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It's chibimama here once agian with a new chapter of my fanfiction! n___n~
I'm sorry it took me so long to write this. Seriously, it should have been done a long time ago. But due to my laziness forces beyond my control, it took FOREVER. I promise the next chapter will come much sooner then this one did.
The same stuff I wrote before my last chapter applies to this one too. Don't steal it, yadda yadda yadda.
So without further ado, here we go.
~
Ian awoke to a white room. He had a splitting headache, and could not remember what had happened the night before. Had he been drinking? He didn’t think so. Suddenly, he heard voices coming from his left.
“Doctor, will Ian be alright?”
Ian racked his brain, trying to figure out to whom the lovely voice belonged. He managed to connect it to a friendly, caring face. Sasha! Of course.
“Don’t worry, your friend will be alright soon enough. He just needs some rest and relaxation. He’ll be up and at ’em in no time.”
Ian failed to connect the second voice to a face. It sounded cheery, but contained a slight note of anxiety. Ian wondered if something bad had happened.
“Oh, thank you doctor.”
The first voice, Sasha’s voice, sounded extremely relieved. Just hearing her voice relieved made Ian feel relieved; he closed his eyes, and managed to drift off to sleep once more.
When Ian awoke again, he found he couldn’t see anything. After a few seconds of panic he realized it was night. He sat up, immediately regretting it when dozens of tiny stars began to pop up in front of his eyes. His side ached, and his whole body was shaking slightly. Groaning, he looked around the room. Beside his bed, a small, digital clock glowed 8:00 pm. Ian groaned again. He had slept for an entire day.
Suddenly, Ian heard something stir beside his bed. Startled, he turned to see Sasha, asleep in a chair beside his bed. She looked so gentle and beautiful that Ian could not resist putting out his hand to stroke her cheek. Her skin felt soft and smooth and made Ian tremble. Sasha turned over, still fast asleep, and mumbled Ian’s name.
Ian’s eyes searched Sasha flawless face. How could such a being not only be as beautiful in body as in soul? It did not seem possible. Ian pondered on how he had come to be friends with such a woman. Ian sighed. Yes, friends . Just friends and nothing more. Ian had tried so many times to tell Sasha how he truly felt, and had failed each and every time. He wondered if he’d ever actually be able to.
“Oh well, at least she’s sleeping in the same room as me.” Thought Ian “It’s a start.”
~
At Gambino’s Gold Mountain, Jinx found her workload to be the complete opposite of the night’s before. Guests flooded the floor, pushing and shoving to reach slot machines. It was like a sea of people, and Jinx felt as though she was swimming instead of standing.
In the corner of her eye, Jinx saw two people she recognized coming towards her table. It was Liam and Moira.
“Yo Jinx baby, s’up?”
Jinx stared blankly at Liam for a few seconds before Moira hit him across the head. What did he think he was, black?
Moira gave Jinx an apologetic look, and began to make small talk with her. Jinx replied enthusiastically. She liked Moira a lot, but didn’t quite understand what she was doing with Liam. Why would such a smart girl waste her time on trash like Liam?
“So what brings you to the casino, Moira? I don’t see you here very often.”
“Oh, you know. I just wanted a night out. It was Liam’s idea to come, actually.”
Jinx looked back at Liam, who stood behind Moira, rubbing the back of his head. Of course, now it all made sense. The casino was where the cheap took their girlfriends to feint grandeur and wealth, when really, they didn’t want to spend a dime on their dates. Moira seemed perfectly happy however, and Liam was still listening so Jinx decided not to mention that.
Instead, she decided to have a little fun with Liam.
“Well, since you’re here, why don’t you check out tonight’s shows? It opened on Monday and closes tonight. And it’s probably never going to be plying here again. You’ll totally be the envy of your friends if you see it.”
Moira eyes began to shine. Liam’s were round with dismay.
“Really?” asked Moira.
“Yup. Plus, it’s a sold out show, but I managed to grab a hold of two tickets before they were all gone.” Jinx smiled widely, and raised her eyebrows at Liam.
