Post by Gerard Angelo on Jun 3, 2019 17:31:40 GMT -5
Who is Grimm?
Is he just a man?
One who uses an aura of fear and invincibility to gain an advantage before a match even starts?
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“Gerard! Gerard!”
“Over here!”
“Pose for me!”
Gerard Angelo adjusts his silk tie with one hand as he poses for some paparazzi pictures on the red carpet. Its the premiere of his movie Iron Horse, a movie about the life and career of Yankees legend Lou Gehrig. Gerry, of course, plays the adult Lou. In his humble opinion, he thought it was his magnum opus in that role.
“Gerry, can we get a pic of you and Misha?”
Gerard turned and glanced toward his date. She was a leggy blonde model of Eastern European descent. Misha…something or other. He couldn’t remember her full name. It didn’t really matter though, Gerard simply needed a date to the movie premiere, so he slides in to her DMs on Instagram. A short conversation later, he was taking the bombshell as his date. She was a knockout in a red dress that highlighted her assets. Gerard smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. He slides his hand onto the small of her back as they posed for pictures. Not that long ago, Gerard would have enjoyed envious glances of the men around him knowing he would take her home and take her to bed. Now, he had no desire to. Not that he didn’t think she was a beautiful woman, far from it in fact. He just couldn’t get his mind off Kara.
“Gerard, darling,” came Misha’s voice, with her semi-thick accent, tearing him away from his thoughts, “I think it time to see the movie, no?”
Gerard looked at her for a minute before his face cracked into his signature half-smirk.
“Of course, love.” The Hollywood Hero said, offering his arm, which she takes as they start walking to the theater. “So I hear you’re a swimsuit model. Must be fascinating.”
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Is he more than a man?
Something supernatural?
A god, maybe?
Or something far more sinister?
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Gerard stood in the corner, nursing a glass of champagne as he stares at his phone. The after-party is going on around him as producers and other actors alike drank and ate their fill. The spread was pretty good in Gerry’s opinion. He took a drink of the bubbly from his glass as he looked around. Misha giggled as the flock of men around her each attempted to be the center of her attention. Gerard was happy someone was giving her attention. She was a nice girl, but Gerard just couldn’t get Kara off his mind. Which was odd, considering she was engaged and wanted nothing to do with the Hollywood Hero. He downed the rest of the champagne and set the glass on the buffet table next to the trays of lobster claws.
Gerard looked around and made his way towards the double open doors that led to the balcony. He snatched another glass of champagne off a server's tray before heading outside. Nobody was out there as Gerard watched the sun setting over the Pacific. He set the glass down on the stone railing, reaching into his jacket pocket to produce a pack of Parliaments and a lighter. Gerry opened the pack and pulled one small white tube out and placed the recessed filter between his lips. He flicked the Bic lighter, bring the small flame near the end of the cigarette when he heard a women yell below him. Gerard looked down to see a young woman in a black dress, hanging by a ledge with two hands worth of fingers. Below her is a many foot drop down into rocky water.
“Are you alright?!” He yells down to the woman, and she looks up with an exasperated expression.
“Oh yeah, I’m grreat. Just hanging out, you know?”
Gerry leaned over the ledge and stuck a big hand down, grabbing the woman’s wrist. She latched onto him with her other hand and Gerard pulled her up. The young woman leaned against the stone railing, catching her breath. Gerry offered her his glass of champagne, which she accepted and chugged. He let out a laugh at that as she set the glass down with a clink on the stone.
“So why were you climbing up the side of a cliff in a dress?” Gerry asked. “New extreme sport?”
The girl rolled her eyes.
“I was trying to get into the party. They let all the other media types in, but won’t let me in because I’m a wrestling journalist. I’m here trying to get an interview with…heeeeeyyy…. you’re Gerard Angelo!”
Gerard sighs as the woman claps her hands together excitedly. “Yeeeahhh, that’s me. And you are?”
“Amanda Morgan. Wrestling News Daily.” She sticks out her hand. Gerard grips it in his own, shaking the hand of the skinny brunette.
