Post by Admin on Jul 26, 2023 16:26:35 GMT
DreamWorld
Veronica felt like she had been running around in circles but not making any progress. Progress in what? She isn’t sure to be fair, as she slowly transverses the creepy old home on…
1428 STRADER STREET.
The boarded-up windows strain against the frames as the wind blows stronger and faster. The stairs creek just by looking at them and the entire house felt like it was shifting. Veronica reaches the basement door, opening it slowly, creeping down the stairs to a boiler room.
“Help me, please. Help me.”
Veronica stops in her tracks, and her eyes slowly look around the room without moving her head.
“Where are… you? What do you need help from? Hello? Little girl?”
With a look from side to side, Veronica turns and sees a small young blonde girl that looked like Vee when she was a little girl. Well, Veronica would’ve to. Don’t you know the story?
“The Dream Daemon wants to hurt me. Will you help me, Ronnie?”
Hesitant that this could be a trap, she squats down to look her in the eye. A small smile seeps through from Veronica Cain.
“Ok, I will help you. We need to move quickly before - - - wait, how did you know my name?”
ROAR!!!!
Veronica’s head snaps around looking up at the ceiling to the once dormant and cold big boiler that is now red hot with flames shooting out.
“Dream Daemon’s home.”
“Then time for us to leave!”
Veronica scoops the little lookalike, running up the stairs out of the basement, but her feet step in tar like goo through holes in the stairs. After what felt like ten minutes, she reaches the top of the stairs and tries to open the door, but it’s locked.
SLAM!
Veronica’s foot almost goes through it as it swings open with force. Looking side to side, she pivots to her left, running towards the red front door.
SLAM!
She shoulders the door to break it down.
SLAM!
Again, she shoulders the door, wood splintering.
SLAM!!!!
Veronica tumbles through to the outside, which has turned into an old factory. She goes to check on the little girl version of herself, but all that’s left is a small smoking corpse. Slowly pushing herself up, a man with scars all over his face is millimetres from the back of her neck as she feels his hot breath leave a humid-like condensation that drips down her spine.
“Welcome to my nightmare, bitch! That championship is coming with me!”
“Ronnie, darling, wake up.”
The Cain Ranch, Strader-Estate
Houston, TX
July 18th, 2023
“Ronnie, darling, wake up.”
“Mmm, what time is it?”
Christian Cain, better known as Outcast, sits on the edge of the couple’s bed, gently moves a few blonde stray hairs from her eyes while his name sake coos away on his lightly bouncing knee.
“8:37AM. Looked like you were having a nightmare.”
“I was, but it’s ok, I’m awake and you two are here… and that’s heaven, babe.”
“Always,” Christian said, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. “Your old man will be here soon.”
“Wait, am I still in my nightmare?!”
Outcast laughs as he gets up.
“That, or the making of a tragic comedy.”
Veronica sits up, thinking to herself.
“Either way…. ok, Knox…. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt…. Please, PLEASE, don’t make me regret this.”
The CULT SNUFF Champion takes a deep breath, pulling on one of her husband’s black hoodies and heads to the bathroom to shower.
“Sometimes in life, you don’t always get what you want, but you will usually find what you need IF you can see the silver lining. I, myself, can find the good and/or the bad, silver lining in everything I do.”
“When Victoria was purged, I took over and saw an opportunity to propel myself to being a name that was said with a drip of fear and disgruntled respect. I did exactly that, and in the process? I got my very own body. Then my husband and I brought that company back from the brink of destruction with our epic reigns as World and TransAtlantic Champions. No one besides my aunt Tamika and former OCW Champion turned Triad co-owner, Steve Wilson, had title runs like we did.”
“It wasn’t until I defeated Peter Vaughn this last February that I finally started getting the respect I deserve. That couldn’t have happened without OCW making me and Vaughn de facto enemies, salivating his taste buds to take on a Strader.”
“Then on my second go, I could FINALLY defeat one of the longest reigning champions CU:LT has ever seen after I failed the first time. But you need to learn from your mistakes so you can grow. Imagine that, eh?”
“Makes a gal wonder… has Max Daemon accepted his failures and shortcomings and will he use them as a tool to dethrone me?”
