~ The Red of the Phoenix ~
by Red Hope
Disclaimer ruckus
copyright: yup I own it all, characters and plot and ideas.
violence: a little bit of violence but nothing heavy.
sexual content: well this story will certainly contain the lives of gays and lesbians if that matters, otherwise kissing and snuggling will definitely happen.
story type: this is a cross between an original fiction and an uber… take it either way you wish.
feedback: any and all feedback or questions can be sent to me at redhope@redhope.net and my web page for further tales is... http://www.missy-redhope.com
The Red of the Phoenix
by Red Hope
March 19th 2002, Tuesday
Chapter One
The young woman pulled a few strands of her midnight hair from in front of her face; she swept it behind her right ear out of the way. She hefted her book bag on her back for a moment then continued walking through the parking lot. She came near the opening of an underground car park and made her way down the sloping driveway. And before she went inside, she dropped her head back and stared up at the sign that read Kmart in big, bold, red letters lit up in the late afternoon hours.
Once she finally came into the underground parking lot, she lifted her head back up and quickly noted two other people on the other side of the lot in front of a red sports car. They hadn't really taken any notice of her; they were too busy arguing about something. The young woman, Tansy, was about to shrug it off and mind her own business but she hesitated when she heard the man's voice become exceedingly loud. When she stopped walking, she watched the man suddenly slap the woman. The woman was rather young, Tansy realized, when the woman's head had half turned towards her from the hard slap.
"Hey!" called Tansy.
The two turned their attention to Tansy, surprised by her presences.
"Why don't you try being nice to her, asshole," called Tansy across the parking lot, her strong voice echoing.
"Mind your own business," yelled the man.
The woman also added, "This has nothing to do with you. Just go."
Tansy raised an eyebrow at the couple, her eyes locked on the other woman's metallic turquoise eyes. She chewed on the lower, inside part of her lip then moved on, deciding not to get herself in the middle of it. The couple hadn't said anything more as she walked through the parking lot. Once Tansy came to the opposite side of the parking lot where the other entrance laid, the couple began talking again. Tansy had an instinct not to leave, she simply walked up the entrance way and turned the corner, but stood there and listening to their conversation.
"Roy, I'm not doing it," came the woman's voice.
"Yes you are," growled back the man, Roy. "I've been waiting for over three bloody months now."
"And you'll keep waiting."
Tansy heard one person taking a few steps but then another set of steps as well.
"Nadia, I've been so fucking patient." Roy had grabbed Nadia by her arms roughly. "No more games."
"Roy," warned Nadia, her voice a bit fearful. Roy snarled and swung her around by her arms then slammed her against the hood of the car.
Roy pressed his body weight against Nadia's small body, pinning her to the hood. "Now or never, Nadia," he whispered while placing his hands on either side of Nadia's head on the hood. He lowered his head down close to the woman as a huge grin formed across his lips.
"Roy!" Nadia tried pushing him away with her hands against his chest but then Roy rammed his knee hard between her legs. She closed her eyes in agony as the pain shot up through her body.
Tansy reacted quickly and came around the corner, knowing exactly what was going on now. Momentarily, she hesitated when she saw Roy forcing a kiss on Nadia but she gained her sense back as she approached the couple. "Hey asshole, told you to be nice!"
Roy broke away from the kiss at hearing the voice. He looked up with primal eyes pinned on Tansy. "That bitch again."
Tansy just flashed a devilish grin and narrowed her eyes.
"Holy shit!" suddenly yelled Roy when a fire broke out in the driver's seat of his car.
Nadia took the distraction and punched him in the face then shoved him away. She then moved as she felt the hood of the car becoming exceedingly hot. Yet she didn't get far when Roy clutched her by her right wrist and with his freehand slapped her across the face. The blow sent her to her knees but what came worse was the powerful kick to her stomach that tossed her onto her back.
Tansy shifted her attention directly to Roy, her eyes growing brighter.
Roy's body grew hotter, and he began yelling when his shoes caught on fire. Then unexpectedly several large flames of fire rose up around him and engulfed him. As he screamed in pain, he fell to the ground, rolling in every direction trying to stop the flames. Between the lack of air around him and the pain from the fire, he finally went unconscious.
Tansy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The flames on Roy disappeared mysteriously however the fire in the car continued growing.
