Realistic or Modern Guns Hidden Under Our Petticoats {Mature}

The silence Rachel was admitting was toxic - it felt long and stretchy, like candy taffy. He just simply watched her watch him in return, his eyes grazing every feature of her delicate face. He had managed, for one of the rarest moments in both of their lives, to make Campbell at a lost of words.


But when she did speak, it was fragile poetry, dancing off of her tongue, from the corner of her mouth. He was in a trance, hearing those light, painted words, framed by the pound of his heavy heartbeat.


He broke out of the spell the moment Rachel and him crashed back to reality. He blinked, and in the moment of the question, an almost devilish smirk crawled across his lips.


"I have four grand left over from the last robbery," he said quietly, his sparkling eyes flashing to meet Rachel's. "Get my gun, steal a car, get the fuck out. I've had this planned out for years, spending nights up on end, thinking about it. The only thing I don't have planned out is how we're going to tell the others. Should we bring them along?"


He had to bite down on his bottom lip to hinder himself from grinning slyly any further. But, the look turned to a seductive stare, all bee-stung plush lips, provocative eyebrows and lidded eyes at the redhead.


"Or - fake our deaths to get a clean escape?"

She continued looking at him, thinking things over in her head. They could. They so could run away.


Nothing kept her, here, anyway - and she wanted to experience that magic of a real city, sleepless nights on someone's balcony, discussing stars, and life, and Nietzsche.


She wanted dirty subways, and parties, and big lights, and libraries, and college, and a dog, and those city girls with pedigree, who would pull her in their beds. She wandered away once again, imagining all of that.


And then she laughed.


"I don't want anyone to go with us." she leaned over, her eyes glistening. "Just you and me. But."


She leaned back. "If we go alone, we'll strangle each other within first three days, Matthie. So we do need others. So yes, it does mean a whole wolf-pack." She returned to her bag, finally finding a lighter and lighting up that cigarette at last. "However, nothing ties neither of us to this place. Kaide has her business, Will has... I have no goddamn idea what Will has."


She once again looked somewhere, absently. "Adieu, adieu."

Matthew kept slipping between those strange bouts of the reality he wished was true, and current reality. Each time Rachel leaned forward, hearing the water ripple around her middle and her face getting close to his, he felt like they were the only two people left on the world. Life only mattered about her, and him, and them sticking together through it.


But, when she leaned back, that reality dissipated around him, and he was thrown back into the cruel world they were stuck in - together.


He wanted to escape to the city with just Rachel, though. He wanted it with every inch of his existence - he wanted to live the perfect life. He wanted to stay up all night laughing, not destroy his body in the darkness of the basement. He wanted to finally stop having nightmares, and wake up every day to the face of someone he loved. He wanted to not have one night stands and strippers over and over, and actually fall in love. He wanted a true will to live - and he wanted to experience that with Rachel. But, he didn't want to fall in love with her. He would never admit that he was in love with her.


Snapping back to reality, again, she was right. With someone like Ray, three days in, he could imagine having the barrel of his gun pressed up to her temple, holding her head up by her bright red hair. It was the terrifying truth, that he always swallowed down before a bad taste rose in his mouth.


"So, the plan for faking our deaths is off, then?" He forced out a laugh, getting rid of the nervous air in his lungs. "I can make . . . Make some sort of announcement, or something, downstairs. Taken into account that Kaide hasn't ripped off every piece of clothing off of Willie, yet."


He had focused his eyes on the pale bathroom walls, but looked back to Rachel, his eyes looking as tired as always, but shone with the passion and fire for this dream. He gave Rachel a mischievous look, leaning forward again so their faces were close. He breathed in, his lungs begging for the smoke from her impromptu cigarette.


His eyes flicked down to watch her blood-red lips, the smoke from her cigarette kissing the surface of her velvet lipstick.


"You sure you want to do this?"

William's mouth fell open to speak as Kaide slid off the counter, seeming to radiate with emotion. He sat there, almost dumbfounded, for a moment. No words came. Anything he could have said in that moment would have felt weak, pointless... even as he inwardly yelled at himself to say something, anything. Will raised one hand as if to stop Kaide, but it was too late. She shuddered, briefly, one last time. "WAFFLES ARE READY, YOU FUCKS!"


And like that, the moment was gone. The other Kaide was back, the one without a care in the world. Will lowered his hand and leaned back in the chair, shutting his eyes. He knew that the moment they'd just shared couldn't be taken back. It would change things, regardless of how either of them felt. He wasn't sure whether he regretted what he'd said, especially after her reaction. Shaking his head to clear it, he stood up and made his way wordlessly down the hall.

