Stella Starlet

Aventador

photo of Stella's living room

________

The next day, after a long shower of scrubbing dried blood from my arm, I was scrubbing more dried blood from the kitchen floor. 

Finally the weekend was here and I was meeting Karliah that day. I didn't know if I was even up for it, but I made myself go. I knew it would be good for me. 

When six o'clock in the afternoon came, my doorbell rang. Karliah stood there, gleaming with a bright grin when I opened the door. 

"So this is your new place?" She asked, looking around. I nodded. 

As we settled on the couch, she looked at me worriedly. "You look exhausted, Stella. What's going on?"

"Oh God, Karliah." I buried my face in my hands. "I can tell you somethings that you won't tell anyone else right?"

She looked at me incredulously, like I already knew the answer to the question. 

I couldn't keep it in. Keeping secrets just made you exhausted. So, I told her about Enzo, Carlisle, and what Carlisle had told me. It was reckless, I knew that, but I just wanted to get it off my chest.

She looked shocked when I finished. "Holy shit. Well, first thing first, Enzo is an ass and if he ever comes around here, I'll knock him over with a frying pan." She winked at me, grinning cheekily. 

"I don't know about Carlisle though," she said grimly, her face sobering up. "I think he does genuinely like you a lot. But, I don't know how you feel about being with some mobster-gangster though. It's kinda sexy but pretty scary, he probably kills guys and deals drugs." 

I chuckled at how ridiculous this all sounded, but it was probably true. 

"But wasn't there any indication that Enzo was . . . you know . . . a bad man?" She asked.

I pondered as I lit up a cigarette. I thought for a long time until it hit me. My cigarette dropped to the floor.

"I completely forgot. When Enzo and I first met. Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick."

I put my head in my hands as Karliah rubbed my back. "What happened?"

"I was really young, Christ, I don't even remember how young. But I was living on the streets, my mother kicked me out. These guys cornered me and Enzo . . . he shot them. God, I had spent so many years blocking out these memories that I completely forgot."

"Well, fuck. Stella that's a pretty damn huge memory to forget. Well, I guess you know now that Enzo was always involved in some sketchy, illegal shit."

*

Karliah had left multiple hours earlier and I was in the kitchen tending to my dinner cooking on the stove when there was a knock at the door. 

Confused, I walked to the door and opened it. There was no one. Just when I was about to close it, I saw an envelope sitting on the floor over a bouquet of roses. My name was written across it elegantly. 

"Maybe it's Carlisle apologizing and saying he'll never be a mobster again," I mused to myself. 

As I brought the envelope to the kitchen, I opened it. 

Dear Stella,

Carlisle will never love you like I do. You can't stay upset with me, after all, I have given you everything you've ever wanted. I'll be there soon for you.

P.S. My dear silly girl, running away from me just makes me angrier. Expect some blood tonight. 

Oh and hope you like the roses. 

- E

I reached down and picked up the roses and then felt my hand become wet while a soft dripping sound echoed through the room. I looked down and I felt my heart stop. There was a pool of blood where the roses were originally laying, I looked at my hand and it was all over my skin. The roses were doused in the evil liquid, dripping its crimson color. 

My blood pumping through my veins became horrifically audible. Every beat became louder and louder, my breathing halted in fear. I felt like my vision became to spin, the room was rotating in a chaotic manner. 

When I finally got back my senses, I ran like hell to my bedroom. I hastily shoved clothing and necessary belongings into a duffel bag, grabbing my keys, I ran out of the home. 

When I got to the parking lot, I knew I couldn't take my car. He knew my license plate number and he surely had corrupt police working under him. 

I looked around. I smiled quickly when I saw a white Lamborghini Aventador sitting a couple spots down from mine. 

I felt sorry for the owner as I opened the door. As I got in, I swiftly hot wired the car until I heard the engine hum to life. 

When I was out on the street and drove through the heavily-trafficked street, I had finally reached the West Side highway of New York City. The Hudson River glinted with the reflection of the city lights as I sped forty miles over the speed limit, weaving through cars.

When I reached New Jersey, I knew I was a little safer but I knew I had to keep driving. 

I stopped at a bank to take out cash. A hell of a lot of it, too. I knew Enzo would be looking at my credit card transactions so I had to do this while I was still relatively close so he didn't know where I was headed.

I didn't remember the last time I drove that long. Seventeen hours straight I had driven, the sunrise was the most beautiful I had ever seen. I was along this straight rode, no other cars on it surrounded by fields of corn and other crops. 

There I was, in the state of Iowa in this city called Des Moines, in a shitty motel room. I couldn't sleep, I had been awake well over forty hours but my eyes wouldn't close. I was afraid that as soon as I opened them, I would see Enzo standing over me. 

I didn't know if he wanted to kill me. All I knew is that he planned to hurt me. I did enough of that myself, I didn't need him laying his hands on me. 

I didn't know how long I was going to keep running. I didn't know if I'd ever see Carlisle or Karliah again. 

"Fuck!" I screamed as I launched a punch at the wall, a gaping hole manifesting on the faded beige wall.

Blood began dripping from my fist. I was furious with myself. If I didn't push Carlisle away, none of this would have happened. He would've protected me. 

And now, I would probably never see him again. I would miss that snarky, intoxicatingly intelligent, platinum-haired man. 

As tears trickled down my cheeks, I was beyond myself. How could all of this happen?

I grew more livid with every second, there was no way in hell I was going to let Enzo catch me. I reached into my bag and pulled out my .22 pistol. If he ever did find me, one of us was going to have to go. I loaded the chamber.