Chapter 66: Rochelle
Amanda's POV
The WrestleMania crowd is absolutely deafening, their conjoined voices roaring and yelling out all around Levi's Stadium as they watch as the biggest event of the WWE calendar plays out before them. They were especially loud for this match, especially since it's been a long time coming, and it definitely didn't disappoint. The two competitors in the ring right now definitely gave it their all in this match, but unfortunately for the cocky Seth Rollins, his attempts at a WrestleMania victory this year were all in vain as my man reversed his Curb Stomp into an incredible RKO, planting the former Shield member into the mat and pinning him for the one, two, three.
"That was impressive. . ." I say with a smile on my face as the referee held Randy's hand up in victory. Randy turns to me with a big grin on his face before moving to one of the ring corners in order to do his signature move for the fans. Once he departed from the second turnbuckle, he rolled out the ring in front of me and pulled me in for a hug, which made the WWE Universe yell out even more. "Congratulations baby!"
"Thanks 'Manda . . ." he responds with a big grin on his face as he starts leading me back up the long ramp. "That was probably one of the best matches I've worked in a long while."
"I definitely can vouch for that. You reversed Seth's Curb Stomp into an RKO for crying out loud," I say with a grin as I sneak a look back at the ring to see J&J Security rolling Mr. Money in the Bank right out the ring, the former Shield member still looking dazed as he hit the ground. "You launched him a good three feet in the air!"
"I knew he was about to stomp me out when I felt his foot on the back of my head, I just quickly reacted and lifted my head up to see him up in the air," Randy tells me with a chuckle as he wrapped his arm around my waist. "It's like time stood still for that one moment, just for me. One minute he was up in the air, and the next minute, I sent him crashing down to Earth, just like that."
"Well, I'm sure your RKO will be the talk of the roster once we get backstage," I say with a smirk as we finally reached the top of the ramp, the murmurs and mental whispers instantly hitting my mental radar. "I can already hear some of their thoughts thinking about it right now."
"As they should be," the Viper tells me as we walk through the curtain and down the small staircase to see Hunter already there dressed in his ring gear and waiting for his cue. "Hey Hunter! You ready for your match with Sting?"
"Hell yes I am . . . Although, it'll be hard to follow up your and Seth's impressive match just now," says the Cerebral Assassin as he lets out a small chuckle. "That last RKO you dealt him was one of the best ones I've seen from you in a long while . . . By the way Randy, you still have that interview to do with Todd. He's right down the hall waiting for you."
"Sure, sure . . . I didn't forget," Randy tells him as we spot Todd waiting for us down the hallway with his microphone in hand. "Go ahead to the locker room 'Manda. I'll be there as soon as I'm finished giving my post-match remarks."
"Sure, babe . . . I'll see you there," I say with a smirk as I peck his cheek. "And you better not keep me waiting too long."
"Like I would ever do that to you . . ." he tells me with a grin as he pecked me back before jogging over to Todd. I take off in the other direction and jog my way back to Randy's locker room. Once I was safely inside, I walk over to my bag, which I conveniently left right next to Randy's duffle bag on the sofa. I reach for my phone inside my bag when something inside Randy's bag grabs my attention. It was his phone, which was currently showing that Randy had received eight messages in the past 20 minutes from someone named 'Rochelle'.
"That's odd . . ." I mumble quietly to myself as I look at the screen. "Randy never mentioned to me that he knew someone named Rochelle . . ."
"What are you whispering 'Manda?"
I let out a small curse as Randy's voice instantly breaks my train of thought. His voice came from somewhere behind me, so I turn around to see that the Viper was already in the room, looking at me curiously as he leaned against the door.
"Your interview was fast . . ." I say as I look at him wide eyed as he started to move toward me.
"Todd asked me two questions and that was it. I did most of the talking anyway, surprising isn't it . . ." he tells me with a smirk as he pulled me toward him. "Now then, what were you mumbling to yourself just now?"
"Well, I might as well tell you. There's no point in lying to a fellow vampire anyway . . ." I tell him in defeat as I shake my head. "Somebody named Rochelle has been calling your phone in the last few minutes. Whoever this person is has called you eight times in the past 20 minutes alone."
