Jessica
looked around her room one last time to make sure that she had everything packed that she needed packed. It was the
first Sunday of spring break and she was heading to Lawrence to join Sebastian while the theatre group toured there for that
entire week.
As she picked up her jacket and rolled her suitcase
to the open door, Bowie came running in and jumped up on her bed.
"Bowie!" Jessica sighed. "Will you
please get off of there? You know I don't like a bunch of fur on my bed right after I wash my sheets!"
"I know, but..." Bowie whined to her. He
got down off the bed and went over to nuzzle her hand. "Pleeeeaaase?" he asked, his eyes begging at her.
Looking down into the big puppy-dog eyes, Jessica's
heart melted. "Okay," she said. Walking over to her dresser, she pulled out a towel and laid it down on the bed.
"You can lay on this towel. But when you're not in here, make sure you shut the door most of the way, okay?"
Barking in excitement, Bowie ran and leaped onto
the bed and the towel. "Thanks!" he said. With that, he curled up into a ball and closed his eyes, ready to take
a nap.
Jessica only shook her head and smiled as she
took her suitcase, purse, and jacket out of the room and to the foyer.
Her car was already waiting outside, so
she sat her stuff down by the door. Then, she went down the hall and down into the Cave to say goodbye to anyone who
was down there.
******
Much to her surprise, only Techno was down there---of
course, he was working on something or other on the computer.
"I came to say goodbye!" Jessica called out to
Techno. His only response was to nod slightly.
"Allllllrighty then," Jessica said.
She rolled her eyes. "See you in a week."
As she headed back to the stairs, Techno
finally spoke. "Don't get into any trouble."
Jessica only chuckled and replied, "I'm going
out of town. How much trouble could I get into in Lawrence?"
******
"JESS!" Jessica heard Sebastian's voice
call out as she gathered her things from the trunk of her Mustang.
Dropping everything, Jessica squealed. "SEBASTIAN!"
She ran over to him and flung herself into his arms.
They held each other tight, not wanting to let
go of the other---it had been a few weeks since they'd seen each other. And now, they were going to spend a whole week
together without being interrupted by other members of the household.
"Oh, how I've missed you!" Sebastian whispered
into Jessica's ear. The whisper made her tingle all over and made her heart beat faster.
Jessica leaned back, still not letting go of her
fiance, and said, "Can't be as much as I've missed you!"
Sebastian smiled and then leaned down and kissed
Jessica. The group of people Sebastian had been talking to hooted and hollared as the two continued to be totally absorbed
in each other.
Breaking the kiss, Jessica smiled at Sebastian.
"C'mon," she said as she took hold of his hand. "Let's get my stuff into our room!" Sebastian had checked out
a special room for just themselves since he normally roomed with three other guys.
As they went behind the car and to the trunk,
Sebastian stopped Jessica and put his hand underneath her chin, lifting up her face. He then leaned in and, as his lips
were just inches away from her own, whispered, "I'm glad you're here."
Jessica blushed and grinned and leaned up, touching
her lips to Sebastian's, their hearts also embracing as they gently kissed.
******
Jessica was already awake the next morning when
Sebastian woke up. He rolled over onto his side and opened his eyes, only to see Jessica's back to him. And she
was leafing through some sort of book.
"Morning," Sebastian mumbled. He reached his hand
out and rubbed Jessica's back with it before flopping it back down onto the bed.
"When do you have to be at the theater?"
was Jessica's reply. She shifted herself back onto the bed and leaned against the headboard. Sebastian could see
that what she had been leafing through was the yellow pages of the phonebook.
Pushing himself up to a sitting position,
Sebastian said, "Not till 5:00. Why?" He then arched his neck to see what his fiance was looking at in the pages.
"Good," Jessica replied. Her eyes
finally looked up from the phonebook and at Sebastian. Grinning, she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss. "I've
got a couple of places I want to go before then."
Sebastian smiled and nodded. "That's
fine. But...where are you wanting to go?"
