MS - Rav's newest story

[Pheonix791989]

ooh great update!! i wonder what I have for mike to see. lol. im glad your back mum. just get better soon ok?

[Friðbjörn]

very very solemn, very grave atmosphere, chilling really

 

hope you get better =)

looking forward to more of this

[woodyloveslinkin]

I hope you get better as well Great update. More.....?

[Ravynlee]

Thanks guys. Have another chapter almost done. Hope to have it up soon. *hugs*

[woodyloveslinkin]

So where's that update ma? *draws up a chair and sits*

[andrea]

Loved the Mike in this latest updated, lol. Although I kind of felt bad of Ryu in some of the parts of the update I'm glad he's getting what he deserves. So can't wait to see what happens next.

[Ravynlee]

Thanks! Glad you liked.

As for update bear with me. I have been writing yes but so far what I have isn't coherent enough to post yet. It's basically 3 or 4 parts of incomplete chapters I need to tie together, so will endeavor to do that next day or so and post as soon as I can.

Soon guys.

Thanks again.

[Ravynlee]

Small update, as promised. Well, AN update as promised. Have about 4 chapters to post, but was annoyed at how it was all progressing so might just have to wait and see how they go. Already re-written a few several times, deleted something like 30 pages, but decided to just post something in essence just as a bridge to get me where I really need to go. So, while I will probably kick myself later on, here's something for now to tide you over - and give me a chance to concentrate on getting Mike and Chester in the same place at the same time in the right context! :shoot:

 

At least SOMEONE might get what's coming to him very shortly

Enjoy, and more soon.

 

---

 

“Don’t,” Foxx grunted, sweeping his arm away.

Ignoring David’s sullen snort and matching stare, she pushed herself up and reached for the nearest bottle that littered her bedside table. Taking a long thirsty swig she rolled the cool glass against her forehead and expelled a sigh before she set it down. Reaching out she snapped on the nearest light. With a groan she pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the mattress and shield her eyes from the sting. Behind her she could hear the sheets rustle and David groan as he slumped backwards against the pillows. Fumbling around for a cigarette Foxx opened two packets, both empty, before she tossed them away disappointedly. She huffed out another sound of irritation.

“I’m not in the mood, alright?” she murmured.

“That’s not what you said before,” David reminded dryly.

“Well I’m saying it now!”

Glaring over her shoulder Foxx met his eyes before she swung her eyes away once more. She winced rather than say what it was she wanted to – but David already seemed to know as he sighed towards the ceiling.

“It’s him isn’t it?”

Foxx reached back and shoved at him, at the few inches of mattress that divided them and hissed out another sound like a reprimanding parent.

“Why does it always keep coming back to Chester with you?” she snapped, snapping her bra and shirt up off the end of the bed to wrench back on in quick, agitated movements. “Is that all you think about?”

“Is that all you think about?” David countered, eyeing her lazily from the pillow behind her.

He dug his fists in beneath the material to prop his head up a fraction by which to better see her, but Foxx was doing her best impression of a sulking teenager as she hurriedly made her way back into her clothes. The red glow from the cloth-draped lamp cast his bald scalp and three quarters of his face in a sombre red glow, adding a blood-like sparkle to his eyes, along with the walls and ceiling too.

Watching her with a snort David eventually pulled himself up to find his clothes as well. His joints popped and groaned accompanied by the squeaking of bed springs as Foxx lifted herself a few inches to draw her underwear back on. As Foxx reached back to flick her flowing hair back over her shoulders David sat watching a moment, his distant smile slowly being replaced by a frustrated scowl. Their moments of passion had been too fleeting and too brief in staying for his likings as he drew his knees up beneath the covers to stare at her. Even with the dim red glow the faint dark smears on her shoulders and neck made him smirk a fraction until he lost sight of them beneath the corset shirt again. The rings encircling his chin glimmered as he bowed his head towards his chest and cleared his throat. Reaching up he let out a heavy sigh as he sat scratching at his round scalp.

“You know it’s not like that,” Foxx was explaining with her back still turned. “You know how I feel about him.”

“No, actually, I don’t,” David uttered as he leant forward against his knees. He clasped his wrist against the crumpled covers with his focus barely wavering from their lowered stare. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”

Sarcasm was rife in his tone causing her to glimpse back over her shoulder again and glare at him. It took him a moment to look up. When he did the two of them locked eyes. Somewhere close by the sound of grinding guitars and a club in full swing droned back tirelessly. Sirens as always were wailing in the distance. Foxx’s shoulders fell a little as she lowered her eyes to the mattress.

“Why are you acting like this?” she murmured.

She reached for the bottle and took another long hard drink as David merely sat there watching her. A moment later, divided by silence, David reached out and snatched the bottle away from her and took a thirsty guzzle too. Foxx shook her head at him as he ran his forearm across his mouth and continued to glare.

“Like what?”

“Like this! Like some… jealous boyfriend or something. I never said I was committed to you.”

“That’s great. Thanks,” he murmured.

Foxx snatched the bottle back and took another drink before she leant forward again and set it back down on the bedside. She drew her boots over and began tugging them on as behind her she felt the mattress shift as David stood up and pulled his clothes on. Against her better judgement, Foxx stopped what she was doing, leant over her lap and crossed her arms defensively.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out,” she uttered towards the floor.

