One Way Or Another

Chapter One

"Venus over here!"
"Here!"
"Venus, just one pic!"
"Can I get a smile please?"

The paparazzi stormed the blonde singer as she walked out of the coffee shop, her sunglasses covering most of her face as a cap helped hide the rest. She quickly got into her car and drove home, dying to relax. Arriving home, Venus Reed quickly ran into her house, scared that the paparazzi would've discovered where she lives.

"Hi honey." Her boyfriend, Mike Cummings, greeted her with a kiss. "You ok hun?" He asked as she flopped onto the couch in the front room.
"Yeah just tired babe. Fuckin paparazzi tracked me down again, animals..." she closed her eyes as she tried to think back to a time when she wasn't constantly having to hide from people.
"That's weird..." Mike said staring out of the window.
"What?"
"I think I just saw something move in the bushes...probably just a squirrel or something." He sat down besides her. "So how was your day?"
"Tiring...our producer said he wants me in early again tomorrow. He thinks tiring my voice out will work better for one of the songs. Bastard..." she turned to Mike with annoyance "20 takes I did for Chopper! He had me sing it 20 times!" She threw her head back into the cushions of the couch and closed her eyes again as Mike pulled her close to comfort her.

The two spent a calm evening together before going to sleep, however it was around 2 in the morning when they heard a noise downstairs.
"Mike?" Venus whispered as she woke up instantly in fear.
"Yeah I heard it..." he replied waking up simultaneously. He slowly crept out of bed and tiptoed to the door, grabbing a baseball bat along the way. Venus watched as he made his way downstairs and headed towards the kitchen, the source of the noise. Mike leaped through the door ready to swing the bat when something hit him hard...

The breeze of a broken window attacked his body as he stared at a thousand pieces of glass wondering what had happened. Carefully stepping around the broken shards, he searched the rest of the downstairs area before building a barricade of sorts where the window used to be and returning to Venus.
"Something broke the kitchen window, I've cleaned the mess and blocked it up, I'll finish it in the morning." He told her as he got back into the bed.
"You couldn't tell what caused it?!" She asked fear stricken.
"No, but whatever it was, it's gone now." He wrapped his arm around her again as she held him close despite his now cold body.

The next morning Venus was hesitant to leave the house. She was still shaken up by what had happened, but Mike had convinced her to go to the studio. She hated her new producer for this album. He was intent on playing with her emotions to try and get her sing differently and didn't seem to care how it effected her. He had already made her have a couple of break downs  where she couldn't help but lock herself in the bathroom, and once he found out about the window, he took advantage of it.
"So someone tried to break into your house?" He said to her.
"What?! No." She exclaimed in fear not wanting to even think of having something like that happen.
"Aw c'mon V, broken window? What you think the wind did that? Nah, that was an intruder, trying to get to you when you're at your most weakest and vulnerable."
"No..." the paranoia began to rise in her as fear took over.
"How does that make you feel?...to know someone was trying to get to you in the place you should feel safest?..."
"Stop it..."She asked.
"God knows what they wanted with you..." he continued.
"Tom, please, stop..."she could feel tears begin to form as he grabbed her arm.
"Use that emotion Reed!"
"FUCK YOU!"
"Don't tell me, tell the mic! And roll tape!"
He forced a couple of songs out of her before she had had enough and tried to leave. Just as she was about to though, her producer, Tom, stopped her.
"Hey V, you know I'm only trying to make this your best album yet. I want you tap into that raw emotion that made your last one so great." She shot him and evil luck. "You understand right, it's the best way to do this..." He said with a toned that creeped her out.

Once again she rushed home only to find the door already open.
"Mike?" She yelled out. "Baby are you home?" She went into the kitchen to find a sinister note that made her run out of the house in fear.

"I'll make you love me V..."