How High, Claudia?

Chapter Six

Yep, I shot myself in the foot really good.

There was one of two reasons Dean had that anger stricken look on his face. The first reason was, I was in the shithouse and he was going to kill me, while the second was that he was just really constipated and missed the door to the bathroom.

God I prayed it was the second option.

With a few swift strides he was beside me, ripping the smoke from my mouth and slapping the lighter out of my hand. If I wasn't so shocked I would've slapped him back for his totally irrational behaviour. In my entire seventeen years of life no one and I mean no one, had physically slapped me before; even if it was on the hand. My parents were the exception. My Mother had slapped me a couple of times when we were arguing, but that was because I deserved it. My Father had never laid a hand on any of us except when me and Holly were kids and deserved a slap on the ass for misbehaviour.

Tessa had a blank stare pass through her golden brown eyes as she stared at me with no emotion. She probably hadn't expected I'd try something like that, but that was what I was counting on. I'd play the good sort for now and earn her trust. When the time came I'd play on her emotions and use that as my scapegoat when I put plan 'B' into action. I was originally planning on using Alice, but the woman seemed too able to see right through me and in the end she'd be the concrete shoes they used when they threw me in the river.

I was stock-still with my hand still raised as if to continue lighting my invisible cigarette. As soon as Dean had finished with me he moved in on Tessa, who looked indifferent to the situation. After he stalked her like a male Lion stalking its prey, he snatched up the silver case filled with Marlboro cigarettes and waved it around. His eyes, which had darkened considerably, glanced from Tessa to me, back and forth. He looked like a crazy man.

"Who owns these?" he demanded.

Tessa just glared at him, her arms folded over her chest in a dominating way. Just as her mouth was about to open, I jumped in, cutting her (what I guessed would be) sarcastic admission off.

"I found them."

Dean's dangerous stare was now permanently on me. It seemed the Lion had just morphed into a killer great white Shark.

"You found them? Where?" His questions hit me like poisoned needles.

I couldn't think straight. "Upstairs," was all I could think of on the spot, "This morning, while Alice was waiting for me down here?" My voice seemed to get tinier with every lie I spat out. I hated the fact my last fake admission came out sounding like a question.

"That's the situation, then?" His smile turned nasty as he came nearer towards me. He shook the case again, the cigarettes shaking in the same motion they had when Tessa had offered me one earlier. "That would mean you snuck into one of the boys rooms and stole it? I'd assume so because we don't smoke publicly in the house around Tessa. Did she offer you one?" he asked Tessa.

I had the sudden urge to break character and scream out that I hadn't stolen anything in my entire life, that Tessa had offered me one of those nasty sticks and to shut his fucking mouth. I had to remind myself that this was needed in order to gain some pity on Tessa's part as well as form some bonds of trust. I needed to just deal with this if I ever wanted to see my loved ones again.

Not only was I being yelled at, he was treating Tessa as if she were the impressionable teenager and I, the bad-influenced adult. I needed to suck it up and take control of this situation.

Tessa just rolled her eyes. "Would you just shut-up for two seconds, Deano. Act a little more professional. She didn't do-"

I cut Tessa off before she blew this whole thing back up in my face. "I didn't steal anything. I didn't even know what it was. It was just lying around and I opened it while I was talking to Tessa. I haven't had a smoke in days, mate, so Tessa found me a lighter and I offered her one. She's twenty, not two; I didn't see it as a problem. So chill the fuck out."

I was dangerously close to breaking point. Dean seemed to back off a few steps and Tessa's face was so screwed up I knew she was on the brink of laughing to tears. I should have expected Tessa wouldn't really care if she was caught, but by the way she tried to scramble to hide the cup and the case I knew she just didn't want to deal with this tantrum he was throwing.

Tessa's smirk was oddly empowering to me. "Yeah, what she said, Boss," she said in a mocking tone and winked my way.

Dean's eyes reverted back to their originally steeliness as he glared at her. "If you can't even see the possibly life threatening repercussions of this habit, then you're not an adult, Tessa. You could die if you keep this up! And you," he suddenly pointed towards me, "That chain I've got you on is getting a few feet shorter. You're the hostage here and I think I've given you a bit too much leverage over it!"

