Stephie badness Part Two

[slinkster-ghoul.livejournal.com]

So far, Stephie thought, so good. And that was the last thing she remembered.

Stephie woke up gagging on the smell of vomit. She gasped for a breath of fresh air, sat up and immediately regretted the sudden movement, slumping back down onto a concrete floor she didn't recognise. Her head pounded and her body hurt like a nightmare, but she had no energy now to work out where on earth she was; first port of call was keeping the bile our of her mouth, and making her eyes cooperate with each other. She rolled her head to the side- the concrete was freezing against her cheek- and looked around. She seemed to be in some kind of warehouse, littered with sleeping mats or just people- girls- wrapped in blankets. Running a dry tongue over chapped lips, Stephie groaned, she had never felt so ill in her life.


“Hey, Slink.” A young but husky female voice said from behind her, and Stephie rolled her head to look at her, her brain sloshing around inside her head. She didn't recognise the girl, a pretty blond thing not more than fourteen.

“Wha...” Stephie managed.

“There's open taps outside in the alley, yer gonna wanna drink.”

Stephie croaked in agreement, but she couldn't imagine herself moving in the foreseeable future. The blond girl rolled her eyes and wandered off, Stephie closed her burning eyes and sunk into unconsciousness again.

When she next woke the world was on fire. Bright streams on sunlight were slicing through the high open windows, burning right through Stephie eyelids and into her brain. She heard herself whimper. Sitting up, this time, was a little more successful, keeping the bile down was easier, and her eyes focused on the same spot almost immediately. It was freezing in here, despite the sunlight, it was the kind of cold that sunk it's teeth right through your flech and set up a permanent residence in your bones. Stephie tried to call mioture into her dry, bile flavoured mouth, but swallowed it all in a gulp when she looked down at herself. No wonder she was cold, the black top she'd been wearing had been ripped off at the sleves and under her bra, which was undone at the back. Her jeans were wet all the way up to her thighs, open at the fly, and she wasn't wearing underwear. Stephie started down at herself with a dizzy mind and rebellios eyes.

“Oh... fuck.”

The question of what-the-hell-had-happened had just jumped right to the top of her need-to-know list.

The pretty blong dumped an old bucket of water at her feet. “Here, wash, drink, whatever. You gotta be outta here by five.”

Stephie blinked, uncomprehending. “What? Why?”

“Cos this here's Cutter's place, and he ain't gonna be happy with me'n you if he finds you 'ere.” She said it all as if it were so obvious, as if the words should make sense, but they just bounced off one another inside her head, she couldn't even begin to make sense of them.

“Why am I here?”

“You said you didn't have no place to go, so we had ourselves some fun. Did me a favour.” She stuck her hand into the back of her jeans and pulled out a wad of cash. “Here?”

“What?” Stephie was beginning to sound like a broken record, she knew. The 'broken' part, at least, felt accurate.

“For the double tricks were turned last night. You share.”

Nothing registered, but she held out her hand and stowed the money away in her pocket, then did up the front of her jeans. This was so not good. So so not good. Blondie disappeared again and Stephie crawled to the bucket and cupped her hands- it was colder than ice- and had a drink. Her stomach threatened to rebel after the second leaky handful, so she splashed it over her face again- at least it woke her up a little- and washed most of the gunk out of her hair. Turning round, she found the lump of her bag, covered with her coat, the only familiar thing here. She almost squeaked in relief, and scrambled over to it on her hands and knees, climbing into the cloak like she was climbing back into the womb after a first horrible glimpse of the world. Wool though it was, it did nothing to warm her up. The chill had taken hold of her and wasn't planning on letting her go anytime soon. But the comfort of the coat was enough for now, and her bag was still as swollen as it had ver been.

Bag?

“I don't need your three days, I'll be out of your hair by morning.”

Oh. Right. Fuck.

Stephie dug into her bag and found a jersey, pulling it on over her ripped shirt, then climbed back into the wonderful coat and buttoning it right up to her neck that she knew was bruised.

Keep it together, girl, can't fall apart here. Autopilot... Autopilot NOW.