"That, my dear," Jessica said as she moved
to snuggle up against Sebastian's broad chest,"is a surprise!"
******
Jessica drove her car down Massachusetts Street,
which was the main street of downtown Lawrence. Luckily, it being a weekday, she was able to find a metered parking
spot near the place that she had wanted to go first. Sebastian held the change that was to go into the meter.
And once Jessica had parked the Mustang, Sebastian got out and plugged the meter as Jessica turned off the car, got out, and
then made sure that the doors were locked.
"So, where is it you're wanting to go?" Sebastian
said as Jessica grabbed hold of his hand.
Jessica said nothing, but instead lead Sebastian
to the front of a store. Looking back at a shocked Sebastian, she giggled. "Well?"
"No way," Sebastian said. He
pulled on Jessica's hand and tried to start walking back to where the car was parked.
Groaning, Jessica pulled back. "C'mon,
Sebastian! I want to get this done and I want to do it here so no one back at the mansion knows about it until I get
back there next week!"
Sebastian let go of her hand and looked hard at
her. "Are you nuts?" he asked her. His finger pointed up to the sign in the window.
"Look," Jessica began, "I'm doing this, regardless
of whether or not you're going to be there with me!"
Sighing, Sebastian walked back over to Jessica
and intertwined her fingers with his. He looked at her again, this time, with just concern and softness in his eyes.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Jessica nodded. "I've been thinking
about this for months now. And what better time to do it---besides, only you and I will see it for the most part."
Shaking his head, Sebastian opened the door
of the shop for Jessica and they stepped inside.
The place was tiny and drawings of all sorts
covered the walls. A couple of chairs sat up against a wall and then a couple of bigger chairs that leaned back stood
back towards the row of mirrors.
"May I help you?" said a big, bald man that
came from a room in the back. He had tattoos all over him and rings hung from many parts of his face.
Jessica gulped and her grip on Sebastian's hand
grew a bit tighter. "Um...I came here to get a tattoo," was all she could muster up.
"Well, no kiddin', lady," the man gruffly said.
"A tattoo of what?"
Jessica could feel Sebastian's other go
up and be placed on her shoulder. That hand gave her shoulder a soft squeeze. "A diamond. On my abdomen."
The man studied her for a moment and then
asked, "Color or not?"
"Well," Jessica replied, "I was thinking
of ice blue outlined in black..."
"Hmmm," the man mumbled. Quietly,
he turned around and grabbed a piece of paper. He then quickly drew a picture on it. Holding it up for Jessica
and Sebastian to see, he said, "This work?"
Jessica let go of Sebastian's hand
and walked over to get a better look at the picture. It was of a perfect round diamond. Nodding, she said, "That'll
work. How long will it take?"
"About two hours," the man said.
He then motioned his hand towards the chair. "Have a seat."
******
It was almost 3:00 that afternoon before Jessica
and Sebastian returned to their motel room. Once walking into the room, Jessica flung herself down on the bed,
grabbed the remote, and turned the TV on.
Sebastian rolled his eyes as he shut the door.
"Don't you watch enough TV at home?"
"No."
After kicking off his shoes, Sebastian went past
the TV and around the other side of the bed, sitting on the edge of it. He ran his fingers over his face and then yawned.
"Man, I'm tired. These late nights at the theater keep getting to me."
"Mmm-hmm," was Jessica's reply as she focused
intently on the Raised AeroBed infomercial.
Sighing, Sebastian pushed himself more onto
the bed, reached over, and snatched the remote out of Jessica's lap. Saying nothing, he then turned the power off and
flung the remote to the foot of the bed.
"Hey!" Jessica exclaimed, frowning, her
attention now fully on Sebastian. "What in th---"
Sebastian had stopped her in mid-sentence with
his lips on her own. Softly, he continued to kiss her, his hand caressing her cheek.
Jessica could only lay there as Sebastian continued
to kiss her---it took her breath away completely. But she slowly regained her senses and placed her arms around him.
