Contractor: Chapter - 28

Stupid sexy Latin lovers

I was distracted from my next move by a knock on the door. We were on our third game. The first one ended in about a minute, the second lasted about an hour, the third one had been going on for at least four hours. I’d seen people use timers before and I’d asked about it, but Amy thought it would be unfair to me if I didn’t have the time to think things through. I wasn’t the only one taking a long time to make a move though. Every now and then I would get lucky and make a move that would throw off her game. I knew I would lose, but at the rate I was going the fifth game would likely go last over a day and I might get close to winning by the seventh or eighth game.

“I hope you’re not too busy, Samantha, I need an extra set of eyes.” Dante walked in. He was cleaned up and wearing an expensive looking pinstripe suit with a red tie. The suit made him look more intimidating, but he still didn’t look old enough to actually intimidate me. Not that I really felt like I could be intimidated by anyone else, he was the only person I had to fear anymore and I really didn’t.

“Do you need me to watch your back while you infiltrate some kind of secret base or something?” I moved a piece.

“Something like that.”

“Mind if I finish first?” At the current rate that would probably be a good bit longer. Keeping him waiting didn’t feel like real revenge but there wasn’t much I could really do anyways.

“You already lost. Amy has her queen in position to both block your offensive units and angle in on your king while fortifying her queens position with her remaining bishop and that pawn. She’s about to take your knight and declare check, you’ll castle, she’ll move in her rook and you’ll have no choice but to feed her your pawns until she can get a mate on you.” I looked back at the board for a solid five minutes, he was right. I hadn’t been thinking ahead that far, but Amy probably had.

“Actually Dante, checkmate.” Amy moved her rook in and I was already cornered. “It pays to think three moves ahead of your opponent’s three moves ahead and have a contingency in case they’re just as smart as you are.” That made no sense to me. Obviously I wasn’t doing it right.

“You’re done then.” I glared at Amy, who realized too late that I’d been trying to make him wait. For someone who could think so far ahead in a game, she had terrible foresight in real life. “Let’s go.”

“Sorry.” Amy shrugged. “I just can’t shut it down sometimes.”

“You’re fine.” I sighed as I stood and followed Dante to the door. “So where exactly are we going this time?”

“To another contractor’s den.” He grimaced at his own idea, like the idea sounded just as bad to him as it did to me. I didn’t even know what to expect, but the way he said den made me think of the biblical story of Daniel… only perhaps Dante didn’t have the favor of God. Which meant I didn’t either by extension. If he was nervous, I was about to throw up.

“Might I ask why?”

“I need to make a deal for something they shouldn’t have, but do.” He said it so casually it sounded easy. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be.

“I assume this is dangerous?” Why else would he want me, his meat shield, to come with him?

“Incredibly.”

“More dangerous than robbing a grave?”

“About on par actually.” I paused unable to ask the question in time. “There was a fifty percent chance that the corpse double you dug up would be a zombie instead.” That would have been nice to know, although I wouldn’t mind saying I had a zombie killing scar. It’d make an interesting start to the collection I assumed I would be getting.

“How is another contractor as dangerous as a zombie? Aren’t you all in the same evil organization or something?”

“It’s more dangerous for me than you really. She’s more keen on torturing men than women. Though she has deviated from that pattern in the past.” I paused on that note for a second. We were going to see a female contractor. Hope hadn’t set the best precedent for that, and her and Dante got along well. “As for being in the same evil organization, we don’t organize. I’d say that it’s safe to assume that nearly all contractors hate each other.”

“You’re not all evil either, right?” I sneered.

“I didn’t say that.” At least he owned up to it. For a guy that ultimately had total control over me he was taking my snide remarks very well. He wasn’t even fighting it, if all I could do was aggravate him it would be worth it, but no. He was annoyingly calm.

“Didn’t say what?” Hope had practically skipped down the hall and into Dante’s arms. It was disgusting how lovey-dovey she was with him, and not in the way you’d think. Amy’s stories had made her into a sick and twisted individual in my head, it felt so wrong for her to have any kind of happiness.

“That I wasn’t a horrible, evil person.”

“Who would call you otherwise?”

“Samantha seems to be under the impression that I’m playing nice with her.”

