Red Widow (Vivian Xu, Book 1) (7 page)

“
There is still much you
have to learn about anatomy, Vivian.”

“
I know,” she sighed,
bowing her head. She longed to sit in class again, frantically
jotting down notes while the professor preached from his pulpit.
“How did you end up like this?”

“
It’s a long story. One
moment I was working on the assembly line, and the next moment it
felt like my skull was being crushed in a vice. The blades
destroyed portions of my brain’s frontal lobe. You see, damage to
particular parts of the brain can impact personality and behavior.
The incident left me in a coma for a month. The damage to my
frontal lobe skewed my personality, but fortunately, my memories
are intact. In some ways, my plight is not so different from the
American Crowbar Case. Surely you’ve heard of Phineas Gage and the
tamping iron that passed through his brain? I discussed it in class
during our unit about the central nervous system.”

“
Yes, I’ve heard the story
before.”

“
Suffice to say, Phineas
and I share a common bond of mental destruction and personality
change. Some say he became hostile and volatile after the injury to
his brain. Since my accident, I’ve acquired a keen interest in
merging technology with mankind, a dystopian existence, a quiet
rebellion—as well as a penchant for Renaissance literature. I can’t
figure it out for the life of me.”

“
Professor
Gavin?
” Vivian murmured breathlessly. She
recalled a man with dark, slicked back hair. Glasses once perched
on his hawkish nose and his slender frame always donned a crisp
vest and slacks. He continuously injected his dry wit into lecture,
turning an otherwise daunting class into a fun experience ripe with
laughter. Most fascinating of all were the stories he shared from
his days as a trauma surgeon. “You’ve changed so much, Professor
Gavin… How do you know about me? About Red Widow?”

“
How could I forget one of
my brightest pupils? Your rabid curiosity to learn was surpassed
only by the intensity of your eyes. Always staring me down when I
explained things you didn’t understand, marveling at specimens
through the microscope. You possessed all of the qualities of a
hungry learner. Too many students throw in the towel on anatomy and
physiology because it’s too hard. You, on the other hand, never
surrendered. But that day came when you no longer showed up to
class. I thought you might be sick. Then you failed to show up
again and again. After the next three weeks passed by, I knew you
had left.”

“
Believe me, I wish I had
stayed.”

“
Well, there’s no reversing
the past for either of us now. We have to fight our way through
what fate has dealt us.”

Vivian nodded, looking around the
conclave of lost souls in the club setting.

“
So how did you wind up in
the bowels of The Toxic Mistress? Did you teach a bit too much
anatomy to your female students?”

Gavin released a harsh
chuckle.

“
I’ve always hungered for
an escape from the mundane in life. The eclectic mix of raw energy,
creativity, and darkness in cyberpunk began eating away at me.
Before my tragic accident, I always regarded the cyberpunk culture
as a festering sore on the face of our community. I refused to
understand it. Now I feel like I see through new eyes. The contrast
between grunge and technology entices me. It’s a shame it took a
blade to the head to help me realize this. As I delved deeper into
cyberpunk, I learned about Red Widow, somewhat of an icon for this
community. You seemed so familiar, yet I couldn’t imagine why. I
felt compelled to seek you out and learn the truth.

“
Besides, when the school
board lost confidence in my teaching skills, they stripped me of my
license. It’s a shame because my injury did not impair my knowledge
whatsoever. But let’s not focus on what has brought me here; I’m
more interested in hearing your story. How did you come to haunt
the alleys as the Red Widow? One day you vanished from class, and
months went by without a word from you. I almost wondered if you
were dead until I saw the newspaper article.”

“
What
article
?” Vivian said, slapping her hand on
the counter.

“
Calm down.” Vivian stared
at the glass of absinthe he slid in her direction as nausea began
to roil in her stomach. “You weren’t identified by your name, only
by your moniker. But ever since I saw the article, I’ve been
consumed by a rabid curiosity to meet this Red Widow. I wondered
how she could look so similar to my prodigal student. I wanted to
know if it really
was
you.”

“
Nice to know I have fans,”
she murmured.

“
You might be surprised.
The cyberpunk community has taken a liking to you. Pleasantries
aside, what brings the Red Widow to our notorious establishment?”
Vivian’s eyes flickered across the drinks collected behind
him.

“
I’m thinking about turning
over a new leaf, maybe finding employment here.” Gavin shot her a
curious look.

“
A job?
Here?
Surely you must be making three
or four times as much as a mistress than you would fetching drinks.
Since when has the Red Widow considered submitting to
others?”

“
Believe me, it’s not my
first choice. The police have been crawling around my domain
lately, making it more difficult for me to conduct my business. I
thought I could lie low for a while until things calm
down.”

“
I must admit, you have
gleaned the attention of these sordid patrons with your appearance.
Not to mention your taboo connection to dominance and submission.
Yes, I may be able to pull some strings and open up a position for
you.”

“
That would be wonderful.
You wouldn’t happen to have time for an interview today, would you?
The sooner I get off the streets, the better.”

“
Why not?” Gavin smiled
wistfully. “Although, I hardly think you should squander a mind
like yours in a club for the rest of your life. I would be
crestfallen if you didn’t return to your studies.”

“
You really need to stop
reading the dialogue in Renaissance novels.”

“
Fair enough,” he
chuckled.

“
Could we go somewhere more
private to interview? I think your guests are starting to figure
out who I am.” Indeed, several patrons had begun to ogle her like a
dangerous specimen that weaseled out of its cage.

“
Of course, Vivian. Go down
the stairs to the VIP lounge. One of the women will admit you. I’ll
be along shortly.”