“No, I’m sure you didn’t,” came his low grumbling response from the other side of the bed.

“It’s just… I’m worried about him okay? Not a word. Nothing. It’s not like him. Normally Chester can’t keep anything from me, at least that’s what I thought before I found out he had this whole fucking family out west somewhere this whole time.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“Who said it was? I just said I was worried about him, that’s all.”

“Why? He’s a big boy. He can handle himself.”

“I don’t expect you to understand.”

“That’s good. Because I don’t,” David muttered, tugging his shirt back on.

As he lingered now a few feet away at the foot of the bed Foxx shoulders fell heavily. With a sharp scoff she reached for the bottle only to find it swept from her grasp as David threw it viciously into the nearest wall. Glass exploded and the clear liquid reigned down like tears from heaven as Foxx uttered a sound of shock and disapproval at him. She was about to bark at him for wasting at least half a bottle of good alcohol but was smartly silenced as he snagged her by the jaw and jerked her face up towards his.

“I’m worried about you!”

“Get your hands off me-” Foxx grit out through clenched teeth.

She managed to jerk her head free only to meet his scowling stare mere so close that she could feel his breaths burst against her face like a series of hot winds.

“Of course I don’t fucking understand!” David said. His low voice sounded like a menacing growl at such close quarters as he poked himself in the chest like some martyr imploring for mercy. “I’m just a dick to you, huh? Is that it? Some puppet you can jerk around on a string until Chester comes back? Is that all I am to you?”

“Get off me. I mean it.”

“Or what? You’ll tell your boyfriend on me?”

With her jaw still locked tight and snarling Foxx glowered into David’s face with her nostrils flaring as though she were struggling to keep her breaths even. As he bowed closer she jerked her head back again and drew away from him in an arc, making ready to stand. David grabbed for her but she shook his hand clear, slapping him, them pushing him enough to make him stagger aside a few inches. With a wordless growl she warned him again to back down from her. She didn’t want to hit him but she wasn’t afraid of him either as she swung her eyes at him, meeting his vicious stares with one of equal ferocity. It was hard to believe that they could be anything but enemies as David grabbed for her once again, seemingly unable to take no for an answer. The fiery red-head’s lips twitched but nothing came out as she continued to stride from the room.

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Looks like you won’t give me any choice!” David snapped back indignantly as he watched her go.

[Ravynlee]

Running a hand over his brow and across his face he ground out another heavy sigh as Foxx made it to the door and reefed it open. Suddenly the wail of grinding guitars and pounding drums flooded the room and fragmented the silence as David called out her name. Foxx didn’t appear to hear it but turned around anyway, tugging the low dipping collar of her black velvet top back into place. She snorted again but the scowl on her face was mixed with a hint of regret as she turned her head and continued away from him.

“Foxx! Fuck!” David barked as he swung his arm angrily.

He paced back the way he had come towards the foot of the bed. The sounds of the squeaking springs were lost now behind the angry riffs as he sat wrenching his boots back on. Seeing movement in the doorway he blinked up and paused. It was two of his friends, Jon and Dan. They were both clad in typical black with long hair and wary looks on their faces as they made their way into the bedroom. David sighed through his nose as they cautiously approached. Dan, gleaming from lip and brow with his piercings, smiled at David as he looked in the direction that Foxx had just exited.

“Don’t bother,” David muttered by way of eluding explanation.

He sat reefing up the laces as Jon lingered just inside the door. There was something about both men’s faces that screamed nervousness – and David picked up on it straightaway.

“What?” he demanded.

He tasted the alcohol that had splashed onto his finger before smearing the side of his face absentmindedly. When he looked up, having received no answers, he urged them again with a little less steam.

“There’s someone here, to see you,” Dan said.

Jon looked back, craning his head out into the hall that was foggy and dim from aging yellow lights and fake smoke that had managed to curl its way upstairs from the club below. David shrugged awaiting further details that didn’t come. Slapping his thighs he stood. Lazily he approached his taller counterpart and looked up evenly into his eyes.

“Well. Who?”

Dan couldn’t hold the shorter man’s piercing stare as he cleared his throat and looked back over his shoulder as if seeking validation. When he met David’s eyes again the stare he was given was practically intrusive.

“It’s Joe.”

“Joe?”

“Hahn.”

“Joe Hahn? What’s that fat fuck doing back here? I thought someone had cut his fat ass into millions of pieces-?”

“He’s not alone,” Dan intercepted.

David’s goading smile fell away unsurely as he asked, “Who?”

Dan swallowed loudly.

“Who?” The frown on David’s face gradually became loathsome.

“Chester,” he answered, as if against his own better judgement. “He’s here.”

Outside the song ended and the roar of applause vibrated through the walls and floor. It echoed around them like some bodiless entity.

“What?”

“With him. With Joe Hahn.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“They’re outside right now.”

“You left him, out there, with all those people-”

“He’s covered up. No one would recognise him. I didn’t at first-”

“Then how can you be sure it’s even him! He’s probably long gone from-”

“It’s him, man, it’s The Chemist-”

“Are you sure?”

“I’d know that face anywhere.”

“Fuck,” David snapped, shaking his head.