“He isn’t.” She turned to me. “He just has a hard time being rude to girls, which is why I don’t want him going to see Trish without me.” So I was only really going with him because of her, wonderful. “But he’ll pull the strings and make you dance when the time comes. It’s what I love about him.” It made perfect sense that their relationship was based on a mutual love of cruelty and victimizing people.

“Well it’s nice to get that out in the air.” I rolled my eyes, why bother hiding my growing disgust at their relationship. “Can we get going now? You’re making me sick.”

“You can’t get sick.” It’s like Dante just didn’t get it.

“Well you’re making an immortal girl wish she could kill herself, so let’s go.”

“Fine, if you want to just run into things. Let’s go, we’ll see how well you do when you’re confronted with a situation you’re not prepared for.” Dante pulled Hope off and grabbed me by the shoulder. For a slender guy he had a killer grip.

It was still disorienting traveling with him. I thought I might get over it eventually, but the extreme change of scenery made it a little worse than it had been before. We’d landed on the front steps of a mansion. It was so big I couldn’t see all of it from so close, and I wasn’t even that close. There were a good bit more steps up to giant marble pillars and then huge golden doors. Whether it was real solid gold or not I couldn’t be sure, I’d never seen doors made out of solid gold before. I turned around to see if there was some marker of where the mansion was but there was only a massive courtyard circling around a giant fountain trickling away like the place was no big deal. A high and trim cut hedge hid anything beyond the courtyard except the sky which looked exceptionally blue.

“Where are we again?” I gulped in awe of the beauty and size of the place.

“Trish’s place.” There was no way this could be common, even for a contractor. Dante’s place wasn’t like this, although I’d only seen the inside and only a very little bit. Dante’s place could have been bigger for all I knew.

“You don’t seem too shocked. Is this kind of thing normal for you guys?”

“It’s just for show really, it’s not all that practical if you think about it. With all this yard space she needs people to keep it looking like this, that means contracts and souls and bargaining and worrying about it all. Whether this type of place is common or not, I’m not sure. I don’t socialize.”

“Please don’t tell me you’ve never met this woman before.” He had referred to her so informally, so I had assumed they at least knew each other well.

“We’ve met once before… in passing.”

“So you hardly know her and you’re just going to walk in and ask for something out of the blue?”

“Something very valuable, yes.” This was unbelievable. He was crazy. I was stuck with a crazy contractor.

“And you think that will work?”

“I don’t see why not, it’s not like she really likes or needs it. She doesn’t really like objects. She likes people. I intend to seduce her and convince her that she doesn’t need it to get what she wants.” That sounded a little less crazy, but by no means sane.

“Okay two things. One, what is this thing you need to get from her so badly? And two, what is it that she wants from it?”

“The object in question is an extraordinary piece of glass that offers no reflection. What she wants from it is very simple I don’t see what you don’t get about that part.”

“What do you mean simple? You’re confusing me.”

“She likes people, particularly men. You heard the way Hope talked about her, so what do you think she’s worried about?”

“She’s a seductress isn’t she…” I groaned. It wasn’t even a question. It was just a blatant statement of his stupidity. “You want to try to seduce a seductress?”

“That was the plan, yes.”

“You’re crazy. There’s no way that’ll work.”

“Actually, I’m a little turned on.” I spun back around to see a woman standing two steps up from us. Her voice oozed wealth and elegance, and she definitely looked the part. She was like an Egyptian goddess in a little black dress. I had never once in my life been so jealous of another girls looks. She had the figure of a super model, flawless olive skin, and long black hair that fell to just above her waist in perfect waves. “I didn’t know you were so conniving. I like it.”

“Seriously, does every female contractor like disgusting and treacherous men?” I mean seriously, even if I’d only met two, it felt like it was going to be a trend.

“What’s not to like?” I found it very hard to argue with her. Her perfection was intimidating, something I had just thought I would never feel again.

“Ignore her, I’m the one that wants to talk business.” Dante suddenly sounded like he was taking things seriously, it was a quick change. It was beginning to feel like he had been putting on a play for her earlier. He did actually have a plan. I hoped.

