A/N: I'm merely using these characters for entertainment and no profit. Any similarities to any other stories are simply coincidence and no offense whatever is intended. And yes, this is an eventual Sookie & Eric story. All human, alternate universe, mob story.
Blood Corruption
Chapter I
I woke up with a start, gasping for breath as I felt around for my cell phone, pulling it up and quickly checking for the time. It read 10:12 p.m. I groggily took in my surroundings, realizing that I must have fallen asleep after my insanely busy shift at the new Tapas restaurant a few blocks away. I tried to clear my head of the lingering dream visuals in my head of someone handing me a silver ring with a small silver leaf resting on the top. I didn't consider myself vain, but clearly my subconscious was jonsen for some jewelry, and some very high end jewelry if my dream was any indication.
I had only been asleep for little over an hour, I calculated in my head. I picked up my phone again, imagining that I had felt it vibrating as if a phone call was coming in. Checking it concluded that I had stupidly imagined it— something I often did.
I stretched out to my full length, which wasn't very impressive, and then felt my phone going off again or as the case may be, not again. I was about to ignore it, figuring that it was indeed just my imagination until I saw the little bit of light emitted from the screen when a call was coming in.
Jason, was calling. Jason never called. I always called him, yelling at him for never calling me. To say I was surprised was an understatement.
"Sook, you picked up," I heard on the other side of the receiver. He sounded like he was both relieved and trying to catch his breath after an intense sprint.
"Jason, of course I picked up, as if I wouldn't for you." I was a bit annoyed. He was so thick. I sometimes wondered if family really did mean that much more to me than it did to him. Clearly his lack of phone calls had to be some indicator of his priorities.
"I need you. I need you to do something for me." He was speaking fast and sounded uncertain, which was very unusual for my usually confident brother.
In my head I was trying to figure out how I could brush him off. I was already feeling guilty for thinking badly of him for not putting family first when I was clearly beating around the bush myself.
I let out a tired sigh. Jason knew that I had a new job and that I had been on my feet all night.
"Sookie. You have to help me." I opened my mouth, about to argue that I didn't have to help him at all, but something about his pleading tone made me stop.
"Need me to do something for ya' or need to help you?" I asked, curious by what he was getting into. His second asking sounded a whole lot more desperate than the first. For the first time since I had picked up the phone I heard that shuffling sound in the background, like the sound of metal scrapping across a cement floor.
He hadn't responded yet. "Jason?" I asked, my heart fluttering a bit, but not in a good way.
"Sookie, I need you to do something for me. I need you to do something for me," he repeated" I'm in serious trouble." Fuck. He was serious. I don't think I had ever heard Jason sound so serious… and scared.
"I need you to go to my house and pick up a bag at my house, there'll be some money in it." Jason started to describe what the bag looked like and where the money was in his house, a place I was decently familiar with and had a copy of his key. By the end of his instructions he was out of breath and someone on his head was clearly yelling at him, although it was difficult for me to make out.
"Sookie, you need to ignore anything in the house, ignore anyone that might be there and just get in and out. If anything happens tonight you need to go to Eric. He'll take care of you, Sook."
"Ok. Should I be … worried? I'm not going to get hurt am I?" I asked, concerned for my own safety for the first time since we had started this insane conversation. I was anxious, like I needed to go now and he was taking too long to tell me everything I needed to know before I left, if I decided to even do this.
"No. No. No, of course not," he said, although he sounded almost as if he were trying to convince himself. I quickly wanted nothing to do with this, my high heart rate was indicating this to me.
I heard some mumbling on the other side and Jason talking to the person as if pleading or compromising. "Sure, yes," he said. "Sookie, whatever you do, do not look inside of the bag, just bring it here."
"Jase, you need to call the cops, what the fuck is –"
"No. No cops. Sookie, you're the only one that I can have do this. You must do this for me, they said," he grunted over the phone in immense pain. I pulled the phone away from my ear a bit as I realized that someone must have hit him as I could hear him coughing in the background. I heard the phone on his side clatter to the hard floor.
"Bring the bag. We'll see you at Northside lounge in an hour," said a woman's voice, sickly sweet.