He rubbed at his brow and scalp again in a few quick agitated strokes as his shoulders rose and fell in frustration.

“Foxx-”

“No. He asked to see you,” Dan explained.

David glimpsed up and met his eyes sceptically.

“What? Why?”

“Didn’t say.”

“Fuck, why now, of all times?” he uttered, as Dan and Jon exchanged wary glances inside the opened bedroom door.

Beyond it the fake smoke curled like a lazy finger, beckoning them out into the hall where the noise of applause was slowly starting to abate. With his face lowered and his brow sharp David Draiman glared at his taller counterpart. He huffed out a slow decisive breath. The rings around his chin glimmered like malformed metal canines protruding from beneath his lip as he scowled.

“Show me,” he said.

 

---

 

I know. A tease. At least we know where Chas has been sort of - wherever Joe's been hiding - and welcome back Mr Hahn! And now that that tumultuous trio or Chas, David and Foxxy are distracted by their bizarre on-again-off-again tug-of-war...

Mike's distracted by punishing an 'innocent' Ryu...

The NEU Calvary is readying to descend with guns blazing...

And Rob and Frib are smuggling the body of Chester's late daughter around somewhere...

hahaha

 

Whoa! Caught up yet?

More soon - well, as soon as I am happy-ish with what I have to follow.

Thanks as always.

[Pheonix791989]

great update mum hope i get to read more soon. MS and AATM have been my inspiration as of late with my own story. i really enjoied it lol

[Friðbjörn]

sneak peak...I want more! geeez

 

XD

[Pheonix791989]

go read my story lol. you're in it so read it lmao. and im with fribby mom, go update again!!!

[woodyloveslinkin]

*cough cross-promoting cough* @ Mel

 

I have to say I really enjoyed you updating. I don't know how I could've missed this update when I decided to play walkabouts both physically and LPFingly at four in the morning. I still stand by the remark (and I quote your own words here) "BITCH!" at the fact that Ava is still dead. I was hoping for a miracle to happen and some weird ending like someone dug up her body (hmm...grave robber?) and found she was still alive...come on anything's possible! Laughed at the part "fat fuck". It's actually got me thinking now...is there ever an update from either guilty party without swearing involved? I don't think so....we both have a foul mouth on us sometimes. Saw the name Dan. Thought of my Dan for a sec. Weird.

 

Any who. Good as always. Can't wait for more.

[Ravynlee]

is there ever an update from either guilty party without swearing involved? I don't think so....we both have a foul mouth on us sometimes.

Damn straight. Swear like a trooper. Got a billion times worse working hospitality. My way of handling work-related stress I guess. Haha. oh that and I'm genetically predisposed to being a moody little... you know what.

As for killing off Ava - again, I aplogize. Seemed like a good idea at the time. When I wrote it it even shocked me as I thought, 'I can take this in a whole new direction', then woke up the next day and went 'where the hell was I going with this again?' That stuffed me up a bit to be honest. But no matter. We'll work around it. Can't miraculously bring her back or body-switch her with a double etc, cause when that happens on TV etc I just loose faith in the program and all credibility as a writer.

 

great update mum hope i get to read more soon. MS and AATM have been my inspiration as of late with my own story. i really enjoied it lol

Inspiration huh? Great to hear! Wish sometimes I could get my writing out there beyond these walls but inall reality with MS and AATM the main protagonists are diffused amidst the band so it doesn't fit the criteria of most other fanfic sites (with any regular clientelle) - and Fandom won't allow me to post there anymore cause of some technical glitch. So this is my forum really. You guys are my audience! Truthfully if I thought no one was reading I wouldn't write. How times have changed, huh? Have been getting the urge to write something new yet again, and have for a while, which is why I want to end this one soon, but now as I look back and reread over parts of this especially I can think of so many other and better ways to have done it. So now it feels... incomplete to me anyway. Maybe just being hard on myself as usual (only 'perfectionist' in this, or really fight to be, as opposed to Rob character in AATM tat we've both adapted).

Don't get me wrong, I adore AATM, and I do, and MS is not without it's charm (for want of a better word), but... am getting restless again. Which is why everytime when I sit down to write more on this as of late I get distracted and end up deleting most of what I pen for it not being up to scratch.

Tough love, I know.

Anyway, if you or anyone draws inspiration from this then I am humbled and more than happy. Stoked even. Getting anyone to believe in my stories and characters enough to leave their impression on someone's subconscious to me is like the ultimate thrill. It's why I write in the first place, to let these 'demons' out of my head and put them out there for someone else to think about. If they spawn another story in whatever context then even better. It's all good. Better then good, it's great!