He suddenly threw the metal case against the white kitchen wall, making a loud clang and leaving a small dent. Tessa didn't flinch, but I jumped a mile high, not expecting that reaction. Dean always seemed so calm and in control. I almost forgot he was a murderer and a kidnapper.

"Dean!" Tessa shouted in warning moments after.

Dean suddenly stepped around the counter, grabbing the back of my neck and ripping me from my stool. The stool clanged backwards as it toppled over and Tessa, obviously not foreseeing this violent action, jumped from her own stool yelling after her cousin and I as he dragged me towards the living room. It was at that moment Alice appeared, startled and staring wide eyed at Dean and I.

"Boy! What do yeh think yer doin'?!"

"Punishment!" was his only reply as he shoved me up the stairs.

The grip his one large hand had on the back of my neck was painful. It felt like he was about to snap my neck in half. Tears blurred my vision, probably from the shock and humility of how he was forcing me up the stairs. I tried to fight against him but it was no use, he was just to strong and with anger his driving force I felt not even a fully grown man could break free.

When we got to the top of the stairs he forced me to walk towards the second door on the left. Pulling me back out of his way, he banged hard on the door with his fist until the owner of the room answered. Claudia ripped the door open with an irritated look on her makeup-less face. She was rubbing her eyes sleepily and was clad in only a pair of short pink night shorts and a white singlet top. Her long red hair that had been in perfect curls earlier was now dishevelled and falling all over the place. She looked as happy to see me as I was to be there.

"What the bloody hell Dean... I'm severely jet lagged and need sleep! Do you know how long it took me to get that old crow out of here so I could sleep!" she screeched.

He ignored the insult to Alice and shoved me inside.

"Hey! What do you think you're-"

Dean held up his free hand to silence her. "Tough. Sleep in one of the guest rooms. She's gonna' clean this room, her room and all of the damn downstairs rooms until this house is spotless. It's time Princess worked for her keep here and sees we aren't as nice to play with as she thought. Now get to it!" He shoved me inside the darkened room, leaving me to land on my hands and knees.

If it wasn't for my bandaged hands and knees I would have suffered some bad carpet burn.

I glanced back at him as he leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, just watching me. Claudia held a finger to her lip, as if thinking about something before grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh yeah? That doesn't sound like a bad idea, Dean," she chirped and let her free hand perch itself on his tensed shoulder.

I knew he was doing this because he noticed earlier I wasn't particularly fond of Claudia. Tears were finally falling from my eyes and I scrambled to wipe them away. Claudia laughed heartlessly, having now moved her other hand to Dean's chest. He either hadn't noticed the feminine display of affection or didn't care to notice.

"Ducky, do you like Claudia better than me?"

"Nah, she's too clingy."

Voices again... where were they coming from? They always seemed to plague me whenever I was really emotionally stressed or upset. I knew they hadn't come from Dean or Claudia because I had had them in my sight the whole time and they hadn't said anything like that. I was going insane.

I tried to stand up but the pencil skirt I had on was making it really awkward to do so. Claudia quirked a finely plucked red brow and covered up a little giggle with the back of her hand. I ignored it. Finally able to stand I went about the room, opening the curtains and letting in the warm midday sun. I felt so awkward with Dean and Claudia just standing there, observing me.

Suddenly, I could hear Alice from downstairs hollering out, "Boy, there's an urgent call for yeh from the Ladd's!" in an angry tone. Obviously she wasn't happy about the way Dean treated me, or females in general.

Dean swore under his breath. "Claudia, keep an eye on her until I send Alice up."

Claudia watched after him with a sulky look on her face as he left back downstairs. With a sharp look my way, she rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "I'm going to have a shower and get dressed, so don't move until I say so," and with that, left in the opposite direction of Dean down the hallway without waiting for my reply. Not that any reply I gave her would have been a nice one.

I was finally alone and couldn't have been happier.