"We?"
"12, be there or your regret your decision to save your brother."
"Wait, what, how do I know-!" I screamed to no one on the phone, the woman had hung up on me. I was hyperventilating. What the fuck was I supposed to do? I couldn't call the cops.
Jason had always hung around the wrong crowd but this was far worse than I had expected. Our parents had been into heavy drug use when we were little and it had directly ruined our family. I couldn't go to the cops because whoever had him would kill him, I figured.
Selfishly I realized that whatever Jason was involved with was probably illegal, and going to cops guaranteed his lock up as well. I wasn't willing to lose the very limited amount of family that I had by involving police now that mom and dad were gone.
I grabbed my purse, grabbing one thing from the back of the fridge and throwing it into my purse, thankful that I had fallen asleep with my work heels on.
Someone in a pretty large coat brushed by me once I reached the side walk. I yelped in surprise. I realized right away it was Amelia with a huge smile on her face.
Her kind eyes recognized me and I could see her mouth opening to ask me a million questions, all very kindly, about how my day was and where I was going and, if I knew her well enough, if I wnatd her to come with me. That was definitely something I didn't want her doing. I'd fill her in later.
"Amelia, hey, I have to go do something, an emergency."
"Emergency? Want me to come?" she asked, her face crumpling a little. I didn't often use the word emergency and she knew something was up. She looked eager to both find out what was going on but give me space. "No, no. I should be fine."
"Oh. Ok. What happened?"
"I have to go do something for Jase," I said, already moving to the car, hoping she'd get the idea that this was indeed a time of the essence type of situation.
"Ok," she said, not looking very convinced. "Call me! Let me know if you need anything. Or if you need me to call your boss for tomorrow. Or-" she yelled as I slammed the door shut on my car. I watched as she walked into the house and waited until she locked the door behind her.
I fumbled with my keys and had an intensely strong feeling that someone was watching me.
I looked over my shoulder nearly a dozen times as I got ready to take off, convinced that someone was watching me but there was no one there every time I looked.
I threw my care into reverse and drove much more radically than I normally did to my brother's place, already resolved that I had to do this and wouldn't call the cops. In the back of my head I was also reviewing basic self defense moves in my head, ignoring the fact that it'd been more than 10 years since I'd taken that class.
Once I got there I double-parked next to what I recognized to be Jason's car, surprised a bit that his car was even there. "He's been kidnapped, he didn't drive there," I told myself.
Jason lived in a pretty low end income part or the city. A large amount of his neighbors were sitting on their front lawns and porches in lawn chairs because of the July heat. A few other cars were, not surprisingly, double parked as well as parking was extremely difficult in this part of town and people quickly came and went from houses, probably picking up drugs or children.
I hastily put my old car's emergency lights on and ran around the back, pulling out my extra key and entering through the back.
I almost screamed when I saw a naked woman lying on the couch. Get in and out, Jason had said, no kidding. Of course Jason had to know this woman was here.
The woman shifted a bit, her body beginning to stir as though she was waking up. Her eyes shot open to my still form at the door, glaring at me through the smoke hazed room.
"Who the fuck are you?" She rudely asked me, making no move to cover any part of her sickly thin body. Her light blond hair looked almost matted and had fallen down from a lose bun.
"Jason's sister." She looked surprised to hear this.
"I thought Jason was gone," she simply stated, any look of surprise gone from her face.
I didn't have time for this, although I did find it surprising that she thought my brother would be gone, although who knows what plans my brother had before he had gone and gotten himself apparently kidnapped by who knows who. For all I knew he was supposed to be gone and gotten himself kidnapped from Ohio or something.
A thought struck me that I had no clue whether or not my brother was even anywhere near Northside lounge or even in Los Angeles at all.
"Wait where was Jason supposed to be?" I asked her.
"I just figured that Eric had him." Eric? The same Eric that Jason had told me to go to if I was in trouble? Why would he tell me to go to the same guy that clearly had his ass?
Maybe it was a different Eric. By the way she was speaking it was clear she was still on the come down from either a massive hangover or a high. Considering she was naked I assumed it might have been both, a combination that made her not very reliable with her information.
