Not Quite as Free
A King Kong fanfic
Summary: Ann Darrow is still upset enough over King Kong's death to hear that the ape might not be completely extinct at all. She doesn't believe it at first, but Cavern the gorilla may have the same traits as Kong.
Disclaimer: I do no own anything related to King Kong!
Chapter 2
Carl Denham sat in a leather armchair in his apartment, which was located on the outskirts of New York City. The curtains were drawn, leaving the only source of light in the room to be the reading lamp on the table next to him. In his hands was a thick packet labeled "Behaviors and habits of Cavern the Gorilla". With a sigh, he looked around the apartment.
"That damn beast," he said to himself, "will never leave me alone, dead or alive." A bitter tone flowed easily into his words as he said this with himself.
Ann hated him. It was obvious. He never saw Jack anymore, and the pretty blonde hadn't even looked at him since her rescue. Did she even think of it as a rescue? Didn't she understand what danger she would've been in if they hadn't gone back for her? What a choice they had made on the ship that night! One person had already died on that island and to go back for one girl was obsurd - especially since she was then off-limits because she had gone into the bathroom with Jack -
With a sigh, Carl flushed his mind of his angry thoughts and stood, walking to the curtains and pulling them open, allowing the afternoon sun to guide itself through the window and across the carpet of the small apartment. Still in his bathrobe, Carl had locked himself into his apartment for about a week now, as he had made some profit by displaying Kong to New York City and was living off it... and for now was able to pretend that he wasn't there when someone would knock at his door, just in case it was someone who expected him to pay for the damage the beast had done to the theatre and the Empire State Building. It was one of the most peaceful weeks in his life, and he wasn't about to give it up to go determine if some gorilla at a zoo was spawn of the king of Skull Island.
Folding his arms, he gazed out the window at the people walking in various directions down below. Sometimes, after all, this was much more amusing than it seemed.
That is, until he saw a flash of blonde hair among the crowd. Then it wasn't amusing anymore. It was more on the addictive level. Ann Darrow, ten floors beneath him! He could catch that woman and give her a bit of sense for ignoring him. After all, it wasn't just Jack that had rescued her from Kong.
However... it looked as if Jack would once again rescue Miss Darrow, for he walked right beside her, more blended in with his normal features - at least from a bird's eye view. He had an arm around her shoulder as he led her... somewhere.
I've got to get down there, Carl thought to himself as he hurried to the bedroom, throwing on random clothes. This was the first time he may be able to catch Jack in public and finally figure out whose side he was on.
"Ann?" Jack asked, a quizzical look across his face as he squeezed her shoulder. She looked a bit spaced out as he led her through the crowd of buisnessmen on lunch hour.
"What? Oh... sorry." Ann replied quietly as she looked up at him with a weak smile. Eyeing the door of the apartment building to her left as she passed it, not wanting to see a certain someone that she knew perfectly well lived there, her heart jumped with surprise as her hopes betrayed her. Stumbling out of the elevator was none other than Carl Denham. He made eye contact with her immediately as he automatically glanced out the glass door, before looking up to Jack. He took a few steps towards the door, before making a pathetic attempt to make it look like he had simply come down to chat with the receptionist, who looked at him with a bewildered expression.
Glancing up at Jack, she noticed that he was beginning to follow his gaze. What if he wanted to talk to Carl just as the murderer seemed to want to talk to Jack? Ann couldn't risk it. The sly dog Denham would brainwash the only person that she trusted, and that wouldn't do, now, would it? She needed a distraction... and fast. Looking down at the sidewalk, she shoved the toe of her high heel sandal into the next crack and allowed herself to fall forwards, trusting Jack to catch her before she hit the pavement, as he did. What a good boy he was.
With a chuckle, Jack pulled Ann close to her with one arm as she continued to walk. "Might want to lift your feet instead of shuffling."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"We turn here," Jack said, pointing across the street to the diner. "Do you want to sit outside or inside?"
"Inside."
"You made that decision quick. Did you develop a sudden allergy to the sun?"
"Funny, Jack."
"That's what I was aiming for."
Opening the door to the small restaurant, Jack waited for Ann to enter before following after her.
Notes: Yeah... so I'm going to do the scene in the restaurant next chapter, because it's going to be complicated. If I get a couple reviews, then I'll keep going with that... just like last chapter, though I only got 2. Is anybody reading this at all?