Chapter 3: Stardust In a Forgotten Dream
"Why did you kill that man?" Sarie walked right up to Vance; her body one huge shacking bag of emotions. Vance coldly put his gun into his belt and glared down at her.
"I felt like it" Vance's words could have frozen an oven. Sarie took a step away from him, then spun on her left heel away. Before she could respond, she heard a thud coming from the dumpster. She gently twisted her neck and looked towards the dumpster. Bailey and Frost were closing the lids on the dumpster. Frost dusted his hands off; Bailey merely cracked his neck. They faced each other, and at once extended a hand to the other.
"Bailey, thanks"
"Frost, not a problem" Sarie felt her tiny smile crawl onto her face.
"Ok, Bailey-boy. You owe me" Vance destroyed the scene. Frost stood right next to Sarie; he had his hand right next to his shotgun. Bailey shoot a look towards Vance.
"Excuse me. Who the fuck are you?" Bailey walked past Sarie and Frost and got right in Vance's face. Those yellow teeth came out from hiding behind the lips.
"I saved your ass" Vance spat out. Bailey leaned forward a bit more. Vance took a step back; he had not realized that Bailey was a few inches taller than he was.
"No, that girl saved my ass" Bailey countered. Vance looked over at the building that Bailey had accidentally shoot.
"And then you almost killed us. You owe us" Vance's view returned to Bailey. Bailey let out a laugh. Not a jolly laugh and not a happy laugh; a laugh one only gets away with when they are in control.
"Go fuck yourself. I can spell that out for you, if you're too dumb to get it" With that, Bailey turned towards the others. He walked over to Sarie and extended his right hand.
"I'm Bailey. Thanks for the distraction back there" Bailey's voice was different than before. It seemed to be coming from a different person. Sarie gripped his gloved hand and shook it.
"I'm Sarie...you're welcome" Sarie let go off his hand and looked up at him. He smirked at her then turned towards Frost.
"Gutters can be a bitch" Bailey let out a small laugh. Frost grinned despite himself and nodded. Vance threw his arms into the air.
"You people are ridiculous! Let's go, pronto!" Vance went back down the alleyway. Bailey just shook his head.
"What a clown-shoe" Bailey looked towards where Vance had gone.
"He is a very crude person. He has a point though; I'd rather not stick around here" Frost pointed out. Sarie looked back at the dumpster.
"I don't want to leave him here...! That guy may have family...friends...!" She stated. Bailey shook his head and began down the alleyway.
"He tried killing me. He lost; I won. He'd have left me there" Bailey disappeared into the darkness. Sarie crossed her arms and hugged herself tightly. Frost walked past her and stopped. After a few moments, he looked over his shoulder at her.
"Sarie, he's right" Vance's vest was flapping in the sudden breeze that filled the alleyway. Sarie nodded and opened her mouth to talk, but stopped. She tilted her head right then left.
"Where'd you get the sword?" She asked a question she knew the answer too. Frost shrugged, turned face forward, and walked down the narrow alleyway behind the others.
"He won't need it anymore" Was Frost's answer. He went down the dark alleyway alone. Sarie turned back to the dumpster and sighed.
"People die" The voice came; it had a calming effect on her. The horrid smell of garage seemed to be tempered by the smell of a fresh batch of daisies. She nodded her head.
"I know...it's just such a shame. Angel...why am I meeting all these people?" Sarie looked around; the voice did not come from anywhere in particular.
"You just are. Trust me, child" The wind gently whipped around Sarie. She took a deep breathe.
"I do trust you. I do. This is all so sudden for me...I feel so alone" Sarie bite her lip. The voice let out a soft chuckle.
"You're surrounded by people. Once you get to know them, you will not feel alone. Now go on" The voice commanded in its soft way. Sarie looked back at the dumpster even as she walked down the alleyway the others had taken. After turning her attention forward again, she strolled around empty trash cans and broken glass again.
"You are such a stupid bitch!" Sarie's ears perked up. She jogged the rest of the alleyway and turned the corner. Danielle was sitting on the ground, a suitcase in front of her. The handle was broken off and still in her hand. Vance was standing over her.