She tried standing, using the wall as a brace. After a victorious few seconds she picked up her bag and slung the weight of it over her shoulders, falling backwards on to the wall.

She didn't look for the bond girl- didn't care, didn't want to know, but took one more mouthful of water from the bucket, then stumbled out towards the light of day. The doors, almost barn-like, opened out onto a filthy alleyway, which led onto a side street, which ten minutes of painful stumbling later led onto a narrow, but busy, street. Her legs were ready to give out, her shoulders screamed and her head was the worst of all. She dropped her bag onto the footpath and sat down on it, pulling her coat as close as she could round her shoulders. There was no way she could make it any further.

Phone, phone, please let my phone be here She dug her hand into a side pocket, and almost cried in relief when she felt it. Her hand was trembling as she looked at it. Deirdre? Jude? Renee? Who?

She dialed Deirdre and Jude's home phone, but after one ring she quickly hit 'end'. In the rare even of Ry answering the phone, she didn't want to have to try and explain. She needed one of her girls. She really, really need a girl. She let her address book decide for her; Deirdre's name cam before Jude, so she hit 'call' and waited, the phone to her numbing ear. Please please pick up, please please please.

Deirdre was reclining on her bed, with too many thoughts, when her mobile rang. "AUGH! Oh god...damn phone." She grabbed it quickly and puched the purple answer button.

"Hello?"

Stephie's vioce was shakey. "Deirdre... hi."

What on earth was she supposed to say...?

It was Slink. She didn't sound good!

"Jesus...Steph, are you ok? DO you need me to come get you? Did your-did your parents do something?"

"Ummm, kinda. but- no. i need- I can't... come get me?"

"I go wherever you need me to. Where are you, Steph!?" Deirdre frantically jumped off her bed and pulled on the nearest clothes she could find, then she grabbed her sneakers, and pulled those on too.

"I don't know!" Stephie took a deep breath. "I... guess I'm still in London... I don't know what happened, I don't know what happened."

Fuck.

"Steph...okay uhm..." She was panicking. How was she supposed to know what to do. She could hardly run up and down each and every street, calling out Steph's name....

But she would.

"Can you look around you and see if you can see any street signs?! Or see if you see and businesses or a restaurant. I can look the address up in the phonebook..."

Duh. That would have been the obvious thing to do, wouldn't it? "Um. There's a place across the road called Dr Bigs House of Girth- oh my god."

Deirdre would have laughed had Steph not sounded so terrible. "Uhm...right...I'll see if they list...THAT..." She ran downstairs, hoping she wouldn't run into one of the many people staying at her house. She grabbed the phonebook and looked it up. Ew, it had an advertiesment.

"I'll be there soon, okay Steph. I'll have to take a taxi, is that okay?"

Stephie nodded fast, then slumped back against the wall at her back. Nodding was bad, don't nod. No nodding. Deirdre probably couldn't hear the nodding. "Okay," she whispered. "I'll...see you."

"Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?" Deirdre asked, already dialling the cab company with the other phone.

Stephie made a little noice like a laugh getting stuck in her throat; it was like Deirdre offering to hold her hand as she crossed a road, or something. "I don't know," she said. Did she want a period of silence, trying to pull herself back together before Deirdre got here, or the lifeline of Deirdre's voice? Something familiar, she decided, or she might loose it completely. She took a deep breath. "Okay. Phone is good. Hey... Deirdre, it is Friday, isn't it?"

"Uhm...it's Saturday, Slink...hold on, okay?" She spoke to the cab company, ordered a taxi and then went outside to wait for it. Once it arrived, she climbed inside. "I'm on my way." Deirdre was terrified of what she'd find when she arrived.

Saturday. Fuck. Stephie pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the time. Eleven. Okay. Damn.

Annie. The blond girl's name had been Annie. Stephie remembered her laughing, they had both been laughing- but she closed it down. She couldn't start remembering things here because she knew- guessed? Dreaded?- where it might end up. She looked down at her feet, letting her hair fall around her face so she didn't have to be blinded by the white sky. "God, I'm thirsty.

