Bad Company

Fixed and Broken

Christian hopped in his car and headed to the southside of town. About twenty minutes later, he pulled up to his best friend’s house. He walked up to the door, and as he went to knock, the door opened. “Nancy…” he said. Her face was intense, “Christian, something is so wrong, I had the worst feeling like thirty minutes ago, and your face kept flashing in my head.” He entered the threshold, and dropped on the ground crying. Nancy kneeled to console him. “I know it’s really bad Chris, what happened, did you kill Sasha?” “Dead. Sasha’s dead, but I didn’t kill her”, he replied through sobs. “I saw it coming, I had the worse feeling and nightmare. You have to get Nitori out of there before both of you end up dead Christian.”

“I don’t know what to do! If Victor even thinks I’m going to take Nitori and run, he’s going to kill the both of us.” Nancy stared at the ground, “Christian, you’re smart, you will figure it out. Honestly, I just don’t see this ending well and it’s been going on for way too long!” “This isn’t what the fuck I wanted! This was forced on me!!” he yelled while grabbing his head in a flustered manner. Nancy walked to his side and rubbed his back, “I know Chris, but at this point, you’re her only hope. If you really care about this girl the way I think you do, you’re going to get her out of there. Let me call the cops, and they’ll have her out of there before those bastards even know.” “No Nancy! She has a stack of my clothes that she sleeps with, I will go down with the rest of them, I don’t want to go to jail for this shit, seriously!” Nancy ushered him towards the door, “You’re going to make the right choice, because if you don’t, it’s going to be bad. Go.” He left and headed back to make peace with Nitori.

As Christian walked through the door Nitori tense up on the floor and curled into a ball. He shook his head lightly. “It’s just Chris”, he casually stated. She quickly rolled up onto her bottom. Christian loved how much happier she was when he was around. He walked up to her and squeezed her tightly into a hug, “I just want you to know that I had no intention of hurting you, and none of that had anything to do with you. I’m very very sorry about the way I acted earlier, you didn’t deserve that, I hope you’ll forgive me.” She rubbed her nose on his chin and snuggled her face into his neck. It was clear that Nitori had no hard feelings towards Christian. When it was just the two of them, he was really easy on Nitori. It was pitch black and silent in the room. He pulled the mask from his back pocket and rolled it down over his face.  He turned on the light and saw she had on one of the nightdresses he brought her from his girlfriend. If was much looser on her than Sasha. The soft green complimented her smooth tanned skin.  He smiled at her, then turned on the television and opened the window. That’s something he’d never do when Victor and William were around, they didn’t trust Nitori.

Christian wasn’t sure how he was so calm after Sasha’s death. Maybe it was shock, but there was tranquility inside of him. “I brought something for you”, said Christian as he sat in the rocking chair near the open window. He leaned over the side of the chair and removed Nitori’s blindfold. She saw an iPad sitting in his lap and headphones. She scurried over and snatched the gadget with jubilance and shoved the buds into her ears. “Hey be careful with it, I’m actually pretty dependent on that thing!” She pulled the iPad to her chest and smiled lightly. “I know you miss yours, so you can play with mine for a while”, he said smiling down at her. Nitori immediately began playing with the apps and games on the tablet.  She sprung up and plopped down in Christian’s lap. He groaned and uttered, “Damn it Nitori, I’m not a chair!” She chuckled meekly over her shoulder then droned in on the tablet. The humdrum from the television made Christian drowsy. Before long, he dozed off to sleep.

The chain was still locked around Nitori’s right ankle. She had her other leg pulled to her chest as she leaned on it, while studying the iPad absorbedly. After a while, she sank backwards into Christian’s chest. She watched videos, and hummed lightly. Nitori rocked her head side to side while enjoying the music. She extended her right leg on the floor and it caused the chair to sway. Once she discovered that the chair rocked, she liked it and continued to make it oscillate. As the chair vacillated back and forth, Nitori slid back and forth in Christian’s lap. As her weight shifted, Christian was becoming stimulated. Through his sleep, he reflexively pulled her closer by the waist. Nitori nonchalantly glided nearer to his body. He hinged his head onto her shoulder and pressed his face into her neck. She hunched her shoulders and automatically nestled against him.

Christian clutched Nitori’s ribcage and pressed his lips to the back of her neck. She winced slightly but never looked away from the screen. Christian’s eyes hadn’t even opened yet. Nitori continued her oblivious movements in his lap. He sighed as his grip on her tightened. Quietly he whispered, “Sasha…..”, as he ran his face over her right shoulder. His eyes rolled open and he wheezed in shock once he realized it was Nitori in his lap. Impulsively, he shoved Nitori from his reach.

She fell to the floor with the earbuds ripping from her ears, and the iPad crashing to her side. Christian’s heart dropped. “Fuck! Nitori, my bad, I had a dream….and I thought you were, I don’t know, I didn’t mean to push you.” A piercing scream erupted from her mouth followed by loud, long-winded cries. He fell to his knees to pick her up from the shaggy carpet. She rolled away from him while pulling her hair and banging her heels to the floor. “Nitori! You’re gonna hurt yourself!” he bellowed while snatching her in his direction. She went into a full blown tantrum. While trying to calm her down, he was hit by her flailing hands a few times. Finally, he had her in his arms with her arms subdued at her sides, and her knees restrained with his elbow.

“Seriously Nitori, I’m so so so sorry.” Sweat and tears drenched her face as she hyperventilated from her fit. Christian rocked her back and forth. She sank her face into his forearm as her unhappiness subsided. He brutishly stroked the crown of her head. “My bad Nitori”,he apologized. She gaped up at him with her wide, tear ridden eyes. Christian gawked back, speechless. He inched closer to her face and stopped inches from her lips. “What the fuck am I doing”, he grumbled to himself. She stroked her index finger over his eyebrows and lips. He seized her hand and kissed it softly. Christian reluctantly straightened up. The urge to kiss her was raging within him, but he knew it wasn’t right. Instead, he rocked Nitori, and held her close until she fell asleep.