 

sneak peak...I want more! geeez

 

I know, mean ain't I? More soon-ish. Promise. As stated I do literally have 4 other chapters I'm working on, mostly finished, to add here. Just have to tie them all together as we work our way towards Chas and Mike's face off. Am way too easily distracted at the mo. Trying NOT to think/start anything else before ending this, but going to start climbing the walls soon! hahaha

Oh and I added that little update there 1) to break up the characters POV as I have tried to do religiously all the way along so we never get completely fixed on one character but keep going back to them, and 2) because Foxxy hasnt had a mention in a while. I started her off as a mean brooding witch of sorts and wanted not to strip that illusion away but to give you some insight as to what drives her anger and frustration all the time, in being she's running a mini criminal empire and torn between what her heart wants and what she doesn't want to face between Chas and David. Notice that everyone in this is torn in some way or another. Whether it's Fribs and his loyalties to his job and now Rob, whether it's Joanna between her ex hubby and soon to be new one, whether it's Rashell not wanting to see Mike for who and what he really is behind the ideal she so adores, or any number of us, and this again is just another yes sneek peek into that. Poor Foxxy hasn't been given a fair shot at this story, thinkin back I had better things in mind for her, indeed everyone, but now I have to end it all anyway. At least she gets 'humanised' a little in this update from the scowling killer she's been known as throughout - (And see her parrallel to Mel's character on 'the other side' with Mikey etc?)

 

Anyway a huge thanks for reading guys, for reviewing and for maintaining interest evenwhen I got lax with it. And a HUGE big thanks go out to the staff for the recent awards. Stoked it made an impression on someone enough to earn recognition. Thanks again. :o

 

More soon.

~Rav

[andrea]

I wonder what Chester and Joe want from David. Hmm. Can't wait for the penning updates.

[Ravynlee]

---

 

Mike did not look relieved to see Mel as they pulled the car into park and cut the engine. The window whirred down as he peered back over the glass before giving both occupants of the car a stern glance. Tilting his head to the side he motioned her to follow suit. Beside her Bam was making fists against the material gathered in his lap. She smiled at him as reassuringly as she could before nodding aside to Mike.

“What?” the half-Japanese man grunted.

Though he remained in the drivers seat and she behind hers, the few feet between the stationary vehicles didn’t seem far enough as Mike slumped back into the seat warily. “Don’t be playing games with me tonight Melissa. I don’t have time for this shit.”

“Here,” Mel said, withdrawing some small bundle from the glove compartment.

Though Bam remained silent as she reached across his lap towards the window, the look on his face was painfully nervous. She wished he would say something or do something impulsive to shirk the paternal frown Mike was affording them, but was simultaneously relieved he didn’t. Still, she couldn’t help but shake the feeling that somehow Mike already knew something was up even if he wasn’t so much as putting it into words at the moment. Grunting with the effort of reaching out through the off-drivers side window while still strapped into her seatbelt, Mel handed Mike her package and gave Bam a quick unceremonious thud in the ribs as she drew back into her seat again. Ever the showman Bam shoved her. Mel smirked at him, hoping he could read the look of warning she was giving him.

“Relax,” she mouthed silently.

Several feet away on the other side of his opened window Mike was unwrapping the package.

“What am I looking at?” he muttered as he peeled through the hastily gathered plastic.

Mel stared at Bam intently.

“Syringe. We found it at Ryu’s.”

“When?”

“Not long ago.”

“What were you doing there in the first place?” Mike enquired without missing a beat. Mel had well anticipated he wouldn’t, having sat in on enough ‘business’ meetings to know that Mike was as unflappable and as poker-faced as they came when the mood took him. “I thought I asked you two to-”

“You asked me to get proof,” Mel said, talking over the top of him just as seriously.

Mike studied the contents of the parcel in his hand discreetly before he closed it and lowered it from view beneath the window’s edge. He rolled his eyes aside to meet hers again.

“Back in the beginning, at the very start, remember? Back at the club, you dragged me aside and you asked me to do this-”

“I asked you to do that some six months ago,” Mike corrected, his rich voice seemingly colder for its low tone and almost perfect elocution. “Why now? Why tonight of all nights? Coincidence, isn’t it?”

Mel and Bam locked eyes as Mike leisurely slid his gaze out through the windscreen to the row of storefronts ahead. People were strolling by but not enough to be of any great concern, and surrounded by flashing lights and hissing steam vents most were too distracted to look at them. Besides, beneath the lowered cap and drawn hood of his dark parker all but Mike’s cheeks and nose were lost to the shadows. He looked around lazily like a man with all the time in the world but the tension of the moment was painfully clear – made worse of course by the trio’s stiff and brooding silence. Eventually Mike sighed and wrapped the parcel up again. His head was rotating slowly in keeping with the movements of some tiny brunette clacking past the hood of his car. Mel pursed her lips wryly as Mike cleared his throat with a low rumble.

“So what?” he asked. “What is this supposed to prove? It could be anyone’s. One of his friends. For all I know it could be yours.”

Mel smirked but doubted he could see her face all that clearly amidst the shadows. Bam swallowed loudly.

“You’ve seen the way he’s been acting lately.”

“Yeah. I’ve also seen the way you two have been acting lately. I don’t like it. If I didn’t know any better I would swear you two were setting him up.”

Bam opened his mouth to speak but with a quick jab in his ribs, discreetly covered beneath the cabin’s darkness, Mel enforced Bam’s silence. Mike was looking at them again seriously. Mel smiled at him. She was hoping he could see it.

“Why would I do that?” she challenged.

Her heart was pounding as her mind began reeling with visions of Mike nursing a loaded handgun across his lap cocked and ready and aimed unseen in their direction. She scoffed at it as much to convince herself she wasn’t scared, as it was a menial attempt at sarcasm. Mike’s dark eyed stare wasn’t helping matters at all as he just continued to sit there staring back at them. He snorted at her and even managed a smile himself. It was as if someone had taken a knife and slashed a crooked deep wound across the lower half of his face – framed as it was by his beard – and it wasn’t humorous in the least. Mel hadn’t expected it would be – he was testing her after all.

