Chloe
Chloe walked just far enough so her footsteps wouldn't be heard. It had gotten dark and she was becoming cold even with a sweater on. Martina wore a gray sequin dress and heels, her arm looped around a guy's forearm. She couldn't see his face and didn't recognize him from school. Thus, she kept her distance. Better safe than sorry.
It had been a few hours since she left Diana in front of the mall. In that time, Martina had gone out to dinner, to a bar for a drink and was now heading the opposite way of her apartment. Chloe checked her watch. It was almost midnight and she was starting to feel tired from a full day of walking.
She was glad nothing was happening as she was still under the impression of the day's events. Taking Diana to the mall was the right thing to do. Seeing her face lit up when she'd entered the building warmed Chloe's heart. Happy was all Chloe wanted to make her feel. Even the fact that she'd had to steal the money form the other people from the mall didn't bother her as much. She had done it for Diana.
They crossed the street at a junction, stopping in front of a club. Chloe paused, creeping into the shadows only slightly but subtly, so they wouldn't look her way. Martina fixed her ponytail, laughing at something the guy said. His build was typical for a bouncer. Wide shoulders, bulky and no doubt an iron fist. Chloe had encountered enough of them in her lifetime to know.
He disappeared inside the club and Martina followed suit. Chloe gulped, stepping into the light. Her eyes weren't focused on the traffic light or the traffic itself. She fumbled through her pocket in search of a fake ID. She stopped around the corner to pull off her sweater and adjust her cleavage. The entire ordeal made her feel sick, but to get inside, she needed to look the part. With a lace top on and a pair of ripped jeans, she looked slightly more like a party-goer. She shoved the sweater in her bag.
The bouncer at the entrance stopped her. "ID?"
Chloe handed him the ID and he looked at it and then back at her. Chloe threw on a well-practiced seductive smile.
He let her through.
The music was audible from the street, but inside the club, it was a bunch of loud sounds trying to overpower each other. It smelled of sweat and the colorful lights made it hard to navigate even with Chloe's heightened senses.
She moved slowly, beginning to sweat. Why would Martina be in here? She knew parties were her thing but the people in the club looked to be older than her and Martina by about a decade and mostly...men.
A few of them gave Chloe smirks and nods as she passed, but more eyes her with a sort of animalistic lust. She looked in front of her, painfully aware of every exposed inch of her skin which was now covered in goosebumps despite the heat.
The music changed and the lights swung over the dance floor, leaving the rest of the room in the dark. Chloe shuddered like she'd been thrown in a black hole. She wished to put her back to a wall, make herself feel somewhat safer. But she remained in the middle of the floor.
Men and women were seated at the tables and counters, watching the dancing crowd. Waitresses brought them drinks. Chloe swayed on her feet when she noticed the way they were dressed. Silky fabric, too-tight and revealing and more skin exposed then there should be at a waitressing job.
A person bumped into her, sending her stumbling forward. Chloe's breath caught in her throat. She was trapped in the mass of people and Martina was nowhere to be found. Her breath shortened. Her hands shook and she found she could almost feel the metal pole under her fingers, while the spotlights blinded her and the her hair fell into her eyes. Redheads never needed wigs. They were always in demand.
Every time, Ivan would yell at her. "Szybciej! Come on! Get out there and give them a show."
She would dance for the men in the audience, relieved she couldn't see them from the lights. She knew they had their pants down. She knew they were watching. Not like anyone was going to stop them to do whatever they wanted here. When she was done, she would walk off the stage praying. She'd pray nobody would call for her but they always did, destroying her faith in higher forces time and time again. Ivan, her ex boyfriend, if she could even call him that, would take her hand and lead her to one of the back rooms. "He'll be here in a minute," he'd say.
But one night, it all turned upside down.
Chloe waited in the back rooms, trembling.
A man soon entered, wasting no time in getting his money's worth. Chloe didn't cry. She had run out of tears pretty quickly. She'd always let her mind wander to Irene and it made her feel better to know she'll see her during the day when the club wasn't working.
A gun shot echoed the club.
The guy sprang off Chloe, pulling on his shorts and leaving her strapped to the bed. She choked on the sudden waterfall of tears, trembling in fear as he tugged on the ropes.
