The Emancipation of Collette Martin - Part 6

Los Angeles – December 20th 1968

Collette lies awake staring at the ceiling of the cheap hotel room that she and Ben have been calling home for the last couple of months. She sighs as she loses count of the pockmarks in the ceiling tiles. “God, now I’m going to have to start over...”

The last month has been hard for Collette, she hasn’t been able to release the urge to kill. Ben has been watching her closely, making note of every move she makes in the city of angels. She has grown tired of his constant nagging, his obsessiveness over trying to control her impulses. She doesn’t understand his concerns about her behavior, her constant need to squash everything she comes into contact with. The constant bottling up of her impulses and anger has caused her to have many sleepless nights. The sound of Ben incoherently talking in his sleep snatches her attention away from the recount.

She rolls over, now facing Ben as he lies on his stomach on the opposite twin size bed. His face slightly twitches and his fingers jerk quickly. Her eyes study his rough and hairy face. He has let his beard grow back which has very much displeased her. She hates the way that he is so carefree with his appearance, it embarrasses her when they have to go out in public together. She squints her eyes as she comes across some bits of dried food stuck in his beard hairs. She grumbles as she jolts her eyes away from his face and down to his neck. The nakedness of his sun kissed skin excites her, but in the normal sense. She pans her eyes around looking for the “sweet spot.” A smile spreads slowly across her face when she finds the thick and throbbing spot she was looking for. She pushes herself slowly up to a sitting position, never removing her gaze from Ben’s beautiful and youthful thyroid isthmus.

Collette scoots quietly to the edge of the bed and swings her legs quickly over the edge. She places her feet softly on the thin carpeted floor, her toes gripping into the rough material. Suddenly, Ben flips over onto his back, causing Collette to crouch down to the floor. She tucks herself into a tight ball, her arms wrapping around her scrawny legs. Her head laying against her knees, she holds her breath, straining to hear if he has awaken. The faint rumbling of air rolling through his nostrils signals her brain to relax and breath. She crawls over to Ben’s side of the bed and places her fingertips along on the edge of the mattress. Her head slowly rises, her cold dark eyes just peeking up from below. She finds the “sweet spot” again. Her pupils enlarge and small beads of sweat begin to form at her temples. The heavy pounding of her heart begins to fill her ears and her face flushes red in excitement. Keep it together dummy. Keep it together! She inhales heavily and clenches her eyes shut. Pain begins to form at the corners of her jaw where she has begun to grit her teeth in an attempt to keep her impulses at bay. Her eyes fling open as her hand shoots forward towards Ben.

The door explodes open and off its hinges. A bright blinding light catches Collette off guard and she falls to the floor. Ben snaps up and rolls off the bed, landing on top of Collette. The loud continuous metallic hum of gunfire fills the small hotel room. Ben hops on top of Collette and shields her from the erratic spray of bullets. Collette feels warm flesh against her face and opens her eyes. Ben’s large hand presses her head harder against his neck as he curls tighter against her. Her eye focuses on the throbbing life force that lies just below his tanned epidermis, it’s quickening pace causes her to feel a rush of spasms flood her entire body. Ben presses his dry lips against Collette’s ear, “Play dead.” His body then becomes loose and slides next to her. Collette inhales and follows Ben’s lead, her body loosening on command. She remains on her back, her head facing towards the ceiling once more. She begins her recount of the pockmarks just as the hail of gunfire ceases. The thick smell of lead and smoke fill her nostrils making it hard for her to concentrate on her census of ceiling tile holes. A flurry of excited Spanish fills the room and several THUD’s echo closer towards them.

A young handsome man, barely into his 20’s, comes into Collette’s view. He stares down into her eyes, looking for any signs of life. Collette continues to stare up at the ceiling tiles, keeping her gaze transfixed on the millions of tiny holes. So porous they look. As if they could soak up gallons of blood… The young man bends down on one knee beside Collette, snapping his fingers in front of her nose. She retains her deep trance, not flinching at his request. Ben, remaining frozen, his eyes scan up the doorway carefully at the other two intruders. These men are much older with a bulky stature. Their faces are shielded by the bright glare of their flashlights. They slowly lower their weapons, but keep their lights pointed directly at Ben and Collette.