“I’ve known Ryu for years,” Mike explained, regaling his story to a captive audience of sorts, “Why should I believe he’s got a problem just because you say so.”

Bam was looking at Mel out of the corner of his eye like a cornered animal.

“We’ve all got problems,” Bam blurted.

Mel internalised a groan and sunk her head back into the head rest. She gripped at his thigh again and dug her fingertips in so hard Bam jerked and stifled a yelp in his seat – but just barely. Mike looked at them again. He sighed.

“Yeah,” he agreed distractedly meeting his reflection in the rear view mirror. “Some more than most.”

“Look, you got what you came for.”

“Which is?”

“Proof. That’s his blood in there. I know it. Go see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“And what makes you so sure it’s his? Why? Did you stab him with it, is that it?”

“Mike-” Bam began to argue.

But Mel shoved him backwards in his seat to lean past him.

“If you don’t believe me, why did you ask me to spy for you in the first place?”

“Because I don’t want you setting up my friends just to save your own ass!” Mike retaliated fiercely.

His brow was burrowed just as venomous at this point as hers was as the two locked eyes through the opened windows.

Mel snorted at him. She scowled and shook her head ever so slightly. Then she smirked at him. Mike continued to frown.

“Fine. Think what you want. But I’m probably the only one looking out for you, even if the rest of them only act like they do.”

“Should I be flattered?”

“Be what you want,” Mel quipped and slumped back into her seat. The car rocked and settled as traffic continued to steadily stream past them. “If you don’t want to take my word for it then don’t. There’s obviously nothing I can do to change your mind anyway, right?”

“Alright, alright, enough with the theatrics, I have enough of that going on around me at the moment,” Mike sighed towards his vehicle’s ceiling. He drew in a long heavy burdensome breath and slowly pushed it out again.

[Ravynlee]

“So… what now?”

“I don’t know,” Mel replied, giving Bam a wary glance.

She couldn’t believe he was actually falling for it and was tentative about just how easily Mike seemed to be won over. She smiled but only briefly and had to look away in the opposite direction to make sure her cover wasn’t blown in the final stretch. Half way through an internal reprimand, Mel’s focus was shifted outside the glass watching a young couple pass by hand-in-hand. The woman was laughing and the man was leaning against her side a little as they strolled the sidewalk beneath the glittering lights without seemingly a care in the world. Mel sighed to herself unable to focus on anything else. Thoughts of Shwag stabbed sharply but were quickly smothered by another as she thought of her new associate detective Benji Madden. There was something about his face that made her smile distantly to herself, as she saw the young couple stopping at a postcard stand and peruse the produce contentedly. Beside her she heard plastic crinkle and saw Bam take back the package out of the corner of her eye. Her brow furrowed as she looked beyond Bam towards Mike who was still staring lazily ahead out the windscreen as though he had better places to be at that moment. Mel snorted derisively to herself and lowered her eyes towards the darkness gathering in her lap. Her feelings like her thoughts were a jumbled mess as she sat brooding briefly in the stillness. She couldn’t deny that even up til this point Mike had been good to her and at heart he really was a decent guy, but if he ever found out about Benji she feared not just that her last chance at happiness would be ruined – but the very real fear for both his and her respective safety. Who was she kidding; she was committed to Mike for life, maybe not in marriage, but quite literally in blood. Giving the young couple ahead of her a parting glimpse Mel summoned her face up to look at Mike intently, ever the diligent soldier. Mike was waiting for her. He stared. She couldn’t see his eyes, just an impenetrable band of blackness above his nose that completely obscured the top half of his face beneath the hood and cap. She couldn’t see them but she could feel them as she drew in a deep calming breath and pushed it out. She nodded expectantly.

“You better be right about this,” he warned.

Again Mel nodded. Bam beside her looked about three seconds from shoving open the car door and making a run for it.

“I know,” she agreed.

Mike sighed through his nose. He had just signed one of his closest friend’s death warrants and in doing had exposed his vulnerabilities in a very real way – he didn’t know who to trust but he knew what had to be done to those he didn’t.

“Meet me at the club. I have to hear it from his mouth.”

“But Mike-”

“No, Mel. If he’s sold me out, if he’s the one who- who did that to Brad, then he’s going to stand up and admit to it. Even if it’s the last thing he says. Let him die with what little dignity he has left, if that’s possible.”

“Brad suffered,” Mel reminded, ignoring Bam’s guilty stare. She stared fixedly past him towards Mike. “You can’t just let him get away with it.”

“Trust me, he won’t,” Mike uttered towards the vehicle’s ceiling.

A truck rumbled past drawing their collective attentions backwards. When they met eyes Mike’s defensive stare had eased a fraction. Despite the harsh contrast of shadows what she saw of his face was dismal with regret and exhaustion. Mike the almighty was falling but he wasn’t going down without taking out others around him. Mel swallowed loudly and forced her most composed smile, reassuring him as she always had. Without Rashell he was looking to her to ground him and regardless Mel was obligated to help him – even if it meant losing herself and any chance of redemption with Benji in the process.