The Cain Ranch, Strader-Estate
Houston, TX
July 19th, 2023
Veronica sat beside her husband at the kitchen table with the one and only Matthew “The Raven” Knox, sitting across from them holding his granddaughter for the second time, but she wasn’t aware of that. Veronica doesn’t know that Victoria had snuck their father into the wedding. Her eyes slowly move from her father to her daughter and to her husband. Outcast and Knox appear to hit it off.
“So weird to see the four of us at this table right now… what’s even weirder is that I think I am enjoying this. Watching Knox with Christy is so wholesome. He can do wholesome?”
Veronica slowly stands up and walks into the kitchen to grab the pot of coffee made for this visit. The men have their coffees refilled, and Knox smiles at one of his oldest children.
“Ronnie, I… Thank you for this.”
“It’s just coffee. It’s everywhere.”
“Ronnie, let me get this out.”
Veronica sits down again beside her husband and her left hand runs down the top of his thigh until her hand holds his knee. His hand finds her on his knee, squeezing it.
“Seeing you and Christian make your mom’s ranch into your own home with my little CM Punk here, I am happy for you, kid. All of you,” Knox said as he gives the wee one that long, thoughtful grandparent kiss to the top of her head. “Vee was right.”
“Right about what?”
“Well, I have no room to speak about it but I wasn’t sure how a young woman and an older man than me could be happy but after watching you find him again, this little one you two made, the way you look at each other… I see the love.”
Outcast and Veronica share a side glance that said to one another. They say in their heads to one another, “he’s being genuine” as the couple were connected through not just their hearts but their very souls. Veronica smiles back at Knox. She feels the pride radiate out of Outcast and the relief from her dad. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see the soul of Scott Nash Strader watching them from the living room mirror. She and Outcast ignore him.
“You and me… we have a long road ahead of us, Knox….”
“But?”
The matching eyes of father and daughter lock.
“I am gonna try. For my sister, for me, for you… and - - -”
“Our little girl,” Outcast said, finishing his wife’s sentence. “Christy is the most important in all of this, but my wife’s heart means everything to me as well. She helped me get clean. She played a part after the fact of the redemption of my soul. Don’t break either of their hearts, Matt.”
“Hey, it’s supposed to be me ready to pick a fight in my beat up Kevin Federline wife-beater at the family BBQ,” Knox said, cracking one of his smiles.
“I need a nap and to be the little spoon. Should I let him do it, babe?”
Outcast gives her a small nod, reading her mind again. Two souls interwoven together.
Veronica takes a deep breath….
“I know you wanna visit her. You can. Yes, you can take your grand-baby.”
“Really? Thanks, kid. Really, thank you.”
Before Veronica can react, Knox instinctively stands up and gently embraces her. She stands there in shock like Beaker on the Muppets, but after a second her arms slowly wrap around her dad. Outcast smiles seeing the two were on the right path. He watches his father-in-law head out of the ranch with his little girl, and Veronica wraps her arms around Outcast’s waist, nuzzling her face into the back of his neck behind his ear. A tear rolls down her cheek, a bit overwhelmed with everything.
“Come lay with me, Christian?”
Outcast turns around, lifting her chin to kiss her softly. Their foreheads touching, he smiles at her.
“For you? Anything.”
“Max Daemon. I won’t pretend I know everything about you, but I am also not going to pretend I know nothing about you either. When you won your title shot and decided that stepping on my neck was the right call, you made one of the biggest mistakes of your life.”
“Well, after that haircut.”
“I first remember hearing about you through the channels of Action Wrestling. A company that has consistently tried to recruit me onto their roster. But they haven’t ever interested me and never will. But this isn’t about AW; it’s about CU:LT and MY SNUFF Championship.”
“You may have been the first to wear it, but so far you still hold the record for shortest reign, which our social media was kind enough to point out. You know what that tells me about you?”
“It’s not that you might be a paper champion, it tells me nothing ever truly satisfies you. You chase, you chase and when you get to what you are after, you fall off and ride a line of mediocrity before something else catches your eye.”