Deirdre sighed and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the ride go by, knowing the neighborhoods were getting worse and worse. "I have some water, Steph." She repeated random reassuring things until the cab driver announced that they were there. Deirdre opened her eyes. Oh god, it was disgusting. Everything around her was rundown or falling apart. "Steph...I'm here. Where are you?"

"I don't knoow," Stephie moaned, knowing she had to pull her head up to look around and not wanting to. "I'm here. Sitting."

Deirdre motioned for the cabdriver to wait there and she rounded the corner. Steph was sitting there in a heap. She looked terrible. "Oh god..." Deirdre ran to her and knelt down, digging in her purse for her water bottle. Leave it to Deirdre to bring a water bottle everywhere. "Here. Can you stand? I'll help you.."

Deirdre- oh thank every god that ever existed. Stephie raised her eyes to see th little red head offering her water bottle, tried to smile, and ended up bursting into tears and falling on Deirdre instead, wrapping her arms around her and clinging for dear life.

Deirdre stumbled backwards, and then she just wrapped her arms around the girl. She had no idea what was going on, no idea what to do or say...so she said, "Come on, let's go home." She shoved the waterbottle back into her purse and supported Stephie and headed back towards the cab.

Stephie nodded, biting her lips together, and threw her bag into the back of the cab, herself in after it. She pressed her hand against her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to repress the sobs.

Deirdre gave the cabdriver her home address again, and then put her hand on Stephie's back. She didn't know if the girl would pull away from her like Jude had so many times, but she had to try.

"We'll be there soon, okay? Everything will be allright."

Stephie nodded, convincing herself of the fact. She leaned into Deirdre's embrace and let out a long, shaky breath. "Thank you." she said, hoarse and heartfelt. "I didn't know what to do."

"I told you you could always call me." She said as the cab turned into her driveway. Oh god, the driver probably thought...oh who cares. Deirdre helped Steph out of the backseat and then she leaned in and paid the driver, making sure to tip him well for waiting. Then she helped Stephie in the house.

"I'm going to put you in my bed, okay?"

The motion of the taxi was making her feel worse, very queasy, but she wouldn't throw up in the car because that cost something like three hundred pounds to clean, and fuck that, she could swallow it. She almost drifted off on the ride home, her head on Deirdre's shoulder, because when the taxi stopped she was jolted cruelly back to the waking world. "Okay, bed," she mumbled, as she tumbled out of the car, thankful that Deirdre was there incase her body decided to fall over again. "And shower maybe? And the clothes can go away, all away."

"Yes, I have clothes you can wear." She helped Stephie up the stairs, which was harder than it should have been.

"Let me grab you some clothes." She went to her closet and found a few things that would fit Slink and handed them to her. "My shower's in there. Or you could take a bath. It's a spabath with jets and everything... DO you need something to drink, or eat?" Deirdre was slightly crazed now, as she always was when trying to help someone.

"Oh yeah, drink." Stephie said, suddenly remembering the dry icky taste in her mouth. "'nd, I might fall asleep in a bath that's bad but a shower would be really, really good. I'm so cold. And dirty. Uuuug." She accepted the clean clothes and hugged them to her chest. They smelled like Deirdre.

"Don't want anything to eat yet, still feel sick. I'll just...wash, and, yeah." Stephie put the clothes down in the corner of the bathroom and turned on the shower, tearing off her own clothes and leaving them in a heap. She stepped in before the water had heated up properly and winced- cold!- but it woke her up a little more, cleared her mind, and it was warm before she knew it. She say down in the bottom and just let the hot water run over her.

Deirdre ran downstairs and grabbed one of her huge plastic sippy cups, complete with a straw, and a purple dog on the front saying, "MM, Slush Puppies!" She filled it with water and added a few ice cubes and then ran back up the stairs, waiting for Steph to be done, feeling oddly helpless.

