{She gazed longingly at the wall’s filthy edifice as the day’s hours continued to roll in. Her body stretched awkwardly across the floor while her head rested immovably upon a yielding pillow. A distinct throbbing of the brain kept her eyes wide open – leaving her vision completely sightless, her voice ever silent. The very resonance of her match continued to echo mercilessly throughout her psyche, parting a revolting reverberation that would perpetually leave a disfiguring stain slashed deeply across her soul. In the midst of her pain, she could see Anthony Arrowood so vividly. The poignant perception that consumed her grew further distant into the lies that caused all destinies to die in oblivion – a fact that even she would have had to face at sometime in her life. She constantly tried closing her eyes to rest; however, waking up continuously throughout the night, incessantly puking her guts onto the carpeted floor beneath her. There was nothing that eased her pain from it all. Not the sound of cars, or the cry of birds could take her mind away from the very anguish that troubled her during that late hour of the night. Soon, blood leaked from her lip as she reached over in an attempt to grab a napkin. Whatever feeling dwelled inside the human race – a passion of some genus that could make one desire the poisons of adrenaline – had eaten away her very will to survive. She was merely born a woman in a world that had been conquered by men in all their splendor. Every fiber in which thrived inside her being had slowly ripped away, leaving her for death’s inconvenient reaping. Men of Anthony Arrowood’s sordid status would forever mold women into diminutive bundles of zilch, bearing an attempt to glorify their own names in the havoc of others. However, in a perverse sense of certainty… she had conquered an obstacle that many critics whispered impossible. With all her might, she had defeated Anthony Arrowood.}
{The display of the ever-radiant moonlight hitting her bleach white comforter caused her eyes to close with an upsetting headache. That entire night had been drawn and built around ghastly episodes of tragedy and death. There truly was nothing left of her to give but her life in return of such duplicity. In the course of curiosity, she had unraveled a truth that brought both tears of grief and revulsion slowly rolling along her face; an awful truth that would cultivate further in depth as the clock beyond her struck the fifty-eighth minute of the eleventh hour. The sounds that ricocheted unstoppably off the dimly lit walls caused her to dive within a cot of pillows to avoid the blaring piece of junk. She reached over quickly and grabbed a few aspirins that sat across the bedside table. Ryan hoped to have dealt with her pain without the help of a relieving substance; however, it soon grew clear that a miracle of that nature was predestined to never happen. With a tall glass of water, she sent the illusive pills gradually rushing down her throat and into the pits of her nauseated stomach. It was a sigh of relief she would only feel for the next few seconds. After that, she would once again dwell in her own chaos. In her deepest turmoil, she remained conscious of the only man she had loved more than any person on Earth. An individual that by late at night she would pull softly into her warm, adoring arms and hold until tomorrow emerged. A fool who would give the world she gave him away to merely gratify his lackluster needs amongst a woman Ryan believed she knew all along. A woman who she had deemed the greatest friend she’d ever known.}
{She gripped tightly to her bedside table in an attempt to surface once more onto her feet. A great dismay awaited her as she heard the footsteps of her dear friend walking ever soundly down the hallway’s passage. Reluctantly, she pulled her body off the warm area of the carpet, a moist spot still shown from where her drool seeped into the pillow. Her hair was of a modern disaster, her face beyond recognition. The disgust in her body amplified once more as she grew to a standing position. It wasn’t long after she had finally regained her balance that Toni Roxettie entered the room. In all honesty, it pained Ryan so to see her dear friend go through so much trouble merely because her body was incapable of taking a few bad slams. Staying painfully awake throughout the night, nevertheless, was not the idea she had placed in mind after possibly the greatest defeat in AWE history. The image of Arrowood resting on the mat evermore was a depiction she could finally smile upon with open humor. Soon, forgetting where she was and with much of her attention focused on Toni’s eyes, she lifted her hand slowly in the air and placed it gently across Toni’s soft cheek. Ryan broke calmly with a pleasant smile and asked that she help her out of the room. Toni, of course, attempted to refuse her quest to leave the safety of her bed, remaining ever stern about Ryan receiving a needed rest after a week so brutal. After an extended and incalculable argument, Toni finally gave in to the pressures of Ryan’s argumentative tongue, helping her stand firmly in posture. From across the room, she walked towards the bedroom door, placing her hand firmly against the steel knob. The cold metal gave an effect of chills racing through her body. The reaction soon sedated with the door’s opening and her exit into the hall. In all her glory, she wore a large, dark nightie with pink formations and purple butterflies (charming). Besides the panties lying beneath it all, there was nothing more upon her body. Together, they walked through the hotel’s tight passages and finally into the kitchen. She sat back slowly in a freezing chair, hoping effortlessly that she didn’t hit any tender areas. Toni’s eyes didn’t leave Ryan as she walked to the other side of the kitchen and fixed two warm cups of fresh, hot tea.}
“Why must you insist on taking care of me during my times of need? It’s not fair to you, and it’s beginning to make me rather nauseous watching you doing everything around here!” Ryan stated with an appalling tone in her voice. The dim atmosphere continued to grow upon her as the moon’s radiance kept her emotionally distraught. “I do nothing but badger you and cram my aggression down your throat. With every waking hour I’m given I never let you rest without hearing my problems, and this is how I am repaid? Your actions make me feel like such a bitch at times. I almost feel that I owe you an apology of some sort.”