The young man scratches his thick slick backed hair and shrugs at the other men. Quick Spanish escapes his thin lips followed by angry gestures from the others. The young man looks back down towards Collette, his face now visibly white with fright and disgust. He leans his head closer to hers, placing his hands on each side of her body. He turns his ear towards her face and inches it closer to her mouth. The young man’s muscular neck catches her attention, his throbbing jugular entices her with all its fragile beauty. The young man sighs and starts to raise when Collette’s hands snap forward, grabbing him from around the shoulders. She stares into the wide terrified eyes of the Latin Adonis for a brief moment before lunging her face towards his “sweet spot.” Her pearly whites clamp down on the pumping vein and she begins to tear away at the flesh that conceals it. The young man screeches from the extreme pain, yanking and pulling at Collette’s firm grasp. The men at the door gasp in horror as they raise their weapons, ready to fire. Ben snaps his head around and stares momentarily at the monstrous sight. The loud clicking of pistols being cocked breaks him from his stupor and he jumps up and grabs Collette by the shoulders. He pulls hard against her strong grip on the man and finally their bond is broken.

Ben crashes to the floor with Collette landing on top of him. The young man remains on his feet, spinning around from the force of the detachment, his arterial spray coating the off white walls. The young man reaches a bloody hand to his associates, but is met with a storm of pelting metal slugs. Ben watches the man’s body jerk and twist from the projectiles tearing into his gorgeous physique. A small handgun falls from the man’s waistband from the erratic movements of his body and lands a few inches from Ben’s foot. Ben shoves Collette off of him and lunges for the gun. He wraps his long fingers around the grip and spins around quickly, his arm jerking forward lining up his first shot. He inhales deeply as he squeezes the trigger rapidly. The first bullet grazes the shoulder of the closest man, but the second connects with the intended target, head shot. Bright red chunks of brain matter and blood spew from the ill fated man’s cranium and onto a painting of fluffy kittens on a beach. Ben squeezes the trigger again hoping for another swift kill, but the CLICK, CLICK, CLICK of an empty chamber tells him otherwise. Ben dives to the floor between the two twin beds for cover. The second man angrily screams in Spanish as he shuffles towards Ben’s hiding spot. He points his gun towards Ben’s cowering position until he stops dead in his tracks from the horrifying sight that appears before him.

Collette sits gingerly on the edge of her bed, her entire chest and stomach bathed in dark red blood. Streams of bright red trickle from her lips and down her neck. Her once satin white night gown now forever stained in the young Latin man’s fountain of youth. She sticks her fingers into her mouth and pulls the torn remnants of flesh from her teeth. She shrugs and tosses the rubbery leftovers to the floor.

“Ella es una vampira!”

Collette smiles at the terrified final guy as Ben rises to his feet and pistol whips the man across the side of the head. The man falls heavy against the floor with a loud THUD. Without hesitation, Collette jumps on top of the man’s back like a rabid dog preparing for the final bite. Ben grabs Collette’s forearm and yanks her up forcefully.

“Leave it. We have to go, now. The police will be here any minute.”

Collette jerks her arm free and begins to gather up her things, “Why did these men come here? We’ve been laying low for months. Who the hell are they?”

Ben ignores her questions and packs his duffel bag furiously.

“Ben?”

Ben avoids Collette’s demanding stare and jogs to the bathroom. He rushes inside and slams the door shut.

“Not a great time for that Ben, you said yourself we have to go.” Collette storms towards the bathroom door and jiggles the knob. Ben has locked it from the inside. “Ben, what are you doing?” Collette scoffs and begins to ram her body against the door. The fourth tackle was the charm and the door gives way under her weight. She stumbles inside and catches herself just before her momentum takes her towards the floor. She straightens herself slowly as Ben shoves the last bundle of marijuana and cash into his duffel bag. “Well, that’s fucking grand.”

Ben scoffs as he replaces the vent behind the toilet on the bottom of the wall. He stands and motions for her to hurry. “I’ll explain later, get out to the car.”

Collette shoots Ben one last angry glance, then turns and runs out of the bathroom. She snatches her bags from atop her bed and the car keys from the dresser opposite to her, then exits the room. Several people huddled near the busted entranceway gasp as Collette steps out into the cool night air. She looks over to her right and catches the eye of a sweet looking elderly woman in a white robe with pink plastic curlers in her hair. “Good evening.”

The woman screams at Collette’s polite greeting. Ben exits the room and points the handgun in the old woman’s face. “You saw nothing, you hear me?” The old woman and the few remaining stragglers shuffle quickly back to their rooms.