And just as his lips moved to her ear, his pager
for the tour went off, squealing loudly at the inopportune moment.
"Dammit," he sighed against her ear. Then,
sitting up, he pulled the pager from it's clip to read what it said.
Jessica sighed and sat up. "You gotta go,
don't you?"
Sebastian nodded as he cleared off the message.
Then, he looked up at her. His firery green eyes looked into her saddened hazel ones. "That I do. Sorry,
hun..."
Only waving her hand toward him, she replied,
"It's alright. You'll be back tonight." And then she grinned. "This way, I can continue watching that Raised
AeroBed infomercial."
Sebastian groaned. But he smiled and gave
her one last kiss before getting up off the bed and heading for the door.
"I'll see you tonight," he said. And he
shut the door, leaving Jessica to find her own forms of amusement.
******
Sebastian walked back into the motel room in the early a.m. of the next day.
Everything was dark, so he assumed that his fiance was asleep in the bed that stood somewhere in the darkness. So he
carefully felt his way along a wall to find the lamp on the table near the window. As his fingers gently touched cool
metal, he turned the knob and a soft light filtered out into the room.
The smile that had been on his face soon left, however, as he saw that Jessica
was not in her bed, where he thought she'd be. Sebastian frowned and went to look in the bathroom---she wasn't in there
either.
"Dammit," he muttered to himself. He turned around in the
room to face the table that the lamp stood on and saw Jessica's purse sitting on the same table. Quickly, he strode
across the room and picked up her purse, searching for the cellphone that was usually in it somewhere.
When he couldn't find it, he cursed again and moved to dump the purse out
on the bed when the telephone rang on the nightstand. Sebastian nearly jumped out of his skin as the loud bell of the
phone piereced the eerie silence of the room.
"Jessica?" he loudly said into the reciever after he picked up the
phone and had placed it against his ear.
"She's not there," came the voice over the phone.
"T?!?" Sebastian exclaimed. He sat down on the bed, his brow
furrowed.
"Yeah, it's me," Techno said. "Looks like she couldn't help herself."
"Help herself with what?"
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
There was a moment of silence on the phone. And then Techno's
voice said, "Disco Dave is on the loose."
******
Lucy Diamond strolled around the streets of downtown Lawrence. She
had heard on the news earlier that evening that Disco Dave had escaped from Leavenworth Federal Pen and had been last seen
in Lawrence.
Right now, most of the streets were deserted, as most of the bars had closed an
hour or so ago. Here and there were a few drunk stragglers, wobbling their way to their designated drivers' cars.
But nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Lucy was glad to have brought along her gear, for just in case. Because
now, the "just in case" had happened---her arch nemisis, Disco Dave, was in the same town as she was. And he was more
dangerous than ever: a convicted felon on the run from cops. But she couldn't let him escape for good. She
was going to do her best to find him and get him returned to where he belonged.
She heard laughing from her left and looked over at a couple of drunk college-aged
guys who were heckling an old man that was locking the door of the local bar. Frowning, she took long strides and went
to see what the problem was for these guys.
"You stupid old man!" one guy called out. "You going to go home now
and get some from your old woman?" This brought laughing from several of the guys that stood around the older man.
Frowning, Lucy walked up to the old man. "Do you need any help, sir?"
she asked, giving a glancing glare at the drunken fools. She stood near his back, putting her body between the old man
and the idiots.
Another guy laughed and said, "Look! Oooo! She's gonna help him---a
stupid hippie is going to help him!" He laughed, thinking that this was the funniest thing in the world.
The old man looked at Lucy and she could see the frustration in his
eyes and the anger on his face from the ridicule he had been recieving. "I'm alright," he whispered, only loud enough
for her to hear. "Go on before these idiots get even stupider. I can handle them."
Suddenly, Lucy felt something wet hit the back of her neck.
Reaching her hand up, she felt---one of the guys had hocked a loogie onto her neck. Wiping it off with her hand, she
then used a hankerchief that she kept in her pocket to wipe off her hand. Then turning around, she glared at the drunks.