Kaide blinked at Willam's figure making it's way down the cluttered hall. Shaking her head, she huffed and muttered under her breath, a small pair of feet already slapping against the tiles with the effort of catching up with him. " This is going to hurt like a bitch". Barely making her way to him, she reached out a hand to press itself against the door, not shutting it but pushing it further back, and moved her body between the doors and Will's. Kaide reached out small, soft hands, the palms covered in faded burns scars. Meeting his arms, Kaide wouldn't grab them but simply flatten her palms against the taunt skin. Inhaling deeply, she stepped forward and placed her forehead against Will's chest, the man being nearly a foot taller than her. Kaide wouldn't talk, words would only shut the shell tighter, and hold her breath, waiting for the yell, the shove or the punch.


Kaide's hands would still stay rested on his arms, her feet planted a bit before his. It didn't seem like such a sensual or unique touch but the raven haired girl had been in this position before. She got the hell beaten out of her a second later.

"Yes. I want to do this." She said. "I do."


She examined his face very well, his tired eyes, his thin, chewed well and thorough lips, the way sharp cheekbones proded beneath pale skin. She tried to compare him with her old childhood friend. Once again, they were in a bath tub - a few details changed.


Rachel Cambell had no difficulties bringing decisions like this in two minutes. She could always change them later, she could always make something out of them - she would dive in without expectations, and later go with the flow, letting the life lead her through its streets. Every place was interesting to her, every situation amusing - and when she got bored, she'd simply change it.


A part of the reason why she never did drugs was because she disliked tying the knot with anyone.


"Hey, listen, they stopped screaming." she lifted her nearly-finished cigarette up. "You know what now comes." she grinned with a mocking smile.

William froze at Kaide's sudden interposition. He usually didn't respond to her touches -- writing them off as idle flirtation -- but he knew this was different. Her hands seemed to be arcing with energy, energy that flowed into his biceps and coursed through his body. The air itself felt... charged. Looking down at her, Will could see that she had tensed up, waiting for him to move.


And move he did.


Slowly, gently, he removed her hands from his arms, wrapping them around her shoulders and pulling Kaide in tight. He planted a kiss on her forehead, resting his chin against her temple.

He could feel his pupils dilating at Rachel's guarantee to follow him on this adventure. It felt like a cliche teen movie - this was the part when their lives changed forever, only excitement was ahead, the powerful part of the song playing around them before it cut to a montage. And all he wanted to do was sing along.


Part of him had completely expected Rachel to lean forward, closing that small space between their faces, for their lips to touch. Or, that he was about to do that himself. Maybe it was that cliche teen inside of him, but he wanted to do such so badly in celebration. An image of Rachel grabbing one of her shoes and stabbing him with her stiletto heel for trying to "make out" with her flashed in his mind, and he instantly leaned back, pressing his back against the cool porcelain of the tub. He drew a genuine smile instead.


'They stopped screaming - you know what now comes,' Ray's playful grin sparked across her face, and he offered a slightly confused expression in return.


"Food, hopefully?" He placed his hands on the brim of the tub, and lifted himself up out of the water. It wasn't much for an actual bath, but the water was growing cold, and this surely counted for one of the most intimate baths he's had in a long time. "I never realized how hungry I really was -" He wiped himself off with a towel, before putting his jeans back on. "Plus, I wanna check if Kaide has any cheap wine around here."

Kaide moved into Will, letting his body envelope hers while she exhaled quietly, a small habit of hers. She always held her breath before Ash hit her. Willam was chilly while Kaide was blazing hot, a small part of her brain going through all the ways he could hit her in this position and all the ways she'd be able to hide it. The rest of her mind was slightly more calm, not knowing how to respond in the face of such a intimate moment.


Her hands would slowly go to his waist and after the first small touch, she wrapped her hands around him and hugged him furiously, like she'd drown if she let go. Kaide's still didn't speak, letting the sounds of their rhythmic breathing make up whatever words that they'd use.

"You're right, I doubt the said food is Will's candy stick." She said, watching the water flow down Matthie, as she sunk deeper in the water now when she had space to do so. She didn't even notice when the warmness started leaving the tub. "I'd rather bet on actual waffles."


She stayed like that for a few seconds, meditating, before dropping the remains of her cigarette on the floor and getting up. "No peeking, King." she said in a joking voice, as she grabbed a towel, and stepped out, light on her feet as she touched the cold floor.


Another Campbell sister was leaving the town - except the first one, who found them in the tub few years ago - left for the monastery, while Rachel was leaving for everything else, but monastery. She had no God to bow to.