I silently observed this large heavily girlish décor room. It was trendy, but looked like it hadn't been lived in for a while. Alice did say Claudia had been off in England studying in University. It had a bed that could have easily fit five people in plus a small child, and on it were some thrown back lime green sheets with a grassy green, flower covered duvet. The pillows matched the sheets and the entire bed layout matched the violet coloured walls nicely.

Posters and clips boards lined the walls. A desk sat in the corner with a working MAC laptop closed on top of it and girly trinkets hung from the built in shelves above the desk. On the opposite wall was a large old oak wardrobe that was opened and held no clothing or shoes. Further down beside the door was a bookcase filled with different books, a CD player attached to an ipod touch and a small LCD flat screen television with a DVD player. This chick had everything. The carpet even had flowers imprinted onto it and the ceiling had glow in the dark clouds, stars and a moon.

As I was so busy observing everything (and occasionally cleaning every now and then) that I failed to notice the short figure watching me in the doorway.

"Why'd you do that downstairs, huh?"

I jumped, spinning around when I heard that confident voice.

"Well?" Tessa pushed.

"I... well, that's what friends do, I suppose." I shrugged. "I mean, I don't have to live here so I didn't see any problem with me getting in trouble. I get my ass busted all the time with stuff I shouldn't be doing back home."

I expected Tessa to ask me why I did what I did, but not so soon. I hadn't even set up my explanation properly yet.

Tessa walked casually towards me, obviously holding back a shiver from being in Claudia's room. She gingerly lifted up Claudia's duvet and gave it a disgusted scowl.

"I can't believe he let that bitch do this to her room," she said under her breath.

I was busy picking up a few stray CD's when I heard her say this. Glancing over at Tessa, I asked, "Who?"

Tessa blinked then turned around to face me. "No one. Hey, to thank you for... back there... I'll help you clean up a bit. I mean, I hate owing anyone anything and even though your help wasn't necessary, I'm... grateful." She walked back out the door for a moment and then returned with Alice's cleaning cart. "This should please Deano. Make everything all sparkly."

I smiled gratefully and inspected the cart. It looked like she had just stolen one out of a five star hotel. It had every cleaning product imaginable and it would certainly make this punishment easier. It even had a vacuum attached to the back. I grinned up at her as I crouched to grab a green duster from the bottom tray.

"Nice. Thanks, Tessa."

She shrugged and grabbed a dust rag, spraying it with some dust cleaner. As she started cleaning window sills and I started on the bookshelf, she started to talk again.

"He's always like that, with anyone. I have diabetes so smoking thins out my blood, making it harder for my insulin to work properly. I only found out three months ago that I needed needles because I've always been on tablets. I found out I had diabetes when I was a teenager." She paused for a moment, and then laughed darkly. "Dean blames my parents and his Father, because when they were training us to take over this line of work we were pumped with high sugar energy drinks and different pills day and night to keep us awake and alert. By the time I was sixteen I needed to have my back teeth fixed because they had rotted out."

I nodded. Despite the guilt that settled in the pit of my stomach, I had to keep going with this plan.

"I understand, don't worry. I knew there had to be a reason then just, 'smoking is bad for you,' you know?" I turned to her and gave a sympathetic smile.

Hook...

Tessa smiled back, "Well, that's why I haven't gone with them on any jobs recently. I find it hard, if not impossible to give up smoking so I'm really sick a lot of the time. We're waiting for Adam to get back from Venice to see if I need to change my insulin."

"Seriously, you don't have to explain. Like I said, it's what friends do and you telling me this means you trust me, right?"

We had stopped cleaning by now and were just talking. Tessa stared at me for a good minuet, maybe sizing me up to see if she could truly trust me. I had my fingers cross.

Finally, she smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Line...

I laughed, a grin spreading across my face from ear to ear. Tessa followed suit and shook her head.

"It's weird. I'm used to talking like this to guys, you know? I never knew a girl could actually be normal, or like me. Most of the chicks that pass through here are all over Dean and the guys."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, I don't plan on having affections towards a bloke who does this to my neck." I pointed to the back of my neck, which was burning and probably had a mark. I lifted my hair to give her a better look and heard a little intake of breath; a very silent gasp.