Stephie fell asleep in the shower, leaning against the side, with the water washing all the dirt away. It wasn't for long- she didn't think so anyway, maybe it was. She reached up and grabbed the shampoo, scrubbing it into her scalp and letting the lather work as soap on her body. Her skin felt more delicate than usual, especially round her breasts and neck. She looked down, there were close to half a dozen hickies on her chest. It was all adding up, what had happened, but she couldn't remember a thing- and so long she she didn't remember she could hide the bruises till they went away and then it would be like nothing had happened... yeah.

She didn't stay in the shower long after that. She wrapped herself in the towel Deirdre had given her and squeezed water out of her hair. The clothes felt nice against her skin, all cotten and denim and comforting, and they gave her the encouragement to open the door and face Deirdre and the really, really silly cups. She smiled a half smile at it and shook her head, just because it said Deirdre all over it. "Thanks."

"No problem. Uhm...did...do you want to take a nap? I can go downstairs...it's almost Pierre's feeding time anyway." She started towards the door, grabbing her laptop on her way. "You can stay here as long as you need." She attempted a reassuring smile.

The cold of the water in her mouth was another shock- everything seemed to be so vivid at the moment. "Thanks, I- I'll stay tonight, I don't really have anywhere else to go. I got kicked out of home. On Thursday. And..." and she refused to worry about it now because it would be overwhelming.

On Thursday!!! Where the hell had she been since then!? Deirdre was gripping her laptop to her chest and frowning.

"I'm-I'm so sorry, Stephie. Uhm...tell me if you need anything. OKay? Anything."

Stephie nodded, and looked towards Deirdre bed. It was definitely calling her. "I think I'll just sleep, s'more, for a bit. Don't be sorry, nothing's your fault."

~Later. ~

Stephie woke up feeling like she'd slept for days, but there was still a little daylight outside so it couldn't have been more than four hours. Her head didn't spin at all when she sat up, and physically she felt a lot healthier. And hungry. Oh god was she hungry.

She dragged herself out of bed and down the stairs to meet Deirdre and watch her cook. Despite comments on live journal she didn't really feel like her own company; other people would be a nice distraction. Distraction was good. "Hey, Deirdre."

Deirdre looked up from her stirfrying. "Hey, Stephie." She was going to ask her if she was feeling better, but decided against it. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," Stephie nodded. "Still a big groggy but that always happens in the mornings. I know- I know, not morning, but it kinda is. What are you making?"

"Oh this thai stirfry thing with curry sauce. Don't worry it's not too spicy at all. It's good and filling for empty stomachs. And I have rice, and OOH eggrolls!" Deirdre ran to the oven and pulled out the eggrolls, dumping them on a plate. "Here, there's dipping sauce in the fridge."

Jude made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, hair up in random collection of braids. (She was playing with her hair alot these days with the knowledge that she was soon going to have to cut it much shorter.)

"I smell food. Is there food?" she sniffed. "D, tell me there's food."

"Hey, Jude." Stephie said, before she could stop herself and say some other kind of greeting.
)
"Don't let me down," she muttered as she scooted over toward the smell of cooking. "That smells really good. Will you teach me to make this."

She looked over at Slink. "How are you feeling?"

"I'll teach you to make anything." Deirdre spun to face Jude and she winked.

"I only have to do one more thing then it's ready. Have some eggrolls, Jude!"

"Mmm, egg." She wandered to where she was pointed and grabbed one. "I still have to put on my costume for the party and-" she suddenly stopped and threw a cautious look between the girls- mostly at Slink. "You're still okay with a party?" She didn't know what had happened with Slink yet.

"I like parties." Stephie said, reminding herself. "I'll throw on the Valentino and come as a runway model," she smiled at Jude.

"Eggrolls aren't...nevermind." Deirdre shook her head, amused. And then she brought the stirfry over to the table along with plates and then a bowl of rice. "Steph said the party was okay, but I guess it's best to double check. You still okay with it, Slink?"

"Yes!" Stephie exclaimed. "Don't- don't worry so much I'm not going to crack and if I do start to feel... sick again I can just go lie down in someone's bedroom." She took one of the eggsrolls and decicivly bit down on it, ending the matter.

"Okay, fair enough!" Deirdre grabbed herself some stirfry and wolfed it down, so excited she couldn't sit still!

"I have to go get ready!"