Welcome to a Nightmare

Elsewhere Series: Chapter 26: On the Streets

Elsewhere Series: Part 1

A/N: This next series of chapters will give us some perspective on what the Dark Curse has done to the other characters. I'm calling it the Elsewhere series. Here is part one where we see Zelena's life in such a hard place and her at rock-bottom. Warning, there are mature themes in this chapter and also the implication of how streetwalkers are viewed by a lot of people. The implications do not necessarily reflect my own personal views and it horrifies me that women, especially Indigenous woman are not being cared for and helped so that they can leave these types of lives OR not being found by police when they go missing.

"That's $250," she says, sitting in the car next to a man she barely knows. They sit in a car parked along one of the shadier sides of the Stygian city. The woman slips her heels back on and puts her coat over an emerald nightgown, which was in serious need of a wash. She pulls out a small hand-purse, ready to pocket the money.

"What?" the man in the driver's seat gasps. His nostrils flare in anger as the woman announced the price of her services. He's a man in his late-forties, covered in glitter "That's Bull****! You said your fare was $200 for two hours."

"Dancing is extra," the redhead says, knowing that this wasn't going to end well. "Plus, I had to bring the protection."

"I'm not paying that much!" the man snarls, pounding his hand on the dashboard. The woman can see the anger in his eyes, she flinches slightly when his fist makes contact with the car... having experienced similar harsh treatment for her fares in the past, but at least with this one, the car is taking the abuse. "You weren't even that good."

Zelena sighs heavily, knowing what she must do next. She whips out a cigarette and looks at the man. She removes a lighter from her overcoat.

"Can you open the window?" she asks, with the roll of tobacco between her teeth.

While still infuriated at the woman's price, he nods, rolling down the passenger side window for her to smoke. She dangles her hand out the window, letting out two puffs of smoke. She then taps the side of the car five times and then flicks the cigarette onto the filthy sidewalk. She then turns to the man again.

"I'm sure we can work something out," she says coolly, trying to sound reassuring. Her blue eyes then follow a figure that is approaching from the street.

Just then she clicks the unlock button on the door and a large man opens the driver's side door and forcibly removes the man from his seat. He forces the man against the side of his car with such force that the vehicle rocks slightly. Zelena gets out from the opposite door and waits on the curb as the enforcer deals with an angry customer. She folds her arms and winces slightly at the increased volume of the thug's voice before turning away as the imposing figure throws a punch into the man's gut.

Why is this her life? There had to be something even slightly better than this. Exploiting herself to men daily, trying to protect her body from being harmed, being made to her feel like she's just a piece of meat or a doll to be dressed up and paraded around for the show. Even stripping in a club is better than this, but... she's desperate. She has no other way to earn a living in this crappy city, and without money, she can't afford the fight social services for custody of her daughter.

She goes to the lamp post and watches as the man she'd just been with drives away, the brute comes to the post with a wad full of cash. The redhead lets out a sigh of relief that one punch is all it took to persuade the man to pay; sometimes it took a lot more.

"50," he says, handing her the bills.

"WHAT?!" she barks, crinkling the cash in her hand "That's bull***, I earned 200 on that job at least! I work the cheapest out of all the girls because I'm the newest one and I had to help the pervert out because he had no clue what he was doing. He made me dance to 70's music, in go-go boots just to make him happy! My feet have quarter-sized blisters. He's the worst one I've had in the past month, and I earned those two hours"