Post by chaos lite on Apr 6, 2013 21:59:38 GMT -4
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
I don’t know how long I was watching her like that... sitting in that chair, swaying back and forth, rocking, making no noise, and making no attempt to look back at me, or at her surroundings. She made no attempt to speak.
By now, I’m sure we’re well acquainted. My name is Cassandra McPherson. And I’m trying my best to convince you that there is still some shred of humanity, and tolerance left inside my friend, Aubrey J. Parker. I don’t know if she cares anymore whether you see it or not, but I do, and I’ve seen the real evil. I’ve seen malice. And it’s not her. She’s not that person...
And it’s hard for me to defend her, when her back is turned to me, and she cuts me off entirely, rocking gently back and forth.
Thirteen days had passed since Rasslemania, and her emotions were changing in an instant. Sometimes, she was fine. Sometimes, she would talk about it as if it were just another match, and I was convinced that she’d come to terms with the situation. She was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and she lost. She ahd Logan lost those Tag Team Titles.
Sometimes she’d accept that.
And then there were times like tonight. Times where she scared me.
”Hey.”
We were in Brazil. It was Talon Wilkinson’s idea, and it wasn’t something I objected to. In the past, Aubrey always made it a point to get to the show’s location forty-eight hours in advance. In the past, we’d have been in Montevideo, Uruguay for at least a day by now... but it was the past.
”Aubs?”
I was in the doorway of Aubrey’s Brazilian suite, which was only across the hallway from my own. I had the card key... Talon had given me one, for emergencies. SURE I was overstepping my boundaries here, but this was a best friend emergency!
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
”Aubs? Is Talon asleep?”
Creak...
Creak...
I stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind me.
Creak...
Creak...
I kept my hand against the door as I heard the chair stop. Now the only sounds in the room were my heartbeat, her breathing, and a very light buzz from the television in the other room, where I could only assume Talon was. It didn’t matter much right now, but it was comforting to know that he was there, at least. I wasn’t entirely sure that I was safe, alone with my best friend.
”What time do we have to head to Uruguay tomorrow, Aubs?”
I don’t know if I was expecting an answer. I don’t think I realized that I was saying anything until after I said it.
”Are you gonna be alright to fly and fight on the same day?”
That time, I wasn’t expecting one. I made my way into the room and struck the light-switch. It hadn’t been entirely dark in there at first but, I’ve seen far too many horror movies to put up with this shit. It could’ve been Aubrey. It could’ve been a flesh-eating zombie. These are the things we have to look out for.
I took a seat on the couch adjacent to the chair, and I laughed a little as I looked at her from the side.
”Where’d you get that anyway? Was that already here?”
Nothing.
”These crazy Brazilians, I tell you. They’ll put anything in here. Right?”
Creak...
Creak...
”Aubrey...”
Creak...
Creak...
”Aubrey, wha-... ahum... Aubrey, what are we going to do about Kaylyn?”
Cre-.
She turned to me sharply. The look she gave me was colder and harsher than anything I’d seen before. I was happy that she was acknowledging my existence, to be honest with you. The dirty looks were something I could deal with.
”We’re not going to do anything.”
I frowned at that, as you can imagine. It didn’t sound like the most happenin’ idea she’s had.
”Excuse... excuse me?”
”We’re not... going... to do... a thing.”
”You lost me.”
She stood up from the chair, and that was when I started to feel uncomfortable.
”Aubrey, your title’s on the line... ha, I mean, you’ve gotta do something. It’s the Suicidal Championship.”
”It’s my baby. I know. And I would do anything to protect that, especially from Kaylyn. And I’m going to. Me. I’m going to rely on me.”
I looked out of the living room, into the hallway where I heard the springs on the hotel’s mattress whining and groaning beneath Talon’s weight. I turned to Aubrey again, and she was standing in front of me with the tired and heavy eyes that she’d adorned ever since the night she lost the Tag Team Titles with Logan. She wasn’t smiling, and she wasn’t frowning- just staring.
”Just you? What about Lo-?”
”Logan and I have two different paths this week. Logan is going to annihilate Jair. He’s going to rip him to shreds, and we’re going to wait... wait... wait until we can get our babies back... and I’m going to fix... everything.”
She smiled a little and moved closer to me. I instinctively shrunk back into the couch as one of her arms reached out, grabbing a fist-full of the cushion by my head and the other gripped the arm rest, right next to me.
”This wasn’t supposed to be about Kaylyn. However, she made it about her, and about Christian, and it cost us. So if I’m looking at things the right way... if I get rid of her, then I can focus on getting my babies back. And it’s just- FITTING that she’s trying to take away the one thing that I have left. She’s... a thief...”
