Chapter 23 – Kai
I ’m on my way out of my trailer to start tonight’s shift. I grab a cigarette, out of my pack and put it in between my painted up lips. I step out of my trailer, walk down the steps, pull out my lighter and light it.
As I’m taking a drag off my cigarette I happen to look over and see Liam pulling Lana into his trailer. What the fuck? Did she really show up to Midnight Mayhem with him?
Calm down. I’m overreacting. Maybe nothing is going on between them. I am starting to pace, smoking my cigarette like it’s my last one. I decide to watch outside of his trailer like a normal, rational, possible boyfriend.
I finish my cigarette, throw it on the ground and put it out with my boot. I stand there watching for a while. I watch as Liam gets ready for his shift, undressing in front of Lana. I see Lana check him out as if our sexual activities earlier in the day didn’t matter.
I clench my fists. If I found out Liam laid a hand on her, I will fucking kill him. I decide to turn away before I find a reason to commit a felony.
Time to get my mind off of the shit show that’s running rampant in my mind by scaring people shitless. I put my hood up, grab my scythe, and head out just before the announcements start. I will catch her on my break in a couple of hours.
We will see if Lana will confess or try to lie to my face.
I’m hot and sweaty from running around the park for over two hours chasing people, and just scaring the living shit out of anyone who came into my path. I ignored Liam when I saw him. I’m sure he thought nothing of it, I was just trying to stay in character.
I pull my hood down. I rummage through my pockets for my cigarettes. Lana happens to come out of his trailer just in time. I pull out the pack of cigarettes. I beat the end on my palm before pulling one out.
I walk over to Lana, scaring the shit out of her as I steal the lighter out of her jeans, I put the cigarette in between my painted lips and light the end of the cig. I walk away from her.
Taking a long drag I inhale, pull the cigarette out of my mouth, I turn back towards her, then I blow the smoke into her face. “What happened to US, Lana?” I stare at her expectedly.
She’s quiet for some time, staring back at me. Finally she says, “What do you mean, Kai?” I run a hand down my painted up face. “I think you know what I mean, Lana.” She’s not really this stupid, right?
I saw her. She came here with Liam. I saw how cozy they looked. I’m not dumb. It’s insulting that she would think I could be that dumb. I pull another drag off my cigarette, waiting for her to respond.
“We aren’t together Kai. What do you mean by ‘US’?” She asks me. I smile and then a laugh escapes me slow at first and builds until I am fully laughing. “Lana. We slept together this morning. Does that mean nothing to you?” I ask her, almost pleading.
She contemplates it and then looks at me. The look of realization on her face. “Are you asking me about Liam?” She finally realizes what I meant. I nod. “I saw you.” I admit to her.
She looks at me almost like she was sad she got caught. “What exactly did you see?” She asks almost too quiet to hear. I pull another drag before responding. “I saw him kiss you. Passionately. He left you in his trailer. Sound familiar?”
“I told you this morning, before I left, and last night. I am not your girlfriend.” She states so casually. It rips a hole through my chest. “So what? You’re his girlfriend now?” I put out my cigarette before I burn my fingers.
“No. Because he hasn’t asked me yet and neither have you.
” She says. I walk up to her. I grab her throat and pin her to Liam’s trailer.
“I hope you know I don’t plan on losing you that easily, Lana.
I was here before Liam, and I will be here after him.
I’m giving you until the end of our shifts to decide. ”
I let go of her neck, grab my scythe and then head into the park. I don’t bother to turn back and look at her. Five hours is plenty of time to decide. I just hope she’ll choose me.
I think this is the first time since Midnight Mayhem opened that I’m actually looking forward to my shift ending. I have no doubt that Lana will make the right choice. Me.
I walk around the park. I just need to get through the last couple hours of my shift. Time is going surprisingly slow tonight. I’ve scared over fifty people tonight I think. Maybe even more than that.
I honestly couldn’t care less. I only care about Lana and her decision at this point. My job is temporary. I haunt the walkways of Midnight Mayhem terrorizing any person who gets in my way.
The music fades out as the intercom clicks on. “Midnight Mayhem will be closing in thirty minutes. Please start making your way to the entrance.” Fucking finally.
I grin. Time to start herding these people like sheep. Which is exactly what I start doing. I practically chase people towards the entrance with my scythe. I make my rounds making sure there’s no people hiding out and then I make my way back to the entrance for the goodbye portion.
I stand a ways away from Liam. I don’t want to be near that cocksucker. Trying to take what’s mine. I shake my head. He has some balls. No one takes what’s mine. Ever.
Once the last person makes their way out of the park, we lock up and head to our trailers. Time to see what Lana has decided.
I make it back to my trailer. I decide to check Liam’s before I actually go into mine. I check to see if it’s open. It is. I quickly walk in. I look around. No Lana. Perfect. As much as I want to go snooping I don’t bother. That’s for another time.
I quickly leave. I head back to my trailer. I walk in and there’s Lana. She looks at me with her piercing emerald green eyes. I sit my scythe next to the door. I sit down on my bed. I pull my hood down and let my hair flop into my face.
She pulls my vanity chair over to sit in front of me. Ah, a serious discussion then. “Well, what did you decide?” I go straight to the point. No sense in beating around the bush. Not where my feelings for Lana are concerned.