“
Thank you so much, Gavin.
I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to me.”

“
It’s nothing. Just promise
me you will return to your studies.”

“
I promise.”

After sharing another nostalgic smile,
she ducked down the stairwell. The lounge receded behind her in a
kaleidoscope of sound and hazy lights. It was hard to imagine her
professor thriving in a place like this, much less embracing
cyberpunk and dressing like a Victorian character in a novel. How
many others from her past life only resembled a shadow of their
former selves? To be fair, she, too, had radically transformed
overnight into something she never would have expected, something
she feared and loathed on a deeply intimate level. Vivian wasn’t
always the incarnation of sexual deviance.

She lurched to a halt at the end of
the steps.

She glanced around the uncanny
passage. It was completely barren, and that made it all the more
disturbing. No characteristics, no inkling of where it led.
Nothing.

Even the murmur of the throbbing bass
and synth ceased to penetrate these walls. The hall took several
erratic turns before Vivian utterly lost her sense of
direction.

“
Down the stairs, huh?” she
chuckled.

Three mysterious passageways welcomed
her. With nothing to base her decision on besides impulse, she
darted down the third hall.

She almost tripped over her boots when
she realized scarlet letters were floating across the blackened
walls. Glowing symbols scrawled further down the hall, vanishing
around the distant corner. She pressed her hand firmly against the
wall, feeling the energy humming underneath. She squinted in
confusion. Digital screens. The entire labyrinth was composed of
digital screens.

Venturing ahead, she
watched the eerie horizon melt into a sprawling lounge. The
singing, conjoined twins flickered across the wall monitors, a
virtual canvas of idiosyncrasy and flesh. She vividly remembered
seeing them on the flier in the metro.
So
this is Phreak of Nature.

“
What are you doing down
here?” Vivian spun around to find a woman wrapped in a pale
corset.

“
Gavin sent me down here
for an interview.”

“
Is that so?” Vivian
glanced down at the woman’s hands, and she instantly recoiled at
what she saw. Instead of gaudy rings, her middle finger was armored
with a syringe, needle and all. The needle seemed to dissect the
shadows, slicing them with even the slightest gesture of her hand.
A sneer played across her lips.

“
That’s awfully bold of
him. Those blades must really be embedded deep in his brain if he
sent someone like you down here. Maybe I need to assign him some
extra duties to distract him from pretty, young things that walk in
off the streets.”

“
I was the one who
approached him asking about employment—”

“
And did he mention I’m in
charge of new recruits, not him?”

“
No, he didn’t…” Her
sardonic smile almost drove Vivian over the edge.

“
What’s your
name?”

“
Vivian.
I used to be Gavin’s student. He can vouch for me
as a hard worker. I could be an entertainer or I could mix drinks.
Hell, if you need someone to be a cashier—”

“
Whoa, slow down.
This
,” she gestured across
her empire of debauchery, “is not a charity for girls and boys
running from poverty. We cater to a very special clientele, and I
ensure we sell perfection. When I set eyes on someone, I know
immediately whether or not they can handle the job I have in store.
Dozens before you have waltzed in off the streets seeking work. I
don’t need an amateur undoing years’ worth of success. My patrons
deserve better than—”

Her eyes strayed toward
Vivian’s belly, hypnotized by the hourglass-shaped birth mark. Her
lips made some half-hearted attempts to move, but no words spilled
out.
Her body crumbled in on itself,
repulsed by what Vivian represented.

“
Have a seat over there.
I’ll be back.”

Vivian plopped down on a
chrome couch, stunned by the turn of events. To see that towering
matron cower before her brought some measure of
satisfaction.
Maybe her reputation carried
more weight than she thought.
A few patrons
were making out in a dark corner, too occupied to notice Vivian. In
a place like The Toxic Mistress, they could sate their most erotic
tendencies and no one would bat an eye.
She
wondered what twisted role Audrey filled in this club.

As more haze laced with opium pumped
into the lounge, she seized her chance. Vivian cut through the fog
toward the backroom. She met with a brief frenzy of arms and legs,
but the naked flesh soon evaporated into air.

When the smoke cleared, she stood in a
dim chamber lined with mirrors. Her fractured reflection revolved
around her with every infinitesimal gesture.

A solitary table stood in the center
of the room.

Vivian reached into her right stocking
and removed the lilies. They floated down on the table the moment
she let go.

She rarely saw calla lilies outside of
funerals. A bouquet of them—thirteen, no less—was perhaps the most
subtle death threat she could envision, and she would be its
harbinger. How strange it seemed that she would deliver this threat
to a girl she had never laid eyes on. She added the letter as a
finishing touch.

Red ink glistened on the parchment,
bearing a special message.

Kindest regards from
Joakim to Audrey.

* * *

Vivian latched the door shut, sealing
herself in Vesely Manor’s timeless depths. The guttural boom of the
doors haunted her all the way across the vaulted ballroom, through
unlit halls, and past galleries chalked with shriveled paintings.
She felt pulled toward the one room she never intended to explore
for as long as she breathed.

An onlooker would never have pegged
her as apprehensive by the way she plunged into the cellar. Every
fearless step dragged her deeper into the mysteries of the
underground.

A few minutes later, she emerged with
a bottle of red wine tucked under her arm.

She regretted walking out on Gavin
after he so kindly offered her an interview. Unfortunately, the
investigation had become her primary job, and nothing else could
interfere. Maybe she would take him up on his offer when this whole
mess subsided. Still, of all the people she could abruptly leave
behind, he wasn’t one of them.