most certainly leave your mark."
Again, Venus raised her hand, placing a soft touch upon Mike's shoulder. Her eyes narrowed, deadly focused to a point. "You have two days to confront Kyu and find the answers that you seek. Do not abuse my generosity, Mike Winters…."
The final warning delivered, she pulled her hand away. One backward step of her sandals, a second, and a third. Resting herself against the arm of the couch, she could only give the faintest hint of a bemused groan.
"You do not wish to claim the love of a goddess. You do not seek to become a legend. I find that to be strange… because under different circumstances, in a time and place not the same as this one, you may well have sought to pursue such a path. How one simple girl… one tiny dream, has taken root within you."
Mike knew it – he knew it well. The short amount of time spent with Miss Maye worked wonders in helping him understand not just what the weighty word 'love' really meant. More than that – she'd helped him understand the most difficult thing of all.
'Myself… She helped me figure out myself….'
"Two days, right?" Mike spoke up – wanting to be extra sure. Having the very meaning of the human heart come back to bother him again brought a feeling beyond overwhelming. "If this isn't cleared away within the next forty-eight hours…. What are you gonna do?"
Venus didn't little more than give an unamused patter of her fingers against the arm of the leather couch. "Don't let it come to that. I am a busy woman… one with an entire world of people to watch over."
"Message received – loud and clear." Winters folded the contract paper and slid it into the pocket of his pants. Before he could as much as blink, an aura of powerful multi-coloured light licked across the walls and floors, every shade under the love rainbow filling his apartment.
It felt so heavy – pushed him so hard, that his back collided with the chair. He fixated upon every tiny feature the love goddess as she snapped one of her fingers, the awesome showing of power brought to an effortless close in a vibrant flash.
Romance, Flirtation; Talent; Sentiment; Charisma; Sexuality; Passion; Luck. Even the feared purple magic. She held every single one within her fingertips without a single flutter of effort.
"Talent is your forte." Venus chuckled – stepping around the couch. She settled upon the wider open space behind the kitchen counter. Another snap of the fingers shook the room - a golden doorway opening from the nothingness.
"I will admit that you certainly hold a knack for Talent… maybe even a hint of Charisma, as well. Regardless, as I have just shown you. To be truly worthwhile, you must have an understanding of all nine… something that yourself and Kyu tragically fail to understand."
Stepping through the doorway, giving a haughty royal wave of the hand, Venus vanished – imploding in a golden sphere of light.
"It was not unlikable to meet you in person, Mike Winters. Perhaps, if you try hard enough, steel yourself to walk this road until its end, there may still be hope for you. Do not stall too long, however. I find quitters to be so very boring…."
Just like that, Venus was gone. Nothing but the slow, near-silent ticking of the clock broke through the feeling of bewilderment gripping Mike by the shoulders. At hadn't sunk in – wouldn't sink in.
A goddess – a deity born of powers beyond even magic, had sat herself on his couch.
"The same couch I've had so many girls sprawled across lately…."
Crawling to his feet, rigid as stone, Mike made the slow, difficult trek across to that very same couch, flopping against the leather with an exhausted exhale of breath. It smelled of a perfume beyond delightful – rosewood, jasmine, lavender, everything sweet and sensual imaginable.
"Two days." Mike nodded to himself in confirmation, reaching for the television remote and shaking off the sparkles. With a flick of the red button, the wide black screen popped to life. "I've got two days to figure this out…."
Letting the local news lady say her piece, Mike laid his head back, running a hand through his untidy hair, a bead of sweat dripping in a thin line down his forehead. His thoughts needed organizing. Dear God, if they weren't he'd melt on the spot.
'Today marks the day of the twenty-first anniversary since the death of well-loved classical music sensation, Angela Scarlett Winters. Tributes are being paid across the whole county for the icon, including a public memorial service held by her elder brother in their home town of Greenville. Unfortunately, nobody knows if her son Mike will be present to pay tribute at the ev-'
A heavy, truly miserable feeling squirmed in Mike's stomach – the report on television threatening to push him over the edge. He'd been so wrapped up in all of this crap since yesterday he'd forgotten the most important day of the year.
"Dammit, mom…. How the fuck did I let you slip from mind like this? Especially since I've been thinking about you so much recently…."
Punching one of his fists into the leather, releasing a beyond pissed off growl; Mike pulled the Huniebee from the pocket of his pants with his free hand. For what seemed like forever, he remained whole-heartedly focused on the sight of candyfloss hair and shiny wings.
"All the more reason to fix this while I have the chance. I've already lost Tiffany... I better close things off with Kyu before it's too late…."
There was nothing else to do. This whole thing had gone way too far.
Even as he dropped the Huniebee – letting it sit at his side, memories of a certain blonde cheerleader taunted him, teased him. Worse, they reminded him of what an idiot he'd been.
'What's shakin' bacon?'
A smile most bitter curved his lips – a pair of long, watery tears leaking out. Tired, exhausted after so very long, he couldn't keep his feelings in check anymore.
"I'm so sorry Tiffany…."
The most he could do for her now was fix Kyu's damage – find out the truth and put an end to all of this. For the sake of all he'd lost, Mike had no other choice.
To be continued….
So, how's that for a surprise? The boss lady herself finally makes an appearance. Did you enjoy the chapter? Is there anything you'd like to see in future? Feel free to leave some feedback and let me know what you thought. It's been interesting to see the reader response to certain characters.
As always, keep on supporting Huniepop and Huniecam Studio. I'll see you in the next chapter!