As soon as I said the name 'Rochelle', Randy's demeanor changed. At first, he goes wide eyed, but then he narrowed them, his face taking on a dark edge as he stared at the phone in his bag. He lets me go and reaches into his bag, pulling out his phone to see the evidence for himself. As soon as he saw that what I said was true, he let out a low growl before dropping his phone back into his bag.
"Randy, is there something wrong?" I ask cautiously as I place a hand on his shoulder. "Who is this Rochelle person, if you don't mind me asking?"
He doesn't answer me as he starts pacing around the room in circles, his eyes planted firmly on the ground below him as he shakes his head in silence. I can't help but let the worry show on my face as I watch him pace like a caged animal. In all my years of knowing him, I've rarely seen Randy act like this, and whenever he does act like this, it's never good.
"Uh . . . Randy?" I call out to him as he does his twelfth revolution around the room. He doesn't answer as he continues his pacing, his eyes never moving from the ground as he brings a hand to his face. "Uh . . . if you need some time to think things over, I'll give it to you. I'm just going to go check on the twins now . . . Take all the time you need, but remember, I'll be there if you need someone to talk to."
I make my way to the door, but as soon as I grab hold of the doorknob, Randy's hand appears out of nowhere and lands on my own, effectively preventing me from leaving. It takes me three seconds to realize that the Viper's hand came from right behind me. After I re-gather my train of thought, I feel him stand inches behind me, his breath tickling my neck and the top of my spine as I let his hand remove mine from the doorknob and bring it back down to my side.
"I don't want you to go just yet . . ." he tells me, his voice sounding a little strained as he slowly wraps his arms around me, trapping me within his embrace. "Your mom and my dad can handle the twins for a little while longer . . . I need you here with me now."
"Okay . . ." I say nervously as his last sentence shakes me down to the bone. Randy's not usually sappy when he speaks, but when he is, it's pretty short, but straight to the point and powerful all in one. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I want to talk to you about this. I knew if I ever had to tell someone about my military days, I would want you to be the first one to know about it . . . But, I'm not sure how I'll be able to explain it to you," he tells me simply as I feel his stubble-ridden chin on my shoulder. "It's just that . . . the name of that person that's been calling me just brings up some bad memories for me."
"Your military days huh . . . Well, let's start slow then . . ." I suggest as I turn around in his grip to see the unsure look in his eyes, the mention of his military past instantly getting my curiosity level up. "Start at the very beginning if you have to . . . I'm all ears. I'm not going to judge you over something that happened in your past. I promise I'll be completely impartial."
"And that's one of the many reasons I love about you . . ." he whispers to me as he manages to let the smallest of smirks come across his face. "Just . . . just let me take a shower first. It'll help me to think things over."
"Sure . . ." I tell him as I plant a soft kiss to his lips. He pecks my forehead before grabbing a change of clothes from his bag and walking into the adjacent bathroom. I decide to busy myself with some wedding details in order to pass the time, starting with the choice of venue first. I manage to whittle down my choices for the wedding venue to three before I hear a large crack coming from the bathroom, instantly getting me on high alert. "Randy?"
He doesn't answer me, so I walk over to the bathroom door and open it. My eyes instantly go to the yellow brick wall in the far right corner of the room which separates the shower from the rest of the small room. The bottom half of Randy's legs jut out from behind the wall, the appendages folded in a way that told me that he was sitting down. I slowly walk over to the wall and peak behind the corner to see the Viper sitting there naked as the water continues to pour down on his head. A good fist-sized dent stood proudly in the brick wall a couple of feet above Randy's hand. As for the Viper himself, he remained silent as he kept his head in his hands, the knuckles on his bloody right hand already showing the damage done from his sudden attack on the poor wall.
"Oh baby . . . Are you okay?" I ask as I take off my shoes and throw them off to the side before stepping into the small shower with him. I manage to slide myself into the small space to stand right next to him, the shower water hitting me as much as it was hitting my volatile fiancée. I didn't care about getting myself wet. I only cared about making sure my man was alright.