“Let’s go,” she agreed.

A moment later two cars started. One after the other pulled away from the curb and turned east heading towards Midtown. There was no escape from that moment onward and Mel already knew it. Watching the couple dwindle in her mirrors she sighed letting her shoulders fall before she forced them back up where they needed to be. She didn’t want to think she had just signed both hers and Bam’s death warrants in turn as she followed Mike’s car back towards Fort Minor and back towards her life’s destiny.

 

---

[woodyloveslinkin]

Something smells fishy about this......oh did I say great job with the update? Lol. Can't wait for more.

[Pheonix791989]

oh nice update. really nice... im seriously gripping my seat... or the carpet. i wonder how its all gonna play out now...

[Ravynlee]

Thanks guys. Getting there... slowly

 

---

 

“What are we doing here?” Frib asked, staring out through the darkness.

He sat watching the line of people milling outside the nightclub all waiting patiently for their chance to get inside. The angry riffs wailed up through the street seeming to come from the basement venue like the vitals of some beast buried beneath the sidewalk. Sliding his eyes across at his ex partner the young detective frowned. Rob looked to be ignoring him, so he repeated his question again.

“Shh,” Rob responded, raising a hand slightly to Frib’s irritated grunt.

Sighing through his nose Frib rolled his eyes and sunk backwards into his seat again. Jerking the cuff of his sleeve up, he stole a glimpse at the time before casting another over his shoulder. The cavalry would be arriving any minute – Where the hell were they?

“What are we waiting for? If he’s in there I say we go in and pick him up. Take him in for questioning at least.”

“What’s that going to prove?”

“Well it’s better than just sitting out here doing nothing. The team’s going to be here any-”

“Let them come,” Rob uttered. He was checking his side mirror intently.

Frib’s frown of mock-insult transfigured into one of growing concern as he followed the other man’s line of sight out onto the sidewalk. At first he couldn’t see anything and sunk back into his seat again like some bored child. But as the seconds ticked down and Rob continued to stare Frib’s unease settled into something more familiar and hopeful. Around them cars continued listing past and the chatter of conversation across the street behind them kept the night’s stillness and silence at bay. As car headlights caught across the darkened side street just two doors down from the club a huddle of about four men could be seen gathering. Rob sat forward in his seat expectantly.

“Who are they?” Frib breathed. Though they were too far away to discern much more than generic shape, the atmosphere inside the vehicle shifted succinctly along with the look on the bigger man’s haggard and bearded face. “Rob, what can you-?”

“Shh! Shut up a minute,” he warned. He frowned gravely. Ahead of them a fifth party emerged, seemingly appearing from a side street, sauntering across the sidewalk as though all life had been drained from her. It was definitely a woman, Frib knew that much in an instant, by the curves of her hips and the bulbous ass lost beneath a pair of loose fitting jeans. He slid his eyes aside to Rob gleaning him silently for answers. Rob’s focus hadn’t shifted at all but the seat creaked as he moved about in his chair. Recognition flashed on his face as Frib suddenly swung his eyes back to the woman out across the street. Her head was bowed and bathed in culminating shadows but something about her suddenly pricked the young detective’s attentions to.

“Who the hell is that?” he murmured breathlessly.

The woman was half a block away from the club but it was clear she was making a bee-line straight towards it and the restless crowd all bustling for their chance to get in.

“Rob? You know her? You do, don’t you?”

“So do you,” Rob muttered, digging his hand beneath the seat to fish out his pistol.

Frib watched on feeling a familiar wave of unease wash over him and fought to swallow it down.

“I do?”

“Open your eyes,” Rob uttered. With a loud clack he was checking the clip before snapping it back into place. He thumbed the safety off. Frib stared back tensely, his whole body seemingly one rigid knot of dread and anticipation. He glimpsed again out at the sidewalk watching the woman hurry along with her shoulders hunched and arms crossed and her head defensively down. Briefly illuminated beneath a streetlight Frib saw a smear of grey that he thought at first to be shadow spilling down her arm. Then he thought again. It was a tattoo.

“Holy shit,” he gasped, swinging his eyes aside to Rob. “That’s Ravyn isn’t it? That’s your ex wife?”

“Yep,” Rob said simply.

His eyes continued to watch her as his hand reached out and gently pushed the car door open. Frib stared after him like a child about to be abandoned.

“What the hell are you doing?” he cried.

Rob didn’t answer as he stepped out of the car and cocking the pistol gently hid it in place behind his back. Frib scurried across the seat to implore some badly needed sense of reason.

“Jesus Christ Rob, you can’t be serious. If they see you over there-! I mean, you told me before right, Chester had it in for you, at least he will now thanks to-” Frib faltered and bowed his head a moment before the shape on the back seat drew his attentions away.

He sighed through his nose and pouted dismally. When he looked up Rob was closing the door in his face with a firm and heavy thud. Rolling his eyes in exasperation the young detective withdrew the firearm from his holster and too quickly checked and readied it as Rob had done before he quickly scurried out of the car. Closing the door he stopped looking back at the mummy-like shape of Ava on the back seat grimacing at their decision to keep her with them. He didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone like this and so exposed like this. Surely any idiot with half a brain could tell what that was if they looked hard enough he told himself and threw his pout across the car’s roof to his ex partner. Rob however wasn’t paying attention to Ava as he continued his vigil of the alley and the surrounding street. People still strolled the streets but not as many as there were on the other side of the street in front of the club.

