Escaping Death

Chapter 3

She's a motherfucking killer queen, she sold her soul at 17

A beautiful and broken mess

She'll fill your heart with kerosene and light you up 'til you can't breathe

If you break her heart you just might meet your end

Killer Queen - Mad Tsai

— — — — —

Magnolia

"I thought I'd find you here. Hiding." I give Solana a smirk and a playful nudge.

"I'm not hiding, I'm working." She fills a row of 10 shot glasses on the bar in front of her with tequila before nodding to the girls who ordered them to enjoy.

I grab a bottle and start helping her to build drinks and pour shots for thirsty club goers. Sol has never been able to not do anything, she has to have a focus, a job, something to channel her energy and attention into.

Sometimes I swear when I look at her it's like looking in a mirror. Which is precisely how I know she's hiding.

"What the hell are the two of you doing?" Varian chuckles as he takes a seat at the bar in front of me.

"She's hiding."

"I'm working. You had mom kidnap me–"

"I didn't kidnap you," I quickly correct her. "It was coercion at best," I mutter under my breath. She came with me willingly albeit begrudgingly.

Sol continues her rant unphased by my interruption, "—held me captive for two days and forced me to come here on my day off. And now you're complaining about free labor?" She retorts.

I ignite the tea towel in my hand and whip her playfully on the hip. "You don't know shit about captivity." My voice holds just enough edge for her to know that there's a very serious undertone to our playful banter. "Besides, you fucking love it here. The guards pay notice."

She doesn't refute the allegation because we both know it's true. She's more comfortable here than most places. Here she can hide, here she can let go.

She's wiping down her section when a young looking man-boy walks up to her. I can already tell by the change in the way his smile touches his eyes that he thinks he'll win over her favor. Little does he know he's exactly the type she'll chew up and spit out.

My little mini me.

"What can I get you?" She asks him like any other customer.

"What's good here?" He asks.

"It's a full bar, you name it I can make it." She's getting bored with him, and a bored Solana is a volatile Solana.

He breaks out into a shit eating grin, like he's got a challenge for her in mind. "Surprise me."

His accent is curious, it's not one we hear a lot. It's vermouth smooth and has an almost song-like quality to the way he speaks. When she places the meticulously muddled cocktail in front of him, sugarcane stalk and all, he regards it coolly and lifts it to his lips for appraisal.

"Otimo," he hums appreciatively, running his tongue along his bottom lip, lapping up the residual drops of his drink from his lips.

Curiously, he directs his next question to me. "Would you mind if I asked your sister for a dance?"

Varian growls, getting ready to pounce on the overly confident man-boy shamelessly flirting with Sol and me.

"That's entirely up to her." I say as I hop over the bar and grab Varian's hand and motion for him to dance with me. "I don't want blood on my floor, Sol. So if you're going to kill him, do it outside." I shout over my shoulder to Solana and the man-boy as Varian leads me through the darkness away from the bar and over to the equally dark dance floor.