10
With Blanca dead, the next victims on Ace's shitlist were the members of his old gang for what they had done to his sister and himself. The last time he had been in contact with them, they had been operating outside of Freeside. He decided it would be best if he headed into my old prowling grounds on his own. The Freeside Fiend hadn't been forgotten that easily, and apparently news of my escape had been leaked on the radio. It had given the other prisoners the opportunity to stage their own escape that had apparently been in the works for some time. I had known a bit about it, despite the fact that I was in solitary confinement for the majority of my time. Prisoners were nothing if not creative to find ways to pass notes, even in solitary.
Despite that, I had no interest in helping them. I wasn't going to get involved with a dipshit gang again. Now those assholes were out, calling themselves the Powder Gangers. As long as they were killing NCR however, I didn't have a problem with them. Since the heat was on now, so to speak, the NCR were out in force, even having more of a presence in Freeside. And so here I was, in one of the many abandoned houses in outer Vegas, waiting patiently for Ace to return.
I was growing hungry, and we had a small stash of food, mostly junk or prewar stuff, nothing that would sate my appetite. I had wandered outside to smoke a cigarette after taking a fresh hit of psycho. The night air was cool, a light breeze blew over the desert, and the moon was full in the sky. It was so bright that you didn't need a flashlight to see out over the Wastes perfectly for miles. The world was burnt and twisted to shit, but it could be really beautiful sometimes.
I could feel my pulse thrumming in my ears from the drugs, and I felt wired, coiled tight like a spring. My stomach grumbled again rather uncomfortably. Something caught my eye however, there was a man wandering down the street, coming right towards my house. I had a little fire going outside, so I wasn't surprised that it had drawn some sort of attention. As he drew nearer, I noted that he was staggering slightly as he walked, more than likely a drunk. He was probably in his early thirties, not bad looking by any means, and dressed in a worn out looking brown gamblers suit. My wheels in my mind were already turning, sprouting a wicked idea.
Flicking my cigarette away, I made my way closer to the street and leaned against the side of the house. I got his attention with a little whistle, and when he looked over at me I put on my most inviting smile and beckoned him with my index finger. He gave a goofy drunk grin, and started shuffling his way over to me.
"You look lost, handsome. Where you headed?" I kept my voice flirty, gentle, despite feeling the madness inside of me clawing at my brain, begging for me to tear him apart. It was a near constant desire inside of me, and I had no idea why. Nor could countless shrinks and NCR doctors. At this point in my life however, I had grown to embrace the cravings.
"Baby, listen. I'm headed nowhere fast, I lost it all in those fucking casinos." His voice was thick with a slur. The house had taken this drunk chump for all he had.
I ushered him closer until he was within my reach. I approached him, my height allowing me to look him in the eye. Now when I pulled this move with men it either went one of two ways; 1. They realized I could kick their ass and they got intimidated. Or 2. They realized I could kick their ass, and got excited by it. By the look in his eye when I ran my fingertips along the lapels of his jacket, he was falling into the latter category.
"That's too bad, darling. Maybe you can stay the night with me instead?" I leaned close to his ear, running my hands down the sides of his neck and keeping my voice low and husky. "Just looking at you is making me hungry."
That had him, and my trap was instantly sprung as soon as I had set it. "I think I got something for you." Soon our mouths were clashing and I could feel him roughly groping at my ass. Something was repulsive about all of it, and yet I found myself genuinely considering going through with actually screwing him. I hadn't been with anyone since I had gotten thrown in NCRCF roughly two years ago now, thanks for that NCR.
But that also meant that a more prevalent hunger had gone unquenched for two years. It was my most shameful act, but one that had become borne from necessity in a very desperate situation. My hunger for warm, fresh meat would always overcome any sexual appetite however. Despite the warmth gathering at the apex of my thighs, I could almost taste his blood already.
He had me pinned against the wall, and I found the perfect opportunity to strike when he tilted his head to kiss my neck. His jugular was visible in the moonlight, I could see the hot blood pulsing through the vein. The next thing I knew, I was sinking my teeth into it as hard as I could. His flesh tore easily enough, we are such soft fragile things.
The taste of hot iron filled my mouth and it felt like taking a hit of the finest psycho I had ever tasted. I didn't stop until the man was collapsing, but I was able to carry him easily. I dragged him behind the house, to my little fire. He bled out rather quickly to my disappointment, but it allowed me to go about my work more easily. I started shaving flesh from him with my knife, cutting it to look indistinguishable. Last thing I needed was for Ace to figure out what I was eating.
Before too long I had the body ditched and my fresh meat cooking over the fire. I knew I had to be a mess, my arms were sprayed with blood and I could feel it all over my neck and chest. I had tried to be as quick as possible, the last thing I needed was Ace coming home early to see me up to my old tricks. There was no way to tell how he would react. After we killed Blanca he had vomited and burst out crying. I didn't blame him really, but I had no idea how to comfort anybody. No one had ever genuinely wanted help from me, let alone comfort or care.
I had simply pulled him away from the old bat and led him out of the cursed hotel room. The other slaves were singing our praises as we released them, something that was completely new to me. He seemed disconnected from all of it, and I worried for an instant that he was horrified at my actions; that his revenge hadn't been as satisfying as he wished for. I was wrong however, he was proud of the both of us for taking care of the disgusting old bitch, but still in disbelief that she was actually dead.
I'd never been subjected to the things that Ace had at the hands of Blanca, my heart really went out to him when he told me about the assault. It really made me take even more pleasure in tormenting the hag, I tried to keep her alive as long as I could to inflict maximum suffering. Seeing him bash her head in with that hammer was beautiful, perfect justice.
I heard the familiar footsteps of Ace coming around to the back of the house. Just in time, I had finished my meal and wrapped up the remains to save for later. He stepped around the corner, giving me a weak little smile. "Hey."
I smiled at him without a thought. "So, how did it go, boss man?"
He sat next to me, staring deep into the flames like he was searching for something that I couldn't see. "Good and bad. Which news do you want first?"
"Let's get the bad news out of the way."
He sighed and looked over at me. "Well first, what the hell happened to you?" He pointed at my bib of blood.
Damn, I hadn't had time to clean up. "We just had an unwanted visitor, no big deal."
He arched an eyebrow at me. "Right, I don't want to know. Anyway, the bad news is your wanted poster is plastered all over Freeside. Also somewhat bad, I guess the King finally got tired of the gang and tried to wipe them out."
I had expected as much really. After being the worst active serial killer in Vegas for quite some time, it was no shock to me that the NCR would still be baying for my blood. I gave a noncommittal shrug. "I'm not fully surprised on either count. So what's the good news?"
