Such a Beautiful Lie to Believe In

I was about to leave the kitchen after submitting those evil bastard’s orders to the chef when a hand covered my entire face and pulled me back into some sort of storage pantry in the sketchy corner of the kitchen. In the darkness, I could hear his free hand rustling around the pantry until he reached another door knob leading out into the hallway.

Once I could see again, and his disgusting hand wasn’t smothering my face, my jaw practically dropped…it was Zacky Vengeance.

“I know you’ve got a job to do, but damn I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. You have got to be the hottest chick I’ve ever seen, especially at boring fancy parties like this,” he burst out.

Wait…so he didn’t just attack me because he thought he knew me? What a relief! I was finally able to breathe again, which also meant that I would have to think of something to say to that horrible pick up line.

“Aw, as flattering as that was, I’m sorry but I have a boyfriend,” I smiled sweetly as I moved to get past him.

He grabbed my arm, “So? Just dump him. I promise you I’m ten times better in bed.”

“I doubt that…,” I mumbled.

“What did you just say?” he asked.

“I’d…um like that?” I said very unsure.

He smirked, “Well duh, who wouldn’t? So, you’re name is…”

“Maggie.”

“And your birthday?”

“March 3rd.”

“And your favorite food?”

“Spaghetti.”

“And the tattoo on your wrist says…?”

“Alex.” Oh shit…he caught me…I was so stuck in the ’20 Questions’ mindset that I didn’t even second guess that question.

Zacky grinned as he pushed me up against the wall. “Hello, Kathy nice to finally meet you.”

I glared as I struggled under his surprisingly strong grip. “You better let me go now or else I’ll – .”

I couldn’t finish my threat because the overall shock and stinging sensation on the side of my face distracted me just a bit. His hand had hit my cheek open-palmed, and he kept his hand on my face, gripping it.

“I don’t think you’re really in the position to be threatening me,” he breathed out.

“I don’t think you’re really in the position to be chubby, but you don’t see me swinging at you,” I mocked.

I watched as rage filled his facial features and murder filled his eyes. He had his hand rolled back into a fist and was about to smash my face in with it, until something stopped him. Brian, thehot guy that went after Joie, walked casually down the hall with something trailing behind him.

“Dude, drop it we don’t have time for that. We can deal with it later,” he said giving me a chilling stare. Zacky let go of me and glared as he turned to walk back toward the dining room.

As Brian passed me by, I saw that he was dragging a fucking dead body behind him! “Looks like I got here just in time. Otherwise this may have been you,” he said nodding over his shoulder at the body.

Once again, I found it incredibly difficult to breathe until he was out of sight. But more importantly, I needed to find out who that unfortunate body belonged to.

Remembering the way that Zacky took from the kitchen to the hall, I went back through that pantry and sneaked into the kitchen, since this is where to the two of them took the body to.

I watched the horrific scene through the crack in the door. Zacky grabbed one of the large steak knives resting on the counter and slashed out at the confused chefs who hesitated to get out of his way. The body was tossed up on the counter and it was then that I realized it was the manager of the kitchen or whatever – that prick who thought we were waiters!

“Dude, why did you pick him?” Zacky snickered as they sprinkled salt and oil over his body.

“He provided us with shitty service and I never got my food,” Brian shrugged, “speaking of which, why were you all over our waitress out there?”

Zacky whacked Brian over the side of the head, “Are you dumb? That’s that Kathy bitch, one of Joie’s friends?”

“Are you sure? She looked pretty damn different, at least in style.”

“Trust me, I know. She practically admitted to it.”

“Fair enough. Now let’s get this stiff in the oven,” he grinned, very sadistically I might add.

Together they lifted the body into the oven and waited about five minutes before pulling his lit corpse out. They placed him on a large plate and then placed the plate on a rolling cart.

“The crowd is going to just eat this up,” Zacky cackled as they rolled him out. I felt like I was about to barf. We need to get the hell out of here now before we end up like that.

*Normal POV*

After speaking with the governor, I felt a bit more relaxed…but not completely calm. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, and needless to say, it was making me very nervous. And having to walk down these long, twisting hallways does not help. I heard someone shrieking, which caused me to bust out into a full sprint toward the dining room.