“Rob, seriously, we can’t just leave her here,” Frib implored.

Visually sweeping the street Rob stopped and frowned at him.

“You have a better idea?”

Frib winced. “Well, no, but-”

“Then stay here. Baby sit. If it makes you feel better. I’ve got a job to do,” he heard Rob mutter with his back turned.

Frib snorted as he gripped at his weapon.

“What job would that be exactly? If you go over there to save her-”

“I’m not,” Rob was quick to correct. The look on his face beneath the cap’s bowed brim was as stern as a scolding parent and Frib didn’t appreciate the sarcasm one iota. “I was hoping she would do this.”

“Do what?”

“Lead me back here. To Chester.”

“Chester? You’re kidding right? We don’t even know where he is for sure. I mean, sure word on the street was he used to come here, but that was like ages ago, before he even went away. This is Greyfoxx’s turf now. Greyfoxx and-”

“Things have changed.”

“So, you’re using her as bait?”

“Sure. You got a problem with that?” Rob asked. Frib summoned his eyes up from their dismal shelter of the car’s roof to shake his head dourly. “Besides,” Rob continued in his usual guttural monotone, “It’s nothing she hasn’t done for me, recently.”

[Ravynlee]

Frib scoffed aloud and shook his head again. The look Rob gave him was a warning he didn’t care to receive as the young detective pushed himself away from the car and stood in front of it. Rob watched him.

“I still don’t get you. Some marriage you two must have had. Between her trying to kill herself, you trying to kill yourself and what happened to your son, I’m not surprised you two are out to kill each other. What the fuck is wrong with you, I mean, seriously.”

“I’m not trying to kill her,” Rob muttered as he slowly met Frib on the sidewalk. With one foot in the gutter and another on the curb he was still towering above the younger man who stood on the cement ledge staring subjectively back, “as much as she’s out to hurt me.”

“I wonder why?”

Rob smirked towards the ground. The gun was in his hand again and it made Frib’s stomach sink to realise that it must have been the one that had fired the fatal, albeit accidental shot, into little Ava’s jugular. Like a flash he could see her even though he hadn’t even been there, hearing her scream, feeling that transference of terror of one that knows they are about to die and don’t want to, regardless the age, and for a split second Frib closed his eyes. If only he had taken it away when they had met in New Calvary Cemetery he scolded himself feeling guilt churning away like hot lava in his stomach. If only he had kept it and turned a blind eye none of this would be happening, and little Ava might have very well been at home with her mother right now, curled up in bed sleeping peacefully about things that happy little four year old girls dream of. Opening his eyes Frib stared at his ex partner. Rob appeared to have been waiting for him as his scruffy face nodded slightly.

“Despite what you think, that’s not Ravyn anymore. It’s not. I should know. And I know what she’s doing here. I needed her to run back here because it was the only way I could track down Chester.”

“But how can you be so sure he’s even-?”

“Because she made a deal with him,” Rob said, cutting him off mid-sentence. His voice was low and harsh as he leant closer, the both of them still for the most part disguised beneath nights culminating shadows where the streetlights could not reach. “She sealed her fate; I’m not here to change it. She doesn’t want me to. What happens to her is her own fault now, not mine. I’m not a cop. I’m not the law. I’m here for one thing, to stop him going after anyone else.”

“Like who?”

“Joanna,” Rob said. “Haily. He’s going to lose it when she tells him about Ava. He’s going to lose it big time and come after me with the only thing he’s got left in my place, my family-”

“But, they’re not yours anymore,” Frib blurted.

Rob nodded with a lowly hung head.

“I know. But I owe it to them,” Rob said.

His voice was so low and so soulless it barely passed as more than an incoherent grumble. When he looked up it was across at the club again. A woman’s voice carried back to them but was too distant to hear what was being said as she was acknowledged by someone in the side alley. The two men watched tersely as the small gang in the side alley beckoned the woman over and a moment later one of them was raising his voice at her. That voice made the hair on the back of Frib’s neck stand to attention with sickened awe and anticipation having only ever heard it second hand on police tapes and fragmented in the media. The man that was yelling was none other than Chester Bennington and he was far from happy.

“What? What?” he bellowed at her.

Then with a loud unmistakable thump the woman shrieked and clattered upon the cement. Frib’s breaths escaped his nostrils hotly. He took an impulsive step forward to do something but was smartly stopped as Rob seized his arm.

“They’ll fucking kill her!” Frib cried hearing and seeing the ensuing flurry of punches and kicks that befell the woman who lay shrieking in terror and pain on the ground.

Though they couldn’t see enough to tell just who it was they saw enough to know that any kind of intervention now would be a moot point anyway as Ravyn was left for a moment curled up like some amorphus black lump on the ground. The sound of her tears was wretched as they carried across the road as the man who had assaulted her staggered back to recompose himself.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” Chester was screeching aggrievedly.

