I'm a sucker for bribery.
Onwards!
He never understood why he preyed on her type. It always left him feeling unclean and with a bad taste in his mouth, usually lasting for hours, sometimes even days.
'Easy, but sleazy.' He thought, pulling a face as he entered through the large oak doors.
"You're in trouble." A sing-song voice said, skipping up to him. Her long reddish-brown hair fell in waves around her face, her green eyes shining brightly, despite how dim the room was.
With a roll of his eyes, he tossed his Cubs jacket over the nearest piece of furniture. "Ria, go find somebody else to annoy."
The leggy young woman followed after him, a bounce in her step. "But I was told to wait for you to come back. Something about you really screwing things up... I can't remember."
"Only you could be so vapid." He muttered, walking down a corridor and leaving behind the headache known as Maria.
"Thanks!" she called after him energetically, to which he just raised a hand.
'I don't even want to know what she thinks that means.'
His tolerance for Maria varied, depending on how often he saw her. Most nights, it wasn't too bad because she was off somewhere with Ashley, gossiping about something or other. Another thing he neither got nor wanted to understand.
"At least Massaro is tolerable." He muttered, walking up one of many staircases in the oversized manor.
'Speak of the Devil...'
The woman in question made her way down the staircase, her dirty blonde hair hanging limp around her face. Her black boots echoed loudly on the stairs, causing him to groan.
"You think you could make any more noise?"
A smirk crossed her lips. "At least I'm not making the news, Brooks."
Quick reflexes allowed him to bar Ashley's way down the stairs. "Making the news?"
"You don't know?" Her smirk grew wider as she crossed her arms under her generous bosom. "Guess you haven't been home long enough for –"
"Phillip Jack Brooks." There was no mistaking the force and the frustration behind each word.
"Well, I'll see you later." Ashley giggled, ducking around Phil and bouncing down the stairs.
Quickly, Phil spun around on the step, not even wobbling as he looked down. At the foot of the steps stood the person he had probably come to know the longest in his existence.
Ace Steel.
Without saying a word, Ace walked away, Phil bounding down the steps and catching up easily with the shorter blond man, keeping a few paces behind. He could tell from the rigid posture that something was not right in the house, but it wasn't until they entered the dining hall that he realised how bad it was.
Every seat at the table, sans two, was occupied. Ace promptly took a seat to the left of the head of the table, leaving Phil to take the remaining seat between Scott Colt and Jeff Hardy.
A hush fell over the table as Dory Funk, Jr. stood. Easily the most senior member in the room, it wasn't hard for him to command everybody's attention as he spoke.
"We, here in this room, have a serious problem on our hands." He started, looking up and down the table at each individual. Even with the brief pause, nobody dared to make a sound. "As it is well documented, we are of a race that is slowly being weaned out. In this country alone, we are one of five civilizations and are the largest population of those five. Where there is safety in numbers, it also tends to get us into some less than pleasant situations."
Dory looked to his left, giving Ace a nod before taking his seat once again.
His palms placed firmly on the table, Ace rose and continued with the speech. "Around five-thirty this morning, a body was discovered submerged in the Chicago River. Police have identified it as twenty-two year old Barbara Blank, a bikini model for Hawaiian Tropics."
Phil's face fell as he realised who his victim was in the early morning. Still, he paid attention as Ace continued on.
"- thankfully, they have no leads to who it may be as of yet. But they'll be on their toes and definitely a lot more wary to what goes on in Chicago. I know there are a few of us-" his gaze fell on Phil and Scott "- who enjoy the Chicago lifestyle, as well as how much easier to feed there, but it would not be smart to venture there as often anymore. Unless, of course, you dispose of your meal a lot better than the local river."
By now, Ace's piercing blue eyes were settled solely on Phil, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat as several more eyes looked at him. It was a relief when Dory stood, placing a hand on the blond man's shoulder. The stare was broken as Ace took a seat and the older man began to speak once more.
"Our existence is one not filled with risk, but there will be a need to be more secretive now. Once Ms. Blank's death becomes public knowledge, it will only be a matter of time before they will come after us again."
From the corner of his eye, Phil saw Chris' head bow, eyes closed. Quickly, guilt was settling in the pit of his stomach as he looked back towards the head of the table.
"And this time, we may not be as fortunate as we once were."