Tansy finally opened her eyes and looked to Nadia lying on the ground. She quickly raced over to her and bent down to her knees. She pressed two fingers into the younger woman's neck and sighed in relief. With a quick glance at Roy, Tansy decided to take Nadia with her and carefully lifted the girl into her arms. After Nadia was in her arms, she took a few steps closer to Roy, whom was lying on his stomach. She tapped him on his shoulder a few times with her boot then rolled him over onto his back with a good push of her foot. She shook her head when she looked over his burned face but he was breathing, which she hardly even cared about. "Told you to be nice," she whispered before turning around and walking out of the parking lot with Nadia in her arms.
A female's beautiful voice filled the air and for a moment it was hard to understand what she sung. But slowly the words became clearer along with the din of cars passing by outside. A slight breeze came in through a window and she felt it ruffle the bangs on her forehead.
"God," she muttered; her turquoise eyes gently opened to the dark room. Gazing about, she knew she wasn't at home nor in the parking garage with her boyfriend. The last thing she recalled was going unconscious and feeling rather hot.
Nadia pushed herself up a bit in the bed and brushed her bangs off her forehead. She still felt pretty tired and her body ached just a little. Then she noticed something on her arm. She lifted her left arm to better study it but it was hard to figure out what it was in the dark. So instead she lightly touched it and when her fingers touched the dark patch it made her hiss in pain. "Goddamn what is that?"
She shook her head a bit and decided to see where she was and who's place. She slid off the bed with her bare feet hitting the floor. She was still dressed in her clothes but her shoes were gone. Straight ahead she saw a door with light filtering underneath it from the room next door. She quietly walked to the door and grabbed the doorknob but hesitated to open it as she listened.
Nadia heard the sound of dishes moving and somebody running water in a sink. With a deep breath, she turned the knob then opened the door.
"Hey," greeted a deep voice.
Nadia blinked for a moment then kind of came to as she realized who was the other person. "You're that woman from the parking garage."
"I would be that woman." Tansy lifted the plate out of the sink and rinsed it off before placing it on a rack to dry. She dried her hands on a dish towel then came over. "How you feel?"
Nadia shrugged a bit and finally said, "I'm alright."
"How's your arm?" she indicated the other woman's left arm.
Nadia remembered she hadn't yet figured out what was wrong with it and lifted it up. "I don't know." She now studied it carefully. "It looks like a burn," she muttered to herself.
"It is," confirmed the older woman. Tansy grasped Nadia's arm gently and took a step closer to examine it better. "Its not too bad.... it'll probably heal up pretty well in two weeks."
The shorter woman furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "How'd I get a burn on my arm?"
Tansy released the arm and peered up into soft turquoise eyes. "I don't know... it was there when I brought you here."
Nadia gazed about the apartment then finally asked, "And where is here?"
"You're in St. Albans."
"That's not far from Deer Park," mentioned the younger woman idly.
"No not at all." Tansy strolled back over into the kitchen and picked up a glass full of soda. "Are you hungry?"
"Mmmm." Nadia thought for a moment then nodded. "Yeah actually."
"Well..." Tansy held her hand out towards a living space in the opposite part of the room. "You can sit down and watch television. I'm planning to cook some burgers is all."
"Yeah... that'd be great, thanks." The shorter woman gave a brief smile to Tansy then went to sit down at one corner of a long sofa in front of a television. She glanced at the television and noted it was on the Discovery channel already, she didn't plan on changing it since it was one of her favorite channels. She simply leaned back and tried relaxing for a bit.
Tansy on the other hand went about preparing two burgers in her small oven. She also decided to cook some chicken rice to go with it.
Nadia found the show rather interesting on the channel, it was all about conjoined twins and how medical science was trying to understand them. She recalled seeing this show once before a while back ago on the Discovery channel. For the most part, she already knew what this show was about.
She then spotted the clock beside the television for the first time. She read it finding it to be seventeen minutes past eight o'clock. It was about five o'clock that she was in the garage with her boyfriend. She figured she must have slept a good two hours. But even now she felt herself getting tired again, a moment here or there with her head falling to one side.
"Hey?"
Nadia sat up straight with a shock when she heard the voice; she found a set of brown eyes looking at her carefully.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah... sorry." Nadia rubbed her eyes a little; she noted the television was off now.
"Tired huh?" Tansy straightened up before adding, "Come on, dinner is ready."
The shorter woman sighed and pushed herself up and off the sofa to follow Tansy to a dinner table beside the kitchen area. She sat down across from the other woman. "This is a nice flat.... especially for St. Albans."
