Post by chaos lite on Apr 20, 2013 15:09:00 GMT -4
My name is Cassandra McPherson.
And my best friend needs a doctor, now.
”Aubs. Come on.”
I stood in the doorway of Aubrey’s New York loft, knocking on her bedroom door, not even daring to step inside. I had seen Aubrey’s drastic and seemingly random mood swings over the past week, and from twenty years of experience, I knew how violent they could be.
This time was different. This time... I don’t even know if I feel comfortable being alone in this loft with her. Who else is going to do it though?
I knocked gently on the frame, alternating between the knuckles on my index and middle finger, creating an admittedly annoying, hollow sound against the wood.
”Aubrey.”
I saw her legs move on the bed. She was awake... which was enough for me to push the door open the rest of the way and poke my head inside. She was lying on her side on the bed with her back turned to me. I was relieved to see that she was at least sporting shorts and a “CReW” t-shirt, indicating that she’d at least considered visiting the outside world today.
”Are you still feeling sick?”
I felt that I might regret it-- but I walked inside anyway and approached the foot of her bed.
”Hey, Aubs--”
Quickly, I was grabbed.
I didn’t scream... because I was too shocked to scream. I had literally only blinked and she was already on the edge of the bed, her legs grapevining my right leg, and my wrist firmly caught in her hand.
”What?”
She looked normal enough. A little pissy and tired, maybe, but normal.
”Dr. Nemo wants to meet you today, if possible. I think that... it would be best if we started setting up some appointments and stuff. We’ll all go in there and get to know one another, and figure out what’s... happening.”
”No.”
That wasn’t surprising.
”Can I see your leg?”
I didn’t wait for an answer. I gently unwrapped her legs from mine and looked at her left leg, where the wires had supposedly violated her a week prior. There were still delicate, pink scars and marks running from her knee up to her thigh.
”Does it hurt?”
”Yes. Always.”
”Is it going to interfere?”
She didn’t seem to grasp my question, even when I looked up to meet her eyes, so I clarified.
”With your match with Christian?”
”I need it back.”
I knew what she meant, and it was almost pitiful... just, almost.
”...I know. I know you do. But this week, you-”
”Where’s Kaylyn?”
”She’s doing what you should be doing. She’s training and preparing.”
”She stole it. She doesn’t deserve to prance around with my baby. MY... title.”
”I know. But that’s not our concern this week. This week, we need to worry about Christian Kane.”
I gave her a reassuring smile and leaned down, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her close. I really doubt a hug was the correct gesture in this situation, but I had shit-else to offer.
”Okay?”
”I’m going to try to break his leg.”
”I don’t think you need to really do that, Aubs.”
”I’m going to try. You know- in order to get recognition around here, you either have to hurt somebody, or you have to stop showing up. I still see names like Tyler Blackwell and Carmen Rivera thrown around, and they’re not here. People like Terry Marvin and Level One are the big names, but they’ve built their legacies on hurting people and deceiving people- even the fans themselves.
I think I need to try to break his leg.”
”You’ll do no such thing. You’ll wrestle a fair match. And at the end, maybe you’ll learn something about him... you are looking back over material, aren’t you?”
Of course she wasn’t. Clearly there was a demon living inside of her. What kind of demon watched wrestling tape?
”You know- what am I saying?”
”Nobody has ever treated me as horribly as Christian Kane. No one’s ever been that...”
She didn’t finish, and I silently thanked her for that.
”Then take it out on him in the ring. Just don’t go try to go overboard and do something you regret. What if you fuck up, and you just piss him off, and he kicks you in the nose and ruins any commercial deal you have for the forseeable future?”
It was weird. It was like she didn’t hear me. She was sitting on the edge of the bed again, gripping the mattress through the sheets, nodding slowly.
”I’m gonna try to break it.”
Well, what could I say that I hadn’t already told her? I could only nof my head in agreement.
”He’s not just going to roll over and let you do that. You’re going to have to beat him first, right?”
