"Thank you so much for the lift, Stephen," I said gratefully to Chbosky, who drove Tobias and me back home when Roger was unreachable for quite some time.
"Think nothing of it," he smiled at me genially. "It is a bitch to get a cab in LA unless you've booked in advance. Take care, yeah?"
"I will. Thanks again," I got up from the window to let him pull away from the driveway.
"Roger is very irresponsible," Tobias complained loudly as we stood together at the spot. "Who does that? He's meant to provide you security, not go off to do whatever imaginary errands he had."
"Can you let the matter be?" I threw him an irritated look. "It's happened already, we can't do anything about it now."
Understanding that I was not in the mood, Tobias did not broach the matter again as we walked to the main house. That was a little thing I didn't like about these huge-ass homes—the walking distance between the driveway and the door. Our old apartment in Santa Monica didn't have this problem. As I looked up at the sky, I realized that the sun had gone down a lot, and the sky was almost dusky.
"I have a party to go to," Tobias spoke suddenly as we entered the house.
"Right now?" I asked incredulously. "We just got home."
"Yeah," he shrugged. "I was planning to take the car, but since Roger has it, I'll call one of my friends to pick me up. If you want, you can come along as well. People will love having you there."
"Is it a house party?" I asked.
"Of course," he nodded. "I would never ask you to come to a club in the States until you're 21."
The idea was tempting. While I had no intention to drink right now, it would be nice to socialize beyond work for a change. The only problem was that I was knackered. I'm a little surprised that Tobias has the energy to do this when I don't. So I shook my head, "Nah, I'll just stay here. We have that big meeting at Universal tomorrow. Don't pull the same disappearing move you did the last time. This is important."
"Don't worry," he waved off my concerns. "We didn't have anything planned that day. You sprung the meeting on me last moment. But now that I know, I'll be prepared."
"Glad to know," I remarked while walking over to the fridge.
"So you're sleeping?" he asked suddenly.
"Not right now. I'll take a shower first and then dinner. Whoa! Patty made meatballs and spaghetti. My favorite." I grinned as I closed the fridge behind me. Patty was the cook my parents had hired for the few days I'd be staying here.
"Of course she did," he muttered. "Yesterday when I asked her to make me lasagna, she behaved as if I had asked her for the moon."
I laughed at the thought. "You deserve it, though. Leaving this poor boy alone in this huge house."
He rolled his eyes. "You and poor? By that definition, I shouldn't be able to afford a single meal." He paused for a moment before saying, "If you really want, I can stay behind with you. At least until Roger comes back."
"No," I shook my head. "Have fun. Our security system here is good, and if anything goes awry, I know where Dad keeps his gun."
"Do you even know how to shoot a gun?" he asked skeptically.
"No," I admitted. "Hopefully, I won't have to."
As Tobias went to his room to get ready, I walked over to my now fully-grown Loki, who was fast asleep in his bed. I petted him gently, and he groaned in his sleep. Seeing the empty food and water bowls nearby, I deduced that Patty must have fed and walked him. Yet, it was strange that he didn't come running up to me as soon as I opened the door. Seeing his slowly rising and falling chest, I let the matter be. I knew that if I called out his name, he would wake up, and I didn't want him to at this moment. Ever since we have come here, he has been acting very lethargic. If this behavior of his continues tomorrow, I'll take him to a vet.
I walked up to my room and filled the bathtub before unbuttoning my shirt. It had been a long day of work, and I desperately needed something to relax, and a bath sounded just about right. I was down to my birthday suit when my phone beeped loudly. I'd recognize that sound anywhere.
Em: Save me, my Prince Charming! I'd die of boredom in that school of mine.
I chuckled at her antics. Emma had tried hard to follow in my footsteps to graduate early from school and had asked her parents to let her take accelerated classes as well. An idea her parents had shot down quickly. I lowered myself into the warm water before texting my girlfriend.
Me: What are you still doing up? It's 3 AM in the UK!
Em: Couldn't sleep. Thought u would be awake, so I'll talk to u. Did you know I just finalized my contract with your dad for the remaining [Harry Potter] films as well? I think he gave me and Jamie the same contract for four more films.