"I suggest," she began in a cool and even voice, "that you fellows
just get on back home."
"Oooo! And just what are you going to do?" asked the one who
had harassed her before. "Are you going to fight us?" He started to staggardly dance around her, his fists up
in mock fighting. Lucy only stood there and rolled her eyes.
As she began to turn back around to talk to the old man, she felt the
drunken guy tap her a bit roughly with his fists, still mock-fighting. But at the next fist that she felt touch her,
Lucy spun around and, with her foot, kicked the man square in the crotch. He bent over in pain and then fell onto the
pavement.
Looking up at the rest of the drunken idiots, their eyes full of a
stupor, she reitterated her comments from before. "Like I said...I suggest you just go home."
Dragging the out-of-commision guy to his feet, the group staggered down the
street and around a corner, out of site.
Lucy grinned and then turned back to the old man. He was chuckling
now.
"You know, I could've handled that myself," he told her. But his blue
eyes twinkled at her and he said, "But it sure was fun to watch you teach that boy a lesson!"
Smiling, Lucy said, "It WAS fun to teach them a lesson.
But I need to ask you if you've seen a caucasian male, about 35 years of age, wearing all polyester and with a big afro."
The man frowned and said, "You know, I did see someone with a 'fro.
But he was wearing a KU jersey and a pair of jeans. But he was white. And probably in his mid-30's." Looking
at Lucy, he asked her, "Why do you want to know?"
Lucy just shook her head. "If you see him again, please call
the police department. And be careful," she warned. "He might be dangerous."
He nodded. "I will. Thanks."
Lucy smiled and started to walk away. "Have a good night!"
"Same to you!" was his response before Lucy turned a corner.
And as she walked past a tree, an arm went around her, holding her tight, and a hand clamped over her mouth.
The person pulled her back so that their back was against a brick wall
and her back was to their front. And just before she could bite down on the hand that covered her mouth, a voice whispered
in her ear.
"We're going back to the motel---now." It was Sebastian.
******
Jessica woke up groggily the next day and turned her head to look at the
clock on the nightstand---it was already 1:00 p.m. Groaning, she rolled over, only to find that Sebastian was already
up and out of the bed.
She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and then remembered last night.
After her and Sebastian had gotten back to the room, they had stayed up arguing until 5:00 that morning. They had even
gone to sleep mad at each other, their backs towards each other. But Jessica had cried silently until she had fallen
asleep, frustrated and tired.
As she sighed and leaned against her pillows, Sebastian came out from the bathroom,
in his boxers, his hair wet from taking a shower. He glanced over at her and then began to dress himself.
Jessica watched him, her eyes a bit misty. All she wanted was to be
held in his arms and to feel the comfort of leaning against his chest. Sniffling, she laid down and rested her head
against her pillow.
Holding back tears a few minutes later, she felt Sebastian sit down beside
her on the bed. His hand reached out and rubbed her back.
"I'm sorry, baby," he said quietly.
Jessica flipped over and looked at him sadly, her bottom lip quivering.
"I'm sorry, too."
Sighing, Sebastian reached for her and pulled her into his arms.
He then placed a kiss against her hair. "I'm sorry that I got so mad at you," he murmured into her neck. "I just
was so worried."
"I know, hun...I'm sorry that I didn't leave a note." Jessica
looked up at Sebastian and smiled, her eyes a bit red from the tears.
Chuckling, Sebastian kissed her gently. "I love you."
******
Sebastian and Jessica spent the rest of the afternoon in the motel room,
relaxing in each others' arms and catching up on what each other had been doing since they had been apart. But once
Sebastian left to go to the theater, Jessica called up Techno to talk to him about Disco Dave.
The phone rang a couple of times and the machine picked up.
"Hello, you have reached MacMickle Mansion," Tonya's recorded voice
said. "None of us are able to make it to the phone right now, but if you leave your name, number, and a brief message,
we will try to fit you into our busy lives and call you back. Thanks, and have a good day!" The machine then beeped,
clearing the way for Jessica to talk.
