Chapter Nine
Angel stared at the pitcher of water watching the liquid go down time and again as she drank each cup. Each glass full of the tasteless liquid, oh she hated it and the more she swallowed, the more she shook, tears slid down her cheeks as the familiar, want started to fill her belly and soon she was emptying the Kleenex box between wanting to cry and just shredding the tissues. What had Angel allowed Halex do to her? Her tongue was so dry, and the water wasn't wetting it, and she began to sweat, and that was torture in its self as she curled up in a ball crying dry tears. Bastard! Who was he to put her through this hellish time alone?
She drank her water, refilling the pitcher once as she trembled. Slowly she sat up, her head light from the drug leaving her system, and she slid out of her polka dot pajamas as she moved across the room. To the balcony and dragged a chair out to watch the night sky, the flash of lightning over the mountains surrounding the city as she trembled, how she'd missed the storms as they brought electricity and life to the desert and she could smell the wet earth and the smell brightened her senses. i
The distant storm meant survival for everyone in the old pueblo. She smiled as she lifted her face to the soft kisses of rain as drops began to fall. It was leaving spheres of water pooling on her skin as it slowly got harder and harder until she sat there soaking wet. Without a care in the world, she rocked softly back and forth until a loud clap of thunder made her shudder. Angel slid back inside and quickly walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower stepping inside the beautiful marble stall to wash away the grit of sandy rain and came out wrapped in a towel as she could think once more of nothing but Halex.
Was she obsessed? She couldn't figure anything else out. His brown eyes swallowed her whole and she felt as if she was somewhere else. Those intense, dark pools of chocolate, the gaze they held had gone straight to her heart and warmed it and her belly, her body waking up to the man she'd been in love with her whole life, but could she tell him. Now she was somewhere safe. Then suddenly she was falling and her hands gripped the counter as she eyed her medicine bottles. Her breathing came heavy as her gaze flicked over each bottle she turned toward the garbage can and found the empty orange bottle.
Turning the orange bottles slowly one at a time she realized it was gone, the one bottle that would make the rollercoaster stop. She threw her arm across the counter sending medicine bottles spraying across the bath a few bottles breaking sending yellow and green pills scattering across the floor like shattered glass and she sunk to the tile to cry. She had to have more. She did have more. But where. Where!
She got up as her body fought against her and she drank a glass full of water and stood on two shaky legs she felt like a deer to herself when on the outside she looked okay her insides were turning against her as she went for the suitcase and flipped it upside down dumping the contents, flinging her clothes everywhere in search of a bottle and she could find none. Had he searched for it? Had he discovered all of them... She could remember three. Where was the third? Her purse. Yes! She searched hard for her bag and dumped it on the bed again finding nothing, and now her head was screaming, and she flopped down putting her purse back together and drinking another cold drink of water as she took deep breaths. Her pulse was beating hard, so hard she could hear the swish in her ears, and she lay down again closing her eyes.
Damnit! She was going to lose her mind and slid off the bed curling up in the corner of the room by the ac it was cool while she was burning up, and it's clicking, and fan helped drown out the confusion in her head as she cried.
The music cranking up downstairs gave her hope and she wouldn't stay trapped inside anymore. The metal grinding through her body was Nirvana or Live. She couldn't stay shut up and she finally pulled herself out of her hole and drove herself to sort through her clothes, finding a pair of jeans she didn't realize she packed. She couldn't have packed them and smiled. Georgia. She continued flitting through her clothes and found a shirt that was somewhat sexy and sat on the bed as she did some quick braid work with her hair and called down to the front desk to get Halex's room number, she'd see him first. Had to see him first really and slid on a pair of heels she discovered, again one person rang to mind. Georgia. The woman hadn't talked to her in over a year except for brief passes at work and giving her, her paycheck. She got the room number up on five and closed the door, a small wallet in her pocket as she slid into the elevator and punched five. Somehow she'd gotten a second wind.
Coming up on five the doors slid open, and she stepped out and walked down the right-hand wall till she came across a tall dark-haired man leaning against the wall whistling. He was dark like Halex, tall and more like a brick wall than a man. Why was she noticed as she took him in seeing that he was standing in front of 5201 and Angel sighed as she drew closer to him, The man was security for Halex, but why would Halex need a bodyguard and slowly the dark-haired man turned looking at her, drinking her in.
"Hi... I'm Angel. I need to speak with Halex." Mikhail shifted, "Hi Angel, I'm Mikhail, and I'm afraid Mr. Adler isn't in. He stepped out." Angel frowned, "Tell him that Angel High will be down in the recreation room for the school party. I hope he comes." She pouted a little and turned in front of him disappearing down the hall as Moab looked out, "Who was that?"
Mikhail shrugged, "Some classmate."
Moab shifted, "More like trouble, a woman that sexy comes calling in a strange town during a job is job ending. Life ending. It means Halex is in danger."
Mikhail shifted, "She's gorgeous though. Cannderstand why." Moab grabbed his arm and spun him around, and Mikhail wavered off balance a little bit.
"What the hell are you doing?" He shoved Moab back, slamming him into the door frame, "Get your ass back inside before you're seen and we get in trouble you know the rules."
Moab just stared at him a long heated moment, licking his bottom lip and shook his head lifting his chin as he stepped back. "You're lucky you're the favorite, bastard."
Mikhail just shoved him inside and slammed the door stepping back in front of it. He hated Moab's temper, it was cruel and untamable, only Halex received his kindness, but Mikhail was the first under Halex, and they had to listen to him whether they liked him or not.
