Chapter Five- "Imperfection Is Beauty. Madness Is Genius........"

      

No Rest For the Wicked
EncoreDeZiza
All Rights Reserved
2013

Chapter Five
Imperfection Is Beauty. Madness Is Genius. And It Is Better To Be Absolutely Ridiculous Than Ridiculously Boring.

    Richelle arose in bed with a start, gasping for air as her golden eyes adjusted to the room. She focused on evening her breathing but quickly gave up, her dreams replaying in her mind. The nightmares never stopped, even after Iz killed herself. Now it was as if Richelle could see how she died. She screamed, begging her to stop, but Iz couldn’t see her, couldn’t hear her, couldn’t feel her.

            Richelle took a shaky breath, moving to the side of the hotel bed. She hung her head, raking her teeth over her bottom lip. She didn’t understand how the witch- Ariel, as Ashton called her- could do this. All of it. Was it fun to know blood was shed on account of you? And what about Fae’s beloved Ziza? Her books were alive now too? Why? She had to know something, the witch perhaps. They had to find her, interrogate her, no matter what they found she had to be stopped. She shook her head, snatching up a lose purple shirt and shivering as the fabric slid over her sweat-covered body. She rose and grabbed the bottle of warm water, spitting it back into the cup distastefully. She turned then, dropping the glass to the floor as the silhouette of a man became more detailed. “Ashton?” She hissed, “What the hell?”

“Did you know you scream in your sleep?” he asked, his voice quiet, soft. Guilt. Sorrow. Fear. Remorse. Likewise, Richelle did as Richelle does, ignoring everything she felt.

“Did you let yourself in?”

“I thought you were dying.” He ground out through his teeth.

“Yeah, because I’m one to go out screaming.” She retorted, flicking on the light. She mentally cringed at herself. Always with the sarcasm… As her eyes lifted, she quickly hid her surprise. Trying, encouraging herself not to make a sound. The light was dancing over his face, enhancing his tired, weary features. His green cat eyes were now a sickly yellow, huge deep grey bags accompanying them. Truthfully, his skin had adapted a yellow glow. Guilt. Sorrow. Fear. Remorse.

            “How long?” he asked, his voice gruff and honestly more broken then she’d ever liked to admit.

“Have you been watching? That’s what I’d like to know.” He gave her a flat, un amused look, “These dreams. Are they just from after the suicide or before?”

“There just dreams, Ashton.” She defended, crossing her arms over her chest, “They don’t mean anything.”

His fist collided with the wooden desk as he ground his teeth, “You’re screaming her name,” He hissed through his clenched jaw, “At this point, it means everything.” His yellow eyes lifted as he spoke the next part, “And you know it.”

 

 

XXX

 

            She stepped back from the wall, admiring her work, ‘Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius. And it is better to be absolutely ridiculous than ridiculously boring’.

            She didn’t even try to hide the smile from her face as she placed her spray cans and stencils back into her duffle. She swung the bag over her shoulder and watched her breath dance with the autumn air. A few blocks later, she hopped on her bike and took off.

 

            She bit her lip, driving the bike into the garage, she hopped off, smiling as the lights flipped on one by one. The garage was huge, but she’d had seven years to build it. She was twenty four, kicked out of her home at age sixteen. On the very day, actually. It hadn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Nor was it a surprise she would succeed on her own. She set to work, recreating her dream place- a place she’d written in her books as a child. She traveled the world but now reside in London, she favored the accent there and loved that she could turn it on and off, switching it from London, Australian, and then back to her native, English.

            Locking the door behind her, she turned to her living room. Grabbing her remote and cranking up the music. She smiled as Come Along by Vicci Martinez and Ceelo Green came on. She shrugged off all the jackets. The first being a smile leather jacket, the second a large grey hoodie and beneath it a fitted black jacket- she hung all up, stepping out of her grey sweatpants and tossing them into the laundry shoot, exposing her dark black skinny jeans.

            She half-danced, half-walked into her large kitchen. Placing her keys on the counter and checking her phone. Four missed calls, Six-hundred and three emails, and eight texts. She placed it back down, turning to grab a cup from her glass cabinets, setting the glass on her marble counter top, opening her fridge for some orange juice when her eyes settled on the Crème Soda. She snatched it without hesitation and scooped up her phone, dancing into the other room and glancing at the clock. Three AM.

 

 

            She unlocked the screen and ran through her missed calls as Counting Stars by OneRepublic came on. You have four missed calls.

