New City, New Friends, Same old Dante

I woke up sitting in a chair with my arms tied behind me and two men hovering over me. One was skinny with a pointy face, small dark eyes and greasy black hair, immediately reminding me of a rat. Like yin to Rat-face’s yang, the other one was blonde with shoulder length hair that hung around his face perfectly framing his light blue eyes. He was just my type, tall with broad shoulders, muscular and almost pretty even with a ugly scar running down the side of his face. Different circumstances, I wouldn’t mind being tied up, probably would enjoy it.

Ratface was saying something but things were still a bit fuzzy and I couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying. I was more focused on figuring out where I was and remembering how I got there. I glanced around for a hint in my peripheral vision while looking back and forth between the two men. It looked like a basement, cement floors and walls, one small window near the ceiling, and stacked boxes scattered around. Then I remembered I’d been nosing around a neighborhood hotspot. I got as far as peeking into that basement window before getting a hard knock to the head. I guessed one of these fools was to thank for the headache and myself to blame for letting it happen.

Ratface is now inches away from my face yelling, “You better talk now before I lose it. Who are you, what are you doing here?”

Blondie pulled him back. “Give it a minute, she’s barely conscious. Yelling ain’t helping.”

I shook my head. “Whew, man that breath. Thanks, almost fell back out.”

Blondie smiled while Ratface glared at me and said, “Sounds conscious to me. Now who the fuck are you?”

“Just a concerned neighbor.”

“You got a name.” Blondie asked.

“Sure but you don’t need to know it.” He stepped forward and backhanded me across the face. Hard. “Damn it, not the face. I don’t mind a good spanking but…” He lifted his hand and cocked it back ready to swing again. “Okay okay. Names Mary, nice to meet ya.”

That was a lie. I was confident neither of these two would live past tonight. But there are no guarantees in life and the risk of one of them living even a day longer knowing my name, wasn’t worth it. And while Blondie was nice eye candy, I’d learned my lesson with bad boys. Not worth the trouble, especially lowly scum like him.

“So what’s the real story? Tell us why you were sneaking around the house.” Blondie asked.

“No story, like I said, just a concerned neighbor.”

That wasn't exactly a lie. I was very concerned even if I wasn’t much of a neighbor. I just happened to be staying in a place down the street, while I was just passing through the city. I’d been looking for a man I’d heard about, sounded like someone I needed to meet. I was skeptical about the stories I heard. But I thought if they were even close to true, he’d be a good friend to have around when the past caught up to me.

Normally, I wouldn’t care about what went on in crackhouses. But when the usual junkies, runaways, and hoes seemed to disappear overnight I took a closer look. There were a few far fetched stories about them being shipped off for profit. But nothing of substance. But lucky as always, it led me to exactly the man I had been looking for. He’d been able to confirm the worst and was preparing to end it.

“Look bitch we’re not playing games. You’ve just got yourself in deepshit with bad people. Don't make it worse for yourself.” Ratface face said.

I laughed, couldn’t help it. “Oh you don’t know bad people. You know scumbags that are okay with hurting innocent people and defenseless children. The real bad men are the ones you should be afraid of. And this place has got the attention of a real bad one.”

For just a second, I saw both their eyes widen. They quickly recovered. Silently communicating with a look and a head nod. That’s when I knew I fucked up, wasn’t supposed to show my hand that early.

“Oh really. Who’d that be?” Blondie asked

“If I tell you, that would ruin the surprise.” It wouldn’t be long before doors got kicked in and bodies got dropped. But I knew I had to keep these two shit birds distracted until then. Otherwise, they’d clear out and warn who knows who.

“That’s it. I’m done with this bitch.” Ratface pulled out a pocket knife, grabbed me by the hair and held the blade to my neck. “You tell us everything now. Or I slit you’re fucking throat.” I felt him pull the blade ever so slightly cutting the skin before Blondie stepped in.

He rested a hand on Ratface’s forearm and said, “You made your point. She’ll talk now.” He turned to me and said, “Isn’t that right? No more games. Talk or I let’em do what he wants. You get it?”

I rolled my eyes. These guys really thought they were something. I so wanted to hear them scream. “Yeah I get it. He slits my fucken throat. There’s worse ways to go.” Ratface flinches. “But I don’t want to die. Not anytime soon, no matter how I go. I’ll tell you what I know.”

Truth is I’m new to town, so I don’t know much. Just passing through looking for some guy I heard about. Guy’s some kind of vigilante, likes to play judge, jury and executioner. Probably just a nutcase but might be worth having a friend, if he has friends. Honestly, I thought it was a good idea to find him before he decided to find me. Not trying to get chopped up or buried alive.”

Again they both exchanged a look. I saw the wheels turning. They knew what was coming if they didn’t get out soon.“You guys wouldn’t happen to know anything about that? I heard he’s supposed to be dropping in here soon.”

“She’s lying” Ratface said, all red-faced and angry.

“Possibly.” Blondie shrugged. Why would you be worried about him?”

“Well. You see. He’s got some issue with a past employer of mine.”

“Who?” They both said at the same time.

“I...I don’t know. Look guys, I’m in a tricky position here. I should have been straight up from the beginning. But you know how it is. Can’t just go around naming names.” Ratface took a step forward. “MF Security.” I blurted out.

“Bullshit.” Ratface laughed. “What kind of business would they do with you?”

“Untie me and I’ll show you.”

Ratface looked at me doubtful. Blondie scrunched his face up in thought and gave me an appraising look. “No, no way. I heard something about a chick.” His face morphed into a big goofy smile and he pulled Ratface off to a corner for a not so secret conversation.

As previously mentioned, I learned my lesson about being drawn in and seduced by bad boys. I was and still am running from the man that created MF. On the outside it was one hundred percent legit and legal company, ,but there was always another side to things. I thought the peek behind the curtain he gave me meant I could trust him. He let me think I could stay on the right side of things, never hurting anybody that didn’t deserve it. But he was lying and manipulating me from day one. That's what bad guys do.

That’s at least part of why I went there that night. I wasn’t about to trust some random guy because he claimed to be the good guy. I had to be there, see for myself, know exactly what went on. Plus I thought it'd be a bit of fun. But he was right. I should have stayed out of it, not my city, not my fight. Yet another mess I created for myself to clean up. I’ve picked quite the habit of shit blowing up in my face. Like when I literally blew shit up on my way out of New York, earning the high price on my head.

Between Blondie’s big old grin and their not so quietly whispered conversation about an easy payday I knew it they thought they were going to cash in on it. That's when I decided we were done. I’d already managed to pull out a little knife that I kept clipped inside the back of my jeans. Just as I cut the zip ties around my wrists, I heard the sound of doors crashing and gunshots. “He’s here.” I sang.

Both men had their back to me, looking up the stairs where the noise was coming from. Blondie didn’t have a chance, I stabbed him in the neck before he could turn around. Ratface was a little more fun. He still had his own knife out. But he wasn’t much of a fighter. I easily dodged his wild swings, gave him a couple nice kicks to the gut. I’d be generous if I said he lasted two minutes.

I didn’t stay in the city long after that. Mr. Vigilante, real name Nathan Castle, was not happy when he saw me there. He took everything way too seriously, lectured me about being reckless and said I had a deathwish. If only he knew the truth. We’d cross paths again and eventually came to somewhat of an understanding. Mostly staying out of each other’s way but were allies when necessary.