Chapter 15: Beliefs
"Na na na na!" The two drunken voices sang into the night, followed by giggles. "That's how it's gonna be! Young, wild and free!" The laughter continued as the two females tried their best to walk in a straight line. Well, one was tottering on her heels while holding onto the other who was carrying her own heels and their bags.
"That," Marlene turned to the other with a goofy smile on her face, "was awesome!"
Selena giggled, covering her mouth to keep them from becoming too loud. "Totally."
"Can't believe you told Shelly that though..."
The Asian groaned and rolled her eyes. "She was getting soooo annoying, m'kay? Beeesides, I'm not gonna just let that two headed hydra witch get away with what she said about Barbie. My sister is not a..." Selena trailed off, rolling her hand in the air before turning to Marlene. "Ya know." The two stared at each other, and burst out into giggles.
"Really?"
"The word's censored!"
"Kyle's not here!" Marlene slurred, linking her arm with Selena's. "Come awn!"
"Nuh-uh, sistah. I got rules."
"Please?"
"I told you, the word's censored. I'm not just going to-"
"Oh come on! You so owe me." Marlene held up a finger and poked Selena. "You didn't tell me about the Kyle situation, or ANYTHING, about what you're doing or going to do. I don't even know how," the woman paused as a hiccup came, "you got into trouble. And I've been with you, for, like, forevah!"
"We went out." Selena looked down at herself and tugged at the edge of the fabric clinging to her form. "And I'm wearing a dress. A dress." She scrunched up her nose is disgust. "A skin suffocating dress that is very short and lacking coverage of appropriate areas. This is torture enough."
"But it's just a word! Just say it already."
"Marlene."
"Please?"
"No."
"But why?" The woman whined, still clinging onto Selena. The other looked the other way and stared at the sky. "Selena!" Marlene glared at the back of her friend's head, before rolling her eyes and tugging Selena forward. "Well, I may have forgiven you for lying and hiding about everything to me, but you'll have to work harder to," the lady let out a gasp as she tripped on a loose stone on the pavement, "eek!" She fell forward, bringing Selena with her. Their screams echoed into the unusually quiet night as their bags and Selena's heels bounced away.
"Ugh..." Selena groaned from the pavement, not even bothering to lift her head from the uneven surface.
"Look what we have here." Her eyes widened in surprise and she sat up, only to realize her awkward situation regarding her dress and the way she was splayed on the ground. Quickly, with one hand holding the high hem down and the other as leverage, she turned to face the man standing above her. "Hello, Miss Valentine."
"Do I know you?"
"Maybe. Maybe not." She narrowed her eyes at him, and then glanced to the side when Marlene moaned beside her.
"Marlene? You alright?" She whispered to the lady, who sat up beside her holding her head.
"Selena..." Marlene groaned and closed her eyes. "What happened..."
"How's your friend?" His unfamiliar voice filled her ears, disgusting her to the core although she tried not to show it. Instead of answering, she just stared at him. He rolled his eyes and hoisted the lady up, despite her protests.
"Don't touch me." She growled, only to be met with a hand.
"Listen to me, Valentine. You're coming with us," her eyes caught the flashes of metal on the other men surrounding them, "whether you like it or not. Or your friend here," he snapped his fingers without taking his eyes off her and a couple of men moved forward to pick Marlene up.
"Wha," the Californian blinked and looked about, slightly groggy, "what's going on? Selena, who..." She trailed off and bit down on her lip when she felt something cold touch the back of her head.
"Be a good girl, Valentine. It's not hard, is it?"
"Oh," Selena blankly murmured as she was pulled away, "you have no idea..." She glared at him. "And I'm supposed to believe that you will let my friend go?" Without stopping, the man turned with an evil grin to his comrades.
"Do what you want with her. I'm just interested in this one." He held up Selena's arm which he was gripping tightly before tugging her forward, making the female stumble and scrape her bare legs on the road. He pulled her again to force her upright and Selena looked back in time to see Marlene bite the arm of one of her captor's and elbow the other. Once she was free, she glanced briefly at Selena, understanding going through the two, before running off, as much as she could with heels on.
Selena hid her smirk and turned back front. Her relief was short lived when a familiar scream filled her ears.
"Probably wasn't the best thing for her to do." The Asian's captor spoke to the sullen female. "Don't you think?"
"I didn't know you needed a brain, Harvey." The man stopped abruptly. "Of course, I didn't expect you to think either."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "So you do know me..."
"Of course I do." She grinned slowly. "I know everybody. I know everybody..." Before she knew it, there was a knife around her neck.
"You bitch..."
"That's a dog. I'm a cat, actually. At least, that's what they call me."
