Rocking Hard: Volume 1
Page 31
"What happened?" Dee asked in a thin high voice, but before Olivia could answer, the door crashed open and Regret stormed in. Olivia tried to stop her, but Regret aimed the small pistol in her hand at her and pulled the trigger.
Kara and Dee both screamed as Olivia toppled over onto the carpet. She moaned once, and then lay still. Dee shoved Kara behind her in a gesture of protection Kara would never forget, even as she wondered how long she had left to live.
"She always was too damn nosy," Regret said conversationally. "Do you know how much fucking money she cost me? I mean it was unbelievable the amount of things she had to have in order to stay quiet. Who would have thought she would be capable of blackmail?"
Dee shuddered as Regret kicked Olivia's lifeless body. "What are you doing, Regret?"
"I am taking back what is mine," Regret said, and she laughed. Madness shone from her green eyes as she stared at the two women. "I loved you, Dee. I did everything for you. I even understood when you had other women, as long as you didn't try to replace me. But you just had to have Lila; you just couldn't leave her alone!
"Do you remember when we were all still young, we were over in Japan and I slept with Lila? It was not because I wanted her. I didn't. I wanted you to see what a whore she was. She was not good enough for you, Dee. That is why I had to push her that night."
Kara stared in horror as Regret aimed the gun at Dee. It wavered and shook, but there was a steely resolve on the other woman's face.
"Regret, what are you saying?" Dee asked.
"I had to kill her, Dee! I had to! Lila had to have all of it, all of the time! She wanted everything, but you were mine! I told her you were mine!"
"Stop it, Regret," Dee said in a shaking voice. "Can't you see this is crazy? We never had anything. We never even kissed each other!"
"You loved me, and it was pure!" Regret screamed, her face suffused with rage and misery. "You loved me until she showed back up! You sent me after the guitar that day. I thought it was for me that you wanted me to have it, but you gave it to her, to that damn bitch, and so I took it back!
"She couldn't let me keep it, though! She followed me out to the balcony and she tried to take it away, but it was mine! You're mine!"
"Put the gun down," Dee said softly. "Regret, you need help. Just put it down."
"I love you," Regret sobbed. "I do. I always did, but I know now what I have to do. I have to kill you, Dee, I have to. It's going to be one hell of a news story. The girl who looked so much like your ex-lover, the one who was also brutally murdered, killed by Olivia, your other ex. The paparazzi will eat it up, especially the part about you killing yourself out of sorrow. Everyone knows you tried to kill yourself after Lila died, so it really won't be such a shock, and nobody will really even look that deeply into it. It's a shame, really, but at least I will make some money off the worthless bitch behind you. I knew you would want her. It was my last test of your love, and you failed, Dee. You failed."
Regret raised the gun. It wavered while tears slid down her ashen cheeks, but her face wore a look of steely resolve as she took aim directly at Dee.
Kara looked around frantically for a weapon, and her eyes fell on the guitar. It seemed to glow; it literally gave off a heat that she could not resist. She grabbed it by the neck, and a hard electric shock streamed through her hands.
A shimmering force stepped away from her, stepped out of her; Kara could feel it going. The guitar cracked in half and Regret screamed as a tall blond haired woman walked toward her, one hand outstretched.
"You," the apparition whispered in a husky voice. "I knew sooner or later I would be able to pay you back for what you did to me. I felt every minute of it, every ounce of pain from that fall. I am going to take you to Hell, where you belong."
"I killed you once, you bitch," Regret said shakily. "I pushed you off of the balcony and you died, dammit, but you could not stay gone. You had to come back and try to take her again. She loves me, she has always loved me, but you just can't leave us alone!"
Lila reached out. One hand covered Regret's, and then the gun was turning, turning away from Dee and toward Regret. It pressed hard against her breasts and she looked up, an expression of pure terror on her face, and murmured one soft word: "Please."
There was a loud and awful bang; it filled the room with its noise. The smell of cordite hung over everything and a wisp of gray smoke trailed upward from the barrel of the gun. Regret crumpled to the floor, and Kara buried her face in Dee's warm shoulder while she sobbed so hard her entire body shook.
There was a long hush, and then a soft caress ran along Dee's neck. Kara could feel it lightly brushing against her cheek. A brief snatch of melody played out from some distance that she could not even imagine, and then that, too, was gone.
