The next step in my suffering

“Slippin' and a slidin' playin' Dominos leftin' and a rightin' ain't a crime you know
Well I gotta tell the story before it's time to go
Are you ready for the country are you ready for me
Are you ready for the country ain't that a sight to see“

A door opens as light shines inside the dark bedroom, a figure stands in the doorway staring at the bed in the middle of the room. A female that stands on high heels, a long dress that clings to her body. Her hair is tied up in a knot as her long fingers scratches across the doorknob from the bedroom door, she doesn’t say anything as her focus remains upon the bed.

The camera zooms out, showing the bed where we see a male figure and a female sleeping, unaware of being the sole attention of the figure who suddenly takes a few steps forwards. She softly closes the door behind her, causing her to become one with the darkness of the bedroom as we hear a sound from the bedroom.

“N…no…, leave me alone…“

Comes from the side of the male figure inside the bed, his arms clutching around his pillow as his face is showing a grimace of agony. He is sweating profusely while tossing and turning every few seconds, ultimately ending up on his stomach as he pushes his face into the pillow to stifle a scream. Suddenly a hand touches his bare back, causing him to stiffen before turning around with anguish upon his face.

“What the hell?? GET OUT!!!“

Goth starts to scream as he recognizes the figure that sits on the edge of his bed, using a nail file upon her nails not even looking at him.

“Come on Gerrit, I thought we are a team. I…,“

He sits up with anger in his eyes as his breathing increases

“We have never been a team and I don’t intend to ever be a team with YOU!!! So you either get out, or else I will harm you.“

Ashe stops using the nail file, lifts her hand as she blows away some of the loose bits that came off her nails before shaking her head.

“You disappoint me Gerrit, I mean sure you did well against Ring Master. But do you honestly think that you can beat Peter Vaught without my help??“

She turns her attention towards him, he can see the silhouette of her body in the darkness as well as her glowing red eyes. The question has caused him to second guess himself on whether he actually has a chance against a man that has been dominant for over a year now. A thought that he tries to shake off from his head.

“Oh God, is this a new thing again?? I mean it’s the same thing what they said when we fought, or when I beat Jaymz, AP Feight in one night in Psycho Circus… I always manage to..“

“To get the job done Gerrit???“

She says as she turns her face towards him, raising an eyebrow as the features on her face shows disbelief.

“Seriously Gerrit? The quality of talents back then pale in comparison to what is out there right now… And the amount of talent is far greater than what you have grown accustomed to… Face it Gerrit, you need all the help you can get.“

Goth bites his lower lip, gripping the bed sheets as he wants to lash out towards her. But he remains silent, unwillingly agreeing on the standpoint what she had made. Causing to look up at her with a look of doubt on his face.

“So what do you got in mind for Vaughn??“

We hear a soft chuckle in a dark fashion from the vampire ghost, she places her hands on her knees as she remains silent for a moment. Only to look up at him after a few more moments have passed with determination in her eyes.

“I know for a fact that you already know the answer Goth, but you are afraid to look reality in head on. You are too soft, you start to care what others think of you.“

“That’s not true…, I…“

“Oh it’s not?? Then tell me Goth, why do you let people like Atara Themis outdo you both on promo’s and in the ring when she took the Xtreme championship away from you?? Better yet, Jenny Myst.., twice… TWICE she pinned you to walk away as champ. And all you have been doing is proceeding yourself to be nothing more than a failed story teller. Where’s the edge Goth?? Where’s the drive to be maniacal like you used to!!!“

“It’s still there, I mean I beat…“

Ashe starts to shake her head in disagreement, causing Goth to turn silent.

“You want to claim that you beat Ring Master Gerrit?? He is just a bigger failure than you are right now. I’m surprised that you haven’t even noticed the fact that I haven’t called you Goth in quite some time now Gerrit, you know why?? Because nothing inside of you breaths the legacy of GOTH!!!!“

This causes him to react in a shocked fashion, he looks at himself with a puzzled look on his face as he lowers his head and stares at his hands. Staring at the many scars that he has endured throughout his career as he has been in more bloody matches that he cares to remember. He feels the pain of shame running through his body as he once again comes to the conclusion that everything that she says is true. The fact that admitting it is the hardest part as well as not knowing how he should rebound from it, causes him to close his eyes and sigh.

