Chapter 12
He stared down at the book, frowning. "I don't have time to read." Taker grunted, pushing the book back at her. It'd be his luck he would get lost in the story and forget what he was supposed to be doing. At her somewhat crestfallen look, he rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, mocking exasperation. "Fine, just put those big puppy eyes away." He took the book, eyeing it before slipping it into the inside pocket of his vest. "Thank you, and… here." He held up his fingers, nothing. Snapped them, and a lollipop was there. That was just good old-fashioned, sleight of hand trickery, something his Dad had taught him a long time ago. "Go enjoy yourself." He had to go relieve the watch, have them get down here and would man the walls alone tonight.
She took the lollipop from him and twirled it around, not remembering the last time she had one. "You do know, it's okay to have fun once in a while yourself, right?" Abigail nudged him playfully, looking back down at the lollipop and then into the fire. "And I am having fun. I'm content to sit here and watch." Hell, she didn't even know HOW to have fun anymore because being in the DOV sucked it all out of her. Stephanie, pregnant and glowing, was dancing with Johnny by the fire along the other couples and singles mingling as well.
Taker stared down at her, frowning and stepped back. Why was she touching him? He felt annoyed. This woman was new. She wasn't trusted yet and, as if someone were pulling his strings, he seemed to seek her out whether he wanted to or not.
"I have plenty of fun." He informed her and then turned away, eyes scanning for his second in command. "Austin, I'm going to go send the boys down."
"You take too long, and we'll open up the whiskey without you, and it's your favorite kind, boss."
"And what a shame that'd be."
"Not kiddin', Taker."
He was considering coming back down as Steve… naked. Smirking, he disappeared into the darkness. That would be hilarious.
Sure enough, everyone began roaring with laughter and woman turning red at the sight of Steve Austin…naked, an hour later. What the HELL? Abigail immediately averted her gaze, covering her mouth with her hand and then did a doubletake.
"TAKER, YOU SUMBITCH!"
Undertaker was NAKED as STEVE?! Abigail chanced a look, moving from the clothed Steve to the naked one and immediately averted her gaze again.
"NOBODY LOOK! THAT'S MY STEVIE!" Petite Trish, standing around 5 feet tall, maybe a little taller, tried to shield Steve's genitals from all the eyes of Wonderful, or eyes that had joined the celebration. "This is a dirty play, Calaway!"
Calaway? So Undertaker DID have an actual name. Abigail figured that much, sipping her water, since she refused to drink, and watched now that Trish had somewhat covered naked Steve up.
"Good lawd, I didn't realize how hung you are, Stevie!"
"Damn it! Trish, you didn't tell us you go to bed with THAT every night!"
Trish turned three shades of red.
"What, this?" Taker gestured to the goods Trish was shielding. "Now ladies, don't get your hopes up. I gave him a few good extra inches because I felt sorry for the tiny bastard."
"HEY! THAT'S NOT TRUE, I'M HUNG LIKE A GODDAMN HORSE!"
Laughing, Taker shifted back to the long black hair and black beard look, smirking when people started to see if he was going to remain naked. Not happening. He was topless however. Steve was still not amused, telling anyone who would listen about the size of his appendage. Taker was an asshole.
Thank the stars the kids had been sent to bed…
Never in her life had Abigail laughed so hard. Tears – actual tears of happiness and joy – slid down her cheeks from how hard she was laughing, having keeled over on the ground, holding her stomach. Everyone was pretty much doing the same thing besides a few gawking single women, who couldn't stop staring at him. When he returned to his original form, or one of them, with the long black hair and beard, shirtless, Abigail had to learn how to breathe again for an entirely different reason.
Taker was a beautiful man, sculpted to perfection and chiseled out of stone. Or in this case, Mythril. Without a shadow of a doubt, she knew that dagger he'd taken from her was made from Mythril, even though he hadn't told her. She knew because of Bray and Malcolm's intel. Abigail had to get her head in the game, knowing this wasn't the time to have fun. She had to stay focused and, starting tomorrow, she would begin preparing for the inevitable battle with the DOV. They would come for her, eventually, and she had to be ready for them. First order of business was building her upper body strength and then…she would learn how to shoot a gun, even if it was a BB gun.
