Celebrity Skin

I wanna be your dog.

Aiden stretched his back against the soft booth chair and propped his feet up on the table. He could hardly see through the thick cloud of smoke that surrounded the club and it bothered him. His next victim was Rock n' Roller, Abbey Smith, whom was currently performing with her band. He couldn't quite fathom what got him into the creepy singer but she just drew him in. Salem was long forgotten and long hated.

Aiden felt the seat next to him dip in as someone sat down, he quirked his eyebrow and turned to face the intruder of his thoughts. It was Symphony Harrison, Abbey Smiths' step-sister. He rubbed his palms together and sent Symphony a genuine smile which she returned. "My sister wants to meet you," Symphony began. "She sent me here to fetch you, actually."

"She's into cold-hearted pricks, I guess. I read that article about Salem, pretty shitty if you ask me," Symphony continued. "But I guess that's how you make a living; ruining other people's lives to get back at those who ruined yours." Aiden chuckled.

Symphony stared at Aiden in disbelief, Scarlet said this would work. Scarlet said that shooting down his writing would make him angry and self-consious, she was wrong. Scarlet really didn't know anything about him. Aiden turned his body to the small red head and ran his fingers through his hair. How stupid could she be? "I've lived a perfect life, I make a good living writing about other people's shitty lives. You can't bring me down and you can't stop me from getting what I want. I'm a cruel person who lives in a cruel world, get in my way once more and I'll make your world cruel as well."

With that Aiden stood up and sauntered towards Abbey, who had just finished her set. She was gorgeous; very short, had a bit of weight on her, brown eyes, and long brown hair. Perfect. Abbey stared up at Aiden through her thick lashes and smiled flirtily at him. Aiden gestured towards a back room with sparkling eyes. He wanted her so bad but he had to keep this meeting professional. Sex later.

He sat on an available chair in front of Abbey's couch, turned on his tape recorder, and pulled out a notepad. Aiden kept cool under his composure but every so often thoughts of Salem would cross his mind. He hated her, he hated that she could just whisk people away under her wing. That fucking slut deserved what was coming to her soon.

Abbey smiled. Aiden took this as the cue to begin, "Hello, I am Aiden, it is very great to finally meet you. You put on a great show. Now, I will ask a few questions, some of which you don't have to answer but I'd encourage you to do so. I will be taking photos as well after the interview, go it?" He spoke professionally. Abbey nodded.

"What projects are you currently working on? Which project is going to be released first in the coming days?" Aiden asked with a smile.

"I am working on a solo album, it's much darker and heavier than normal. I am also starring in a horror film which is actually being released sometime this week."

"Which celebrities do you believe are the most influencial?" Aiden asked at the top of his head.

"Scarlet Halen, of course, she hasn't really blown into the music world yet but I have a feeling she will soon. She's so talented and amazing, she just doesn't give a fuck."

Aiden thought long and hard, he had no clue who this Halen girl was but Aiden was unintentionally given his next victim.

"Your newest CD, with your band, is slower than all the others. Why is that?"

"We wanted to try something new. The piano became my new best friend, I love the way it sounds in War Machine." Abbey gushed.

"What did you spend your money on after your first BIG check?"

"I got a lot of tattoos, I have maybe about 25 now." Abbey pulled up her sweater sleeves displaying a few bits of the ink.

"If you could be any animal you wanted, what would you be?" Aiden asked.

"I wanna be your dog." Abbey said lowly. Aiden quirked his eyebrows up and chose to ignore her weirdness.

"What would you be now had you not chosen to become a musician?"

"A mortician, most definitely."

"Really? Why is that?" Aiden asked, curiously.

"Death fascinates me. It's just beautiful and mysterious, maybe I like dead things."

"Interesting. What is your own definition of happiness?" Aiden asked.

"Happiness is rare and difficult to achieve, hence, rare. Happiness isn't really real, you get me? It's an illusion, I guess you could say. You don't feel it all the time. Sadness, that's what's real."

Aiden turned off the tape recorder and stood up, pulled off his jacket, and turned his camera on. He smiled at Abbey, "I will be taking photos now, just make yourself comfortable or go wild. I'll let you choose what you want to do but keep in mind that these photos will be published in my magazine, so think about what you're doing before you do it."

Aiden decided he'd give Abbey a fair warning, a warning he never once gave to anyone. She was lucky but he wasn't really in the mood to do anything other than shoot some photos and move on home to his warm, comforting bed. Abbey turned on the radio, a cream song blasted through the speakers, and took off her sweater. She was wearing a lacey long sleeve, see-through dress.

Abbey laid on the couch and grabbed a book, pretending to read as Aiden shot a few dozen photos. She then threw the book onto a shabby vanity and grabbed an electric guitar which she placed between her legs, going for the tough look. At last, she pulled up her dress and gestured for Aiden to shoot a few photos of her inked back,  the tattoos were unique and Aiden couldn't help but to reach forward and touch one that hit home.

It was a tattoo of a mother holding onto her child while death was staring directly into the woman's eyes. Aiden's heart clenched and automatically thought of his mother leaving him at a young age. He brushed back the memory and thanked Abbey before grabbing his belongings and exiting the room.

He walked home that night just thinking about what he was doing. His life was ruined by his father and he technically was ruining other people's lives but no matter how hard he tried, he really did love hurting them. Aiden didn't have a heart anymore, he wouldn't feel at all. Unless his mother came into the picture. All he could feel was abandonment and anguish and hurt. Aiden shook his head and scolded himself for second guessing. He loved what he did and he was not going to stop no matter what.