“Nice to meet you.” The Man Without Peer says and he puts the cigarette between his lips and finally lights it. He lets out a cloud of blue-grey smoke as Amanda stares at him. He looks over at her. “You good?”
“Can I interview you?”
“No.”
She huffs. “Come on, man. I need a scoop.”
“You need to call my agent, like everyone else.” Gerard says as he ashes his cigarette. She crosses her arms over her chest.
“I have called your agent before, and I never hear back from anyone.”
Gerard nods. “Oh yeah, because I don’t do interviews with dirt sheets.”
“We are not a dirt sheet! We are a respectable wrestling news outlet!”
“Just because you put ‘News’ in your name doesn’t mean you’re not a dirt sheet.”
Gerard takes another drag from his menthol, taping the ash off it over the edge of the balcony, watching the breeze blow it out towards the ocean. Amanda crosses her arms over her chest.
“I scaled a cliff to get an interview from you! It’s the least you can do!”
“How are you trying to make this my fault?!” Gerry looks at her incredulously. “I didn’t tell you to climb a damn rock cliff in heels!”
“Please?”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No!”
Amanda suddenly drops to her knees and starts sobbing. Gerard freezes in shock, looking down at her with a face of terror. He looks over at the door where people notice the star of the movie with a crying girl in front of him on her knees. He had no idea what they were thinking. He tries to shush her.
“Please. Stop crying, please. Amanda you’re making a scene!” He hisses at her. She just starts sobbing even harder.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll give you a damn interview. Just stop!”
On cue she stops crying and stands up with a smile. She wipes her eyes with her long fingers, wiping away tears and mascara. Gerard realizes right then and there that he got got. He scowls at her. Amanda just shrugs.
“A woman in a man’s world has to have a few tricks up her sleeve.” She reaches under the hem of her dress and removes her phone that was taped to her thigh. As mad as Gerard was at getting played , he had to admire the young woman’s mindset to get what she wanted. He could learn a thing or two from this one.
Amanda held her phone out, obviously recording. “So, Gerard, how are you feeling just days away from your first World title defense against “The Hangtown Horror” a.k.a. Grimm?” He gives her a smirk.
“All business I see.” Amanda does;t answer but just shake the phone in her hand impatiently. Gerry sighs and flicks his cigarette over the balcony.
“You want to know how I’m feeling? Well, to be honest I’m feeling a little anxious. Not because I’m afraid of Grimm. It’s because I can’t wait to get into the ring with him.”
Amanda gives him a quizzical look. “You’re actually looking forward to facing Dillinger?”
“Is that an odd thing to say?” He asks. “I asked for this match. I wanted to face the absolute best Pure Class Wrestling had to offer. And nobody embodies that more than Grimm. He’s been here since the beginning and has outlasted every single flash in the pan star that’s ever set foot in the company.”
“I understand that, Gerard. But do you think calling him out is a smart move?”
The Hollywood Hero chuckles. “Smart? Absolutely not. But Grimm and I would have crossed paths eventually, and I’d rather face him on my terms. But I want to be a fighting champion. I don’t want to back down from a challenge. And Grimm is the most deserving challenger in the company right now.”
“So you think you’ve put in enough time to be able to take down a living legend while you’re here rubbing elbows with Hollywood’s elite, drinking expensive champagne and eating caviar?”
Gerard shoots Amanda a look and she just smirks. He rubs the stubble on his chin. “Are you questioning my preparation?”
“I’m just questioning the guy who’s been the World Champion for two months and has had one match which he lost. Do you think your Hollywood lifestyle is interfering with your duties as PCW Champion?”
Gerard grinds his teeth. He wanted to yell and lose his cool, but that's exactly what she wanted. He looked at her smirk and wondered if his opponents felt the exact same way he does right now for all these years.
“Listen, if there is one thing about me that can’t be questioned, it’s being prepared for big matches. In case you forgot, I’m the one that did what nobody else, not even Grimm could do. I beat Kyle Shane when it mattered. I’m the PCW Champion. Not Kyle, Not Stormm, Not Dominator, and not Grimm. Me. And you and everyone else is gonna watch Sunday when I take down PCW’s Boogeyman.”