“Well, I can’t say that it wouldn’t be nice to hear an apology leave your lips once in a blue moon,” Toni responded humorously to her friend’s agitation. “but I think you and I know perfectly well that you hide very little secrets from me. I know you better than anyone has ever known you. My only question is do you know yourself?”
“Truly there isn’t a need in making such a fuss over this whole predicament.” Ryan said sickly as she rolled into a more comfortable position in the chair. Her eyes not leaving Toni’s for a second in an attempt to get her point completely across. “You and I have been friends for quite a number of years. However, what keeps you so entertained by me? I know that I’ve always had such a strong will – but never one to make others grow so amused by. Maybe I’m more like Joan Crawford than I let myself realize.”
“Oh, really, Mommy Dearest? That’s quite a simple question to answer.” Toni replied showing a lighter side to herself. “I understand you better than you understand yourself. I love you because you have a will that I could never posses. You hold a strength that I could never learn to uphold in all the years of my life. You, Ryan, are a living icon that the world is slowly, but surely becoming aware of.” Toni soon snickered in relief. “Plus, you were never paying the others to stick around. You, my friend, are my paycheck. So, I’m going to make sure you’re ready to go one on three when Spectacle wheels that ugly face of hers.”
“You tend to say it so well, Toni – almost too well. Almost like you have been practicing to some degree our entire lives.” Ryan said showing the smallest glimpse of a smile. “Regardless of any bitter emotion you and I have ever held against one another, I am happy that my money has helped keep you around for the ride.” Ryan said breaking into laughter, the tea increasing the warmth amongst her freezing hands. “You wouldn’t believe how lonely it gets on the road when no one in the world appreciates you. Everything about your life just has a way of falling out of place. It almost causes you to hunger the day you can finally leave the entirety of your pain and just rest.”
“Well, until that day comes, you have a long road ahead of you, my dear friend. Which happens to bring about a simple question you shouldn’t have the slightest trouble with answering.” Toni said, finally taking a seat at the table, seeming to pay little attention at what Ryan had mentioned earlier. “What about Anthony Arrowood? I know that a small match between the two of you couldn’t have changed your emotions for him that quickly. I mean – there must be some feeling for him left inside you! What troubles me about the entire motive is how you never had the decency to talk to me about it.” Toni retained the calmness in her voice before finally looking into Ryan’s eyes once more. “Tell me this: Was it even the truth or just another attempt to make a stupid history breaking storyline? Love isn’t something you play with, Ryan. I know you know that. You have only been married about a bazillion times! I’m just shocked is all.”
“It’s odd, you know? Up to this moment in my life, everything that had at least a little to do with my emotions had always been so easy for me to define.” Ryan paused for a minute and gazed deeply at the turning liquid in her hot cup. “For instance, when I was married to Jonathan, I felt that it was real love. At the time, of course, I was on my way to earning the World Championship in the TNA and making a name for myself was the most important thing in the world, or so I felt. However, Jonathan had different plans and it didn’t take me long before I found him in the arms of Rose Mendoza. I don’t think I ever loved a man after that.” Her voice grew bitter with emotion as the glass slammed roughly onto the hard table. “What I’m feeling now is the exact reason why I never let my way of thinking get persuaded by foolish illusions of attachment. Of all the stupid things a woman could do in her short life, falling in love ranks as high as keeping the damn gun you killed a man with. It’s simply ridiculous!”