Someone, some portly man in the group, approached to console him with words of reason but Chester physically shoved him away. Swathed in such baggy clothes he looked violently ill as he staggered to the nearest wall and slumped on a crooked arm against it, seemingly purging the contents of his stomach or gasping in sheer physical exhaustion. Still uttering helpless and frustrated sounds, Frib swung his eyes back to Rob, his upper lip twitching with utter disbelief to see there was no look of disgust on the bigger man’s face, just awe.

“He knows,” Rob said, as Frib scathingly reefed his arm free. “Here we go.”

Frib was too stunned to speak as he looked back to the alley to notice people who had obviously heard outside the front of the Pit were cautiously making their way over to see what the commotion was all about. The round man and the other one scooped Ravyn off the ground and were hefting her aside as a door swung open in the side of the building. Chester was called twice but it took the emergence of gawkers before he eventually succumbed and skulked over, stomping his way aggressively inside. The door closed and the people that lingered quickly dispersed again, too busy to gossip amongst themselves to pay much attention to two men standing and watching on the other side of the T-junction.

“Come on. We have to get closer. Find out his next move,” Rob said, striding up onto the sidewalk.

For a moment Frib couldn’t move, his ears still ringing and his heart still pounding from the horror of the acts of sheer brutality he had just witnessed. Glimpsing at the vehicle and the tiny body of Ava seemingly ‘sleeping’ on the back seat beneath the veil of shadows, Frib caught himself recounting Rob’s earlier confession and wondered how on earth such a thing was possible. He didn’t know what it must have been like to kill anyone for any reason beyond survival, and couldn’t even begin to fathom the mentality of someone who could just ‘switch off’ to such horror that would otherwise disturb most. Maybe, he hoped desperately, he never would.

Swallowing down a nauseating lump in the back of his throat the young detective clutched the pistol tightly in his fist and stepped out across the sidewalk to catch up to his ex partner who was already making his way across the street.

 

---

[woodyloveslinkin]

Wow. I just went into one of those trances or something during that update. Weird. Now, what was that name Mel had given our family, that D word? I cannot seem to pin that word. Discombulated or something like that? We feed on tragedy like blood to a vampire...I swear...even though this story goes off the whole cliche idealistic image of a band member's personal life....it's all dramas and tragedies. Just the way I like it. Common trait amongst all stories ay? What's life without dramas? Lol.

 

That description of Ravyn was frighteningly realistic. I was wow that was one heck of a strong mental image you've got going there woman.....but still :scary:

I wish someone would come out with a shot gun or something and kill that SOB Chester. Seriously, if I was there with him and Rob was after him, I would come out behind a wall, put my foot out and make him trip over head first into the ground and then drag his sorry ass into the dumpster.:spiteful:

 

I cannot wait what happens next.

Oh yeah as always. :thumbsup: with the update. Looking forward for more.

[Ravynlee]

even though this story goes off the whole cliche idealistic image of a band member's personal life....it's all dramas and tragedies. Just the way I like it. Common trait amongst all stories ay? What's life without dramas?

True. Think my next story should be called just that - and to save time have the band members stand in a line with blindfolds on and the rest of us can run around wildly beating the snot out of them. When we've had our fun they get to sue us. Sounds fun, yeah?

Hahaha.

 

Yes it's true sarcasm truly is the lowest form of wit - but you know, a story without conflict is just dull unless you're into that sort of thing. Obviously I'm not. Agreed this is at times a bit too overwhelming even for me, I stand by my technique. How else can I keep this thing not just true to the violent nature of the theme but to keep anyone else coming back for more? Would anyone at all read this if I sat down and wrote one day how my character and Rob's character met and fell in love and lived in domestic bliss for the rest of all literary eternity? Meh, even that would bore the crap out of me. I can only assume, by the hit count, the people that read this story arent into that either. Meh, I could be wrong. But as it stands, until I wake up one day and start seeing the world as my beloved sister sees it (no offence to you my sweet, we just have different points of view) the things I pen will remain angst-ridden, angry, and probably a hair's breadth from getting me into trouble on some level. That's okay with me. This is what you get. And I know you know this too; we're dramatic people you and I. Not in life but on the proverbial page. Leave Hallmark to the experts I say, give me something with enough passion and heart and raw emotion that I can sink my teeth into.

 

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed. As for Chester I can not and will not defend him. By this stage of the story, while I feel personally he has probably gotten the rawest end of the deal throughout all of this, that he does what he does, like the rest of us, should speak for itself. He's grieving, and by my own admission, in his eyes I am just a lowlife junkie to him. He doesn't care about me and why would he? Look at the world he inhabits and had prior to that created. 'My kind' are everywhere. We're faceless to a somebody like him. What's one less on the planet? Exactly. He had his reasons for doing what he did. For the record I am not dead - but I bet right about now I'm going to wish I was.

 

And for the record yes you were right; Discombobulated. My, havent we come a long way from those days playing with ducttape and vodka bottles in the games thread? *sigh of nostalgia*

Good times. Good, good times.

 

Thanks, more in the morning. Maybe.

[Pheonix791989]

oh come on mum you gotta write more!! Just as things were getting good.... cliff hanger... that sucks balls. great update. You have me hanging on to your every word

[Friðbjörn]

heavy stuff...

it's all dramas and tragedies is such a true statement

 

can't wait for more