Thump, thump, thump. A sound came from the door. Gloria opened her eyes slightly and groaned out. Thump, thump, thump, she heard again. “Go away,” she said with what she thought was a shout but only the sound of a whisper. Bam, bam, bam. She started to sit up, then ‘BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.’ “Okay, I’m coming,” she called out. She staggered towards the door. She unlocked the dead bolt to the room. Her vision was blurred as she pulled the door open and was looking at Britney. “What are you doing here Britney?” Gloria slurred out.
Britney moved past Gloria and walked into the room. “My god, Gloria, what the hell have you done?”
Gloria closed and locked the door and staggered towards the bed. “Had a little party. I wish you could have been here.”
Britney saw the condom on the dresser and one on the counter next to the sink and walked into the bathroom and found the third. Britney looked at her, “Really, Gloria, three. Did you fuck three men or one man three times?”
Gloria smiled. “Don’t know. I don’t remember. They must not have been too good. I hope I came at least once.”
Britney narrowed her eyes and walked over to Gloria. “I had hoped that crazy dream wasn’t true.”
Gloria lay down on the bed. “What dream?” she slurred out.
“Stanley came to me in a dream. He said you made a deal with Hades and that is the reason he is dead. He also said that you would turn to drugs. If you did, you would fuck anything.”
“It was just this once and I wouldn’t ever make a deal with Hades. I loved Stanley, and he loved me,” Gloria said as she sprawled out in the bed and closed her eyes.
After a moment, she felt something rubbing between her legs and a soft but yet firm body touching hers. Gloria opened her eyes and Britney kissed her. “He loved me more and we both know that. Because he loved me more, I am going to love you so you won’t make the same mistakes you made in the past.”
Gloria moaned out, and as her eyes slowly started to open, she called out, “Fuck me.” Then she saw her body lying on the stage and Hades standing beside it. “You completed your task; our contract is fulfilled.”
“Take me,” Stanley’s voice said.
Gloria wanted to scream but couldn’t make a sound. A moment of silence. “She will do anything to keep you,” Hades said.
“Then you can fuck her again. Take me in her place. I ask that you give me a minute alone with her.”
Hades nodded. “Very well. I will take you in her place. You have one minute.”
For some strange reason, Gloria moaned out with pleasure, and she felt something inside her and rubbing her clit.
Stanley’s voice said, “Gloria, I only have a minute. Listen to me. Give up on me. Things are happening. I don’t have time to explain. Stay away from the supernatural. No matter what happens, stay away. Don’t worry about me. Help Britney. Gloria, if you don’t help her, she isn’t going to live.” Her eyes opened, and she heard Sabrina say. “That is what has happened. That is the reason he is not with you . He cannot help you anymore. It is time for you to make your own way in life.”
Gloria sat up in the bed. “Mom, Sabrina,” she called out. She looked around and her eyes focused on the condom lying on the dresser. She looked down at the bed and it was soaked. Her hand was covered with cum from her last orgasm. She searched the hotel room and found two more. She was swollen and sore. She walked over to the mirror and that was when she remembered “You woke up in the hotel room and that was when I came to you.” ‘What the fuck?’ she thought as she sat down on the bed and winced a little from the pain. What kind of shit did he give me? Stop and think. I have had encounters with old friends that were part of the supernatural that’s the reason for the crazy dream. Other than healing my body, that is the only magical dancing I have done since before I was fifteen. I did that alone; no one really knew about it. What the fuck is going on here? I wouldn’t ever make any deals with gods. This has got to be a crazy dream replaying everything from the time Stanley was shot. Nope, I never left the hospital. Well, apart from going to the hotel room. But I was present at every visitation.
Elizabeth opened her door and stood looking in disbelief. “Gloria,” she said with indifference.
“Sorry to show up unannounced.”
Elizabeth stepped aside. “That’s okay. If you came to me, then it must be urgent.”
Gloria walked in and said, “It is, and it must be kept off record.”
