They were gone. At first they were swaying from left to right at reckless speeds. Then they swayed left, towards the buildings, and were gone. The only thing that remained, the thing that proved that they were indeed there in the first place, was the laughter that hung in the air, soft and sultry, fading away like a bird in flight.
The group stood there staring for a moment, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Victor, lacking the imagination to conceive of what he just saw, thought that they had just entered one of those closed store fronts, but there was no sound of their entry, not the sound of a closing door nor the smash of a window. Jeff and Melissa, always looking for something to laugh at, for once, couldn’t, their slack jaws betraying their puzzlement. Finch, the drunkest among them, grappled with what he saw and his desire for Gillian’s chest. Gillian took a step forward, curiosity bursting forth as she feared for her friend.
Meanwhile the fair-skinned one, the one called Wendy, simply stood there looking out to the street with a tired look of ‘not again’. Apparently this was nothing new to her and she simply had to wait it out.
Finally Victor had had enough, as waiting for something that says everything’s okay wasn’t doing it for him. “What the hell” he barked, loud enough to make everyone jump, everyone besides Wendy. “What just happened? Where’s Claire?” He stared harder down the street, thinking maybe this was just a prank. “Hello, Claire, it’s not funny, c’mon out.” He looked to his friends hoping for an answer. When all he got were shrugs he turned to Wendy. “What did you do?” When he got no answer he yelled “What did you do!”
Wendy, still looking out to the street, said “As you can plainly see, I didn’t do anything. I’m just standing here, trying to enjoy the evening, until you ruffians ruined it.”
Gillian was about to question her choice of words when Victor jumped at her. “What about your friend, what did she do, where did they go”, stepping closer to Wendy, hoping to intimidate some answers from her. “Answer me” he said, taking hold of her forearm. His intent was to hurt her enough for her to take him seriously. Instead he got the sensation of grabbing a cold bar of stone, unyielding and un-fleshy.
“Could you please release me” said Wendy, while still looking out to the street, her voice still as sweet as a child’s.
“What the hell” said Victor, not understanding what he just grabbed and not caring what she said. Then he looked to her face, and saw what Claire had missed the first time. It was not a choker she wore. It was a thin line that circumnavigated her neck, and every two inches a pair of cross hatches that went above and below it. They were stitch marks that gave the impression that her head was not her head, or maybe she lost it in some freak accident and had it sewn back on, or maybe it was just a tattoo. Seeing this shook him so bad he no longer knew what to say, or what to think.
Wendy had turned her gaze to rest on him, making Victor freeze. She had a look in her eye, cold and thoughtless, like he was beneath her, and he felt that disdain deep inside him. She raised her hand as if to swat his grip from her, then backhanded him on the face with enough force to send him flying into his friends. He landed on Jeff and Mellisa first, and they in turn went sprawling into Finch and Gillian, leaving them a jumbled pile of bodies.
Wendy sighed, truly not happy about how the evening was going. “Can we go now?” she said dolefully to no one in particular. But someone did hear her. From behind her the dark-haired one called Cheryl appeared as if she were always there, only she had blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. “Sure, I got you’ she said, wrapping her arms around Wendy’s waist in what could be described as a lover’s embrace. Suddenly they lofted into the air, and once past the street lights disappeared.
The group missed this as they were still trying to untangle themselves. Gillian was the first to notice that they’ve been abandoned.
“Where’d she go” she asked.
“What happened” asked Mellisa.
“Oowwww” said Finch.
Victor rubbed his face as he rolled off of Jeff, using his head as a support, something Jeff was not prepared for. “Where’d everybody go?”
“And where’s Claire” said Mellisa, trying to rise as lady like as her short skirt would permit.
“Guys,” said Gillian, “they went that way.” She managed to regain her feet and started off hurriedly in the direction the two had went. She was soon joined by Victor who was still rubbing his face, then Jeff, Mellisa, and finally Finch.
A few buildings down they came across a wide alley, at the spot where the two of them disappeared. It was barely lit, as alleys are, the few lights making long shadows from the few dirty dumpsters. Gillian went in first, putting her fear of dark unknown places behind her. Right behind her was Victor, followed by the rest. They made it halfway in when a sudden noise made them jump.
On the far side of a dumpster, covered in darkness, someone moved. “Claire” Gillian started, and ran for her. Only it wasn’t her. A woman was sitting there, seemingly knocked down as she was on her side trying to right herself.
Gillian asked “Who are you?”
The woman, covered in darkness, only moaned her disapproval at being dumped on the ground. “Look at my dress, it’s all dirty. Now what will I do? I’m supposed to be at a party.” She looked up with sparkling eyes, letting them rest on Victor while ignoring Gillian. “Could you help me up please?”
“Uh, oh sure” Victor stammered, reaching out with both hands, the pain in his face suddenly forgotten. The woman curled her legs under her, took Victor’s hands and rose to her feet, as close to Victor as one could get without touching. She smiled coyly at him, and said “Thank you so much. Ooh, you’re so big and strong, I bet you get all the girls”. The seduction in her voice was palpable, making Victor flush and grin like a schoolboy.
“Yes, I’m sure” interrupted Gillian. “What were you doing back there?”
“Oh, I was on my way to a party” she said, looking to Gillian. “I figured I can use this alley as a short cut. I was halfway through when suddenly these girls rushed right past me and knocked me down. Now look at me, I’m all dirty, And my panty hose is ripped.” She stepped back from Victor to show the big holes in her leggings, exposing her sexy legs in key places. They were beneath an even sexier pleated mini skirt. Above that was a flat stomach which was below a way too high belly shirt that was straining to contain her large and luscious breasts. She looked back to Victor and said “See, I’m a mess” as she displayed plenty of cleavage in his direction. She gave him sad eyes, a look guaranteed to make anyone feel for her. “By the way, my name’s Pauline.”
Victor stammered back “Huh…huh…hi.” Then he caught himself. “I’m Victor.” She smiled, he smiled right back with a blush that reached well down his neck.
“Right then” Gillian interrupted again. “Victor, your girlfriend went this way, let’s go.” She started to walk off, then turned back to grab Victor by the arm. “Let’s go!”
Pauline was whispering something in Victor’s ear, then stroked his jawline. She looked at Gillian and said “I won’t keep you from finding your friend. And I still have a party to get to, so good luck to you.” Then with one last flirty smile aimed at Victor walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Jeff, Mellisa, and Finch to follow her with their gaze and wonder what that was all about.
“Guys, let’s go, they can’t have gone far.” With that she pulled Victor along until he had his head straight again. The others followed diligently, still confused on the evenings events.
Gillian turned to look at Pauline’s receding figure, just as she reached the end of the alley and turned the corner. She blinked, did a double take, then had to move on. Because there was no way in the world would she believe that that woman Pauline had a tail.