Never trust a junkie. I knew this. I didn't need anyone to tell me. I knew first hand, oh hell did I know first hand.
I climbed past her on the dingy red sofa that was falling apart and had multiple burn marks on it, stepping on a shit ton of pieces of foil. Before I reached the closet behind her I saw her reach forward and grab what appeared to be a clear pipe. It was like a marijuana piece but smaller, clear, less fancy than the one's I'd seen people use in college. I looked away when I saw her light it up.
She was smoking meth. I recognized the burnt smell from my childhood suddenly.
I swiftly became paranoid as to what the smoke in this house was as she was clearly smoking something other than pot.
I rushed through the closet faster, shoving boxes of zip lock bags out of the way, knowing that the bags and foil and the pipes probably meant bad news. Finally at the back of closet was a safe, one I knew the code to from previous encounters with my brother but where he said the bag would be.
When I finally had the purple bag in my hand I had the urge to open it, to just check that there was money in it. I leaned forward, pulling the drawstrings that held it closed apart, slowly.
"My name's Crystal by the way," the woman said, hanging over the sofa. Her sudden outburst had startled me. I pulled the strings shut immediately on the bag. I got up and left, not looking at the woman on the sofa or even bothering to close the safe.
Jason had told me not to open the bag and I wouldn't, too scarred by the short scenes I'd already witnessed to open it. From the feel of it, it felt like there was large bundles of cash in there. It'd just have to do.
I vaguely considered the irony that this woman's name was Crystal and she was smoking meth in my brother's home.
Northside was a tremendously busy and classy bar in the downtown area. I pulled up in my rinky-dink old car, realizing that I'd find no parking in time and since I'd never been here was unfamiliar with any places to park. I was running out of time and decided to just do valet.
I'd make Jason pay me back, I thought haughtily, trying to be optimistic that I'd even have a brother to pay me back.
I grabbed the bag and rushed to the bouncer at the front door. I looked down, suddenly concerned with my attire for such a high end establishment. Saving Jason was clearly becoming more hectic than I'd imagined when he first asked me for a favor.
Luckily the Tapas place I worked at required their waitresses to wear little black dresses. Mine was nice enough that no one would ever know that it was actually my work uniform. Just as the bouncer waved me in a petite blond dressed in her finest walked up to the door and appeared to be taking place there as extra security or something. While she was so small she couldn't have hurt a fly, the sour look on her face appeared to make most people take a double glance at her.
She briefly looked me up and down, long enough that my back was to her yet I could still feel her penetrating gaze through my bodice, clearly trying to identify me.
I slipped into the bar, squinting against the dark. The bar had dark, industrial cement floors, and exposed vents. The walls were also cement and a ton of dark leather seats and sofas lined the walls, beautiful women lounging and drinking beers out of glasses and goblets. The place was packed. "How am I ever going to find who I need to find in here," I thought to myself.
I spotted a single open seat at the bar. I practically ran in my heels to get it, brushing shoulders with a tall red head to gave me a death glare. I gave her a small and very fake sorry smile. Bitch.
I climbed my exhausted booty to the top of the stool and decided to order a drink. Talking to the bar tender had to be the first step towards getting my brother back, if he was even being housed at this establishment.
"Gin and tonic" I said politely to the bar tender after I'd gotten his attention, which was a difficult task as the bar was mostly consumed with women who could very well be models flaunting their flat chests in attempt to be first to receive service.
I dug out my credit card, cursing the fact that I didn't have any cash on me. Clearly who ever had my brother would also have my credit card information. I had assumed who ever had him probably owned this place. I didn't even want to consider what that might entail— drug trafficking mother fuckers having my credit information.
A well built man with dark hair seated beside me in a suit turned to me when he heard me give my order.
"Sookie," he said in recognition, reaching out to grasp my shoulder firmly in his large, warm hands.
My eyes went wide. I knew that voice. I looked up and saw none other than Alcide, the man I was sort of seeing. I felt myself feel like I was going to shit a brick.
"Well, Alcide," I said giving him an awkward side hug. "What are you doing here?" I hoped I didn't sound too nervous, playing the flirtatious card to try to distract him.