“Let’s go to the kitchen and I will put on some tea,” Elizabeth said as they walked. Gloria explained everything that happened in the hotel room and even told her what she thought after the shower. When Gloria was done, Elizabeth started to say something, when a man said, “After everything you have just seen, the very first thing you do is come here with the plan of changing his fate again. I have known some slow learners in my day, but you are starting to be the worst.”
“Who are you?” Elizabeth asked
“He’s the man in my dream that the strange woman brought just before Hades and I had sex.”
The man shook his head. “Most women will never let a mortal fuck them again after being with a god,” he said as he sat down. He looked at Elizabeth. “For the moment, it is best that you do not know who I am. You have a book that I need to see.”
“You know your way out.” Elizabeth stood and started to walk away.
The man grabbed her arm. “I must warn you I’m not a custom to being this polite. However, I have taken a new perspective on things. But that does not mean I will not resort to my old ways. I know you have the book. When I am done with her, she will not remember that we ever came here.”
Gloria started to say something, but her eyes glazed over and she sat in silence. Elizabeth looked at her. “What did you do to her?” Elizabeth barked out.
The man stood. “The less you know, the better off you are. She is placing herself in so much danger at the moment that it isn’t funny. Too many people think they have answers, when, in fact, this isn’t the most dangerous of times for the dancers that has ever been. I grow tired of telling you I need to see the book. It will remain with you. And it would be very wise of you to do what you have always done and remain in the shadows. Keep in mind I have no quarrel in killing you and discovering where the book is and leaving it where I found it and your body where it lies.”
Her voice trembled. “This way.” Elizabeth led him to the hidden basement and opened the safe. She stepped away. “You said you needed to see it. Here it is. Now go.”
He walked over to the safe. “I dare not speak the truth to what is happening out loud. If something isn’t done, the agreement will be broken.” His hand touched the book in the safe. “Fates have found a way around the agreement and they are all being damned. You know I could care less about their fate. But if this goes unchallenged, far more than dreams will end. They are strong, but I do not think they are strong enough. The woman is getting her courage back. I must stop that. She is a danger and should be removed from the situation.”
The book glowed brightly and a loud roar came from it. The man was shoved back to the wall. Elizabeth fell to her knees and covered her ears. The man pulled himself away from the wall and walked over. “If she gets in my way again, I will kill her myself. You are concerned with the few, but the fate of all is what concerns me.” He slammed the safe shut and looked at Elizabeth. “You saw this, heard that; if anyone calls you for your advice or opinion,” he spoke slowly, “You. Know. Nothing.” He exited the room. Elizabeth stood watching as he and Gloria got in a taxi and drove away. ‘It has started. Stanley, you have got to be strong. They will come. They will come,’ Elizabeth thought as she watched the taxi drive away.
Gloria’s body trembled as she tried to remember what had happened. Her body was pinned by a man holding her. “I see you are finally awake.”
She looked at him. “Who are you?”
“I’m shocked th
at you don’t remember. You screamed my name out last night as you fucked the shit out of me. But then again, you were stoned out of your mind,” he said as he got up and started getting dressed.
Gloria sat up and looked around. “How did I get to California?”
“You didn’t tell me that part. We danced, and you invited me to your home and I came. Next thing I know, we were fucking. We serenaded the entire place. You don’t remember?”
She shook her head. “No.”
The man smiled. “If you’re that way when you are sober, that man you are going to marry will be one lucky S.O.B.”
“Get out,” Gloria demanded.
“As you wish,” he said as he walked away.
Chapter 4
Old Dances & New Love.