"T, pick up the damn phone, for heaven's sake!" she said into the phone.
She paused for a moment and then heard a click as the phone was picked up and the machine turned off.
"So you made it safely back from your little escapade last night?"
Techno's voice came over the phone.
Jessica rolled her eyes and said, "Of course I did. But I didn't call
to talk about that. I wanted to talk about that disco freak that's walking around now."
"Ahhh, yes," Techno said. She heard him typing on a keyboard, so she
knew he was down in the Cave, as usual. "Disco Dave escaped yesterday afternoon from the federal pen at Leavenworth.
Police have recieved calls from people spotting him around Lawrence."
Jessica waited for Techno to go on, but he didn't. "Sooooo...that's
it?"
"For now? Yes."
Groaning, Jessica said, "Well, why don't you dig up some more
on this and I'll get back to you. I'm going to go case out the town and get something to eat. I'll call you later
this evening."
"Whatever," he replied. "Just one thing, though."
"Yes?"
She could just picture his eyes narrowing as he said, "Let Sebastian
know so he doesn't flip out again, alright?"
"Yes, mommy, I will," Jessica replied sarcastically before hanging
up the phone. She now had some serious work to do. But first...she picked up the phone to call Sebastian's cell
and let him know what she was up to.
******
Jessica walked down Massachusetts, going past the many stores that
were crowded with the usual shoppers. She was seeing nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, she was getting rather
tired and was near ready to head back to her car and then the motel. But as she walked past a hair salon, she turned
back around and stood in front of it. A wild notion then crept into her mind and she entered the building.
The bell hanging on the door tinkered as it shut. Jessica's eyes adjusted
to the room and she looked it over. Mirrors lined the entire left side of the room, where barber's chairs sat in front
of them. A few hair dressers were working on a couple of ladies, teasing and styling their locks.
A woman behind the counter at Jessica's immediate right stood up. "May
I help you?" she asked, smiling friendily.
Jessica turned and grinned back. "Yes," she replied. "I'm wanting
to have my hair cut and I was wondering if you had a slot open for me."
"Well, just let me look here," the woman said as she traced her finger along
a column in a notebook. "We don't have anyone coming in for a couple of hours now, so we could fit you in now."
Smiling, Jessica replied, "Great. I'm ready then!"
The lady then moved out from behind the counter and directed Jessica to an
empty chair in front of the mirrors. And as soon as Jessica had sat down, the woman stood behind the chair and smiled
at Jessica in the mirror.
"Now," she began, "what all would you like done with your hair?"
After taking a deep and shaky breath, Jessica smiled slightly.
"Cut it all off," she said quietly. "I want it short and cute. Easy to take care off. I'm ready for this
change."
"Okay," the woman replied. She moved to pull Jessica's hair back
and said, "We'll cut it about this short," and motioned to above Jessica's ears, "so it'll be kind of like a curly, cute bob.
AND, it will be simple to take care off."
"Sounds good to me." Jessica's smile turned bigger as she
became excited about the change.
"Let's start with washing your hair then," the woman said.
"Follow me."
******
Jessica was in the bathroom when she heard Sebastian come in for the night.
Smiling, she quickly looked into the mirror and tucked a small curl behind her ear.
"Sweetheart, are you in there?" Sebastian called out, standing next
to the bathroom door.
"Yeah," came Jessica's muffled reply. "I'll be out in a
minute."
Sebastian went over to the bed and sat down on it. Kicking off
his shoes, he leaned back up against the headboard and closed his eyes. It had been a long night once again of performance
and he was drained.
The door to the bathroom clicked open and he could hear Jessica
flip off the light in there. Without opening his eyes, Sebastain smiled as he felt her weight on the bed, climbing up
against him, her head nestled against his shoulder.
"How was the show?" she asked, her arm draping around his waist,
squeezing him softly in a small hug.