Mahalia Raven- 1

Zya- 2

Rachel Vixon- 1, Voicemail

She sighed, pressing play, “Where are you? Zi? You need to quit, I found a Missing Persons report today and thought of you. I don’t understand how you could just leave without saying goodbye. Like, I got one message from you in all these years. One. And it was your new number. That’s it. Never a single reply. Do you-“ She deleted the message, scrolling through her texts.

Mahalia Raven- 2

Zya- 3, picture

Jenna Marshal- 1

Angel- 1, music

Yahoo Notification- 1

She clicked Angel’s first: New Inspiration: Rebel Beat, Goo Goo Dolls. Check her out! �"Ang

The music was attached but seen as Unbreakable Heart by TDG was playing in the background, she skipped it. For now. She opened yahoo, deleting without reading, skipping ahead to Jenna : Miss you. Call me. Soon. Need to talk. Love you She closed out, moving to Mahalia : look I don’t think not writing is a smart move.

Saw your latest work on Instagram, weHeartit, twitter, facebook, and pintrest. You’re doing good kid. WE miss you tho. Close. She moved to Zya : Check out this chick! An attachment was tucked to the end of it, a picture according to the description but Zi knew what it was by the subtitle. London Girl Still At Large. Her.

I was informed it’s you, SO proud! Oh my God! Will you do my car?

Talk to me! I miss yoU! <3 your sister

 

            She smiled and turned it off, starring at her new ceiling. It was covered in her work. Carefully, she rose from the couch and headed fro the kitchen, grabbing a new drink and her ipod from the counter. She took it off the wireless speaker and plugged in her white Beats. She tapped on itunes and typed in Goo Goo Dolls. She bought Rebel Beat without listening to it and scrolled through her playlists to ‘suggested’ before adding it. She skipped the current song by Imagine Dragons and settled for Pieces by Icon For Hire.

 

            She dropped into the trap door and smile at her ‘working’ room, unplugging her ear phones and attaching it to the second wireless speaker. The sound echoed throughout the hidden room and she found herself thanking God for sound-proof walls and surround sound.

            She flipped on the lights and took in the room, setting her iPod on the game consul. She rolled her head, cracking her neck, before kicking off her Converse and dropping to the bean bag chair. Her teeth raked against her bottom lip again and she stood, walking to her mini fridge and sitting on the counter, grabbing a chocolate bar before resting against more glass cabinets.  She heard a distant meow and turned her head to see her small crème colored cat scratching on the glass door. She dropped to the shaggy black carpeting, making her way mindlessly over as Heartbeat from The Fray came on. She opened the door for FeeFee and laughed as the cat sashayed her perfect little fluffy butt into the ‘working’ room.

            Zi, on the other hand, was distracted by the room. She stepped in, flicking on the black light. A huge stereo aligned the wall, a small red laptop on the floor, placed on a soft green been bag. The walls were black with random illustration, lyrics, quotes, and name ideas written in various colors of ink. To the far left was a small table painted blue. A cross down into the aging wood. Lined up on the table were rows of notebooks, binders, and loose-leaf paper that was made for the typewriter located next to the stereo. The rest for the black HP printer laying just to the left of the desk.

            She reopened the door and set out cat food, downing her drink and turning off the speaker. She draped her headphones around her neck and shoved her iPod into her pocket. She walked over to the trap door and gripped both pull up bars tightly before kicking the door up and being instantly blinded by the red flashing lights. She mentally groaned and did another pull up, shifting her weight to her feet as she rolled up and kicked the door shut. She slid the black fuzzy carpet over the door and grabbed her phone, turning it on before walking up to the door and turning off the red lights. It was invented for the deaf as a door bell but her music was so loud sometimes it was the only way she knew someone was there. She opened the door and leaned against the frame, “Can I help you?” She asked, looking them over. There were five. Two boys, three girls. All five of them wore shades (As if that wasn’t a clear enough warning to pretend you didn’t see them).

“Zoe?” One of the guy asked, stepping forward.

“Wrong house,” She informed, stepping back, ready to close the door.

“Zane, she can’t-“ Zane. Where had she heard that name? Oh! She felt her face light up with recognition. Bleeding Roses, she’d loved Zane. But why was he- the joy fell. Larpers. Great.

“Zane, right?” She asked, before looking at the other four. She cringed. “Tell me you’re not.”

“Not what?” The smallest one asked.