"The good news is two of them survived, the two I wanted most; Dermot and Saint James. They fled to Westside and they're staying at a hotel there. The other good thing," he paused, removing his backpack and rooting through it for a moment, "I was able to pick you up a disguise." He pulled out a long blue dress, a sun hat, and a long blonde wig. He gave me a shit eating grin and I stared at the items in horror.
"Oh fuck no. I don't do femme!"
Ace sighed in exasperation. "Look, they're gonna be looking for you, Red. And you're hard to miss. I mean c'mon, a big burly bitch with raider armor and bright red Mohawks stands out like a sore thumb. No one is going to suspect the pretty blonde gambler."
While I knew he was right, I still hated the very idea of putting on a dress and a wig. However, I hated the idea of going back to prison even more. "Fine. When are we doing this?"
"Why wait? Let's do it tonight. The later it gets, the better. Less chance of others being around."
I was tired as hell after walking all day, but the idea of hunting down these shitbags had me excited. Bringing up killing someone was like offering me a treat. "Let's go." I stood quickly, grabbing my javelin from where it rested against a large rock.
"Now hold your horses, Fiend. Aren't you forgetting something?" He shook the outfit at me, smirking widely with a mischievous look in his green-blue eyes.
I snatched it away and gave him a glare. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Put it on and then I will be."
I smacked him over the head with the wig before turning my back and starting to strip. There wasn't exactly much of a reason in my mind to pretend to have decency, the world's a rotten rock and we're all fucked anyway. Plus he was gay, not like he was checking me out.
"God! I wish you'd stop doing that!" His voice came from behind me, full of distress.
I smirked. "That's what you get for making me wear this shit. Enjoy the show gay boy!" I shook my butt a little, and his reaction was to retch loudly. I damn near fell over laughing trying to pull the dress over my head. And then it was time for the worst part, the damn wig.
It sat in my hands looking like some poor dead animal. "I'll never forgive you for this. Going to absolutely ruin my hair." Just the thought of smushing down my Mohawks to cram my head into this greasy thing made me sick.
"Oh come on, don't be a big ass baby. You can just squeeze some more shit out of a cactus or something and spike them back up," he approached me to help me smooth my hair down, it took some water and patience from the both of us. Ace put the accursed wig over my blood red hair, and suddenly I was a gambler with long blonde locks. I grunted my displeasure.
"Don't be such a diva. You look cute!" He adjusted my newfound curls and beamed at me with pride.
"I feel like a jackass. And I probably look like a moron."
He slapped me lightly on the back of my head. "Well fine then, you're hideous!" I could tell by his grin that he was joking, but playing like this was still new to me. If it was anyone else I would have pushed them in the fire, but not Ace. I just smiled and put my hands on my hips coquettishly. "That's more like it!" I made my voice exaggeratedly feminine, trying to give off a bimbo vibe.
Ace was howling with laughter and I let myself relax enough to join in. I could get used to having a friend like this; Ace was really growing on me. It was only natural, I was helping him out on his revenge tour, and in return he was indirectly teaching me what it felt like to be accepted by someone. The feeling was wonderful, but also terrifying as I felt myself growing attached to him. It was going to hurt so much more when he decided he didn't need me anymore.
…
The Casa Madrid. It didn't look like much, and it really wasn't much when we stepped inside. It smelled like cigarettes and sweat. Ace and I shared a twin look of horror. Before we had time to even utter a word to each other, a badly burnt woman walked around the corner and gave us a smile. "Welcome to the Casa! And now, what do your hearts desire? I'm sure we have someone who can take care of any needs you have."
"We're not here for that. There's two men who stay here, Dermot and Saint James. Are they in?" Ace was all business, straight to the point. I could almost imagine him in a suit and tie giving out orders.
The woman's face twisted up like she had bit into something sour. "Those creeps. Don't tell me you're here to do business with them. I told them they can't have anyone else in here after last time."
Ace gave me a sidelong look. "Fuck no. They stole something from me, I need to talk to them about it."
"Well I'm not sure where they went. You could try asking Sweetie, she knows more about them than she cares to. Honestly, their rooms are right down the hall. I don't have a key but you're more than welcome to try to get in and have a look around."
We thanked her and headed down to the door of the room that she had pointed at. Sure enough it was locked up tight, Ace wanted to try to pick the lock, but I had a better idea. I stepped out of the uncomfortable heels that I had been forced into. "Get out of the way."
He looked up at me with confusion in his eyes. Then he saw I had my shoes off. "You really don't do subtlety, do you?"
"Never met her." I gave a little smirk before I lightly pushed him aside. I had the door kicked in just a second later. That was the good thing about being a big burly bitch, to quote Ace's description of me; there wasn't a door that could stand in my way.
"You're lucky I love seeing you do that, or else I'd be a little upset that you tore up that nice lady's door." He gave me a grin and a pat on the back before he led me inside.
The room was an absolute mess, dirty dishes and empty bottles were strewn about carelessly. Cigarette butts were everywhere, and it stank horribly, even worse than the hallway. As much as I didn't want to touch anything in here, I hadn't ransacked anything in a long time. "Let's look for anything that might let us know where they went. And shit, while we're at it, let's rob his ass." My voice came out excited, I was thriving.
"I like the way you think, Red!" Ace smirked and swiped his arm across the countertop, sending bottles and dishes crashing to the floor where they shattered.
At that, it was game on. We were throwing his clothes out of the dresser, scattering books and tools, destroying anything we could find. I came across a teddy bear that faced the bed, kinda creepy, and so I ripped it's head off. That proved even creepier, as there was a small camera hidden inside. "What kinda shit was this freak doing with that?"
Ace had upended the bed and whistled to get my attention. "Jackpot baby. We got lots of caps, and a lot of holotapes." I went to his side to take a look. The tapes were organized, with things written on them. "Do you see all these names? You think these are snuff films?"
I didn't want to admit to Ace that I was illiterate, and even more embarrassing was the one title I could read simply because I recognized it. "I don't think so," I pointed at the tape, "Girls on Film. That's a porno."
The blonde giggled, I felt my cheeks color a little. "How do you know that, Red?"
"Shut it. Do you recognize any of these names?"
He thumbed through them, humming in thought. "Just Sweetie. There's a lot of her in here. Freak must be making his own porn."
It was still gross, but certainly less disturbing than making snuff films. I may be a murderer, but I don't want to broadcast it to the world. "We should give these to her, and she can determine what she wants to do with them."
