Heart of Revenge (Part 4)

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The other side of the elevator doors did not hold a pleasant sight for me. Two burly men with fully automatic assault rifles trained on my head and body. They sort of looked like twins, heavily muscled and very well armed twins. I figured I’d try a little humor to lighten this tense moment.

“So, uh, Tweedledee and Tweedledum any idea where the rattle is?” I smiled as best as anyone could knowing that they could be littered with a large array of bullets at any moment. They gave each other a look that inspired a little more fear in me than I’m usually used to.

“You got a lot of balls.” The one that I’d like to think of as Tweedledee said to me.

“Well you know, what’s the point in have extras if you’re not willing to show them off every once in a while.” I wasn’t dead yet, so I figured I’d continue trying my luck at the wisecrack game.

“We could just off him you know.” Tweedledum piped in. This was not going to work in my favor if he was making the decisions for them. Although I was getting the feeling that these guys only had enough brains between the two of them for one person.

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” I asked, buying time, “I mean wouldn’t you have to clean up the mess, or at least explain why there is a mess to your boss?”

“He does have a point,” Tweedledum muttered, “I mean I don’t want to have to do the cleaning, and I always have to do the cleaning. Why’s it you never do the cleaning?”

“Because, the boss likes me better you dolt.” Tweedledee answered back. I was seeing my in here, I just had to play them off each other a little.

“Hey, Tweedledum, you could just let me out of here a little so I can do my delivery and be on my way. Plus you know it would be you making the decisions, we both know you’re the smarter one anyways.”

“You know he does have a good point,” I could see that I was making some headway here, “plus the boss didn’t say nothing about offing him.”

“Would you just shut up?” Tweedledee threw back at him, “I know the boss didn’t say nothing, but this is the only fun we ever get to have, no one ever tries to raid the lair. It just get’s so boring around here.” I spied my way out of the situation.

“Okay guys, you’ve had your fun. Supposing it’s time to let me out and on my way? I’m real sure the boss wants this package toot sweet.” The last idiom must have caused their brains to work overtime; I don’t think these guys ever got out.

“Uh, yeah okay.” With the flip of a hidden switch I was released. I rubbed at my wrist, which was surprisingly unharmed in the grips of the elevator trap. “You’ll want to go straight down the hall, it’s the big red door at the end. Can’t miss it.”

“And I can’t say I’ll miss you guys either, thanks much.” I skirted them as quickly as I could and made my way down the hall.

-V-

Heart of Revenge (Part 3)

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Chimay tower was an extravagant waste of money, mostly made of glass and architecture that by all rights shouldn’t have been able to stay standing in any adverse conditions. The tower had 111 floors, with the top most tiers overwhelmingly tall with vaulted ceilings. Just barely out of sight from the ground, one might be able to make out the gothic theme at the top, it was rumored to have over four hundred gargoyles fighting an eternal battle. I was once told it even had heated sidewalks around the building, talk about ridiculousness.

It was all owned and built for one Carlo Reservoir, my guess is they guy I was delivering the package to, he was a slippery as they come. Everyone knew he was deeply vetted in the criminal underworld, but no one could pin anything on him and no one was quite sure how far his reach went. Many people knew him from the news where he was commonly seen doing ribbon cuttings or doling out grants brilliant underprivileged souls. In the limelight he looked a perfect saint.

I pushed my way through the large revolving door and was immediately met with the security stand on the other side. The guard on the other side of the desk didn’t look particularly intimidating, but then again I’ve been around some pretty interesting characters in my time, so it usually takes a lot to impress me. He took a solid look at me, noted my Styrofoam container, and typed something into a computer terminal out of my sight behind the desk.

A look of approval flashed across his face and he pointed to the left of the desk. I looked over and saw a batch of elevators. Well, at least this was going to be pretty easy. I started walking to the first one I found and was stopped short by the first sound I had heard since I entered.

“You’ll want to hit the first and last buttons.” I looked back at him as he was finishing the sentence. There was nothing to read on his face, he just pointed my attention back to the now opening elevator. What an odd man, I thought as I entered the space. As the door closed understanding hit me. Didn’t this place only have 111 floors? And sure enough, there were only 111 buttons in front of me. How was I supposed to drop off a package to the 112th floor?

First and last buttons, I thought. Heh, a simple trick, I pushed the 111 and 1 buttons at the same time. The lights in the buttons flashed a few times then a panel opened up to the right of me. There was a green glass plate with the outline of a hand imprinted on it. Fancy! I guess the only way I was getting anywhere would be to place my hand there, so I did. The panel locked around my wrist and the elevator snapped into action. I was stuck, held in place, as the lift picked up massive amounts of speed. I didn’t really have anytime to consider options before the box came to an abrupt halt and the doors started to open.

-V-

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Heart of Revenge (Part 2)

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Subways sometimes freak me out. I don’t much care for them. There are too many creepers and nowhere to run if you need a quick out. Plus there’s the rats, I’m not talking about the people, I mean real twenty-pound city rats. They gross me out, all pestilence and grease and hair. It almost makes me vomit every time I see. Fortunately they tend to stay out of sight, but one never knows.

