Title:Nothing As It Seems
Author:Kathryn Butler
Email: NinthWorldWonder@yahoo.com
Rating:PG-13 for now although this could change.
Characters:HHH, Chyna,The Kat,Shawn Micahaels, Jeff Hardy ......etc
Distribution: I don't care where you put it.Just let me know and don't change anything and leave my name on it.
Disclaimer: This is your usual song and dance. It all belongs to Vince and the WWFEI with the exception of the character Kat who I created and is based on myself.The title belongs to Pearl Jam.
Spoilers: Nope.This takes place in my little fantasy world.
Notes: Feedback is so very appreciated. Hell I'd even love to hear some criticism!
"Excuse me, do you know where I can find the make up room?" I was drawn out of my thoughts by a thick southern accent coming from behind me. I turned around to see who had addressed me and I was shocked to see Stacey Carter although she is better known by her ring name "The Kat". She's a dear friend who I haven't seen in forever.
"Stacey, I haven't seen you in so long!" I squealed overjoyed to see my former best friend. I knew instantly by the confused look on her face that she didn't recognize me. I couldn't really blame her though seeing how much I had changed since I'd last seen her several months before.
Back then I had worn mostly t-shirts and track pants and I usually played up a more tom-boyish look. It was quite a contrast between the style I had adopted and was now sporting. I was wearing black fitted pants and a black tank top that was somewhat low cut and a red leopard skin cowboy hat.
"It's me Kathryn,I'm here with Shawn tonight since he's making an appearance." I explained hoping she'd catch on.
"Oh my God. You're kidding! You look so different! Oh Kat, I'm so glad to see you!!!" She pulled me close to her for a hug and squeezed me tightly. There was only one person I had ever really trusted and that was Stacey, so it was a very emotional reunion.
After we had talked for while and caught up with each others lives I explained to her how I had been searching the arena for Shawn and had ended up completely lost. Although as luck would have it she didn't know anything about the arena either. We'd both been there before but it had been with others who knew their way around. Since we didn't know exactly which way to go we decided to sit down in the hallway and talk while we waited to be rescued.
It was almost six o'clock when Shawn finally found us. He said he'd been looking all over for me and next time he wasn't letting me go off without supervision. Stacey and I couldn't help but laugh at that. I'm eighteen years old and I certainly don't need supervision and I don't want some guard following me around making sure I don't get into trouble.But I didn't tell Shawn that since I knew better than to argue with him. He always wins.
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I sat back on the couch in Shawn's locker room watching Raw from the monitor that was sitting on the coffee table. The match between the Godfather and D'lo Brown was of no particular interest to me so I decided to grab a snack from the vending machines to waste time before the last couple of matches. I grabbed some change off the table and made my way down the hall.
As I made my way over to the snack machines I noticed a man with multicolored hair standing in the hall talking with Bradshaw. I'm not sure exactly what it was that had caught my attention about him but I couldn't help but stare. I also couldn't help but wonder who he was. I was sure we hadn't met on a prior occasion but it looked as if he might be one of the wrestlers. I felt a hand touch my shoulder and I turned around to see Stacey grinning at me like a cheshire cat.
"You weren't checking out a certain Mr.Hardy were you?" she quizzed.
"Who?"
"Jeff Hardy, the guy you were staring at . Do you like him or something?" she asked curiously.
"No, I uh wasn't staring. I don't even know him what makes you think I like him?"
"Oh nothing I guess. But since you don't know him yet I think I better introduce you two" she said grabbing my hand and started pulling me down the hallway towards Jeff who was still talking to Bradshaw.
"Hey there what are you two ladies up to?" Bradshaw greeted us as we were approaching him.
"Not too much really. I just thought I'd introduce Kat here to Jeff since I don't believe they've met yet." Stacey explained.
"Jeff this is Kathryn, Shawn Michaels' sister. She's here with him tonight for the show. Kat this Jeff Hardy, he's one another one of the wrestlers" Stacey said introducing us.
Jeff grinned and nodded hello "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." I said becoming suddenly shy. Which was unusuall for me since I was such an outgoing person.Stacey and I stayed and talked for awhile with Jeff and Bradshaw untill Jeff had to leave for his match against the tag team champions Too Cool. The whole time I couldn't help but stare at him and I only hoped he hadn't noticed.