Nodding in agreement, he kept rooting through the box until he found a journal. He started leafing through it, and his jaw dropped. "Jesus. I'm the first entry in here. Jason Sinclair, young adult male, 2,000 caps. There's so many more, women, children. He's been selling people off to the highest bidder."
"He must have realized how much money was in it after you." That made me feel sick. I wanted these assholes dead even more somehow.
"At this point we have to kill them both just on principle. Mojave's got enough problems without human traffickers running around." He gathered up the caps, the ledger, and the tapes I could only assume had Sweetie's name on them. I was eager to get out of this disgusting place, but I knew we still had to go see Sweetie.
We made our way upstairs, soon coming to an open door where a pretty blonde lounged on a bed. She was scantily clad, and her room smelled like sweat tinged with some sort of perfume. I wrinkled my nose at it.
She drew up from the bed, strutting up to us with an exaggerated swing in her hips. "Well well, it's been a while since I had a couple in here. Marriage stale? Need Sweetie to spice it up a bit, hmm?" She trailed her fingers around on Ace's chest, he looked like he was ready to vomit.
"No offense, sister, but you're not exactly my type. We just need some information." He looked down at her with disgust written across his handsome features.
She looked offended; she was beautiful, I had the feeling she wasn't used to not being anyone's type. "Boring. But also a service I offer. Thing is, none of my services are cheap."
Ace rolled his eyes. His fuse had been so short lately, and seemed to be getting shorter. Maybe I was rubbing off on him. "Listen bitch, you're not getting a single cap out of me. Now you're going to tell me where Dermot and Saint James are, and I won't have my friend here snap your knees backwards. Getting on your knees will be pretty hard then, huh?"
"Jesus calm down! Look, both of those guys give me the creeps. I know they're into some weird shit. They said something about heading to the Monte Carlo Suites to pick up some caps." Her voice was shaky, her eyes darting around like she was looking for an escape if things went south.
"That wasn't so hard was it?" Ace patted her cheek, with a little more force than necessary before tossing the tapes at her feet. "One of your buddies was filming you, had a secret camera in a teddy bear."
Recognition flashed in her eyes. "That fucking weirdo. I knew he was propping that thing up to watch for some reason!" She scrabbled down to the floor to gather the numerous holotapes.
Ace nudged my shoulder. "Let's get out of here." There was a hard determination in his voice. The blonde man seemed as thirsty for blood as I was, maybe even more so.
…
The night was starting to get cooler, the desert winds taking on a cold front and whipping even harder. It blew my dress all around, something that was completely foreign to me. This was the first time I had even worn a dress, and I was eager to let it never happen again. The heels were killing my feet and calves, but I wasn't too keen on walking through Westside barefoot. Stepping on broken glass or a used needle wasn't worth it for a little bit of comfort.
Ace was walking fast, he already had his 9mm submachine gun out. I could tell by the look in his light eyes that he was furious, a fire burning in them that I hadn't seen before.
I had a sawed off in my left hand, my javelin in my right. There was no sign of movement outside the suites, but I could see a candle flickering in one of the windows. Shadows were moving about in that dim light. "That candle almost seems like some sort of signal. Dumbasses just set out a beacon for us." His voice was rough, and his jaw was clenching rapidly. I had no doubt his brain was probably replaying the trauma these assholes had inflicted on him and his poor sister.
He didn't hesitate for a moment as he quietly swung the front door open. It had your typical layout that you would expect from these little apartments, and the air smelled stagnant, like no one had been here in some time. I followed him down the hall towards the room where the candle flickered, I could see its dim orange light coming from under the door. There were muffled voices inside, I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Ace dropped down and started picking the lock, he had it open shockingly fast.
The door swung open on an inward direction, and I took in the sight of two crusty guys who had to be Dermot and Saint James, as well as a pretty young girl who couldn't have been more than a teenager. She sat on the bed, one of the men beside her, and the other sitting in a chair facing them. He held a camera in his hands and my stomach churned when I realized what was about to happen here.
"You didn't say anyone else would be here. I thought this was a closed audition." She looked scared, her dark eyes wide as she looked at me and Ace.
"Believe me honey, you don't want any part of the movie they're trying to make." Ace kept his voice gentle when he talked to her, I had no doubt he felt horrible for the poor little thing. The guy sitting with the camera suddenly sprung into action, rushing Ace with a knife, but the blonde was faster. He rammed his fist into the skeezy asshole's nose, a fountain of blood instantly flowing down his mouth.
The girl started screaming, backing away as if we were the danger. The creep sitting next to her, who I noted was wearing an old cop hat ironically, went back with her. He grabbed her roughly, clamping his hand over her mouth and drawing a 10mm with the other. His partner that was now sprawled on the floor, tried to clamber to his feet to attack again, but Ace fired a burst of rounds into his kneecap. His cries of agony rang out, and I couldn't help but smile at the sound.
"Ace, you fucking fairy. Aren't you supposed to be satisfying that old nympho?" The guy with the cop hat was smirking, knowing he was plucking at Ace's nerves.
"Better than raping girls and making porn of it before you sell them off. I knew you were fucked, Dermot. You're sick." Ace glared at the bastard, but kept his gun trained on the other man, who I could only assume was Saint James. Weird fucking names.
"So what? It's their own fault for being stupid enough to come here. I mean, an open casting call in Westside? What kinda dumbass falls for that?" Dermot trailed off into a laugh that sounded more like someone choking. The girl was clawing at his hand to try to escape, but his grip was iron tight on her.
"Let her go. This is between us, she has nothing to do with this." Ace's voice was sharp, he wasn't telling him what to do, he was demanding him. Barking orders like he was some Sergeant; I was proud.
Dermot shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but I'd had enough. My javelin was impaling his exposed shoulder and knocking him back onto the bed before he even breathed a word. The girl bolted for the door, and I caught her.
"I'm going to get help!" She had tears streaming down from her big doe eyes, and I felt a pang of pain in my chest for her.
"No. No help, no NCR. Just go home, don't even talk about what happened here." I tried to keep my voice gentle, but it still came out sharp and aggressive. She looked like she was on the verge of a heart attack, but she nodded rapidly, sucked her snot back up in her nose, and bolted.
I turned back to the room and noticed Ace on the bed straddling Dermot. His hand was on my javelin, pushing it deeper into the asshole's shoulder. "What did you fucks do with Mona's body?"
He screamed in pain, but gradually started calming down as Ace let up on the pressure. "We threw her in a ditch on the side of the road. Real shame honestly, she was probably the best lay I ever had." Dermot cackled and spit towards Ace's face. He missed and it landed with a splat on his own chest.
