Joshua Graham's Trip to the City of Sin

Part 6: Heartaches

Carrie awoke the next morning in bed. Her head was almost killing her, even worse than when she got shot in the head by that rat, Benny. Good fuck, terrible person. She managed to stumble out of bed and realised she was undressed...

"Holy shit...did he....? Did we?!" Thoughts raced through her mind frantically before shaking her head.

She found her clothes in a crumpled pile on the floor and bent over to grab them. She then spent the next few minutes trying to dress herself, still dazed and confused, until she finally tied her boots and put on her hat...then realised she was still indoors, at which point she promptly took the hat back off and placed it on the bedside table.

Exiting her room, she looked around and saw the door where Joshua, she presumed, was staying in. She slinked up towards the entrance and, bracing herself for the inevitable awkwardness, knocked sharply and harshly...but there was no response...she knocked again....nothing.

"Maybe he went out?" She said to herself before deciding to quietly open the door, making sure to not make any noise. As she entered, she didn't see much of anything until she heard a slight groan come from the bathroom.

Despite her better judgement, or lack thereof, she crept closer to the bathroom until she was right in front of the door; its dark brown, centuries old mahogany seemed to be hiding something foreboding, dangerous, unforgiving.

She painfully opened it little by little and peeked her head through only to find an amalgamation of stretched flesh, of a pale red and sickly creme colour. It was like looking at a ghoul except it was heavily burned, like it was thrown into a volcano and left to melt. She couldn't help but squeak in surprise and terror as the figure turned to look back at her, its eyes widening as it laid eyes on her before quickly shutting the door.

Carrie fell backwards onto the bed and tried to calm herself via deep breaths, her heart felt like it was going to explode. Joshua had never once shown her what his skin looked like, she only saw glimpses underneath his bandages but she didn't realise how bad the fire scarred him.

Eventually, Joshua exited the bathroom and stopped in the doorway when he saw Carrie sitting on the bed, averting her eyes away from him. He sat down on the bed next to her, his bandages now white and clean.

"I'm sorry you had to see that...I should have locked the door."

"N....No...it's fine. Just...didn't expect it, is all. I....I never knew how bad it was. You know....I have friends who can help you...heal your burns. I can take you there right now if you wa-"

Joshua cut her off before she could finish.

"No...I don't want that. These burns remind me of who I was, what I did. For Caesar. Killing the innocent....they are my sins, and I have been punished for it. I will bear the scars of my past so I never forget."

Carrie doesn't respond and instead just sits in awkward silence, glancing at Joshua every so often until she finally tries to ask the question she came to say.

"Um...so.....did we...do anything? Last night, I mean...cos like, I woke up...in my underwear...."

She coughes awkwardly as she finishes vomiting out her question. Joshua takes a deep sigh and lets out a slight chuckle before answering,

"No. We did not. That did not stop you from trying however. You tried to...take my pants off."

Upon hearing news of her drunken escapades, she blushes heavily. Her pink cheeks being hidden by her hands buried into her face.

"Oh my god! Shit! Fuck, that's so embarrassing! I'm so sorry, Joshua!"

"It's alright. I understand. You were....quite a mess."

"Ugh...remind me never to drink again..."

He chuckled slightly and replied,

"Yes, I think that'd be best."

They both smile and it seems any tension from recent events had suddenly dissipated into harmless radiation.

"So...what shall we do now? Should we head back now?"

"Hell nah! We got loads more to do, Joshie boy!"

She springs up from her seat and offers Joshua her hand.

"What about it Joshie? Ready for another wild adventure?"

Joshua, knowing he shouldn't take her offer, decides to anyway. As much as he would adamantly deny it, he enjoyed watching Carrie sow chaos in a sort of morbidly curious way.

Carrie had a big dumb smile on her face and dragged Joshua into the elevator. The doors closed and they descended down towards the casino floor....