Disclaimer: Still own nada!
A/N: For your viewing pleasure, here is chapter 12! This happens to be my favorite chapter so I hope you all like it too.
Chapter 12
It has been two months since my attack on Paul. It took two hours after my attack, for Sadey to get out of me who Lex was, and when I started to tell her I ended up telling her about how I thought I killed my own daughter, and how I was now seeing Lex everywhere, and the soul reason I came to Bane City was for the safety of my child.
Thankfully, Sadey took pity on me. But this time, I wasn't aloud out of my bed under any circumstance, unless I needed to use the bathroom. And every day I was watched over.
I was told by who ever was watching over me as I slept, (this was usually Paul or Patsy or both.) that I spent most of my night muttering and screaming. Thankfully though, for about two weeks, I didn't see Lex anywhere. I was pretty much calm when I was awake. I was even able to shovel down little amounts of food, but this was short lived.
After about 3 weeks, somehow I developed a horrible fever. No one knew the cause, and I barely remember anything from that time except for weaving in and out of an awakened state. I was told later that I had tried to jump out a window, but Sadey caught me in time. I finally got better though, but I was weak.
Luckily, or maybe not, even though I had been though hell, my baby was still alive. My stomach was quite large for only being three months along, but I didn't think much of it. I figured it was because after my fever bout, I began to eat as much as I possibly could. Soon I was able to stand without feeling faint, and I began to get stronger.
Now, two months later, I stood in front of one of the large windows in my room watching storm clouds gather in the sky. That day I wore a woven purple and green top, and a pair of purple pants. Ariel gave these to me. She came to visit me a lot now. She reminded me so much of Brady.
As I stood by the window, I looked over to the direction the casino that Fran worked at was. Sadey had pointed it out to me the week before. I knew I had been at the hospital too long. I needed to at lease go see Fran, because Amber had told me to, but I was reluctant to leave White Hospital at all. So Sadey suggested I just go talk to Fran, even though she advised me not to go, however, she also said, when I was done talking, I should come back to the hospital, because she would feel better if I did. Today was the day I was to leave.
As I stared out, I felt something little grip my hand. I turned around, and found a smiling Ariel looking up at me. "I picked you flowers today!" She said in a small squeaky voice.
Today her ponytails were high, and someone must have dyed the ends for her, because now they were a violent shade of pink. Her rosy cheeks matched her hair well.
Ariel pulled on my hand, and forced me to walk over to my bed, and she pointed at the small white vase that was now perched on the small table Sadey had put next to it. In the vase were 6 dying daisies. Their heads drooped, and they all begged for water, but Ariel didn't seem to notice. She just clutched my hand and watched for me to be happy, or sad.
I grinned to her after a moment, and picked up the little vase. "Their beautiful Ariel. Thank you." I said softly. I carefully put them down again, and took out a water pitcher. "But they're very thirsty indeed!" Carefully I poured some water into the vase, and while I was doing this, Sadey drifted in.
"Sadey Sadey!" Ariel squeaked out. "Look what I got Trudy!" She pointed excitedly at the vase next to me and the drooping flowers.
"Their beautiful!" Sadey said, hugging the little girl. "Why don't you go run along and play with Patsy?"
Ariel nodded, and ran off as soon as Sadey said this.
"She's a real sweet little girl." I said, turning to Sadey.
"Yeah she is." Sadey nodded in agreement. "So. Are you really going to go see Fran today then?" As Sadey said this, a lighting bolt streaked though the sky and I shivered. Why did I pick today?
I nodded to this, and ran my fingers over a few of the daisies. "I won't stay long though."
"You better not." Sadey's voice sounded sort of panic stricken. "Your still weak and still recovering. "
"Don't worry about me." I looked to the floor, and heard a loud crash of thunder. "I'll be just fine.
As I left the Hospital for the first time since I had arrived, a small shower had started.
Drops of rain hit my head every few steps, and the sky illuminated every time lighting struck. It didn't bother me one bit though as I trudged on.
As I neared the Casino, I could see a huge sign on it proclaiming it was called, "Violet Casino." I could plainly see why from the outside of it alone. The letters were casting a purple glow, and the building itself was painted purple and black. The huge black doors were thrown open, and a man about 20 stood at the entrance. He was about 2 heads taller then I, and his hair was dyed purple and black. He wore Black on his whole body, and looked as though he was trying to blend in with the door. He watched me approach the Casino, his dark eyes glaring. His eyes made me shiver. They seemed to be scanning me.
