She's Just Like The Weather

She's Just Like The Weather
 

10:30

Running for her life, the blonde bouldered into the rusted security door and staggered out into the morning drizzle. Pelting across the alleyway  as she checked behind to make sure she wasn't being followed, the bumper of a black muscle car slammed into her left thigh. Head of crimson hair poking out of the open driver’s window, the driver beckoned her hand madly. “I’m sorry-get in!” She panicked as the victim’s head poked past the hood.

Dragging herself up and rubbing the assaulted spot, the blonde rushed a hobble around the passenger side and ripped open the door. “What the fuck was that?” She yelped as she threw herself inside and onto the red leather seat.

Without even thinking, the younger driver spun out. “Sorry for not anticipating creepy-ass killers emerging from the shadows.” Swallowing the choking lump stuck in her throat, the redhead snarked. “Like, actually appearing out of walls and the floor, from shadows!”

“I meant running me over.”

“I swear to God-” The driver paused when she felt an itch on her temple coming from her passenger’s stare. “-Gods- that this car has a life of it’s own, and I'm pretty damn sure it hates me.” She slammed her hands down on the steering wheel twice in quick succession when the engine spluttered a threat to stall.

Pushing her blood-sopped locks off of her face, the blonde sunk into the comfort of her prized possession. “When we get past the bridge, swap.” Wiping the sanguine off of her lids with a baby wipe she had taken from the glove compartment in front of her, the older woman tried not to let any of the gunk on her lips enter her mouth.

“Jules said Fairies.” Domino's grip tightened on the wheel as she hit the gas and sped around the corner of the abandoned apartment blocks. “Did they look like fucking fairies to you?” She glanced to the woman beside her fighting to remove all of the blood and whatever the hell that black gloop was.

Understanding her company’s anger, the passenger flung the first of many wipes out of the window. “Good job with the cream.” A snort escaped her when the redhead swerved at the embarrassment.

“It said cream in the book, so I brought cream.” Agitated, the younger woman ground her teeth.

“I don't think there was such a thing as canned whipped cream centuries ago,” the blonde used the mirror in the visor to wipe the last of the mess off of her face as she tried not to laugh at the obvious anger on her friend's face. “but it was really fuckin' funny to watch you spin round in circles while using it like a fire hose.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Sniffling her nose clear, the redhead kept her eyes on where she was going. “Not everyone has your durability and I don't see the appeal of being a critter's tasty treat for what could possibly be a long and painful unnatural lifespan. Thank you.”

“I get it.” The older woman waved off the fumes coming from the driver. “I didn't manage to get what we came for though, which is the biggest issue.” Deflating, the slightly shorter woman growled as she plucked a cigarette from the carton in her jacket pocket. “It wasn’t there. I’ll go back tomorrow.”

“Don’t bother.”

“What do you mean, don’t bother?” Brows furrowed, the blonde turned to her friend and construed her features. “I have to reimburse £10,000 if we can’t come through with the goods - £9,500 of which has already been spent on rent back-pay, living costs and-”

“And your habit; I know.”

Blankly staring at the redhead's pretty profile, Alex's nostrils flared. “It’s work expenses.”

“Just because you can drink a bar half-dry, doesn’t mean you should.”

“Why are you lecturing me?”

“You know I’m all for a good time, but something feels different.”

“How does that make any difference to the fact I’m ten grand in debt?”

“Promise me you’ll cut back?”

Scrunching her face, the blonde rolled her eyes and wobbled her head in irritation at the lecture. “Sure, whatever. Now show me a magic get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Flicking the blinker, the redhead grinned as she pulled onto a turn-off and rolled down a narrow dirt road. Pulling the handbrake up once settled in the basin of an unused quarry, Domino took the keys from the ignition. “No need.” Opening her door and getting out, the taller woman shut the door behind her. Walking around the front of the vehicle which was overly polished just that morning, the redhead eased her rear up onto the bonnet. Reaching her two fingers into her inner jacket pocket, she fingered out a pendant. “I got the stone when one of them ran out the back. He must have been a lackey. I only hit him once before he fell down.”

Meeting her partner outside, the blonde glared at the redhead. Huffing out a breath, the blonde snipped. “You could have told me sooner.”

“Sooner than what?”