"Went fine as usual," he said softly. Reaching his hand
up, he went to run his fingers through her hair. However, there were no long curls running over her neck and shoulders.
Sebastian cocked open an eye and glanced down. What he
saw caused him to open both of his eyes wide and his jaw to drop. He then bolted up onto his feet and stared at his
fiance.
There, on the bed in front of him, was Jessica---with short hair!!!
She was smirking at him and running a hand over the back of it.
"Do you like it?"
Her voice broke into his shock and he shook his head. "I
can't believe that you...you...why?" he asked.
Shrugging her shoulders, Jessica got up off the bed and went
over to Sebastian and put her arms around him. "I dunno...I just did it on a whim."
"I don't know what to sa---" the phone rang, interrupting Sebastian
in mid-sentence.
Jessica winked at him, kissed him quickly on the lips, and then answered
the phone. "Hello?"
"Jessica? It's me," T's voice came over the reciever.
"T, hey...what's up?"
"We've got a problem."
Jessica frowned and looked over at Sebastian, who gave her a puzzled
look. "What kind of problem?"
"It's Disco Dave."
Shit, she thought to herself. "What's wrong, T?
What has he done?"
She heard Techno typing away at a keyboard. "It's a big problem.
He's taken over a bank. Security tried to stop him, but now he's got one security guard hostage."
"Oh no!"
"Yeah...the worst thing is, the police are quite a ways back because
he's using fully automatic weapons. They're not sure what, but they're having a hard time getting close due to heavy
gunfire."
Jessica sat down on the bed. "So what should I do?"
Techno cleared his throat. "Get Sebastian.
Have him back you up. And you need to somehow get into that bank without Dave seeing you, so that you can get ahold
of him before he gets you."
"I don't have any weapons on me, T," Jessica said, sighing.
"That's alright," she heard him say. "I've got a friend that
has a pawn shop there in Lawrence. I've called him up and told him that I needed a favor. Have Sebastian go over
to the shop and get a couple of weapons. And also have him get a pair of binoculars. He'll need to keep a close
eye on you. While he does this, you can get ready."
Running a hand over her face, Jessica cleared her throat. "Alright,
T," she said. "We've got to get this Disco Duck and get him put away. Do you want me to call you before we head
off?"
"Yes, of else, if you live, I'll kick your ass," Techno said forcefully.
"Now....remember. Just be careful. You can do this, okay?"
"I know, T...we'll be alright. I need to get off of here
and get Sebastian informed, okay?"
"Alright," he said. "I'll expect you to call in twenty
minutes." And with that, the call went dead.
Turning around, Jessica looked grimly at Sebastian.
"We've got a crisis," was all she said before she started to tell him of the plan.
******
It was an hour later and Lucy was quietly walking near the back of the bank.
She could hear occasional spurts of gunfire exchanged between Disco Dave and the police. Looking around, she couldn't
find a back door that would allow her access without letting Disco Dave know that someone was back there.
She then looked up and saw that the rooftop was only about 15 feet
up---an easy leap for her. But before she got ready to leap up onto the roof, she looked out towards the east side of
the bank and saw a slight light. Lucy knew that it was the moonlight sparkling off of Sebastian's sunglasses that were
set high atop his head. He had already told the police his story and they had agreed to let him sit out as a sniper
by the back of the bank.
Then looking up, Lucy pushed herself off the ground with a leap and
landed very softly on the roof of the bank. As soon as she landed, though, she got down on her belly to slither across
the cool tar. Lucy knew that she must stay down to keep the police from seeing her.
Lucy crawled as carefully and as quietly as she could. Occassionally,
a protruding roofing nailhead would catch on the palm of her hand, ripping some skin back from her hand and causing her
hand to become raw. Luckily, her hands didn't bleed, so she knew that her DNA would be hard to find. Soon, however,
she reached the edge of a skylight. Peering carefully down into it, she saw a huge afro down below and the shape of
what looked to be a man dressed in blue, lying on his belly behind the counter.