Collette quick steps over to the driver’s side of the blue Lincoln Continental they had stolen a few weeks back and throws her bags into the back seat. She hops into the driver’s seat and turns the engine. The unmistakable wailing of police vehicles begin to echo down several blocks away as Ben jumps into the passenger seat, still hugging the duffel bag. Collette pulls the gear shift into reverse, then pushes the pedal to the floor, causing the car to jerk out onto the empty street. The force from the quick reverse sends Ben flying forward, his face slamming hard against the dash board. Collette slams on the brakes and flips the gear into drive, Ben is propelled back into his seat, blood gushing from his nose and mouth. She smashes the gas pedal and the car lurches forward towards the exit of the I-5. They spiral down several streets when they see the entrance ramp to the highway. Collette jerks the wheel hard and the Lincoln Continental slides through the turn of the entrance ramp and out onto the new highway.

Collette slows her speed, satisfied that they both achieved a successful escape. Ben leans his head back against the head rest and groans loudly. Collette glances over at him and begins to giggle at his pain.

“Argh, shut up. It fucking hurts.”

“Well, why don’t you pull out a couple of 100 dollar bills from your bag and stop the bleeding. While you’re at it, roll up a joint from your grass stash and smoke away the pain. What the fuck were you thinking?”

Ben pulls a heavily stained old handkerchief from his bag and plugs up his nostrils. “We needed to make money on the low and this was the best option I could come up with.”

Collette laughs loudly and smacks the steering wheel hard. “So, how long were you dealing for the Mexicans before you decided it was a swell idea to steal their product and sell it as your own?”

“Colombians.”

“What?”

Ben sighs loudly, “They were Colombians, not Mexicans, and I was working for them for about a month before I pilfered their stuff. Happy now?”

Collette shakes her head and scoffs, “Let me get this straight, you beg and plead with me to not give in to my urges because you said, and ‘We have to lay low, Cole. San Francisco was too close.’ Yet, come to find out your still fucking around with drugs and pissing off cartels. Bang up job there buddy. Fucking grade A.”

Ben grunts and looks out of the passenger window.

She smacks Ben on the knee and raises her hand, pinching her thumb and first finger close together. “You know that I came this close to taking your life tonight.”

Ben stares at Collette shocked. Collette glances over at him and nods. She clicks her tongue and begins to chuckle softly.

“I was really that close in doing it. I would have strangled the life from you. It would have been a boring kill, but still it would be something. Just be glad your “friends” showed up.”

“Cole…”

A single tear falls from her left eye. She quickly swipes it away and sighs. “I love you Ben, I really do, but you can’t control me. You can’t control it. Hell, I can’t even…it’s an itch that is un-scratchable. If you don’t stop trying to suppress it, I’m afraid it’s going to end ugly for us.”

Ben inhales shakily and nods his head slowly.

“Let’s make a deal. How about we monitor each other’s…impulses? We know that we can’t stop the other from partaking in their true nature. So, how about we keep track of how much the other is doing?”

“Like, a mom. You want me to be like your mother. ‘Oh, sorry dear, you can’t kill that one, you’ve already reached this weeks quota.”

“Not necessarily like a mother, more like a hall monitor. Ever had those in your school? We are going to help each other maintain order and not drive off the deep end.”

Ben laughs sarcastically and leans his head against the passenger window. “Right. I get to make sure you don’t massacre an entire city.”

Collette turns and winks at Ben, “And I get to make sure you don’t get reefer madness, steal from criminals, and shag every fairy in LA county.”

Collette exits the highway and drives several more miles until they reach the entrance of Griffith Park. They continue a little further into the park until Collette pulls the car over next to a large natural stone structure. Collette kills the engine and exits the driver’s side. Ben turns around and watches Collette grab her bags from the back seat. She slams the door shut and walks over to the stone structure.

“Cole, what are you doing?”

Collette heaves her bags on top of the structure and unzips the largest one. “I’m changing out of this ruined night gown. It’s beginning to smell soured. I suggest you do the same.” She pulls out a pair of blue jeans and a flannel button down shirt.

Ben looks down at his clothes; a dirty wife beater and worn out sweat pants adorn his skinny body. “Nah, I’m good.”

Collette sighs and yanks off her soaked nightgown as Ben turns his head away quickly. “Fine. Go around looking like a dirty hippie for all I care.”

Ben jumps at the sound of Collette opening the back passenger door. She laughs at his uneasiness as she throws the soiled garment in the back seat. She smacks the back of his head, making him jump once more, and motions for him to exit the vehicle.

“What are we doing?” Ben staggers out of the vehicle slinging the heavy duffel bag on his right shoulder.

“We are ditching the car and walking back to the city. Hopefully, we can find a motel quickly seeing that it’s almost daybreak.”