She hacked out a scoff with a sideways glower. “Sooner than me almost getting my arse handed to me.”

“I did try to call you.”

Reaching into her own pocket, the blonde checked her phone to see the twelve missed calls on her screen - nine of which from another number. Catching another notification from the same contact which had been blasting her, the older woman walked around the front of the car and slid into the driver’s seat. Returning to the natural order of things, the blonde plucked a smoke from the well beneath the handbrake. Sparking the end, she read the latest message.

‘Pick up a package.’ She read, followed by a specific set of co-ordinates.

Face scrunching, she knocked twice, quickly, on the windscreen. Once the redhead had glanced back, she waved her hand, gesturing for the younger woman to get back inside the car. “We’ve got more work to do.”

Rolling her head, Domino slid off the hood with a grunt. “What now?” She rounded the passenger side and got in.

Chucking her phone into her friend’s lap just as she shut the door behind her, Alex mumbled with the twist of the keys. “We get the package-” She said as she put her hand behind the passenger headrest and tensed to look behind whilst reversing. “-but it feels weird.”

Humming in agreement, Domino shoved the cell in her inner breast pocket while the driver lined up with the slippery ramp. “It seems cold.”

“Let’s just get what he asked for.”

“We’re not going straight back?”

“He told us to pick up the package, so that’s what we’re doing.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I...” Licking her lips, the blonde swerved backwards and around onto the main road. Dodging a fellow driver, she hit the gas and sped around a red Purgeot. “But I do trust him.” Nudging the gear stick and going more than double the speed down the barely used road, Alex put the window down. “Let’s just get this over with and hurry back.” She said evenly, her own thoughts about the upcoming location running through her head.
 

11:10

Roaming down the industrial estate she had been directed to, the driver kept her eyes out for the company name she was looking for. Grip tightening around the wheel, the woman grit her teeth, causing her jaw to pulse. The tension didn’t go without notice. Sniffling sharply with a taught twitch, the blonde opened her mouth to speak. Cut off by a desperately dry mouth, she fingered the silver flask from her left hip. Unscrewing the cap with her index finger and thumb skillfully, she took three chugs - emptying the article.

Continuing to watch the obvious signs of anxiety picking away at her friend, Domino finally gave in. “Stop chewing your teeth. What the Hell is wrong with you?”

Cracking her neck to the left sharply, the driver licked her upper teeth and chucked the empty tin on the dash. Knowing it wasn’t a subject she wanted to get into right now - ever - she held onto her reason for a few moments. “I grew up five minutes down the road.”

“You were pulled back; there's a difference.”

“This is place where my last foster carers were; I used to hang around this very shithole. After getting out...” Alex pulled back into herself, as if it had been a long time spent in a horrible prison. “When I got out,” She swallowed down the acid building in the back of her throat from the nicotine and Jack. “I had an obligation here.”

Sensing the odd feeling radiating from her friend, Domino forced herself to push it aside for the time being. “Forget the back-story. Let’s get Jules out of whatever the fuck he’s done this time.”

Feeling a weight instantly lift off of her chest, the blonde turned to the left. Instead of parking, she drove diagonally across the narrow street, and then reversed. Doing the same thing again, she turned the vehicle around and the settled the left wheels up on the curb.

Taking the keys from the ignition, the blonde flicked down the sun visor in front of her. “Lipstick.”

Understanding the prompt, the redhead pretended to fix her face in her own mirror as her hand reached under her seat and clasped a curved blade. “What do you think it is?”

“Hm?” The driver hummed as she unbuttoned the top of her shirt and applied a fresh slick of eyeliner.

“The package. What do you think it is?”

“I don't care.” Catching a flicker of something in the reflection of her mirror, Alex stilled and looked around before fixing her eyes on the backdoor to the delapidated exterior of the building they were about to head for. “But if this is some kind of ploy to keep us here while something happens to Jules-”

“Don't think like that.” Smacking the visor up, Domino patted her friend's shoulder. “Besides, nobody could crack Jules' phone even if they had all day. I'm sure the fucker uses pig Latin and hieroglyphes in all of his passwords.”

“Words from experience of trying to get into his phone?” The blonde asked as they exited the car and stepped out into the air which stunk of burning rubber and car fluids.

