Chương 6: The Lion's Den
They say that three is a crowd. But they never really specify if whether that crowd is dead or not.
Well, in my case, as me, Ash, and the bowler-hat man stumbled our way into the lift, I wouldn't exactly call us the liveliest crowd.
It was mostly just complete silence, followed by the occasional glaring from either one of us. All the way to the top floor was the button the man pushed and being the heavy smoker that he is, he just had to have another smoke while we're in such a small compact space.
Ash didn't seem to mind, but I did. A sensitive nose has its drawbacks. I had a tough time trying to refrain from going into a coughing fit so as to not draw any attention to myself.
Wasn't exactly the mood for idle talk either, but bowler-hat man didn't care.
"You're an idiot, kid," he said, shaking his head once again. "Shoulda just paid what you owed like a good little boy. It would have ended well for you."
"I did pay what I owe," I retorted. "It's you people who decided that it wasn't enough."
"Never said it was fair, but it would have been a far better outcome. Now there's no turning back from here. You know, if it weren't for my job, I would almost feel sorry for you."
I tried to not let his words get to me. I knew he was just trying to intimidate me, but goddamn it, dude… it's actually working.
Of course, Ash noticed, squeezing my arm tight and giving me a small nod. Her way of encouragement, I guess. Doesn't really bolster my confidence that much but I'll take what I can get.
"Still though," said the man, as the elevator doors parted open. "You got guts."
We stepped into the room and as soon as our feet hit the carpeted floor, a sense of danger began to pervade. A simple penthouse suite shaped into an office and yet it feels as if we just entered the lion's den, complete with tough-looking bodyguards at either side all wearing suits.
The bowler-hat guy didn't follow us, he remained in the elevator, giving his farewell with a curt nod before the elevator doors closed once again, leaving Ash and I all on our lonesome to venture on deeper into the heart of darkness.
Had I come alone, no doubt my legs would have gone jelly and I'd be flopping around the floor like a fish having a nervous breakdown. But for some reason, the sight of Ash simply striding forward without fear gave me enough courage to do the same.
Suddenly Ash leaned in close, whispering to me while looking straight forward, "By any chance, could that be him right over there?"
Her finger pointed to a man in a pristine-looking business suit, he was by a large window overlooking the city with his back faced towards us. A cane in one hand, while the other delved into his pants pocket.
I've only ever seen the mob boss once when I first paid a visit and although it was a very brief sighting, I knew there was no mistaking that authoritative air around him, nor that relaxed demeanor.
The way he just stood there, like he was always in control. There was no mistaking it…
"Yeah, that's him," I told Ash, meeting her eyes with a knowing glance. "Sure about this?"
She nodded at me. "Have faith in me, Master."
Faith was all I had right now. And I'm clinging onto it for dear life.
I nodded back. Moment of truth time.
"Excuse -"
"Not another step."
The man spoke fast, but each syllable hit like a drum, so much so that I instantly did as he said and froze in place.
"You don't call out to me, I call out to you," the man said, turning around to face us. "Do we understand each other?"
The air in the room was suffocating. Even the way he stared down at people made you feel like you were trapped in a corner with nowhere to go. Despite his immaculate appearance, with his smartly-groomed hair and beard, he was a true mobster at heart.
"Understood," I said, and then his eyes flickered towards me, his gaze piercing, almost as if burrowing through my very soul.
"I know you," he muttered, taking a step closer with his cane. "A thousand dollars. Cash, yes? Needed it for an investment, you claimed."
That caught me off guard. "How did you -"
"Deals made with us, I don't forget. Especially with those people who I feel would try to squirm their way out of their agreement… yes, them - I try to remember their faces... each and every one of them. I wouldn't forget you."
I squirmed in place, trying to look anywhere else besides his intense glare. "You know that deal wasn't fair."
"Fair?" He repeated, his cane slamming the ground with another step. "You knew our business. You knew our rules. Fair? There's no fair here. Still, you signed with us, wrote your name, shook our hands… and now you're here to complain to me about fairness?"
"I was an idiot back then! I made a mistake."
"Yes, you did," he stopped moving, leaving only a few meters of space between us. "So why don't you want to pay for it?"