Seeing if I was welcome.
I walked up to him staring him in the eyes, showing him I was not afraid. Once I got into ear shot, he said in a deep voice, "What is your name little lady?"
I came up to him, and stared hard into his eyes. He seemed to realize I wasn't afraid of him when I spoke harshly, "My name is Trudy. I'm looking for Fran."
"Well you found her." The guard replied. "And I might even let you in to see her. If you give us a little kiss." He winked, but his smile faltered when I gave him an I'm-not-playing-games look. "Or, you can just go in." He pointed into the darkened hall. "You'll find Fran at the bar or waiting on the tables."
Without another word, I stepped into the dark hall he pointed at.
For a moment all I saw was black. I walked forward, and found myself looking at some purple strung beads that hung in a doorway. I nearly gasped when I walked behind them.
I was in a room, but not just an ordinary room. I was standing on a platform, which went all around the room, and in various spots had small flights of stairs leading to the bottom.
On the far wall, straight ahead of me was a large stage. It had dark purple curtains hanging in front of it, and the stage itself was made of dark mahogany wood.
Lamps did not light the room. It was lit by the glow in the dark silver stickers that were on the wall. They were huge stickers, each in the shape of a V with a dash going though it.
I was most enhanced however by the people weaving in and out of the tables that sat themselves on the deeply rich carpet, each lit by a small candle, and each with a large purple table cloth. The people weaving in and out of the tables held large trays with frothing beverages to the oddly dressed people sitting at the tables. They wore silver headdresses, with white feathers waving about on them. Their clothes were oddly cut leotards, each complete with a cape of their own. Their clothes shimmered in the dim light, suggesting they were covered in sequence.
I couldn't see the people sitting at the many round tables, but I could certainly see the sparkle of their eyes, and hear their laughter. A few of them had broken out into song. I could tell it was mostly men.
Near the corners, were a couple more flights of stairs, each going down to levels of the casino I couldn't see. But each of them had an arrow pointing at them that was lit by a silver light. They were labeled things like, "Casino Games" and "Bar."
Carefully I walked over to the stairs closest to me, and started to walk down them, seeing my hand momentarily pass across the silver glow in the dark stickers that had been wrapped around the black banister.
When I reached the bottom, one of the waitresses came over to me, her hand held in the air, because it was holding onto a tray with several beers on it. Her nails shimmered in the light, for they too were sparkling silver.
"How can I help you Hun?" She looked at me with her blue eyes, her silver eye shadowed eyelids blinking more then a normal humans. She scared me a bit.
"I'm looking for Fran." I said, yelling over the noise the people in the room were making.
"Oh, you'll find her downstairs, in the bar." The odd waitress said. "You know you're very pretty."
"Erm… Thanks." I replied. I didn't look back at the girl as I walked over to the stair well with the sign "Bar" over it.
As I walked I caught bits and pieces of what the people in the room were saying. Some of them were begging for the show to start, (whatever show that was.) And a lot of them were begging for the waitress to bring them more drinks.
When I finally got to the stairwell I wanted, I found it lead into a lightly lit room. The whole room wasn't carpeted. In fact the whole room, except for the people seemed to be made of wood. It was cramped, and cigarette smoke filled the air. I coughed a little as I walked though it, weaving in and out of the big wooden tables that were crowded together in here. The room was loud, and somewhere a song I couldn't recognize was playing. The guys down here were laughing happily, and almost all of them had a girl on their lap.
Most of them looked like waitresses who were off duty, because their head dresses were discarded. I spotted one man in a corner with dirty blond hair, with one of the waitresses on his lap. They were making out freely, and each time they broke apart, the man would guzzle down more beer, and smoke more cigarettes, and then he would clamp his mouth back on the girl. He must have tasted very disgusting.
There were other girls here as well, all of them wearing very skimpy things, some of them drinking some of them making out with a guy.
In the far corner I saw 3 men playing a game of pool, each laughing drunkly when one of their mates missed the balls entirely.
I walked though the smoky room, over to where the bar was. About three of the stools in front of it were taken, two of the occupants were playing a small card game, and it seemed every time they got a certain card, they would have to drink a shot of whiskey.
The third man was out cold, his head on his arm, and he was snoring loudly. I sat down next to him, feeling sick by the sight of him. He was unshaven, and a small stream of drool was coming out of his mouth. His eyes were shut tight, and there were dark rings around them.