Ace didn't say anything, just started whaling on him with both fists. Saint James was stirring on the floor, trying to stand up to protect his partner surely. We couldn't have that, and so I blasted his other knee with my sawed off. It damn near chewed his flesh all the way through, his leg hanging on by little tendons and stringy flesh.
My compatriot on the bed didn't even react, he was too busy reigning hell upon the asshole that raped his sister. A twisted idea crossed my mind at the sight of all that blood, and I fell to my knees beside Saint James. His combat knife had almost slid under the bed, I pried it out and looked down on him with a playful smirk across my lips. He looked up at me with eyes nearly twisted shut in pain.
I cut his sleeve off, exposing a muscular arm. My mouth watered for reasons most people couldn't fathom. The knife sank easily into his bicep, and he started screaming with horrible pain and rage. I had the muscle removed quickly, I was an expert butcher, and raised it to my lips bloody and raw. It was tough, but it tasted like heaven to me.
The horror in his eyes as he realized who I was gave me a chill of delight down my spine. Just to confirm it, I dared to remove my wig with a teasing little "Ooo!"
"Fucking psycho bitch!" He was seething, and I took another bite from his arm and smiled widely with bloody teeth and lips. Luckily, I had guessed correctly and Ace wasn't even paying attention to me, he was so busy beating Dermot's face in.
Saint James was already starting to go pale, I wasn't surprised, his legs had taken major trauma. And now his arm as well, he would probably pass out from blood loss soon. Ace wouldn't want him to go out that easily. Acting purely on action with absolutely no thought, I rammed the rest of his bicep into his mouth. My fist pounded hard on his throat to make him swallow, and next thing I knew he was choking on himself.
He clawed at his throat and his eyes couldn't get much wider without popping out of his head. I watched him until he stopped breathing with a pathetic little gurgle.
Much to my shock, there was still a commotion up on the bed. I ripped the red rag that hung around Saint James' neck from his corpse and used it to clean my face. I must have looked quite the sight from my grisly snack.
Ace had flipped Dermot over onto his belly, and he had a slave collar wrapped tightly around the man's neck. It occurred to me that all the noise was Ace choking him with the device until he was early passing out, then he would release it and let him catch his breath. Rinse and repeat. The look on the blonde man's face held a darkness I had never seen before.
Part of me wanted to offer my help, but he seemed to have it handled pretty well. I opted to take the chair Saint James had been sitting in and watch until he was finished with his grisly work. It was so strange to me to be sharing my disturbing hobby with someone else, but Ace had proven to be the perfect partner in crime. My doubts about his level of toughness had been quelled, and my heart soared with pride.
I wasn't sure if I saw him tormenting other scumbags with me, but for now I was content. There was still the small worry in my mind that when we had concluded our business here that he would send me away. I really wouldn't blame him, who would want a wanted murderer following them around? Yet it still made an echo of sadness reverberate through my heart.
…
11
When it was all said and done, Dermot and Saint James suffered just as much as I wanted them to. I surprised myself with my level of brutality that I had discovered when I was dealing with Dermot. What surprised me even more was the deep satisfaction I felt when I saw Dermot's mangled corpse with my old slave collar clamped tightly around his throat.
I hadn't gotten satisfaction with Blanca for quite some time. It took a few days for that feeling of victory to sink in, but this was different. Maybe it was because I had taken care of him on my own fully this time. Red had killed Saint James, it looked like she cut out part of his arm out and jammed it down his throat. Who hurt that girl to make her like that, I have no idea. But in some twisted way, I was thankful for it.
I truly wouldn't have been able to do it without the terrifying woman. She could be hard to read, but she seemed more relaxed around me recently. There was something so carefree about her now, and it made me happy. I didn't want her to stick around after this was all said and done when I first met her, but after going on this little revenge tour with her, I couldn't fathom the idea of her leaving.
Red was eerily quiet as we exited the Monte Carlo Suites, walking with her eyes down at the heels that she hated so much. "What's up?" I kept my voice even, casual.
She looked uncomfortable, almost squirming under my gaze. That was certainly new. "Everyone's dead now. So…you must want me gone, right?"
I stopped walking, and she continued for a moment before standing still and turning to look at me. Her sapphire eyes were surprisingly fragile. It was such a strange look on this woman who was just brutally killing a man just a few moments ago.
"Why would you say something so stupid, Red? If you want to go, I can't stop you; but the truth is, you're really all I have out here. You're…I don't know, the closest thing to family I have." It felt lame, and I probably sounded like an asshole. Much to my shock, a smile broke across her face and she came rushing over to me, scooping me up in a crushing bear hug and spinning me around. When I was put back on my feet, surely with some cracked ribs, I stared at her in shock.
"I'm sorry. It's just everyone leaves, you know? People say they accept me, and then the next thing I know I'm getting dumped in the next town. Or the asylum. Or the jail." Red looked almost embarrassed. Opening up was definitely something she didn't do, or at least she never had with me.
The outpouring of emotion was welcome. I could see a human inside of that big angry woman, and she was agonizingly alone. I started walking again, and she fell into place at my side. "People suck. Must be part of the reason you started killing."
She didn't say anything, and for a moment I thought I'd made a mistake. Red didn't look mad, her expression was neutral, I could only assume she was done with opening up for now. "So, what's next?" Her voice was genuinely curious.
I hummed in thought. "Well, everyone that wronged me is dead. What do you want to do? Maybe we should get the hell out of the Mojave."
"We can't leave yet. You ever been to Vegas?"
I had a feeling about where this was going, and I wasn't very sure I liked the idea. "No. Is that where you wanna go?"
She nodded enthusiastically, her fake blonde curls bouncing. "I've never had the money to pass the credit check. We're swimming in caps now, since your ol pal decided to make a generous donation to us. Might as well live it up a little before we dip out of here!"
Red was really geared up for this, I could see it written all over her face. "Red, I really don't think that's the best idea. The NCR Embassy is on the strip, that's a lot of heat really close by."
"Well I got this getup now. You even said they wouldn't be looking for a pretty blonde; if I keep it on, how would anybody even know it's me?" She had her negotiating voice on, and I really couldn't argue with that logic. But I still had a bad feeling about it all.
"We're gonna have to play it really cool, Red. You can't kill whoever looks at you wrong there. If the NCR doesn't pick you up, or take you out, God only knows what House's securitrons will do." I stopped walking, giving her my most serious expression.
"Yeah yeah yeah. Got it, warden." The redhead gave a dramatic salute and I couldn't help but laugh at her. I wanted to trust Red, but I had never taken her into such a "civilized" place. It gave me the anxiety of walking a bull into a China shop.