Some part of William knew why Kaide's breath caught as he moved to embrace her. He'd seen enough evidence, including the scars... physical and mental. The scorched flesh of her delicate, perfect palms. He knew the signs well.


For that reason, he said nothing for a time. He simply enfolded her in his arms and held her close. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he whispered, "It's all behind you now, Kay. You're free." He placed another kiss on her forehead. "I won't let anyone, or anything, hurt you."

Kaide trusted Will but didn't believe him. When she met Ash, she was young and scared-the only difference now was that she was fresh from Italy, escaping the swinging fist of one man into the burning hands of another. All she knew was Will wasn't going to hurt her.


After another minute passed before Kaide reached up to pat his cheek, her own cheeks flushed from the newer nickname, the sweet yet strong way it sounded on his lips. "My waffles are getting cold-and no, that's not some sort of line". Leading him back to the kitchen, Kaide strode to the smaller, less impressive bathroom in the side of the hall and cleaned herself up, not bothering taking a long shower because she knew she'd come home sweaty. She wore a small bustier crop top with a Mickey Mouse glove flipping it off in the middle, unnaturally short shorts, black stockings and a pair of Lexi's boots that were a size too big for her feet. When she was finished, Kaide went back into the kitchen and got out generic syrup, whipped cream and butter to place on the counter. She went across to sit next to Willam, hooking her pinky finger with his, not looking in his icy eyes while she did, and swung them softly, waiting for the others to come down.

He let out a gentle chuckle, in playful spite of Rachel's flirtatious l'air returning to the room.


He evidently got distracted halfway through doing up his belt, it clanging lightly back open, his fingers discarding it. He had spotted his reflection in the mirror, and was caught by surprise. Washing his hair, in retrospect, might have seemed like a bad idea - his dark curls were still wet, but had grown nearly twice in volume since this morning.


"Don't worry, I won't," he said in response to Rachel, making sure to turn away from her. "I never peek - despite that being a lie." He picked his towel back up with an airy laugh, flipping his head over and giving his hair a rough towel-down, before flipping back over. That was - a bad idea. A Matthew with even wilder hair stared back at him, as he desperately tried to pull his hair back with his hands, into the vague mohawk-style he had kept for the past year or so. The sides around his ears were still shaven, but the curls were uncontrollable.


He glanced over his shoulder, to make sure that Rachel had a towel covering the majority of her. Even after getting out of a bath in the uncomfortable hours of the morning, she still managed to look brilliant. It was a mystery how she did it.


He stepped up to her, gently pressing his lips to her forehead while her head was down. He watched her face, offering a faint, but gracious and genuine smile.


"This is going to be great. Trust me. We don't even have to try to 'make it' in the city - it's our kingdom. And we're the rulers. Adieu, to our past lives."


He paused. "Do you want me to save you a glass of wine?"

She smirked, getting her underwear on beneath the towel, looking at Matthew with the corner of her eye.


"I don't trust you enough to save me a glass, dear. I don't believe you'd save me a bottle, either. I I'm coming with you."


With a few fast moves, she put her dress back on, stepped into her heels, quickly checked on her eyeliner she decided she'd fix downstairs, and unplugged the plug in the tub. She watched water drain dreamily. Just the way she watched her friend a few seconds ago.


She knew how the said poem ended, though.


But then again, what did she care? About anything ever?


"Adieu." She said for the last time, and stepped out the bathroom.

Matty bustled down the stairs, feeling as thought a lot of his energy had returned to him. It wasn't a drug high sort of shaking exhilaration, but more like the misfit 8-year-old in him showing through. He made his way through the dark living room, and into the kitchen, pulling a smile big enough to make him squint his eyes and crinkle his nose at William and Kaide sitting together.


"Glad to know that I did-n' find you two naked-wrestlin' on the floor," he said through his accent, walking around the table, to get himself at the kitchen counter and drawers. He was oblivious of what had happened between the two while him and Rachel were away - part of him just imagined that the two sat there the entire time, chatting it up like old friends.


"Waffles look great, babe," he chirped almost absentmindedly, having spotted them out of the corner of his eye. He bent down, his still-open belt jingling against his thigh, as he pulled open and closed the drawers in Kaide's kitchen, like he was revving up to ransack the place.


"You don't happen to have a bottle of wine 'round, do you? I got something real important to tell you two, but no 'ay in hell that I'm gonna do it without a bit of booze."

"You better not call her babe or I will throw my stiletto at your head, and trust me, your face will be bloodier than this morning." Rachel shouted from the stairs, chuckling, walking lazily down, rolling another cigarette as she did.


