The Stand Off

by Z. Stefani

  “Okay, we’ll be back.” Pixie smiled and kissed her sister’s cheek.

  Lux watched them head off to hunt for strawberry vodka before she turned to Dean, “I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t think they’d throw us a party just for coming back home. But you should probably get used to this type of behavior. They will throw a party for no reason at all. So if you do something somewhat clever or moderately interesting, you should expect a big celebration. And no, there is no talking them out of it; you’d just be wasting your breath. They never listen; they always do what they want.”

  “It’s okay; you’re going to make it up to me later,” he said in a tone that made her vagina try to dislodge itself from her panties.

  “Am I?” she smiled as he bent to plant a kiss on her lips.

  “You are,” he kissed her again, but she pulled back.

  “I thought you said no kissing,” she said before she put her hand on the side of his face and kissed his lips briefly.

  “I can’t resist. Besides, if it becomes too much for me to bear, I can always take you up to your bedroom.”

  “Or your house; its right down the street.” She held him tightly and laid her head against his chest.

  “Our house is right down the street,” he corrected her, and she pulled back to look into his eyes for a moment. She loved what she saw, and her heart swelled accordingly.

  “Our house,” she repeated with a dazzling smile that melted his heart and pumped up his cock.

  “You better stop smiling like that or I’m taking you upstairs,” he grumbled with a grin.

  ***

  Michael Bender waited in his car until Lux and Dean had gone inside of The Lounge. He sat there stewing, wondering how it had come to this. What had started as a plan to humiliate Dean had escalated into a full-fledged war. Michael’s name was ruined, he’d been labeled discreditable by the media, and the police wanted him for fraud. Despite all of that, he’d still not had his revenge.

  “I won’t let it end like this… not until you’ve paid for what you’ve done, Dean,” he murmured to himself as he opened the car door. “And now I can actually make you pay. You finally love someone else more then you love yourself so now I can make you feel the same despair that I felt.”

  He grabbed his duffel bags and nonchalantly walked over to the designated garbage can. He’d had days to develop a plan and had picked that particular garbage can due to its ideal location. It was in front of the alley between Lux’s building and the empty building next door to it. He stood before the garbage can and dumped the large bag full of fireworks inside. He then withdrew the strip of gasoline soaked fabric from the sandwich bag and placed it over the edge of the garbage can. Once he was finished, he cut through the alley and made his way to the back of The Music Hall.

  He quickly opened the tiny basement window and then eased his way through. Once inside of the dark room, he turned on his flashlight and looked for the perfect spot to ignite. He found an old box in the corner filled with clothing and smiled. He lit the book of matches and quickly dropped in inside. He waited until the flames engulfed the box before he headed back to his entrance point. He slithered out of the window and headed back towards the front of the building.

  ***

  The crowd upstairs was unaware of what was going on in the basement. The loud group danced to the beat of the fast song while getting drunk and eating cake. In the center of the crowd, Dean and Lux held each other tightly as she swayed to the beat of her own music.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Dean whispered in her ear. The feel of her body swaying against his was too much for him; he needed her. He was ready to take her upstairs for a quickie when the fire alarms went off and the sprinkler system came on.

  “What the hell?” Lux gasped as the lights came on. She looked around to see her family and friends begin to rush towards them.

  She looked up to see Pixie jump on the stage and grab the microphone. “And that ends our party for this evening folks. All apologies for the abrupt halt, the high pitched siren and all that damn water, but there be fire in the basement. So go, leave while you still can,” she said in an over-the-top, ghostly-toned, talk show host voice.

  Lolo grabbed the megaphone from Pixie and spoke to the wet crowd, “It’s not that bad, just a small fire. Everything is fine but until we get it under control, it’s best if you wait outside.”

  It was obvious that the crowd was neither scared nor worried about the downpour from the sprinkler system. They were in no rush to leave and were laughing as they headed towards the door in an orderly albeit slow fashion.

  Pixie grabbed the megaphone back from Lolo, “We will be serving cake and strawberry vodka outside.”

  “What’s going on?” Lux asked Kiki as she ran towards them.

  “There’s a fire in the basement; Dean we could use your help,” Kiki explained.

  “Of course,” Dean answered with a nod.

  “Where’s Mom?” Lux asked.

  “In the basement with the fire extinguisher,” Kiki answered.

  “I’ll help Pixie, Lolo, and Graves,” Lux said.

  “Graves is down stairs with us; help them get these people out safely.”

  “I will.” Lux nodded.

  “I’ll meet you out front soon,” Dean said before he kissed Lux’s lips and then turned to follow Kiki.

  Lux watched them quickly disappear into the crowd as Lolo suddenly appeared next to her.