“Treya,” She assumed, looking at the one with black hair. “Abba- going through a rebellious stage?” She assumed, looking at the one with purple hair, who stood slightly too far from the group. “Axel, probably, but I suppose you could be Zacc… You don’t strike me as either though, and Zane wouldn’t want to be bothered with Za-“

“We’re not,” The smallest girl interrupted. “I’m Fae. This is Richelle,” She informed, pointing to the black haired one. ”M,” to the purple. “Ashton,” To the formal Axel/Zacc, “And finally, Zane.”

“Yeah right. Your ‘Zane’ thought I was Zoe.”

“That’s because you are, in a way.” Zi made a face before pulling back once again, trying to shut the door. A firm hand stopped it.

“Zi,” Ashton pleaded, “We need five seconds of your time.” She found herself analyzing their accents. She couldn’t place them- and she was quit good at accents.

“After that, if you want, we’ll leave.” Fae added. Zi contemplated this, then shrugged and opened the door.

 

 

 

XXX

 

 

            “So you’re telling me that some ‘witch’ stole my writings to make them real?”

“Yes,” Richelle confirmed.

“No.” Zi rebuked, laying back into the couch. “It doesn’t  make sense- why me?”

“They were hoping you knew…” Fae whispered,

“Oh yeah, I do actually, this lady came to my house a few weeks ago, and asked if she could have a copy of every one of my books” When Fae looked hopeful, she added, “And then flew away on her pet unicorn.”

Richelle scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pointing her shades of  self-righteousness at Ashton, who leaned forward. Zi eyed them closely before coming to the conclusion they were, without a doubt, together. “We need you to take this seriously.”

“Oh forgive me! I’m so sorry I’m not in touch with the reality of dragons and fairies.”

“Hey” Fae hissed. Zi ignored her.

“What could it hurt to just come with us?” ‘Zane’ asked.

“Well for starters, I could be getting in a car with five lunatics.” As if on que, her phone rang,. She pulled it from her pocket. Angel :Channel 8

 

            Without hesitation, she turned on the flat screen, typing in the channel. “What are you-“

“Shh.” She hissed as last night quote as well as a few others of her recent work were being shown.

“The violator has done these works, some of which including ‘Dreaming is about believe in hopes’, ‘Be in love with your life. Every minute of it’ quoted by Jad Karouae. ‘You are so much stronger than you think’, ‘Find your escape’ and last night scandal ‘Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius, and it is better to be absolutely ridiculous than ridiculously boring’.”

“Seriously?” Richelle hissed, “Those are beautiful quotes, the graffiti is amazing- it’s art! Not a crime.” Zi said nothing.

“Unfortunately, London’s favorite villain has marked the wrong building- a storage building belonging to Robert Darling, a billionaire, who insists the government find the artist right away. The police are giving awards for information, the biggest, going to the artist, To give a hint of either location or identity.” She shut it off.

“Well that was fun, can we get back to discussing the fate of the world now?”

“Don’t’ be so dramatic.” Richelle scolded

“She’s releasing monsters into the world, Richelle, do you just think no human will find out? They’re going to freak!” Ashton rebutted.

“Monster’s can be subtle.”

“Only if they give a s**t.”

“Hey! We’re gonna be fine guys, take it one day at a time,.” Fae soothed.

“Zi?” Zane asked, the whole room turned on her.

“’it is a risk to love. What if it doesn’t work out? Ah, but what if it does’.” She smiled, standing from her seat and walking into the kitchen. “What was that?” Richelle barked.

“Peter McWilliams. And the answer, to both your dilemma and mine.”

“What dilemma is that?”

“I’ll go with you, but first I’ve got to make a stencil.” She said, moving the rug and opening the trap door.

“OH! S**t just got REAL!” Ashton celebrated. Richelle glared. “What? You didn’t see that coming! None of us-“

“I did.” Zane admitted. They all looked at him and he pointed to the ceiling. “Know your surroundings.” He philosophized.

“You lean that at SlayerSchool?” M asked.

“Common-sense school,” He corrected.

 

 

 

 

            Zi waltzed into the hotel room, dropped her duffle to join her backpack. She glanced around the room, meeting all five pairs of eyes head on,. “What? None of you wear pajamas?”

“I sleep naked” Richelle shrugged.

“Lucky you” Zi said, looking at Ashton, Who, in turn, gave an adorable blush. They were so cute.

“SO I have a question,” m spoke up, standing from the desk.

“Is it about my writing?”

“No,”

“Then I don’t want to hear it,” In the five, terrifyingly long, hours Zi had known the group, M was a huge dick and Zi had learnt to not like her.

M crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, and Zi’s eyebrows rose, her eyes never leaving M’s. “I’m asking anyway,” Well of course, why would you not want to be a big person and respect what people say? Zi’s nails dug into the palm of her hand, she didn’t even try to hide them. “What do you think? Huh? That it’s okay to deface the city because your rich? It doesn’t matter if you get arrested because you can buy your way out? You people,” She spat, “Make me sick.”

Zi ground her jaw, “You know nothing about me”

“No?” M growled, Zi took an automatic step forward, “So enlighten me.” Feeling the anger radiate off her, she engaged in a stare down until it clicked. They set this up. They wanted her story. Why? To see if there was anything, anything that could be identified with the witch. Classic Good Cop- Bad Cop. She took a deep breath, “Okay,” What could the truth hurt anyway? She moved away from M and looked between the rest of them, Fae, Richelle, Ashton and Zane. “My life was always a struggle, as well as everyone’s, I wrote to get away- to leave. When I was sixteen, I was thrown from my home. We all knew it was coming. I used money that I earned from different jobs around the world till I settled down in London, where I met this dude, who offered me a job- Something I’d be good at, very good at. Disappearing. But only after I’d left my mark. I, of course, agreed. After gaining some serious dough, I took over an abandoned where house and moved a bunch of homes from my books together into one- I had a writing room. But I just could never use it. One day, I noticed some rich dude in a suit trying to get in. SO I was like what’s up dog? And he turned out to be the owner of Beats. I told him my story, buying the building, but it stayed under his name so no one would know I existed, seen as, technically I’m a runaway.” She summed up, now glaring full-force at M, “And if you ever jump to outrageous accusations around me again, I’ll make sure you can’t open that mouth. Ever. Am I understood?” M’s violet eyes sparked but she said nothing.

           

            Satisfied, Zi walked over to her book bag and retrieved her laptop, setting it on her lap before plopping into the chair, “Alright,” Ashton broke the silence, clapping his hands, “Zane? Come on man, let’s go. Oh and M? Come with us.”

“What?”

‘You wont live if you stay here, now come on,” The three of them vanished and Richelle looked to Zi. “DO you want to sleep on the bed?”

“No”

“Are you sure? I-“

“I haven’t slept in a bed for years. I don’t’ even own one. This is fine,”

“Alright…” Zi was weird. Quiet. Patient. But Richelle knew what she was doing. She was reading. Reading her old books, and hopefully, rediscovering herself. Once, Fae asked to listen to her iPod, and Zi was more than glad to give it to her. Richelle only hoped for the day that the girl reunited with herself. She shook her head, she needed to focus. “Richelle?” ZI called. She blinked, looking up. “I think I’ve got it.,”

“Got what?” She asked stupidly, her eyebrows coming together.

“In my blog, I wrote several times, and implied several more, that my characters had the lives of their own. They did as they pleased. And sometimes, I joked about them not listening.” Richelle just starred at her. That was useful. Very useful. But in what way? Maybe the witch was drawn to- She stopped, her whole being stiffening. No, no, no. The witch was a creation herself. Richelle had made the mistake of believing since the witch wrote about the time Richelle and Ashton meant in the 1900’s that she was alive. But no, the witch is only seven or so years old. The witch was Zi’s own character. Come to life. Her hope? Having others join her, probably to please who she considered to be her ‘master’- that was the case sometimes. Well, not with book characters just leaping from the pages, but something close to the subject- she looked up, hope dancing in her eyes, but Zi was out, sleeping soundly to her music.

 

 

 

 

 

Zane.

            She was beautiful. But she always had been. Wearing a grey fitted T and baggy sweatpants that were more than double her actual size. Her red-brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun giving her the typical look that Zoe had so easily mastered. It was hard to believe that Zoe was only a book character. Granted, she was merely a self-portrait of Zi, but still.

            Zi took time selecting the breakfast items for her plate but Zane was distracted as someone cleared their throat. He turned to see Richelle, her black hair falling down her back, blending in with her leather jacket and grey skinny jeans. Underneath that was a smile fitted white T and black converse. “Like what you see?” she asked as Ashton handed her a full plate, leaning against the sugar table. Zane nodded after Zi

“I like that” He admitted. Richelle made a cheerful squeak teenage girl make when they see Zane. He cocked an eyebrow at her as he snatched a cup.

“Woman,” Ashton snapped, “That is annoying as hell!” She stuck her tongue out and Zane stepped aside to the coffee machine. “Look man, if you want the girl go for her.”

“She’s not a trophy.” Richelle argued, “Tell her how you feel.”