Ben growls as he slams his car door shut. Collette grabs her bags and they walk side by side reluctantly towards the exit of the park.

Collette and Ben continue their trek back to the city, walking down a desolate street that begins to become illuminated by the rising morning sun. A loud rumbling from behind has both of them turning in unison. A dirty beat up Ford Econoline comes rolling towards them. Ben drops his duffel bag and waves his arms wildly in the air. The Ford slows to a crawl and then comes to a stop right next to them. An unkempt man with wild long hair smiles at them and rolls down the window. Ben walks up closer and leans his forearm against the window’s ledge. “Hey, buddy are you headed to the city?”

The driver smiles and shakes his head. “No, man. We are headed to Spahn Ranch, but I think we can drop you off a little closer.”

Ben laughs and claps his hands with excitement, “We would greatly appreciate it.”

The side door of the van whips open and several hippie looking women motion for both to enter. Ben grabs his bag from the road and throws it into the van. He hops in and turns to see Collette, arms crossed and bags on the ground, glaring at him. “Come on Cole, what are you waiting for?”

Collette turns her gaze to the driver, “I don’t know Ben. I don’t like this. Don’t they seem off to you?”

The driver cackles, “Don’t worry friend, we mean you no harm.” Ben reaches his hand out towards her. “Come on Cole, please?”

Collette sighs and quickly picks up her bags and tosses them into the van. She smacks away Ben’s hand and hoists herself up and inside. The van door slams shut as Collette takes an empty spot between two typical female flower children. Ben takes a seat opposite her in the next available spot between a dark haired woman with shifty eyes and a vagabond looking fellow with dark sinister eyes. The man stares deeply into Collette’s eyes. A wide smile creeps across his thick bearded face. Collette stares back into his eyes looking for any signs of weakness. The van rocks gently as it turns back onto the smooth roadway, but neither Collette nor this strange man breaks contact.

“It’s like looking into a mirror, isn’t it?”

Collette leans back slowly against the seat, smirking at the man. “Whatever do you mean? You and I are vastly different from one another.”

The man giggles and sticks his tongue out playfully. “You’ve seen the dragon. The truth is in your eyes. I have seen it too. Once you looked upon its glorious power you become consumed in it, enraged. You’ll never stop chasing it. That is why we are the same. Two bodies sharing the same soul.”

Collette scoffs, “Whatever drugs you’ve been using has clearly been rotting your brain.”

Ben looks back and forth between the strange man and Collette, a sudden fear sweeps through his entire body. “So, um, what’s at Spahn Ranch? You guys going horseback riding or something?”

The hippies in the van erupt in raucous laughter, save for the strange man. The smile disappears from his face as he turns to face Ben. “Its home.”

Ben nods his head and slowly leans back into his seat. The van shifts over to the right and comes to a stop.

The driver yells from the front, “This is as close to the city limits as we can get you, friends.”

Ben bolts up and snatches his bag. He quickly slides the van door open and jumps out. The flower child to the left of Collette helps toss her bags to Ben. Collette slowly rises and begins to exit the vehicle when the strange man grabs her arm and pulls her closer. “Come home with us. You belong there. You and I will help teach our children everything about the gifts of the dragon.”

Collette slowly removes the man’s hand and smiles, “I already have a family. Ben’s my family.”

She hops out of the van and picks up her bags. They begin their walk to the nearest motel when the strange man calls out to her, “I hope we meet again in this lifetime.” Collette turns and watches as the van pulls away, the strange man now hanging out of the passenger window, his arms outstretched as if calling her in for an embrace.

Ben and Collette stand side by side as they watch the van disappear into the horizon. Ben scratches his greasy hair and laughs nervously, “Well, that was weird.”

Collette turns her gaze towards the city skyline and begins to walk, “Come on, let’s go.”

Los Angeles – December 23rd 1968

Collette walks down a busy 4th street, zig zagging between the frantic holiday shoppers. She grumbles as the aloof procrastinators bump into her every few moments. She pauses to fix her brown faux fur jacket and matching brown purse that was knocked askew from the bombardments of bodies when a large older man trying to push through the crowd the opposite direction knocks her hard to the pavement. She hits the ground hard with the man plowing on top of her. His knee comes down on her rib cage hard and she yelps in pain from the blow. He scrambles off of her and continues to push his way through the crowd. Collette struggles to her feet, slowly rising while fixing her disheveled coat and purse, her face scrunched up from the pain. She straightens herself and notices a silver Cadillac Coupe Deville parked alongside the sidewalk. Collette removes her white framed sunglasses and squints her eyes to the back seat of the car. She notices a blonde woman watching, her faced obscured by a large pink head scarf and black rimmed sunglasses. Collette sighs and slides her sunglasses back on, turns around, and quickly walks away. A large neon sign catches her attention, The Moonlight Café. She pushes hard against the people in her way and heads to the small café entrance. She shoves a large woman to the side who was previously blocking the front entrance. The large woman begins to berate her, but Collette ignores her and enters the establishment.