“Can you please teach me???“

There’s a moment of silence between the two before Lady Ashe suddenly places the hand of her ghost like being on the bedsheets that cover his legs, causing him to shiver before suddenly falling back on the bed completely knocked down.

“I finally get what I want…..“

She whispers as she leans in on him, as if she is being absorbed into his being when suddenly we see Goth wake up from a bad dream. He is breathing heavily while sweat is pouring from his forehead. He wraps both hands towards his throat as that was the spot he felt Ashe reach out for with her hands before absorbing her. He moves his head to the right, realizing that Melissa is still fast asleep as he lets out a sigh of relief.

“This got to end…. And I know now how….“

He whispers while looking back to the hands that are resting on top of the bedsheets, opening them as to once again stare at the palms of his hands. Noticing that the scars in his dream weren’t as visible as they really are. Remembering all the times that he had been lacerated during matches, how often he had them pushed into barbed wire baseball bats or other artifacts with it stuck into. He closes his fists once more and grinds his teeth in anger.

“Peter Vaughn….,“

The name croaks out of his mouth as it’s completely dry, he rapidly closes and reopens his eyes several times to focus completely upon the darkness. Clutching his hands into fists, he realizes that his breathing increases as he feels a pain starting to increase upon the part of his throat that he held in his hands a few moments ago.

“Cut it out damnit!!! I’m freaking Goth for fuck sakes!!!“

His left hand gets raised in the air before swinging it towards one of the pillows behind him that he had been resting his head against, showcasing the continuing of his frustration.

“So here we are, the man that once was against the man that currently is. Woopty fucking doo. The man that has won the Westside Rumble, the same fucking match that I lasted until the final four. The man that seemingly everything that he touches turns into gold, whereas everything I touch turns into a bigger mental instability because of a freaking GHOST!!!!!“

He extends his left arm towards the camera, opening the palm towards it while rubbing his right hand against his face in an attempt to rub some of the sleep out of his eyes.

“What the fuck is wrong with me, I know that is all what everyone must be thinking about me these days. Hell, even my fiancé thinks that I am a raving lunatic lately!! And the only thing that I can rely upon is fucking me… and even that is slowloy slipping out of my freaking fingers. And then I have to face the man that seemingly cannot lose, even though you did lose to Mark Flynn at Snow Job. Something that I cannot allow to fucking leave my mind, because it is a warning to not forget that I am not at the freaking level that you are… that I have not been in for how long now?? Oh yeah, I’m one of the men that holds a championship in Sin City Wrestling, but does that count here?? Fuck no!!!“

He pushes his face away from the camera, trying to collect his thoughts and calm down his breathing. He slowly reopens his eyes as the vein in his neck starts to become more visible.

“I know that nobody wants to hear a veteran talk about all of his past accomplishments, what he has meant for the business. Because nowadays we are all here for the now, yesterday doesn’t mean a damn thing anymore…. And tomorrow is just a fairy tale story for those who hope for better times in their miserable lives. Hell, I have been struggling to keep myself from that same dilemma creeping inside my head evrery fucking single moment of the day. So what does stop me from doing so Peter?? Well I tell you exactly what keeps me from doing so, people like you. Oh yeah, the great diamond in the rough for CCPE, an enterprise that since recently I can consider myself to be a part off as freaking well. And still Peter, does that change the fact how I look at you?? How I feel about competing inside a member of the same enterprise that has got all the best of intentions for each and every member’s careers?? Fuck no, this is my opportunity to school you into understanding that I can indeed still show a thing or two to the likes of you. Because I didn’t get here on pity, I didn’t get here so that I would lay down for the likes of Atara Themis, for the likes of Latina Submission Machina, Centurion or every other fucking reject in this company. Oh yeah, I am fully aware that you are on a complete different level of any of the other names that I just mentioned. Bút who the fuck am I to you Peter??”

“Are you going to play the resect card at first?? Congratulating me for finally achieving something worthwhile by being a member of CCPE?? We both know that those words are nothing more than a hollow shell of the true meaning that you will have in the back of your head. And that’s okay, because I have been there before. I know how this game works and the only way that I can imagine impressing the likes of you… is beating you to advance… remember that Peter… remember that.“

Goth puts his hand in front of the camera as this closes the shot to fade