Praying that she wasn't too late, Lucy crawled past the skylight and to grated
opening about ten feet from the skylight. She knew that it must lead inside, so Lucy quietly unscrewed rusty screws
from the grating with the point of the knife that she carried against her.
As soon as the grate was loose, she slid it aside as carefully as possible.
It scraped against the roof some, however, and she held quiet for a few minutes, hoping to not be noticed---but the air below
stayed still, no gunshots being fired.
Stealthly, she slid through the grating and landed quietly on a plywood floor---it
was the attic of the old building. Crap, Lucy muttered to herself, he'll here me for sure now.
It would have been pitch black in the old attic, which was no longer
in use, but the door that fell at the bottom of the stairway up there was cracked open and light spilled into the attic.
This gave Lucy enough light to see as she slowly and quietly tip-toed across the floor and down the stairs.
Peering through the crack in the door, she was able to see that she had reached
the ground floor of the building. Lights were on all around the long hallway that ran in front of the door, but there
was no sight of Disco Dave. Knowing that he would be in the front of the bank, Lucy opened the door a little more.
It creaked loudly as she opened it, so she hid back at the bottom of the stairs.
"What was that?!?!" she heard Disco Dave shout up at the front of the
bank. But he didn't come back there, and after several moments, Lucy slid through the open door and began to softly
move down the hallway and to the front of the bank.
Once she reached the end of the hallway, Lucy could see the back of
the security guard's head. He was duct taped into a stool, his mouth covered with the tape also. His hair was
also matted in blood from where Lucy could see.
Disco Dave, however, stood right in front of the shot-out windows.
He was covered in protective gear and Lucy could see that bullets had hit him several times, leaving their marks in the armor.
His back was to her and the security guard, so she made a move toward the guard.
Quickly, she was sitting behind the guard. He was dazed and a dark
bruise was forming across his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Lucy knew that she needed to free him so that he could
get the medical attention that he needed.
Pulling her knife from it's sheath, she placed the blade on the duct tape
at the sides of the stool and began to cut. The stunned guard's eyes watched her as she continued to cut through the
tape with the knife. And when she was almost through the last bit of the tape, she heard a phone that was on a desk
near them ring. Disco Dave went over and answered the phone---apparently, it had been the phone that the negoitiater
had been using to communicate with the disco duck.
"Talk," she heard him speak into the phone. But he then suddenly
slammed the reciever down and Lucy could see his face now. It was full of rage and an evilness that she had seen much
too often. He then turned back to the window and began shooting at the police force once again. Shots were returned
and Lucy felt a bullet whiz past her head.
Finally, she had finished cutting through the tape and she motioned
for the guard to get down on his knees and to crawl down the hallway with her.
Once they had reached the end of the hallway, next to the door to the attic,
was an emergency exit. Lucy knew that it would set the alarm off, alerting Disco Dave that something was amisss.
But it was their only way out. So whispering softly, Lucy told the guard, "When you get out the door, run as fast as
you can to the right. There will be a man with a gun out there. He will help you." In response to this,
the guard only nodded. After a deep breath, Lucy thought 1...2...3!
The alarm went off immediately as she opened the door and she ran as fast
as she could forward. But Lucy hadn't seen the trash dumpster in front of her and ran face first into it.
Stars burst above her head as she sat down hard. "It's YOU!!!!" she heard Disco Dave scream, apparently having just
come out the door. Lucy could hear him running forward towards her, so she tried to get up. But it was too late.
Disco Dave used the back of his gun and brought it down hard on Lucy's back.
Crying out, she fell to the ground again. The pain by her right shoulder blade was burning. She thought that it
would be impossible to move, but Disco Dave grabbed hold of her and flipped her over. He then punched her once in the
jaw. The pain then penetrated to her face, her eyeball feeling like it would explode.
Pulling back his head armor, his afro stood like a sillhoute in the moonlight.
Grinning maniachally, he pointed his gun at her. "I win this time," he was all he said before a gunshot rang out.