“Wow, sounds great! What do you think, Liam?” Moira turned to Liam, who stepped forward and cleared his throat. He looked like a man thinking hard. Obviously, Liam didn’t want to get Moira mad at him, but everyone in Gaia knew that show tickets at the Casino were very expensive. Jinx smiled even more widely.
“So, ah, how much, Jinx?” asked Liam gruffly.
“Oh, they cost me a lot of gold, these babies did. But, since I’m not going to use them and you guys seem pretty eager, I’ll give you a discount. How about… five thousand gold each?”
“No deal.” Liam answered quickly.
Moira smacked Liam across the head once again. She looked livid.
“And why not, Liam? You told me that you’d take me out on the town tonight. You told me you had plenty of gold for tonight. I’m fed up of always having to pay my way, and often enough yours, on dates you ask me out on. Why not???”
“I… er… ah…”
Liam was once again hard at work thinking of what to say. Jinx could swear she actually heard the grinding of the wheels this time.
“Um…” Liam face suddenly lit up. “Because we have to go see Ian!”
“Ian?” asked a stumped Moira.
“Yah! I forgot to tell you, Sasha phoned me early, saying that Ian was in the hospital again. She tried phoning you, but you were out. She wanted you to meet her at the hospital, or something.”
Moira gave Liam a frantic look.
“What?!? WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU TELL ME BEFORE? Come on, we need to get over to the hospital. Bye Jinx.” She said, quickly and rushed. She grabbed Liam by the arm, waved and shot another apologetic look at Jinx, and ran out of the casino.
Once they were gone, Jinx snapped her fingers and muttered “Rats.”
A loud laugh came from behind her. Jinx turned around and saw Ace laughing hysterically.
“Has anyone ever told you how evil you are?” He said, tears in his eyes.
“Has anyone ever told you the meaning of “work” before?” Jinx retorted, hands on her hips.
Well, you’re not working either.”
Jinx raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yes, I am.”
“Yeah, whatever. Listen, nice move pulled back there. I can’t stand that guy.”
Jinx frowned. What would a cheesy guy like Ace have against Liam? She figured he would have fashioned him as his hero, or something.
“What’s wrong with Liam?”
Ace shrugged.
“I don’t know. He thinks he’s such a big man.” At this, Jinx snorted. “And I guess I don’t like his choice in women, either.”
“What’s wrong with Moira?” Jinx asked quickly.
“Oh, nothing’s wrong with her, I suppose… but she’s kind of punk, no?”
“…And what’s wrong with being punk?” Jinx asked, rolling her eyes.
“It’s depressing.” Said Ace, nodding knowledgably.
Jinx shook her head, amused. Men were so strange… but highly fascinating.
“So then, what kind of girls are worthy of the great Ace -”
Jinx’s sentence trailed off into the distance. Becky had just walked by, her blond hair flashing in the bright casino lights, and her carefree, breezy laugh carrying over the heads of the many loitering people standing around. In the flash of a second, Ace was gone from Jinx’s side and walking with Becky, his infamous grin once again upon his face. Becky seemed pleased with Ace’s sudden appearance; she laughed even louder, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. Jinx watched them disappear into the crowd with not even a word of ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’ towards Jinx. She turned away disgusted.
“Of course,” she murmured “Dumb blonds.”
~
Moira practically ran all the way to the Gaia General hospital. She paused only momentarily to enquire at the front desk which room Ian was staying in, and was off running down the hall towards his room. Seconds later, Liam appeared at the hospital doorway, holding the frame and breathing heavily. He just managed to see Moira’s skirt end whip around a corner before disappearing.
When Moira arrived at the room, the lights were closed and both Sasha and Ian appeared to be sleeping. Moira sighed slightly. They looked so cute together; Sasha, her head resting lightly on the bed and Ian, his hand on top of Sasha’s spread out hair. She smiled a small smile and began to turn around. Suddenly, from behind, Liam slinked past her and went into the room.
Before Moira could warn him to be quiet, however, Liam squinted and practically yelled, “Why’s it so dark in here?” and turned on the lights.
The effect was immediate. As though a gun shot had gone off, Sasha’s head snapped up, and Ian fell out of bed.
“Wazgoingon?” Ian yelled sleepily.
