Restrained (Chapter 1: Taylor)

Completed short story (5 Chapters Total). Content notes apply only to this part.
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The entrance to Apollo’s Temple is boarded up. I stare at it, mouth agape. 

“Maybe the back’s open?” Denver says from behind me.

I scoff at him. “You know better than that.” I shake my head, shivering a little in the cold, and he puts an arm around me. I let him, burrowing close to him for warmth. I wish I could afford a new coat, but fucking Steve had decided we didn’t actually earn our money the last time we’d worked. He’d kept all of it, and Denver and I are barely hanging in there as it is. 

He’s been in a pissy mood since Helios up and vanished, though, and every little thing sets him off. 

Fucking great. 

“Let’s check the back anyway,” Denver says. “The lock’s always been loose, so if it isn’t open we can probably break in. There’s got to be something valuable left behind.”

I’m not as confident as he is, and there’s a part of me that wants to squirm. Denver’s morals are a little bit more questionable than my own, and the idea of stealing from Steve makes me a little queasy. But Denver is right. We have to do something, find something, and maybe the heat is still on. 

Our heating went out the other night, and it’s been fucking freezing. If we can stay here for the night, it would be a nice change even if the place is a dump filled with crappy memories. 

We wander to the back of the building, and Denver lets go of me to check the door. It doesn’t open, but he glares at the knob and, after a few seconds of jiggling, kicks the door with enough force to get it to unlatch.

I don’t think I could have managed that. Despite us being identical twins, I don’t have the physical prowess that Denver does.

“It’s open,” Denver says in his usual monotone.

“Really,” I say, just as deadpan. “I hadn’t noticed.” I walk in ahead of him for all that butterflies fill my stomach. Denver hadn’t been loud, but that doesn’t mean someone inside would be unaware of our entrance.

As we step inside, I look around cautiously. The heat is on, which is more than I could’ve hoped, really — but so are the lights. I glance at Denver, not bothering to ask aloud what he thinks we should do. 

Denver immediately beelines to the strip club’s office. My first instinct would have been to go to the changing room behind the stage, but I guess he’s right that the real valuables would be kept in the office.

There’s somebody already there, though. Cory, one of the bouncers. He’s going through drawers and cussing loudly.

It takes him a few seconds to notice us, but he tenses up when he does. “The fuck are you two doing here?”

Denver looks at me, then back to Cory. “Work?”

Cory stares at him for a moment. “Did the boards out front not clue you in to the fact that there isn’t work here anymore?” he asks like we’re stupid. “And I know I locked that back door.”

“You must not have,” I say with a shrug. “What the fuck happened? Where’s Steve?” 

Cory rubs his eyes, then sighs. “Dead. Don’t fucking ask. Mancini said to lock the place up and shut it down.” He glares at us. “Guess that means you’re fired.”

“Fuck,” I mutter, rubbing my temples. That’s the last goddamn thing we need right now. Yeah, Steve was a shit boss and we didn’t get paid anywhere near enough, but at least there was a modicum of security. Now we’ll have to scramble to find enough cash to cover rent.

Denver shrugs and gets closer to Cory, not intimidated by his large figure. “Did Mancini say what to do with all the cash?”

Cory barks out a laugh. “You think you deserve any of it?”

“More than you,” Denver counters. “We did all the dancing and fucking.”

“I made sure you didn’t get murdered,” Cory mutters. Then he sighs and reaches into his pocket. “Whatever. Here.” He holds out a wad of bills to Denver. “Just don’t tell any of the others, okay?”

Denver takes the money and nods. “Sure. We’ll get out of your hair. You might want to get the back lock fixed though.”

He puts an arm around my shoulder and leads me out of the room—but not toward the club’s exit. 

This time, we go into the changing room. 

Denver lets go of me and motions around the room. “Take any clothes we can use. Maybe the makeup? I’ll go check up front to see if there’s anything left in the register or the lost and found.”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding. “I’ll see what I can find.” Everything’s still here — all of the costumes we wear, all of the makeup, and even all the props we used on stage. It’s a little eerie being in here with everything being so quiet. For all that it’s a dump, Apollo’s Temple is usually crowded. Even when we get here before the place opens, there’s activity.

Denver heads out to the main floor, leaving me alone in the dressing room.

I shake the uneasy feeling off and search for a bag. I find an old, worn duffel bag in the corner and start shoving things into it. First the clothes the others must’ve left, jeans that might fit and t-shirts that have seen better days. Then the stripper costumes, then the props. We can always dump what we don’t want later, but we might need some of these things if we’re going to…

I gnaw on my bottom lip, not liking where my thoughts are going. I don’t want to go back on the streets. I’d had enough of that before we landed here. Steve might’ve been a dick, but he’d given us this opportunity. 

Ha. Opportunity.

The warmth of the building reminds me of just how useful it had been, though.

I’m throwing the last of the props in the bag when Denver returns. I look up at him, tilting my head in silent inquiry. Did you find anything? I don’t have to ask. 

Denver passes a very large coat to me. It’s heavy, with soft lining on the inside, and probably made for somebody three times my size.

“Put it on,” Denver says. 

I take the coat. I’d protest, but Denver has always acted like a big brother to me. Five minutes older, and you’d think he took the weight of our situation on his shoulders.

Then again, he acts like he did. 

He peers into the duffel and grabs one of the worn sweaters. “Was this Helios’s?” He gets a finger through a hole in the side, then shrugs and pulls it on over his other clothes.

“Probably.” The sweater fits him well, and I’m grateful he has something to ward away the cold. I’m silent for a moment, then I ask, “Think we can make it through the month with that cash?” I don’t know how much Cory parted with, but it couldn’t have been much. Still, maybe enough to make a down payment on the late rent could help. 

“Maybe,” Denver says. “We should find a space heater though. Since Peter won’t fix the heating.” 

The whole place. Like it’s much. I nod anyway. 

He hefts the duffel bag and holds his hand out to me. “Let’s go.”

“Maybe we could stay here overnight?” I venture. “One of the rooms. It’s warm in here. We could be out by morning.” 

Denver shakes his head, though. “Don’t want to be here if Mancini’s people show up. And we need to be gone before any of the others try to get their stuff.”

I exhale slowly, disappointed, but he’s right. “Yeah. Let’s go then.” I take his hand and shuffle toward the door, not wanting to leave, but he’s right. 

We go back out into the cold winter day. The coat helps a lot, and the sleeves are long enough that Denver’s hand holding mind is covered too.

“We can probably buy a space heater for forty bucks,” Denver says. “There’s that electronics store about halfway to our place. Use two hundred for the rent. Then we’ll have about a hundred left. We’ll be frugal and find another place to work.” He’s looking off into the distance with the determination I’m so familiar with.

How does he manage to always have a plan, to always know what we need to do, when we’re both in the exact same position?

“Cory gave us that much?” I ask him instead of commenting on his plan. 

Denver scoffs. “He had plenty.” Then he gives me a strange look. “Cory always liked you, anyway.”

I scoff. “Yeah, and that helped out about zero most of the time.” It’s not like he could stop the customers from doing what they wanted with us. “Anyway.” I squeeze his hand, taking a deep breath. When I exhale, a small cloud forms. I shake my head and fall silent, letting my brother guide us along.

With any luck, tonight won’t be as miserable as it usually is.

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