A Night of Happiness
Scene One | Off-Camera
Momentary peace was unlike anything else. Bliss could wash away the pain, if only for a moment. Things were not okay, but for a moment. For a split moment there was some peace in her life once more. Alex was spreading himself thin these days, and she had some level of resentment for it. Time spent away, meant less time for them to work through issues. Work through her deceptions, and their omissions. When he called, she wasn’t sure what the world would offer. Yet, happiness however fleeting was the answer. Undeserved as it was, for a moment the tears were not of anguish but of joy. Joy of having that momentary happiness back in her life. Joy of having that guilt washed away for a moment.
But good things never last.
He had flown away the following day, off to Bermuda once more. Preparing for another trip out to sea. A night was all that had. One night to feel her heart back in her chest. To have tears dried, and to have that laughter once more. Things were tumultuous at the best of times. There was an ever underlying tension even before the revelation about Leon’s death. There was an ever underlying tension that things would fall apart. There was a lack of trust, from both, and that made things difficult. She had no reason to distrust, but her own deceptions made her skeptical of goodness.
But good things never last.
No calls since he had gone. No updates, no news. Only the one piece of tragic information. That Alexander Raven had been involved in a freak accident aboard an aircraft carrier, and was currently missing. Spreading himself thin, following these extra curriculars. They were killing him, and she could do nothing. Nobody had any news for her. Nobody could tell her a thing. She’d made the emergency plans to fly out to Bermuda. To get a ticket onto the ship and to demand that they tell her what was happening. One night of happiness is all they had.
But good things never last.
Bag packing, preparing. There was many more important things to do than that which Alex would be telling her. “Focus on Seleana.” She could hear the words in her head. The vitriol in them, the venom in the anger. There was few things in this world that could upset Alexander Raven, but forsaking oneself for the sake of another. That bothered him beyond everything else. Altruisim, selflessness. These were virtues of saints, and they were not. But one night of happiness, was not enough. One night of happiness was at all going to be all she would get. If they wouldn’t tell her, she would find out. If they didn’t know, she would find out. Nothing would stop Luna Vanity from seeking the person she wanted.
But good things never last.
Her phone buzzed, someone calling. She looked at the screen. LEXI-BABY displayed on the screen. Her heart soared, and she picked it up answering instantly. The other side of the line was uncomfortably loud. The background sounds were horrendously off-putting. Industrial almost.
“Alex?”
“Hello love bug.”
Something caught in her throat. The voice… she knew that voice. That wasn’t Alex, but they were part of their world too. Ghosts couldn’t speak, yet this ghost had made a phone call. This was not possible. This wasn’t real.
“Don’t worry, sweet angel. Our little bird boy, he is okay. Well. He’s alive, at least. Okay is probably a stretch. But he’s alive. Maybe a little bit delusional, but alive nonetheless.”
But good things never last.
Truth
Scene Two | On-Camera
“Poetic.”
A dingy little hotel room. The blinds drawn, a shimmer of light slipping through. The waft of cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air, illuminated by the small stream of light. Luna was sitting on a chair, cigarette hanging loose from her lips. An ash tray lay in front of her, half filled with crushed cigarette butts. Her eyes were hidden beneath a shadow that lay across her features, obfuscating her expression.
“Poetic, is a nice way to think about these things don’t you think, lover? There is many things in this world that can be chalked up to coincidence. Chalked up to fate. Chalked up to an outcome pre-determined by a greater entity. I am not a believer in fate, per say. No I am far more a believer in human action. In patterns and outcomes that can be seen as a result of knowing how people and things react. Yet the more I chase these lines of logic, the less clear they become. The more I think I can understand people, the more they surprise me. There’s an interesting coincidence that lays before us, however. I am, but a simple servant. You see, Seleana, I am pointed and I act. I show love, and in turn receive hatred. Vitriol. Anger. Vanity is a scorn upon the lives of those who refuse to accept themselves. Vanity is my own undoing it seems. I think myself immune from the world. I think myself immune from the petty squabbles of the lesser who act upon their own ways of fate. Words is what they are, Seleana baby. Words. I am nothing but fucking words at the best of times, and I lose myself to them. A trickery of the mind, and a teaching of a man who understands them. I am not well-educated, well thought and articulate. I am not eloquent, I am not a master of the tongue. Phrasing, I know.”
