STPTown gets hard-boiled (a group story)

[Lulu]

Rockstars Lulu and Miral had been drinking for some time before they mustered the nerve to peek again.

"You look," demanded Lulu.
"No, you look!" Miral replied petulantly.
"YOU look!"
"You get angry when I look!"
"Ok, ok. Criminy!"

Lulu glanced sureptitiously over Miral's shoulder at the suspiciously familiar couple formerly macking in the corner. Her eyes widened in suprise.

"Miral! Jeezus! You're 'friend's' gone and fainted!" Miral spun around to take in the scene across the bar.

The red-headed bombshell was bending over her partner, who had collapsed in a heap on the floor. She frantically shook her friend's (ok- closer than friend's) unconscious form. "Wake up!" she muttered "We gotta get outta here!" Lulu and Miral, demonstrating their usual lack of caution, had already headed over to investigate, when the redhead collapsed abruptly atop her partner.

The barkeep looked up in concern! "Hey! What's going on over there? They two drunk? They two friends of yours?" Bending over Red's near unconscious form, Lulu thought she heard her murmer "they're watching us.."

She looked at Miral. Miral looked wide eyed.

"Let's get them outta here!" Lulu whispered to Miral. It was not one of her wiser moments. Miral, demonstrating similar imprudence, nodded enthusiastically. The girls each seized a body and the dragged the two naggingly familiar individuals out the back door.

<font color="#776446" size="1">[ January 28, 2003 05:50 AM: Message edited by: Lulu ]</font>

[AsIs]

My danger sense a distant memory, Red was amazing. By the time she was finished exploring I barely knew my own name. Hell, I didn't even care what my name was...er, is. AsIs...I think...Well, if I could think...er, where am, was I?

Gasping, I reach for my drink. I gulp it down in one sip. I notice the bemused look on her face.

I look deep into her eyes, "I know so little about you? Who are you mystery woman? What is your name?"

"Susan," she replies simply, the look of bemusement still in place.

I feel a smug sense of satisfaction at this tiny bit of information. An illusion of control that I clearly did not have. "Susan," I repeat softly.

She kisses me again to head off any further questions. When she lets me up for air, I feel light-headed.

Red glances around the bar, a look of concern crosses her features and she mutters something underneath her breath. She stands up and grabs me and says something about leaving. But I can't make out the words, she sounds very far away.

I try to stand up, but my body doesn't respond, too late I realize that my drink must have been spiked with something, but this realization comes as my world goes black, with just a hint of Red...

&lt;font color="#776446" size="1"&gt;[ rewritten to fit in better... ]&lt;/font&gt;

<font color="#776446" size="1">[ January 30, 2003 01:00 AM: Message edited by: AsIs ]</font>

[Firebird98]

*a lone figure waits in the alley. He hides in the shadows, taking drags off a nearly finished cigarette*

"Been a long time, Lu. Thought you forgot about me.*

[Branflakes]

Bran banged her head against the steering wheel.

"What the HELL is he doing here?" she murmurred out loud. There he was, Firebird, one of the "missing" right there in the back of the alley. Who else was going to show up out of nowhere? Bran debated getting out of the car. She had been looking for 'Bird afterall. But Crazy was on his way. And Red was still in the bar with Asis...

The back door opened. Lulu and Miral walked out, dragging AsIs and Red with them.

"What the fudge?" Bran said. She blinked twice. Nope, she wasn't imagining things, there they all were. Half the people she'd been looking for. And, Red, aka Susan. The probable troublemaker. She'd have to get out of the car now. But, she still needed to get to usmu. She thought for a moment, biting her lower lip.

"Ah, screw it, it'll all work out somehow," Bran said as she opened the car door...

[Miral]

Lulu stopped cold at the voice and dropped the red-haired girl. Miral turned to Lulu with a surprised look on her face. "Who is that?!" She gently placed AsIs on the ground and leaned in to whisper in Lulu's ear. "He saw us dragging them out, he's gonna think we killed them or something. I am not going to be blamed for a murder, or drugging or whatever it is, by some smoking shadow lurker." She turned as if to say something to the guy, but she turned back to Lulu. "Oh, god Lulu, I don't feel good! My amnesia is coming back! I forgot what was going on!" Lulu didn't take her eyes off the shadow lurker and pointed down at the redhead and AsIs.
"We are dragging their bodies out. And we are going to place them in a random spot.. let's say a car. A red Firebird to be exact." Miral looked at the people on the ground and looked around the alley.
"I don't see a red Firebird, but I do see a couple mysterious black cars that are just waiting for something. And car doors of black cars opening with sexy women stepping out. Uh, Lulu and shadowman, Bran Di'Flakes is here and she looks like she means business." Both Lulu and shadowman turned in the direction that Miral was looking. "Well, she doesn't look like she's going to kill someone, but I would keep your guard up. She's a tough cookie."

<font color="#776446" size="1">[ January 29, 2003 11:45 AM: Message edited by: Miral ]</font>

[Firebird98]

He stared at Lulu, who stared back at him. The cigarette dropped from his hand and he stpped on it as he exhaled.

It had been a while. Ever since the "prom" fell through, they hadn't spoke. But she didn't know why he refused to go, and that was a secret she would soon find out. But there she was now, slightly slack jawed and speechless.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, oblivious to the fact that Miral was still complaining about going to prison under murder one.

"I've been here for a few days now. I know alot about what's going on, and I think I knwo who's behind these disappearances. Watch yourself, kiddo".