A shrill bell dings as Collette walks through the heavy metal door. She pauses and looks around the partially deserted café. Contrary to the large hellish gathering outside, it seems that the café was unnoticed by the frenzied holiday shoppers. Collette breathes a sigh of relief and walks over to an empty secluded booth on the other side of the café. She flops down on the hard wood bench and slides over to the middle. She jerks her sunglasses off and tosses them on the table top. A young red haired waitress comes over while Collette struggles to remove her large coat.

“Good Afternoon ma’am, would you like to know about our specials today?”

Collette shakes her head and smiles quickly at the girl, “No thanks, can I just get a coffee, please? Black.”

The waitress smiles at Collette as she walks back towards the counter. Collette grabs her purse that sits next to her and starts digging through it hurriedly. She finds her clutch and places it on top of the table next to her sunglasses. She slides her purse next to her on the bench when she sees a thin figured woman standing next to her out of the corner of her eye. Collette whips her head around and sees the blonde woman from the Deville smiling at her. She removes her sunglasses and pink headscarf in one swift motion. Collette’s mouth drops in awe at the sheer beauty of the older woman.

“Do you mind if I sit here with you?”

Collette giggles nervously and motions for the woman to sit. The woman carefully removes her large black fur jacket and folds it neatly in half. She places it on the bench opposite from Collette and slides it back to the wall. She then glides into the booth and sits down softly. She continues to smile at Collette as she places her large designer purse next to her. The woman, possibly in her early 50’s, shows hardly any signs of aging. A few wrinkles line at the corners of her eyes and mouth. Her high defined cheekbones look as if her face had been carved from marble. What is most striking about the woman is her aqua blue eyes that demands constant attention from her audience.

Collette finds herself entranced by the woman. Her constant staring is noticed by this strange beauty and Collette quickly averts her eyes away. The woman giggles at Collette’s shy demeanor.

“I saw what happened to you out there in the crowd. It’s so awful that people act like monsters during the holidays.”

Collette blushes a deep red and plays with her fingers. “I think people always act like monsters no matter what time of year it is.”

The woman nods and reaches into her purse, pulling out a long red cigarette case. She snaps it open and pulls out a single cigarette. She gently puts it between her bright red painted lips, then replaces the case back into the large purse. She removes a small Zippo lighter from a compartment inside her purse and flicks the top open. She places her thumb against the spark wheel and begins to press down when she catches Collette’s eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you mind if I…”

“Oh, no. Go ahead.”

The woman winks at a still blushing Collette and offers her a cigarette in which Collette politely declines. The woman finally ignites her cigarette just as the waitress returns with Collette’s coffee.

“Here is your coffee, black.” The waitress turns to the woman, “Hello, ma’am. Can I get you anything?”

The woman takes a long drag of her cigarette and exhales the smoke out slowly. Collette watches as the smoke rises and dances past the young waitress.

“I will have a coffee as well. Cream and sugar, please.”

The waitress leaves and the two women stare at each other admiringly for a few long moments. Collette cups her hands around her coffee mug and lets the hot drink burn at her fingers. What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling so weird?

“You going to drink your coffee?”

Collette laughs awkwardly and looks down at her drink. The waitress returns and sets the woman’s coffee in front of her then leaves.

“Sorry, I…uh, I must have hit my head or something when I took my tumble out there. I’m feeling a little odd.”

The woman chuckles and takes another long drag of her cigarette. She reaches her free hand across the table and tilts her head to the side.

“How rude of me not to introduce myself. I’m Mary King. It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

Collette slowly reaches her hand towards Mary’s and grabs her soft hand cautiously.

“Hi, I’m Col…”

She stops abruptly. A warm tingling sensation flows from Collette’s fingertips and up throughout her entire body. What is this? Who is this woman? Still holding Mary’s hand, Collette begins to panic and jerks her eyes across the café. She sees a discarded newspaper with an advertisement for Match Game on the front. Collette snaps her eyes back into Mary’s gaze and clears her throat.

“I…I’m Betty. Betty White.”