He doesn't answer me at all. He doesn't even move to acknowledge me. So, I do the only thing I can do: I kneel down until I was sitting right next to the Viper and place a hand on his tense shoulders. He slowly responds to my touch, moving his hands off his face, moving them enough that his eyes peeked out from behind them to look at me.
"'Manda . . ." he says in a coarse whisper as he finally moves his hands fully away from his tired face.
"Hey . . ." I say as I bring a hand to his cheek. "Are you okay?"
"I thought a shower would help me think things through . . ." he tells me flatly as he shakes his head. "I guess I was wrong . . ."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that when after seeing the fist-sized dent you made in the wall right above our heads," I say as point to the spot above us. "Randy, this Rochelle person . . . She really had an effect on you back when you were with the Marines didn't she?"
"You have no idea . . ." he mumbles as he rests his head on my shoulder. "Every time I try to think about it, I . . . I just get so angry and frustrated whenever it passes through my mind. I figured I would get over it with time, but no, the bad feelings never left. I guess they were just bottled up inside me, ready to come out at just the right moment."
"You were only with the Marines for at least a good year Ran," I mumble as I look at the wall in front of us. "I guess what people say is right. A lot really can happen in a year."
"You're telling me . . ." mumbles the Viper as I turn to face him. "'Manda, let me finish my shower now please. I'll tell you everything once I'm done."
"Are you sure you're going to be alright in here?" I ask him as he quickly gets back on his feet before helping me to my feet. "I don't want to come back in here seconds later to see another dent in the wall."
"I'll be fine . . ." he tells me simply as I shoot him an unsure grimace. "Baby, I'll be alright in here. I promise."
"Knowing you, I'm still not sure after what happened in here just now . . . I know I sound a little overbearing right now, but I just want to make sure you're really okay before I go," I honestly tell him as he shoots me a blank look. "What? I'm only being honest with you babe."
He doesn't answer me with his words. Instead, he suddenly presses his lips to mine for a bruising kiss, his arm wrapping around my waist as he pinned me into the wall behind me with his wet, sexy body. His kiss instantly takes me off guard, making me get lost in the moment as I feel his hard body press into mine, his friend down in his personal area making itself known as it poked into my thigh. My body just goes limp in his grip as he continues to knock me out senseless with just this one kiss, but eventually, the pleasurable torture ends as Randy finally releases my lips. I slowly open my eyes to see him looking at me, his eyes filled with love and lust as he continued to hold me in his solid grip against the wall.
"See 'Manda . . ." he tells me as he takes a deep breath. "I'm fine. A little horny now, but I'm fine."
"Yeah, and you certainly have a special way of showing it . . ." I say, totally out of breath as he finally releases me and takes a step back. "Okay, you've convinced me. I'll leave you to your shower now."
"Now you want to leave?" he asks with that mischievous smirk of his as I let a small sheepish smile come across my face. "Didn't you hear me a few seconds ago? I'm a little horny right now."
"Yeah . . . and?" I ask with a smirk on my face as I walked out the shower. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"Uh . . . You can help me with a little problem I'm currently having right now," he tells me as he points to his hardened shaft. It was tempting, but I wasn't going to let him have me that easily. "Would it help if I said that having you in a shower was a fantasy I wanted to bring to reality?"
"Not really, considering we have recreated that sexual fantasy of yours before, a few times before to be exact," I say as I pick up my shoes and head for the door. "I'll see you in a few minutes babe."
"Mean woman . . ." was the last thing I heard Randy grumble as I walked out the door. Once I had safely entered the other room, I quickly dried myself with a spare towel before changing into the same set of clothes I wore earlier in the day, as well as a new pair of underwear since the shower completely soaked through all my clothes. It was when I finally finished putting on my shoes that Randy came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and with a small face towel wrapped around the back of his neck. He walks over to the couch and sits right next to me.
"I see that the rest of your shower was smooth sailing . . ." I simply say as Randy pulls me into his arms. He lifts me up just enough to move me onto his lap, his arms surrounding me in a comfortable embrace as I rested my head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me in the shower anymore . . ." Randy tells me in a dull voice as he kissed my forehead. "But I got to admit, the shower did help me lose some pent us anger. Not all of it, but some of it."
