Bug knocked at her door and opened it, knowing her apartment
building was too crappy to be secure.
"Hey pretty lady!" he said, seeing her bent over a computer.
"You're here early." Tori said, not looking at him. "I thought you and Rose would have another tumble before you came over." She said, straightening up and looking at him.
"Shut up." Bug sneered, throwing the pizza box he'd brought with him onto her bed and leaning against the wall. "It's not my fault you were being so bitchy last night."
"I know." Tori said. She bent over to reach from something in her backpack on the computer chair.
"You seem awfully good natured todaaaaaaa-"Bug started, finishing in a wail. Tori had reached for a knife in her bag and knocked him to the wall and held the blade to his throat before he could answer.
"What the fuck did you tell them!? WHO ARE THEY!?" Tori screamed at him, pinning him up to the wall by his neck with her arm.
"Geez Tor... if you wanted to... you know... 'do it' all you had to do was ask, you know I don't go for the dominatrix ty-"Bug started, but Tori shoved him harder into the wall.
"Oh keep dreaming you lousy shit-head!" she shouted at him, tossing him to the ground. He obviously knew nothing. "Piss off!" she bellowed at Bug scrambled to his feet and stumbled hurriedly out the door.
Tori slammed it after him, knocking more dust from the ceiling. She dropped the knife on the ground and pulled another packet of cigarettes towards her. At the rate she was going through them she'd be dead by the end of the week.
She knew she was going to have to blow off her job today, but frankly she didn't care that she didn't show up at the Pizza Parade for the night delivery shift. She lit up a cigarette and breathed in the smoke quietly for a while. Then she snapped one of her computers out of it's sleep and logged on, checking her email. Nothing. And then... something lit up in her inbox. Second_Sight.
She clicked the mail open and read the message in a moment.
Don't go to the bridge. Head for St. Michaels and 5th.
It was short. Suspicious. But then again, what about the man in the club? Hadn't he been nothing if not suspicious? That was indeed if they were the same person. Tori closed the letter and shut her eyes against the florescent light in the ceiling. She hadn't known his name, yet she felt more excited by his presence that she'd ever felt.
She opened her eyes and looked out the window. It was only ten in the morning but it was already dark and snowy enough to be evening. Snow fell silently. The only sound came from upstairs: Teri and Ben shouting again.
Tori's eye fell on her mother's journal in the kitchen again. She pushed her chair from behind her and went into the kitchen. She picked up the old withered book and turned to the pages she'd left off at.
She immersed herself if a few more entries of her mother's intriguing, and yet slightly boring Cherokee reservation life to see if there was any mention of her child, Victoria Everest, anywhere. But there was nothing.
When she looked out the window it was way past noon, five o'clock at the earliest. She checked the off-beat clock on the wall: 4:57pm. Outside it was dark... Damn winter, she thought.
Tori put down the journal with a dissatisfactory sigh. It didn't help that her mother had this rich Native American past that she felt she needed to uphold. She could always forget that part of her heritage. Tori didn't remember her mother. She remembered photographs and postcards pressed between blotting paper in the attic of their Oxford home. She remembered Shira, her father's secretary, who bought her the plane tickets to New York and the money to...
The phone was ringing. Each dial echoed in her ears until she finally snapped, lunging out and picking it up. The voice on the other line spoke before she could even give her signature, 'What?'.
"This line is tapped. Someone is following you. Go to the bridge /I" the voice said, and then the phone went dead. Tori put it back on the receiver, fingers trembling slightly. Which advice could she trust? The phone call's or the e-mail's.
She stepped out of the kitchen, hands reaching for her corduroy coat. She pulled it off with sudden confidence and buttoned the grey- feathered collar around her neck to keep out the cold. She grabbed a free post-it and a pencil and stuck a note onto the door. I Don't expect me back. Stuff is up for grabs. /I
She was suddenly sure of where this was heading. And if she was wrong... she needed a new place anyway. As soon as she was about to the door she remembered her mother's journal and slipped back inside. She grabbed it and rushed out the door. One look back was all she needed to say goodbye.