"You're going to tell me where he is, alright? If not, we're using you as bait."
"Who exactly?" The grin never left her face. "I know a lot of people." Harvey was about to answer when the click of the safety going on echoed into the night.
"Let go of the weapon and the lady," Selena relaxed greatly at the sound of the authoritative voice, "and back away." She didn't have to look to see that it was Skipper behind them.
"Officer," Harvery chuckled as he faced the man, hiding the knife in his sleeve, "it's just a misunderstanding. I was just having a chat with-"
"With a knife?" Skipper scoffed, gun still trained on the two. "I've got eyes, I'm not blind." Behind him was Marlene and Private, the former a little disoriented with a few cuts on her face but worried nonetheless and the later glaring at the man holding onto Selena. "One more time. Let go of the weapon and the lady, and back away. Now."
"There's no need for hostility, officer. I was just telling my lovely girlfriend here-"
"She's your girlfriend now, is she?" A baritone voice spoke to the right, as cold as Skipper's. "Didn't you tell him who you were with, babe?" Selena raised a brow at Kowalski, whose deadly expression didn't change.
Harvey took a step back. "B-Bennett?" Kowalski's brows furrowed at him but he didn't lower the gun he had pointed at the man. "You're dating Valentine?"
"Do I know you?
"I tried telling him that," Selena shrugged, like she wasn't currently being held hostage, "but he wouldn't listen." Kowalski ignored her and focused on the man.
"How do you know us?"
"Question should be," Selena crossed her arms, bored, "'how come you didn't know I was on duty when I'm a fucking cop'?" Kowalski sent her a look that meant 'are you fucking serious right now?'. She shrugged in return and turned her head, but the knife came back to her throat, with Harvey's arm around her waist. She heard Marlene's audible gasp and saw Skipper frown, but she was only interested in the movement she caught from the corner of her eye.
"I wasn't aware that two Illusionists were together. I guess I'll be getting two birds with one stone." Selena shook her head, mindful of the blade on her skin.
"He's not an Illusionist. He was just there."
"He's the son of Bennett Senior. He practically lived there. I don't think it's avoidable."
"Please. Does that guy look like an Illusionist to you? A cop?" She winced when the blade managed to cut through the top layer of skin but continued. "Do you think an Illusionist would have anything to do with the law? We make our own laws. We don't follow anyone, except for the blood pact."
"How many of you are left actually?"
"Not relevant."
"Answer me."
She repeated her answer, face blank of any emotions. "Do you think he'll keep your family alive?" The hand in her hair tightened. "Even if you bring me to him, you'll never see Sarah and Gina again. I doubt you'll live either." Pressure on the blade made a tiny trickle fall from her neck, and she kept her mouth shut.
"You-" Harvey growled in her ear, but something slammed into his side, sending the two of them to the ground.
Selena rolled onto her stomach, groaning into the pavement at the fact that her head had collided with the ground again. She turned slightly to see Harvey battling Rico on the pavement. Another turn and she saw the tied up comrades of Harvey sitting on the pavement, dazed.
She used her forehead to push herself up along with her hands and then her knees, just as a pair of feminine hands hooked themselves under her arms and helped her up. "Selena?" The gratitude stopped on the Asian's tongue when she recognized the voice. Barbie stepped before her, concern written all over her face. The blonde's eyes drifted to the cut and she reached a hand to it. "Your neck. He," Selena took hold of her hand and placed her own on the cut and looked away.
"I'm fine."
"Selena," the Asian walked off abruptly, leaving Barbie hanging. In the background, she could hear Skipper ordering Rico, Barbie and Private to escort the men to their new homes. The words became indistinct as she tuned them out and picked up her discarded bag, taking out a black ribbon of velvet before placing it over the cut, buttoning it down in place. She slung the clutch bag around her shoulder and turned to face Kowalski, or rather his chest. She looked up when he crossed his arms and saw him staring down at her in disdain.
"It's no wonder you caught some attention tonight." Selena was about to answer when Marlene tapped Kowalski, who turned to the woman with a raised brow.
"I told her she had to wear a dress if she wanted me to forgive her for not telling me about Kyle." Selena closed her mouth, sighed and gestured to Marlene. The man stared at the two of them before shaking his head and walking away. "That's it?" Marlene called disbelievingly after him. "You're just going to, walk away?" He sighed and turned to face them.
"What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know. Something? Hey, Selena," the brunette turned to her friend, "what happened to your date?" Selena slapped her face as Kowalski crossed his arms and spoke bluntly to the woman.
"Marlene, you're drunk."
