Caught Between Two Worlds

Ch.10
As soon as Ava got into the hotel building her heartbeat finally started to go back to normal. She looked behind her outside the hotel and saw no one in the parking lot and breathed a sigh of relief and followed the crew member towards the elevator. Once inside, they start the fast ascent. Ava stood against the hand rail towards the back of the elevator and watched as they pasted level after level of floors in the elevator until finally the elevator halts to a stop and the doors open. The crew member turns towards the right as soon as they leave the area where all the elevators are, with Ava hot on his heels. The crew member finally speaks up and says “you know I didn’t notice you at the concert? And well to be frank you….you don’t look to be the groupie type” Ava laughs in response and says “oh so all the groupies look the same then….” Which causes the man to stammer making Ava laugh harder as they continue down the hallway. “by the way….I’m not a groupie just a friend and fan of the band…” the man glances back at her with a smile on his face as he replied “yeah…that’s what all the groupies say…” as he stops in his tracks and turns in front of a door “well here you are….have….fun….Ava” as he knocks on the door and walks back down the hallway.
Ava knocked again on the door, which was met with a faint “come in” from inside. She opened the door and entered the hotel room and looked around for anyone in the room when she notices the bathroom door slightly open. She walked towards the bathroom and opened the door fully and saw Paul standing in front of the mirror in full Starchild makeup and costume still.
When she walked fully into the bathroom behind Paul, he noticed and smiled at her in the mirror. “you know we waited for you…well I kind of stalled them for awhile after the concert..cause I wanted you to come back with us” “I know…when I came back you guys were already gone…so one of the crew members gave me a ride here” At this Ava noticed Paul’s facial expression turn hard, angry. “Did he try anything with Ava because if he did--” “well he kinda tried to but I shot him down…I said I was a friend of yours…and he didn’t believe me..” Paul’s reflection in the mirror rolls his eyes at that. “of course he wouldn’t believe you…he thinks that you’re a groupie because those are the only girls that hang around after the concerts…no offense” Ava laughs slightly and steps to be next to him, standing in front of the bathroom sink and looks down at all the products scattered across it. “it’s to take off the makeup” Paul answers as he grabs a hand towel and dabs it with makeup remover. As Paul moves his hand towards his face, Ava stops him and takes the towel from his hand. “why don’t you let me do that…sit down…” as she motions towards the edge of the bathtub, where Paul sits down as Ava takes the towel in her hand and begins to wipe away his makeup. “so how what do you like better?” Paul asks. “What do you mean?” “well makeup or no makeup….” Ava stops taking off the makeup for a second and ponders her answer and finally says with a smile“well it depends…” “on what?” “its depends on which person I like better…the Starchild or Paul Stanley…and right now its kind of a tie” Paul laughs as Ava finishes taking off his makeup and Ava takes a step back to examine her work. “well I think I did a pretty good job…” Paul gets up from the edge of the bathtub and goes to stand back in front of the mirror to see if she got all the makeup, and after a second of examining he smiles and turns around to face her. “great job….might have to hire you as my professional makeup remover person” Ava laughs but stops abruptly when she notices that hes been half naked the entire time that she has been in the room with her, and she blushes. Paul smiles at her when he notices her blushing and asks “what?” as Ava’s eyes go up and down his body oogling him and she bites her lip and mutters “damn…why do you have to be so hot?” As Paul stepped in front of her and said “well it’s not my fault..it’s just genetics” as he grabs her and puts her over his shoulder and walks out of the bathroom with Ava squealing in surprise at his actions.
When he is finally standing in front of the bed he plops Ava down on the bed, and he lands next to her, with a huff as he buries his face into the mattress. Ava laid on the bed staring at the ceiling when suddenly Paul was pinning her onto the mattress with just his body weight. But lucky for her, Paul hadn’t pinned her arms down, so she slowly slid her hands up his arms, as she smiled seductively at Paul, whose eyes darkened as he stared down at her. “so what are you going to do with me Paul” “mmmmmmm…babe you have no idea….i could do so much to you right now….” Paul moaned as he lowered his face towards her neck and started kissing it as she moaned underneath him. “but you know what you could do for me right now?” he asked “mmmmm…anything I’ll do anything…” Ava replied with her eyes closed. Paul whispered to her “well you could help me take off my boots, my legs and feet are killing me” Ava sighed opening her eyes and looking up at him annoyed “seriously? Really? You had to ruin it didn’t you…” as Ava pushed him off slightly as Paul pouted down at her “pretty please..it usually take two people anyhow since they’re so heavy” “ugh alright as Paul moved off from ontop of her and sat on the edge of the bed with her as they both maneuvered both boots off of his feet.
When they got his boots off Paul fell back into the bed and looked over at Ava and smiled and said “thanks for helping me with those…” “your welcome to my help anytime…” as Ava straddles Paul’s waist, and in response Paul gets up from the bed and holds Ava to him closer. “what are you going to do with me Ava” Paul asked echoing Ava’s words from earlier. “hmm I don’t know yet” “ok well if you cant think of anything…..I’ll take the reins” as Paul pulls Ava down with him onto the bed as he begins to kiss her…her lips, her neck as she struggled to kiss him back with as much passion. Because as soon as she got contact with his lips, he moved again, which was beginning to frustrate her. They finally stopped for a moment to catch their breaths as they lay next to each other. Paul gently strokes Ava’s face as she sighs sleepily and yawns. “I didn’t realize that I could tire you out so quickly with a little making out” “sorry it’s been a chaotic evening…so..maybe we can finish what we started later…” Paul pulled her closer to him and replied “ok I’ll wake you up later….go to sleep..” as Paul put his arms around her upper body as Ava drifted off to sleep with her face nuzzled into his chest listening to his heartbeat.