We then went to Stacey's locker room which she shared with Joanie Laurer or better known as Chyna and finished watching Raw. When Joanie came in after her match she asked if we'd both like to go out clubbing later and we decided that would be a great idea and we'd meet her in the hotel lobby around 11:15 p.m.
When I made it down to the pool area it was 11:05. And the area was completely deserted which kind of surprised me since the pool doesn't close down untill 1:00 and it was considerably warm outside. I sat down in one of the lawn chairs and took in the view. It was later than I usually stayed up and I was a little tired so I thought I'd lay back and rest for a minute or two.
I felt a hand shake me gently and I began to open my eyes. I was surprised to see Jeff infront of me laughing quietly.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked.
"Not a clue. Probably eleven something, I haven't been out here long."
Jeff smiled and shook his head at me. "It 's 1:45.You must have fallen asleep out here. "
"Oh my God I was supposed to meet Stacey hours ago! She's going to be so worried since I didn't meet her like I was supposed to. Do you know if she and Joanie left anyways?"
"Ummm I haven't seen Stacey or Joanie since the show. No, wait I take that back. I think I saw Joanie and Paul walking together in the hall infront of my room.But that was like an hour ago."
"Guess I better find one of them and explain." I said getting up from the lawn chair. "And thanks for waking me up Jeff. You're a lifesaver."
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I walked towards the front desk to see if maybe Stacey had left me a message . The desk clerk was a young girl probably about 19 or 20 and she was engaged in a conversation with someone on the phone. "May I help you?" she asked now holding the receiver in her hand.
"Yes, I was wanting to check to see if I had any messages."
"Do you have a name?"
"Kathryn Hickenbottom."
"No. I don't have you listed here.Sorry." she said picking up the receiver and resuming her previous conversation.
"Excuse me. Could you please check again?"
"I guess so." she said laying the phone down again. After typing my name in the computer again she looked up at me with a smirk. "No, I don't have a Katherine Higgenbottom listed. Maybe you've got the wrong hotel lady."
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned around to face Paul Levesque.He smiled at me briefly before turning to the clerk.
"Listen ma'm the name is pronouned KATH REN not KATH ER N. And the last name is HICKENBOTTOM not HIGGENBOTTOM.So would you like to try that again?" Paul explained to a floored desk clerk who quite obviously recognized him as his wrestling persona Triple H.
"Yes sir, Mr. Helmsley. I'll try again." she said clearly embarrassed because of her behaviour towards me.
"Yes, I do have one message for you.It's from Mr.Shawn Michaels and he requested that you call him once you came in." she said almost choking as she read Shawn's name.
I nodded to her and grabbed Paul's hand leading him across the lobby. We sat down on the couch to talk and I noticed the same desk clerk staring in our direction. Most likely at Paul.
"Thanks for helping me out there Paulie she was really giving me a hard time." I said hugging him.
"No problem. You're like my little sister. It's my job to help you out."
"Have you by any chance seen Stacey or Joanie tonight?"
"No I haven't seen Stacey since the show.Joanie left with Chris Jericho about a half hour ago."
"Okay then. I guess I can just check up with them in the morning. Maybe you can walk me up to my room?" I asked.
"Sure thing ."
We approached the elevators and I pushed the button to go upwards. "So weren't you supposed to go out with the girls tonight?"Paul asked while we waited .
"Umm yeah. But I was out by the pool and I fell........"
I stopped talking mid-sentence and my jaw dropped.The elevator doors had opened and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I tried to say something to Paul but instead I let out a deafening scream.
Stacey's body lay in the elevator floor, blood was oozing from her bottom lip which was busted open and her body was lifeless.I rushed to her side first lifting her arm and checking her pulse.Paul stared at me and then down at Stacey before running back towards the lobby."I'm going to call for an ambulance!" he yelled back to me before disappearing down the hallway.
We had been at the hospital for about 15 mintutes when Stacey's boyfriend Scott Taylor arrived with his best friend Brian in tow.Soon after various superstars poured in steadily untill most of the WWF roster was packed into the small waiting room. A doctor finally came out to update everyone on her condition around 4:00 in the morning. She had suffered mild head trauma and she had fractured her collar bone but other than that she was fine .The hospital wanted to evaluate her for a three day period and after that they would give her a release to go back on the road.