"Just getting a drink," he said, clearly surprised that I was here. He rubbed his very large hands up and down my arms for a second and then looked away, almost like he was waiting for someone. Alcide had always been a bit touchy feely, but it was something that I liked about him. For being such an independent woman, I did like to want to be wanted, and what better way to relay that by touch— except now wasn't exactly the prime location or time for me to be getting cozy with Alcide.
I saw him look back over to the door briefly. I glanced to the other side of him just wondering if he had a female companion with him. He didn't, a man sat next to him engaged in a conversation with two ladies, appearing to be a part of a separate party. "Are you here with anyone?" I asked, beside myself and becoming just a little bit peeved that Alcide actually might be seeing someone other than myself.
"No, no, just here by myself." He hadn't given me any reason to believe him otherwise, although we had only gone on a few dates.
"I didn't know you came here."
"Can say the same for you, Sookie." He appeared to be a bit nervous having run into me. If I hadn't been so concerned with saving my brother's behind I might have been too.
We weren't too serious, I tried reminding myself. Alcide was an attorney I'd met at the restaurant I worked at and we'd gone on a few dates.
"Sookie, I've been pretty busy, with my father and what not, I'm sorry I haven't been in better contact with you."
Alcide was a daddy's boy in my book. Educated and very manly but always caught up in what appeared to be his father's business. If I could have a relationship based on looks alone, Alcide would be my man. With his wide chest and strong arms, he was a eye opener.
Before he could pay for my drink I handed the bar tender my credit card which he looked at briefly before asking, "Sookie? Stackhouse?" I nodded in response.
He handed the credit card without charging it. "On the house, Bobby will be out to see you in a few," he responded. So this was how I was supposed to meet up with someone. Clearly I'd done the right thing. I nervously glanced at my cell phone, checking the time. I still had 20 minutes until my brother supposedly died or something.
I looked pretty surprised and thanked the bar tender, moving my still wild eyed gaze to Alcide who looked at me curiously as though I were hiding something. Which I was hiding something. He sipped his whisky, and I noticed his discrete side glance at me as someone brushed up against my back. I flinched. He was definitely either suspicious of me or hiding something himself.
"Is Amelia here with you?" He asked suddenly before I could acknowledge that someone was clearly waiting for me at my turned back.
"No, no, I haven't seen her today," I lied, although it was hardly anything of importance. He thick eyebrows rose up higher on his forehead as if questioning me but he didn't say anything further.
I couldn't just tell him that I was attempting to pay off what I thought were drug trafficking people to save my brother. Alcide was an attorney for god's sake, he did not need to be in this mess and heaven forbid if I brought in a potential love interest into the mistake that was Jason's life.
The person who had clearly brushed my back placed a hand on my shoulder. I cringed, as I usually fiercely guarded my personal space and the haughty young woman in me flared to life. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and put whoever had the nerve to touch me in his place.
Alcide must have seen the look of distaste on my face because he was currently glaring down the distinctly male hand on my shoulder. I turned around and was greeted by a male of medium height and stature, dark hair, and nothing surprisingly distinct about him.
"I'm Bobby, if you'd come to the back with me, I've been told there a few matters that I'm to discuss with you." This guy was a tool, clearly with no balls of his own and only following someone else's itinerary.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. "Wait, Sookie, where are you going?" Alcide asked. Of course he must be thinking that I was meeting up with this guy for personal social reasons.
"I'm just meeting with him for my brother," I told him, not that it was any of his business. Clearly he was at a bar, 'alone', as well. Let him think whatever he wanted to.
"Jason?" Alcide asked, his eyes looking like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. I didn't know that I had ever mentioned Jason's name to Alcide but clearly I had.
"Alcide, it's not what you think, I'll explain later," I told him, suddenly feeling a bit more sympathetic towards him. I pleaded with my eyes to forgive me and tried to relay that I couldn't say anymore on the situation. He looked at me in silent agony and then I had to leave.
Before I was out of earshot I thought I heard him mumble something along the lines that it was exactly what he thought it was.
