Chapter 3
Paul was in a chipper mood the following day, having gotten a good night's sleep. He didn't even ask Kane or Jaxine why they were such odd spirits. Kane he knew was always moody and he assumed Jaxine just wasn't happy with her current situation. "Well..." He slapped his pudgy hands together. "Tonight should be exciting."
Kane groaned, burying his face in his hands, feeling a throb from the headache that had yet to leave him.
Jaxine sighed and stood up from the chair she'd occupied, walking over and placed her fingers against his temples, staring into his eyes. She knew why he had this and felt terrible, shivering at the thought of Undertaker. She pulled away when he glared at her, biting her bottom lip. "Sorry." She murmured before walking away, wearing a dark red velvet dress that went down to her ankles, a slit running up the side that went to her mid-thigh and it was strapless. Her hair was down tonight, not wanting to show off her scar, and she had matching lipstick with heavy black eyeliner and two inch black stiletto heels. "What is the plan for tonight Paul?" She asked, deciding to get down to business. "Not going to run again are you?" Her sweet laughter echoed throughout the room, though it didn't reach her cold eyes.
Kane had wanted to apologize the minute she backed away, but didn't. He had just been so startled when she'd done that. Instead he focused on his father, folding his arms over his chest, obviously waiting for an answer as well.
"Well," Paul began, flustered slightly. "Kane has a rematch against HBK. He demanded it Kane, after you won in less then a minute. He says it's a fluke."
Kane growled, cracking his knuckles dangerously.
That's not exactly what she meant, but Jaxine decided not to mention the Undertaker. She seen Kane was already fired up enough as it was and didn't want to add to that as she sat back down on the couch, staring at Paul through narrowed eyes. "I am warning you Paul, if you feed me to the wolves again, I will not stop Kane from hurting you." She warned, eyes flashing before standing up and walking into the bathroom, needing to check her makeup before Kane's match.
Paul looked shocked, clicking his tongue furiously. "I give the urchin a job and…" He trailed off when Kane stood up. "And she's doing a wonderful job." He finished weakly. "Kane, just concentrate. If 'Taker comes out again, you need to have your head on straight, son."
~!~
Meanwhile, Undertaker was sitting in his dressing room, the lights off, eyes closed. He could still see her butterscotch colored eyes staring at him.
~!~
Jaxine walked through the curtain after the pyro blasted on the ramp way, standing at Kane's right by Paul remained on his left. She watched Kane get in the ring, smiling when he held the ropes open for her, and gestured him back before doing it on her own, flinching slightly when the pyro exploded out of the ring posts, the red lights above bathing all of them. "Good luck." She whispered in his ear before walking over and stepping out of the ring, landing on the arena floor like a cat as HBK's music sounded, amber eyes narrowing slightly.
"King, what is this hold that this woman has over Kane?"
"I don't know JR, but I'd love to be that dress right now."
Kane stood in the center of the ring, watching her for a moment before glancing at HBK, rolling his eyes as 'I got the looks that drive the girls wild' blared around him. Of course, sending the female fans into frenzy. He snorted, stepping back a pace, adjusting his leather glove.
"No more flukes from you, crispy." Shawn taunted, bouncing into the ring, skipping the posing and just attacked.
Jaxine wanted to fry him up in batter and serve him to Kane on a silver platter, smirking when the Big Red Machine started dominating the Heartbreak Kid. This guy thought he was god's gift to women. Jaxine wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole as she grabbed the rope while hitting the mat with her hand. "Come on Kane!" She cheered, clapping her hands when he went for the choke slam, glaring when HBK got out of it.
Shawn rolled out of the ring, shaking his head and glared at her. "Shut the hell up!" He snapped at her, taking a threatening step towards her, laughing when she backed off and turned around, walking straight into Kane's palm. His eyes widened as he was lifted sky high, hearing air whistle around him before the earth rushed up to meet him.
Kane was disqualified, but he was happy until the bells tolled.
Jaxine's amber eyes widened and shook her head slowly, looking around the darkness and pressed her back against the barricade, fear coursing through her veins. God she hated this entrance and tried to find Kane, backing up further with her hand on the barricade. Where was Kane? Where was Paul? If he ran again, she was going to let Kane maim him.
Kane was already being raised in the air, unconscious, strapped to the Undertaker's symbol, lights flashing around him almost violently.
"Kane, brother..." The Undertaker's voice echoed throughout the arena though he was nowhere to be seen. "Tonight you shall...Rest. In. Peace."
"Kane, no!" Paul screeched through the darkness.
"NO!" Jaxine shrieked out, rolling in the ring and looked up at the Kane, tears in her eyes. She looked back at Undertaker, who was in the corner and rushed over to him. "Release him!" She ordered angrily, her amber eyes terrified as she swallowed hard, looking back up at Kane, shaking her head in disbelief before turning back to stare at his demonic brother. "Undertaker please, release him..." She pleaded, hesitantly reaching a hand out to press against his chest, needing to do something to save Kane.
