Not Another Day

[Massacre]

(Shoot me a PM or something, if you want to join in.)


"You messed up A'rei."

I was back in Radasanth, a place I hated. You payed too much for your liquor and it tasted terrible to boot. I had never been this deep in the slums and it was cold, but I felt feverish and sweaty. Every cup of disgusting gin I downed made me feel worse and worse. I wasn't sure what they made it from and to be honest, I probably didn't want to. Not a familiar face in sight.

The cock-eyed woman to my left and the grizzled man to my right immediately stood up and left for another table. No one else at the large, wooden table looked up. If I was murdered right then and there not a single person would give a damn about it, I would get rolled onto the floor and be forgotten about soon enough. I had no one I knew here, this wasn't my part of Corone.

I recognized the voice in back of me, though. My body tensed and the grip on my glass tightened and I quickly scanned the establishment without moving my head an inch. It was packed with people drowning away their sorrows. The place was located in an old abandoned building that was used for who-knows-what years ago. The walls were tattered gray brick and littered with graffiti and scars from previous occupants. Parts of the walls were busted down and had half-assed repairs done to them, the wind came in full force and it wasn't comfortable.

"You really messed up, A'rei," the voice emphasized, and a hand landed roughly on my shoulder.

I imagined I could feel the cold steel of a blade in my back. I had seen executions like this enough times to know how it happened. Hand on your back to get leverage, a little speech to make sure you knew what was happening, then a knife in your back, angled upward. It left the victim paralyzed with minimal blood spilling out. It was clean and effective, other than the speech, which was simply a waste of advantage. My eyes darted around from table-to-table, looking for any guards that might be around. In two sturdy looking wooden chairs there were a couple of them, off-duty by the looks of it, but they wouldn't hesitate to kick people out and exercise their authority. I figured I had about twenty seconds before they reached me.

My heart was pounding into my throat. I had a bad enough night as it was and I wasn't about to watch it get worse. I took a deep breath and waited. Amateurs twitched, amateurs thought it was harder to hit a moving target and they flailed around like idiots hoping they were right. I knew better than that, I'd been around. I took a few seconds to soak everything in.

I saw it all, every face, every table, every position and chair or stool people were sitting on. I saw the two guards, trying to enjoy themselves but still feeling tense, easy to distinguish from the lack of a slump in their shoulders. I saw every red-eyed addict in the room, begging people for just one sip, just one drink. The bullshit was endless. I dismissed them and they ignored me, no one here wanted trouble if it was someone else's business.

I had the layout fixed in a moment, twelve tables, around sixty people crowded into the tiny building with one congested exit well blocked off by many of them. Probably a hidden escape route for the proprietors in case the policing force in Radasanth decided to get nosy. I figured the guards that were here wouldn't be much better in a fight than most of the customers, they weren't paid much, which was obvious enough since they drank at a slum pub. I wasn't worried about them, but I was worried about getting out after, with the place being so crowded.

This was why I was alive. Most people in my line of work just ran around flashing weapons, slicing and dicing away. I liked to use my brain a little bit, see if there was ever another angle, another method.

I shifted left a hair and brought my mug of gin up to splash the face of the guy with the hand on my shoulder. I knew I'd hit the mark when he whelped in surprise and his hand lifted off my shoulder. I dug my foot in and swiveled left on it, the flash of a silver knife passing where I had been a moment before. My hand slapped out onto his wrist and in one fluid motion his arm was behind his back and I heard the sick crack of his shoulder dislocating. The blade fell with a clang to the ground and I kicked it away quickly, seeing it plucked cleanly off the floor by one of the many enterprising criminals sitting around.

Now I had the leverage and took the opportunity to smash the man's head face-first into the table in front of me. I felt comfortable enough to chance a look up and I could see that the guards had noticed and were starting to move slowly toward me. They were sluggish though. I could kill this poor bastard four times before you get here. I thought to myself. I put my mouth down close to my ragdoll's ear.

"You owe me money."

In a ragged and pained gasp he managed to spit something out, "You.. fucked.. up."

I twisted his arm a hair more and he finally squealed in pain, a sort of strange gurgled cry, "What was that you said?"

"They found her.. your target.. hanging from a fucking tree."

I felt good about my current situation, so I chanced another glance up. The guards were still sauntering over my way, still about three tables from me. They were used to this sort of thing and mostly just wanted to make sure that a brawl didn't ensue. I dismissed them from my thoughts.

