The Lone Wolf | Corpse Husband

Chapter One: The Incident

      tw// mentions of a toxic relationship and slight abuse , also bad language hehe
(as this is my first chapter it SUCKS so PLSS stick with me i promise it gets better)

  No one ever dreams of a life like mine, I know for sure when I was a little girl I didn't. No one ever wants to be in the position I'm in right now. Here I was, smoking a cigarette in my beat-down, 10 year old car outside of a strip club at 10pm.

I chuckled at my own thought, why do men, huh? I asked myself at least a million times a night. I put out my cigarette, grabbed my duffel bag and walked to the entrance. I greeted the bouncers at the door and made my way inside. It was still a bit empty and the only people inside were my fellow dancers and the bartenders.

"Angelica, you know it's barely 10pm, right?" My friend, Courtney said when she saw me approach her. "My shift isn't even over."

Courtney was perhaps my only real friend, she was a bit older than me and she worked the bar during the afternoon. She ended her shift at 11pm, which was the usual time I arrived. We had met last year, when she had worked the bar later in the night- before she had a kid.

"I just decided to come in earlier." I set my duffel bag down on the bar. "That's it."

"Jelly, I know when you're hiding something." She motioned for me to sit on one of the barstools, and I listened. Maybe I did need to talk to someone about it.

"Okay, you got me." I sighed. "Me and Ross got in a huge fight again." She poured me a drink, then poured herself one.

"Over?"

"Just stupid shit as usual." I took a sip. "He gets mad over the smallest things, lashes out on me, then expects me to apologize. I'm just sick of it, so I left before he-"

She stopped me, "Has he ever hit you, Angelica?"

"Not yet at least." I got goosebumps at the thought of him ever laying a hand on me. "Doesn't mean I don't think he wouldn't. He gets pretty scary sometimes."

"You need to find a real man, girl." She said. "The fact you think he will eventually hit you is a huge red flag, you need to be brought back down to earth."

I knew she was right,"I know how to defend myself, I didn't take those self-defense classes for no reason."

"You took self-defense classes?" She let out a small huff, "Okay, the fact you took them just in case is an even worse red flag."

"It wasn't only because of Ross, I mean I'll admit he was a factor." I couldn't lie, that was a fatal flaw of mine. Once I had been caught, I always had to spill the beans. "But, it was mostly because you know, creepy weird guys come here and serial killers go for strippers and prostitutes, it's just a precaution."

"Understandable, I've seen too many cases like that." She took my glass away, seeing it was empty. "My shift is almost over, I'm going to clock out early; Chris just texted me that Soren has a fever."

"Yeah, I hope he feels better." I told her, as she signed out on the employee sheet. "See you tomorrow."

"See you, miss Bruce Lee." She smiled, "Remember what I said about Ross...you need a real man."

As the night passed, Ross stayed in the back of my mind. Courtney was right but I could give him another chance, right? I mean, he only has anger issues. He's never hit me, cheated on me, or anything really serious. He supports my job too, he never means anything he says when he's mad.

After hours of dancing and thinking, I came to the decision that I did every night - that I'd just give him another chance. I had valid points, I think. Ross loved me, I was...pretty sure...he did.

I changed, said goodbye to my coworkers then walked out the club, the usual routine. I had my eyes glued to my purse, looking for my keys as I walked to my car. I looked up, to find Ross making out with some blonde, who was leaning against my car door.

"What the fuck?" I said, in full shock.

The girl pulled away and gave me a side-eye. She handed a card to Ross, which he took and put in his coat pocket. She gave me one last look, then walked off.

I stood there in disbelief, eyes wide. Ross walked toward me, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath all the way from here. Great, he was drunk.

"Oh hey Jelly, what're you doing here?" He slurred.

"What do you mean what the fuck am I doing here? I work here!" I raised my voice. "Why the fuck are you making out with some random girl on my car?"

"Was I?" Ross laughed, his eyes half open.

I scoffed, I couldn't believe it. I was tearing myself up over this piece of shit all night, then seriously said I was going to forgive him. I felt like the biggest idiot ever.

"You know what, Ross?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him, still in disbelief. "I'm done, we're done."

He suddenly snapped out of the drunken state he was in, and stared at me. Visibly getting more angry. "You don't get to end our relationship, Jelly."

"Don't call me that, and I can do whatever I want." I said, walking past him, ready to speed off the moment I got in my car. But, as I walked past him, he grabbed my wrist.

"Let go of me, you fuck!" I tried to pull my arm away.

He lifted his arm to hit me, but I kicked his balls and he fell to the floor.

We argued for a bit as he clenched his balls on the pavement. I wasn't going to leave without getting the last word. Also a fatal flaw of mine.

We were suddenly interrupted by a man's voice.

"Everything okay?" It said.

"Everything's fine." I swiped the hair out of my face. "Just teaching my asshole ex a lesson about how he should treat women."

"A valuable lesson, indeed." The man stepped out of the shadows of the dark alley, and he looked nothing, well dressed nothing like I expected.

He wore a fedora, a striped suit, sunglasses, leather gloves and a pin of a piece of toast with sunglasses on his blazer. He sure looked like some type of drug lord minus the pin. "Do you need help?" He said, holding his hand out to Ross.

Ross nodded, taking his hand. But, as soon as he took the man's hand, the man kicked him back down to the ground.

I didn't know whether to laugh or run away. I mean, I wanted to laugh because this guy probably just destroyed Ross' ego, but I wanted to run because he seemed pretty strong, and I had no idea who he was.

Me and the man looked at each other for a moment, listening to Ross attempt to cuss us out in between his groans.

He put his hand out, this time for me to shake. "Toast."

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

"My name is Toast." He smirked.

"Oh, okay...cool." I shook his hand, then scurried back into my car before he could finish his next sentence. Sure, he beat up my ex but we were in a dark alley, he looked like a drug lord and if he kidnapped me, the sounds of my screams would be drowned out by the music playing in the club. Yeah, I was paranoid.

As I drove off, he continued to stand over Ross, one foot on his face to keep him down. Yeah, this guy wasn't messing around. And I didn't really want to see him again..."Toast" or Ross.

Authors note:

sorry this chapter dragged a bit!! i needed to set up a background for Angelica! PLEASE STICK WITH ME I PROMISE THIS WONT BE BORING PLEASEE LFMSIDJ