Who: Lena and OPEN! When: Sunset Where: Billiards room
Lena still hadn't hit anything close to a fear of this place. The closest she'd come had been finding that jail cell in the basement, but that had ended quickly enough. Everyone seemed to think that this was the worst place in the whole world. Lena still didn't. She'd still take it over prison. She was still happy here. Happier than she'd been in a long time.
Sure, it wasn't perfect, and it wasn't the complete freedom she craved. But the way she saw it? It wasn't such a bad life here. She was provided for, which was weird, but not unpleasant. The food was good, and she could do as she pleased. That was two steps up from prison. She never had to wonder how she was gonna pay the rent, or for groceries, or when her next score was gonna be. That was a whole leap away from her life before she'd been put away.
The only issue, real issue, that Lena had run into so far was the pace. Some days were just slow. Her first few days in Mount Zenith had been more or less a blur of booze and food comas. The ants had managed to break her of the habit of hoarding food, and she was falling into a more regular routine here. But on the days where they were left to their own devices, or asked for nothing more than watching a few videos? It was almost too safe. Lena found she was beginning to crave a little action. A little danger. Fuck, most of all she just missed her car. She would have loved tearing around this town, even if it was empty. She'd taken out one of the snowmobiles a few times, and that was fun, but somehow just not the same.
As the evening approached Lena had begun to feel bored. A little restless. So she headed downstairs and into the billiards room for a drink. Lena drank a lot. She saw no reason not to. Alcohol was a vice she had not had the freedom to indulge in for too long a time, so why not? Wasn't hurting anybody, except maybe her liver. And who the fuck wanted to live to be 90, anyway? After pouring herself a glass of some top-shelf bourbon, she racked the balls on the pool table and got her favorite cue. She warmed up by clearing the table, then set six balls around the table for the butterfly. It took a few attempts, but by her third try, she nailed the trick. All six balls in a separate pocket from one hit. It wasn't showing off if you were alone.
Except she wasn't alone. Not here. Never here. Someone was watching. She found she didn't mind. A few weeks more in this place, she wouldn't be missing any of her shots.