This chapter features another song. This one is the Michale Graves version of "Scream". Let me know what you guys think!
Their plane to Tokyo is jam packed with superstars. Ravyn and Tyler find themselves in the center of a fours seat row between Chris Jericho and Dango. JJ and Dolph are seated in the row behind them. As the rest of the passengers board Ravyn checks her emails while the plane prepares for takeoff. She thumbs through a bunch of junk until she comes across a Twitter notification email. Hesitantly she taps the subject line 'Corey Graves mentioned you in a tweet.' Tyler reads over her shoulder when he feels her tense up. "A chill runs up your spine and crawls into your brain. The freezing touch of fear." He puts a hand on her arm in an attempt to comfort her. Moments later the flight attendant requests all electronics to be shut off for take off. She shoots him a look that indicates her urge to vomit. She glances back over she shoulder at JJ and Dolph. Her best friend leans forward to look at the tweet as Ravyn holds up her phone. JJ shakes her head in disgust and just mouths "I'm sorry friend." She sinks back into her seat letting Ravyn turn her phone off for the flight.
Once they're in the air the attendant comes around offering pillows and blankets. Dango and Tyler are asleep in the first hour of the flight. Try as she might though Ravyn just can't fall asleep. She looks around the cabin to see that nearly everyone is sleeping. The only one not obviously resting is Jericho sitting to her left. He taps away at the keyboard of his laptop while she stares blankly at the tv in the headrest of the seat front of her. She shifts in her chair trying to get comfortable.
"You doing okay kid?" Jericho pulls one of his earbuds out at looks over at her.
"Just having a hard time sleeping," she tries to sound normal and not like she's actually afraid to fall asleep and think about Corey.
"Want to listen to the new Fozzy single? It's not even officially released yet," he offers with a smile. She nods, as a fan of Fozzy's music she's eager to hear what the new album sounds like. He hands over his headphones and hits play for her. The opening bars suck her in, and as the song continues she finds herself nodding along. She looks at Jericho with a huge smile.
"Dude, this is a masterpiece," she declares.
He beams, "You like it?"
She nods excitedly. They share the set of earbuds and listen together a few more times. After the fifth or sixth play through Ravyn gets an idea. "Hey can I ask you a huge favor?" She hopes.
He looks at her skeptically, "Sure?"
"I've got a big heel turn coming up after the Rumble," she begins. "Any chance you'll let me use 'Judas' as my new entrance music?"
He's quiet for a minute, "Let me clear it with the band, and Vince, of course. But that could be great publicity for the album!"
The two chat excitedly until Jericho decides to try and get some sleep. Ravyn plays her 3DS for a while trying to avoid thinking about Corey and his ominous tweets to her. Eventually she falls asleep on Tyler's shoulder.
When they land in Tokyo it's Thursday morning. Tyler's birthday. The crew is ushered from the plane and deposited onto buses, which take them to the train station, where they begin the four hour ride to Osaka. A bus picks them up at the train station and drops them off at their Osaka hotel. Ravyn and AJ curl up on the bed in AJ's room and just lay together exhausted from all the travel.
After enjoying their brief down time Ravyn drags herself from the bed. She kisses AJ while he remains propped up against the headboard, "J and I are going to take Tyler out for his birthday before the show tonight. I'll see you at the arena later?"
AJ smirks, "Sounds good babe. Keep him occupied for a while. I think the boys have a little surprise planned for him."
She grins, "We'll try to keep him out for a bit so you guys have time to set up whatever you've got planned."
AJ gives her some advice on traversing the foreign country, handing her a map of the local area. She kisses him goodbye and heads out the door with her gear bag to meet up with Tyler and JJ. She leaves her bag with Dango, who has promised to bring her and Tyler's gear to the arena.
The three of them start by walking through the town near their hotel. They manage to navigate the bustling city fairly easily. A cute cafe catches their eye and they wander inside only to discover that it's actually a cat cafe! Taking the opportunity to enjoy Japan they order bizarre ice cream flavors and take a seat on some of the surrounding furniture. JJ opts for a cushy bean bag chair while Ravyn and Tyler sit on a small couch. Curious cats begin to investigate them and their ice cream.
"I never want to leave Japan," Ravyn beams as a black and white cat weaves between her feet.
JJ laughs, "We've only been here for 6 hours."
"But cats! And ice cream!" Ravyn demands. "And all the other neat things were going to do for Tyler's birthday!"
