Cherry | Bruce Wayne

THREE - THE TIES THAT BIND

"Are you working tomorrow?"

Inez zipped up her duffel bag and pulled her coat over her shoulders, fixing her hair in the mirror as she wiped away lipstick from the corners of her mouth. She was more comfortable in leggings and a sweater than she had been in her heels all night but the pain had been worth it, the bag stuffed full of cash being a happy reminder.

"How many times, Kiki," she laughed, "You know I don't work weekends. I'll catch you on Monday."

"Shit you're right, my bad," Kiki waved her hand before returning to dragging a brush through her hair, "Night Cherry, get home safe."

"Goodnight, you too."

Inez slipped out of the side door into the January night. The time was nearing two o'clock in the morning and she'd had a busy evening for a Thurdsay, a steady string of clients paying her handsomely for her time without any trouble.

She kept her bag close to her body and walked towards the end of the street around the side of the building. The club was now closed but men loitered outside as they waited for cabs, smoking cigarettes and talking about where stayed open later for them to grab another drink.

Inez minded her own business, crossing the road and standing just outside the shadow of a streetlight, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Cars drove by in waves but none of them were the one she was waiting for and oddly, she began to feel more uneasy as the group of men across the street became smaller, most of them leaving in taxis until eventually only two remained.

Through the darkness she could see them looking at her and could hear them talking to each other, conversing until one of them tilted his head and waved at her from the other side of the road.

"Hey, over here. Don't stand there all by yourself."

Inez didn't move, folding her arms and pulling her coat tighter around her torso. She had no issue being the centre of attention when she was on stage and even when she was alone with men inside Tigress. But outside, she wasn't Cherry anymore, and those men weren't being watched by security guards that would throw them out without a second of deliberation if she asked them to.

"Didn't you hear me? Are you alright?"

Her feet stayed cemented to the ground but it only took another five seconds of cold silence for the two men to begin walking towards her, closing in on her with tall shadows that swallowed hers on the sidewalk whole.

"Don't look so frightened, we're not going to hurt you. It's not safe out here at night, that's all."

Inez's breath got caught in her throat when the two men were close enough for her to meet their gaze. She was intimidated, why wouldn't she be? Frightened by the fact that she was alone and outnumbered and despite now seeing their gentle expressions and hands tucked in their pockets, she still felt panicked.

"They won't hurt you, but I might."

A scream left Inez's lungs that was surely loud enough to shake the earth as she watched one of the men's heads get pulled back by his hair, a knife sliding across his throat before he dropped to his knees in front of her, hands clawing desperately at the blood pouring from his neck.

His buckling revealed a face she'd seen before on the TV, though not one she'd even wished to see in person. Thin green hair waved around his white face and a grim, red smile was cut from his lips up to his possessed eyes, a purple overcoat blew in the breeze while he stared down at the dying man with a tilted head.

"What the fuck?" The second man exclaimed, stumbling backwards into the wall beside Inez with ill-stricken skin and wide eyes, chest rising and falling far too quickly for a heart to keep up with for long, "W-why did you-why?"