”Of course he’s not... it’s not supposed to be easy. He dies slow just like everyone else. The guy never knows when to give up... I know this. Remember his match with Logan at Survive & Conquer? He dropped out of the Survive and Conquer tournament to focus on it. He gave Logan everything he had. He kicked out of every move, broke out of every hold, kept coming... but he still lost.
He even gave Young Mannie everything he had, and no matter how great Christian did, and no matter how amazing he looked out there- he lost.
Last week, against Phil Atken, he had a chance to pick up a win over a man that is nowhere near where he was in the beginning of the year. He could’ve done it. Everybody knew he could do it, and everybody was expecting him to do it... but he lost.
It’s become a pattern. There’s too much pressure going into this match, and I’ll catch him, and I’ll drop him, and... then I’ll try to break his leg.”
”It has to do with Kaylyn, doesn’t it?”
”What?”
”You want to hurt Christian because you feel that in some way, it gets back at Kaylyn. Right?”
She smiled at me, and it was one of those smiles I could only hope to describe to you in the past- the kind I didn’t like, that didn’t really feel like a smile.
”This goes beyond Kaylyn. Christian Kane has called me every name under the sun and meant them every single time. Christian Kane made his entire APW career about trying to bring me down, or hurt me... and if you don’t feel the same way, look at what he said to me before Rasslemania. Look what he tried to DO to me on the show!
My problems with Christian are because of him. Kaylyn’s just there to make things worse.”
As she said this, the smile never faded. The words sounded like the spiteful and cunning twenty-something that I’d come to know and love- but she still didn’t sound quite right.
”Can we go see Dr. Nemo today?”
”...No!”
Again, unsurprising. I moved forward and kneeled down toward the edge of the bed, pouting up at her.
”They give you lollipops. Tootsie Pops.”
”I don’t want a Tootsie Pop. I want my baby.”
”Maybe if you beat Christian... they’ll give you a shot... but for now, I think at least one meeting would help. And it would make me feel better.”
”But-”
”Please.”
I pouted at her, and my eyes told the story of a concerned friend that wanted the best for the girl that she considered a sister. I was aiming for guilt, and I feel I achieved it. In reality, however, the trip had already been scheduled and paid for, and my father had always told me, a dollar wasted is a dollar lost!
So we went.
My name is Dr. Norman Nicholas Nemo. Yes... I suppose it is on purpose.
I’m thirty-eight years old. For ten years, I’ve been a licensed doctor and psychiatrist. For twenty, I’ve been an avid and ever-learning student of the field of psychology. I’ve known the McPhersons nearly my entire life, and in early April, Cassandra approached me with a favor. Ever since she was a child, I was incapable of saying “no” to her.
She asked me to take on a challenge she supposedly knew I was unfamiliar with: she wanted me to help her decipher Aubrey J. Parker, as she was.
I told her with confidence that I’d seen everything. Aubrey J. Parker would be no different.
No different.
I’ll jump right into the first signs of abnormal activity. It happened around 1:21 P.M. from what I documented.
1:21pm
”Miss Parker, you don’t speak much these days, do you?”
”Not to strangers.”
Unsure of what to say, I reacted with my best attempt at natural laughter, which I’d like to believe I’ve perfected.
”I’m not trying to coax you into an answer with candy. We’re adults. You’ve agreed to come here today... so I have to think you’ll be willing to talk-”
”Something’s following me.”
”Pardon?”
I glanced at the clock.
”For the past two weeks, something has been following me.”
”What is it?”
She looked at me... looked past me. I didn’t turn my head. I’d been warned to keep a close eye on her, and I liked to heed all warnings.
”Is it in here?”
She nodded.
”Where?”
”Right behind you.”
1:22pm
I saw it.
I won’t admit it to her, because that’s not a part of the healing process. I won’t tell you what it was... because... I refuse to glorify this. I refuse to play into what I’m going to say, is an elaborate hoax. This is a scheme- a publicity stunt produced by the team M&M.
I saw it. Whatever it was.
But I will not participate.
