C O L D S H O T

       '   not  m a n y    '        he retorted , arms crossing over his chest as his eye remained glued on her .  there was no sign of malice in his expression , merely  an emotionless facade plastered across his features .        '   comfort . . . for both ME and anyone that doesn’t appreciate  g o r e   '

      there  wasn’t  a  fiber  in  her  being  that  paid  attention  to  the  laughter,  the  speeches,  the  pointless  resolutions  of  the  new  year.  she’d  be  alone  again  this  year,  returning  from  a  trip  too  late  in  the  evening  to  make  plans.  this  particular  bar  was  just  blocks  from  her  apartment,  one  reasons  she  stopped,  the  lack  of  drink  in  her  own  space  meant  she  needed  to  stop;  grocery  shopping  could  wait.  his  glance  is  noticed,  but  she  orders  her  gin  and  tonic,  keeping  her  own  glaze  locked  onto  the  counter  as  pink  tinted  lips  part  to  speak,   ‘  do  i  have  something  on  my  face?  ’

brows stitch together ,   annoyance written plain in the thin line formed by her lips.     ❛    so that’s it ,   huh  ?       ——  you’re just gonna IGNORE the fact that i asked you a question   ?  ❜       elbow hooks over the back of her chair , tongue dancing over the expanse of her lower lip.    it wasn’t often that drifters came to charming ,   and while gemma didn’t normally hold a problem with it ,    she couldn’t shake the fact that this one was hiding something.   what other reason was there for such evasive statements and brusque goodbyes  ?     ❛    nearest one’s a few miles up the road.   you got a’ ride  ?  ❜

THERE WAS A STORY THAT SHE CAME ACROSS SOME TIME AGO.    The vessel,  stuck between rows and rows of bound pages and shiny covers,  had lost herself to a world far less sinister,  far less dark,  but just as POWERFUL.   The sharp edges of paper had scored her digits over and over as if they  resented  being touched and consumed by such an ABOMINATION.   But Charlotte persisted nonetheless -  and happened upon a story that she could not comprehend well enough to find the TERROR between its lines,  but the words now sprang from the  deep black-waters  of her memory.   The GRAVELY SILENCE that he favoured and allowed to fill his car,  it became a CANVAS;  and there,  a  terrible  sound began to emerge.

                                           Charlotte shifted in her seat and held her breath.   But there it remained.   The HIDEOUS beating of her heart.  Or was it his?   The pulses pounded at the unstirred air wedged between them.     “   Is that okay?  Are you okay with that?  You’re not headed somewhere very bad…or boring, are you?    ”

        it was RARE that he showed them , but as a cigarette balanced between his lips he reached into the collar of his shirt to pull out his tattered dog tags .  they hug low on his chest , name and number glistening in the falling sun .         '   bob plissken , american lieutenant . . . LENINGRAD and siberia ––––––  two purple hearts . i’m assuming neither of us want to be here , so lets BOTH suck it up .   '

       '   there’s two more . . .   '         he kept his voice down , lowering his mac - 10 from its common position where the scope lined up with his only functional eye . shooting remained his strength , even after the loss of half his vision , thanks to the addition to a scope onto nearly every one of his guns . even the small revolvers strapped to his hips were adorned .         '   back left corner   '

        glasses clattered and laughter bubbled from the beer drenched lips of men and women alike ; all seemed lively and eager for another round thanks to the bright new year .  plissken was the only one that seemed somber , both calloused hands wrapped around his glass of seagrams and head curtained by greasy locks that followed his glare as he tilted his head to faced the woman that now sat beside him .  lips only parted to greet the rim of his glass , while his eye locked onto her .

       '   just tell me where the nearest motel is and i’ll be on my  w a y    '        the remained of his drink was downed in one gulp and he picked his wallet up off the bar to retrieve a few singles to set underneath his empty glass

           OF    ALL    THE    THINGS    SHE    REGRETTED    ASKING     .   .   .      couldn’t   even    BEGIN    to   imagine   what   the    look    on   her   face   must   have   been    .    no   way   she   could    CARRY    all   that   out   of   there    .   .   .    and   if   he   had     ALL    OF    THAT    on   him    ,    how   was   she   to   know   he   didn’t   have    MORE    STILL     ?     knew   this    whole    show    was   to    REASSURE    her    .   .   .   didn’t   know   if   it   really   had   WORKED     .     ‘     okay     ,     okay     .     you   can   put   that   all   back   before   someone    SEES    IT   and   calls   the   cops   on   us    both     .     ’

                                             THE ABYSS SURROUNDED AND THERE WAS NO END TO IT!          For a moment,  a strange  dark-blue  tinged the grey of her irises as Charlotte tossed a glance about the space of his car:  first,  landing on the dashboard clock  (  half-past eleven  ),  then onto the silhouette of her  Good Samaritan  -  tracing the shape of his hands that handled the steering wheel  and  the profile of his facial features.   It was difficult to ignore the  DEPTH  of the darkness that they were driving  head-long  into  -  and it was even  more  difficult to ignore the quiet  chittering  of the creature that was blinking awake in the pits of her being.   Brace yourself,  here comes trouble.     “   I’m headed wherever you’re headed,   ”     she replied,   giving him an easy smile.     “   I’m not picky.   ”

❝     never .     ❞          grin  debuted  in  the  same  breath  she  spoke   /   all  the  while  pulling  herself  to  her  feet  and  making  her  way  to  the  bed  of  her  own .  she  were  even  sly  enough  to  slide  the  television  remote  out  from  beside  him  as  she  passed .          ❝     you   SLEEP   with  that  stinky  leather  over  your  eye , snake  ?     ❞

❝     NO .     ❞          when  is  anything  wrong  ?     i  adore  chaos ,     she  can  tell  with  convidence ,     i  can  bring  it  as  well  as  devour  it  with  a  single  tense  of  my  jaw  !     but  it’s  not  what  she  wants ,  neither  what  she  needs .  a  yes  was  what  she  was  hoping  for  in  response   -   but  settling  without  one  and  dealing  with  sadness  alone  was  something  she  was  more  than  used  to ,          ❝     i  was  just  wondering .     ❞

*     @warherc     cont .  !