Dee held onto her, and they both collapsed to the floor. Kara could feel Dee's tears on her neck, trickling down her collarbones and into the valley between her breasts.
"I'm not Lila," Kara wept. "Can you still love me anyway, Dee? Can you love me even if I am not Lila?"
"Lila died a very long time ago," Dee whispered. "A very, very long time ago. I love you, Kara South, you and just you."
"I'm dyeing my hair back to brown."
Dee laughed, a sharp bark of laughter that magically pushed the horror away and kept it at bay. "I can't wait to see it," she said.
"She was insane," Kara hiccupped.
"Yes, she was. Regret had mental problems her whole life. We all knew it, but she was so famous nobody wanted to do anything about it, at least not publicly. She spent a lot of time in and out of institutions in the nineties, and we all thought that she was better. I did not know. I don't think anyone knew that she was obsessed with me like that."
Kara stood, deliberately not looking at the floor where the other two women lay sprawled in death. She could not look at them, nor could she bear the sight of the broken and destroyed Gibson. It was too painful, but there was something she had to know and right then. She walked over to the rack where the guitars stood. She took one down and played a fierce and bluesy run, then, satisfied, she set it back down and went back to Dee.
"I can still play," she whispered.
"Oh honey, your voice was always your own."
"Do you think the guitar was possessed?"
"I don't know," Dee whispered, "But if it was, she is gone now. It is just the two of us left now. We are going to forget all of this and make some of the best music of our lives together. We are always going to have one steady beat between us."'
"What beat?" Kara asked through her tears.
Dee placed her fingers on her chest, allowing Kara to feel the heartbeat there. It beat with a steady and sturdy rhythm. Kara grabbed her and held her tightly. The sound of sirens in the distance stopped all their words. Kara raised her head and Dee's lips met hers. They knelt there together, their lips pressed together in promise and their hearts beating steadily against each other's chest in an eternal rhythm.
Sol Crafter currently resides in Washington state, but someday hopes to purchase a private island to house a vast collection of books, movies, and cats. As a pen name of Harper Kingsley, Sol enjoys a strange half-life of writing mm romance, yelling at the people on TV, and wandering the Internet in search of interesting articles. If you would like to contact Sol, please send any email to SolCrafter@gmail.com.
No stranger to male/male stories, Diana Sheridan edited gay male sexzines for the better part of two decades under the nom de plume of “Dan Maxwell.” Though “Diana Sheridan” isn’t her true name either, it does reflect her true gender. In her own name, she has had numerous books published both in print and as e-books, is an accomplished editor of both books and magazines, and is comfortable switching gears to go from serious nonfiction to erotica in her work. Diana lives with her Significant Other, who is fully aware of and supportive of the many facets of her career.
Talya lives in the Pacific Northwest with her girlfriend and their girl-kitty who they believ
e to be cutest cat in the world, and is constantly balancing a busy slate of boylove stories to write with her day job, hobbies to upkeep, and nail polishes to collect. She has been writing fiction since elementary school and progressed to guy on guy erotica during college, honing her chops on fan fiction until original fiction lured her with its siren call. She loves writing and reading, routinely geeks out over gaming and movies, and watches far too many cooking shows.
You can find Talya at her WordPress blog and twitter.
Lacie J Archer lives in the sunny part of California ruled by a Mouse, and has always loved writing. When not immersed in the lives and worlds of her imaginary friends Lacie is a full time book minion, and kid wrangler, for that big name bookstore; you know the one. On the few days she’s not busy trying to build book pyramids, or rescuing misplaced children, she enjoys working a myriad of odd jobs; which include night club door girl and cuddler of cats.
Be sure to drop by her blog (http://z0mie.blogspot.com/) for a visit; Lacie promises she doesn’t bite, hard.
Angel Propps is a very happy femme who lives with the butch of her dreams in North Carolina when she is not out on her endless travels. Angel is a former Riot Grrl musician who played bass in more bands than she can remember. She is also a multi-published writer of erotica, horror, poetry and literary tales that have a strong Southern Gothic bent. She is currently working on a novel of paranormal romance but her biggest goal right now is figuring out how to use all of the zucchini that grows in her garden without any care from her.