He grabbed her wrist, holding her still, nostrils flaring as he stared down at her, ignoring Paul's screams for his son. "What would you give me in return?" He demanded his piercing green eyes boring into hers. "If I release him, what do you freely offer?" He would not take her by force, but he would force her into making a decision.
"Please..." She begged him, trying to yank away and gasped when he pulled her against him forcefully, her eyes widening even more before looking up at Kane, who was hanging on the symbol petrified. "What do you want from me?" She cried out against him, swallowing hard, having a feeling whatever it was she would have to give him in order to save Kane from disaster.
"Your time. Answers. Eternity if I desire it." He said, appearing unaffected by what he had just said, his green eyes looking over her head at Kane. A slow smile crossed his lips as the bottom of the symbol lit on fire.
Kane let out a muffled scream when he felt the tiny platform his feet rested on was beginning to get hot, seeing the flames licking his black boots.
"He never did like fire."
Jaxine closed her eyes tightly shut; hearing Kane's muffled screams and opened them to stare back at him, the panic consuming her. "Alright!" She cried out, nodding as the tears rushed down her face. "Please, let him go and stop the flames and I-I'm all yours!" She was giving him her word as she dropped her head in shame, knowing she was betraying Kane, but she was also saving him from perishing.
"All mine? How very generous of you." He said the hint of dry sarcasm in his tone and clapped his hands once. The fire instantly went out and Kane was slowly lowered back to the floor. Deeming it prudent to leave before little brother was off that cross, 'Taker took her by her hand, pulling her from the ring, catching her when she stumbled off the canvas, and cradling her to his chest.
Jaxine could only cry as she buried her face in her hands while Paul got Kane off of the symbol, looking back at him through tearful amber orbs, knowing deep down that she had just signed her life away. "I'm so sorry Kane." She whispered, shaking her head as the lights went out, the arena blanketed as Kane was coming toward them, only to come back on a moment later and they were both gone out of sight.
Paul could only watch as Kane stared at the place they had been, blinking and wringing his hands together anxiously. He let out a high pitched wail of terror when his son totally lost it, running as fast as he could in the other direction.
'Taker looked amused when officials rushed to the ring, stepping back into the shadows with Jaxine, watching them pass, and knowing Kane must have snapped. "He must care for you, my dear." He murmured in her ear.
"You're a monster." She whispered, her back pressed against his chest since he set her on her feet, silent tears falling down her cheeks.
Jaxine wanted to call out to him, to let him know she was there, but then Undertaker would hurt him and she couldn't allow that. She dropped her head forward as he pulled her further into the darkness, not knowing where they were going. She had no choice in the matter either as he guided her, wishing silently she would've never taken the job from Paul.
He didn't bother staying in the main area of the building, knowing he would be searched for maybe ten minutes before the search moved to the hotels. He could care less about his match, knowing it would wait for another time. He just dragged Jaxine to the old basement of the arena, a dark and dreary place that he found comforting. "Now..." He murmured, rounding on her.
She stared back at him before looking around her surroundings, wrapping her arms around herself, lowering her head and backed up when he went to touch her. Kane hated her and she didn't understand why it affected her so much. He was just a job, right? No, he was a kind and gentle giant when it came to her and she enjoyed being around him. He was like a big brother type she never had, even though he probably didn't realize it. And now she was in the evil grasp of his brother and felt more alone than ever. She took another step back when he took a step forward, wondering if there was a way out of here.
"Why do you back away?" He asked, sounding amused, halting and dropping down onto a crate, clearly not intimidated by her. Oh, she could try to run if she wished, most likely she would get lost in the labyrinth that was the underground of the arena. They would hear her screams all over the building. He smiled grimly. "I'm not going to hurt you...Jaxine."
"How do I know that?" She demanded softly, wondering if Kane was alright, wanting to be with him to calm him down. Though then she thought of Paul having to deal with him and suddenly an amused smirk formed on her lips. She quickly wiped that away though, knowing the man standing before her was dangerous, cold and calculating. "What do you want with me?" She demanded again, wondering why he wanted her services, to spend time with her.
"You are interesting." He said thoughtfully, studying her curiously. "For now at least. I want to know about you. About your amber eyes and the interesting burn scar on the nape of your neck." He seen her entire body tense, knowing he had hit a nerve and didn't care. "Who gave it to you?"
"None of your business." She spat angrily, her amber eyes he just pointed out flaring up, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "If you thought for a second I would-" When he threatened to light Kane on fire, she immediately bit her bottom lip, knowing he would use that card against her and she was powerless against him. "My father." She whispered painfully, sliding down the wall, her feet throbbing from the stilettos she was wearing, drawing her knees up. "I got my eyes from my dead mother and my father gave me my scar..." She buried her face in her knees, the pain searing through her entire body.