Lucy had closed her eyes, both from pain and fear. But she opened
them when she felt a body fall on her. It was Disco Dave. Pushing him off of her, she could see the single bullet
hole that had penetrated his afro and then his skull---he was dead.
But as soon as she heard shouts, Lucy turned around and began to run
to the nearest building by the bank. Once there and out of sight from the cops, Lucy leaned against the brick wall.
She could taste the blood in her mouth and her whole body seemed to be in wretching pain. However, she knew that she
needed to get back to the motel room and wait for Sebastian to arrive. So, making sure that no one saw her, she slowly
began to walk to the motel. It was finally over.
******
It had taken her an hour, but Jessica had finally gotten back to the
motel room. Groaning, she went over to the bed and just plopped down on it. She couldn't have cared less if blood
was staining the bedding. She closed her eyes and was still. The pain hurt so much and all she wanted to
do was rest until Sebastian got back. But the phone rang annoyingly by the bed, so Jessica slowly pushed herself to
a sitting position and picked up the reciever.
"Hewlo?" she said, her speech affected by her swollen mouth and cheek.
"So, you're still alive. That's good." It was Techno.
"Barely."
"I just saw what happened," he said. "Did you get hurt any?"
"Oh, just my shoulder, which got hit by the butt of a gun," she
said."
"Well, that's not too ba---"
Jessica interuppted him. "And my face where he punched me...and
the bump from the dumpster, but that was my fault."
There was a pause on the line and then she heard, "The...dumpster?"
"Nevermind," she said. Headlights flashed through the window
and Jessica knew that Sebasitan was back. "Hey, Sebastian just got back, so I'm gonna get off of here. I'll talk
to you later."
"Alright," Techno said. There was another pause and right before
he hung up, he said, "You did a good job."
******
Jessica sat in front of Sebastian, her shirt off and with her bra on, while
he held a bag of ice on her shoulder. The numbing affects of the ice made her more comfortable. And she had held
ice to the side of her face and the bump of her head earlier, so things were getting better.
After Sebastian had gotten back to the motel room last night, they
had crashed in each others arms after cleaning up her wounds. And it had nearly been 2:00 in the afternoon before they
had woken up. "I've been thinking." Sebastian's voice broke into her thoughts.
"About?" Jessica said, wincing as she turned her head to see
him.
"I think that you should go back to the mansion to heal up."
With a surprised look on her face, Jessica pushed the ice pack
off her shoulder and turned around completely to face Sebastian. "Why? I can heal just fine here!"
Smiling, Sebastian ran his hands over her shoulders. "I know,
sweetheart," he began, "but I would feel better knowing that you could have better care there. Plus, I'll be home in
a week."
"I know," Jessica replied quietly.
"Please, then?" Sebastian asked. He put a finger under
her chin and lifted her face up so his firey green gaze burned into her own eyes.
Sighing, Jessica nodded her head. She then leaned
forward and hugged Sebastian. As his arms pulled her even closer, she said, "But I'm sure gonna miss you."
******
A couple of hours later, Sebastian placed Jessica's suitcase in the
trunk of her car and shut down the lid. He then walked up to where she was standing by her open car door and pulled
her into his arms.
Hugging him back, Jessica reached her head up and kissed Sebastian
on his lips. He returned her kiss and then placed one on top of her head. Smiling down at her, Sebastian then
gave her another quick kiss. "You drive safe, alright?"
She nodded. "And you have fun on the rest of your tour."
Sebastian smiled and winked at her, getting her to smile for
the first time since the whole incident last night---smiling made her cheek and mouth hurt even more. But she then had
to fight back tears as he pulled her into his arms once more.
"I love you," she told him when they broke apart.
"And I love you," he told her. And with that, she got into
her car and shut the door.
As Jessica started to pull out of the parking lot, she turned
back and blew a kiss to her fiance---she knew that they'd talk again that night on the phone.
But as she began to drive out of town, Jessica muttered to herself,
"There is NO WAY the other girls could have had the time that I had on my break."
******THE END******