The older woman raised an eyebrow. "It does the trick." She grabbed a bottle of ketchup and squeezed a light amount of it on her burger then put her bun on top of the burger.
"Wait." Nadia laughed lightly then mentioned, "I don't even know your name."
"Its Tansy.... yours?"
The shorter woman nodded. "Nadia."
Tansy picked up her burger but before she bit into it, she asked, "Where you from?"
Nadia had just finished putting ketchup on her burger as well. "Right in Deer Park."
Tansy chuckled a bit then said, "I use to live there when I was a kid. Which street are you on?"
"I'm like down at the tail end of Nova."
The older woman nodded a couple of times as she ate her burger. "So what you do?"
"I'm a student at VU."
"Which campus?"
Nadia finished chewing on the bite of burger she took. After she swallowed, she replied, "Footscray."
"What's your major?"
"I'm hoping Computer Science... if I make it that far," joked the shorter woman.
Tansy gave a half grin; she decided to move onto her rice. "So I take it that was your boyfriend?"
Nadia sighed to herself. "Yeah he is." She picked up the fork beside her plate and began eating the chicken rice. "I met him about three months ago."
"He seems real charming," sarcastically joked the older woman.
"Ah." The college student shrugged a bit. "He was pretty nice at the start."
"Mmmm that's how most of 'em are," mentioned Tansy in quiet voice. "The lot of them here."
"I know... hard to find a trustworthy guy."
Tansy placed her fork in the center of her plate. "Well you can stay here the night if you don't feel like going home. I have enough space on my bed." She pushed her plate a bit away from herself. "You seem pretty tired so might not be a good idea to leave."
Nadia thought for a couple of minutes while she finished the last bit of her rice. "Yeah," she finally said, "I think I better stay... if that's okay?" She peered up, a hint of worry in her eyes.
"Yeah that's fine." The tall woman then stood up and picked up the dishes, carrying them to the sink.
Nadia sat there for a moment, just thinking, but then stood up and saw Tansy headed into the bedroom with the lights coming on. With a sigh, she followed in as Tansy went into a bathroom near by with the door closing behind.
So she just sat down on the same side of the bed she'd been on earlier. Looking down, she stared at her left arm still wondering how she could have burned it. She also wondered if it need cleaning so it wouldn't be infected. She then came out of her thoughts when she heard the bathroom door open and Tansy coming out.
"Let me see your arm." The older woman knelt down in front of Nadia and in her hand was a round tin. "I better put some of this on there." She slightly straightened up and reached over to the night stand that had a box of tissues. She pulled out several tissues and balled up most of them. Opening the tin, she wiped a part of the balled up tissues in the milky ointment in the tin. Then very gently, she carefully applied the ointment to the wound. After she'd put the ointment on, she carefully removed any excess with the clean tissues. "That should help it heal," she said quietly afterwards.
"Thanks." Nadia gave a warm smile and only got a simple nod in return.
Tansy went back into the bathroom to rid herself of the ointment and the dirty tissues.
Nadia sighed and decided to lay in the bed, her eyes closed as she try to go to sleep. She then heard Tansy coming out of the bathroom again and climbing into the bed.
"Comfortable?" questioned Tansy.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Mmmm…" Tansy rolled onto one side, her back to the younger woman. "Get some sleep."
Nadia peered over at Tansy, staring at her back for a moment but then rolled her head back and closed her eyes.
By the time morning arrived; Tansy was out of bed and getting ready for her day. Nadia, on the other hand, continued sleeping still worn out from last night. When Tansy was out in her kitchen preparing a breakfast for herself, she heard Nadia up and moving. So she'd entered back into the bedroom and offered Nadia to take a shower in the bathroom before breakfast was ready.
"Yeah I think I'll do that," agreed Nadia.
"The towels are in there and everything," added Tansy as she left the bedroom.
Nadia watched her go for moment and then went into the bathroom for a shower. While she showered, she thought about Tansy. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of person Tansy was because she sure was not sure at this point. The only thing she could slightly determine about the older woman was that she was Maltese and somewhere in her mid twenties to early twenties. Otherwise, she had nothing much else to go on other than, she liked Tansy despite how tough she seemed.
After her shower, Nadia came out of the bathroom trying to straighten her short blond hair. She went to a dresser against a wall near the bathroom that had a mirror over it. She began straightening her hair out but then she looked over the contents of the dresser. She noted a business card and picked it up. "Blue Elephant Cafe," she muttered to herself, "Prahran on Commercial Road." She furrowed her eyebrows together. That's a… gay cafe there, she realized to herself. She hesitated for a moment then glanced to the open door of the bedroom. She then picked up the card and tucked it away in her back pocket.