Moira snorted and hit Liam hard on the back of the head. Oh well, at least she didn’t have to try waking them up herself.
“Oops, didn’t realize you guys were sleeping. You ok there, Ian?” Liam asked.
“Yah, just dandy.” Replied Ian grumpily, swinging his leg back into the bed.
“Oh good, Liam told you I phoned, Moira! I just wanted to ask if you could check up on my shop. I was only there for a few hours today, and I needed to get back to the hospital. I guess it’s too late now, though.” Sasha explained, grinning sheepishly.
Moira let out a breath of relief.
“So nothing seriously wrong?”
“Nah, I just tore open a couple of stitches.” Said Ian.
“The way Liam made it sound I thought you had been shot again or something.” Moira shot a look at Liam, who shrugged.
“I thought Ian had fallen down the stairs or something.” Liam said.
“Hey! Are you saying I’m klutzy or something?!?” asked Ian, pouting.
Everyone in the room laughed, and Sasha looked out the window at the clear night sky. It was a nice ending to a stressful day, though she could not shake off the feeling that this was only the beginning of her problems.
~
Edmund sat alone with his head in his hands. His whole body shook with fatigue and grief. In his head, it just kept playing over and over again, like a movie. He had practically memorized the whole conversation from the day prior.
It had been a shocking end to a tense day. Edmund had heard of the joyful reunion between Johnny Gambino and his son; but the last thing Edmund had expected was to find him standing in his very own shop, only a few days after the whole revival had occurred. Edmund had felt awkward and embarrassed. He had once been a good friend of Johnny Gambino’s, but during the last few months before Gambino’s supposed death their friendship had grown farther and farther apart. Even though Gambino had been going through tough times, Edmund had neglected his duties as a good friend and concentrated more on himself. And yet, after all this, the man who had stood before him had been smiling. At that point, Edmund had wondered if Gambino was there to apologize, or expected to be apologized to. Anyways, the only explicable reason that Gambino was there was to rekindle their friendship, or so Edmund had thought.
“Johnny?” Edmund had repeated, staring at the man.
The next words had stung Edmund there that night and even as he sat thinking about them, they stung him again.
“Hello, Edmund.”
The words themselves had little importance; they were common and were unusual in no way. It was the manner Gambino had said them in, with a hint of cheeriness that had been placed atop a voice that sounded cold and evil. Edmund had winced upon hearing them.
“So what brings you here?” Edmund had asked, attempting to keep his voice cheerful even though he felt very much afraid underneath.
“Oh, I was just in the area.” Gambino let out a chilling laugh.
Edmund, at that point, had become feeling very nervous. The whole situation did not seem right. A thin trickle of sweat had slid down his face. Edmund had then attempted to make conversation once again.
“So…how are you?”
Gambino had tilted his head slightly, still smiling slightly. Edmund had wished he could have smashed that calm and collected face somehow. It did not seem right. Edmund, however, had stood rooted to the spot.
“Oh, not to well, actually.” Gambino had said, brushing some dirt off of his shoulder, “I’ve been quite busy actually. Planning, and things.”
“P-planning?”
“Oh yes. Once again I find myself somewhat lab tech-less. And also,” Gambino had flashed a grin “Guinea pig-less.”
“Really?” Edmund had replied, his throat tightening.
“Really…” Gambino had replied, laughing.
At that point, everything had gone dark for Edmund. He remembered kicking and struggling, but ropes had been placed around his legs and arms, disabling all movement.
And all the meanwhile, Edmund had heard Gambino’s cold, hard laugh.
But now, now Edmund understood. He only wished that he had been able to do something the night before. He only wished he could have fought the lab techs that had broken into the back of his shop, silently creeping up to him. He only wished that he could have somehow escaped the van they had driven him away in. He only wished he could somehow escape the gaze of the man before him, who stood watching Edmund’s cell, laughing a cold, hard laugh.
And most of all he wished, ever so wished, that he could have realized, before it had been too late, that the man who now stood before him laughing was not the former friend Edmund had believed him to be.
No. The man standing before Edmund was no longer Johnny Gambino.
chibimama · Fri Sep 15, 2006 @ 01:00am · 3 Comments |
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