Untucking her hair from down her leather jacket smeared with the murky gunk from earlier, Domino elaborated due to the blonde's expression. “I was trying to delete a photo.”

“Oh aye?”

“You're twisted.”

The older woman giggled at the seriousness painting her friend's face and hopped off the curb. “Coming from you, that's quite the honor.” Ignoring the deprecating statement which followed, Alex crossed the road glistening with a myriad of purples and greens caused by an old oil spill. Passing through one of the iron bar gates which had been left open enough for an average sized man to fit through, the two women followed the instructions which had been sent to them. Avoiding the front entrance, the pair made their way around the side of the building which was almost overgrown with spindly trees and weeds poking up through the broken tarmac. Coming to what they were after, the blonde knocked on the metal-plated door thrice with the side of her fist, and the pair waited in the damp openness of a natural enclosure. After a second, a slot just above her eye-level slid open with a clank.

“Package.” Was all the blonde said.

“Name?” The gruff voice from other side asked.

“Julian Darby.” Tone turned even rougher by the whiskey and smokes made her seem annoyed. The security hole snapped shut. Another few seconds passed, but the clank of bolts soon told them that they weren’t being ignored.

Heavy duty plank swung open to reveal an overly large man, and two smaller males. “Payment?”

“Nothing was mentioned of payment,” The blonde turned to face her friend, a strange look on her face. “was it, Dom?” She tilted her head and then glanced back to the men after receiving a head-shake from her partner.

“’Heard nothing about it.” The redhead solidified the situation with a shrug.

Flicking the tip of her tongue off the inside of her lower molar, the blonde extended her right hand. “Package.”

Scanning the pair, the biggest man's frown deepened. “What’s your name?”

“My name is ‘I will kick your fuckin’ arse and leave your body strung up at the post office if you don’t bring me what I came for quick-time.” Lifting her arm only to throw her cigarette end on the floor, one of the shorter men caught something of interest.

Pointing at the inside of her her forearm where the sleeve of her jacket had rode up, the shorter guard slapped his colleague on the bicep. “Go get the packa-”

“No.” He wafted the smaller man away. “We have orde-”

Grabbing the fabric on top of the man’s shoulder, he attempted to drag his ear down to his mouth. Lowering his voice, the shortest hissed frantically.

Watching the scene with a frustration for the time, the female pair grew antsy. That was when the burly man had given in to his new orders and had waddled away. Returning within a minute or so, something had changed in the tallest's attitude. Not daring to look either woman in the eye, he held out the mundane package: a box around the width and height of an open laptop which was wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with twine. “We don’t want trouble.”

Snatching the object, Domino immediately set off in a strut towards the car. Turning around after her friend, Alex was halted by a familiar question. “Are you really her?” Debating on whether to acknowledge the curiosity, the blonde set off after her partner. “Are you really Hex Baines?”

Hearing the call, Domino stopped before she could squeaze through the overgrown path. Glowering something wicked, the redhead bared her teeth in a snarl. “Her name is Alexandria.” With a growl, she dragged the addressed along before anything else could be said.

Making it back to the car and getting seated, the blonde started the engine and they set off without a word. Driving out of the industrial estate which had been a pivotal part of the thriving community more than seventy years ago, a heavier rain than before the pause pelted down.

Turning the radio on low, the pair listened to the twelve o'clock news. The obvious statement that is was going to rain all day and that storms would likely happen sporadically for the rest of the day were semi-acknowledged, along with an update of traffic, and the days headlines so far. Getting stuck behind at lease five cars from what she could see for the rain coming down so heavy it looked like mist, Alex tapped a leather gloved finger on the window ledge.

Staring out of the opposite window, the redhead watched the distorted lights of the cars going back and forth under the bridge they were stuck on. “Did you know them?” Her clear volume was just above a whisper.

“Not that I remember.” The driver told flatly as she continued to drum her fingers.

Examining the driver's profile, the younger woman tried to fathom what was going on in her friend's head. “Would you tell me if you did?”

Pierced by the quiet tone, the driver looked at her friend for the first time since getting in the car. “Yes, Dom, I would.”

Nodding once casually, the addressed took two cigarette from the packet in her inner breast pocket and lit them. Handing one off to the blonde, she placed the other to her own lips and went back to staring out of the window.
 

Updated: 10th January 2017 - 20:20