Trick or Treat!!! Busy, busy, busy lately! Homecoming last week, foreign exchange student living in the house, dance schedule stacking up nearly as high as my homework...and yet I find strength to stay up late and indulge in Turner Classic Movies' tribute to musicals every Tuesday and Wednesday. But what am I babbling about, I'm obviously not so tired I can't write this chapter for you fine people, so Disney owns Newsies, TCF own Moulin Rouge and all individuals outside of those two groups own themselves. Got it? Good. On we go...
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The abrasive clanging of a fire bell jolted Jack from a deep sleep. Groaning softly he peeled back an eyelid to see dark shapes rousing from their beds in the half-light of November grayness. Gingerly, he stuck his nose out from under his blanket into the frigid dawn air and sighed. With aching slowness, he hauled himself up, shivering and miserable.
Two weeks ago he had moved into the Gray Court Lodging House, an old fire house bought out by the world and converted into a lodging facility for their newsboys. The place was large and dank and retained cold in the way that metal retains fire. The constant chill easing off the bare brick walls and rough floors was enough to cripple a bear with cold let alone the slight newsboys who inhabited it.
Jack broke a skimming of ice in the wash basin and hesitated to splash it on his face. For a brief moment he thought longingly of his old home. The home where he'd had a warm room and real friends. They're not my friends he reminded him self briskly. He refused to speak to his old group and they in turn avoided conversing with him. Meanwhile he was never at his new home long enough to become acquainted with those boys. His days were bleak and lonely...only his visits to see Roxanne could shake his low mood. Jack scowled to himself; he hadn't been able to see her all week.
Snow was falling thickly over the city that morning. Jack glowered sulkily at the world as he trudged out along his route. Headlines were poor, it was cold out, he hadn't seen Roxanne and the most he had to look forward to was fighting for a space before the stove in the bunkroom that night. On top of it all, Oscar Delancey had been talking incessantly about his recent raise. In his grumpy state, Jack didn't notice Mush until he had plowed right into him.
"Jack!" the other boy exclaimed as he rushed to gather up his papers, "How you been?"
Jack righted his own papers and smiled crookedly, Mush had always been the most forgiving of the boys, "Not too bad." They stood facing each other as an awkward silence grew between them. "How's everyone?" Jack finally asked.
Mush seemed glad to have a reason to speak, "Fine. It's kinda weird without you there of course, but we're all doin' okay."
Jack paused a moment, "How's Ireland?"
"I think she's still upset about...you know," he scuffed his foot across the pavement, making a stark line in the white snow, "She's okay and all, but she goes on lots of walks by herself."
The taller boy cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Will you tell everyone I said hello?"
Mush nodded quietly and the two boys moved on in their separate directions. Jack felt a cold weight of gloom settle solidly in his stomach, it was the beginning of a very long day.
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Eager to be cheered up, Jack went to Verte Violette as soon as he'd finished selling for the day. The doorman smiled at him as he passed by, and various crewmembers shouted their greetings. Even Albert nodded gruffly as they met in the hallway.
Roxanne was reading in her dressing room when Jack arrived. She smiled at the sight of him, "You look like someone shoved snow in your pants, "she informed him, "You're awfully gloomy."
He sighed as he flopped down beside her on the sofa, "Long day, that's all," he gently traced the curve of her cheek with his fingers, inhaling deeply on the scent of jasmine, "But I feel better now."
Roxanne put her book aside, "So serious!" she teased kissing his cheek, "You need some fun. Mr. Kelly."
"So does that mean we're going to spend some time together tonight?"
She shook her head, "I have an engagement, but I some of my friends are having a party. You could go with them."
Jack snorted, "I'm not going to bother if you won't be there. I'm not much good at being social these days."
"All the more reason for you to go," she insisted. He was quiet, "Look, your friends will come around eventually." She laced her fingers with his, "But in the meantime learn to lighten up."
He brushed his lips across her fingers, "If you really think so..."
"I do," she interjected, "You'll have a wonderful time."
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Jack did not have a wonderful time. He did not have a bad time either. He simply spent the whole evening bored out of his wits sitting among people he didn't know talking about other people he didn't know and places he'd never been. If it had not been for the steady supply of liquid refreshment available he was not at all certain he wouldn't have screamed at the utter tedium of it all. Thoroughly depressed, he returned to Gray Court by ten and fell into bed, desperate to feel nothing.
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The monotony of the next days made Jack feel as though he were banging his head on a brick wall. The weather continued to be gray and bone-cracking cold, the headlines did not improve, and Roxanne was constantly inaccessible. It was to the point where Jack didn't even see her when he stopped by Violette. Often she left notes with the doorman, or had her maid wait for Jack to tell him that her mistress would not be available. He walked around with a perpetual scowl creasing his features. Even the boys who had been amiable to him began to steer clear.
The first of December dawned the coldest yet. Frost glazed over the insides of the windows and outside a thick coating of ice covered every flat surface. Jack was sure that if he stood still too long he would freeze too.