"Are they all over each other? Tell me so I can cover my eyes. Or uncover some other parts of me." She said, getting in the room, giving them all a wicked wink. "Give me the waffles, King, I'll like. Starve." She crashed down on the sofa.

William wasn't smiling like a child as he and Kaide sat together, fingers entwined and hands swinging lazily back and forth, though it was a close thing. He watched with vague amusement as Matty tore through the kitchen like he was in search of buried treasure. Given his apparent affinity for wine, Will considered that he might as well be. Though, he had a certain enthusiasm about him as he moved and spoke that was more than the simple anxiety of a burgeoning alcoholic about to get his fix. He was genuinely excited.


Hendrix shrugged, using his free hand to take a small bite from the waffle sitting in front of him. They were incredible: fluffy in texture and they melted in his mouth. Swallowing the bite, he turned to present Rachel with an inquisitive glance, jerking his head toward Matty.

Kaide snickered at Matty and Chel's belifs of her and Will's time alone. Giving them a mock pout with her big, pale red-violet lips " Poor darlings. If you came in a couple seconds eariler, we would have been playing some naked Twister on the couch". Kaide had no intention of telling the two about the short but intense talk her and Willam had, just storing the memory in her brain, a memory that she knew she'd replay forever.


Her free hand pointed to a busted in door in the corner of the kitchen. Bottles upon bottles of alcohol were stacked on the shelves and they could be clearly seen through the jagged fragments of wood framing the door. At first, the door was locked but in after a lost key and bad day, the girls simply busted it open. Biting into her own waffle that was cooked to perfection, Kaide raised a eyebrow with curiosity at Matty's announcement. " Lay it on us, big daddy".

"I am by far from your little server bloke, Ray!" Matty called from inside the kitchen, following it with a laugh.


He nearly sighed with gratitude when Kaide pointed out the rickety shelves of the alcohol collection, that his eyes somehow were able to miss. He sifted through the assemblage, until he found a perfect tall bottle of deep red wine, as red as Kaide and Rachel's vampire lips. A third or so was already drank, but it truly was the peeling label that featured a kindergarten-drawing-esque doodle of a grapevine that sold him. He yanked out the cork with a pop!, took a heavy swig, and relaxed with satisfaction.


'Lay it on us, big daddy,' Kaide pressed.


"Oi -" he pointed the bottle in the direction of Kaide, raising his eyebrows in a cheeky way, looking at Rachel collapsed in the living room. "If she's allowed to call me big daddy, I'm allowed to call her babe!" Frankly, he sounded like an angsty toddler.


He expertly wrapped his lips around the top of the wine bottle, clinging onto it, to use his free hands to grab a chair and pull it into the middle of the dim kitchen. He climbed aboard, taking another huge drink, for good measures, before putting the bottle back into his hand.


"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls -" he announced with a large flair, his booming English voice filling the room. "Let me introduce you to a place of wild wonders, divine dreams, and effervescent euphoria. A place where your lives will be changed for ever, for the greater good - and no, I am not talking about Disney World."


He swung the bottle up to his mouth, drinking again, the dark red liquid sparkling off of his swollen lips.


"It is a frivolous place, one that only comes in your wildest dreams. It is grand, like it it's som'thing yer own drugged up mind made up." He had begun doing huge hand motions to animate his words, the bottle in his hand sloshing around was like music to his ears.


"It's cosmopolitan, too. Only famous people go there -" he raised his voice a few pitches, saying the word 'famous' in an annoying and nagging voice, that disappeared instantly. He stared down each of his friends in the room, a serious yet determined vibe replacing his drunken manner.


"It's our kingdom, and we are the kings. It's so beautifully tragic, it's tragically beautiful - just like us."


He suddenly stood up on his tippy-toes, bouncing on the chair he was on. He stuck out his arm, pointing at the faces of his mates, excitement crashing over him again.


"Can you guess what this incredible place might be? You there -!" He pointed to Kaide - "Would be be able to answer my prayers? Or you!" His finger was pointing to William's face next. "What about you, dear sir? Care to take a crack at it?" He turned, then gracefully motioning to Rachel, looking at her like she was the queen of his royal ass. "Or you, finest maiden, could ever so possibly have the correct response?"


He didn't even wait a heartbeat for anyone to actually reply, his crazy acting washing away in a flash.


"The city," he stage whispered, like it was a magic word. "The city. The city!"


"We're going to the fucking city."

William had leaned back in his chair, bemusedly watching Matty's fanfare with raised eyebrows. What the young man had to say shouldn't have surprised William. He shouldn't have been floored by the confident declaration.


It did, and he was.


