The phone rang, echoing in the darkness of Mary's scarcely furnished apartment. She rolled over onto her side, facing the telephone with it's angry, blinking light. She glared. Typhoid Mary Walker was not amused at the thought of being woken up at this hour in the morning. Tossing back onto her other side, back to the blinking, ringing contraption, she crammed her head between two pillows and tried to ignore the ringing until it went away.
It did not go away.
'Who the Hell calls at this hour in the fucking morning..." she growled in her mind. Of course, she already knew who was on the other end. Her hand snaked out behind her, grasping the cold, plastic receiver and lifting it off the cradle. She held it to her ear and waited, her eyes half closed still.
"Mary? Baby? Is that you?" the desperate voice of a man came through in a hushed whisper. It was Mark Stein, a CEO at Stark Enterprises, or at least he was at the moment. It was uncertain how long that would last, since his loving wife and mother of his three children left him after finding out about an affair he was having with a certain Miss Walker.
"Baby, I need you. I can't stop thinking about you," he continued, his voice getting more and more desperate as Typhoid rolled onto her back, yawning. She covered the mouthpiece of the phone so he couldn't hear her. "I can't eat. I can't sleep..."
'Neither can I with you calling at all hellish hours,' she thought bitterly to herself. She eyed the clock: 2:30 am.
"Baby? Are you there?" he asked desperately. He had lost everything for her, and now she wasn't talking. His heart raced as he waited for her sweet, silky voice. A voice that would make all his worries melt away.
"Yes, baby. I need you too," she said, her voice filled with a fake emotion which she had never actually felt; love. Who needs love? Was her motto. She had sex. She had money. She had power. That was all she needed. Only fools need love.
"Meet me tonight, please..." his voice shook with an insecurity. Nothing of the bravado and male arrogance he once held. She held that now, just as she held a large chunk of what he was worth.
However, Mary knew what was going to happen. Sooner or later the gravy train would end, and she would have to find herself a new toy, but she had already closed her sights in on one. Stein's boss. Anthony Stark himself. What a catch he would be. Almost as good as the Daredevil. She curled a lock of red hair in around her finger as she watched the ceiling.
"It's late, honey..." she cooed back, a cautious tone that wouldn't let on any of her anticipation for that final moment. Oh, it would be so sweet. 'Just play your part right, Marcus, and I'll play mine...' she thought to herself.
"I don't care. I'll come pick you up. Please. I give you anything," he was near tears.
'Pathetic,' she thought, her tongue licking along her lips savagely. 'And you'll give me the only thing you have left, you penny less bastard... Your life...'
"Alright, sweet heart," she rolled onto her side once more. "The usual place... This time I'll have a special surprise waiting for you..." Her voice was so sweet. So sugary. It was hard to imagine that it was the voice of a killer, and tonight, Mark Stein would meet that killer.
He was oblivious. He was unaware of Typhoid. All he knew about her is that she was an innocent young woman, only a year older than his eldest daughter. He had taken her, moulded her, into the perfect woman, or at least he thought he had. In his mind, she was his toy. He owned her, body, mind and soul. Of course, that wasn't so. She had him just where she wanted him, by the balls...
To Be Continued In... Welcome To the Jungle...