Aubrey was speaking right above a whisper, and I knew immediately that her intention wasn’t to wake Talon. He’d come out, and he’d see the state she was in, and he’d try to calm her down. Her anger would subside, and her motivation would too.
She wanted to be angry.
”I don’t like her. I don’t like the fact that she’s been given a shot at my championship based on spite. Kaylyn hasn’t worked for anything since she’s come to APW. I have done all the work for her. I have made Kaylyn a star. Without Aubrey J. Parker, the name Kaylyn James Evans wouldn’t hold the same kind of weight that it does now. There would be no impact, and no oomf! and no reason to care.
And I shouldn’t have even given her that much.
She shouldn’t have been allowed to get involved in Tag Title business on Asylum. I did this. I caused this to happen, and I’m going to fix it without anybody’s help.
I’m going to fix-”
She stopped and stared into my eyes, biting her lip.
”She’s never beaten me.”
”I know.”
”This can’t be, and it WON’T be where it happens, Cassandra. I promise. I’ve done everything I can to build something here... and no one wants me to have any of it. I’m not allowed to have a rematch for titles I never lost. I’m not allowed to go two weeks without having to look that fucking bitch in her face, and I HATE IT! I CAN’T STAND HER! I WANT MY FUCKING BABIES BACK! SHE RUINED IT!”
”Aubs-”
I worriedly glanced toward the bedroom, and I heard the springs whining and groaning again.
”Aubrey, stop. It’s late. You’re drunk.”
”I’m not. I’m thinking more clearly than I have ever thought as long as I’ve been in this place. It’s- it’s exactly what it’s advertised to be, Cass. It’s a fucking asylum, and we’re inmates... and I’m just trying to hold onto the last shreds of humanity and familiarity I have left. Those Tag Team Titles were it. This Suicidal Championship... that’s it.
I don’t have to play nice. I don’t have to shake her hand, or appreciate the match, or respect her. I’m not expected to do any of that here.
I’m running around in a world created and ran by the the most conniving, evil psychopaths the world of wrestling has ever seen, and I’m... free.
I’m not losing anything, ever again. Nobody’s taking anything away from me.
Ever.”
And I stared at her, for a long time. I don't know how long... and we stared into each others' eyes, saying nothing. And I listened.
I listened.
fin.
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
I don’t know how long I was watching her like that... sitting in that chair, swaying back and forth, rocking, making no noise, and making no attempt to look back at me, or at her surroundings. She made no attempt to speak.
By now, I’m sure we’re well acquainted. My name is Cassandra McPherson. And I’m trying my best to convince you that there is still some shred of humanity, and tolerance left inside my friend, Aubrey J. Parker. I don’t know if she cares anymore whether you see it or not, but I do, and I’ve seen the real evil. I’ve seen malice. And it’s not her. She’s not that person...
And it’s hard for me to defend her, when her back is turned to me, and she cuts me off entirely, rocking gently back and forth.
Thirteen days had passed since Rasslemania, and her emotions were changing in an instant. Sometimes, she was fine. Sometimes, she would talk about it as if it were just another match, and I was convinced that she’d come to terms with the situation. She was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and she lost. She ahd Logan lost those Tag Team Titles.
Sometimes she’d accept that.
And then there were times like tonight. Times where she scared me.
”Hey.”
We were in Brazil. It was Talon Wilkinson’s idea, and it wasn’t something I objected to. In the past, Aubrey always made it a point to get to the show’s location forty-eight hours in advance. In the past, we’d have been in Montevideo, Uruguay for at least a day by now... but it was the past.
”Aubs?”
I was in the doorway of Aubrey’s Brazilian suite, which was only across the hallway from my own. I had the card key... Talon had given me one, for emergencies. SURE I was overstepping my boundaries here, but this was a best friend emergency!
Creak...
Creak...
Creak...
”Aubs? Is Talon asleep?”
Creak...
Creak...
I stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind me.
Creak...
Creak...
I kept my hand against the door as I heard the chair stop. Now the only sounds in the room were my heartbeat, her breathing, and a very light buzz from the television in the other room, where I could only assume Talon was. It didn’t matter much right now, but it was comforting to know that he was there, at least. I wasn’t entirely sure that I was safe, alone with my best friend.
”What time do we have to head to Uruguay tomorrow, Aubs?”
I don’t know if I was expecting an answer. I don’t think I realized that I was saying anything until after I said it.
”Are you gonna be alright to fly and fight on the same day?”