She blushed at kiddo, he called her that all the tie, even though she was older than he was by about 2 years.

"Where will you be?"

"Around. You know me better than anyone, when I don't want to be found, you won't find me."

He walked into another alley, and despite the dim light, she watched him vanish, as if he were never there. A few seconds passed, and she heard a car start up, pull away, and then silence.

She never saw the car.

---------------------

Bran DiFlakes had seen him go too, but still refused to believe what she had witnessed.

Gone again, in the blink of an eye.

[Lulu]

"Firebird...." Lulu whispered into empty darkness where he had once stood. What had seemed a lifetime ago this morning was now but a moment in the past. The terrible rejection on the night of the "prom," their subsequent breakup, the tabloids, e-entertainment, and that horrible 'movie of the week.' She had survived, and so had her career. But barely.

And now he was back!

And then he was gone.

Just like a guy.

Lulu lowered her shades (rather pointless at night) and gazed wistfully down the alley through which he had sped...


(NOTE: It has been pointed out to me that I made a mistake in my last post! AsIs and Red had gone into another room! Lulu should not have been able to see them. ERGO- I shall offer two alternative endings to this post. The next poster may choose which to consider legitimate! ed.)


"Lulu!" Miral was shaking her. "Lulu!!" Lulu blinked and looked around.

"What?!" she demanded.

"WHy the hell did you drag me out here?! You dragged me by collar out into the alley! What's with you?"

Lulu shook her head and realized that she had just made a terrible mistake. It seems for every drink that Miral took, Lulu had had two. She was VERY drunk- so drunk in fact that she had failed to notice when the sinister Red Head and AsIs wandered UPSTAIRS in a previous post. She had seen Miral slumped over her drink on the table and just assumed... God. This was gonna be embarrassing to explain!

"I'm sorry, Miral. I thought you were one of the mysterious girls kissing in the corner- and that you collapsed and so I just tried to drag you (or her rather) out into the alley to get some air and... ok. Hmm. ahem. No girls- they left. Got it. You were sitting peacefully at the table. Right. Um... Did you just see Firebird?"

"Lulu you idiot!" Miral snapped. "Firebird's gone- but SHE's walking towards us!" Looking where Miral pointed, Lulu saw a very stylish, utterly gorgeous and yet intimidating woman step slowly from her limo and stride purposefully toward them.

<font color="#776446" size="1">[ January 29, 2003 08:40 PM: Message edited by: Lulu ]</font>

[Lulu]

Alt ending #2 (in which Lulu DID drag AsIs and Red out of the bar!)

"Lulu!" Miral shook her. "Lulu!"

"What?!" Lulu demanded.

"I don't want to go to prison!"

"Well you won't. They aren't dead- and besides. Our only witness is Firebird. He's elusive. they'll never track him down!"

"Well if that's the case, who's she?" Lulu looked where Miral pointed to see Miss DiFlakes striding purposefully toward them. She did not look pleased.

[Miral]

(Just a note, I was going with the flow and apparently I also made the same mistake)

Miral woke from her drunken stupor, knowing full well that what had just happened was the craziest thing ever. She was now standing in the alley, where the stupor dream left off, but AsIs and the redhead weren't there, and Firebird disappeared also. All he left behind was some weird cryptic message about not finding him.
"Lulu, what just happened? My amnesia is acting up again. And why is Bran Di'Flakes standing right next to me?" Miral flipped her hair and looked at Bran. "Hey, what the hell is going on here?"
Lulu grabbed Miral's arm. "Miral I really think you need to shut your pie hole. You just keep asking the same damn questions over and over again, and drunk people can't take that kind of shit!" Miral stepped back and eyed Lulu.
"You're drunk. And you get pissy when you're drunk. And whenever someone mentions 'Bird you get pissed and then drunk. So I am going to assume you're double pissy now!" Miral was screaming at the top of her lungs now, cause when she get's drunk she get's loud. Lulu stood there for as long as she could and then she just couldn't take it anymore and flat out slugged Miral in the jaw. Miral fell on her ass at Bran's feet, but took the blow like any drunk would, she sat there stunned like she didn't know how she fell on the ground.
"You punched me, didn't you? I probably won't feel that until tomorrow. I think I deserved that... but I don't remember what I did. Hey Lulu, have we played our gig yet? Oh and by the way, Jax isn't supposed to arrive until the Saturday after we do. He mentioned something about meeting some record exec from Columbia Records or something."

[usmu]

While the situation in the back alley started to look like a bad family reunion, usmu relaxed. Rachael was making a phone call in the backroom and Jake's was otherwise empty. As the dive normally was. That's why he picked it in the first place.

At that moment the front door opened. CrazyA filled the doorway. Checking the surroundings he moved down to the bar and took the place next to usmu.

"Nice place you picked to live" he offered as a greeting. "Jake do this guy a whiskey and put it on my tab. Nice to see you too by the way. You came to see me about the job?" CrazyA took a good look at the whiskey. "Amongst others".

Usmu took the photo of Jake, Jake's nephew and him on a fishing trip. "See that guy in the middle there? He's been living in my apartment upstairs when I'm not here. He disappeared a couple of days ago after telling Jake here some bullshit story about a burglar. He hasn't been seen or heard from since. I want you to find him for me because I want to know what's going on. I'll pay the usual fee with a nice bonus if you do find him. And please it's not commen knowledge that I have an apartment here or that I'm back in town, so please be a little more discrete than last time will you?"

"And if you're here to see those famous rock-star and her friends you're too late, they left through the back door a couple of minutes ago"