"I'm sorry...! I was lifting it-"
"You were trying to break into it! You dumb cunt; I don't got any heroin in there! If I did, I sure as fuck wouldn't give it to you!" With one quick motion, Vance brought his hand down and slapped her dead in the face. Danielle fell over like a ton of bricks hit her. Sarie quickly spun on her heels to see if Frost or Bailey were nearby; but she saw neither. Sarie took a few steps backwards.
"Stop crying! If they see you crying, I will fuck you up later bitch" Vance commanded. Danielle sniffled a few times and got up to her feet. Sarie took a few steps forward and looked at them.
"Hey, what's going on" She said, trying her hardest to sound happy. Vance grinned his yellow grin and nodded towards Danielle.
"Oh, Danielle here tripped on a crack and broke the suitcase. Right Danielle?" Vance turned his attention to her; his dark eyes focusing on her damaged blue eyes. Danielle put on the worst smile in history; one so fake even a child could point it out.
"Yeah, I'm clumsy in these shoes" Danielle said. Just then, Frost came walking around the corner; the shotgun in his hands. The sword, even though it was brand new to his back, looked like it belonged there and had always been in place.
"No cops coming this way Vance" Frost announced. Vance nodded and took a few steps forward and looked down the other way.
"We're clear" Bailey announced from the other way. He finally came into view of the others. Vance nodded and let his yellow grin out of the bag again.
"Great. Ok, here's the plan-"
"Hold on there Vinny" Bailey interrupted. Vance's eyes narrowed and the grin vanished.
"It's Vance"
"I'll call you Fuckie if I want. Thanks all for the save; I'm outta here" Bailey put his hand up and waved. Frost calmly mirrored the wave. Danielle just shifted weight from one foot to the other. Sarie frowned and tilted her head. Vance spit and sneered at him.
"You owe us, asshole. All I want you to do is help us on a job; simple pick-up. After that, I'll consider your debt erased" Vance explained. Bailey let out a laugh and crossed his arms.
"I don't owe you shit. You gonna stop me from leaving?" Bailey unfolded his arms and tapped his left arm; the one the blast came from. Sarie took a few steps towards him.
"Look Bailey....just help us out" Sarie looked into his eyes and pleaded with her own eyes. Bailey re-crossed his arms and looked downwards.
"After I help you with this delivery nonsense, I'm gone" Bailey kicked a rock out of his way. Sarie smiled and clasped her hands in front of her happily.
"Great!" She said. Vance grinned; a victory grin. He began to walk around, his eyes jumping from person to person as he spoke.
"Alright guys, here is the plan. I need to go call the pick-up people and tell them we're on the way. After that, we go and pick up the drugs at Dock 66. Then we take it down to the red-light district and drop it off at the corner of Hosni and Webber. There should be two men there; one in all black with glasses and a man with long blonde hair and a silver sparkly shirt. That's it, we all good on details?" Vance asked. Bailey made a face.
"You need me for this...why?" Bailey calmly asked. Vance stopped walking and glanced at Bailey.
"Security pal. More people makes it safer. Plus, like I said, after this you're off the hook" Vance explained. Bailey shoot a look at Sarie. She pleaded more with her eyes, until Bailey nodded.
"Fine, whatever" Bailey kicked another rock away. Sarie clapped her hands together and clapped her finger tips together. Vance turned around and walked into the garage.
"Alright, I need to make that call. Frost, can come with me?" With that, both men walked into the garage and vanished. Bailey's eyes narrowed; he took a deep breathe and stomped over to Sarie.
"So why do I need to come?" Bailey asked point-blank to her. Sarie twisted her fingers together.
"I dunno...it feels right, for you to be with us" Sarie explained. Bailey rolled his eyes.
"Look, I'm not into this crap. I don't got time to stay here" Bailey looked to his left to see what the clicking noise was. Danielle strolled over to them, little beads of sweat rolling. She stopped near them, crossing her arms and swaying a bit.
