$witchblade - sequel to $carecrow. A $crim fanfiction.

Chapter 9: 122 Days

I turn around quickly so he doesn't notice me. What the fuck is Aristos doing here? And what are the odds of meeting him at the club just like how I met Scott?

There are a few other people surrounding him. I walk over to a free mirror where I pretend to freshen up. Running my fingers through my hair, I glance around to see if I know who is with him.

"Why is he in the back?" I ask the girl next to me.

"He has a few people with him, says they're in the music industry." She replies.

It's Emma. I haven't seen her in a while, she's wearing a matching pink set with black six inch heels, her makeup is done to perfection.

"Are you gonna go offer a dance?" She asks me,

Fuck. I'm staring again.

"Uh..no I wasn't thinking of it,"

"Let me then, I've got money to make girl!" She says, walking off happily towards him.

I watch her waltz up to him, they talk for a minute before she is leading him off to a private room. He looks the same, apart from his hair, which has one side dyed a red and the other half brown.

A few seconds later, she comes walking back into the dressing room looking flustered.

"He said I'm not his type," she laughs,

"For a dance?"

"Yeah, I'll go try the guys that he was with, he's in the first room if you were wondering." She smirks.

I guess that means I have to go. There's an old eyeliner pen on the table, I have no idea whose it is but I reach for it and redraw my liner, hoping he doesn't recognise me. I walk down the dimly lit hall to the first room and head in.

"Sorry to leave you waiting," I say with a smile.

"My bad, I wasn't feeling the chick before,"

"So can I offer you a dance?" I ask,

Aristos opens up his wallet and hands me a wad of cash, there's at least 200 dollars wrapped with a rubber band.

"Can you do 20 minutes?" He asks,

$200 is a lot of money for a 20 minute dance, but I don't complain. I start to move my body sensually in line with the music that's playing in the room, grabbing his hands and placing them on my waist.

"So what are you doing here?" I ask,

"I came to make some music with my friends." He bluntly responds.

Aristos doesn't notice that it's me, I feel an anxious pang thinking that he has probably forgotten about me. I turn around and keep dancing, noticing the timer is nearing its end. Should I test him to see if he has really forgotten?

I turn around and straddle him, wrapping my arms around him and resting my elbows on the headrest of the lounge. We make eye contact as I whip my hair back and turn back around.

RING

The timer goes off. I swiftly turn around to switch it off, looking in the mirror to make sure nothing is unkempt.

"We can keep goin' if you want babe." I smirk,

He just nods and hands me another wad of bills. I turn around and start the timer for another 20 minutes.

"What's your name?" He asks.

I was not about to give him my real name. It's déjà vu all over again.

"Tiffany," I say.

I didn't want to repeat what I told Scott, so I'm really about to make a whole other life story for myself if Aristos keeps asking questions.

"You don't look like a Tiffany," he chuckles,

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugs and motions for me to turn around, so I start to dance again.

"I know it's you Tyla, you think I fucking forgot?" He asks.

I freeze instantly. All of the memories come flooding back. Aristos was my comfort person in New Orleans, but now I'm running from him too.

"It's me..I guess I didn't want you to find out like this.." I confess.

He pats the space next to him for me to sit, as much as I would tell him about meeting Scott, it probably wouldn't go well for either of us.

"Can I smoke in here?" He asks,

"No but people do it all the time." I watch as he rolls a swisher.

He lights the swisher up as I make sure that no one would be able to detect heavy smoke. I wave my hand in front of my face to clear the air, then I take it from him.

"Have you seen Scott?" He asks,

"No, a lot of people come in and out of this place, but I haven't seen him," I lie,

"It doesn't fucking matter anymore, I'm off on my own now anyway, I came to LA to hang out with Pouya, make some music."

I feel bad for him. I just up and left in the middle of the night and now we meet at the club I work at.

"Hey," I say, looking down at my nails, "I'm sorry..for what I did to you, leaving in the middle of the night. It wasn't fair,"

"Y'know what Ty, I'm way past that now, I spent days wondering why you didn't say anything, I even texted you but you didn't respond, if you wanted to find him so badly, we could have gone together, don't you think I want to find my cousin too? Hell he's wanted by the police now."

Scott's fucking wanted.

...

Aristos and I talk some more before he leaves. It's bittersweet. I walk to the back as I count the wad of cash he gave me, it's around $400 in total, which means it has been a good night. One of the girls drove me back to Scott's, making me realise I need to get a car.

As I approach the door I hear more people yelling from Scott's, this better not be a daily occurrence. I open the door to find things scattered everywhere, like someone has gone through the place.

What the fuck

Glasses are smashed, furniture is ripped apart, as if someone was trying to find something.

The deal

Scott told me about a deal that was happening later, this must be it.

"TELL ME WHERE THE FUCKING MONEY IS!" I hear a voice from the bedroom.

I run into the bedroom and see Scott on the ground kneeling, next to him a tall man is holding a handgun to his head, he immediately turns and points it at me.

"Who the fuck is she?" He asks.

Not this again.