Brian and Zacky had just walked out of the kitchen, pushing a tray with fire on it. Only, it wasn’t just fire…it was the manager of the regular kitchen staff, Louie. They had lit his body on fire and were wheeling it all around the room. People began screaming, choking, and even fainting. The governor was still nowhere in sight, and now I was in major freak out mode. Where were Kathy and Alex? If they got hurt somehow I don’t know what I’d do.

Shadows jumped up onto the center stage and positioned himself at the podium. “I hate to say it, but the people of Huntington Beach are really fucking stupid. You all have been dining with some of the most feared criminals and you didn’t even realize it until we resorted to murder! Well, not that I mind doing that. Point being, if you people don’t recognize us, then I guess we will just have to kill more of you until you can. Soon enough your precious governor will fall and I will take his place, bringing this state into a whole new era! You all will bow down before me and fear me,” he grinned maliciously.

I scanned the faces of the people and watched the fear flood into their eyes. Many people tried to abandon their seats in a rush of panic. Didn’t they realize that they could end up causing themselves more damage in the end?

One woman, in her mid-thirties, leaped up from her seat, knocking the chair over, and made a mad dash for the exit. Zacky saw this and decided to stop her by shoving the fiery cart over in her direction. It collided with her, sending sparks of flames onto her fur scarf, which caused her to panic even more, further spreading the fire.

At this rate, the whole damn mansion was going to burn down! And still the governor was nowhere to be seen.

Shadows jumped off the stage with a very apparent look of satisfaction as he met up with the others. Before I even had a chance to try and find Kathy and Alex, Brian came over and gripped my wrist, tugging me toward the exit…through the kitchen, which was not on fire. I struggled against him, which caused him to pull even harder.

Eventually, we made it out of the building and headed toward the car. Zacky was whispering something to Shadows, and the fact that I couldn’t exactly make out what he was saying caused me to feel rather nervous. Before we got in the car, Shadows turned around and faced me, walking toward me. Brian caught onto the hint and let go of me slowly.

“So, when exactly did you find the time to contact your little friends and tell them about this?” he asked, unusually calm.

I glared at him, angry that they discovered my friends, “Alex already knew about it. Hell, he was the one who informed me. He’s the fucking manager after all.”

He leaned his face toward mine and growled, “Don’t you fucking use that tone with me you piece of shit.” He lifted his knee up and jabbed it right into my stomach, sending me toppling over onto the ground…and shooting the remains of food in my stomach out onto the pavement.

“I guess this means that you somehow got around the wire taps we placed on you…which in turn means you don’t get working privileges anymore,” he said as he turned to enter the car.

“That’s not fair! I am not some sort of prisoner or animal that you control,” I shouted, forcing myself up off the ground.

He spun around and smiled, “You will be now.”

*Kathy’s POV*

After the fire broke out, there was just absolute mass hysteria. How the hell am I going to be able to find Alex in all of this? Unfortunately I already had to give up on Joie – I saw them drag her away. I pushed my way past all the crazy people and stumbled over a pair of legs that was hanging out from under a table. These legs were wearing the same pair of pants that Alex was…

Anxiously, I used all my remaining strength to pull the body out and saw Alex, lying in a puddle of blood. He had been slashed across his chest, presumably with a knife, and his chest was heaving up and down as he sucked the smoky air in and blew it out, desperate to hold onto life.

“Oh no, they figured you out too?” I asked, already knowing the answer, as tears flooded my eyes.

Carefully, I lifted him up and carried him over my shoulder, not getting all too far since I’m not exactly strong. A loud thudding noise was coming up behind me and I swear I felt like I was watching Batman – I mean Mr. Freeze just jumped over me. Either I’m hallucinating from the fumes, or I really just saw that.

Ice began shooting out of the Freeze’s metallic suit, putting out the fire in a near instant. I got a quick glimpse of the person inside the suit through the icy helmet and saw that it was the governor himself! Huh, who knew that he actually got to keep that suit and that it actually worked?

Regardless of how cool that was, I didn’t have time to admire it. I forced myself to continue onward, carrying Alex out to the parking lot and immediately dialing 911. By now he was unconscious, but I still felt his heartbeat. There was no telling what I would do to them if they took Alex away from me.