I decided to go back to the hotel with the promise from Scott that he'd call if anything changed or Stacey woke up. I really had to have sleep because I had to go with Paul down to the Police Station around 10:00 a.m. to give our statements.Something I wasn't particulary thrilled about considering by the time I got in bed I would only get about 4 hours of sleep, if that.
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I walked into my hotel room to find Shawn pacing back and forth and repeatedly running his hands through his hair. "Where the hell have you been?" he yelled .
"At the hospital. I was surprised you weren't there."
"Why were you at the hospital? What happened?" Shawn's voice was laced with a hint of worry. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I'm surprised you don't know. Someone attacked Stacey in an elevator and she's unconcious at the moment but it's not too severe.Thank God. We called and told Scott and after that the news spread like wildfire.Almost everybody in the federation knows.I'm kind of afraid the press might pick up on this."
"Yeah I guess the media would be something to be concerned about. Anyway you said we.You mind if I ask who?"
"Paul actually."I finished giving Shawn most of the details before asking him to leave.He understood I needed to rest so I promised to explain the rest after I got back from the Police Station later.Maybe over lunch.
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I woke up to hear someone pounding loudly on the door.I untangled myself from the bed sheets and dragged myself to the doorway . Looking back at the clock I saw the bright red numerals announcing it was only 7:37 a.m. and I that I shouldn't be up just yet. I opened the door to see a frantic Chris Jericho with a raised fist preparing to beat the door down.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked swinging the door open wider .
"Move." Chris grunbled pushing his way past me and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "I think Joanie left me.We went out to a club last night and we got in an arguement about something completely stupid. I came back to the hotel last night alone and I figured once she calmed down she'd be back too but I woke up this morning and some of her things were gone and she hadn't come back yet." he explained tears welling up in his eyes.
At this point I was just confused. Chris and I didn't know each other all that well and I had no idea why he was in my room close to tears telling me about his relationship problems.Although the more I thought about the whole situation the more humorous it became.
"Umm Chris, no offense but why the hell are you telling me?"
"Oh well the reason I'm here is to find out if you've seen her. I know you guys are pretty close friends and I knew she wasn't with Stacey so I thought she'd be here or you'd know where I can find her." he said wiping his eyes with his shirt sleeve.
"Actually I haven't seen her since yesterday at the arena."
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"Kathryn." Shane said approaching me. I was just leaving Stacey's hospital room. She had woken up several hours earlier while I was at the Police Station and I had come to check up on her.
"Yes?" I asked turning around to face him.
"I wanted to talk to you for a minute about something. Have you had lunch yet?" he asked.
We sat down at the table the waitress has led us to and placed our orders for drinks. I looked up at Shane and watched him fidget around in his seat. I could tell by looking into his eyes that something was bothering him and that put me on edge.
"Kat, I was talking to Shawn before the show yesterday and he mentioned something to me . He said that you actually attended his academy?"
"Umm yeah I was well still am really. He'll continue training me once we get back to San Antonio tomorrow." I said nervously as a result of Shane's tense behaviour.
" Yes, well I've been thinking. When Stacey gets out of the hospital she might be at risk considering we still don't know who did this to her. And because of that she could definitly use some protection. Dad and I discussed placing a bodyguard with her but then we decided that maybe it would be better if we found someone she'd be more comfortable around. That's when you came to mind. Besides that we thought maybe if this person decided to attack Stacey again they would most likely do so even if you were around. Most people wouldn't think that you were capable defending yourself against an attacker because of your small frame. That way maybe we can catch this guy.What do you think?"
"Wow. You know I think that sounds great. " I said before being interupted by the waitress who was bringing us our drinks and the menus.
"Great. You can start as soon as Stacey gets released and then we can have Shawn send your things to the hotel here since you'll be here with her for another couple days untill she gets out." Shane replied now a little less tense.
"Sounds goot to me."I nodded my head and smiled.
"Oh God please change the station." I moaned as Britney Spears' latest hit started blaring from the radio. Stacey quickly obliged changing it over to a station playing the last few bars of "Californication" by the Chili Peppers.