The radio plays a soft melody as she steps out from the shower. It’s an older song that reminds Ava of the days when she was innocent. The smooth rhythm flows through her body starting at her head and traveling down like a gentle wave all the way to her feet. She begins to sway as she walks from the shower stall over to the towel rack where the cheap motel towels are hanging. The floor is cold beneath her feet, but it doesn’t change the rhythm of her stride. Her head hangs heavily as she crosses the bathroom.
Wrapping the towel around her torso, Ava turns about-face. Staring, almost gawking, she looks at her reflection in the mirror hanging above the sink. Only now, as she inspects the fresh wounds on her skin, has she realized the glow in her eyes — the soft touch of innocence — is gone. “Why did it have to be this way,” she asks her reflection. “If only I had told her when I had the chance. What am I supposed to do now?” As the last word trembled from her lips, the tears in her eyes cascaded down her cheeks.
Her sobbing takes over; she sinks to the floor and curls up in a ball. Her hair is still dripping wet from the shower, and the conditioner in her curls slides down her face. The smell of lavender fills her nostrils, but it is not calming. Lying there for a while, she continues to dwell on the past. She rocks back and forth to the guitar playing on the radio. “Why didn’t I tell her,” she repeats over and over to herself.
The song began to end as Ava gathered herself. Standing up she sways again, only this time, not to the music. A splitting pain rises at the peak of her head; the feeling is unbearable. Instinctively she reaches out to grab hold of the sink. Leaning forward, she throws up in the sink. Stomach acid and bits of undigested pasta spill out in varying shade of red and green.
Her right hand reached up to comfort the spot on her head. It felt sticky; probably left over soap or something. She held her hand tight to her scalp. The pressure helped. Closing her eyes, she removed her hand to splash water in her face. It felt cold but welcoming to her hot skin. She used the end of the towel wrapped around herself to dry her face.
Gently, she opened her tired eyes. The salt from her tears was wiped away, and she was ready to start again.Ava, now in control, stood up straight and tall. Her reflection’s eyes were cold and unfeeling. She knew it was time to go.
Faster now than before, she dressed herself in the fresh clothes she had placed on the bathroom floor. All the wounds on her body seemed not to effect how quickly she pulled her on skinny jeans or swung into her leather jacket. She pulled her hair back into a smooth, curly pony tail before putting on her red lipstick. “It only seems fitting,” she chuckled darkly. Hands no longer shaking, she covered all her noticeable bruises with concealer. It’s so hard for a girl to find the right shade, she thought to herself.
She zipped up the side of her knee-high leather boots and looked back in the mirror for a final inspection. The girl in the mirror seemed so stiff, but her eyes were dead — no life whatsoever. A soft tear rolled down her cheek. “I should have told her how I felt when I had the chance,” she whispered. Then she brushed away the tear and put the most devilish grin on her face. She kissed herself in the reflection before exiting the bathroom.
The room was as neat as a pin, but that was no accident. Ava hastily walked over to her bag, shoving the remainder of her miscellaneous items inside, and walked over to the bed closest to the door. On the bed laid the girl that was and always will be on her mind. “I should have told you when we had more time. I have loved you since the moment we first met. I’m sorry I never said it before….cousin….”
Ava leaned down and kissed her beloved on the forehead. Her lipstick blended in with the blood on the girls head. The girl’s skin was cold, but that didn’t stop Ava from taking her hand one last time. She hovered over the face that she cherished most in the world and stared into the dead eyes that matched her own. One final trembling sigh left her body before she gently grazed her hand over the gunshot wound on the body’s neck and placed her hands on the eyes. Forcing the lids closed was a bit tough but Ava wasn’t going to leave her any other way.
Turning her back, she leaned forward and picked up her backpack, walked to the door, wiped her tears, shook off her sadness and turned back to the bed. “It didn’t have to end this way, ya know,” she said to the dead girl as a sly smirk swept across her face. “I could have let you live.” With that, she turned to the door and walked out.

Ava woke up suddenly from her dream in a panic, at how real it felt. She opened her eyes and all she saw was darkness and wondered where she was as she felt a warm body next to her in bed. She looked next to her and saw that it was Paul laying next to her and let out a sigh of relief, but still felt the worry in the back of her head of will that happen? Will she go so far as to kill her cousin in that way? As these questions kept going through her head she got up from the bed slowly and walked quietly towards the bathroom.
Once inside the bathroom, she shut the door and turned on the light met with her face in the mirror, but not the same cold, hard face that she saw in her dream. She rubbed her hands across her face and turned on the faucet and poured cold water over her face to calm herself down. As she put her hands bracing herself against the sink she heard a noise and looked over and saw the bathroom door open with Paul rubbing his eyes. “hey what are you doing up…” as he walks behind her and wraps his arms around her body. “nothing….I just wasn’t sleeping well…” “oh…well I can make you sleep better” as Paul smiles into her neck and kisses it. Ava smiles weakly at the gesture as she takes his hands off of her and leads him back into the bedroom, with Paul having a huge smile plastered on his face. “well I did say that you should wake me up later so we could finish what we started earlier so…” as she pushed him onto the bed and kissed him up from his happy trail slowly up to his neck and face. With both Ava and Paul moaning.