"Are you ready to speak about what happened in your past?"
"Yeah, I think I am . . ." he tells me as I bring a hand to his chest. ". . . Now, how should I begin this discussion?"
"Start at the very beginning . . ." I suggest as he looks at me. "Take it slow babe . . . You don't have to rush through it. Just take your time . . ."
"Alright then . . ." he tells me in defeat as he stares at the turned-off plasma screen TV in front of us. "If I'm going to tell my story properly, I need to start at the very beginning, to when I first arrived at boot camp. That was the day I met . . . Rochelle."
"Your first official day in the military was the first day you met this Rochelle person. . . ." I say absentmindedly as I scrunch my eyebrows together. ". . . How did you two exactly meet?"
"We officially introduced ourselves to each other at the camp's mess hall. The food there was horrible by the way . . ." Randy tells me with the tiniest of smirks on his face as he looked back on the memory. "I got lost on my way to the mess hall, so I ended up being one of the last ones there; and one of the unlucky few that ended up without a seat. Or so I thought . . ."
"And that's when this Rochelle person came into the picture huh?"
"You can say that again . . ." he tells me simply as he shakes his head. "I got my food from the cafeteria line and started searching the rows for an available seat. I was about to just join a few other unlucky cadets that were sitting on the floor against the wall in a corner of the room when I spotted someone waving in my direction. I turn my head to see this ginger-haired woman looking at me, gesturing to the empty spot right next to her. I figured why not, and went to sit next to her. I introduced myself, and she introduced herself. She said her name was Rochelle Bennett, and little did I know that my military career would go downhill from there."
"What happened?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow. "How problematic was she?"
"Very problematic . . ." he tells me as he lets out a big old huff. "The same day I met Rochelle was the same day I found out that she was a vampire, like me, like us . . . I got in trouble with my instructor because he overheard me saying a little remark about his head, so he made me run three laps around the base for my punishment. I finished my third lap when I heard this guy groaning nearby. I thought it was just two of the cadets hooking up, but when I listened a little closely, I realized that his groans were groans of pain. So, I went to investigate. I followed the sounds till I reached the back of one of the base's storage sheds. That's where I saw Rochelle basically sucking the life out of another cadet. I wasn't there quick enough though. By the time I took another step, she dropped the poor guy on the ground. All I needed to see was the guy's vacant look in the eyes to realize that he was dead."
"What did you do next?"
"Well, Rochelle looked like she was about to suck me dry next, so I revealed to her that I was a fellow vampire before she had the chance to pin me to the wall," says the Viper as he shook his head again. "She wanted me to help her dispose of the body, but I refused. I told her that since she caused it, she had to resolve it herself. She didn't look too happy with what I said, but I didn't care. I left her with the body to deal with and never looked back. The next time we talked was the next day. She confronted me as I was exiting the building where all the male cadets were residing in, and she wasn't in a pleasant mood after I left her with her problem the night before."
"Like she should have a problem with you over that . . . You're right, she was the one that caused the problem, so she had to be the one that had to fix it. What she did wasn't your fault," I tell him as I wrap my other arm around his neck. He shoots me a small smirk before I continue. ". . . But I guess she's one of those women that don't like to be denied right?"
"No, no she wasn't . . . She told me that she wasn't one for being rejected," says the Viper as he pulled me in a little closer to his body. "She told me that she was a person that always got what she wanted, and what she wanted was to have fun."
"To have fun?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow in disbelief. "What did she mean by that?"
"That's what I wanted to ask as well when she first told me about it . . ." says the Viper as he scrunched his eyebrows together. "I kept pondering her words for the next few weeks after that, trying to figure out what she exactly meant by 'having fun', since the military isn't really the best place in the world to have fun. At the same time, strange things were happening around the camp."
"Strange things?" I ask. "Like what?"
"Well, there was a sizeable supernatural population at camp already, and some of the guys were notable pranksters in their own right, so I figured it was just them playing their practical jokes and tricks at first, but then, things turned . . . dangerous," he tells me as a hooded look came across his face. "Some of the guys, human and supernatural, started disappearing from the base. Accidents were happening left and right. It was crazy times at the base and no one knew why . . . Rochelle's words were always in the back of my mind, and then, it suddenly clicked. It finally hit me like a ton of bricks."