I was already up and following the man named Bobby when I saw Alcide look around nervously and then get up and looking as though he was deciding to follow me or not. He decided on not, heading to the door. Maybe he wasn't waiting for someone else like my musings had toyed with.
Or, maybe he was upset that I was clearly following another man that I had planned to meet here when I had told him I had work, I thought. Jason was running not only my Saturday night but my romantic relationships as well it appeared.
Bobby took me to a curtained off area and then down a hallway. I pulled my purse a little tighter around my body, clearly spooked by the stark contrast to the busy outside bar area.
I followed him past two large bouncers that he nodded to, into an empty room with a few chairs. The door shut behind me and I was surprised to find that no one else was joining us. I assumed that this would require more people.
"The bag," he said, opening his hand expecting me to just place the bag in his hand. Crazy. I wasn't just going to hand over my only guarantee to my brother alive.
"What? No, where's Jason?" I asked stubbornly.
"Your brother will be released when we receive the bag," he said, clearly annoyed with my response. He had to see how this was insane.
"I don't know you or where my brother is or if he's even alive! Why should I give you anything?" He glanced down at the purple bag I was carrying, clearly recognizing what it was. Bobby looked back up at me, his eyes looking from me to the bag. He awkwardly made a move for the bag before I pulled it out of his grasp.
He looked pissed. "Give me the bag and we'll let your brother go."
"What the hell? Who are you people and what is going on?" I screamed as he lunged at me, trying to get the bag out of my grasp.
I realized split second that I was being stupid. Jason had told me exactly what to do. I let him pull the bag out of my hands and watched as his murderous glare found my eyes after looking into the bag.
"It's fucking empty, you stupid bitch!" He yelled as he lunged at me again, this time pushing me back against the door with a loud thump. I had no time to process what was going on.
Jason had told me not to look in the bag and just bring him the money. There was clearly something else in the bag, I hadn't just brought an empty purple bag to a stranger. Why had Jason told me not to look when he clearly needed there to be money in the stupid little bag?
He was struggling with me and I was fighting back with everything I had, pushing back against him with all my weight, wishing I had changed out of my work heels. I felt the air move as the door behind me was opening up. Bobby, the massive tool was clearly enraged and a lot more confident with his movements as he pushed me down to the ground.
On reflex I shoved my knee upwards and jammed it up into his ball sack twice before he landed on me roughly. I screamed at the weight of him smashed my back into the same hard concrete floor.
Once he was on the floor I saw his hand come out to grab my face. He squeezed, hard. I was going to die on this floor, not even a blow to his manhood was keeping him down for long.
"Oh no you don't!" I screamed as loudly as I could, attempting to push this large man off of my small figure.
Before I knew it I was reaching into my own purse, pulling out my mousegun, a small pistol I had never used before but owned after my roommate Amelia had insisted I get one after an attempted mugging outside our place. I thought she was crazy, but clearly I was more crazy, because here I was using it.
Bobby didn't even feel me moving for it as he pulled his fist back to swing at my face, a look of anger clearly on his face.
Without even thinking about it I pulled the trigger back and shot him. A loud blast filled the room. He howled in pain. My heart was going to explode in my chest. I'd shot someone.
"Fuck! Fuck! You bitch!" he screamed in agony. Clearly I hadn't killed him. I looked up at him and saw him retreating, holding his foot.
I'd shot him in the foot. I almost giggled.
Before I could pull the gun back up to get another shot at him a red high heel from above me came down with immense strength and pinned my arm to the floor where I was reclined. The distinct Jimmy Choos belonged to no other than the blond woman I had seen look me over when I entered the bar.
I saw her gaze lazily over Bobby in the corner, nursing his foot and then did the least imaginable thing I could have thought of— she laughed.
She laughed a high pitched, almost shrill, laugh. "Oh Bobby," she almost cooed. Was this woman insane? "The small woman shot him!" she said between tears that had begun to fall from her eyes between laughter.
Bobby looked furious like he was going to lunge at me again but the blond woman gave him a long stare and he appeared to resettle into his corner and continue to brace his foot. "Pam, some help?" Bobby asked in agony, addressing the blond who I assumed was Pam.
