Chapter 16: A Walk in the Park

February 23rd

8:42 PM

Tompkins Square Park

Aimee walked quickly through the park on her way to the loft. She hated being out alone after dark, but she'd just come from Jake's apartment. She'd gone there to end things with him once and for all on Mark's suggestion, only to find the entire apartment trashed and deserted, broken and empty beer bottles strewn all across the floor.

A group of junkies sneered at her as she walked by, shouting suggestive comments. Aimee shivered slightly in the damp night air, pulling her old red sweatshirt closer around her shoulders. The Man leered at her, his mouthful of yellowed and broken teeth illuminated by the eerie orange glow of a street light. Aimee turned her face away determined not to meet his dark gaze. She stopped a few feet from the edge of the park, her skin suddenly crawling with suspicion.

"Who's there?" she called uncertainly, feeling as if she'd been dropped into the middle of some bizarre horror movie.

"Turn around and see, whore," came the answer, sending a burst of adrenaline through her body.

Aimee turned around slowly, trying to look confident.

A figure stepped out of the shadows just enough so that she could make out its silhouette. Baggy black jeans and a black undershirt, equally black hair plastered up into pointed spikes.

"Jake." She whispered.

"Damn right, whore."

"Don't call me that!"

"Aw, the poor little girl must think she's positively virtuous ." Jake mocked. He stepped out of the shadows completely, standing just a few inches away from her. She could smell the beer on his breath.

"Leave me alone, Jake. I've humored you long enough."

"Oh, that's what you call it? Humoring me? You'd be out on the street if it wasn't for me. You'd be worse than dead."

"I can take care of myself, Jake. It's time for you to learn." Aimee said firmly, her confidence growing.

"Really? So that's why you decided to cheat on me? I wasn't good enough for you any more so you went and got yourself another guy?" Jake sneered.

"What?"

"Oh, don't play dumb, whore. That guy you meet here every day."

Aimee gasped.

"How do you know about Mark?"

Jake laughed.

"Thought you could get away with it, huh? When tyou stopped coming to see me I knew there had to be something wrong. I must say, I thought you had better taste in men."

"You've been spying on me?"

"Well when a woman is disloyal it calls for extreme measures."

"You bastard!"

Jake grabbed her around the neck with one large hand, whipping a small razor out of his pocket with the other.

"You say that again, whore."

"Jake. . ." Aimee gasped, starting to cry. "Let me go, Jake. It's over."

"NO!" Jake screamed, pressing the knife against her throat. "You can't leave me! I won't let you!"

He pressed the knife in closer and a few drops of blood trickled down her neck.

"Jake, don't do this," she pleaded, "You don't know what you're doing."

"Either you stay with me or you die!"

"NO! Please Jake, stop."

He pressed the knife in harder and a long line of blood appeared against Aimee's dark skin. Just then, a police car sped by on the street, it's siren blaring. Jake let go of her and raced off into the night. Aimee collapsed, sobbing, to the ground, her shirt and sweater soaked with blood.

~~~**~~~

February 23rd

9:01 PM

The Loft

"I don't know what to get her!" Mark groaned, throwing his hands up helplessly.

Roger gave him a look.

"You mean you didn't think about this until now?"

"No!" Mark protested, "I've been thinking about it all week, I just still don't know."

"Well, she'll be here in less than ten minutes, so you'd better make a decision."

"I can't! Help me?" Mark begged.

Mimi put down the magazine she'd been reading and looked at Mark.

"Come on, Mark, it's just a birthday gift. How hard can it be?"

"Pretty damn impossible whe you look at it from his perspective," Roger snorted.

"Well. . .I mean. . .what do you give your ex for her birthday?"

Just then, the doorbell rang. Maureen bounced in, dressed in what looked like a hot pink prom dress and matching boots, a paper Burger King crown pershed on top of her unruly mass of dark brown curls.

"Oh. My. God." Mark yelped.

"What?" Maureen asked, smiling sweetly.

"It's My Size Barbie come to life," Roger muttered dryly.

Maureen giggled.

"Than you. I'll assume you like it, then."

Mark and Roger exchanged a pained look.

"Well. . .it's. . .unique."

Joanne came straggling in a moment later, lugging a huge pink birthday cake.

Roger picked up his guitar and began playing "Happy Birthday" while Maureen and Mimi waltzed a horrifed Mark around the room, giggling hysterically.

Joanne stood looking on, her face a mixture of horror and amusement.

"Hey," she said suddenly, during a break in the action, "Has anyone heard from Collins? He should be here."

The room fell silent.

As if on cue, there was another knock on the door and a very anxious looking Collins entered.

"Collins?" Maureen asked nervously, "What's wrong?"

Collins frowned.

"I hate to spoil the party, but have any of you seen Aimee? She told me she was going for a walk in the park this morning and I haven't heard from her all day."

The room remained silent.

"I'm going to go look for her," Collins said somberly.

Mark jumped up.

"I'll go with you."

He was out the door before anyone could comment.

It took then nearly half an hour to find her in the dark. She was lying sprawled out, unconscious and soaked in blood on the same bench where Mark had first seen her.

Collins looked at Mark.

"Stay here with her. I'm going back to the loft to call an ambulance."

~~~**~~~

Review and I *might* let her live…::grins evilly::