It was mid-afternoon when he stood huddled around a firing barrel with a group of strangers, all desperately trying to bring some feeling back into their stiff fingers. Suddenly, Oscar Delancey appeared and clapped another boy on the back, "Charlie, you wouldn't believe the week I've had!" Jack kept his head down to avoid detection as Oscar and his friend moved into the alley to talk.
Oscar stretched languidly, dropping onto a pile of old crates. "It all started with this raise that I got at work. I'm getting a whole five cents more an hour!" Charlie whistled with appreciation, "Well at first I couldn't figure out how to celebrate, but then Morris suggests I spend it on a dame for the night and it hits me: Only one place in the world to go if you're gonna spend your cash that way."
Charlie's eyes widened, "Verte Violette?" he whispered with shocked reverence; Oscar nodded with immense self-satisfaction, "How'd you get in?"
"My Uncle goes way back with one of the top managers. I didn't have to pay nothin' to get in! Works out real well since I needed it later." he winked at his friend.
"Who?" he asked eagerly
"Roxanne herself!" Jack's head sprang up at the sound of her name, "Not only that," Oscar went on, "But we've been spending the whole week together. Every day...and night!" The two boys chuckled lecherously, not noticing the ominous form of Jack Kelly approaching them like an avalanche of menace.
Jack seized Oscar by his shirt front, "You're lying!" he snarled.
"Not at all," Oscar smirked, tugging his shirt straight, "If I was lying I'd talk about what a great kisser that girl is, but as it happens, we ain't really kissed much." He puffed his chest out with self-importance, "She says she cares too much about me to treat me exactly like her other customers."
Jack smashed him across the face, "You're lying!"
Oscar clutched his bloody nose, "Jesus, Cowboy! What the hell is your problem?"
Jack slung him into a wall, listening to the crack of breaking ribs with sadistic rage, "Tell me it's not true!" he screamed. Oscar clutched his ribs trying to fend off his attacker as Charlie jumped on Jack's back. With one swift twist, Jack dislodged the smaller boy, sending him flying into a wall, unconscious. Oscar attempted to flee, and was caught up short as Jack wrenched him back by his shirt.
"Tell me it's not true!" he slamming his prey against a wall, Oscar's face went gray with pain as an anguished scream tore from his throat. "Tell me you're lying!" Jacks knocked his head against the wall, furious when no response was given, "Tell me!" Again and again he cracked Oscar's skull over the brick, listening to the splintering of bone and the screams of torment...but no admission. Suddenly, he realized that the screaming had stopped. Blood trickled freely out of Oscar's mouth, making crimson streams down his chin. The boy's eyes were blank, his body limp. Jack released the corpse to the ground without thinking. Turning rapidly, he tore off down the alley, heading to Roxanne's house, numb to what he'd just done. She'll tell me it's not true! He thought feverishly, She'll make it alright!
He exploded through the front door without knocking. The housekeeper had been coming down the stairs and looked up startled, "She'll not see you today, Mr. Kelly..." she began. Jack hurtled up the stairs, sending the woman tumbling to the ground, "You can't go up there," she screamed from the floor, "She won't see you!"
Jack burst through the door to Roxanne's room and stopped very suddenly. She had been eating supper. Neatly she placed her knife and fork on a tray and stood. She was so beautiful, so mysterious in her black silk dressing gown. Her eyes seemed to sparkle extra brightly that day, accented by the shiny ebony curls spiraling around her shoulders. Her porcelain skin was luminescent in the firelight. "Tell me it's not true." He begged, gasping for breath, "Please tell me."
Her ruby lips tilted into a smile as intoxicating laughter bubbled over her lips, "What's not true, Jack?"
He gasped for breath suddenly aware that his lungs were on fire, "Oscar..."
She kissed him softly then laughed again, "Of course it's true." Jack felt as though he were drowning, "I'm sorry I didn't mention it."
He gaped at her, "But you..."
"Actually Jack," she interjected "I'm glad we had this opportunity to talk." Roxanne crossed back to the window and lolled against the ledge, "I think it's time for us to move on."
Jack felt as though he were standing in a very thick fog. He heard Roxanne's words, but somehow, could not register them, "What?"
She shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, it's just that we've been seeing each other for a couple of months, and it was very nice, but Oscar was a reminder that I need to get back to serious work." He continued to stare at her as though he comprehended nothing. Roxanne sighed deeply, "We're breaking up, Jack." She said as gently as she could.
A tidal wave crashed through the fog, setting Jack free. Raw pain replaced every other sensation in his body, ripping through each nerve, searing his very blood, "No!" He cried out, "No, we're not! We can't! Why..."
"You were fun Jack. You were like a vacation. I needed it, but now it's done." She shrugged, "Oscar could pay me, and I've got a number of affluent clients stacked up behind him. I don't have time for you anymore."
Jack felt as though he were forcing words out of his throat, they cracked as they fell from his lips, "I was fun" he managed, "You made me believe you loved me!"
"Well," she had guilt enough to look down, "I am a professional."
"I...I gave up everything for you! My friends, my home...everything!" His eyes and throat burned, he was about to explode with the pain.
Roxanne looked up, her glittering eyes met his squarely, "I never asked you to, Jack." Silence roared for long seconds as lightning fizzled between them. Slowly, she turned to face the window, "I think you'd better leave, Mr. Kelly." She said quietly to the paned glass.