I didn't know that he'd be doing it right now when even the third film hasn't been released. Maybe that's why Dad had to fly back to London from our vacation. At least this was better than the original timeline where Emma had felt isolated and alone on the set, so much so that she wanted to leave the franchise after the fourth film. Dad had made an off-handed comment once about renewing a few cast contracts for three more films when I had suggested making it into four films instead. My logic was simple—if we ended up splitting one of the future books into two movies, it would be much easier for us.
Usually I wouldn't care because it was a matter for Warner, but seeing the success of the first two films, Dad had invested substantially in the series from the third film onwards and had set up a production house named Kloves Entertainment. With him investing 50% of the budget, the remaining 50% was by Warner.
Me: Enough shop talk. What are you doing at the moment?
Em: In my bed, trying to sleep. Everyone else is. Mum said she will take me shopping tomorrow for the new school year. I'm already dreading it.
Em: I didn't tell this to anyone, but I don't like this fame part at all. People treat me differently. My friends, at least who I thought were my friends, act as if I'm a different person. Then there's this whole media frenzy. You know what happened with Nancy.
I winced at that reminder. Nancy was Emma's former friend who had decided that passing on information about her to the media was easy money. I could only thank my lucky stars that the info she leaked was inconsequential and that Emma didn't tell any of her friends about us, or the situation would be beyond control.
Me: It will be fine, love. It's better you found out right now and cut her loose. She was never your friend. Besides, you'll always have me.
Em: Why did you forgive Evan for doing the same thing? How is that different from Nancy?
That question stumped me. I hadn't thought about it in years. I had told Emma, obviously, but other than that, I had even forgotten about that time.
Me: I don't know. Because he apologized earnestly, for one. Then there was also the fact that I didn't have that many friends. So the one I had, I latched onto tightly. Also–
Before I could continue typing the reply, I saw a shadow in the water in front of me. I paused to confirm what I was seeing. The location of the tub in the bathroom was such that the lightbulb was behind my head, so my head was already creating a small shadow in the water. But now, this shadow had elongated a lot, and it was moving.
I wish I could say that I pulled some great martial tactics to leave the spectator behind me stunned, but this wasn't an action movie, and I wasn't some action hero. So, I simply turned, only to find a girl standing behind me. She was older than me, around 18-20, beautiful, and was covered from head to toe in dark clothes. In her left hand was a pistol that she was pointing at me.
Before I could so much as shout or do anything at all, she shot forward and punched me hard across the cheek. I let out a yelp unconsciously as my head bounced against the bathtub. The blow was severe because I felt a little dizzy after that. Yet, I couldn't relax. I knew this moment could end my life if anything went even slightly wrong.
"Don't do this," I pleaded. "You can have whatever you want. Just put the gun down, and we can talk."
"Do you think I'm stupid?" she spoke for the first time, her voice trembling with fear. "Get out of the tub. And keep your hands where I can see them."
All the while, the gun was pointed in my face. This girl was clearly inexperienced, or she'd realize that I was buck-naked. It didn't matter if she could see my hands or not. Yet, arguing with her wouldn't do me any good, so I did as I was told and slowly got out of the tub, making sure my hands were in her clear view.
"What now?" I asked.
"Move." She motioned with her head toward my bedroom, and I followed her cue slowly. Immediately, I felt the barrel press into the back of my head. "Faster."
I did as I was told.
"Now sit down here." She pointed at a chair in my room.
I did, and soon she brought forth a rope from under my bed. Holy shit! This girl had planned this from the beginning. But I wouldn't let her do as she pleased.
"That's not necessary," I pleaded again. "Tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you. Do you want money? Just say it, and I'll give you enough that you won't have to work a single day in your life."
A flicker of doubt appeared on her face, but she didn't lower the gun aimed at me. At least she didn't tie me yet, so I'll take that as a win.
"Some money would be nice," she said softly. "But before that, I need something much more important. I need your semen."
What the fuck!? What the fuck did she just say!? I opened and closed my mouth a few times, unable to process her request.
"Why?" I asked after a few moments.
"Isn't that obvious?" she asked.
Internally, I had to agree, it was obvious. But I needed to keep her talking, so I said, "No it's not. Listen, lady, I'm a virgin. I don't know much about sex at all. So please tell me."