1:23pm
”You’re under stress. You’re seeing things, and you’re having these horrible feelings because you lost something very important to you, in your...”
I hurriedly stole a glance at my index cards.
”...Suicidal Championship. And that in and of itself is an unhealthy title to carry, don’t you think?”
She was glaring at me.
”This... feeling that you’re getting- this sickness is taking the place of a person in your life that’s haunting you, and hurting you. Everything that you believe you’re seeing is all in your head, and as soon as you can identify who-”
”Well, it must be Christian Kane.”
I stifled what would’ve been an embarrassing yelp of excitement, but smiled a little. Progress.
”Tell me about Christian Kane.”
”He’s a bad man. He’s... he might be one of the most abusive men I’ve ever met. He has a girlfriend, but every single night he performs, he explicitly kisses two other women. He calls me thinks like ‘cunt’ and ‘bitch’ and... and...”
A tear rolled down Aubrey’s cheek and she covered her eyes. I frowned, partially out of sympathy, and partially because I couldn’t tell if it was legitimate, or staged.
”He’s a monster. And he’s a part of an elaborate scheme to ruin my fucking life.”
And just like that, the waterworks stopped. The sadness was replaced with anger.
”He’s that little demon that whispers in my ear and inspires me to do these horrible things, because- I look at the kind of person that Christian Kane is, and I know that no matter what I do, I could never be the miserable piece of shit that he is... so it’s okay. When I tell my best friend that I want to break Christian Kane’s leg and prohibit him from doing the one thing that he’s wanted to do his entire life, then I know it’s okay, because I can never be worse than him.
He’s a bad man.”
”And by beating him in this wrestling match-”
”Stop.”
She looked at me with a indescribable stare that did indeed stop me mid-speech.
”It means something to him- and to me- that someone like you wouldn’t understand.
This is what he’s born to do... this is what he prides himself on. For months, he’s begged and pleaded for an opportunity to get his hands on me, and he’s never been able to do it one-on-one. He’s always had Kaylyn there, holding him back, eating pinfalls, tapping out, costing them matches, and crushing his credibility. Christian Kane had all the talent and skill in the world, and he took a backseat to a bitch that was thirsty for the spotlight.
And she’s the one that got it... because she’s the one that put herself out there, and she’s the one that got noticed. She knew she had to be better than him if she wanted to succeed. She didn’t know that by being better than him, she would crush him.
And I don’t JUST want to beat him, doc... I want to be better than him, and when I’ve proven that I am, then we want to hurt him.”
”We? Who?”
She didn’t say anything to me, but she smiled. It was an odd, kind of smile... didn’t feel like much of a smile at all.
”Who?”
”I’m here because Cassandra thinks I’m crazy or something. My boyfriend probably does too. You’ve talked to Talon, haven’t you?”
I didn’t answer, and she laughed, because she knew I wasn’t allowed to. By now, I think I’ve formed my opinion of Aubrey.
”The real reason I’m here is because of...”
Again, she glanced behind me.
Again, I felt it. I closed my eyes. I shuddered. I refused to participate in the scheme.
”Because of them, and because of Christian Kane. As long as he’s here, and as long as he’s fighting, then I know he’s fighting against me.”
I opened my eyes, unsurprised, and unsettled to see that she was still smiling- past me.
”Cassandra just thinks I need to see people like you, because I’m too engulfed in my career. But- but she doesn’t see that because of people like Christian, and people like Kaylyn, I HAVE to be.”
Her eyes darted back to mine.
”You’ve never had a Kaylyn in your life? A Christian? You’ve never had somebody that just wanted to hurt you so badly that you were willing... to let yourself become consumed by the things you hated the most, because you thought it would help? You never made a bad or harsh decision to get even? To get ahead?
Come on, Norman. Don’t bullshit me. If someone wanted to take everything from you, you would do more than fight for it, right? You wouldn't just let your Christian get away.”
I looked up at her with curiosity, with satisfaction.
”No. I’d make them regret it.”
fin.