"Hey, you sexy thing, Stephanie said you're to stop looking so glum." Johnny said, dancing in front of Abigail playfully, swinging his hips in wide circles. Stephanie was taking a breather; she had been watching Abigail go from laughing to serious and ordered him to come play cheer-up crew. "Come on," He took Abigail's hand and led her to the area where people were dancing. "Can you dance?"
Taker had gone to get himself a drink, standing and talking quietly with Bradshaw, watching with a raised brow as John Cena made a fool of himself. Stephanie had weird taste in men.
"No, I don't." Abigail was suddenly twirled and dipped before set back on her feet by Johnny, bringing a small smile to her face.
"Time to learn, watch me, homie girl."
Abigail raised a brow, watching his feet work and tried picking it up, but ended up tripping over her own feet. Luckily, he caught her before she'd gone into the fire. "I really don't have a clue how to dance…" Bray didn't allow celebrations and functions to happen at the DOV, due to the women being…preoccupied.
"Come on, just feel the beat!" Johnny stood behind her, placing his hands on her hips and began moving her from side to side, deciding to take baby steps. "Just close your eyes and feet the beat, let the music flow through you." He was a huge fan of music and made sure Wonderful had a band, which was currently playing for the celebration.
"You're crazy. I don't-" Abigail sighed when he continued swaying with her and decided to go along with it, getting the motion of her body on track before moving her feet from one to the other. "Okay, that's not so bad, I guess…" Another trip happened seconds later. "Then again…"
"How the hell do you not know how to dance?!"
"Not a big priority where I come from, Cena. Thanks for the lesson, but dancing's not for me. Sorry…homie boy."
"Oh no, you're going to learn!" Amy appeared, grabbing Abigail's hands and raised them up over their heads. "Come on!" She started just dancing in place, grinning. "You don't get to leave until you learn!"
Ron watched in amusement as Abigail tried mimicking, then spotted 'Chet' coming, sparing a glance over to where Taker had last been. He spotted long black hair over that way, and then back to 'Chet'. That was just sneaky.
That was sly, and Amy smirked. "Hey Chet! Come teach Abbie to dance!"
So much for just blending in and getting close without being noticed.
Where'd he been hiding all this time? Abigail smiled at him while continuing to wave her hands in the air like Amy, laughing. This was ridiculous and fun…she was having fun! It still worried her the DOV would attack, but maybe for one night, she could let her hair down and have some fun.
"Okay – okay!"
She laughed when Chet stepped up to her and lifted her arms the same way Amy had, waving them along with his. Now they were doing some kind of dancing where they held their nose and dipped down. Something called the swim. What the hell? When they demanded her to do it, she followed suit and couldn't help laughing.
"Come on Chet, you know any dance moves you wanna show me?" Once again, that odd familiar feeling washed over her, but Abigail couldn't pinpoint why.
"Nah, I leave all that crazy shit to Amy." He laughed, dancing with them.
It was easier, dancing as Chet, because Chet was not a near seven-foot giant. That looked awkward, at least for him. Not to mention, Taker wanted to see how Abigail interacted with others more her… station, he guessed, he wasn't sure how else to word it.
"Watch it, new girl!"
He caught Abbie before she could go flying, turning his head to watch as Melina Bautista made her way to the alcohol, frowning. She had lost her husband not too long ago and had been… well, a bit of a mean drunk ever since.
"S-Sorry…" Frowning, Abigail looked up at Chet and then back at Melina, seeing she was pouring liquor down her throat like it was going out of style. It wasn't a surprise when he excused himself to go talk to her and her eyes grew wide when she actually splashed the whiskey in his face.
"Oh shit, the party's over." Amy mumbled, watching as 'Chet' transformed back into a PISSED off Undertaker and swallowed hard, seeing the shock on Abigail's face.
Chet was…Abigail couldn't believe this! She'd been deceived and then he forced her to not only eat with him, but to tell him what she'd learned, to basically reiterated what he taught her! She watched as he also transformed, muscles rippling, black hair hanging down his back and he had what looked to be a devil's beard, his eyes a dangerous acidic, though she couldn't see them at the moment due to getting a side shot. Melina's husband had been Dave Bautista, a brave soldier that had been taken by the DOV, tortured for days before being executed. His head had been sent to the gates of Wonderful in a square pine box.