"So, hi there..." Danielle looked at Sarie first before looking up at Bailey.
"Hey there. Awfully young to be out this time of night" Bailey commented. Danielle sneered up at him, her tiny body shaking.
"Oh whatever. Sorry I came over-!"
"Guys, do not fight! We don't need to fight" Sarie jumped in between them, putting her hands out. She looked back and forth between the two of them. Bailey raised his eyebrow.
"Sarie, we're not gonna fight" Bailey mentioned. Sarie blinked and looked at Danielle. Danielle was shaking even more now, but not in fear.
"Look, I dunno if its just an image thing or if you're really Miss Perfect, but I just wanted to know if you guys had any heroin" Danielle snorted her nose and tilted her head; her hair laying on her shoulders. Bailey let out a laugh.
"You look like you're ten!" Bailey threw his arms into the air. With that, Danielle huffed and walked away from them; her red heels clicking on the broken cement surface. Then her left heel meet a crack, which proceeded to knock her to her knees. Danielle balled up her hands into fists and slammed them into her kneecaps.
"Damn it!" She got to her feet again. Sarie took a deep breathe and jogged over to her.
"Hey, you ok?" Sarie stopped beside her, looking down at her knees. Danielle's blonde hair whipped around as her face turned to Sarie.
"Yeah, I'm freezing. My knee is sore! I'm sick of you people, and I need a hit real bad! I'm fine!" Danielle stomped her left foot. Sarie took a step back and looked at her face. The slap mark was still visible on her face; the redness just below her left eye.
"I'm sorry..." Sarie whispered out. Danielle looked her up and down, the anger dripping out of her eyes.
"Yeah, well...don't worry about it. No one else does" Danielle strutted away, trying to show some dignity despite the fact her butt had a huge mud stain on it. She stood in the garage door-way, her eyes locked onto the suitcases. Sarie let out a sad sigh. Bailey walked up behind her and crossed his arms.
"Drugs do that to you" Bailey stated; it was not aimed at Sarie but a statement. Sarie tapped her left toes into the ground.
"She is such a pretty girl...looks like more than drugs got her" Sarie tilted her head and frowned. Bailey patted Sarie's shoulder before walking away from her.
"It happens" Bailey walked over to the garage wall and leaned against the wall. He put his hands into his pouch and looked downward. Before Sarie could react to anything, Vance and Frost came walking out of the garage. Vance was sporting a huge yellow grin.
"Hey gang, guess what?" Vance announced. He stood there with his hands on his hips. Bailey glanced over from his guard-position at the wall. Danielle shifted her feet and moved her eyes onto him. Sarie kept her eyes on him. Frost moved behind Vance.
"What's going on?" Sarie tried to sound sincere. Vance took a step forward and sneered.
"It's going-" Suddenly, Frost lifted his shotgun up and pulled the trigger. The shot ripped through Vance's head like a rip watermelon. Blood, brains, and pellets went flying into the air. Bailey's brown eyes caught the side from the side. He pushed off the wall and aimed his left hand at Frost; his hand disappeared into his sleeve. His right hand propped the left arm up as the blood splashed near his feet. Danielle's purple eyes saw Vance's body falling forward; saw his arms go limp and float forward. She watched his headless body smash into the ground, a puddle of red blood forming where his head had been. After it all set in, Danielle sprinted as fast as her heels would let her to his body. She jumped onto his waist and grabbed onto him. Sarie's green eyes saw his face; that yellow grin being smashed into teeth and pellets. Her jaw hung open; her eyes trying to look away but unable to. Sarie tried to form words as the puddle rolled towards her boots, but those words refused to come. Frost's grey eyes calmly looked down at the body. He cocked the shotgun and caused the empty shells to be spit out.
"Son of a bitch" Danielle screamed. She was now reaching into his pockets.
"What the fuck is going on?" Bailey screamed; a soft humming coming from his arm. Frost calmly dropped his shotgun; it swung besides his leg.
"You're going to thank me" Frost announced. Bailey took a deep breathe; his hand popped back out of his sleeve. Danielle pulled something out of his pocket.