“So formal and demanding, you said you were going to try and seduce me but I didn’t think it’d actually work.” She lifted her hand to cover her face like she was hiding a blush, which I’m sure she wasn’t. “Here I am talking about seduction and we haven’t even been properly acquainted…?”

“Dante, my name is Dante. I’m taking over for Victor in lieu of his sudden… retirement.”

“Ahh, Dante, like the divine comedy. I’m Patrisha, but you may call me Trish. Patrisha just sounds too formal.” She walked up to him to have him kiss her hand. I hadn’t noticed until I’d actually seen her walk, but she was barefoot. Her footsteps weren’t soft though, the clinking of golden anklets and bangles on her wrists and ankles made her far from stealthy. “It really is a shame about Victor. He was such an interesting man, so hard to figure out. Julian and I even made a game out of trying to figure out what he was thinking based on his expressions.”

“How is Julian?”

“He just woke up this morning and we’ve been enjoying ourselves. Julian!” Trish called back up the steps and a man dressed in a toga and carrying a palm frond walked down the steps to stand by her side. His toga wrapped over his right shoulder and left the top left corner of his chest exposed. There was a good sized scar over his heart.

“Yes?” He sounded about as unenthusiastic as I felt. There was no question about it, he was a collector.

“Death’s just arrived, tell Hannes to prepare something.” She looked at me again as if remembering I was there. “And take her… somewhere.”

“Okay.” He sighed and started walking without bothering to ask me to follow. I looked to Dante but he just gestured for me to follow Julian as Trish grabbed him by the arm like Hope had done and walked him through the doors ahead of Julian. “Are you coming or not?”

“Right behind you.” I sighed as I walked up behind him.

“So, you got a name new girl?” I guess it was easy to tell a new collector apart from an older one.

“Samantha, and how did you know I was new?” I was only half paying attention to our conversation, I was in awe of the beautiful decorations on the inside of the house. The inside made the outside look like a city park. There were so many shiny and expensive looking things I had to make a conscious effort to keep track of where I was going.

“You’re still looking for confirmation, eventually you just know what they want and they don’t even have to ask.”

“How long have you been a collector then? If it’s not too rude to ask, that is.”

“It’s not rude at all.” I was walking behind him but I could hear the smile in his voice. “Two thousand years I think… or somewhere around there. Long enough to stop caring.”

“Two thousand years?” Amy at three hundred was acceptable, two thousand years sounded impossible to live through.

“Yeah, archaeologists dig up stuff from when I was alive. I’m old.” I was more impressed with how well he’d maintained his sanity for so long.

“Sorry, it’s just crazy. I mean I’ve only been a collector for a few days and I already hate it.”

“New Death doesn’t seem so bad. He looks better than old Death. Less interesting though, I don’t think many people could top Victor there.”

“Who’s Victor anyways?”

“He was the last incarnation of Death, had the job since the plague years. Those were good times, so many souls. Trish was in such a good mood for the longest time. Sounds like old Vic retired though. Don’t suppose you’ve met his daughter’s collector... Amy?” He sounded hopeful. He had just created so many more questions in my head though.

“Yeah, she’s been showing me the ropes. How do you know her?”

“Trish and Hope had a very brief friendship. Collectors don’t often get the chance to mingle so we got to know each other while we could. She’s a smart girl, you’re going to want her on your side.” He stopped and paused for a second. I wasn’t paying enough attention and ran into his back. “What’s Hope doing sticking around with new Death anyways?”

“I don’t think that’s something for me to say, and I would rather not talk about it. Hope disgusts me.”

“You’ll absolutely hate Trish then. They’re practically the same person only Trish is all grown up and far more creative with her punishments.”

“I already feel bad for you.” Collectors got the short end of the stick every time it sounded like.

“Don’t, I married her before we were like this. I bit the bullet for men everywhere, probably the noblest thing I’ve ever done.” He stopped in front of a door. “Here’s the kitchen, I just need to step in and tell Hannes that he needs to make more food that nobody will eat, poor guy.”

“Mind if I join you?” I was curious and it was probably a bad idea to leave me alone to my own curiosity in a place full of shiny expensive things.

“Be my guest.” Julian pushed the door open and motioned me through. “Hannes, we have company.”

