Chapter Two

Liam Jenkins

I deal another hand, making sure that no one sees that I’m careful to place the best cards in certain people’s piles. As the game progresses, the pile of chips in the middle gets larger and larger. Finally, the man that I’d hoped to win displays his superior hand. Everyone else, including myself, folds, and the man claims the chips. Satisfied, he heads to the front to claim the coins that the chips are worth. Once he’s outside, I yell to Rich to take over my table and follow the man.

Once we’re outside, I get a good look at the man, younger than he seemed with the shadows of the Scales’ gambling room crossing his face. He’s wearing a dark blue suit coat and black pants, expensive black shoes on his feet. He swings a pocket watch by its chain. Dark brown hair falls over his silver-grey eyes, his skin tanned by the sun. I shadow him for a couple of blocks, purposely letting him see me a couple times, as if I’m being careless in following him. Finally, he slips into an alleyway. I follow him, palming my steel knife as I do. When I enter the alley, I hear a swish of fabric and duck. The man’s gun fires, the bullet shooting over my head. I turn my duck into a dive, rolling to my feet mere inches in front of him. A swipe with my knife knocks the gun out of his hands, the next digging into his right arm. He yells in pain and yanks back.

“What do you want?” He asks, fear and pain creeping into his voice. “What do you want?”

“You know what I want,” I growl. “Where’s your leader?”

“What are you talking about?” He demands, stepping back. I lunge forwards, slipping the knife back up my sleeve and shoving him against the wall. Slowly, I reach into my coat. His eyes widen, no doubt he’s thinking I have a gun or another knife. Instead, I pull out a small vial of dark purple liquid.

“Do you know what this is?” I ask. He shakes his head and stares at it warily.

“No...”

“Tell me where your leader is, or you’ll have to find out,” I threaten. Something clicks, and his eyes widen even more in realization. He yells again, struggling in my grip. I knock him over the head, and he slumps against the wall, barely conscious. I uncork the vial. “Tell me.”

“I don’t know, I swear,” he says desperately. “We only ever communicate via the lieutenants!” I shake my head.

“You know more than that,” I tell him. Panic flashes across his features, and I know I’m right.

“I swear, that’s all I know,” he gasps, loyal to the end. I sigh.

“Fine.”

“Why are you doing this?” he says as I pour the liquid into a syringe. “Please, don’t do this! I can pay you, whatever you want, please, please, don’t do this!”

I grab his arm, shoving up his sleeve past the elbow and position the syringe. “Hold still, or it’ll only hurt more.” I drive the needle home. He thrashes and kicks, but I hold the syringe steady as the dark liquid drains into his bloodstream. I remove the needle and cast it aside. Someone else will find it, no doubt, but they won’t ever know what it was used for. The man slides down the wall and sits at its base, defeated. I watch him for a second as the poison does its work. Suddenly, his head jerks up, the whites of his eyes showing as he gasps for breath. Muscles twitch and his whole body shudders and spasms. I can hardly imagine the pain wracking his body as the worse effects of the poison charge through his system like a hundred raging bulls. After a couple of minutes, the spasms stop and he lays still. Sluggishly, he sits up and looks around. When his gaze falls on me, his eyes clear and he jolts upright, frightened and still shaking off the painful effects of the drugs.

“Now will you talk?” I ask. When he hesitates, I remind him, “I have more where that came from. Or I have a knife. You wouldn’t miss a finger or two, would you?” I know for a fact he would, he needs all his fingers for dealing cards and the injury would keep him out of gambling for weeks.

“I’ll talk,” he sighs. “Just… not here.” I nod my agreement and grab his arm, dragging him to his feet. I lead him to a back door to the Scales, keeping a tight grip on his wrist in case he decides to try and escape. We slip through the empty corridors and into a concrete room below ground. I let go of his wrist as I lock the door behind us. I take a seat in one of the wooden chairs and gesture for him to do the same.