  “At least it’s not a panicked crowd,” Lolo said as she watched the people casually leave the building.

  “How bad is the fire?” Lux asked with concern as they started walking behind the crowd.

  “Not too bad; they’ll be able to get it under control. They have like thirty plus fire extinguishers down there.”

  “Don’t worry I saved the cake,” Pixie yelled as she came towards them. She held two large, covered cake trays and quickly passed one off to Lolo. “Take this.”

  “Where’s the vodka?” Lolo asked.

  “Behind the bar,” Pixie answered.

  “I’ll grab it, just make sure that everyone is out,” Lux instructed before she headed back towards the bar.

  ***

  Michael waited in the shadows between the buildings until he heard the fire alarm ring. At that point, he cautiously crept out of his hiding spot and eased towards the garbage can. He managed to ignite the end of the cloth and get back to his hiding spot before the people started to crowd the sidewalk. The gasoline soaked fabric was long enough to allow him the time he needed to complete his mission. He stood back and waited until he could make his move.

  ***

  Lux was headed outside with the liquor when she heard a series of loud popping noises.

  The crowd went wild by what they assumed to be bullets. Everyone ducked at the same time; some people ran, and almost everyone screamed… except Lux. Lux knew the sound well; Pixie had been obsessed with firecrackers since she could talk. She had been known to fill the garbage cans in front of the buildings with various fireworks over the years.

  Lux sat the bottle on the ground and listened for the source of the sound. She looked over to the garbage can between her building and the empty building next door. She instantly saw the familiar clouds of sparkly-smoke barreling out and shook her head. Assuming it was the work of her sister, she walked over to the garbage can.

  “Is this what you meant when you said you would end the night with a bang, dear sister?” Lux thought. Between the large crowd scrambling around her and the noise, she was oblivious to the danger creeping up from behind her. When she felt someone softly brush her from behind, she turned around expecting to see Dean. Instead she came face to face with a ski-masked man holding a large knife to her waist.

  “Don’t move,” he demanded, trying to disguise his voice with an unnatural accent. “Come with me and you won’t get hurt.” He wrapped his arm around her and led her away from the garbage can.

  “Listen, I don’t have any cash on me
and all my jewelry is fake,” she told him as he led her into the dark alley between the buildings.

  “I don’t want your money.”

  “Wait,” she objected when she realized he was trying to take her to the empty building next door. She tried to pull away from him as they neared the side door, but he pressed the sharp blade against her skin.

  “Don’t do anything stupid; I really don’t want to hurt you,” he threatened her without using his fake accent, and she immediately recognized the voice.

  “Clifton!” she hissed accusingly and tried desperately to get away. She managed to free one arm and began to slug at his head.

  He grabbed her flailing arm, put his hand over her mouth, and all but dragged her inside of the building. He slammed the door behind them, locked it, and then leaned back against it. He raised his knife to keep her in check as he pulled off his mask.

  “Sorry to scare you Lux; that was not my intention,” Michael said in a submissive tone.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked as she stepped backwards.

  “I need to talk to you.” He moved closer to her as she continued to back up.

  “You tried to set me up; as far as I’m concerned we have nothing to talk about.” She frowned as she discreetly kept track of how far he stepped away from the door. If she saw an opportunity, she would take it.

  “Please you have to listen to me. I never tried to set you up, it was Dean.”

  “Bullshit,” she scoffed as she tried to inconspicuously step towards the door.

  “I’m telling you the truth, he’s the one who sold the pictures, but he’s blaming it on me to cover his tracks.” He took another step away from the door.

  “He would never jeopardize his relationship with his brother,” she said as she watched him like a hawk.

  “You don’t know him as well as you think you do, Lux. He is in love with his brother’s ex-fiancée, that’s why he hates Vaughn so badly.”

  “How long did it take you to come up with that crock of unconvincing shit?” she scoffed as she crossed her hands over her chest and took a minuscule step to the side, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

  “It’s the truth; they were having an affair long before Vaughn asked her to marry him.”

  “You’re so full of shit.” She realized it wasn’t wise to bait him, but she was too angry to care.

  “Lux, I wouldn’t lie to you; you know me.”

  “I don’t know you at all; I don’t even know your real name…Clifton.”

  “My real name is Michael; I’m sorry that I had to lie to you. I had to change my name because Dean Blake has been stalking and tormenting me. He knows that I am the only person who can expose his secret about his brother’s fiancée.”

  “Either you’re crazy as a shit house rat or you’re starting to believe your own lies,” she said as she shook her head. She suddenly pretended as if she saw someone behind Michael, she looked at the window behind him and gasped. The very moment that he turned to look behind him, she sprinted for the door.