I stared forward, seeing a mirror right next to a rack with different colored bottles of booze. Standing on the far end on the other side of the counter I was leaning on was a lady. She was talking to a blue haired man, handing him a drink every time he drained the one in front of him. Her eyes were unnaturally wide, and her hands were small and bony.
Her outfit was like the ones the waitresses upstairs had, but it was black with a purple cape instead of silver. Her hair was almost black, though it was purple, you could tell when she moved her head from side to side, and the light bounced off it. It was cut in an odd angle, and she had two small ponytails on the top of her head.
When she spotted me, she said something to the guy she was talking to, and she gracefully walked over to me. Her nose was beak like, so the minute I saw her face I was reminded of a great bird.
She paused at the booze cabinet and poured something that looked like the cider the guys at the mall had at Zandra's wedding that got them drunk, into a tall glass. She walked over to me, and set the drink in front of my hand.
"Here's a drink on the house." Her voice was chirpy. It sounded a lot like a baby bird's asking for food. She tilted her head, as though trying to get a better look at me. "You know you're very pretty. Are you here looking for work?"
This was starting to creep me out. She was the second girl here to comment on how I looked. I shook my head to her question, and replied, "No, I'm looking for Fran."
"Well you found her. I'm Fran." The girl chirped. She held out her bony hand and grabbed mine. Instead of shaking it however she stared at it. "You have good hands for carrying trays."
"Erm.. Thanks..." I said, taking my hand away from Fran.
"So, who sent you?" She asked, suddenly staring her unblinking eyes on mine. "Only people not looking for work are sent here by someone."
"I was sent here by Amber." I replied, trying not to blink too much. For some reason I felt if I blinked, I would be insulting her.
"Amber?" Fran looked slightly puzzled. "Amber… OH!" She grinned happily as if suddenly just having something dawn on her that made her very happy. "You mean Glenda!"
"Glenda?" I repeated. Now it was my turn to be puzzled.
"That's her stage name here." Fran replied, still not blinking. "How long have you been in Bane city?"
"Two months." I said shakily. Amber had a stage name here? Talk about your double life... "I've been staying at the White Hospital."
"White Hospital?" Fran repeated like an over sized parrot. "That's no place to stay you must stay here! As for Amber she's probably worried. I better send a message to tell her your here." Fran finally set her large eyes onto the sleeping man next to me. She hit him hard on the back of the head and yelled, "Wake up you big Lummox!"
The man slowly opened his eyes, and started to rub the back of his head. "What you hit me for? I was awake." He looked sleepily around, still rubbing the back of his neck. "What you want anyway."
"I need you to go tell Glenda that..." Fran looked at me expectantly.
"My names Trudy." I said, not even sure if that's what she wanted.
Fran nodded, and looked back at the man she had hit. "I want you to tell Glenda that Trudy is now in Bane city."
"What's in it for me?" The man said sheepishly, looking at me strangely.
"We'll decide that when you get back!" Fran replied sharply. "Now get off your bottom and go find Glenda."
Once the man had gone, Fran set her gaze on me again. "Now about you... I better get you a room."
"Erm." I said quietly. "I need to go back to the Hospital once I'm done here. Sadey's waiting for me."
"Oh..." Fran said in a rather sad voice. "Well... I guess that's okay for now. But I'm guessing Amber wants me to look after you."
"Yeah she said that you would." As I said this, I heard yelling behind me. I turned around quickly, and saw that the blond haired man I saw making out with the girl, and a darker haired man was starting to fight. They were punching and rolling around the floor, knocking everything out of the way.
Fran had some how gotten from behind the bar, and she was now yelling at the two to break it up.
I took this as an opportunity to leave. I didn't like this place anymore.
As I sneaked pass the fighting men and the yelling Fran, I found my way back up the stairs and into the main room of the casino. The guys up here were all hooting and hollering now, and I could see why.
A spotlight was fixed onto the stage, and on the stage was a woman, that I could have sworn was the one I had talked to when I first came in. She was now dancing to some strange music, and she was stripping off everything she had on. Already her breasts were showing, and she was waving two large fans, squealing each time the white feathers on the fans touched her nipples. Her silver thong was the only thing she had left on, and all the guys in the audience were really enjoying the display.
And now I realized where I was, a strip club. Right away I ran towards the exit, vowing once I got to the Hospital, I would rip my eyes out and get new ones.