'Taker was quiet for a moment. That her father had been the one to inflict the scar didn't surprise or disgust him like it would most people. He knew only too well how a beloved family member could turn into your worst nightmare. "Why did he do it?" He asked next, leaning his head back against the cement wall, staring at her. "And why in the shape of a cross?"
"He was a church worshipping, bible thumping bastard." She snarled angrily, wiping the stray tears from her eyes, refusing to look up at him. Instead, she looked at a nearby spider web, not able to stop the tears from falling even if her life depended on it. "I refused to be like him because I don't necessarily believe in religion. He didn't like that. So he decided to teach me a lesson, after raping me, telling me if I wanted to be Satan's whore than he would treat me like one." She closed her eyes at that painful memory, shuddering because she could feel his grimy hands on her body. "He meant to make it a cross, but I moved and he said it was close enough." What else did this monster want to know about her, the color of her panties?
"Religion is a cruel idea that twists people's minds." He murmured quietly, watching the spider web as well. He seen a spider descend when a fly had the misfortune of landing on the web, the spider quickly paralyzing it and rolling the fly up in a tight cocoon. It was funny how life turned out in a sad, ironic sort of way. Her father had tried to brand her with a cross and now...now that cross was what had attracted his attention in the first place, the resemblance it had to his own symbol remarkable.
"Please don't try to talk to me about my deranged father. You don't know me; you don't know anything about me. You don't know what I went through so please just don't try justifying what he did to his own daughter." She stood up, dusting herself off, and raked a hand through her long black hair, the tears having subsided. This man knew nothing about her childhood so he had no right talking to her about this. She told him what he wanted to know, that's where she drew the line.
"I will talk to you about whatever I wish." 'Taker said bluntly, folding his arms over his chest. "I was making an observation, not defending him. I don't defend anyone's choices, or renounce them. I could care less that daddy turned out to be your own personal boogeyman."
"You are so cold." She whispered, shaking her head back at him and stormed away down the basement, needing to put some space between them. She gasped when he grabbed her from behind, spinning her around, forcing her to hit his chest as his hand wrapped around her tiny wrist, pressing it over his heart and looked up into his green eyes, her anger still lingering, but some had diminished.
"Would you like me to tell you I'm sorry for what you've suffered?" He asked in a low voice, his green eyes unreadable as he stared down at her. "Would you like me to tell you your daddy will burn in hell for what he did to you? That no one should ever suffer what you have? Life is cold, Jaxine. Life is cruel. What has been done is done."
"Let go of me!" She hissed out, her eyes narrowed. "I know life is cold and cruel and I know it's the past, but when you have a monster, like you, trying to force me to delve in it and talk about it, that doesn't necessarily help either. So mind your own damn business and worry about your own life." She didn't try pulling away from him, knowing it wouldn't do any good since he was ten times as strong as her, if not more. Throughout all of this, her voice remained low and calm, refusing to look into his acid filled eyes.
'Taker seemed amused, an abrupt change from the emptiness he usually showed. "You really don't care what I'm going to do to Kane for this, do you?" He asked, pushing her hair away from her face, not surprised when she flinched and shied away. "I won't hurt you." He promised. "Physically."
"Don't hurt Kane." She looked into his green eyes, pleading with him, trembling slightly as she bit her bottom lip. "I-I'll talk about whatever you want, just please don't hurt him." She didn't know why, but she felt like she had to protect the masked gentle giant, glaring up at his cold older brother. "Please, I'm giving you what you want. I won't fight you anymore. Just please, don't hurt Kane, Undertaker." She swallowed hard, blinking away tears, her chest rising and falling rapidly with the fear that coursed through her body.
He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her response and glanced at the ceiling. "Come; let's finish this conversation somewhere more private." He said finally, looking back down at her. "More comfortable." He held out his hand, palm up, giving her the choice to either take it or not. Either way she would be going with him.
Jaxine slowly slid her hand into his, watching him swallow it hold before guiding her out of the basement and arena, her head lowered. She knew Kane and Paul were gone already, which is probably what Undertaker was waiting for. She stopped dead in her tracks when he walked up to a pure black Titan motorcycle, shaking her head slowly back and forth. "Undertaker, I'm not dressed for that..." She looked around and grunted when he yanked her toward it forcefully. How the hell was she going to ride this thing with her dress and heels?
Huffing impatiently, he grabbed the bottom of her dress and ripped it right up the middle with his strong hands, stopping when it reached her mid thighs. He picked Jaxine up and set her unceremoniously on the bike, swinging one long leg over it himself, reaching back to scoot her forward. "Take off the shoes." He ordered gruffly.
She blinked and tried sliding the dress down, but it did no good. She scooted closer to him to hide her lower extremities, reaching down to take her stilettos off and set them between her legs, hating this. He was degrading her as she watched the fabric lying on the ground, her dress ruined. She wrapped her arms around his waist, shivering against him as he tore through the streets of the town, going to some unknown destination.