  She had just grabbed the handle and went for the lock when he grabbed her from behind. She swung blindly behind her, trying to connect with any available body part. When she felt her fist connect and heard him grunt, she ran towards the window. He shook off the blow to the head and tried to rush her. She abruptly ducked, avoiding his grasp, and grabbed a large rock from the floor. She threw it at him, but it flew right past his head and crashed through the window as he dove to the side. As his body hit the ground, she went back for the door. While still on his knees he scurried over and grabbed her ankle before she was able to unlock it. She held the handle tightly as he tried to pull her back. She kicked backwards as he stood up but when she felt the cold metal against her neck, she froze.

  “Why did you do that?” Michael asked as he yanked her away from the door. “I was hoping we could work together to stop Dean but now I see where your loyalty lies.”

  “My loyalty is with Dean,” she spat at him before he covered her mouth with his hand.

  “And you will pay for that,” he threatened her.

  ***

  Kiki, Graves, and Dean managed to extinguish the fire and went outside to let everyone know. Dean looked for Lux, but he did not see her amongst the crowd.

  “Pixie?” he yelled.

  “Yes?” she bounced over to him.

  “Where is Lux?”

  “Um, I’m not sure.” She looked around the crowd before she yelled, “Lolo, where’s Lux?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered before she turned and yelled to Graves, “Graves do you know where Lux is?”

  “I haven’t seen her since the fire started,” Graves said as she walked closer to Dean and Pixie.

  “Shit,” Pixie cursed.

  “Kiki!” Graves yelled across the crowd and Kiki looked up. “Where’s Lux?”

  “I don’t know! I’ll go ask Mom,” she yelled back.

  “What in the hell?” Pixie walked over to the smoking garbage can, and everyone followed behind.

  “Firecrackers,” Graves said as she looked into the can.

  Pixie turned to Dean, “We heard a bunch of firecrackers earlier, but I assumed that one of the passing cars had thrown them.”

  “So where in the hell is Lux?” Dean asked as he looked around.

  It was then that one of Kiki’s friends from the party turned to Pixie, “I saw Lux go in that building.”

  “What building?” Dean asked, and the girl pointed to the building next to the music hall.

  “Why in the hell would she go in there?” Pixie looked at the building with a frown.

  “I don’t know,” the girl shrugged her shoulders.

  “Well who was she with?” Pixie probed.

  “Some guy,” she answered.

  “What guy?” Dean barked.

  The girl shrugged. “I don’t know; I could only see the back of him.”

  “What in the hell would she be doing in there?” Pixie wondered.

  “I’m going in,” Dean said.

  He’d no more then taken a step towards the building when a rock came crashing out of the window. Dean, Pixie, and Graves ran towards the window to see Lux inside, fighting with a man dressed in all black. They ran to the first side door and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “There has to be another way in,” Dean said frantically.

  “There’s a door on the other side of the building, the lock is broken. I’m going in through the window out back,” Pixie said before she ran off towards the back of the building.

  “I’ll call the police,” Graves said as she retrieved her phone from her pocket.

  Dean sprinted to the side of the building and breathed a sigh of relief when it opened. He walked through what appeared to be an old storage room and headed towards the commotion he heard. He stepped into the main room and saw Lux struggling with Michael Bender.

  “Let her go!” Dean roared.

  When Lux looked up to see Dean, Michael took the opportunity to overpower her. Despite the knife pressed against her throat, Lux felt relief when she saw Dean walking towards them.

  “Stay back or I will cut her.” Michael threatened.

  “Let her go, Bender. This fight is between me and you; she has nothing to do with it.”

  “She has a lot to do with this; she levels the playing ground.”

  “Bender, I’m warning you,” Dean said.

  “Stay back!” Michael yelled hysterically.

  “Just let her go,” Dean pleaded, fully prepared to beg if necessary.

  “I can’t let her go; she’s the only upper hand that I’ve ever had on you. She’s valuable; without her, there could be no revenge.”

  “If you don’t let her go, I will fucking kill you!” Dean yelled.

  “You’d have to kill her first; I’m taking her with me.” He took a step backwards, forcing Lux to step with him or be cut.

  “You’re not leaving this room with her. You’re a fucking dead man!” />
  “What’s more important to you Dean: Revenge or Lux? Because I think that if I wound her bad enough, you’ll be too busy helping her to chase me.” Michael attempted to reason.

  “If you hurt her, I will tear you apart with my bare hands. You will never make it out of this building alive,” Dean vowed with an animalistic look in his grey eyes.

  “I’m not stupid; you’re not letting me out of here regardless,” Michael rebuffed.

  “If you let her go, no one will stop you from leaving. I give you my word,” Dean promised.