My mind drew a blank. I had no clue what to respond back. Everything felt as if it was closing in around me. It was too much. Everything was too much. The bodyguards all swarming towards us, the simple evil look on that man's face, and the sheer utter thought that I might not come out of this unscathed.
We really shouldn't have come here.
"He already has."
Suddenly Ash was there, occupying the empty space left in the middle, confronting the man without any fear in her eyes.
"What was owed he has already fulfilled. Long ago, in fact. Yet you still kept him, chained him against his will. You don't intend to let him go, you'll hound him and chase after him for all that he is worth. The pain, the misery you've afflicted… it sickens me, you sicken me… and I intend to put a stop to it at once."
Strong, unwavering words that echoed across the walls of the penthouse. It was clear the man was taken aback, staring at Ash with a certain interest in his eyes.
"And just who might you be?" He asked.
"My name is not to be defiled by your twisted lips," Ash snarled. "What matters now is that you free my master of the burden you've wrongfully placed upon him and you will do it now while you still draw breath."
The man raised an eyebrow. "And if I don't?"
Ash took a large menacing step towards him, completely going against his wishes, and said to him in a quiet voice, "I'll convince you."
The man's face was always stern, permanently in a scowl. But against all odds, completely out of nowhere, he cracked a smile, widening, until it completely filled his face.
"Interesting," He said, snapping his fingers once and drawing away. "Then please, by all means… try and change my mind."
I felt a rough hand grip around my left shoulder, pulling me back and sending me stumbling backward. A bodyguard came marching to the front, a hand delving into his coat pocket, his sights deadset on Ash.
Terror struck through me then, as he pulled a gun into view, and aimed it to the back of her head.
I tried, I called to her, screaming, "ASH! BEHIND!"
Too late. She turned around and the barrel of the gun was placed in between her eyes. He pulled the trigger.
The sound of a gunshot reverberated throughout the room.
I flinched, teeth in a tight grit, my eyes clasping shut… ears ringing.
We never should have come… I shouldn't have approached her, shouldn't have let her help me. Now Ash was dead, I got her killed.
Or so I thought.
I dared a peek, a small one, and immediately my eyes widened in disbelief.
Ash stood there, not a single bullet wound on her head, despite the smoke swirling from the barrel of the gun and the bullet casing falling to the floor. There was not a mark on her.
The bodyguard made an audible gasp and took a receding step backward, but before he could place another step, Ash grabbed hold of the front end of the gun.
Glaring, and with an anger I have never seen on her, she muttered, "My turn."
In one quick stroke of movement, Ash crushed the gun under the sheer might of her grip, crumbling it into bits and pieces that landed on the floor. Then, closing her fist, she sent the bodyguard flying to the other side of the room with one swift strike to the gut.
I was there, I saw what happened, and yet I still couldn't believe what I just witnessed. Not only did she survive a bullet to the head, but she also sent a man soaring with a single punch.
The normal question that would have come to mind by then would be 'Just what is she?' but I already knew the answer to that, didn't I?
The Elf-Knight from another world, here to save the day, turned back to confront the bossman himself, whose jaw had dropped in complete and utter shock.
Without missing a beat, she nudged her head at him. "Convinced yet?"
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Brendanjoke
Brendanjoke If you guys are enjoying, please be sure to add it to your collection. Goes a long way into helping me out. Also power stones.
Okay... now I'm just being greedy, aren't I? Still... If you can spare some. I'd be very grateful.
Chương 7: Dealing With The Problem
For the longest while, there was nothing but this profound silence in the air where no one moved and no one spoke.
Not the remaining guards, standing pure in bafflement over what just transpired. Not me, who was at a complete loss for words, and certainly not the mob boss, who had somehow managed to regain his composure and was staring at Ash like never before.
It was only after Ash tried to take another step towards him that his bodyguards finally spurred into action, immediately surrounding her in a circle with drawn weapons and pointing their guns at her.
Ash, unamused by this, slowly folded her hands into closed fists, I saw her braced into a stance... any second now she was about to move, but then...
"Stand down!" The man barked, slamming the end of his cane to the ground. "This woman had a gun to her head, was shot, and it barely even fazed her and still you're going to try and riddle her with bullets? Are you people truly idiots?"