"Chloe!" Irene's voice called for her.
"Here!" Chloe screamed back.
Irene rushed inside, untying Chloe's wrists and legs, before helping her put on a coat. She had already found one for herself, disguising her body. "We have no time for shoes, come on."
The two of them raced down the hallway, barefoot.
"Here," Irene said, pushing the exit doors. They had never been allowed to go further than the back rooms. There had always been a guard.
What if they shot one of the girls?, Chloe thought. She had heard it happened. She pushed the thought to the back of her head, as the doors creaked open. Chloe hadn't seen the moonlight or felt the cold air on her skin. She was stuck in a moment of joy when she felt Irene's hand being torn from her grip.
"Run Chloe!"
"Irene!" Chloe screamed, breaking into a sprint, feeling something stab the sole of her foot. She could see Irene struggle, holding the doorframe as she kicked at Ivan's feet. But he had her in a firm grip, cussing at her and trying to slam her to the side of the door and restrain her. Chloe made a run across the street, almost getting run over. She ran, until she could no longer see from the tears. When she stopped, there was no one around. No people. No Irene.
The music has changed again, but Chloe was no longer in the middle of the dance floor. She sat in the back alley, shivering and shaking. How could she have let Irene go? She should've stayed with her, fought Ivan. She should've helped her.
Chloe rummaged through her bag. finding the box of medicine. She thought it had been a mistake to keep them. Popping a few pills into her hand, she swallowed them dry. She'd had enough practice at the damned underground strip club swallowing pills.
Deciding not to wait for Martina, Chloe made the walk back to the apartment. She didn't bother tugging on her sweater, the cold coming as a nice distraction.
The apartment was empty when she entered. Nobody was around to witness her falling apart.
She shut the door to her room. The drugs had started to work, numbing her senses. She popped a few more pills to make sure she'd be out of it enough to not break and sat on the floor. I'll find you, she promised to no one in particular. An empty promise meant nothing if the person you're looking for is probably dead.
#
The next morning, Chloe had woken up on the floor of her bedroom in a fetal position with her back against the door. She was still in the jeans and shirt from last night, the contents of her bag sprawled across the floor. She let out a tired sigh, lifting herself off the floor and reached for a hoodie on the bed.
The events from last night came back rushing, but her head was clearer now. She had noticed the tattoo on Snakehead's head. There was more to his involvement in Okularnik than Chloe knew. She'd have to ask Diana for more information.
Chloe never understood was why people willingly go into sex work or pole dancing or any profession that required the attention to be on them. She preferred her shadows much more.
Andrew and Cassie were sitting at the table when she entered the living room and went to get herself a cup of tea. Her stomach was empty but she couldn't it as the pills made her feel funny. She shouldn't have taken them on an empty stomach. Or at all.
"Sleep well?" Andrew asked.
Chloe's arm froze mid-air as the water poured into her mug.
Martina hadn't been alone last night, but there was one other person that should have been around.
"Yeah," she said.
If she was any other person, she would have confronted him then and there. She would have asked where he was, why she hadn't seen him when she followed Martina. But, it wasn't that important, right? Something must've happened for him to not be able to keep up with Martina. He wouldn't just abandon his job.
He watched from the corner of her eye as he rose from the table and left the room.
Her heart was beating as she turned. "Cassandra?"
She hummed in response, not stopping to look from her laptop.
"I took Diana out yesterday because she didn't go out since we came here and Andrew agreed to keep an eye on Martina, but she went out tonight and it's not that I think he did anything wrong, but I just think he should have called me to help, because something bad could have happened to her."
A pang of guilt hit her as she realized how Cassandra must've felt when Diana and her went to investigate the drugs. She didn't want to point fingers but last night's events didn't sit well with her.
Cassandra straightened. "Andrew spent the afternoon with me, Chloe. It wasn't his job to look after Gomez's daughter. The next time you want to bail on it and go shopping, feel free to not come back. You don't just give yourself a day off, especially not now."
"I wanted to take Diana out for the day. She hasn't really left the apartment and I thought it would be nice."
"Yeah, you know what would also be nice? You doing your job." She returned to typing.