"My boss," he stuttered, "will not be happy."

My vision turned red as rage swam over me. He owed me money, had lied to me about the job, had tried to shiv me in the back, and now he was complaining. My night couldn't have gotten any worse. I twisted his arm hard now, finally getting a satisfying scream out of him as I heard something crack and snap.

"You lied to me," I spat out, "the woman wasn't alone, you didn't mention anything about professional protection, she was a government official by the looks of it, and a lot more trouble than this shit was worth."

I looked up, the guards had split up to come and flank me. The man started to shudder beneath my grip and I realized that he was starting to laugh, from some reaction to the shock or some bizarre sense of humor, I didn't know. My eyes swept over the people in the place, all interested more in their alcohol than the little drama they'd seen and been part of before. Boring stuff.

[Massacre]

Suddenly the big guy found his voice, though slurry and close to losing consciousness. "Professional protection?" he gasped. "Why do you think we needed to pay you, aren't you a professional too?"

I wanted to hurt him more, make him really feel it. My hands were shaking with the urge to crack his skull open. But I could see the guards coming at me in my peripheral vision, coming at me from left and right. I let go of the man and let out an explosive breath and in one fluid motion drew my sword, ready to do what was necessary, if it came down to it. The guards paused and looked at each other warily. The big guy seemed to have finally passed out.

"We don't give a shit," one of them said slowly, "just take it outside."

I was civilized, I knew they were just trying to do their jobs. I didn't kill needlessly, only when it was required of me, especially people who just happened to be there. "I'm gone, no trouble."

The one to my right swept an arm toward the door, inviting me to take myself elsewhere. I was full of gin eating away at me, and I was a sweaty, unwashed mess. I really had messed up, killed the wrong person, which was worth exactly zero to me. My mark would probably be dead before tomorrow when the contract went out to someone else.

I stepped backward slowly, raising my hand off the hilt of my sword. Then there was a commotion outside, a loud banging of feet, and I froze in place.

"Guards!" someone shouted.

"Everyone, run!" another added in helpfully, and the whole place burst into chaos. Everyone leaped up and made for the one already crowded exit. Idiots. I was forgotten quickly as the guards stepped back into the corner to avoid the commotion. I found myself standing there while everyone else pushed past me. For a moment I was frozen in shock, but when the door burst open and I could see the tops of guard helmets, I kicked into action. I moved against the current of people and rolled under one of the large oak tables.

This never happened--bars filled with criminals were so common in this part of town, and the guards usually liked making a little extra gold in bribes for keeping everything relatively quiet. When something did happen people were usually confronted outside and taken away.

This was different though, this was a step up. Someone in this place was wanted. Most of the guards around here you knew by name, they cracked some heads occasionally but were generally all right, just doing their job. The kind that busted down the doors in places like these were a step up, the elite. They were more dangerous, far more greedy and they didn't just crack heads. They smashed them.

I half-drew my sword, ready to take it all the way out if necessary. The place was blazing light now, torches all over, guards roughing people up. They were obviously looking for someone, pulling down hoods and holding them down to get long, good looks at their grimy faces. I could hear the sounds of metal clanking, people pulling out weapons. I blinked, twisted around, and began crawling opposite the exit to a hole in the wall I spied earlier. The sounds intensified behind me.

I had killed three people in the past two days, I wasn't going to allow myself to be picked up in a random sweep by the Radasanth guards. When I got to the edge of the wall I wasted no time and squeezed myself through the makeshift window in the wall, sharp stone cutting at my abdomen, arms and legs. I landed clumsily on my back on the other side, head bouncing of the stone walk. Lying there in the shadows with my head ringing, I chose to just stay put for a second. I could see the light of torches coming through the hole I'd just called through and in a weird way it was beautiful, the lights dancing as the torches were moved around in the hands of guards.

A pulse of panic quickly shot through me and I forced myself to get up. I could feel the warm drips of blood running down my body and a painful knot in my back made me limp. Everything seemed like sharp edges and dark shadows, so I found the darkest corner I could hide in.

I took the moment to catch my breath and think.

The building was filled with commotion and the clanging of weapons. Full of kids who thought they knew what they were doing because they'd outrun some under-payed and disheartened guard on his rounds. You didn't know guards until a couple of the stronger, more experienced ones beat you for fun.

There were at least two dozen guards outside. This raid was enormous. I would have to stay near, there was no way I was getting out of the area without being detected by someone.