“No what I am Seleana, is an angry fucking bitch. Someone who is sick to death of doing what I think I need to, and ready to do what I fucking want to. Pretending to be something grander for the sake of fitting an image that I don’t even actually know if people want. If people need. I am tired of needing to be more than I want to be, yet lesser than I am. Poetic is what lays before us sweetheart, and poetry is what you will get. Raw, guttural and unapologetic poetry. What lays before us, some would say is a message of fate. What I say it is, is a sick fucking joke. I beat Crystal’s ass to win my first ever championship here in Sin City. A match nobody gave me a rats chance of winning. Yet I walked in, determined and focused. And took her sweet little face, planted it into the mat. Leapt to the skies and slammed down on her. One… Two… Three. Done, bell rings, I am the Queen of Fate. Shocking to the world, shocking to you I am sure. Shocking to all involved. Yet the powers that be, took that as a slight on them. Threw me to Jessie Salco. Threw me to the cow that still moos at the top of the world, acting as if anything she does mean jack shit. No, Jessie Salco took my lack of focus, and used it. Veteran instinct she’d call it. What I call it, is a load of horse shit.”
Anger. Luna’s worlds were all filled with venom and anger. Pain laced her tone, her mind seemingly elsewhere even with the focus. Cigarette extinguished, another placed to her lips. The flick of the lighter, the snap of flame. The tip flaring red as it ignites, and she breathes in deeply. Leaning forward, her hair falls across her face and shoulders. A knotty tangled and tousled mess. Bed head to the extreme. The tap of free fingers across her thigh.
“I made a mistake, I can admit that. What baffles me, is the arrogance of the experienced elite. Calaway to this day likes to pretend that my win over her was a result of extenuating circumstances. The only extenuating circumstance, is that on that night I was better. That I out-thought the veteran, and her anger blinded her. So confident, she fell. But it is a plight of the experienced. That beating the youthful is a fault of their own youth. That they are not on the same mental playing field. The arrogance of it is baffling, even to me. But the arrogance is what makes them feel like they matter. Jessie on her retirement tour, assuming that a single person will even have a second thought about her once she hangs the boots up. No, Salco is attempting to elicit the final bit of love that people can give in a validation attempt of her own ineptitude. Her ineptitude being a career built on the back of hoping for the failings of the other. Of ever seeking a greater experience of the lesser, and in turn, pretending that she knows a damn thing. Do you see the poetry here, Seleana? I took from you, what I gave to that cow. I took from your plates and gave to the unworthy. Fate is what they would call it. Destiny. That her loss will come as a result not of Calaway, who will come up short again. Not as a result of your wife, Crystal. Who lives on chaos and disruption. And not at your hands, as you fail to stand upon the peak once more. No, Seleana. The end of Salco comes at my hands, and that is a fact. That is not up to question, that is not up to pretend. That is not a delusion or an empty claim. It is a fact. I am the future of Sin City. I am the one who all the eyes fall upon wishing for success and failure in equal levels. To see me fall, they cheer. To see me rise, they beg for someone to be better. I am better than you, Seleana. I am better than Calaway. And by the end of all this, I will be fucking better than Jessie fucking Salco.”
Slowly she gets to her feet, taking long and slow drags on the cigarette. Slowly walking towards the curtains, pushing them aside. She is illuminated in the sunlight now. A small white crop, black skinny jeans. Bare-faced, and eyes bleary. An angrier image than the one previously, but a heartbroken woman all the same. Tear stained cheeks, red eyes. Luna was suffering a mental anguish, that betrayed the confidence of her mouth.
“Good things never last.”
A Real Ghost
Scene Three | Off-Camera
“How’ve you been, love bug? I’ve missed you ever so dearly.”
“You’re dead.”
“Rumours of my self-inflicted demise may be a little overstated.”
She paced the room, placing the phone on the table. Putting it on speaker. Her eyes fixated on the screen. Why did he have Alex’s phone?