Selena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "No duh, Sherlock." Before either party could speak, she popped open the clutch again and pulled out a black leather string necklace, with its three pendants dangling from it. Kowalski's eyes ignored the other two as they focused on the circular pendant. It was black and silver, with several tiny gems of different shades of blue arranged like spiral rays to a yellowish red topaz in the middle and the edge of the pendant had small violet gems lining it.
The sound of the clasp shutting made him go back to reality and he grabbed the pendant, unknowingly pulling forward the surprised Asian.
"Where did you get this?" She blinked at him and looked down at his hand, which had turned white knuckled from gripping the pendant too tightly. It released its grip and went to her shoulder, the other hand doing the same to the other side. "Selena," his voice became a dangerous growl, "where did you get this?"
"You recognize it then?"
"You liar." His eyes glittered dangerously in anger, already visibly in the fists by his sides. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
A cruel smile graced her face. "I thought you knew."
"You lied to me. You lied to Jay too, didn't you? You lied to everyone!"
"I didn't lie. I simply didn't tell the truth." She shrugged like it was no problem. "There's a difference."
"How long have you been hiding this? Did you deliberately not wear it when you barged into our HQ?" She tilted her head to the other side, just observing him. "How messed up do you want me to be, Selena? Why are you doing this to me?"
"I don't see why you should be so concerned, Mikhail. I mean, I don't include myself into your life, do I?" He stared at her blankly and she nodded in understanding. "You see my logic, don't you? I'm sure you know what you should do now."
"No." He grabbed her hand. "You're coming with me." He tugged her forward and the lady struggled to keep up with his long strides.
She tried to pry his hand off her wrist to no use. "Let me go. Mikhail," she winced when his grip tightened and she dropped any attempt to take his hand off, "let me go. You really don't want to do this."
"And why-"
"KOWALSKI!" A voice screeched from behind the two and Kowalski stopped, only to be attacked by Marlene. "What are you going to do to my best friend, you maniac?! Let her go, meanie! Let her go!"
"Marlene," Skipper dodged a swing from the brunette and brought his arms around her, "stop it."
"Let me GO!" She screamed in his ear, making him wince, but he didn't let go. "Let me go! I'm going to kill him!"
"Calm down, doll. They're just going to have a talk." Skipper grunted when she thrashed about. "Marlene." He spoke through gritted teeth.
She let out a couple of breaths, already done with escaping and nodded with a sigh. "Fine." Skipper sighed back and loosened his grip a bit, only to cry out in pain when a heel crushed his foot.
He cursed inaudibly before glaring at her. "That was a cheap shot!" She glared back and slapped him. Barbie and Private gasped in shock while Kowalski and Rico stared on. The officer was in a similar state, staring at Marlene like she had lost it.
"Don't ever touch me, mister." She growled in his face. "Or I swear..."
He shook his head in disbelief. "How many did you have?" Her features creased into a frown.
"What?"
"How many did you drink, Marlene?" He spoke slowly, like he was talking to a child.
"Huh?" He sighed and proceeded to rephrase his question. "Oh!" She giggled, leaving Skipper slightly disturbed. She turned her attention from him to something behind him and waved, still giggling. "Bye, Sely!" Surprised, he turned around to see the female getting onto her motorcycle, which was nowhere in sight just moments ago, and firing it up. The other surprising thing was the fact that she was wearing a pair of jeans, a shirt and a jacket, the dress gone.
A smirk appeared on the Asian's face from under the visor of her helmet and she saluted them with two fingers before turning the bike down the road.
"No." Kowalski ran after the female, but the bike was already far off. "No!" He stared after it in desperation, gripping his hair tightly before dropping his hands to the sides.
"I'm tired..." Marlene mumbled under her breath before her eyes rolled back and she slumped forward. Skipper caught her before her face could kiss the pavement. He struggled to keep her upright before sweeping the woman off her feet and carrying her bridal style, hugging her to him.
"How did I not notice this before?" Kowalski ranted in disbelief, running his hands through his hair in distress. "It was right in front of our eyes this whole time. We're fools. Complete fools!" He threw his hands down angrily and slammed them on a wall. "Idiots! Imbeciles! Harebrained cavemen-"
"Care to elaborate, Kowalski?" Skipper called to the man dryly as he adjusted Marlene so that she was comfortable against him. The little snores she was emitting was making it hard for him to ignore the smile trying to creep onto his face in the serous situation.
Kowalski turned to the man, the disbelief back on his face. "That pendant. The circular one. Don't you recognize it?"
"I'm not one to go jewelry shopping, Kowalski. And I asked you to elaborate."
"It's a family crest. The Delphi family crest. Blowhole's crest." Skipper almost dropped Marlene. "She knows Blowhole. And I'll bet that she knows where he is."