Bad Company

Crossfire

The next morning, when Christian woke up, Nitori was burrowed closely under him. Her head was tucked snugly under his ribcage and her legs and arms were wrapped around his leg. He smiled adoringly, rubbed her mass of hair, and squeezed her shoulder. There was no telling when Victor and company would be returning, so Christian knew they had to leave his apartment soon. Christian wanted to relish the moment. He loved knowing that Nitori was safe with him and no one could hurt her. Furthermore, he knew that she felt anodyne and comfortable. The thought of taking her back into a hostile environment vexed him, but there was no other choice, it’s the way things had to be.

Luckily, the weather outside was cold, so Christian didn’t look suspicious having his face covered. She was dressed in one of his hoodies, so she was snug and anonymous as well. He had privacy fence around his back yard, but there was no such thing as too much caution. Christian made Nitori ride lying down in the back seat so her presence in his car was minimal. When they finally made it back to the common house Christian cooly parked the car. Though he was expecting a dramatic outburst from Nitori, she transitioned back inside without incident. He suspected that she was keeping her cool simply because he was with her.

Nitori rocked in the chair as she watched Christian straightening up the area. He went around the room with a trash bag throwing away pizza boxes, soda cans, paper plates, used napkins, and other miscellaneous junk. There was rock and roll blaring from the radio as he worked and bobbed his head. Nitori beamed as she tried to mirror his headbanging. Christian looked up at her and smiled. He realized that she was entertained by him. Her smile melted his insides; she had the face of an angel.

Christian’s hair was soaked in sweat from doing chores with his mask on. That was his only other alternative, because he didn’t want to throw Nitori in the dark room by herself when it wasn’t necessary. When he made her go in there, she always ended up in a horrible mood.

A short while later the door flew open. “Christian! YOU SON OF  BITCH!” yelled an irate female voice. He rapidly turned his head to the source, and his heart dropped. It was his girlfriend Sasha. “So this is the whore you were with last night?!” she exclaimed pointing at Nitori. Christian sprinted over to her quickly to block her view. “Sasha, what the fuck are you doing here?! How did you get in here?!” he inquired fervently. Nitori sat calmly, unshaken by the current confrontation unfolding. Sasha forcefully pushed him, “You fucking asshole! You wouldn’t answer my calls last night, so I came over, and the deadbolt was locked! So I thought I’d pay you a visit here. Why the hell do you have that mask on? What the fuck do you have going on in here?!” Christian took Sasha by the shoulders in an attempt to lead her out of the room. “How did you get the key here? You can’t be here right now you fucking idiot”, he screamed in her face. Sasha slapped him across the face and bellowed, “I’m going to kill you and that bitch!”

“Go home Sasha!” Christian ordered as Sasha struggled to push past him in an attempt to get to Nitori. As Sasha tried to run past his left side, she caught a clear view of Nitori. She went motionless in her tracks. “Oh my fucking goodness…..that’s the missing girl that’s been all over the news.” Christian’s guts turned over and locked up. “You kidnapped her?! You’re two-timing me with an Autistic bitch?! What he fuck Chris?!” She reached in her purse and pulled out a small black pistol. He immediately grabbed her hand and they wrestled over the gun. Two muffled shots rang out in the room.

Both Sasha and Christian were startled. She stared up at Christian with a speechless expression. Then she collapsed forward onto the floor. Blood was rapidly staining the back of her t-shirt. Christian gasped in revulsion. In the doorway was Victor, lowering a smoking chrome gun. Nitori ran into the dark corner room and stuck both fingers in her ears while rocking back and forth.

Christian gathered Sasha in his arms, “What the fuck Vick!!” Sasha’s body went limp. He squeezed her closely and yelled at the top of his lungs. Victor was shaking and hyperventilating. Ted and William were pacing while screaming at Victor simultaneously. Sasha was dead, and all of them knew it. “Now what the FUCK are we gonna do with a fucking dead body Victor?! You fucking shithead!” exclaimed William. “Shut the fuck up! All of you! I had to!” defended Victor.

Christian rocked her back and forth while tapping her cheek, “Sasha wake up, we’ll get you to a hospital, just wake up please!” Ted went to pat his back, but as soon as his hand made contact, Christian roughly shrugged him away and blurted, “Don’t fucking touch me! I hate all of you coke-head fuckers!” Victor cautiously approached him, “I’m sorry Chris, she was going to kill you, I heard her from the driveway, people actually pass down this street, and she was too loud!” Christian darted into the backroom and rapidly returned, holding Nitori by the back of the neck dragging her across the floor. She kicked and screamed while floundering wildly over the hard wood floor. He threw her down to her knees, drew a gun from his jeans and pressed the gun to her temple. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t blow this bitch’s brains out right now?!” he screamed manically. Victor pointed his gun at Christian. “You don’t want to die”, Victor answered coldly. Nitori  squealed loudly while covering her ears. “Shut up Nitori”, Christian yelled as he shook her coarsely. “Fuck you Vick! You killed Sasha, and it wasn’t necessary, she had nothing to do with any of this!”, Christian declared as he stared squarely at Victor. “Guys, just put the guns away and calm down”, William suggested while approaching both guys’ line of view. “She was trying to shoot you Christian! That could be you on the floor right now, I was protecting you”, explained Victor. “Bullshit! You were scared she would let the cat out of the bag”, accused Christian. “You shoot her, I shoot you. That jealous bitch would have buried all of us, I said it before, this isn’t about you! No one is standing between me and never having to struggle again, Christian, no one”, explicated Victor.

He pulled the hammer back and put the barrel to the top of her head. Nitori wrapped her arms around Christian’s leg and tucked her head between her shoulder and his leg. “If you don’t care whether she dies or not, why did you act so appalled about her never returning to her family?”, Ted asked Christian. “Fuck you! Any heart I had is lying dead on the floor! Nothing fucking matters to me now!” Christian rebutted. Ted bargained, “Come on Christian, put the gun down, that girl trusts you so much that she doesn’t know to be scared of you right now, look at her!” Nitori whined loudly and gripped his calf. He hesitantly glanced down at her and she looked up to him, her face crimson red, and soaked in tears.  Christian started feeling nauseous. Ted was right, she was clinging to him for dear life, and she should have been trying to get as far away from his as possible. But her brain didn’t work that way. “I know you see it Chris, she doesn’t deserve it, just put the fucking gun away”, reasoned Victor. Christian didn’t want to hurt Nitori and he knew it. He lowered his gun.

“I just don’t want to deal with any of you fucks right now”, Christian hissed. “Go get some air or something, we’ll take care of this”, assured William. “Come on”, he demanded as he snatched Nitori up by the bicep. She ardently tried to hug him as she whined continuously. “Stop it Nitori!” he yelled while fully extending his arms and shaking her. He kicked the door open and pushed her in as she involuntarily tottered into the room. Christian slammed and locked the door behind her. Her howl amplified through the suite. No one said a word to Christian. They didn’t want further confrontation. He went his separate way.