Note: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the views! If you haven't seen already I am rewriting what I have so far with What Lies In The Hearts Of Others. I had looked back and decided that I didn't like some things and I wanted to add lots more, so here you go and enjoy~
-Rayne Aeres
Fei-Long walked slowly through the dismal halls of Smith's black market hell hole. Here, in the back holding stocks, it was sweltering hot and completely disgusting. Gallons of black, red, and green goo covered everything of the once white painted walls and floors. Normally guests never saw the back rooms of this black market, either because they didn't know or didn't want to know. The high end rich people who actually came to this place just wanted something that looked exotic or something that they could play with. It disgusted him to be here, Fei-Long is involved with some trafficking but his business isn't this dirty. It has been a long time since he was forced to come here. Fei-Long's eyes scanned the place as they walked the hall, rows upon rows of cages were stacked nearly to the ceiling.
Not everything here was human. The cages were filled with animals, unknown creatures, humans, and a new form of life that was part human and part animal. These days people bought the part human part animal and called them Saerith's, most people purchased these because they looked rare and only exclusive and the very rich have them.
Fei-Long himself once had one, on his last trip here he had been given one for free by Smith. He didn't really have an interest in them, but looking at an exotic bird child had brightened up the day. It wasn't until the incident with Asami and Akihito when they were on that cruise ship that Fei-Long lost that child. Somehow during all of the shooting and noise the child disappeared. He has tried to find the child to no avail, eventually giving up five years later.
Every pair of eyes that stared out of the cages watched Fei-Long and his men as they continued to walk, gauging if he was possibly the one to take them to a different life. In his eyes, all of them looked pitiful. Every single one was starving, ragged, and filthy. Smith had so many 'products' that he was unable to fully care for them. The men he has hired will barely take care of them, the only time Fei-Long has ever seen them clean is when they are auctioned off for high prices.
Smith came forward from talking to one of his men, his salt and pepper hair plastered to his skin. "Mr. Fei-Long! How are you doing? Well I hope. You did not have to come back here to this mess, I could have come to you!" Smith greeted Fei-Long and his men warmly, despite the sweat that poured down his face and the twitching of his eyes. It looked as if someone was nervous, maybe his day isn't going so well?
Fei-Long gave him a casual smile and stopped a few feet away from Smith, "I do not mind, Smith. Sitting in a room full of bad money makes my skin crawl." He extended his hand, forcing Smith to submit and step forward to shake Fei-Long's hand. Inside, Fei-Long grimaced and resisted the urge to wipe his hand on his clothes when Smith let go. The feel of Smith's skin against his made his stomach twist and turn.
"I do apologize for that, I shall have someone make a private room exclusively for you and your men." He snapped his fingers, summoning a small servant girl who looked part lion. Her hair stood around her face wildly framing two beautiful green eyes, around her neck was Smith's version of a slave collar, a tight piece of metal that put pressure on the vocal cords so that the wearer could not utter a sound. "Go and prepare my personal VIP room for Mr. Fei-Long." The girl nodded then disappeared without a sound. Smith smiled at Fei-Long, "I thank you for coming and doing business with me again. It has been too long since the last time you had been here." Smith rubbed his meaty hands in anticipation, the golden rings on his fingers shining in the dimly lit hall. He couldn't wait to get out of Fei-Long's presence, any time that he has met Fei-Long he seems to get a horrible feeling about him and everything seems to go wrong. The last time he showed up a value customer was killed, it had almost ruined his business.
Fei-Long's long hair rustled gently by the slight breeze that blew through the building, the only indication that there was a hint of ventilation besides the one that was in Smith's office. "It is my honor to be here. Now then, standing here in this heat seems to have taken a toll on some of my men. We shall retire to our room to watch the bidding." He couldn't wait to be done with this mission already, the last time he was here was to assassinate a big spender but this time it was different. Smith had made the mistake of trying to sell off one of Fei-Long's associates' daughter and son, and now he had to waste his time to come here to wipe Smith and his business off the map.
Smith bowed his head, "Of course, forgive me for keeping you in this disgusting excuse of a place. I shall lead you to your room personally." Smith turned and opened a door that could only be seen at the right angle, he lead Fei-Long and his men through several halls and into a lavished room. Velvet drapes hung in the corners of the wall that was made entirely out of glass, "The curtains can be drawn until the auction starts so that you can have some private time to relax." Smith stated as he stepped into the room and drug the heavy curtains closed. Several chairs stood facing the wall so that when the show started they didn't have to make much of an effort to bid or watch. A table at the back was filled with food and wine that was sure to dig a hole in Smith's pocket.