“Talk,” I order. I sit and listen as he reveals everything he knows.

---

“He didn’t know much, but he did tell me where one of their meeting places is,” I tell Brendon.

“Where?” he asks.

“Corner of 4th and Bulliver,” I say. “And it’s heavily guarded.”

“Let’s scramble a team and get out there,” he insists.

“That’s for Kayzi to decide,” I tell him. “I probably should’ve told her first anyway.” Brendon snorts.

“Which is why I intercepted you before you did,” he responds.

“Probably should’ve told me what?” a human-shaped shadow peels away from the others crowding the space. Brendon flinches, letting out a girly shriek.

“Oh, the mark you had me after,” I reply, not fazed by Kayzi’s abrupt appearance.

“Finally, someone notices when I appear out of thin air,” she says, a small grin on her face.

“I noticed,” Brendon protests.

“We noticed that noticed,” she says dryly.

“Yeah, you nearly peed your pants,” I joke. “Was that you or the six-year-old girl you’re hiding in your boot?”

“What do you think he hit? High E? High F?” Kayzi asks me.

“Come on, guys,” Brendon pleads, “Stop it!” The leader of the Night Dragons and I laugh.

“Anyway, the reason I came here is that the Blight is stealing from us again. Remember le voleur? Well, there’s more where he came from, and they won’t stop coming. I thought I’d ask you to keep an eye out, you have my permission to extirpate anyone you find, no questions asked, just let me know after your shift. Brendon, tell the other bouncers that I want you guys to be extra cautious about who you let in. If you see a Blight, send one of the twins, I don’t care which, to Robyn or I, ok? Get some rest and a good meal, you guys. I need everyone at their best,” she vanishes, and Brendon looks a little spooked. I pat him on the shoulder and he jumps a bit.

“Lighten up, man.”

“How about we go and grab a drink or something with Jaida and Gloves?” he asks. “Then we’ll sleep.”

“Sounds like a deal,” I say. “Let’s go.”

---

We find Jaida and Gloves finishing up their shifts, Jaida as a bartender and Gloves as a dealer. When the round is over, someone else takes over Gloves’ table. She puts down the winnings of her shift on a screen and then joins Brendon and I as we make our way to the bar.  Jaida slides another drink down the counter, then looks up and spots us. Smiling, she calls for Sabrina to start her shift then hops the counter and joins us by the door.

“Where are we going?” Gloves asks.

“Somewhere,” I reply.

“Wow, so descriptive,” Gloves teases. Brendon and I laugh, and Jaida grins. Gloves smiles too. “But seriously, where are we going?”

“The theater,” I say dramatically, sweeping my arms out. “Where magic rules and animals can speak!”

“Yay! A movie!” Jaida squeals, showing a bit of her always-happy side that she ditches when she’s after a mark, whatever it may be. “Which one?”

“It’s a mystery,” Brendon tell them.

“As in the genre is mystery, or you aren’t going to tell us?” Gloves remarks.

“You’ll never know,” Brendon says spookily. We all laugh, and when we’ve recovered, we’re at the theater entrance. We step inside and buy out tickets for the newest film, something about aliens invading and this guy and his girlfriend saving everyone. Brendon buys everyone popcorn and candy, and we slip into the theater room right before the movie starts. We all enjoy it, even though it’s a bit cheesy.

After the movie, we hurry back to the Scales, it’s getting dark. We all go to our separate rooms, except for Gloves, who has a mark to take care of. At least, that’s what she says. I don’t bother to worry if she’s lying or not. I just head up to my room, looking forward to a long night of deep sleep.

Reviews

[Jay_Bluefire]

Heyyyy I remember this! (What is it with this thing and the 25 characters)

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

yeah i was wanting to continue this, first tie this and aabb together, then bring them into AFD
read moreyeah i was wanting to continue this, first tie this and aabb together, then bring them into AFD
also we need to hash out a publishing order