Gloria got up. ‘Bobby is going to kill me if he doesn’t leave me first.’ She walked to the bathroom, took a shower, and got out. ‘How in the hell did I get here? What is going on?’ She walked to the closet and pulled out a top that was sleeveless and stopped in the middle of her belly. She put on a pair of leather pants along with some high-top boots. She walked to a desk and took a nine-millimeter pistol out of a drawer. She placed it in the waistband at the small of her back and grabbed a leather coat and put it on. She took the elevator down to the garage, opened a locker, and pulled out a helmet. She walked over to a motorcycle and got on and started it up. She started out after the garage door opened. It had been a long time since she had taken a road trip on a bike. She rode up to San Francisco and parked outside an old rundown building. She smiled as she got off the bike. She walked up to the entrance. The main door was closed and she opened it. ‘The lock is still broken, not much has changed,’ she thought as she took the stairs down. At the bottom level, the old soda machine was still there next to the door to the laundry mat. She grabbed the side of it and pulled on it. The wheels on the bottom of it screeched as it moved. Behind it was an opening in the wall close to the floor. She got down on her knees and crawled through the opening. It wasn’t far until she could stand. She lay back down towards the entrance, grabbed the soda machine, and pulled it back. She walked down the hall and stopped at the first door to the left. She paused for a moment before she opened the door. As she turned the door handle, she let out an exasperated breath. The door squeaked as it opened. She reached over and flipped on the light switch as she walked into the room. It surprised her that the light still came on.
A tear escaped her eye as she saw on the back wall Stanley loves Gloria painted with red spray paint. And under it, in black spray paint, was written, “She loves him and always will.” She looked at the old sofa sitting on the left side of the room. Memories flooded her mind about the many times they nearly started the completion of the curse on that old sofa. She could almost hear Stanley say, “God, Glow, I don’t think I will ever see another as beautiful as you.” She walked over to an old cabinet and opened it. She reached in and pulled out an old photo book. Tears flowed freely as she looked at the picture of her and Stanley. She heard his voice say, “Someday, many years from now, they will hang this on the wall of fame, and beside it will say ‘Stanley and Gloria Thomas, the two greatest ballroom dancers. They danced and loved their entire lives. The greatest love in his life was the girl in his arms. She was what made dancing special.’” Gloria wiped the tears from her eyes as she pulled the picture from the album. She whispered, “He was and has always been her greatest love. He gave his life for her and she doesn’t know how to live without him.” She turned and walked back to the door. She stopped and looked back as she reached to turn the light off. It felt as if her heart was being ripped from her chest as she closed the door. She made her way back to the motorcycle. She rode to a store and got a frame for the picture and then rode to a place she had been many times in her youth, but hadn’t been there since Julie’s death. She walked in and past the hostess to the back. She walked over to a table and pulled her coat off. The hostess gave her a hard look as she removed the pistol and placed it in the coat. “I’ll have a glass of water, please.” The hostess nodded and walked away. The picture shook in her hand as she slowly walked, looking at what Julie had called the “wall of fame.”
William was sitting at a table when the hostess walked up. “Mr. Chandler!” the woman said with a near panicked voice.
He looked up at her. “Yes.”
The hostess looked over at Gloria. “The woman walking looking at the pictures has a weapon, a pistol. Should I call the police?”
William looked and saw Gloria. “No, everything will be okay.”
Gloria stood looking at the picture of Antonio and Juanita. She placed the picture of Stanley and her beside it and touched them both. “I will join you all someday,” she said as she slowly rubbed the pictures.
William nearly fell out his seat as he heard, “She is fighting a battle that she can’t win and you know that.”
“Stanley,” William said in a low voice.
“Help her leave it on the floor,” William heard as his eyes shifted towards Gloria, who walked towards the curtain separating the dance floor from the dining area. She stepped between the curtains and walked out on the floor as the song “Baby Come Back” rang out softly from the speakers. She stood in the center of the room and closed her eyes. Her body softly swayed side to side. She shook her head slightly as a memory came to her mind of her friends that had gone on. “You think you’re hot,” Juanita said.
Gloria smiled. “Hot is cold next to me, bitch.”
Antonio laughed as Jaqueline said, “Compared to me, you ain’t nothing. Anyone can shake their ass on the dance floor.”
“Yeah, but my ass is the cutest,” Gloria said with a smirk.
Raphael winked at her. “If you say so. Words are cheap. Show what you got, you little party doll you.”
She walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “Want to join me, stud?” she said as she walked past him, her breasts rubbing his shoulder.
