Self Destructing Messenger

#34 - It Isn't a Wonderful Life

Christmas Eve. Azalea's jaw clenched. Her eyes searched for something beyond the hotel window to refocus her mind. There was nothing and so the steady stream of dialog between Cayce and Elaine continued to tear at her nerves. Elaine didn't even need to be in their room as they had obtained two when they arrived at Eternal Inn. Cayce, Azalea, Hunter and the Man in Black (who met them in the lobby and complained of their tardiness) took one; Pyro and Elaine the other. The door between the suites had been left open overnight for safety reasons. By sunrise, Elaine had begun her abuse of the easy access by taking up a residency on Cayce's bed, chatting away.

As Azalea leaned against the nondescript dresser, arms folded, it went on. Who sent the message? What might happen? Talk talk talk. Wasn't it so nice how the two new friends communicated so well? Enough was enough.

The blonde stood up straight and set a sharp gaze upon the two. "Ellie, can you excuse us for a bit? I need to have a word with Cayce." She looked off to her left, at the Man in Black. "You too," she said, voice neutral.

The Man in Black shrugged. "Very well, Dearest. I have something I need to take care of anyway." Such a statement from him would have normally concerned Azalea but currently she didn't care. He left.

Cayce and Elaine exchanged worried glances, then the redhead crossed over to the other room with Hunter right behind her. Azalea closed the door, her back to Cayce for what felt like five minutes to the mohawked man.

Finally she turned around. "So," she said. "I've been waiting pretty patiently. I wanted to give you every chance possible to tell me the truth. After all aren't you the one who gave me such hell about keeping things from you? About leaving you out? Real friends don't do s@#$ like that. Isn't that right?"

Cayce rose to his feet. He was in trouble but he wasn't quite sure what for and wasn't about to incriminate himself. "Yeah I said that but I have no idea what you're talking about."

Her eyes sparked. "Really? No idea? Gia said you were trapped a long a$# time during the mall thing. You should have drowned just like that hot dog kid."

"You mean the Ejaculator," he corrected.

"Cayce!" She yelled. Her rage was getting the better of her as much as she tried to hold it back. Azalea gripped the back of a nearby chair, took a breath and started again. "I know for a fact that Psycho shot you. Point f@#$ing blank. What in the hell is going on with you?"

I should tell her, Cayce thought. "I wouldn't say your memories around that time are that reliable," he said.

"I know what I saw," she repeated. "Why are you being such a dick?"

"Why are you being such a b@#$%?"

She flinched subtly. Her voice raised a few decibels. "Why won't you just tell me?"

"I-I can't," Cayce said, brow furrowed. He literally found that he couldn't. The words caught in his throat.

"Cayce!"

"I can't tell you Azalea!" He yelled, matching her volume.

Her knuckles were bleached from her grip on the chair. "Just like you can't tell me you're f@#$ing Elaine, right? I saw you two making out yesterday. How long has that s@#$ been going on?"

She didn't have any right to bring Elaine into this s@#$. Cayce shot her a sideways glance and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Oh I dunno," he said. "About as long as you've been f@#$ing those two douches."

Azalea lost a second of time. She came back to her senses with her anger support chair poised over her head. Cayce had raised his forearm for the blow but lowered it slightly when she hesitated. As infuriated as she was, that was still her best friend. She pivoted, and yelled as she heaved the piece of furniture across the room. It flew into the bathroom alcove and struck the large mirror, decimating it.

"F@#$ you, Cayce," she screamed and left the room.