The woman called behind her. "Bill?" I realized then that the door was wide open and there was a finely dressed man in a beige suit and a crisp blue shirt standing at the door holding a gun to the two bouncers that had been outside of the door while I had been attacked. He then glanced down at me quickly, doing a double take after a second, seemingly surprised by my being on the floor.
Bill's reaction to me had me thinking that perhaps he recognized me. Which wouldn't be so outside of the box after today and I did work in a restaurant and saw many people on a daily basis.
"Bobby appears to have completely bumbled this little task of obtaining the money from Stackhouses's sister." Pam had not yet released my arm. With her other pointy heel she kicked the gun out of my hand, which I was only loosely holding by this point, completely shocked by the recent events.
The man with the stern looking face, Bill,, stealthily bent over to quietly retrieve my gun and slip it into his pant pocket, all while keeping the gun on the two bouncers. I gulped as his eyes racked over my black dress, now rumpled and pushed quite high up on my very rounded hips. I struggled with the fabric, trying to pull it down when
Pam stopped my hand with her red shoe again. "Leave it," she said, with a small smile, almost delighted when I stopped my movement. I had no wish to die.
"Do you have Jason?" I asked, my voice cracking but my resolve at resolving this situation growing.
"Oh yes, little one, we do indeed have your brother." Pam said. "He is quite the looker, if I might say so myself," she added. Her fondness of my brother's looks gave me hope that they'd let him go.
"Are you going to let him go?" I asked, hopeful that they would. I heard Bobby angrily grunt in the corner and Bill raise his eyebrow at my question, either surprised by my courage or stupidity. We all looked at Pam for an answer.
"No. The deal was bring the money and we'd let him go," she stated matter-of-factly. I gaped at her. "I'm surprised that this little exchange even had to go so far. I had no need or want to see you today, Stackhouse."
"I was told not to look inside the bag before I retrieved it. How was I supposed to know it was empty? Jason only asked for the bag." Pam's eyes narrowed as she listened to me, becoming angered.
"You spoke to your brother?" She looked suspicious, like I was lying or something.
"Yes, I spoke to Jason, how do you think I even knew to come here?"
Bill took that moment to speak up. "Clearly someone did not follow Eric's directions." There was that name again.
"Eric? Who's Eric? Is Eric the one that has my brother? What is going on?" Bill and Pam ignored me, clearly trying to figure out their own part of the story.
"I told you to send Lorena to assist with Jason Stackhouses's ransom," Pam angrily hissed. "This was supposed to be a basic transaction. Not something we needed to involve Eric with."
"I know but she was otherwise… occupied." Bill said.
"Who the hell did you send then?"
"I had her send someone in her place, she said she would take care of it."
"And you trusted her?" Pam asked, incredulously. "Actually, of course you believed her," Pam scoffed. Bill's eyes softened a bit, almost as though he was embarrassed, but it was gone in a second.
He looked over to me on the floor, a clear look of pity on his face. I could feel my temper rising.
"Get up," Pam barked at me. I did what she said, although I justified in my head it was not because she had ordered me to but that it was because standing was a much more preferable stance in a situation like this.
"Why didn't you stop this?" Bill asked the two bouncers who were at the door and seemingly had been at the door the entire time I was being attacked.
"De Castro."
Pam's eyes lit up instantly and she barked out another round of laughter, this one much more short than the first one. She glanced back at Bobby. "Of course, De Castro, I forgot that you work for him as well as Eric, dear Bobby." Bobby gulped, clearly frightened by Pam and Bill.
"De Castro paid you not to interfere?" Bill asked. One of the bouncers nodded.
Bill waved his gun down the hall, signaling that the bouncers should move in that direction. He put his gun away as they walked away. He was just going to let them go, I'd almost been killed, I thought.
"What did De Castro have you do, Bobby?"
"He just told me to collect the money from his sister and not to let anyone else interfere, no matter what."
"Why'd you attack her?" Bill asked. I was surprised by his question. I didn't think that anyone was really concerned about me in this situation. I saw his eyes meet mine after a second. Maybe he was concerned?