…
We had only just passed the credit check and stepped into the main gate of New Vegas, and already my heart was pounding in my chest like an overzealous drummer. After spending the night in our burnt out little hovel, I was already exhausted and sore. The worn out tattered mattress hadn't done me any good physically or mentally. Sleep was fitful and interrupted frequently from distant gunfire or pure discomfort. Red slept like a brick however, I don't even remember her waking once.
After that terrible night, we spent the day in Freeside. I mostly just wanted to feel out the situation and see if we were attracting much attention. Luckily, the NCR paid us no mind, and the only other attention came from drunks catcalling Red. The dangerous woman dealt with it well enough, mostly grumbling under her breath, although she did flip one guy the bird. Luckily he was the right kind of drunk; he just laughed it off instead of trying to bandage his bruised ego by starting something.
And now here we were, the sun had just set and we were bathed in the brilliant neon lights of New Vegas. Red's face was awash in reds and blues and greens. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning, it was probably the happiest I'd ever seen her without viciously murdering someone. "Oh my God. Ace, this is so much better than I even thought."
"Let's actually get in somewhere and then we can get a full opinion. And we definitely need to get a drink." The first two casinos we saw were The Lucky 38, forbidden to anyone who wasn't that strange courier, and Gomorrah. I stared up at the huge tower, imagining Mr. House sitting up there looking down at his empire. Whoever, or whatever he was, I knew he was someone who I definitely didn't want to trifle with. You had to be one cold cat to build up this whole city and keep it safe. I couldn't help but wonder just what he and that courier had to discuss, and what made it so important that he would unseal that ivory tower for the first time in New Vegas history.
I was brought out of my reverie by some drunk bumping into me. He was so wasted he didn't even seem to notice, just kept shuffling along, looking like a zombie. I shot him a dirty look and traced my eyes back over to where Red had been, only to find she wasn't there. Panic set in almost immediately, I expected to hear screams any moment, and to find her chewing someone's throat out. "Damn it, Red!" I snarled under my breath, and started shoving my way through the crowd to find her.
I breathed a sigh of relief just a moment later, she hadn't gone far and no one was dead. The fake blonde was talking to one of the many scantily clad women who were shaking their shit outside Gomorrah. I arched an eyebrow as I drew near.
"I wanna go in here." Her voice was even and determined. I looked up at the silhouettes of women that decorated the building and sighed.
"I don't think there's anything for me here."
The hooker piped up, "Oh honey, we have men too! There's something for everyone in Gomorrah."
Red was looking at me expectantly. I didn't feel like arguing, and it had been a minute since I had been with a man. It felt gross that I was even considering it, but I genuinely couldn't think of the last time I screwed someone who wasn't that old slaving bitch, may her soul burn in hell.
I took the lead and Red gave an excited little squeal as we headed for the doors. "Red, you've been making fun of me for being gay this whole time, and now you're out here ogling prostitutes. What's wrong with that picture?"
She laughed and lightly slugged me on the shoulder, well lightly to her, it still felt like being hit with a rock to me. "I'm not making fun, just busting your chops a little. Besides, I'm not gay. I go both ways."
I couldn't help but laugh. She was definitely something else. The guards at the door had to shake us down for our weapons, which didn't sit well with Red, but when it clicked to her that we weren't getting in any other way, she grudgingly acquiesced.
We headed inside, and I was shocked by how well kept the place was. I was so used to pits like the Atomic Wrangler, but this was really something else. Men and women danced in cages, card dealers were making sure the house kept winning, and the room was abuzz with laughter and different conversations. It was almost overwhelming how much was going on, but I felt myself start to relax a little.
I drifted us back to the bar, which happened to be adjacent to the main stage. I took a seat and ordered a beer, Red had drifted off to the stage and was being mesmerized by the dancers there. The worry of what we were to do after this was still prevalent in my mind. We were wanted criminals, and with no allies except each other.
The beer was draining rather quickly, and I ordered another before it ran dry. A heady sigh escaped my lips and I set the empty bottle down. "Drinking all alone, handsome?" Now that was a very familiar voice. I whipped around in my chair to see if it was who I thought.
"Sam! What are you doing in this place?" Sam was an ex boyfriend of mine, he had left me when I first joined the Scorpions, that joke of a gang. He looked almost the same, with his shaggy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Much to my shock, he had the attire of one of the whores.
"I could ask you the same. I haven't seen you in years, are you doing okay?" His voice softened with genuine care, and I couldn't help but smile. My mind truly couldn't remember the last time someone had asked me that. Red was awesome and all, but she didn't exactly talk about feelings very often. Her opening up earlier made me feel like I had stepped into an alternate dimension.
I sighed and ran a hand down the side of my face. "I'm…well I'm better than I was. It's been a long, crazy trip." That was certainly putting it lightly. Much as I missed Sam, I wasn't sure of how much I wanted to tell him.
He placed his hand gently on my arm and rubbed his thumb almost lovingly across my skin. "Well, I missed you a lot, Ace. Are you staying here? We should catch up!" His tone suggested he wanted to do much more than catch up, and if he was indeed a prostitute now, he had caught me in a vulnerable moment.
"I would like that." I had a slight buzz from the beer already, and could feel myself starting to loosen up a bit. Maybe Red wasn't all wrong for picking this place.
As if on cue, the aforementioned woman came strutting up to us with some beef cake in tow. He was actually beautiful, with well groomed jet black hair and eyes to match. He wore some sort of chains and leather straps for his attire, and a cocky grin. "Ace, my best bud! Listen, I have this handsome man here and would love to get a room with him. Wanna send some of those caps my way?" She had a wild look in her eye, along with a look I hadn't seen before and wasn't sure that I liked.
"Yes, Re…Reilly. Can I talk to you in private for just a minute?" The men didn't seem to notice my tripping over her new fake name, much to my gain. I pulled her aside so we were out of earshot, Sam and Beefcake were chatting it up.
"Reilly? What the hell was that?" She looked genuinely confused.
"Red, c'mon. You're not you, remember? I understand if you're lonely, you were locked up for a long time, but-" I didn't get a chance to spit it all out, she was already cutting me off.
"Look Ace. I was in prison, solitary confinement, for two years. I haven't been touched, in two years. If I want to get laid, please just let me get laid. Let me have this one thing! I'll be a good girl, I promise." Her expression became deadly serious, her tone almost begging. If it was manipulation, she was doing very well.
I sighed and started pawing through my bag for a suitable amount for her. "Please don't make me regret this."
The caps were slapped in her hand and she was skipping off with her man before too long. How the hell she was going to pull off doing the act with that wig on, I had no idea.