"When Rochelle said that she wanted to have fun at camp," I say as I slowly put the pieces together. "She meant that she wanted to turn it into her own convoluted playground. Something like that, right?"
"Yeah . . . It turns out Rochelle was a master manipulator and strategist. Think Punk, but a whole lot worse, and with a big bush of ginger hair on her head," he tells me as he brings a hand to his chin. "When I finally put the pieces together, I went and confronted her. She didn't hesitate. She blatantly admitted it; she told me everything, and she wasn't ashamed of it."
"What did you do next?" I say as I raise an eyebrow. "Knowing you, you must have done something when you found this out right?"
"I wanted to do something, but I basically had my back against the wall," he tells me as he grits his teeth. "Rochelle was basically running the camp by herself. She had everyone in her back pocket, from the high officials to the janitors to the cooks. She could never get me though. She tried a few times to convince me to come to her side. She even promised me a position as being one of her right-hand men, but I refused her every single time, and she didn't take to kindly to that . . ."
"She made your life a living hell at the base, didn't she?" I ask as Randy rests his head on my shoulder.
"Yep; it was basically a case of me against them . . ." Randy tells me as I press a kiss to his temple. "The higher ups would punish me for the littlest things, some of the infractions not even being caused by me. The cook would always give me the worst parts of the food . . . It was absolute hell 'Manda."
"Didn't you have any allies while you were at camp?" I ask curiously as he shoots me a wayward look. "You . . . you didn't make that many friends then didn't you?"
"Not really; I'm the kind of guy that doesn't really make friends that easy remember 'Manda," he tells me as he shoots me a grimace. "Any friend or ally that I made while at base ended up becoming one of Rochelle's lackeys in the long run. I was basically all on my own."
"So, what exactly happened that made you get discharged from the Marines?"
"I figured you were going to ask me that question eventually," he tells me with a small smirk on his face as I feel his breath hits my neck. "To put it in the simplest terms possible, I got framed. Rochelle staged this whole incident and pinned it on me. She basically made it appear that I went AWOL when I really didn't . . . I got discharged soon after that."
"She basically ruined your military career . . ." I say as I shake my head. ". . . No wonder you've been getting so mad in these last couple of hours."
"Yeah; Rochelle Bennett not only ruined my military career, but she is the main reason why I have a bit of a problem with authority figures . . ." he tells me as I feel his lips on my neck now. "Even without the vampire manipulation, my superiors were total dumbasses."
"I see . . . It all makes sense now," I say as I pick Randy's head up by the chin. "But why would you keep this whole thing to yourself? Why haven't you told anyone about this till now?"
"It's not something I like to look back on . . . For someone that doesn't like looking back at bad memories, I think you can understand the sentiment right?" he asks me, my head nodding yes in an instant. "I figured as much . . ."
"So, what are you going to do about Rochelle's calls?" I say as a sudden thought comes to mind. "Wait a minute, how are you sure that the Rochelle calling you is the same one from all those years ago?"
"I recognize her number . . . She tried to give it to me a few times during my tenure, but I turned her down. However, I saw her number written down so many times that it's basically burned into my brain," he tells me as he reaches into his duffle bag and takes out his phone. "Hmm, she hasn't called in a while . . . I'm still curious to know how she managed to get my number though."
"Are you going to call her back?" I ask as I shoot him a worried glance.
"No . . . I most likely will not, and if she tries to call me again, I'll just ignore them . . ." he tells me as he puts his phone in his pocket. "And if she insists on calling me night and day, I'll probably have to change my number."
"Babe, I don't think you'll get rid of your problem that easy . . ." I wisely say as I shake my head. "You'll probably have to confront it sooner or later."
"I know, I know, but I don't want to focus on that right now for as much as I can . . ." he tells me as he turns on the TV. "Let's just enjoy today okay? It's WrestleMania day after all . . ."
"Okay . . ." I say as I shake my head. "But this discussion is not over. Not by a long shot."
Please review!