That time, I wasn’t expecting one. I made my way into the room and struck the light-switch. It hadn’t been entirely dark in there at first but, I’ve seen far too many horror movies to put up with this shit. It could’ve been Aubrey. It could’ve been a flesh-eating zombie. These are the things we have to look out for.
I took a seat on the couch adjacent to the chair, and I laughed a little as I looked at her from the side.
”Where’d you get that anyway? Was that already here?”
Nothing.
”These crazy Brazilians, I tell you. They’ll put anything in here. Right?”
Creak...
Creak...
”Aubrey...”
Creak...
Creak...
”Aubrey, wha-... ahum... Aubrey, what are we going to do about Kaylyn?”
Cre-.
She turned to me sharply. The look she gave me was colder and harsher than anything I’d seen before. I was happy that she was acknowledging my existence, to be honest with you. The dirty looks were something I could deal with.
”We’re not going to do anything.”
I frowned at that, as you can imagine. It didn’t sound like the most happenin’ idea she’s had.
”Excuse... excuse me?”
”We’re not... going... to do... a thing.”
”You lost me.”
She stood up from the chair, and that was when I started to feel uncomfortable.
”Aubrey, your title’s on the line... ha, I mean, you’ve gotta do something. It’s the Suicidal Championship.”
”It’s my baby. I know. And I would do anything to protect that, especially from Kaylyn. And I’m going to. Me. I’m going to rely on me.”
I looked out of the living room, into the hallway where I heard the springs on the hotel’s mattress whining and groaning beneath Talon’s weight. I turned to Aubrey again, and she was standing in front of me with the tired and heavy eyes that she’d adorned ever since the night she lost the Tag Team Titles with Logan. She wasn’t smiling, and she wasn’t frowning- just staring.
”Just you? What about Lo-?”
”Logan and I have two different paths this week. Logan is going to annihilate Jair. He’s going to rip him to shreds, and we’re going to wait... wait... wait until we can get our babies back... and I’m going to fix... everything.”
She smiled a little and moved closer to me. I instinctively shrunk back into the couch as one of her arms reached out, grabbing a fist-full of the cushion by my head and the other gripped the arm rest, right next to me.
”This wasn’t supposed to be about Kaylyn. However, she made it about her, and about Christian, and it cost us. So if I’m looking at things the right way... if I get rid of her, then I can focus on getting my babies back. And it’s just- FITTING that she’s trying to take away the one thing that I have left. She’s... a thief...”
Aubrey was speaking right above a whisper, and I knew immediately that her intention wasn’t to wake Talon. He’d come out, and he’d see the state she was in, and he’d try to calm her down. Her anger would subside, and her motivation would too.
She wanted to be angry.
”I don’t like her. I don’t like the fact that she’s been given a shot at my championship based on spite. Kaylyn hasn’t worked for anything since she’s come to APW. I have done all the work for her. I have made Kaylyn a star. Without Aubrey J. Parker, the name Kaylyn James Evans wouldn’t hold the same kind of weight that it does now. There would be no impact, and no oomf! and no reason to care.
And I shouldn’t have even given her that much.
She shouldn’t have been allowed to get involved in Tag Title business on Asylum. I did this. I caused this to happen, and I’m going to fix it without anybody’s help.
I’m going to fix-”
She stopped and stared into my eyes, biting her lip.
”She’s never beaten me.”
”I know.”
”This can’t be, and it WON’T be where it happens, Cassandra. I promise. I’ve done everything I can to build something here... and no one wants me to have any of it. I’m not allowed to have a rematch for titles I never lost. I’m not allowed to go two weeks without having to look that fucking bitch in her face, and I HATE IT! I CAN’T STAND HER! I WANT MY FUCKING BABIES BACK! SHE RUINED IT!”
”Aubs-”
I worriedly glanced toward the bedroom, and I heard the springs whining and groaning again.
”Aubrey, stop. It’s late. You’re drunk.”
”I’m not. I’m thinking more clearly than I have ever thought as long as I’ve been in this place. It’s- it’s exactly what it’s advertised to be, Cass. It’s a fucking asylum, and we’re inmates... and I’m just trying to hold onto the last shreds of humanity and familiarity I have left. Those Tag Team Titles were it. This Suicidal Championship... that’s it.
I don’t have to play nice. I don’t have to shake her hand, or appreciate the match, or respect her. I’m not expected to do any of that here.
I’m running around in a world created and ran by the the most conniving, evil psychopaths the world of wrestling has ever seen, and I’m... free.
I’m not losing anything, ever again. Nobody’s taking anything away from me.
Ever.”
And I stared at her, for a long time. I don't know how long... and we stared into each others' eyes, saying nothing. And I listened.
I listened.
fin.