"I want a baby," she said bluntly. "I counted my days, and I'm lucky because I'm ovulating today. I thought it would be best if I got the finest sample in the world. Not only are you handsome and talented, but as you just said, you're loaded. So I know you'll take care of the kid if I can't. And once I'm pregnant, we can marry and then happily live together, forever."
It's final—this girl has lost her marbles. First, she wanted my semen, and now she wants to have my kid and then marry me. Does she think anyone will marry her after all this?
"What's your name?" I asked, not expecting her to answer.
"Gia," she said.
"Gia, you're so beautiful, I would have given you a baby if you'd just asked. Heck, any boy my age would. I've wanted to lose my V-card for so long."
"Really?" she asked hopefully. Then her gaze lowered as she said, "You don't seem excited."
"That's because you have a gun in my face," I asserted. "Come here and give me a kiss so I can prove to you how much I want this."
She had lowered the gun from my face to my abdomen and seemed to be contemplating for a few moments before shaking her head. "No. I will tie you to the chair, and then we can continue."
"Come on, Gia," I tried to use my charm. "Don't you trust me? Give me a kiss first, and then you can do whatever you want with me." I could see her resolve wavering, so I continued, "Are you into bondage? Is that why you want to tie me? I'll fuck you hard either way whether you tie me or not. All you need to do is ask."
She blushed visibly, but my words seemed to be working because she lowered the gun completely and stepped toward me. She hesitantly moved her face closer. Her lips were just inches away from mine when I struck.
I backed my forehead a little, appearing coy, before smashing it against her nose with my full might.
scrunch
A loud sound erupted from her now-broken nose, followed by a loud yelp from her. Before she could point the gun at me again, I brought forth my Krav Maga training and attacked her hand, which was holding the pistol. We wrestled for control of the gun, but with a broken nose to care for and similar strength to me, I was able to push the gun away from her hand. Before she could pick it up, I kicked it further away from us and threw a punch in her face.
She ducked and growled, "You lied to me, you asshole! I'll kill you." With that, she lunged at me. I didn't see that coming and went tumbling to the floor, with Gia on top of me, raining blows on my face. I retaliated, but she was fighting with a ferocity I had never seen before. Truthfully, I hadn't been in a life-or-death fight ever, and this was quickly turning in that direction. Everything was happening so fast that it was hard to even think properly, yet I tried my best.
I knew that by now Tobias would have left the house, and Roger was also not here to begin with. So the only person—or rather being—who could help me was my loyal dog.
"LOKI!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "HELP ME, LOKI!" I couldn't continue shouting because Gia punched me hard in the chest, knocking the air out of me.
Now I regret not continuing my martial arts classes. If I come out of this alive, that will be the first thing I remedy.
As I was regaining my breath, Gia got off me and scrambled toward the gun lying a few feet away from us. I realized belatedly, that while we were struggling on the floor, we had gotten quite close to it. Knowing what would happen if she got it, I pulled her leg toward me to keep her from reaching it. Her hand was just inches away from the gun, and it felt like my life was teetering on the edge of the tallest building in the world. If she got the gun, everything would be over.
And right at that moment, something magical happened. Loki came charging into the room. I relaxed unconsciously. I knew I could handle her now. All I needed was for Loki to bite her once, and then—
BANG
I froze in place.
She shot Loki. When I relaxed, she must have gotten hold of the gun, and the motherfucking bitch shot him.
For a moment, everything seemed to pause.
Then I saw red.
I tackled the bitch to the ground with strength I didn't have moments ago. Startled, she dropped the gun again, and I started raining punches on her face. This time, I didn't stop. I didn't want to stop. I didn't care if my hands bled or whatever. I just wanted this bitch dead. The gun was lying within my reach, and I picked it up. I got to my feet, in all my naked glory, aiming the gun at her face.
"Please," she begged pathetically. Her bloodied face had lost all its beauty within the last few minutes.
"You deserve it," I said coldly.
Just as I was about to blow her brains out, a man walked in through the door.
"Don't do it, Troy," Roger called out, leveling his gun toward the girl. "Step back. I'll take care of it."
That's the problem. I didn't want him to. He was too late now. I wanted revenge for my poor darling Loki.
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