"Score!" Danielle screamed, pumping her fist. She sprinted away from the body and towards the garage.
"She's broken up. Ok, you got a lot of explaining to do" Bailey commented. He walked towards Frost; his arms crossed over his chest. Frost looked over at Sarie; she was still standing there. She seemed to be having a hard time breathing.
"Sarie...Sarie, you ok?" Frost asked. Bailey craned his neck and looked at her.
"Shit, battle-shock" Bailey commented. Both men walked over to her. Sarie took a step away from Frost; her eyes wide in terror.
"Why did you do that?" She shrieked as she came out of shock. Frost closed his eyes. Bailey spun around and looked at the garage.
"Where'd that...son of a bitch" Bailey sprinted towards the garage. Frost looked over his shoulder and Sarie took a step to the left. Danielle was ripping through the briefcase, papers and pencils flying in the air.
"Where is his shit? Where is it?" Danielle screamed. Bailey ran up and grabbed her by the left wrist. He yanked her up, noticing all the red dots on her arm. She fought in his grip; but he held her wrist tight.
"What, you looking for some heroin?" Bailey hissed. Danielle looked at him and let out big wad of spit.
"Fuck you asshole! You guys just killed him! He was the only one who took care of me! I want my heroin!" Danielle fought in Bailey's grasp; her eyes wide in panic. Bailey reached over and grabbed her other wrist and held her up in the air. He pushed her against the wall and held her.
"Frost or Sarie, look in that briefcase. Any, and I mean any, heroin you find...through it in the sewers" Bailey screamed. Danielle lifted her feet up and began kicking at his chest.
"Stop it! Stop it! I need it! I need it!" She screamed; tears flying down her eyes like bullets. Frost ran up up, avoiding the head-less body on the ground. He grabbed the briefcase up and dumped out all the contents. A few needles fell out of it.
"Give me those! I want them- I need them!" Danielle screamed. Frost looked over at her struggling against Bailey. Bailey got sick of getting kicked and threw his body into her, pressing her against the wall as hard as he could.
"Do it! Throw them out" Bailey ordered. Frost walked over to the sewer grate and tossed them in. With that, the desire to fight washed out of Danielle's body. Her mouth hung open; the tears rolling onto her lips.
"No...no...no..no" She went limp. Bailey let her go; she fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Sarie walked up next to the body and looked at all three of them.
"What's going on?" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
"You know, I hope putting bodies into a dumpster doesn't become standard-place between us" Bailey commented as he turned the corner towards the garage. Sarie looked over at them; the water rushing out of the hose in her hands doing its best to clean all the blood away. Danielle sat near the sewer grate and mumbled incoherently. Sarie turned the hose off and dropped it to the ground.
"This was a huge mistake..no, it's a nightmare!" She screamed; her heart pounding wildly in her heart. Frost hung his head and let out a small sigh. Bailey walked past her and over towards Danielle.
"You're going into withdrawal" Bailey stated; it was not a question but a fact. Danielle looked up at him; her lip was trembling and her eyes were blinking rapidly. Bailey extended an arm to her and sighed.
"Come on; you're going to have the chills anyways. Let's get you inside" Bailey commented. Danielle shook her head; placing her hands on the curb, she got up herself and walked past him. She stopped at the garage-way door and crossed her arms.
"So why did you shoot that fuck?" She asked towards Frost. Sarie finally looked at him; her eyes full of questions. Bailey strolled up behind Sarie and looked at Frost as well.
"You got a lot of explaining to do" Bailey added. Frost nodded his head.
"This is going to take me a few minutes...I've known Vance a year or so. We were both mercs here, so I guess we were going to meet each other sooner or later. Vance loved using me for help...I was easy to lie to. I couldn't hear anything he said, anyways. So he'd use me. He'd lie about how much we'd been offered; I'd just accept...I had no other money. Deaf mercs don't get much work" Frost began. Bailey raised an eyebrow.
"For a deaf guy, you seemed to hear me well" Bailey pointed out. Frost shrugged and nodded again.