She slipped her feet into her shoes by the bedroom door. She then bent down to lace them slowly, her mind still wondering about the business card she'd picked up. With a shrug, she straightened up and went outside into the kitchen.
"Good timing." Tansy raised an eyebrow at the younger woman. "Hungry?"
"Yeah… I always am," confessed the college student.
"Good to hear." Tansy carefully slipped the omelet off the frying pan and onto the plate. She placed the frying pan back on the stove top and picked up the two plates. She handed one to Nadia, together they walked over to the table where there were already forks and napkins resting on the table. The pair kept relatively silent during the breakfast until Tansy broke it.
"I take it you'll head back?"
"Yeah." Nadia peered up from her omelet. "I need to do homework for my classes tomorrow."
Tansy didn't say anything for a few seconds as she poked at her omelet in thought. "You don't plan on continuing to date your boyfriend… do you?"
Nadia licked her lips and poked her omelet twice before finally responding. "I'm not sure really… its complicated with Roy."
"Roy huh?" Tansy shrugged and lifted her empty plate as she stood up. "Really none of my bloody business anyway." She strolled over into the kitchen and placed her plate beside the sink. "I personally have to go here in ten minutes to work. Sssso…"
"I know." Nadia stood up with her empty plate. "Thanks for everything."
Tansy nodded briskly and took the woman's dish, placing it on top of her own beside the sink. "Just glad you're okay. Watch over your burn on your arm… it should heal over fine after a few weeks."
Nadia gave a half nod; she continued to stare into the other woman's eyes.
The older woman broke the contact after a second and went to a small table beside the door. On the table, rested a set of keys, pocket knife, a wallet, mobile, and regular cordless phone. "I think its time to go," she announced while putting her keys, pocket knife, wallet, and mobile into their homes in and on various spots of her jeans.
Nadia came over to the door and opened as the mid-morning sun shined inside the home. She took a few steps out of the flat and waited for the older woman.
Tansy came out and slammed the locked door behind her. "Know how to get to the bus stop?"
"Not… really," answered Nadia as she gazed about the area, realizing she didn't recognize any of the area.
"Alright, follow me." Tansy started off down the walkway beside the street.
The younger woman studied the area trying to place it in St. Albans but couldn't recall this area at all. "How far is the bus stop?"
"Not too far really." Tansy suddenly then jumped a bit and grabbed her mobile from her side. She answered the call from the mobile and started talking. "Yeah?"
Nadia pretend to not listen to the conversation but instead made sure to listen to every detail.
"Bloody Hell, you need me there now? Look, Amy, I'll be there in forty-five minutes… maybe thirty if I'm lucky." Tansy grumbled to herself a bit before saying, "Naaa I got this girl I gotta take to the bus stop then I'll be there." She started nodding her head a bit. "No, no she isn't that, Amy." She laughed a couple of times. "Right right, Amy and you're a bloody idiot… I don't need that shit. I'll talk to yah later… bye." Tansy was shaking her head as she clipped her mobile back to her side.
"Who was that?"
The older woman glanced at Nadia for a moment then back down the street. "A friend from work."
"Mmmm." Nadia considered a thought for a moment then asked, "Where you work?"
"In Prahran," simply replied Tansy.
Nadia was about to ask more but then judged by the tone Tansy used she knew not to pry into the other woman's business.
Tansy pointed ahead. "Bus stop is straight ahead. Think you'll be okay from here?" She stopped walking and faced the other woman.
"Yeah I think so." Nadia smiled slightly. "Thank you for everything… especially with stopping Roy. Not sure what you did but I'm glad you did."
"Not a problem." Tansy folded her arms tightly against her chest. "If I were you, I would be thinking about a new boyfriend."
Nadia shrugged. "Not sure honestly." She glimpsed up into earthen eyes.
"I'm sure you'll get it figured out." Tansy dropped her arms back down and said, "Well I'm sure I'll see you around, Nadia. Take care of yourself huh?"
"Yeah… you too. Thanks again."
Tansy nodded and for the first time gave a smile, small but a smile. She then turned the block to head down another street and called, "Bye!"
"See yah," yelled back Nadia. For a moment, she simply stood there and watched Tansy disappear down the street. "What a weird way to meet somebody," she muttered under her breath.
To be continued inChapter Two...
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