{Ryan’s mood of vulgarity soon peaked to its highest as the shadows of crows, reflecting from the moonlight, raced rapidly across the living room scenery. She tried desperately to remain calm after a conversation so personal. As painful as it was to confess, she was a woman cursed by her pain to feel what others had endured. Throughout her past, she longed so hungrily to hold the strength and willpower to tell her adversaries what she truly thought of them. However, the compassion she’d been plagued with kept her words soft and gentle to even the few that lurked charmingly in the shadows of deceit. Ryan Ford stood with such a wound across her painful visage. The very thought of giving in kept her standing strong. With everything she had, she pulled her bruised and battered body back to her feet once more. The longing to walk became agonizing as the craving to fall shown beautifully. The floor was only feet away from being her destiny as she painfully limped forward. She knew better than anyone that love had a way of pinning her mind defenseless, almost shoving her mentality to the very brink of insanity. It had happened before with her ex-husband – and somehow again with Arrowood. The very thought of wasting away in her sorrow grew far too agitating to let win. Slowly, she limped forward through the center of the living room until finally she reached the glass wall at the far north end. From it she could view the entire city of California in the late midnight hour. The beauty of it all caused her to reflect hungrily on everything before her. Tears fell freely down her cheek as she watched so aimlessly out of the skyline view. Something inside her wished to be apart of the life that happily lived stories below her where the light shined radiantly. She gazed towards the city and shook her head with an utter reclusiveness. Toni approached her quietly, resting her hand softly on her shoulder, leaning in carefully with an unforgettable smile.}
“I know the pain you’re going through right now, Ryan, and I want you to know that I understand how lonely you feel. It isn’t your fault. You are not to blame for your compassion.” Toni said as assuring as she could, afraid of what her friend was thinking deep inside. She held Ryan close not knowing what to do. “Don’t let this minor setback get the best of you, sweetie. You are Ryan Ford! I know that you’re going to be fantastic no matter what direction you wish to go! So, how about we just change the subject and see if that helps you feel any better?”
“Meh – I suppose there comes a time when we all have to just sit back and understand the world’s entirety. Then again,” Ryan responded with a rather large smirk growing across her face. “Could you imagine if I actually fell in love with Anthony Arrowood? The poor children wouldn’t know what to do with themselves! They’d die! I’d die! The world would laugh us to death! Changing the subject sounds great!”
“Of course this will bring us right back to your match this week. I know how you love talking about your career and all, but this is something important! I know you only view this as a rematch against Arrowood to once again prove your dominance, but maybe there’s something more than meets the eye. After all – you are facing Glacier this time, and I know for damn sure you haven’t faced him before.” Sarah concluded with a humorous tone knowing damn good and well that Glacier was of no worth to Ryan Ford.
“Is there honestly anything worth saying about two fellow rookies and a man who fell faster than a can of tomatoes against me last week?” The spell of anger must have left her completely as she laughed with insult at the silly question. She turned to Toni, noticing she wasn’t taking the matter as humorous as she expected. Giving a mild shrug, Ryan walked over to the nearest chair and fell swiftly back into its arms. “Oh, really! Their determination is probably that of my own; however, they simply lack one very important factor when it comes to facing someone as wonderfully grand as I. You already know what it is, Toni – there is no need in acting stupid. What they lack is talent! That’s what all superstars lack nowadays. Owners hire worthless individuals and place them against people like me as an attempt to break former standards, or some shit like that! Wrestling just isn’t what it use to be – back when superstars alike earned their recognition!”
“You know, it’s quite obvious that you need to vent over something that dwells far beyond this silly cry of insanity!” Toni said with a humorous tone, yet still keeping her serious approach well shown. “I see no harm in speaking your mind about a match so petty, I suppose, of the coming Monday Night Spectacle. However, to settle your nerves, maybe you can think of it this way. You’re finally getting placed in a match that will ultimately win you the AWE Championship! Now the fans of the AWE won’t have to wait any longer to finally know who the best truly is!”
“Well, that’s expressive.” Ryan said impassively as she once again gazed to the window’s view. “I think I really need a good night’s rest. This cough medicine is kicking my ass!”
{The calming sound of silence flooded her mind after Toni Roxettie took her leave from the bathroom. The bathtub still remained warm as she soaked comfortably alone, the television above her continuing to play soft music. It was the happiest she’d been since the sudden death of her dear friend earlier that day. Inside her fanatical mind had been an unlimited list of unrequited questions concerning why her friend was taken so quickly; why the detective acted so strangely about letting her take the evidence home with her. Everything about those odd occurrences seemed to tie bizarrely together – however the basis of the entire situation remained unanswered and lost. The question of what truly went on during Beth Johnson’s last moments alive was something she was ready to do nearly anything to know. Everything from her murder, the detective’s odd behavior, all the way to her ex-husband’s number resting oddly on top of Beth’s corpse were clues she could not piece together without the accomplishment of one simple objective; an objective that seemed far too hard for her to ever endure. Still, for the sake of Beth, she leaned over to the right of her and placed her hand firmly around the telephone’s body. With a last sigh of hesitance, she pulled it off the hook and held it only inches from her face. Shaking her head doubtfully, she read the number off the paper as the dial tone broke from the pressure of buttons. She sighed painfully low as the call finally broke through.}
“Hello?” a deep voice spoke softly into her ear. His tone as warming as it had ever been, resonated tenderly on the other line. “Tammy? Is that you? Look, baby – I’m sorry for acting the way I did. You just have to understand that the death of Be…”
“Hi, Jonathan” Ryan said reluctantly as she bit her lip softly. She looked down upon the sheet of paper once more as she smiled silently. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“Riana? Is that you?” He asked in astonishment, his voice slowly breaking with pitch. “Riana! It’s been forever since I’ve spoken with you. Did you get the news about Be…”
“I saw her body, Jonathan.” Ryan responded with a symptom of nausea. “I walked into the bathroom earlier today and witnessed her butchered corpse laying across the bathroom floor. It’s kind of the reason why I called you tonight. On her body I found a sheet of crumpled paper with your number inside it, and I was wondering why she had that.”