“How was it said to me… it went, you'd rather beat me multiple times in non-title matches than take me on for my title because when it’s impersonal to you, you thrive.”
“I thrive under pressure, when I am praised, when I am shit on, you name it. It’s because I manifest what I want, and what I want is to be the greatest SNUFF Champion CU:LT has ever seen, just like I did when I became the greatest TransAtlantic champion in OCWs history.”
“I am also always looking to take the next step. First step? Set my eyes on a championship or goal. Second step? Win that title or achieve the goal. Third step? Make myself the greatest that championship lineage has seen. I defeated the powerhouse that was Chester Roosevelt and continued forward with another big win over a hardcore-style veteran in The Comedian Allen Chaney.”
“When we put on those glass masks, I want you to know I am not afraid to get scarred and while this might not be a personal thing for you, it is for me. I hold myself to a high standard every single time I step through the ropes. Plus, you made a terrible mistake stepping on my neck last month, and to pay you back? Well, I will do more than that.”
“God forgives, Max.”
“I don’t.”
Dreamworld
Veronica stands in the boiler room she dreamt of before, but her sisters, Victoria and Cara, are with her now. Victoria can’t help but notice the fire in her twin’s eye. Cara looks really stoned and hanging on Veronica’s every word, but soon turns to confusion.
“Ok, for the last time, I am being chased by this Dream Daemon- - -”
“Wait, wait, wait… is it Demon or what was it, Damon Waynes?”
The SNUFF Champion, hand holding her face, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and middle fingers, holding in an exasperated sigh. Victoria fills in quickly, sensing Veronica’s irritability rising.
“Dream Daemon, Cara, Dream Daemon. Ronnie is saying we all have our own powers in the dream world. She brought us in to help her.”
Cara squints, then nods in understanding. Veronica and Victoria look at one another, one thanking the other with a nod. They turn back to Cara. She suddenly looks like a punk rocker mixed with Catwoman. Cara shrugs.
“In my dreams, I’m tough, and I’m bad! Also, ever since Baumer wrote those Cat-Lady stories, I also think I am Catwoman. Who’s that? Why she look like little Vee?”
Veronica turns around looking up the stairs and the little girl that looked like her and Victoria was standing up the top giggling. She turns back to her sisters, eyes focused on the task.
“Dream Daemon is here, we got to move. We’ll figure out our dream powers as we go. Come on! I said let’s move,” Veronica said. As she pivots, the room shakes and the ceiling along with the walls crumbles down on them.
As the dust settles, Veronica’s vision is blank, like she’s blind, but the sound of rummaging is heard. The light almost feels blinding, but her eyes refocus and sees her matching pair in Victoria as she pulls the debris off her.
“Thanks, Vee. Where’s Cara?”
The two sisters look for the high and weird one, and are startled by the landscape change: they were outside in a desert, reminiscent of the Sandworm world of Beetlejuice.
“YIPPIE KI-YAY MOTHERFUCKA!!!!!!”
“GET OFF ME YOU BITCH!”
The Vees turn and can’t help but laugh as they see Cara, in her “I’m Catwoman” meets Dream Warriors’ Taryn, arms wrapped around the back of a neck attached to a face Veronica would be defending her title against, but obviously, it’s not him, as this is a giant phallic shaped creature and is purely coincidental that it looks like her opponent. The big phallic worm dives back into the sand and comes out thirty feet away from where it went burrowed and Cara is still holding on. She grabs one of her knives and stabs the Dream Daemon in worm form right in its eye and follows up with another to the other one.
“ARGGH I’LL GET YOU LITTLE BITCHES!”
Cara gets bucked off and the Vees yell out!
“Cara!!”
“We are coming!”’
Dust and sand fly into the air. When they reach their destination, the twins stop in their tracks as Cara stands there looking up at SCOTT NASH STRADER!
“Grandpa Scott?”
When Scott’s mouth opens, the sound of a baby’s cry echoes out.
Veronica’s eyes open, as she hears her baby crying for a midnight feeding. She looks at her phone to see texts from her sisters. Veronica shakes her head as she picks up the little one.
“Oh, something tells me we are just getting started.”