She looks at me almost surprised. I guess, I caught her off guard with my eagerness to know. She looks down at her hands. I cross my arms, trying to be patient and wait for her response.
She fidgets with her hands. She’s anxious. It’s one of her tells. I read her like I’m reading a book. She thinks she can keep secrets but I know her. Really know her. My years of observing her only proves that.
I tilt Lana’s chin up with two fingers, my touch gentle but unyielding. “You could run,” I murmur, voice like velvet dragged over a blade, “but you won’t. You don’t want freedom, you want me, Lana.”
“How do you know that?” She asks, crossing her arms over her chest. I get up from the bed. She gets up out of the chair, backing up almost instinctively. I’ll ask her about that later. “I moved away, Kai. I’m not above running away again.” She says, but I hear the threat fall short.
“You came back. Actions speak louder than words, Lana.” I grab her arms and push her gently back into the wall. Her arms fall to her sides and I place my hand above her head and I lean down.
“You’re not walking away from me. Not this time.” I say. With my left hand, I grab her throat. She gasps. I apply pressure, not enough to hurt her, of course, just enough to show dominance.
“I gave you all the chances to escape me, you didn’t take them. Don’t pretend like we both don’t know you like being my pet.” I say. She looks me in the eyes. “I don’t want to care about you.” She whispers, this confession falling between us like she didn’t want me to hear it. Not out loud.
I’m quiet for a minute, analyzing her expression. I know when Lana is lying. She has a tell. “I know when you’re lying, and this is one of those times. Don’t lie to me, not again.”
I don’t think she realizes it but the night she decided to leave me, she lied. I know she suffered something and didn’t want to talk about it. She pushed me away on purpose. But I will find out what it was with time.
Her breathing picks up, her heart is racing. She lets a breath out. I let go of her throat. I see a flicker in her eyes. She thinks I’m letting her go. Nope. Never. I fist a handful of her hair in the back of her head and our lips collide.
My hand on the wall slides down to her waist. She tangles her hands in my hair and we both sigh in contentment. I love this girl. She’s mine. I know she feels it too.
As we stand here kissing like there won’t be a tomorrow, I feel tears slip down her face. I stop kissing her. “Are these tears for little ol’ me, Lana? You don’t need to cry for me.” I lick the tears off her cheeks.
She looks at me, the sadness apparent. It’s then and only then I see it. The grief flicker in those emerald green eyes I fell in love with. I let go of her hair. “Lana.”
She collapses to the floor. I am suddenly worried. Maybe I pushed her too far? I get down on the floor with her. She’s sobbing uncontrollably. “Baby. Talk to me.”
She looks up for a second. “I can’t.” She manages to get out. I hold her. What did she lose? How did I not know? I try to not think about that and instead just focus on her.
“Lana, baby, breathe, just breathe for me.” I pull back and I tuck her hair behind her ears and I cup her cheeks in my hands. I search her expression. All I see is grief, all consuming.
I decide not to ask questions. I don’t want her to tell me if she doesn’t want to. Not yet. I’ll find out one way or another. This isn’t the time. She pushes my hands away.
She looks up at me and I know that she’s retreating further into herself. She clutches her choker. She tugs at it until the clasp snaps. She throws it across the trailer.
She begins to gasp for air and I realize that she’s hyperventilating. A panic attack. I pick her up and sit her on my bed. I sit down on the bed, propping myself up on the headboard.
I pull her into my lap. She lays her head on my chest. I put my arms around her as she curls into me, making herself as small as she possibly can.
“Lana, I need you to follow my lead. Breathe in, hold it for three seconds and then breath back out.” I sit there and breathe with her. She’s shaking uncontrollably, the tears keep flowing. Little by little she starts to calm down.
I just sit there and hold her. She eventually passes out in my arms from the mental exhaustion. I kiss her head. “Sleep well, Lana.” Tomorrow is a new day. I don’t bother to turn out the lights because I don’t want to move. I just hold Lana.
I lay there with her for what feels like hours. At one point I dozed off and my eyes started to burn. I gently lay her down. As much as I want to stay here I have to take my contacts out.
I get up and take my contacts out. I decide to take my costume off too. No sense in staying in it while I’m up. I start taking it off when Lana stirs. I stop in my tracks. I don’t want to wake her up.
She rolls over. I exhale. I start talking my costume off. I always do this carefully so not to snag my nipple piercings. I plan to see what Liam is up to. Surely he’s left by now. I get my costume off and I pull on a t-shirt and my ripped jeans.
I take the time to take my makeup off too because it’s a pain in the ass. It easily takes me fifteen to twenty minutes to take it fully off. My face feels so much better. I make sure I’ve got it all off before heading outside.
It’s dark around. A lot of the other actors went home. We can stay in the trailer instead of driving home but not many of us do that. Liam definitely doesn’t stay. His trailer is dark.
I sneak over there. I look in the windows he’s not here. Shocking considering he brought Lana here. But maybe he thought she went home. Got a cab or something. Dick move.
I test the door. It’s unlocked. Rookie move. I quickly go inside. I start doing some snooping. I look around for anything useful. As I’m stumbling around in the dark, I get hit in the jaw.
I fall to the ground, hearing ringing in my ears. What the fuck? I take a moment to gather my bearings. Someone steps into my view. My vision is blurred. Did Liam show up without me knowing?
I blink a couple of times to try to get my vision back. Once I do, I’m completely shocked by who I see standing in front of me.