“Oh… I see. Well, Beth and I had been talking for a while – then again – I guess we were talking longer than that.” He said unsurely as Ryan listened ever closely. “She never knew how to tell you that she held strong feelings for me. During the visit last year when you went to bed and I had that bad case of the flu – she was there worrying about me. Well, one thing led to another and…”
“Don’t.” Ryan said with teary eyes. “Just don’t.”
“Ryan… please don’t.”
“You know – I called you with a hope that maybe I was wrong about the entire situation between you and I. What I found was that our situation was far worse than I could have ever imagined. I know that you had something to do with Beth Johnson’s death, Jonathan. I don’t know how, and I don’t know what, but you better believe that I am going to stop at nothing until I find out just what you did!”
{In anger she slammed the phone into the tub, praying desperately that the serge of electricity would shock through the water and kill her instantly. The voltage never came, however, and she sat alone in the water, gazing unsurely at the television screen. All of the prayers she had made, the hopes she had kept – everything she dreamed to have again had now fallen terribly short in a life so divine. People normally dream that one day they will obtain fortune, fame, and ultimately immortality for a price they can easily afford. The truth of it all is that fame never comes at an easy price. It can cost you your happiness, your love, or even your life to achieve it. One’s entirety rests in the hands of the people. There is no self-empowerment once one folds to the pressures of fame. With a great longing, she pulled herself uneasily out of the tub, walking droopingly to the far side of her bathroom. Once more she gazed into the mirror at her reflection, ultimately wondering what truly rested beneath it all. There were so many questions to answer with such little time to do it all. She would have to rely on both herself and the people involved if she were ever going to bring her Beth Johnson’s murder to a final end. With a tiresome sigh, she wrapped her body in a towel and left for the door’s exit. She placed her hand unwillingly on the light switch as one last exhalation carried from her lips. She flipped the switch softly as the scene fades to black.}
The End…
“Glacier is a man who came to the AWE with high hopes that maybe somehow he’d miraculously become the dominate superstar, a feat that he clearly couldn’t accomplish before the damn fed shut down in the first place. Why the hell does he think it’ll happen now? This is a whole different ball game, you incompetent fool! Never before have you had someone as difficult to face as… wait a second. Didn’t Glacier lose both times he faced Anthony Arrowood in a match? I mean – correct me if I’m wring… but I do believe he isn’t quite up to par with the whole dominate factor around here. It’s kind of sad when a woman is considered more of threat than you are, isn’t it, Glacier? It’s quite all right, dear. You can talk to me about it. You see, both you and Suicide are placed in the same category when it comes to the Hell in a Cell match. There are the people who have come and shown their dominance since the very beginning, those people being Anthony and myself. Then there are the people that simply hang around and wait for the day that they might somehow pull off a win against someone like us. I don’t mean to burst your silly little bubbles, but that’s not going to happen! I’ve been in this sport long enough to know which superstars remain immortal and which superstars quickly die out with the rising tides. Suicide, you’re also going to have a lot on your plate this week at Spectacle. I know that our last match didn’t end with the greatest victory for me – but maybe you can change that this time around. Hopefully you have learned from your silly mistakes and are ready, as Glacier should be too, to step up and be a man. I don’t care to dominate this sport until I’m eighty. I want you to show me that you have what it takes to hold the recognition as an AWE Superstar. I want you to give me your all! If you can’t even do that – what the hell are you doing in my league? Step down, or be strong.”
“As for Anthony Arrowood, you are a strong opponent and a worthy one at that. I have had the greatest pleasure in fighting you once, and this week shall be no different. You were damn hard to bring down last week, and I expect you to be even stronger this time around. It is a man like you that make this sport what it truly is. Sure, you’re a bit stupid when it comes to reasoning, but what man isn’t? You are an honorable opponent and I look forward to facing you again. Just – don’t take it so hard when it is my hand raised as the victor. May we live for the moment and die when we must; however, weep not for the memories! Good luck!”