He licked his lips. “Stan, man, you get to take a cold shower tonight, bro. She is all mine.”
Stanley laughed. “Be damned if that is true.” He wrapped his arms around a beautiful girl. “It’s you and me tonight, Aracel.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “He can have her because you’re mine.”
Gloria turned her head. “You wish,” she said as she spun, pulling Raphael towards her.
The chuckle that escaped Gloria’s mouth took her from her memories. The song changed, and a new song started to play. She tapped her foot as the song played on. She shook her head more William walked into the control room as he heard, “More is happening than you know. She is feeling the struggles from other realms help her release the pain.”
“I wish I could see you,” he blurted to himself. The volume went up and the disco ball started to spin. The lights came on as the curtain opened. “Okay, buddy, if she calls upon her magic, that will cover it like you said.”As the lyrics “We’ll never have to say goodbye again” rang out, Gloria dropped to her knees and spun. Her head went back, and she started to spin the opposite direction. One foot moved and was firm on the floor as she stood.
William watched as Gloria was dancing. He shook his head. “Damn, Glow, bring it, girl.”
The voice in his head said, “She needs to take it up a notch. ‘Running with the Night’ next.”
“What is that dance?” he said to himself as if someone was beside him.
“One of the dances of Hades to honor the dead. She needs them to see her so she can join the realms.”
“Joining the realms? What the hell for?”
“Best you don’t know. ‘Theme from Rocky’ next. She has got to peak.”
“Peak? Bud, you saying she hasn’t reached her best?” William said with a voice of shock.
“No, and you will never see her dance full out.”
“What dance is that she is doing now?”
> “The Dance of Remembrance. She knows something isn’t right. She can’t place it, but the dance will restore memory to the dead.” A man stood and looked out on the dance floor and saw Gloria. “Play the songs ‘Animal,’ ‘Hysteria,’ and ‘All for Love,’ in that order.” The man walked towards the dance floor. “Make damn sure you find her when you wake up. She is in a war that is stronger than her, William. Without help, she will never make it.”
“Wake up. What the hell you talking about?”
The man walking towards the dance floor stopped as Stanley stepped out on the edge of the dance floor holding a long spear that had double-bladed swords on both ends. He wore solid white, a V-shaped white shirt that showed most of his chest and a lot of his abdomen. William saw him and said under his breath, “Oh fuck! White dancer, by the stars. What is going on?” He ran out of the room and looked up at the sky. His mouth opened as he saw the stars in the sky dancing.
Gloria parked the motorcycle in front of the hotel. She walked in, paid for the room, and tears streamed down her face as she opened her handbag and pulled out the syringe. Her body shook as she stuck the needle in her arm. The stinging sensation in her arm eased the pain she was feeling. Her eyelids lowered as she began not to care about the pain in her heart. She pulled the needle out of her arm and walked over and threw it in the trash. She got undressed and walked over to the bed and sat down watching the television screen that wasn’t turned on. The room lit up and she looked towards the door. Britney stood in the door with the man from the lobby. Britney held out some money. “That is her. Thank you so much.” The man took the money and left. Britney walked over to Gloria and looked at her. “Do you know how long we have been looking for you?” she said with a sad, disappointed look.
Gloria laughed slightly. “Nope.”
Britney looked at the dresser and saw the room key. She walked over and picked it up. She looked back at Gloria. “We will talk when you can think straight.” She picked up Gloria’s keys along with her purse and left the room. A few hours later, she came back with a bag. Gloria was lying on the bed asleep. Britney reached into the bag and pulled out a small vial of something and a soda bottle that was mostly empty. She poured the vial into the soda bottle and shook the bottle slightly to mix the two. Then she walked over to a small fridge and put the soda bottle in it. A couple hours later, Gloria groaned slightly as she started to wake up. She opened her eyes then closed them and opened them slower to get used to the light. After a moment, she sat up in the bed, shielding her eyes. Britney was glaring at her hard.
Love and Beyond Part 3 Page 4