When I turned back Tessa's eyes were widened. "He really did a number there. I'll ask Alice to take a look at it later until Adam gets back."

I nodded and watched as her eyes filled with guilt.

And that, my friends, was the Sinker...

SSS

Tessa and I were having a pretty fun time cleaning. She would ask me occasional questions about what it was like back home and complained that she had never been to Australia, namely because they never got jobs there. We were talking so much I didn't even notice Tessa stiffen. I also wasn't watching what I was doing. I wiped over the walls, heading towards the closed door until I felt someone push me away. I looked back and saw that I had rubbed the cloth right in Claudia's face without realizing it. I heard Tessa stifling a laugh, so that almost got me bursting out laughing, but the look Claudia gave me shut it up.

"You," she pointed at Tessa, "If you don't want your best friend getting into trouble for letting you help, get out," she ordered, hand waving towards the door.

Tessa took a threatening step forward, making Claudia flinch nervously.

"Tessa, its fine, you'd only be making an already bad situation worse."

I smiled and she stared at me a moment for some affirmation that I'd be okay. After she was sure I was alright with it, she walked out, glaring at Claudia before marching down the hall. Claudia had jumped a mile away from her, affirming my guess that Tessa wasn't afraid to make the red head bleed a little if the situation called for it.

Claudia and I were alone and I had to say, this girl scared me. She was a lot like a Dragon-Lady. Her eyes would cause burns with just one glare. I had to think of what she had done to all those other girls who had come through here aiming for Dean's heart.

"So, you're Dean's new job, huh?" she asked, rubbing her finger along the shelf I had just finished. "A pretty shabby clean; don't know why your worth so much," she muttered.

I glared at her but kept my mouth shut. She didn't like this response.

"Are you mute or just stupid? You were talking just fine in Dean's office," she snapped.

"Neither red, but keep at it and I might just find a new place to put this," I snapped, raising the dust rag I had in my hand. Claudia seemed to stiffen, but only for a second before her green eyes bore holes into my head.

"You wouldn't want Dean to know you're not being nice to the lady of this house, now would you? You were crying your eyes out not long ago so don't get to cocky, love," she sneered, a smirk tugging at the corner's of her lips.

Lady of the house, eh? She held herself pretty high on that horse of hers, didn't she?

I put the cloth down on the nearest desk. This moron I could handle, but Dean was another story. Her shoulders hoisted and I knew her air of confidence was back with a vengeance.

"Look, I don't know what you did to Dean, but he's pretty pissed which means he doesn't hold you to high in regards right now. Not that a little job like you should even be allowed out of its room. This probably mean's he doesn't want to have to check on your ass once a day to make sure you're alive." Her voice was getting one decimal higher by the second.

"He may have gone through some of the little rules, but here are the actual rules. When I say jump, you say 'how high, Claudia?' got it?" She frowned when I didn't answer. "Okay, I'll make this easier for you to understand. In other words, when I want something I get it now. Understood?" She was getting annoyed, I could tell.

I laughed and shook my head. "Sure, whatever," I said calmly and went back to wiping the bookshelf.

She ripped the cloth from my hand and spun me around by my shoulder. I was ready to lunge at her when she stepped back and pulled up her sleeve.

"See this bruise; I got it from a fall back in England. But I could say you gave it to me. He can already tell you don't like me; we already had a talk about that. Whatever stunt you pulled downstairs doesn't give you a very good sense of character to Dean, so who do you think he'll believe? Me, whom he's known all his life, or you... a job he has to babysit for a few days?" A sinister smirk formed on her face and the answer was clear.

If what Alice told me was true, Dean and she were close. Did I really want to get in trouble with a guy who could possibly kill me just because I didn't do a few extra chores? I sighed and looked at Claudia, trying to hide my evident anger. This deffinatly was a setback in my otherwise smoothly working plan.

After a short debate with that inner-voice that continued to argue with me, I sold my soul to the Devil... again.

"How high, Claudia?"

She grinned.

Oh, but Claudia, you may have won the battle, but my war was with Dean and it was far from over.

Final Words:

Skye: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade and use the profits to buy assault rifles, then see if life makes the same mistake..."