Sam had waited for me at the bar, he was examining his spotless nails, looking for invisible flaws. After all these years, his body language was still the same. "That wasn't Mona, she's like ten feet too tall." He trailed off into a laugh and I rolled my eyes when he wasn't looking. His mean girl attitude had not changed either.
"No, that's my best friend. She just left her husband and wanted to celebrate." The bullshit flowed off my tongue easily enough. I hoped the outlandish remark would derail him from the topic of my dead sister. "Look, I'd love to talk somewhere more private. Let's get a room?"
…
We got a room out in the courtyard, the setup reminded me of some of the abandoned motels I had stayed in before. I followed Sam down the row of doors until we reached our own. About three doors down from us had to be Red and her boy toy, feminine moans could be heard emanating from the room and I fought the urge to block my ears. I loved Red, but I really didn't need to know what she sounded like in the throes of passion.
"Sounds like Dante is showing your girlfriend a good time. Good for her." Sam laughed as he opened the door.
I examined the room, surprised that it was actually rather clean and smelled of fresh linens. Vegas really was the closest to prewar you could get, I could almost forget about the atomic wasteland outside the walls. "Yeah, she's been lonely. Still really don't need to think about that."
Sam hopped on the bed, sitting with his legs crossed and pulling a little bag from a pocket inside his vest. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a little bag of pot and a one hitter. "You sly dog, still growing that stuff?"
He nodded proudly. "I call this Atom's Boof. I promise you'll love it."
I let myself fall into the bed beside him and couldn't help but laugh at the name. I genuinely couldn't remember the last time I had gotten high. Probably not since we had broken up, weed was hard to find in the wastes. The brunette had the pot busted up before long and packed his little bowl as full as he could get it.
Ever the gentleman, he allowed me the first hit, placing the one hitter between my lips before drawing a zippo and lighting it for me. I could get used to this. The weed had a good flavor, and left me with a slight buzz after the very first hit. "Now this takes me back." I reclined carelessly on the bed, my body finally seeming to fully uncoil.
"Same here," Sam paused to light his own hit, his handsome features glowing in the reddish light. "I gotta be honest, Ace. I never thought I'd see you again."
"Shit. I never thought I'd see me again either. You were right about the Scorpions though. I never should have joined that stupid fucking gang."
Sam shook his head, packing the next bowl. He was never one to say told ya so, and he didn't seem ready to start now. I was grateful for that, I mentally whipped myself over it enough as it was. "I'm sorry, Ace. I can only imagine it must have gone really south. You disappeared, Mona too. I didn't know what to think."
"I know, but we can talk about that in a sec. What I wanna know, is how you go from slinging cards for the Garretts, to slinging pipe for the Omertas?" I knew he would still be grilling me as the night went on, but I wanted to at least get out of the hot seat for a moment.
My ex gave me that look he always used to when he would get extremely embarrassed about something. The shame with a dash of humiliation, it tickled me for whatever reason. "I've been waiting for that. Well, what most people didn't realize is that the Garretts would get pretty upset whenever the house wasn't constantly winning. So they had me start rigging games to be nearly impossible to win, only paying out when bets were smaller." He took a heavy hit from the bowl and sighed as he exhaled the smoke. "One of the Omertas liked to come to the Wrangler, only I didn't know who he was. He kept losing at my table and eventually caught me, he couldn't understand how the house could win so much. So he gave me a choice, either he took me out back and blew out my brains, or I could work off my perceived debt to the Omertas."
"You thought you'd be dealing cards for them?"
He nodded. "Bingo. Once the asshole figured out that I'm gay, he figured I could help him out by catering to specific clients needs instead. Not all the guys here swing both ways, and there are even fewer gay men."
I had figured it must be something of the sort. Sam took such pride in his looks and his heath, not to mention he was such a germophobe that he would never fuck random men on sheer principle. He didn't know what diseases they had, what sort of conditions they kept their bodies in. Sam had always been picky with lovers. "So he took it as an opportunity to humiliate you since you'd taken so many caps from him. I can only imagine the type of shit you have to deal with here."
He shrugged. "Most of them aren't that bad. But the you have the ones that just make your skin crawl as soon as you see them. Like this one guy, he's so handsome and well dressed, you'd never expect there's anything wrong with him. Honestly the first time he hired me, I was excited. But then once he gets you alone…Ace it's terrifying. He's had me scared for my life before. Choking me until I damn near pass out, knife play, he makes me sick." Suddenly he looked like he was literally going to be sick, freezing with his bowl and his lighter perched in his elegant hands.
I couldn't help it, I hugged him close and gently rubbed his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. We don't have to talk about that." I tried to keep my voice gentle, but I was slightly shaken by the turn of the conversation. Maybe Red and I weren't quite done with our revenge tour yet.
"I'm sorry. I just hope I can actually get out of here someday. How's Mona? Did she ever kick that stuff?" I knew he switched topics quickly because he had started to get too emotional. He never liked to talk about his emotions much, quite the opposite from myself. Maybe that was part of the reason we hadn't worked out.
"Mona is…Mona. Oh fuck, listen Sam, Mona is dead. The Scorpions killed her." Just thinking about it made horrible memories flash before my eyes, my last memories of my dear sweet twin sister.
"They killed her? What the hell did she ever do to them?"
I shook my head. "It wasn't what she did, it was me. They said they were getting rid of all the drug dealers to help her. Help Westside. But the truth is they were just buying them out and taking their place. Only they wouldn't sell to Mona, they would give her an exorbitant rate that she would never be able to pay. So she would give them sexual favors to get her fix. When I found out, I was furious. I stole as much drugs, caps, and weapons as I could, and I got us out of there. I thought I had us far enough away while I weaned her off the junk, but they found us. They, they took turns with her. Made me watch, then beat her to death. I got dragged off to an auction, sold to some old psychopath bitch. And that's where I was trapped for way too long."
He looked at me with tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I wish I had known, I would have never left. I-"
I cut him off. "None of us knew it was going to be like that. It's okay now, I'm out. I'm free and I've got an awesome partner to watch my back. Everyone who has fucked me over got what was coming to them. Just wish I could have done this all sooner."
"Reilly is your partner then?" He looked genuinely curious.
I stumbled for a moment over the fake name. "I guess so. But like, it's nice to have someone with me that people are so afraid of. No one fucks with me when she's around, and she's been so helpful with taking care of all these assholes."
Sam suddenly looked concerned. By the look on his face I knew instantly I'd said too much. "Ya know, I can't help but thinking your friend's face looks a little familiar. I imagine the Freeside Fiend would be a helluva bodyguard to have out here. No one would fuck with you."