The ride on the subway ends up being very uneventful. I’m mostly alone in a car with a flickering fluorescent fixture at one end. There is a bum sleeping underneath it. I can vaguely smell his decay from the other end of the car. My guess is this is one of the few ways left to stay warm in the weather. We go through a dead zone in the tunnel, basically where the wind kicks up and the electricity goes out. Usually its only for a short period of time, but this one seems to last longer than I’m used to.

Suddenly the car is washed over with bright-ass lights everywhere. It’s blinding. I reach for my crowbar I keep tied up under my trench coat, but it’s not there. Oh shit, I think, what could possibly be going on now? Across the car the bum is lifted up like a marionette with an unseen hand controlling the strings. He looks like the dead, eyes askew, drool escaping from the corner of him mouth. As he is pulled closer to me I can hear a sonorous distant voice, “Five sevenths and three eighths, you must be sure you avoid the wraiths. One half and four thirds, don’t forget to head the words.”

Blackness. Silence. The whooshing sound of wind slowly creeps back to my ears and the car lights flicker back to its normal pattern. Even the bum is back in his pile towards the end of the car. I want to get the hell off this car and soon. My stop is the next one. My stop is the next one. The train slows, the doors open, and I get my ass out of that station so fast the littered newspapers didn't even have time to react in my wake.

The bum’s words are still echoing in my brain as I get out on to the street. I don’t have time for riddles so I try to push it as far back as I can, but it’s like that birthday song you just can stop singing in your own head. I guess I’ll have to find a way to deal with it later, for now I needed to get rid of this package.

Fortunately the subway station was really close to the Chimay tower, it was only going to be two bitter blocks in this cold. The streets in the business district were deserted. It’s weird to be in a commercial zone in the middle of the night. There is a very creepy air about. Best not to think about it too much, so I flipped up the collar on my jacket and bounded to the tower in the cold.

-V-

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Heart of Revenge (Part 1)

The night air was dank and cold. This was my fifth night out here waiting for the drop. I'm not one who likes to be kept waiting, but my boss insisted that I pick up this package. He assured me the delivery would be here soon. A set of headlights appear in the distance and I get my hopes up just like I have the last twenty times cars have gone by. The car doesn't slow down, but in fact picks up speed so that the wind starts gusting by me and I get a chill deep in my bones. Pulling my trench coat tighter around me I try to stamp some feeling back into my feet. I figure it's going to be another long night and settle in against the wall.

I wasn't always into hanging out on cold street corners. I used to be a regular Joe, working a standard nine to five. I had a wife and kids. I was living the American dream, until one day it happened. I don't much like talking about it, but lets just say everything fell away in a single night. Now, I really don't have much to live for. That's when I picked up this gig. In the business I'm what you'd call a sinker, I take care of things for people, no questions asked, no answers given. Tonight was no different, other than the fact that it's been going on for the past four nights. I think someone just wants to make me sick, but whatever, the pay is too good to pass up this time.

All I know is the drop is supposed to be some organs for a big fish cutthroat. He's been on death’s door for some time now and I think he's scouring the streets trying to get himself new kidneys or a new heart, if he ever had one in the first place. Normally I don't have this many details, but the person who hired me seemed to have pretty loose lips. That’s a very dangerous affliction to have in this business.

I'm not put off by any of these sick bastards discretions, but I generally don't like to know. Anyway, once I get the drop I'm supposed to jet it personally up to the 112th floor of Chimay tower and collect my pay. Then it’s back to scouring for more cash anywhere I can find it. I'm only halfway to my goal, revenge can cost so much these days.

Just then, a car screeches to a halt in front of me. It’s some type of Chevy something or other, all black with mirrored windows. Real discrete, I think to myself as the window lowers. It's Eddie, essentially a hatchet in a leisure suit. He had brown hair at one point in his life but now it's a mixture of grey and some black dye. His eyes are creepy as hell, one cloudy grey and one jaundiced green, it seems he took a two by four to the head as a child. He never said who did it, but everyone assumed it was his father. His face contorts into a crooked smile and he says, "Ello William. Wat yous doin' out 'ere?"

"Oh you, know, I just love hanging out in the cold, I was actually waiting for your mother to come along and give me a blow job."

His smile quickly disappears. "Look 'ere, ash-hole, I's don 'afta take this shit from the likes of you.”

“No but your mother does…” I say with a big smirk. I can tell this has really set him off. I decide to go for a more tactful route, "Sorry mate, it's just too damned cold out here, I've been out for hours on this corner. You need something?”

"Wat? Me? No. But you do, it's in 'e trunk." He proceeds to pop the trunk from his dashboard.

I walk around and pull out the only thing sitting in the trunk, a little Styrofoam container. As soon as I close the trunk he guns the engine and speeds away. Great, I think, I can finally get moving and get my ass out of the cold. Not having a car in the city can be a godsend, sometimes. Not right now though. It was way too cold for this. Luckily, I was near a subway entrance and could get out of the polar air quickly.

-V-

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