Downstairs, Angel wound her way down to the recreation room. When she opened the door, the beat of the subwoofers clashed with her body and she shivered. It had been a long time since Angel was around music. Especially this heavy and loud. She smiled at people she recognized and walked up to the bar. Angel thought about the perfect drink. Instead, she got real cozy with a group of ex-football players for the school, laughing and chuckling as her cocktails were bought and paid for until the cotton brain was replaced with a burning buzz one for the other she thought she was doing okay for that matter.
Angel laughed with the boys for a bit as the night slowly moved on, but once she had the buzz coursing through her body, her limbs tingling, she moved toward the pool room, she always did like a good game of pool. She watched each table with a gentle gaze, as they moved lost out on and on to the more knowledgeable adults won, the twenties disappearing she finally pulled out of her pocket and set it on the first table under the shot glass and smiled at the boys, "I get the winner this time."
She selected her cue and picked up a cube of blue chalk quietly rubbing the chalk on the felt tip as she sang with to the song on the DJ's table. Angel's heels clicked on the fancy Spanish tile as she waited for the balls to be racked. She took the white ball and angled it up, breaking hard sending the balls spinning across the table winning solids. Angel continued to sink ball after ball till she missed on the seven and had to hand it over to Jake Odam, the winner of the last game and she laughed sipping from her beer as she watched him play, gathering a group as soon the ball was back to Angel, and she came down to sinking the eight ball as called and looked up for the next player.
She played that way for nearly a half hour, missing Halex's entrance as he took on the winner of the next game watching her win another twenty dollars off Mike Playhe, the quarterback of their Senior year varsity football team. A waitress brought her another beer as she looked up sinking the eight ball and just stared at him, her eyes dark as she smiled, "Rack 'em." She had told him as she went to talk to the waitress dropping a twenty on her tray and she came back with two bottles of beer giving Halex one and Angel took the other.
"You sure you want to do this Halex, she's too good for any of us," asked Mike as the watchers got a little thicker.
Halex simply arched his brow at Mike; the man always had underestimated his decisions and Angel, a deadly combination now. "I can take her, she's drunk now, and she knows not how well I play." Halex chalked his cue and waited. Watching the redheaded vixen as she broke the rack and watched as the ball spun out over the table netting her stripes this time as she watched where all the solid's landed especially the prized game-ending eight-ball and she smiled.
"Stripes it is." She smirked at Halex as another drink was brought to her, and he held the waitress off, "No more for her she's had plenty, but I'll take another beer." The waitress nodded and walked off to get his order.
"You have no business turning away my drink," She yelled at him as she tried to get the waitresses attention but failed and went back to the table, her arms shaking worse. "Why?"
Halex stood watching her, "You are filling one hole with another and it will only make it worse. After this game, we will talk." He leaned over her steadying her shaking arms as she pushed him back. "I can still win, shaking or not." But she was wrong and a beer and many scratched shots later Halex had her up over his shoulder, bouncing her to shut her up as they left the pool room and the party altogether.
"Put. Me. Down. Halex." She said as she squirmed, "You have no right to do this!" She finally got a handful of his hair in her grip, but all he did was stop halfway to the elevator, "Let it go or I will make a scene so terrible you will never be able to show your face in this lobby again."
She froze on his shoulder, letting his hair go as she blanched, "You wouldn't dare! You insufferable monster!" She started hitting his back with her right hand, "PUT.ME.DOWN!" She wiggled and bucked trying to do anything she could think of to get off this man's shoulder. He'd become a barbarian in the years since their separation.
"Halex, I'm seriously put me down or I'm going to scream." She said calmly as he chuckled, "And what would you scream? Abuse? Rape?" He set her down but kept a hand on her. "I'm not letting you go till we're back in your room and we talk about this." He led her to the elevator and up to the third floor and walked into her room as she just bit her lip and looked at the floor like a scolded child. He stood waiting for her, "Go on open it I'm not going to hurt you, Angel." He promised her as he ushered her inside, "You're in a bad spot, and you need the help, now back to bed with you, go put your pajama's back on I think you need sleep."
She nodded and took the polka dotted wear and walked to the bathroom her vision blurring with tears as emotions of the past welled up in her mind and the tears started to fall. She slid out of the jeans and slid the shorts back on, tying the tie at her waist as she slowly looked around the room in her tear-filled gaze and she turned to take off the top and slid into the matching tee as she picked up one of the few bottles that had fallen into the sink when she's thrown the rest to the ground and carefully picked out two pills and washed them down with cool water before clutching at the sink, "Don't freak out Angel." She told herself as she let the tears come and she slid to her knees sobbing in a sea of pain and fear.
Halex listened to her from the other side of the door, letting her cry out the pain and anguish she'd been holding in for too long. When her sobs had quieted he opened the door and picked her up, carrying her to bed and tucked her in, kicking off his own shoes and taking off the button down he crawled into bed with her in his dress slacks and wife-beater and just held her, letting her know there was some safety in the world and he pressed his lips to her shoulder as she gave a shuddered sigh of pain and fear as he sighed, "It's going to be okay Angel. No one's going to hurt you again." He made her that promise not sure if he could keep it or not but Halex knew he'd die trying and he didn't leave her till early morning when Midian paged him, and he left her sleeping, sliding into his shoes he shut her door and went back upstairs to his room.