“Now, unfortunately sweetheart. I have made some… decisions, that directly involve each other. You all made a decision for me. Your thick headed and simple minded brother, for one. Put a gun to my forehead and told me to leave. Told me to leave all of my friends behind and never come back. I think a bit of an overreaction, don’t you? It’s not my fault if Alex cannot keep people entertained.”
A pit was forming in her stomach. There was never a time to wish death upon anyone. But right now, she wished this. That the man on the other end of the phone was as dead as they had all thought him to be. That Leon Trucose wasn’t still plaguing their lives.
“You are a fucking monster, Leon.”
Laughter. He was laughing at her. Laughing at them all really
“If I’m a monster, I don’t know what that makes you all. I’m not the one who reveled in the death of their own friend. I’m not the one who threatened to kill any of you, should you come back. Did you even shed a tear for little ol’ me when you thought it was all done and gone? I weeped for you, lover. I weeped every night at the mistakes I made. Regret filled my every waking thought. Yet here you are, all these years later. In the arms of the man you spoke horrifying things of. I almost wonder if you like the pain, sweet Lulu.”
“We mourned you, Leon. Despite everything, we actually fucking mourned you. We hid what you did from Alex, and we mourned you in our space. You are a fucking monster, Leon. Seriously, you are fucked up. You need help. But you also need to tell me where Alex is.”
“I really hoped you’d be a little nicer to me, Lulu. We were so good--”
“You almost fucking killed us, Leon. You took my life and put it at risk. We were not good. I was a stupid young girl, who liked the danger. But you are nothing but a fucking monster.”
Silence. The air hung heavy. This conversation couldn’t be happening.
He was dead.
“Alex’ll be on that aircraft carrier. Don’t you worry your pretty little fucking head. And at the end of all this. Each and every one of you will pay for the agony you put me through. Mark my words, Luna. I’ll take fucking everything from you. Starting with Alex. I liked him when he was angry.”
The line cut, hung up. Luna stared at her phone, and dropped. Collapsed to her knees. All she had done lately was cry. It might be why she wept so easily now.
The Truth
Scene Four | On-Camera
“The biggest thing for your Seleana. The biggest downfall for you, I should say, is that I am quite upset right now. Demons of my past. Of a shared past, have risen from the very grave itself to torment us. Distraction is the biggest danger, some would say. Dangerous to have my mind elsewhere. Dangerous to believe that other forces that take the mind away would be beneficial. Normally, I’d agree with you sugar. Hell, I probably still do. But the truth, things aren’t ever that straight forward. The truth? Things never go the way that we expect them.”
The sunlight was warm on her face, a slight smile. A hand placed against the glass, as she looked into the world beyond her smokey little hideaway. A slight wince, a furrowing of the brow.
“We stand here, on the precipice of it all. Two options lay in front of us. Salco or Calaway. Two options lay before us. Vanity or Zdunich. Poetry, fate and destiny. They all lead to one outcome. Vanity and Salco, one more time. Vanity and Salco for the Roulette Championship. Vanity and Salco in her last match. You, Seleana. You are naught but a fucking stepping stone on my path to proving myself. You are nothing but a stepping stone in proving that the youth of tomorrow has arrived, and the veterans of today are about to become the dirt beneath the boot of the betters. You Seleana are saddled with an unfortunate task. Lover, I don’t want to hurt you, but unfortunately. I fucking will. For that is what the world begs of us. No matter where the wheel lands, the outcome is certain.”
“At the end of our match at Violent Conduct IX. On the walls of Grand Ball Court themselves if it needs to be. Whatever which way it needs to go, the outcome remains that same. Luna fucking Vanity. Luna fucking Pasilno, will be the bitch that stands tall at the end. And I will be the one to change everything. Mark my fucking words Seleana. You are just an obstacle in that path.”
A clenched fist, the smashing of flesh against glass.
Shards fly, the sunlight of the world suddenly extinguished. The clatter of glass on the floor.
Luna is standing beneath a single swinging bulb. A small silhouette of light cast around, her shadow spreading in a circle around her.
“It is time for us all to wake up. Your end is coming, Seleana. All that matters now, is where the wheel lands.”
And then.
Darkness.
Silence.
Nothing.