“I know I know, it’s always so quiet here that I can hear a door opening from a mile away.” Julian was facing towards me and mouthing everything Hannes was saying. “I can hear your mouth moving too Julian.”

Hannes looked exactly like his name sounded, big, blonde, muscled, tan, and German looking. Oh and shirtless. He was shirtless. He wasn’t the first man I’d seen shirtless, but he was the most impressive. The kitchen, much like the rest of Trish’s mansion was enormous. Hannes already had several things cooking on the stove that smelled absolutely delicious. My mouth was watering seconds after walking in and I was finding it hard not to drool. It was odd, I hadn’t felt the need to eat in days but now I wanted to eat like there was no tomorrow.

“So who is it?” Hannes asked as he checked a pot of what smelled like beef stew.

“Death’s decided to pay us a visit.”

“Victor’s here? I didn’t think he’d show up after Hope and Trish decided they hated each other.”

“It’s not Victor, he retired. Some new kid’s going around calling himself Death now. This is his meat shield, Sam.” Julian nodded to me. I frowned, I didn’t like being called Sam, it was too boyish.

“Pity, I liked Victor. He had decent morals for an ink scratcher.”

“As far as you know. He probably made his chef cook shirtless too.”

“I bet they didn’t look as good shirtless as I do though.” They both laughed. I was intrigued, they acted so normal like they were actually friends. Yet they were just bound to the same eternity of servitude.

“That smells… really good.” The food certainly hadn’t left my mind, despite my interest in the friendly relationship between the two contracted men. I still had to make a conscious effort not to drool all over myself.

“It better, I sold my soul for culinary skills.” Hannes laughed. “Should have read the contract a little better though, I somehow missed the part where I ended up Trish’s personal chef forever.”

“And the part that turned you into a sexy muscle head and the part that makes you take your shirt off when you cook.” Julian was still laughing. “When Trish told me we were adding a cook to the staff I didn’t think she’d be able to sexualize the position, turns out it wasn’t that hard.”

A ding sounded from somewhere in the kitchen and Hannes started to plate the food and put it on a dining cart. There were two small bowls of soup, some biscuits, and a tray with a tea set. I’d never actually had tea like that, sweat tea or stuff from a can yeah, but this smelled oddly refreshing. I’d never tasted a tea I’d liked, but I got the feeling I would have liked anything Hannes made.

“Well I better get going before it turns out they don’t want food anymore.” Hannes laughed lightly as he threw his shirt back on and pushed the cart out through a set of double doors. I got a glimpse of the massive open room through the doors as they swung back. I could just make out Dante and Trish sitting across from each other, neither of them looking too excited, but I couldn’t see any sign of hostility.

“How’s it look? Is one of them dead yet?” Julian had snuck up behind me and was trying to peek through the crack between the doors.

“They don’t seem hostile at the moment.” I muttered, a little offended that he would think Dante was dead. Perhaps it was childish but I was getting close to feeling like it was a competition of whose contractor was better. I didn’t exactly like Dante, or Death, or whatever the heck he called himself, but I wasn’t sure what would happen to me if he died, seeing as how he had my soul and all. “Who knows though, if there’s anything he’s good at it’s manipulation.”

“And you know this how?” Julian laughed. He had a point too, I hardly knew him, and the little bit of him that I did know was only from a few moments.

“Well, for one, I’m here and not staked and buried in a coffin somewhere. As much as I hate to say it I’d do pretty much anything he asked.” What other choice did I have?

“Why? You’re so young, rebellion should be natural.” Julian sounded honestly confused. “It takes years before most contractors figure out how to break their collectors. Aren’t you a little embarrassed?”

I just shook my head. I had figured he wouldn’t understand it, I hardly did. It had to have all been a part of Dante’s mind game, the way I felt now was probably exactly what he wanted and he knew that having me meet Julian would make me figure it out. He was already a step ahead of me, his mind game was just a really large scale chess match.

“Why not?” I could tell he was frustrated.

“Like I said, I haven’t been staked through the heart and buried in a coffin yet. Most people would call that a win.” He was silent. “I’d say it’s a safe assumption that pretty much every contractor can’t let go of the hate they feel towards the person that murdered them. I didn’t kill him though, so I guess he treats me a bit better than the boy I actually killed might have.”