I'd have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire, especially afterward when all the guards started fidgeting uncomfortably in place, lowering their heads and mumbling stuff like "My bad, boss" and "No, of course not boss, sorry boss" before walking dejectedly back to their positions.
After a weary sigh, the man's eyes confronted Ash's once more.
"Well, I'll admit it. I confess myself to being impressed by you." He said, nodding his head at her. "Ash, was it? I'll be sure to remember you."
"Withhold your flattery, you fiend, for they'll only serve to enrage me even further," said Ash, her nostrils flaring. "Instead do what is wise. Free my master now, before further trouble ensues."
"Master?" Said the man, raising a brow towards me. "Really now? Is that what she calls you?"
I narrowed my lips. "She's only here to help me out."
"Hmm... Well, now I'm curious as to what you have done to earn the loyalty of someone of her capabilities. Do you mind sharing?"
"I was kind," I simply said. "Try being that for once, it might just surprise you."
"Perhaps..."
"Enough talk!" Ash shouted, taking another step. "Will you concede, or will you not? Answer now!"
The man slowly shook his head and walked off to the left of us. "Do I even have a choice?"
From out of a file cabinet in the far corner of the room, he pulled out a sheet of paper, and then as he slowly made his way back towards us, the paper was held out in front of Ash and me to see.
"Yours, yes?" The man said.
It was my contract. My name, my address, my number... everything about me was all contained in that little piece of paper. I tried to reach for it, but the man withdrew his hand back before I could take it.
"I can get rid of it. Tear it to pieces in front of your eyes if you want, I'll even forget about it," said the man again. "But the people above me? My superiors, well they - they have a far better memory than I do."
Ash scoffed. "A small loss in the grand scheme of things, I'm sure. Why does it matter if a single debt goes astray? I doubt they'd even cared nor know of my master's existence and involvement in these affairs."
"Oh, you'd be surprised."
She made a confused frown. "Explain yourself."
I didn't need an explanation. Slowly through the course of the conversation, I was starting to understand. The mob had deep roots in the city's lifeline. It all made sense to me now. How I was scammed, how I could never hold onto a job here, how I eventually got into debt with the mob.
No unlucky strings of unfortunate events. There was a reason for it. One man was to blame for all this, and I think I knew who.
I looked at the man straight in the eye and took a deep breath. "Don't tell me," I said. "Is it my father?"
"Made a lot of enemies in his lifetime," The mob boss gave another smile. "Tell me, how's he doing now?"
"Better than how I'm doing, I can tell you that much," I groaned and placed a hand onto my forehead. "I can't believe even here... so far away from home... I still somehow can get caught up in his bullshit."
Ash just looked even more confused, shifting her focus onto me. "Perhaps context is needed. Master, in regards to your father, how is he possibly involved in all of this?"
"I can answer that," said the man, now with a smile broader than ever. "See, his father got entangled with the wrong crowd a long, long time ago. Then when he wanted out, they weren't too happy with it but they can't touch him, they couldn't, really. He was far stronger than they could ever be, probably scared of him too. Fast forward to the present, and there comes along his son, hopelessly in need of cash. What a grand opportunity this was, indeed."
Yep... dear ol' dad. You never really talked a lot about your past, I knew you were involved in something. Why else did we have to keep moving every couple of years? Now it's come back to bite me in the ass, and you couldn't even be bothered to reply to your son's text messages? Really?
Dad of the decade.
"So you're saying even if I did manage to pay what I owe now, they still wouldn't let me off the hook?" I asked.
"Precisely," the man nodded his head. "What the girl here said earlier was right, they don't intend on letting you go. Their way of revenge, I suppose."
Ash tightened her jaw. "Children should not be made to carry the sins of the father. It is simply unjust."
"In a perfect world, perhaps," muttered the man.
"What do they want then?" I asked. "They want to go through me to get to my dad? He doesn't even know, he isn't even answering my calls."
"It's pure spite, kid. They don't need a reason. Whether your father knows or not is irrelevant. So long as you're paying, they're already as happy as can be. You don't pay... well, at least then they have a reason to pay you a visit themselves, don't they?"
"Oh."