"Man, you guys are awesome," Tyler smiles. "This is already a cool birthday." He scratches the head of a tabby cat who has deposited himself in Tyler's lap, purring loudly. "What else do you guys have planned?"
The girls exchange mischievous smiles. "Oh, we've got some ideas," JJ assures him.
"You're going to love it," Ravyn giggles.
Tyler is given no choice but to accept their response. "So how is AJ handling the Corey situatin?" He changes the subject.
Ravyn shrugs, "He's asked a few questions, but I've left most of the details out."
"Was that tweet from yesterday another song lyric?" JJ asks.
"It was," Ravyn confirms. "Another Misfits song. He keeps using the songs that we always used to listen to together." She focuses on the cat by her side. "I don't know what he wants from me. I've told him I have a boyfriend. I've told him that I'm not interested . He's just being relentless."
"Like telling him no has worked so well in the past," Tyler rolls his eyes. "He cheated on you. He ruined almost every friendship you had."
"He hurt you," JJ adds. "That was some of the worst mental abuse I've ever seen. And then he got physical on top of it. He's bad news, and he can't be trusted."
"I'd be willing to bet that he's regretting ever letting you go," Tyler concludes. "I mean, obviously he's and idiot."
"I've heard that his new girl left him a few months ago," JJ continues. "If he keeps this up he's going to come knocking on the wrong door."
Tyler leans in close to Ravyn, "Have you been sleeping okay?"
Ravyn shakes her head, "Not really. " she fiddles with the spoon in her empty ice cream cup. "The nightmares came back after that night in New Orleans. I woke up AJ that night because I was thrashing."
"Did he say anything?" JJ wonders.
"Not really. Just asked if I was okay, then held me until he fell back asleep. That was his late night press conference," Ravyn recalls. "Whenever I close my eyes I see Corey's face. I can feel his hands around my throat." She absentmindedly rubs her neck. "I just go back to that day that I left him. He was so mad when I found out that he was cheating on me. His sneer. The fight between us. Crashing against the wall... His breath on my skin while he thought about doing it again. He got this look in his eyes... I can't even describe it..." Her friends stay quiet just letting her get it out. "It was like he wanted to feel bad, but he got more pleasure out of the control than anything else. His words stung like a bullwhip that day," she pauses. "No matter how much I kicked, punched and yelled he wouldn't stop." She continues her recollection of the memory. "But he didn't slam me into the wall again. He tried to kiss me. I turned my head to avoid him, and he was irate. He grabbed me by the front of my leather jacket and threw me through the glass coffee table." JJ's eyes go wide. She's about to interrupt but Tyler holds a finger up to stop her. Ravyn speaks again, "I've never told anyone about that. He was so fucking smart. He never put a hand on me physically until that day. And he barely left a mark on me. That jacket caught almost all of the glass. It was torn to shreds, I had to throw it out. I cut myself so many times trying to take it off.," she almost laughs uneasily.
JJ softly interjects, "He put you through the coffee table?"
Ravyn nods, "I thought I would take that story to my grave... He tried apologizing the moment the glass shattered. Kissing me and telling me how sorry he was. That it would never happen again... As soon as I caught my breath I left and never looked back.
Tyler slips an arm around her shoulders, "And we're really happy that you did. You're tough. But what he did to you physically is nothing compared to the emotional abuse he put you through."
"He's literally the worst human being in the world," JJ agrees. "The way he would guilt you any time we hung out. Pouting until you'd go back to his place. Or how he would buy you nice clothes that were always a size or two too small... His subtle way of implying that you needed to lose weight."
Tyler's eyes pop, "He did that!? You were absolutely tiny! Lean and muscular but tiny! You still are, for the record, but back in NXT you weren't nearly as muscular as you are now."
"It took a lot for me to realize that he was the crazy one and not me," she admits. "I was so hypnotized with NXT and how good our sex lives were that I couldn't even see how bad everything else had gotten."
"Well you're out of it now," JJ cracks a smile. "The past can hurt. But the way I see it you can either run from it, or learn from it."
Ravyn smiles at her friend, "I'd like to think I learned from it. AJ is nothing like Corey."
"Exactly. You have a..." JJ smirks. "Phenomenal future ahead of you."
Tyler chuckles at the pun, "Was that just an inspirational Lion King quote?"
JJ blushes, "Shut up! You know it's my favorite movie. It's full of great life lessons." JJ stands up and takes everyone's empty ice cream cups to the trash. "Hey! Maybe we can push Corey off of a cliff into a stampeding herd of wildebeests!"
The three of them laugh at the thought, then get up to continue their Osaka adventure.