Jack stood stock still, feet leaden and weighted to the floor. He stared at her back, as slowly, very slowly, a new emotion began to fill him from soles to crown. She had bewitched him, betrayed him and left him for dead. She had taken what she wanted and run. There was no consequence for Roxanne, but he had lost everything he cared about over her...over this cold, self-serving...whore. She would not turn her back on him now. Frigid hate poured over him in a glacial stream. He could not think, could not breath, only wanted to hurt her back.
Something flashed silver in the waning sunlight. Roxanne's cutlery from dinner lay neglected on the tray. His gaze sluiced over the exquisitely worked handle to the gleaming, narrow blade of the knife, sharpened to hair-splitting precision. He slowly picked it up, marveling at how the sunset danced over the edge of the steel. He turned it, this way and that, and suddenly, the mirror-bright surface caught the image of Roxanne. His eyes, cold, mad eyes slid upward to her. She would pay.
She never heard him come as she smiled out at the street, waiting to see his defeated figure walking off. Jack seized her brutally by her hair, pressing the edge or the blade against her soft throat. Roxanne gasped in mortal fear, her hands desperately clutching at his, finger nails making deep treads in his flesh. He never even flinched.
"You made me believe you loved me." He whispered viciously against her hair, the scent of jasmine cloying his senses. "You killed me."
"Jack, please..." Roxanne pleaded voice weak with terror.
He pressed the knife ever so slightly; she felt it penetrate just a hair's breath into her ivory throat. Jack placed his mouth against her ear; she could feel hot tears on his cheek, "Say you love me." He whispered haltingly, "Say it now."
"I do," she whispered, frantic to yet save herself, "I love you, Jack."
He paused for just a moment, feeling her tremble against him, feeling her nails scrambling over his hands, drinking in her fear and her pain...
"You lie!" he spat. In a swift, violent motion he jerked the knife across her throat. Warm blood gushed over his hands, as Roxanne fell limp against him, a death gasp still upon her lips. He shoved her away from him, twisting the corpse as it fell. Blood cascaded like wine over her chest, painting her lily skin and changing black silk to sickly midnight purple. Her dark hair spread around her, soaking its share of the scarlet juice as it dribbled from her throat. Her eyes were frozen wide, terrified, and forever still. All the fire had gone from them.
Jack's bloody hands dropped to his sides, the knife hitting the floor with a soft thud. He stared at this beautiful creature. This beautiful dead creature that had killed him as surely as he had her. "I would have loved you," he whispered to her death pale face, "You knew that too." Slowly, never taking his eyes from her lifeless features, he leaned down and kissed her softly on her crimson lips, still warm. "I would have loved you."
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Whew. Now wasn't that fun everybody? Seriously, I got pretty upset while I was writing this. It was even more emotionally draining than my last update. One more chapter to go. Makes me sad I'm almost done. Anyway, I hope you got something good out of this chapter...please review!!!!
My Dog Ate My Penname: Hey, it don't matter when you review, I'm just glad you did ;) Yeah, Jack is a major idiot and in real life I probably would have hit him for being such a moron. ::le sigh:: Oh well. Thanks for the review, love!
Emerald Tears: I'm glad you like it so much. I'm not a very popular author, but it feels good to hear that people enjoy my work. You get chocolate dipped Newsies for giving me the warm-and-fuzzies. Thank for reviewing! ;)
newsiesmoseph: Well you know, men have two heads and only enough blood to sustain one at a time. I wonder which one Jack is using right now? He is being a total moron, but I need him to be for the story to work, so I guess, in essence, he's just doing his job. But in real life I woulda slugged him for hitting me, that's all I have to say about that. Thanks for reviewing! ;)
Cyanne 76: Thanks darling'! I can't get over how much positive response I've been getting for this story. I'm really glad you're able to get into it. Thank you so much for reviewing, I gift you with chocolate dipped Newsies as a token of my great appreciation. ;)
LadyRach: Your love for Roxanne is overwhelming. Jack is a total moron, and he deserves no friends after all this, but we shall see. I'm actually debating whether or not I wanna expand on Roxanne's psyche a little bit in the final chapter. There is a reason why she's so sadistic and controlling, but I'm working out the kinks in it right now. I don't know how it will fit with the flow of the rest of the story. ::shrugs:: We'll see. Thanks for the lovely review! ;)
Sapphy: Yes! That's it Sapphy! Dictionary her to death! Run her down with SAT vocabulary until her head explodes! I feel all happy knowing you got outraged over her insulting me. It makes me feel loved. I don't wanna expand on what you and Race did that whole time...you fill in the blanks, but whatever you were doing, it must have been pretty darn interesting if you didn't hear the screaming match downstairs. ::whistles innocently::
Thanks for reviewing love, ::big hug:: ;)
I promise I'll be updating soon, after all, we're only one chapter left to go! Have a happy Halloween (or Samhain as the ancient Celts would call it...it's actually a much cooler holiday than plain old Halloween). Remember, don't eat any poisoned apples, I need you back here to review! Lots of love...;)