Well, so much for the 'Chet' look, though Stephanie had a feeling Taker would simply come up with another one.
"WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE TO STOP THEM?" Melina screamed, not caring who saw her abusing their leader as she began hitting him in the chest with closed fists. "HOW WAS THE MIGHTY FUCKING UNDERTAKER NOT ABLE TO STOP THEM?!"
The acid died, being replaced by sadness as he let her vent her grief and anger out on him. Simply put: he wasn't as mighty as they all hoped. Magic wore him out, more than he had known it would, and sometimes… things just happened.
That wasn't tolerated in DOV, at all. Melina would've been executed on the spot and, yet, here Undertaker was just taking her abuse. Letting her vent her anger and frustration out on him, her heartache and pain over losing her husband. Abigail had literally stepped into another dimension, she was sure of it. Women actually got away with hitting men here? With voicing their opinions and not being punished for it? They weren't used simply to have unnaturally born babies? This was…normal. Abigail wanted to stop this, seeing the pain and anguish on Taker's face and, for some reason, her heart broke for him. Hell, her heart had been breaking for the entire town of Wonderful.
"THEY TOOK MY DAVID! THEY TOOK HIM FROM ME AND YOU LET IT HAPPEN! YOU'RE SPINELESS AND YOUR MAGIC IS BULLSHIT! EVERYONE SHOULD JUST LEAVE! EVERYONE SHOULD JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BECAUSE ALL YOU'LL DO IS LEAD THEM TO THEIR DOOM LIKE MY DAVID!"
"Then leave."
That jolted Melina out of her rage temporarily, her eyes narrowing in on the new girl. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"
"I said then leave. Do you need your ears cleaned out or do you have selective hearing? See those gates behind me? Go for it, leave and see how far you get. Because I guarantee you, sweetheart, the pain you feel now will be NOTHING compared to the pain the DOV will put you through."
"H-How dare you…"
"How dare I what? Speak the truth? Tell you what an asshole you're being to this man, who has the weight of the world on his shoulders trying to protect this entire town? Trying to protect YOU, so the same thing doesn't happen to you or anyone else? Because let me tell you something, once the DOV is through with breeding their women, they kill them. They slaughter them and burn the bodies. Is that what you want?" When Melina just shook her head, Abigail took a deep breath and placed a hand on her shoulder. "So instead of drowning your sorrows in a bottle of whiskey and screaming at the man NOT responsible for your husband's death, how about you stand up and fight in his honor instead?"
"W-Who are you?" Melina felt powerless against this woman, sniffling and could feel herself sobering up because of what the new girl said to her.
"I'm nobody. Just an outsider looking in, hoping one day to be welcomed in this beautiful place. And I realize we're at war, so now isn't the time to fall apart. Are you going to let them win?"
"No." Melina gritted her teeth, wiping her tears away and looked at the bottle in her hand, dropping it to the ground. "I will make every single one of those bastards pay for taking my David away from me!"
"Good."
Abigail watched as Melina apologized to the Undertaker, crying as she did so, and the man simply consoled her. It was still amazing to witness, no matter how many times she saw it happen. Men and women were truly equal here. Abigail knew Taker would be angry with her for speaking on his behalf, but…she couldn't stand to see him verbally castrated the way he was. Knowing she wasn't welcome at the bonfire anymore, Abigail made her way through the crowd and into the common house to her bed, staring up at the full lit moon while laying down, eventually falling asleep. Tomorrow, her training would begin, and she vowed to stop the DOV and Bray, no matter what.
"I want to know who she really is and where she really comes from."
"You don't believe her?"
"Anyone who speaks like that to a total stranger, while being new in a strange town, is used to being in a… protected position." Taker argued flatly. "She's only been here 2 days." And apparently decided that insulting and belittling a grieving woman, a now single mother, was a good idea… "First, she is quiet and meek, and now… no, she's used to being protected, and it is showing."
"Well, Salny wasn't all that bad a place last I knew…"
"Melina did need to hear that though."
"Perhaps," Taker allowed, nodding in agreement. "But I still want her watched."
"You seem to do plenty of watchin' for all of us, boss."
That was also true, and he frowned, wanting to know what it was about Abigail drawing him in.