“He’s not a care bear”  Ashton argued, glaring. “GO sit down and let the big boys talk,” She opened her mouth to retort when Fae came bouncing up.

“What’s up guys?” she asked, eyeing Ashton’s cinnamon roll. She reached out and snitched it as he was watching Richelle.

“HEY!” He called as she popped it in her mouth.

“It’s not like you need it.” She snapped. Ashton’s eyes widened at the insult as Richelle made an ‘oooohhhH!’ noise before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Guys,” Zane snapped, his cup now full of coffee. Fae lead the way to a random table, the rest following.

“Look, Fae and I’ll take her out, have some girl time, figure out what she likes. We’ll text Ashton who’ll be with you and you two can practice. Plus, Ashton will give you tips on how to be sexy,” Richelle added, sending Ashton a wink. He returned it as he plopped effortlessly into his chair.

“What’s going on?”

“We need you to go shopping with us while the boys go do whatever it is that boys do.” Zi gave a small laugh. “What about M?”

“Honey. It’s six thirty, M wont even consider stirring till twelve. We have plenty of time.”

“Alright,” She agreed, secretly thankful M wouldn’t be anywhere near her.

 

 

 

 

XXX

 

            “So tell me about you and Ashton”

“Huh?” Richelle asked, looking up from her phone.

“You said you wanted to bond,” You know, before you became glued to your damn phone. “You asked me about my preferences with guys,” To like, no end. “And claimed it was ‘cause you wanted to bond….” She trailed; Richelle just looked even more confused, so she dropped it.

“Who’s the second phone for?” Fae asked awkwardly, hoping to break the silence.

“Zane.”

Richelle seemed to perk up, “Do you llliiiikkkee him?”

“Um- no? The kid doesn’t have a phone.”

“Why don’t you like him?” Fae quizzed, bring Zi’s attention from Richelle’s sad, disappointed eyes. Zi frowned. They were interviewing her again.

“He’s just quiet.”

“And you don’t like that?” Richelle pushed.

“It doesn’t give me a chance to get to know him,”

“OHHH!” Both Richelle and Fae said in unison. Zi awkwardly hopped on the escalator, waiting for the others. “One time Ashton made me breakfast,” Richelle randomly blurted.

“Guys that can cook are hot,” Zi commented

“Did he really?”

“Yes, but in my dream. Ashton… He and I are…-“

“If you say difficult, I’ll push you down,” Zi promised.

“We’re that.”

“Well that sucks,” Fae frowned.

“Ask him out” Zi inputted.

“Can I do that?”

Zi gave her a peculiar look. Of course she can! This isn’t the eighteen hundreds. “DO you love him?”

“Well- I-uhm…..” Fae giggled and Zi nodded to Richelle as she blushed a wild shade of red. “Oh,..” She concluded after a while.

“So you should ask him out,” Zi encouraged, hopping off the escalator, “Take him to see a movie, leave us at the hotel another night. We’ll be fine.”

 

 

            “HONEYS!” Richelle sang, flinging the door open to reveal the two men, “We’re home!” She set down her bags, pretending not to notice Zane’s drastic changes, the boy’s must’ve went shopping too.

“Welcome back!” Ashton greeted, before his eyes met Richelle’s and took on the personality of a two year old, “What’d you get me?” Richelle looked at Zi who gave her a hard look. Richelle swallowed, stepping forward, Zi closed the door, “Ashton Grey,” Richelle breathed

“Ut-oh,” Zi glared at Zane, who was looking between the two. ZI took the time to take him in. He’d cut his wild-a*s hair and honestly, it fit him better that way. He wore a jean jacket over a light grey-blue zip up hoodie. Under it was a black Bleeding Roses T that was a few sizes too big and hung lower on the neck, showing the Bleeding Roses tattoo on his collar bone. Tattoos? Sexy. He wore grey jeans with a black belt and combat boots. He noticed her obvious staring and winked.

“Will you go out with me?” Richelle finished, the room stood in suspense.

Ashton’s green eyes stayed on her, “I, uhm-“ He cleared his throat, “Sure! Uh, when?”

“I’ll pick you up tonight. It’s on me,”

His face changed then and Zi knew he’d end up paying. “Okay, but, give me a two hours notice; I need to do my hair,” He smirked and Zi watched the tension roll off Richelle as she threw her head back and laughed.

 

“Yeah, okay, will do.”

Author's Note

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I have placed myself... In the future. LOL. It's honestly terrible that I put myself in here, but hey, to be fair i'm only me for like two chapters then she takes on a life of her own(;