Will let out a long breath, leaning forward rubbing his face slowly. After a moment, he managed to regain his composure. Sparing a sidelong glance at both Kaide and Rachel, he spoke up, "What brought this on, Matty?"

Kaide leaned over ever so slowly to Will and placed her lips at his ear, " Dear me, I think Matthew's gone crazy-excuse me, crazier". The idea of leaving town had never crossed Kaide's mind. Sure, she thought about slowly making her way back to Italy, changing her name and living a boring little life until she overdosed a few years later but honestly, this town had her by the neck and didn't plan on letting her go.


Yet still, her friend's enthusiasm was slowly but surely spreading across her body like some sort of terrible disease. She could see herself in the city, the best performer at a high class burlesue club, a big sign with " Kaide Tremona" splayed in glowing letters across the board, drunken weekends with her friends and cooking up a storm with professional gear and a much wider variety of ingredients. Kaide would bring up a free hand to rub her mismatched eyes and try to get these dangerous thoughts out of her head. " How the actual fuck should we do that ? Not that I'm agreeing-I'm not disagreeing either but I'd want to know".

"Well, well, well, well," Matty chattered, slowly climbing down from his standing spot to sit down in the chair. He tugged his long spider-limb-like legs up, crossing them on the edge of the chair, propped his elbows up on his knees, and placed his face in his hands. He was itching with excitement, and pride at that these two friends didn't laugh in his face.


"Rebecca left me 'n the lads few years back for the city," he explained, looking at William. "She was the love of my life at the time - we robbed that store off the corner of Main, those years back - but that arse thought the big city was better than the arse she already was with." He looked away from William's face for a moment, tossing the floor tiles a furious look, that was hidden behind him chomping down on his bottom lip, but his dark eyes burned with rage.


"Not that I want to go after her, hell no," he added quickly, looking up, "I just want to finally see what the hell she was raving on 'bout."


He perked up when Kaide spoke, his attention whipping to her.


"Now, speakin' of the royal bitch, I still have the money left over that she didn't shove down her bra. Four thousand dollars currently sits in my basement - you lot should be fucking proud of me for not using that money for my drugs, I could've killed myself at my 22nd birthday if I wanted to. But, I think that's going to be more than enough to set ourselves up. It's just -" he lifted a hand up, making a rolling motion, trying to find the words.


"It's just -- It's just trying to get there. I dunno if it's really going to be more than stealing a car-" his accent stretched out that last word, "and I don't even know where to start from there. Like, where to go. There's next to no one left in this town, and those poor souls who are, are trapped in their basements or'll shit themselves if they catch eye of us."


"We need a plan - that's for sure."

Rachel sat there, her old smirk again on her face. It got even wider, even more mocking, when Matthie got up on his toes, making the whole theatre show, excitement on his and Will and Kaide's faces, as he brought them up. She just watched them in silence, look on her face rather amused, like it was all a joke.


To her, things really were as simple as stealing a car. Things, for Chel, were even simpler than that, they could just take the goddamn bus. She didn't think too much of it - how she should write a letter for her family, how she was leaving everything. She didn't care about bringing her books either. Those thoughts didn't reach her. Her nihilistic philosophy of life blocked them out.


After all, was there not a better circus than the whole thing?


"Yes, we do. How is Kaide going to transport her pole? Or did she find another one in the meantime." she grinned, grabbing a waffle from Will's plate. "Maybe we could ride kick scooters there."

Will smirked at Kaide's aside before listening to Matty and Rachel in turn. The former was obviously determined -- that much was exceedingly clear. Hendrix just hoped that enthusiasm didn't get him, or anyone else, killed. It wouldn't be the first time he'd followed a bright spark and gotten burned in the process, though it was less his own safety he was worried about. William turned to see Rachel snatching a waffle from his plate, presenting her with little more than a halfhearted glare... more for the accompanying comment than the theft itself.


Will finally detached his hand from Kaide's -- slowly -- to lean forward in his chair, interlocking his fingers on the table. "If or when we go with this, we need to be smart about it. Stealing a car brings attention which brings cops which brings guns." He glanced pointedly toward Matty's torso, where the scar was hidden.

"Matthie is already experienced with that." She snarkily commented, smirking, looking Will in his eyes, giving him a long, daring look. "You too, I'd say."


Before letting either of them interrupt her, she continued. "It's not a threat if we know what car to steal. It has to be someone's who values their safety from police more than their car. And, thank God, at least this place has more than enough candidates. Also, mm, I love the waffles." She commented, looking at Kaide.


"So. Drug dealers, murderers, illegal prostitutes, drug abusers. I'd not mess with the dealers, though, since they have connections all over the place."