My eyes fell to my feet. It was a lot to take in. Honestly, it was hard to wrap my head around it. I never made any enemies growing up. So to be told that there were people who were taking pleasure at my expense, people I never even knew existed... well, it's not really a relishing thought.
My mother isn't exactly feeling her best for some time now. Dad's tending to her... so I don't believe they can spare me any expenses, and I really don't want them to. I don't want to be a burden to them. And I can't just drag him all the way out here when there's no one to look after my mom in her current condition.
I somehow find the money and pay, and then I'll just be doing what they want. I walk away and run, and then it's someone higher up that I have to deal with. Someone probably even more ruthless and what's more, with a grudge.
Screwed either way... was there even any other option?
Ash apparently thought there was. The sudden sound of ripping and tearing brought my gaze back to the forefront and there she stood, with my contract in her hands, which was now torn in half down the middle.
Nobody tried to stop her, not even the boss, instead he was just standing there watching her, a mildly amused expression on his face.
Torn into fours, then into eights. All with a determined look in her eyes.
"Let them come," she said, flinging the remains into the air. "Let them try."
Shredded remains were all that was left strewn onto the carpet, right under the mob boss's shoes. Ash walked away, stopping briefly by my side to say, "Shall we, then?" before making her way to the elevator.
I stood there for a while longer, staring at the man, wondering to myself... wait, was that really it? Rip up the contract and bounce? Can't be that easy.
But apparently it was.
With caution, I turned the other way... took a step and no one came to stop me. So I took another and continued from there. Once Ash and I were nearing the exit, only then did the man call out to us from the other end of the room.
"Your father was an idiot. Never did he ever stop to think about the consequences of his decisions," He said, limping his way back to the window, cane in hand. "He's said stupid things, acted in even more stupider ways. But for how much of a fool he was back then, one thing was for certain - he wasn't a bad guy."
I called for the elevator, and it came to life with a silent whirring.
"And if it weren't for him that day," the man continued. "I would have been left with a lot more than just a limp leg."
The doors parted open and we entered the lift, and as we turned to the front, our eyes locked with the man again for the last time.
"So if you don't see any unwelcome visitors at your door for some time..." he nudged his head at me. "Be sure to mention to your father that we're even now."
Before I could even respond to that, or give any reaction at all, the elevator doors closed shut.
The nightmare was finally over. Or at least, for now.
I felt relief coursing through me like floodgates being parted open. There were so many things that could have gone wrong there. The amount of times I thought I was about to get a bullet to the head or worse... I couldn't even keep count.
Ash for her part looked no worse for wear, despite literally getting a bullet to the head. The whole debacle just felt like a mild inconvenience for her whereas I was frozen like a statue, desperately clinging on for dear life.
"So, uh... thanks for everything back there," I muttered to her. "Really, thanks a bunch. I mean if it weren't for you, I don't think I'd even be standing here right now."
She looked back at me, her glare gone, a warm smile returning a kind expression on her face.
"Think nothing of it," she said. "Though I do believe what I've done back there might have exacerbated matters instead."
"Maybe... but at least I don't have to pay anything anymore. Plus, it's as you said right? 'Let them try'."
She nodded her head firmly. "Indeed. Whatever happens, come what may, I'll be there for you."
Now it was my turn to start smiling.
Having an Elf-Knight as a companion wasn't exactly part of my plan in life. Can't say for sure what the future may hold having her by my side. But now that she was here, her bright green eyes sparkling in the sunlight from the opened elevators doors...
I can't say I have any complaints whatsoever.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
Brendanjoke
Brendanjoke
Hey guys! It's me, author-man here. Author being me and me being the author. Yeah, just a heads up... been posting chapter quite irregular and rather sporadically if you can't tell.
I don't really want to run out of a stockpile fast. So from this point on I'll be posting a chapter a day everyday. Haven't picked a time yet, but just assume as soon as the latest chapter comes out, that will be the exact time for every other that comes after it.
So yeah, that's all. Thanks for reading, everyone. Stay safe out there in this bizzare year we call 2020.
Quà tặng
-- Nhận quà Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
200+ Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
15 Đá
Quyền lực Bạn cũng có thể thích
bình luận đoạn văn