Smith turned to face Fei-Long but his eyes narrowed in on one of Fei-Long's men who stood among the others, trying to stay unnoticed. "I see that the last item that you bought has been used well." Sam, the man Smith was focused on, clenched his fists tightly and kept his head down. Smith started to slowly move toward Sam. "It's a shame that I had to sell such a fine item, he was such a good breeding partner, I always enjoyed his company." He reached forward to touch his face but was stopped by another of Fei-Long's men stepping in his way.
"I am sorry sir, but unless Master Fei-Long allows it, no one is to touch his men."
Smith retracted his hand as if he had been slapped, he bowed his head to Fei-Long. "Forgive my rudeness, I acted without thinking. If you will excuse me, I have some matters to finish before the auction. If you need my assistance in any way please don't hesitate to ask." And with another few bows, Smith closed the door and disappeared to take care of other things and entertain his other guests.
The tension is the room, gave way for another tension. The calm before the storm some would call it.
"Master Fei-Long, here is a seat for you." One of his men pulled a grand, high back chair that faced the drawn curtains but sat far enough back. Several of the others began to lay out weapons on the table, inspecting and loading guns, blades, and bombs.
Sam came forward with a plate of food and a glass of wine, his dark hair shadowing his bright blue eyes. "For you Master, Smith might be a sadistic bastard but he has good tastes in food and wine."
Fei-Long accepted the plate, "Open the curtains and dim the lights, I want to see what goes on before this auction."
"Yes, sir."
Fei-Long leaned back into his chair, eating some of the food Sam had brought to him. He was right about Smith's taste in food, this wasn't the best but it was close to it. Sam pulled back the curtains with more ease than Smith had drawn them, making it look effortless.
On the other side of the glass stood a large cylindrical water tank. Inside, floated a girl. Millions of wires were strung around and into her body, keeping her from floating or sinking. "What is this?" Fei-Long leaned forward in his seat, placing the plate of food and glass of wine in someone's hands. He couldn't help but stare at the girl, her long white hair swirled around her naked body. She almost looked as if she was in the process of being preserved.
"That is one of Smith's greatest obsessions, she came into his hands sixteen years ago. He has been trying to find an elixir to eternal youth, this girl has been under his experimentations since the day she first arrived here. He also uses her for other things that he sees fit."
Fei-Long glanced at Sam and back at the girl. "Does she have a name?"
Sam came to stand next to Fei-Long's chair. "Yes, sir. Her name is Kai, Smith doesn't use our names because he views us as only objects now. It's likely that she doesn't even remember her own name anymore, I knew her when I was here three years ago." Sam had been another one chosen by Fei-Long the last time he was here. He had only picked him at random because he looked capable, not really caring who he got. But despite that he was happy with the outcome, Sam had pledged his life to Fei Long for getting him out. Fei-Long knew that Sam hated to be brought back to this place, ten years of torturous memories still kept Sam up at night.
Fei-Long continued to look at Kai, "Why is she in that tank? I would have thought that Smith would want to keep her out of the way so no one can see her." Last time he was here he never saw even a glimpse of Kai, Smith must have really wanted to keep her secret. But why now bring her out? Her eyes were covered with what looked like a violet piece of cloth, her mouth and nose by some kind of strange device, possibly one to keep her breathing. If he didn't see the rise and fall of her bare chest or the small movements of her face, Fei-Long would have thought that she was dead.
"It pleasures him to show off, I'm not exactly sure why he decided to bring her out this time. She's kept in that tank because that's one of the few ways to restrain her while she is being experimented on. She is pumped with very powerful drugs that Smith's scientists have come up with, unfortunately those drugs can also make you go crazy. The withdraws are not a pretty sight."
Fei-Long smiled to himself and waved one of his men over. "I am thinking that I am quite taken with her. Take Sam and a few others to retrieve her for me. Also, find that drug that Sam was talking about and the data for it. We will need it later. When the chaos starts, come and meet with us." The men bowed and quickly exited the room as the tank on the other side of the glass began to slide into the floor to be stored below. Fei-Long took his glass of wine back and swirled it around, bringing it to his lips. "This shall certainly be an interesting show."
Smith stepped onto the stage, all noise on the other side quieting until you could hear a pin drop. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen! Let us begin the show with a fabulous specimen that came into my hands just a short few hours ago today."