"Anyways, Vance was always a shit head. So then, he came into the bar earlier tonight with Sarie...well, I knew what he had planned. Don't you, Danielle?" Frost looked towards her. Danielle bit her lip as some fresh tears fought to her face. Sarie looked over at Danielle; at her short skirt; at her high red heels that looked impossible to walk in, in a top that Sarie would be ashamed to wear.
"He uses innocent people" Danielle added; her body shaking terrible now. Sarie walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Danielle looked up at her, but did not fight her hand off. Sarie turned her attention back to Frost and nodded.
"Vance needed money, quick, to get drugs. There never was a shipment; he was gonna turn me in. I have a small bounty on my head. Not enough for anyone to care, but enough for some drugs. Of course, Danielle showed up. Well, Vance has never been opposed to three-ways...or making girls have sex" Frost explained. Danielle took a deep breathe, shaking even more if it was possible. Sarie felt like she was going to throw up. Bailey looked over at the girls and took a deep breathe.
"And you waited this long to shot him?" Bailey remarked. Frost looked down.
"He used me for a long time...then, we found you Bailey. Vance knows you're worth a lot. It's that cannon on your arm, huh?" Frost commented, looking at his hand. Bailey lifted his hand up and shook his arm. The sleeve came downwards, revealing a dirty black arm cannon attached on his arm. He hand suddenly disappeared into the cannon; the whole thing transforming in a second to become a cannon.
"It's worth a lot...a lot" Bailey stated. His hand popped back out of the cannon. He pulled the sleeve back over the cannon.
"So, that's what he did. He called someone and found out the bounty on your head. I guess the job he had in Cobbleston didn't pay a lot. He was gonna turn us both in...and with all that money, have fun with the girls there" Frost looked around, making sure no one else was around. Sarie took her hand off of Danielle's shoulder and crossed them over her skirt.
"He was going to do...horrible things to us" Sarie mumbled out. Danielle looked at her and nodded.
"Terrible things...I know..." Danielle forced out; her body shaking with goosebumps now. Frost took a step towards Sarie; his eyes shining now.
"He always said stuff behind my back...he thought I was stupid and deaf. But something...I dunno how, but after that gutter hit me...I can hear again" Frost explained; a sound of pure joy lingering in his throat. Sarie blinked and tilted her head.
"How-how is that possible?" Sarie stammered. Frost shook his head and shrugged.
"I'm not sure! But I can hear...Vance told me to stand by the door and make sure no one bothered him when he was on the phone. I heard every word he said...my hearing isn't great. It sounds like I have water in my ear. But I heard what he said...so when he came out...I decided to repay you Sarie. I...I knew he was going to hurt you. All of you. And since I got my hearing back, I felt I owed you" Frost crossed his arms and took a huge breathe. Sarie blinked a few times.
"You...you saved me...you saved Danielle and Bailey...and yourself" Sarie felt a smile growing on her face. Bailey let out a laugh.
"I would have saved my own ass" He turned away from them and looked at the street. Danielle pushed Sarie with one hand, almost knocking her over. Sarie let out a gasp. Danielle walked right up to Frost and glared up at him.
"You don't give a shit about me! No one does!" Danielle screamed. Frost leaned away from the words like they were flames.
"Child, you are to young to be a heroin hooker for Vance. For anyone. It is time to clean up, for you own good" Frost looked her right in the eye. Her saw the panic in her eyes; the tears welling up in her eyes. Danielle pushed Frost; her weak arms barely budging his stomach.
"Shut up! No one gives a shit what I do, ok?" Danielle turned away from him and took a step. In her way now was Sarie.
"Danielle, please...look, I wanna care about you. You look like you really want someone to be your friend" Sarie smiled at her. Danielle looked at her; tears still streaming down her face.
"You're lying...no one ever cares..." Danielle suddenly ran out of energy. She just stood there and cried. Sarie put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.
"I want to care. I do care...look, Frost cares. He got rid of Vance...I saw Vance hit you. I got scared...I wanted to help, but I got scared. I'm going to help now. And you know, Bailey cares. He's trying real hard not to care, but he got rid of those drugs for you" Sarie finished. With that, Bailey sneered even though no one could see his face.