"Fucking bitch brought me an empty bag, both Eric and De Castro would have had me killed if I came to them empty handed after what Jason's short handed them so much money and time already." Bill shrugged at his words.
"Hardly reason to strike a lady." Pam looked amused at Bill's words.
"Why is De Castro interested in any of this?" Bill asked him.
"No idea, I don't ask questions when the head told me to do things." Bill looked as if he was reaching for his gun. Bobby flinched. "I don't know, ok, I assume that it's because of her brother, right?"
"Well, clearly De Castro has some say in what's been going on here and I'm certain that Eric has no clue as to how he's been interfering." Pam said to Bill, who nodded. "Why the hell would De Castro interfere on such a miniscule monetary and punishment transaction?"
No one said anything, clearly not having an answer. I had no clue who these people even were. From what I could gather was that Bobby hadn't exactly followed this Eric's directions and someone named De Castro was paying bouncers to let Bobby over here do whatever he wanted with me because of my stupid ass brother. I shivered at the thought.
"It doesn't matter much now, does it? She's shot his man, that's clearly grounds for De Castro to do what he wants with her," Bill remarked, his voice sounding passively monotone considering he'd just eye fucked me when I was on the floor. "We'll question him further after the boss gets in."
"What?" I squeaked.
"Well you did shoot him."
"In the foot! In self defense!" I argued.
"Bobby's no longer Eric's man, he's De Castro's, and he can do with you what he wishes," Pam calmly said. What type of logic was this shit.
"I'll take her with me," Bill said casually, clearly having reconsidered his previous words. He cleared his throat awkwardly after saying this, as though he was uncertain this was ok. What did he even mean? He offered me his hand as well as a small smile that changed his entire façade. I almost found myself smiling back at him— he looked so much pleasant actually showing some type of emotion.
"Another one, Bill?" Pam was smirking at him. I looked back at Bill, his small smile for me gone. It appeared showing any type of emotion was not his forte.
"Pamela, surely you see the importance in keeping her safe. There is much more going on with her brother than we previously thought if De Castro is fiddling around in Eric's territories of all places."
Pam nodded, seemingly to agree. "I need to call Eric, he'll not be pleased about this."
"We'll inform De Castro that Bobby did indeed attack her, we even have witnesses." He said, motioning down the hall at the departed bouncers.
"Yes, but now she also knows about some other things," Pam said. What were they talking about, no one had explained anything to me, I was quite clearly in the dark.
"Even better reason to keep her close," Bill said.
"What about Jason?" I asked, suddenly remembering that these people were not kind or my friends and that my brother's life was still on the line.
Pam seemed to be thinking of a response. "I'll have to talk to Eric, but we won't touch your brother until we figure out what's going on."
"So you'll let him go?"
She laughed at me. "You're quite the forward one aren't you? I'm rather impressed that you clearly came to a bar to try to save your brother." Somehow this woman had a lot of say on what was going on. I'd only seen her mingle with a few people, but it was clear that they people were far more educated than I had previously thought.
They were worlds away from Jason, which was somewhat alluring in its own way. "They'd kill someone without a second thought though," I reminded myself.
And they had money if this woman's get-up was any indication.
Maybe they were more than just drug dealers. Bill looked like he would have shot those bouncers without a second thought and the way he held his gun screamed macho mob man to me. And the way the guards just answered him, granted he did have a gun to their heads. Maybe these were like, mafia members or something. "Shit, Jason, what have you dragged me into," I thought.
"No, we'll not let him go, your brother has offended us on many, many occasions. I said he won't be touched until further notice." Exactly something from a crime family would say.
I wanted to argue with her, but I realized that I was in no position to really do so. Before I could say anything Bill had his hand on the crook of my elbow and was dragging me through the door. He released me all too soon.
I had little control over this situation, and to say I wasn't the bit intrigued by all of this would be a lie. I could take one day off of work, and of course, it'd be for the safety of my brother, I reminded myself. The blossoming of a thought was occurring in the back of my mind and I was currently doing all I could to stomp it out before it grew into something else. Deep down I wanted to go with him, with them, even though I knew I could never trust them.
Bill checked his phone often. And then he asked if he could me a drink on the way out. Jason be damned.
TBC