"Hey pretty lady!" he said, seeing her bent over a computer.
"You're here early." Tori said, not looking at him. "I thought you and Rose would have another tumble before you came over." She said, straightening up and looking at him.
"Shut up." Bug sneered, throwing the pizza box he'd brought with him onto her bed and leaning against the wall. "It's not my fault you were being so bitchy last night."
"I know." Tori said. She bent over to reach from something in her backpack on the computer chair.
"You seem awfully good natured todaaaaaaa-"Bug started, finishing in a wail. Tori had reached for a knife in her bag and knocked him to the wall and held the blade to his throat before he could answer.
"What the fuck did you tell them!? WHO ARE THEY!?" Tori screamed at him, pinning him up to the wall by his neck with her arm.
"Geez Tor... if you wanted to... you know... 'do it' all you had to do was ask, you know I don't go for the dominatrix ty-"Bug started, but Tori shoved him harder into the wall.
"Oh keep dreaming you lousy shit-head!" she shouted at him, tossing him to the ground. He obviously knew nothing. "Piss off!" she bellowed at Bug scrambled to his feet and stumbled hurriedly out the door.
Tori slammed it after him, knocking more dust from the ceiling. She dropped the knife on the ground and pulled another packet of cigarettes towards her. At the rate she was going through them she'd be dead by the end of the week.
She knew she was going to have to blow off her job today, but frankly she didn't care that she didn't show up at the Pizza Parade for the night delivery shift. She lit up a cigarette and breathed in the smoke quietly for a while. Then she snapped one of her computers out of it's sleep and logged on, checking her email. Nothing. And then... something lit up in her inbox. Second_Sight.
She clicked the mail open and read the message in a moment.
Don't go to the bridge. Head for St. Michaels and 5th.
It was short. Suspicious. But then again, what about the man in the club? Hadn't he been nothing if not suspicious? That was indeed if they were the same person. Tori closed the letter and shut her eyes against the florescent light in the ceiling. She hadn't known his name, yet she felt more excited by his presence that she'd ever felt.
She opened her eyes and looked out the window. It was only ten in the morning but it was already dark and snowy enough to be evening. Snow fell silently. The only sound came from upstairs: Teri and Ben shouting again.
Tori's eye fell on her mother's journal in the kitchen again. She pushed her chair from behind her and went into the kitchen. She picked up the old withered book and turned to the pages she'd left off at.
She immersed herself if a few more entries of her mother's intriguing, and yet slightly boring Cherokee reservation life to see if there was any mention of her child, Victoria Everest, anywhere. But there was nothing.
When she looked out the window it was way past noon, five o'clock at the earliest. She checked the off-beat clock on the wall: 4:57pm. Outside it was dark... Damn winter, she thought.
Tori put down the journal with a dissatisfactory sigh. It didn't help that her mother had this rich Native American past that she felt she needed to uphold. She could always forget that part of her heritage. Tori didn't remember her mother. She remembered photographs and postcards pressed between blotting paper in the attic of their Oxford home. She remembered Shira, her father's secretary, who bought her the plane tickets to New York and the money to...
The phone was ringing. Each dial echoed in her ears until she finally snapped, lunging out and picking it up. The voice on the other line spoke before she could even give her signature, 'What?'.
"This line is tapped. Someone is following you. Go to the bridge /I" the voice said, and then the phone went dead. Tori put it back on the receiver, fingers trembling slightly. Which advice could she trust? The phone call's or the e-mail's.
She stepped out of the kitchen, hands reaching for her corduroy coat. She pulled it off with sudden confidence and buttoned the grey- feathered collar around her neck to keep out the cold. She grabbed a free post-it and a pencil and stuck a note onto the door. I Don't expect me back. Stuff is up for grabs. /I
She was suddenly sure of where this was heading. And if she was wrong... she needed a new place anyway. As soon as she was about to the door she remembered her mother's journal and slipped back inside. She grabbed it and rushed out the door. One look back was all she needed to say goodbye.