I'd been had, but I didn't think Sam was the type to go running to the NCR to turn us in. What did he have to gain from that? "I imagine she would be." It was enough to throw him a little bone without straight up coming out and admitting that I was roaming around with a cannibalistic serial killer. Well hopefully no longer cannibalistic.
"Well, whatever you're getting into, I'm glad you're okay. And I hope that you can find some kind of peace out here." He gave me a sad little smile, and I had a feeling that he was mentally miles away, just as I was. Wishing for a simpler time that had long since passed.
Without a second thought, I lightly grabbed him by his chin and captured him in a kiss. The energy of the room had gotten far too melancholy, and I hadn't come here to cry my eyes out. Before I knew it we were consuming each other, fighting for dominance. Clothes were thrown and we were falling into the bed before too long.
…
The battered clock that hung just barely to life from the wall of my little room in Gomorrah told me that it was almost 11 already. Just in time for a near late check out. Sam had departed earlier in the morning, he had to get back to work, and while I was sad to see him go, I was also strangely relieved. At this point, I wanted to put some space between myself and my past life.
My clothes that had been scattered around the room soon found their place back on my body, and I found myself wishing that the whirlwind that had already started in my brain would give me a break. I hated the idea of leaving Sam trapped here to service twisted Johns, and yet I was so tired of the Mojave and all the assholes in it. Reno was starting to sound appealing. Should I stay or should I go? The age old question.
Three doors down to Red's I went, and I gave a rhythmic little knock. "I don't need housekeeping. Please go away." It sounded like Red, but she sounded much more disgruntled than usual. A red flag went up in my head. My earlier plea resounded in my ears, Don't make me regret this. There was a strong chance I was about to regret it.
"Red. It's me, what's wrong?" The door cracked open at my voice, just enough for me to see a wild blue eye and a sliver of blood red hair framing it. So much for the wig already.
"Come in quick." She cracked the door open barely enough for me to even stick my arm through. I had to worm past and force my way inside while she all but slammed the door on me. "Don't open it too much!"
"What the-" The room was pitch dark, the only light coming from the small in-suite bathroom that didn't have its door all the way open. My hand fumbled against the wall, finding the light switch and flicking it upward despite Red's protests. The heart shaped bed in the middle of the room was absolutely soaked with blood, a dark crimson stain that had spread across the silky red covers. Dante was nowhere to be seen. I could hear a steady drip drip from the bathroom. "Red, what the actual fuck? You said you wouldn't make me regret it! What did you do?" I was instantly furious. Of all the places to kill someone, she had to do it in Gomorrah in the middle of the Vegas Strip.
The imposing woman seemed to shrink back at my tone, which shocked me immensely. "Ace, listen please." She held her bloodstained hands up to try to stop me from speaking. "I didn't plan on this, I don't even remember doing it!"
I couldn't help myself anymore. I was roaring with anger. "You fucking idiot! How do you not remember brutally slaughtering an innocent man?" The fleeting thought of sending my fist into her nose passed through my mind, but my self preservation knew better. Not the best idea to punch a serial killer in the face. Plus, I couldn't throw a punch for shit.
For an instant she looked almost like she was about to cry, then her sapphire eyes hardened to a piercing stare. It was my turn to shrink back. "Who the fuck are you talking to like that? You know what I'm capable of, Ace. Don't get me wrong, I love you, but no one disrespects me." She stepped closer, towering over me, and I took a step back in return. I felt a chill go down my spine from the look on her blood spattered face.
"Red, what happened?" I sighed a little, but tried to lighten my tone. She was my best friend, but she was also a psychopath that I didn't care to be on the wrong side of. My emotions continued to war inside me.
Red blinked and it was like she had never even been so furious to begin with. "Look, everything was fine. We were having a good time. He followed directions very well, I liked him. After everything was done, he said he had some new drug he wanted to try. He offered me some." She turned to a table beside the bed, scrabbling around until she found what she was looking for. A plain pill bottle that said Day Tripper in someone's messy handwriting was thrust into my hand.
She continued, "Everything was cool for a little bit, ya know? I just kinda felt warm and tingly all over. Then all of a sudden it got so intense. I was seeing shit that wasn't there. At one point there was a Deathclaw standing in the corner watching us. Dante was laughing and having fun…I was honestly terrified." The thought of Red being terrified of anything didn't quite make sense to me, but the look in her eyes was deadly serious. The redhead was telling the truth.
"It got to a point where everything was so intense that nothing made any sense. Then I blacked out. Last thing I remember was laying here watching him have the time of his life while I tried to remember to keep breathing. Woke up this morning, he's dead in there," she pointed to the bathroom, "and I'm laying in bed covered in blood."
It made sense. I was still pissed, but opted not to voice my displeasure. Now we just had to figure out what to do. My eyes darted to the clock; 10:45. Fifteen minutes to checkout. Red was in no state to be in public, with her blood covered underwear and equally splattered face. "I need to see how bad this is."
Red didn't move, just watched me almost sheepishly. I eyed her as I marched towards the bathroom, pushing the door open slowly and trying to mentally prepare myself for what I might see. The door swung open on well oiled hinges, slamming into the wall louder than I thought it would. If seeing Blanca mutilated had made me get sick, this was enough to scar me. Poor beautiful Dante was sprawled out in the bathtub, naked as the day he was born. His once bright eyes stared unnervingly upward at nothing, giving that dead eyed thousand yard stare. Blood had created a crimson bib that dripped down his fit chest. For some macabre reason, I drew nearer to his corpse and really eyed the wound. Teeth marks. There were fucking teeth marks that had ripped his throat open.
I had heard that the Freeside Fiend had reportedly been cannibalizing her victims, but I had truly hoped that it had been misinformation or even some sort of fear mongering. Slowly, I backed out of the bathroom, watching Dante like I was waiting for him to wake up and try to get me. Turning to look at Red wasn't much more comforting however. Her expression was stony, unreadable. "Red…was all the cannibal shit on the radio bullshit, or not?"
It was like she hadn't even heard me, she was eerily silent and my blood was running cold. "Red? Was it true?" I wanted my voice to come out more intimidating, but I just sounded even more shrill and frightened.
Almost imperceptibly, she gave a single downward nod. I felt like I was going to puke. We had shared many meals together and now I was questioning if she had fed it to me. "And you've been doing this? Like this whole time?" I gestured between the two of us rapidly.
"I know what you're thinking, Ace. You must think I'm a monster, and maybe you're right, but you need to understand that I have never done it in front of you. And I've never gave you it, either." She looked genuine enough, and I hadn't exactly caught her lying about anything either so far. Either she was a really good liar, or she was actually being honest with me. I was going with the latter.