"I hate her . She's so annoying!" Stacey giggled from the passenger seat.
"Yeah I know what ya mean. " I nodded my head . We were on our way to Shreveport,LA to the next show.Stacey had just been released from the hospital that morning and we were anxcious to get to the house show.
"Umm Kat. I don't want to worry you or anything but I think we missed our exit." Stacey said sarcastically pointing towards the sign that read "Welcome to Biloxi".
"Oh shit . We're in Mississipi! We weren't supposed to go through Mississipi!" I pulled the car over and began looking for the atlas. I pulled it out from under the seat and flipped around trying to figure out where we had taken a wrong turn. After about half an hour of searching we realized that we had passed our exits in Oklahoma,Arkansas,and Tennesse.
"Great we're fucked!" Stacey yelled opening her car door and getting out.
"What can I say? I'm not used to road trips!" I screamed getting out of the car also and taking a seat on the hood.
"Yeah will this is the last time I let you drive!"
"What the hell? Ok so maybe I got us a little off course. I'm sure if we just call Shane he can help us out."
"Yeah and say what? Oh by the way we're in Mississippi and we missed all our damn exits. Help us out? Hello! He's not a friggin' road map!" She yelled throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.
"Fine. Let's find a gas station. They will have a map and then YOU can figure out how to get us there since you do know everything!" I yelled throwing her the car keys.Storming past Stacey I sat down in the passenger seat slamming the car door behind me.
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I rolled over in the seat and looked up at Stacey who had been driving for about an hour and a half. "Where are we?" I asked sitting up in the seat.
"Right outside of Baton Rouge.I called Shane while you were asleep.He gave me the directions.You were right I should have just let you call at first.Sorry."
"Yeah me too.I was a real bitch earlier." Stacey half smiled at me and reached for the volume button to turn the radio down.
"Kat, why didn't you tell me Joanie is missing? You know she's my friend too and I didn't need to hear that from Shane." She turned to look at me and I bit my lip. I had been trying to avoid this.I watched the tears well up in her eyes and I held my breath wishing I would have told her sooner.
"Do you want me to drive? I know your shoulder must be hurting.I mean with your fractured collar bone and all." I asked.
"You're avoiding the question!"
"I didn't tell you because you don't need to deal with this on top of the attack and everything.Besides she'll probably show up tonight. I mean she probably just left Chris and wanted to be alone for a couple days." I wasn't exactly sure of everything I was saying but I was hoping it would put Stacey at ease.
"Yeah.Kat, you're probably right. " she said softly. I could tell she was saying that more to help herself to believe it than anything but I decided to just shrug it off and nap the rest of the way to Shreveport.
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I looked up at the clock on the locker room wall to see that there was an hour untill the show started.I pulled my laptop out of my backpack and set it up. I logged on to find I had several emails.A small screen popped in the middle of my email and I noticed it was and instant message from my friend Amanda.
angl036: hey kat
kat3867: hi amanda
angl036: so what exactly happened to Chyna? can you tell me what's going on?
kat3867: what do you mean?
angl036:well rumors are going around the net that she disappeared.
I sat back looking at the screen in shock.I had no idea that the people on the internet would find out about Joanie disappearing so fast.She hadn't been scheduled to appear on Smackdown or even the house show tonight so it wasn't like she had been missing appearences.
kat3867: i can't tell you what's happening right now. i've gotta go but call me later okay?
I signed off and put my laptop away. I needed to find Vince's office and fast.
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I ran down the hallway towards the sound area. I assumed someone there could probably tell me where to find Vince. I looked around and found Jimmy Dunn talking with one of his assistants.I figured since he was one of the supervisors he could direct me to the office area.
"Excuse me?" I said approaching him.
"Kat! Hey I haven't seen you in months!" Jimmy exclaimed reaching out and drawing me into a big hug."What are you doing back here?" he asked finally letting me go.
"Actually I'm looking for Vince. Know where I can find him?"
"Yeah. Try Anaheim,California. He went on to there since that's where Raw's gonna be Monday. Linda is here somewhere though." he added helpfully.
"Ok thanks Jimmy." I mumbled before taking off down another hallway which led to more locker rooms.
http://212.123.229.24/mp3/20753.mp3