Gerard looks at Amanda and smirks.
“You want a scoop, sweetheart? Well I got a spoiler for you on Sunday. The Hollywood Hero beats Grimm, and the legend of “The Hangtown Horror” just becomes a spooky bedtime story.”
Amanda smiles and shuts off the recording. “Thanks bud! Sorry for getting harsh with you, I just needed some juicy bits for the story.” She sticks her phone in her cleavage and turns to leave. She stops and turns back to Gerry.
“Hey, listen. I’ve been covering PCW for a long time. I know you probably don’t want any advice from someone who’s not ‘in the business’ but be careful. Grimm isn’t like anyone else I’ve ever seen. There’s just something different about him and I can’t put my finger on it. I dunno if he’s a demon or some kinda god, but there’s something powerful behind that red beard and blue eyes.”
Gerard shrugs.
“What’s a god to a non-believer? He’s just a man. And like any other man, he can bleed.”
Amanda looks at him with almost pity in her eyes and touches his shoulder.
“Good-luck, Gerard. You’ll need it.”
Amanda then turns and walks away into the party, leaving Gerard with only his thoughts. He didn’t get the fear Grimm brought down on fans and foes alike. Gerard was a massive skeptic. He didn’t believe in things unless he saw them with his own eyes, and had proven scientific data to back it up. Ghosts, Bigfoot, even God, Gerard believed in none of it. But everyone wanted him to believe Grimm was something more than human.
Gerry snorted. Grimm was only a man. Just like himself. Just like every man Gerard has ever faced. The only thing Gerard believed was Grimm was from the most racist sounding place in America.
Still, would it hurt to look into some non-traditional ways to stop Grimm?
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Man or god,
Demon or angel,
I kneel for no one.
I will not let you beat me mentally.
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Later on that night, Gerard was sitting in his darkened office, staring into the glowing screen of his laptop that sat on his big wooden desk. His date to the movie premiere was in bit of a shock when Gerard hadn’t asked her to stay the night and had the limo driver take her home. It was nothing a gift basket couldn’t fix. He had more important matters to deal with. He had spent the last four hours since arriving home, searching the internet for a certain supernatural being masquerading as a professional wrestler. No luck what so ever. Gerry rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, letting out a frustrated groan.
He was more frustrated by the fact he spent this long looking for something he didn’t believe in then not finding anything. This had him convinced that Phinehas was nothing more than a man with a great penchant for exaggeration. Still, being prepared for everything was part of who Gerard was.
Leave no stone unturned, son.
Gerard father’s voice echoed through his head as he made a sour face. He knew he was starting to lose it when his father’s advice was sounding reasonable. He needed to go to sleep.
Gerard put his MacBook on sleep, standing up out of the chair and stretching. He exited the office and walked down the hall, turning into his bedroom. Gerard practically hurled himself into bed, landing on the unkempt mound of blankets, sheets, and pillows. The World Champ turned over to his phone and checks it. Damn, still no answer he thought to himself. He looked at the row of blue, unanswered texts that made up most of the screen. The name at the top read, ‘Kara’. Gerard sighed thinking how creepy she probably thought he was. I should stop, he thought, before sending another text.
The last one, might as well shoot my shot.
Gerard tossed his phone on the table and turned over, closing his eyes. Visions of nooses hanging from gnarled trees and red-bearded devils filled his head.
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Grimm, Grimm,
go away,
I don’t fear you anyway.
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Kara De Marco slept peacefully in her bed, blonde hair spread out on the white pillow. She snored a bit as her phone vibrated on her nightstand, the light illuminating the dark room, a new iMessage from Gerard. A big hand suddenly appeared out of the darkness, snatching the phone off the table. The hand turned the phone, presumably for someone to read it from the darkness.
“Again?” a deep voice asked, trying to keep quiet as not to wake the sleeping woman. “This guy doesn’t give up, I see. This will be a problem.”
The thumb on the hand swipes the message open, before deleting the message. It locks the phone and sets it down in the same place, withdrawing back into the darkness from which it came.