"I need...I need..." Danielle bit her lip and cried even more now. She shrugged Sarie's hand off and hugged herself. She stepped around with her feet. Frost watched her for a moment, then walked up behind him and put his hands on her shoulders. Danielle stopped moving; she fell backwards against him. Bailey turned towards them and walked over. He stopped next to Sarie and looked at Danielle.
"You're going to thank me. Ok people, enough of the caring crap. I hate to tell you this, but someone had to hear or see all of this shit. We killed two people here tonight. I think we should bugger off and start the caring crap later" Bailey explained. Frost slowly massaged Danielle's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.
"Agreed. But where we going to go?" Frost pointed out. Bailey put a hand under his chin and lightly rubbed his chin.
"Damn if I know...not here..." Bailey stated. Sarie smiled suddenly, her smile brightening the whole area. She clapped her hands together.
"We can go to Cosmo Canyon! All of us!" Sarie cheerfully exclaimed. Everyone else turned their attention to her now.
"Why? What's there?" Bailey questioned.
"That's not a five minute walk" Danielle muttered.
"It's quite a journey" Frost stated. Sarie pushed down on her feet and locked herself into position. She opened her hands out and placed them outwards.
"Look guys...you may laugh at me for saying this. But I...I think...someone told me I have to save the world. I know it sounds crazy, but I believe that person...my guardian angel. I believe her. She told me to go to Cosmo Canyon. And...well, we all need to get out of this place. You guys are all smarter than me. I'm just some naive girl from Cobbleston. I could use the help..." Sarie trailed off. She felt like a bug on a leaf with a group of scientists examining it. She was expecting a snide comment from Bailey, a rude comment from Danielle, and a truthful yet painful comment from Frost.
"Anything to get out of here" Bailey stated.
"I agree" Frost calmly answered.
"You want me to go?" Danielle questioned; a piece of hope in her voice. Sarie blinked once or twice; they had all been caught off guard by her.
"Sure Danielle" Sarie replied quickly. Frost squeezed her shoulders a bit more.
"If you clean up" Frost commanded. Danielle looked up at him; her eyes still stained with tears.
"That way, we can keep an eye on you. Make sure you're flying straight" Bailey added. Danielle's head spun towards him now; he had a soft smile on his face which quickly went away when she saw it. But she had seen it. Sarie clapped her hands together.
"You're all serious? You want to come with me?" Sarie smiled brightly and watched the three heads nod agreement.
"That's fantastic! I mean, I'm not sure what I have to do or anything..." Sarie trailed off again. And once again, she waited for a snide, rude, or truthfully painful comment.
"We're going to find out, then?" Frost wanted to know.
"I'm not sure if you guys can help me or not...I think so though" Sarie commented. Bailey shook his head.
"I better go then, for sure. You guys will end up lost without me" Bailey stretched his arms out and then stuck them into his pouch. Sarie smiled at him and turned her attention to Frost and Danielle.
"I still owe you for my hearing" Frost said in a calm voice. Danielle took a deep breathe and pulled away from Frost in an easy manner. She took her hand and cleaned away the tears from her eyes.
"I...I'm really fucked up. I dunno why, but you guys seem like you care. Maybe its cause you just meet me. Maybe cause I'm all fucked up..." Danielle trailed off. Her body was shaking terrible still; withdrawal was beginning to truely dig its teeth into her. Sarie jogged over to the girl and put her hands on her shoulders. She then lifted up Danielle's face and looked her right in the eyes.
"Danielle...I don't know the first thing about drugs. But I know you need to get off them. And I will do anything I can to help you...I promise, I swear I will!" Sarie told her. Danielle's lips shook nervously, until she threw her arms around Sarie and clung to her tightly.
"Please...please..." Danielle muttered into Sarie. Sarie just closed her eyes and rubbed the younger girl's back gently. The wind rolled over the area as if to wash away all the bad feelings that had occurred that night.