"Okay, but how could you even do that? I mean, eating another person. Shit, it's one thing to kill somebody, torture them even, but to eat someone? How the hell did that even happen, Red?" My mind couldn't even comprehend doing such a thing. Let alone doing it repeatedly.
She shook her head, her cheeks were blood red. The terrifying woman looked like a kid with her hand caught in the cookie jar. "It came from necessity, okay? I was in a situation where it was either that, or die. I chose to eat, to live. And since then it's been a craving that doesn't go away. I don't want to talk about it anymore, I'm not proud of it, Ace."
My mind was unraveling trying to process all of this information. My guts felt like they were writhing and twisting inside of me, and my skin was instantly coated with a sheen of sweat from the terror that had entered my bloodstream. "Okay, ya know what? That's the least of our worries right now. Red, we have checkout in fifteen minutes and a corpse in the bathtub. What the hell do we do?"
"Well I could start dismembering him. I'm sure there's got to be something around here that we can use." She was trying to be helpful, but even if we were able to pull that off there was no way to smuggle the parts out of here. I opened my mouth to respond when I was suddenly aware of the sound of the door to our blood soaked abattoir swinging open. She had locked it behind me, so this had to be an employee of Gomorrah.
I scrambled out of the bathroom, hoping to shove Red inside and shut the door to hide her, but unfortunately I was already too late. A rather ugly man with thinning hair and a scar on his face had stepped into the room. "Noise complaint. What's the problem in here?" He had an equally unattractive face, and so my idea of trying to charm my way out of this situation had flown out the window.
Neither of us had time to say anything before he was drawing a 9mm from inside his suit jacket and strutting towards us looking like the cat that ate the canary. His cold, dead eyes were tracing Red's blood spattered visage. "Look what we have here," he paused, doing a little lap around her, tracing the barrel of the gun across her strong shoulders, and around her neck. If I was her, I would have been sick, covering my body as much as I could. And yet Red did nothing of the sort, allowing the slimy little man to run his eyes over her crimson speckled fit body. Her eyes seemed to be challenging him. "Oh yes, I know exactly who you are, honey. The Freeside Fiend, here in the flesh. Looks like you and your boyfriend have been up to something naughty here."
Red looked at me with determination in her bright blue eyes. "He's not my boyfriend. And he had nothing to do with this, it was all me." My heart sank into my stomach. She was trying to throw herself under the bus to save me. "I know you're going to find everything, but please don't turn him in. Let him go."
The man laughed loudly, it sounded more like he was being strangled. "Oh shut the fuck up. Don't try to act like a piece of shit like yourself is a saint." He peeked into the bathroom for an instant, taking in Dante's corpse. "Oh man, he was a nice guy. Why'd you go and do him like that? Was he a good snack for you?"
Red looked like she was about to do the same to this man, her eyes narrowed and a mixture of rage and humiliation coming off of her in waves. I was pleading with my eyes for her to not give any reaction. Instead, the redhead decided to leap at the man with a snarl, grabbing him by his jacket and whipping him across the room. He knocked a bedside table over, scattering the items that had topped it all over, and went sprawling. With a grace I hadn't expected, he rolled with the attack and landed in a sitting position with his legs out for balance, the barrel of his weapon pointed directly at Red.
"Stupid bitch. Try anything else and I'll execute you both right now. On second thought, I think I'll go fetch some NCR MPs and collect that fat bounty that's on your heads." He smirked, thinking we were licked.
An idea wormed its way out from some crevice of my brain. "Look, sir, please. There has to be something that you want, some way we can make this right. We're very capable, I could-"
He cut me off and trained the gun on me. "Shut up, faggot. Let me think," he paused and I glared at him, "Ya know, there is something I want. Or rather, someone."
Red was shaking her head already. "Oh no, hell no. I am not fucking this guy."
Suit man didn't like that, and gave her a dark look. "Don't flatter yourself baby, you got a body manlier than mine, and an appetite for human flesh. No thanks. The woman I want, no, the lady, she's the new act at the Tops. Beautiful long blonde hair, bedroom eyes, and a killer body. Not to mention that voice, hot damn. Lana Leigh, I need her. And if you two bring her to me, I'll clean this up and keep it all hush hush."
As much as I didn't want to go to prison for the rest of my life, I had a sick feeling in my stomach about this. "So, are we just telling her she has a job offer at Gomorrah?"
He started laughing again, Red rolled her eyes at him and he didn't seem to notice. Despite his carefree guffaws, he kept the barrel of his weapon trained on the serial killer who just happened to be my best friend. "Hell no! Like I'd want these nasty pricks getting their mitts all over her. She's for me. I have a feeling she won't make it easy on you though. You're gonna have to watch out for the Chairmen, and the little Mexican bitch she's been towing around."
So this bastard wanted us to abduct some poor little lounge singer for his own twisted fantasies. It made me think about Dermot selling me out to the slavers, and onto Blanca. This guy was no better. The gears in my brain were spinning away already, trying to think of a way we could lose him and leave the sweet singer, Lana, alone.
His cold eyes rolled to me. "I see that look on your face, blondie. You're thinking about trying to stiff me on this, aren't you? Good luck with that. The Omertas have eyes all over. You try to take my girl and run, or even just run away yourselves, I'll have you dead before you can even leave the Strip."
Red was speechless for once, standing there quietly fuming. If looks could kill, this asshole would be deader than poor Dante. He was looking at me expectantly, surely waiting for my decision. Jail or kidnapping. I didn't like either. "How are we supposed to get her out of there without making a scene?"
He shrugged. "That's a you problem, pal. Just get her here. Ask for William and I'll be there shortly. Once I take her, I would recommend that you two assholes clear out. But for now, we can put you up in a different room."
The idea of having to stay another night here wasn't what I had in mind at all, but I wasn't surprised he had trapped us here. I had no clue what was so special about this Lana, but it was her or me. And the selfish part of my brain was focused on staying out of prison. All I could do was nod, and pray for William to get the hell away from us already.
Backpedaling slowly towards the door, the slimy little man kept his weapon trained on us, moving it back and forth as if he couldn't decide who to shoot first. "Glad to see we could settle this rationally. You should take tonight and come up with a plan. Maybe execute it tomorrow night if it's any good. In the meantime, you can't leave. Try to, and you'll be wishing you hadn't."
He reached the door, grasping the knob with one hand and tucking his pistol away with the other. "Goodnight, you fuckin' freaks. Be seeing you real soon." With a little pompous smirk, William had disappeared out the door just as quickly as he had appeared.