Guilt overwhelmed Chloe, the surface of her tea becoming disturbed. Cassandra was right. Andrew wasn't the bad guy here. She shouldn't have let herself be so irresponsible.
But I just wanted to be nice.
"Sorry," she said to Andrew, who had re-entered the room.
She shut the door and buried her head in her hands. She wasn't an assassin. How was she going to do this? Her hand twitched for the backpack. I can't, she thought. Not again.
A knock came at the door after a few minutes, Cassandra popping her head inside. "We need to talk."
Chloe sat up, biting her lip and bouncing her leg.
"Look. I'm sorry about the harsh approach, but you can't just go off doing what you want. I need your help, that's why I chose you to join the team. Andrew had lost Martina half way through the day and trust me, he knows not to do that again, but I knew he shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. He's not as good as you."
That may have been the first time Cassandra actually admitted to Chloe doing something right.
She sat on the edge of the bed, a safe distance away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I can't help you, I don't know how this works." Her throat closed up. "I could, couldn't do it in London and Lee d-died. I went behind your back last week and now I did this, I just don't. Don't. I don't know how to do anything."
Cassandra turned to her. "You are doing your best and it is making a difference. You got to know Martina, got yourself infiltrated into her group and she invited you to the party. You do know what you're doing, but to do it well all the time, you need to be ready to let go of fear."
Chloe rocked back and forth, looking at her hoodie. Each needle she used had left a mark on her body and the feeling of handcuffs was still there sometimes.
"Can I tell you a story?" Cassandra asked.
Chloe nodded weakly.
"There was girl I knew. Her name was Tina. She was beautiful just like you. She had long, dark hair and the most intimidating look I've ever seen."
Chloe almost laughed. Nobody had a more intimidating look than Cassandra.
"She used to be the only person to call me by my full name. Everyone else just called me Cassie. I loved training with her. She was so strong and fast. We were fooling around near the rails in the woods one day and I hadn't seen the train coming. She threw herself to get me out of the way, saving my life. Now, we could argue that she should have left me there, but I loved her for it from that moment on. I admired her."
Chloe looked up at Cassandra. She wasn't looking her way anymore, her eyes fixed on the door. But Chloe had never pinned as the type to make jokes about death.
"Before our first mission together, I was told I'll be team leader. She wasn't happy and I decided to talk to her. I told her she was like a sister to me."
"And?" Chloe whispered after a pause.
"I put my hand on her should and with a swift motion, she broke my wrist." Cassie let out a deep laugh, the one you have when it's not actually funny. "But later on, when I was expecting it the least, the saved me again. It was why I survived the first time I met Majesty. Shocker. All those rumors in Phi about how I survived and the truth is I only lived because someone else died in my place."
Chloe swallowed a lump. She had never seen this side of Cassandra and wasn't sure how she felt about it. It made her more human but at the same time, Chloe couldn't bring herself to believe those words. Cassandra didn't open up to anyone, let alone her. She didn't waver. For a moment there, Chloe wasn't sure if Cassandra even had a past. She seemed like a wraith, appearing out of nowhere.
"What I'm aiming at with this," she looked back at Chloe. "I see myself in you. I chose you because I knew you can do it. You can do this and get out of it alive. You can have a normal life. But I need you to hold on, until it's over. I'm not Tina. I won't break your wrist or hurt you— none of these people will. But you need to trust us. You need to help us."
Chloe didn't even register she was crying until she let out a sob. Cassandra didn't try to hug her, didn't try to comfort her.
"Thank you, Cassandra."
"Cassie," she said, getting up. "I'm not here to be your friend. But I'm not here to be your enemy either."
She knew. All those scars Chloe carried, all those things she'd done, all she'd survived. Cassandra knew it all and she still chose her.
Chloe wiped the tears away with her sleeve.
She still gave her a chance.
Her eyes traveled to the backpack.
But she hadn't given it to the right person.
______________
Hey there!
The update is a few hours late and I'm sorry. I had no WiFi to post it until now. I hope you had fun reading it.
What are your thoughts on Chloe at this point? Andrew? Cassandra? What do you think is gonna happen with Chloe later on? She seems to be struggling a bit.
There's no song this week to match the chapter. Feel free to add your own suggestions.
Happy writing,
Sara