Headline : The untraced attack of the MMT Corporation where someone stole 10,000 dollars. The president of the company is still speechless.
Who is the ghost mastermind behind all these crimes?
Jared read the title of the newspaper laying on the bar's hard wood surface, the lights of the TV set high in the corner lingered on the fine piece of printed paper, glowing blue and red, morbid and ghoulish.
The TV host announced another murder from the category ''Robbery gone wrong'' and someone came and clinked a glass to the pretzel tray on the counter. Jared turned his head, looked at the person who sat next to him and listened as the man spoke to the bartender.
'' You think the murder is related to the MMT robbery thing?'' The man asked, pulling up the sleeves of his blue checkered shirt , while the bartender filled a glass with bourbon.
''Nobody knows who did it. Could be street punks!'' The bartender replied, taking off his bow tie and tossed it on the shelf, next to the Blue Curaçao bottle.
The heat was suffocating. Intoxicating scents going from amber, black ambrosia, oakmoss, smoke, sweat and stale beer filled the air and the bar was only half full, most of the people were middle aged, yet loud and annoying. The bartender took a deep breath, wiped the sweat off his forehead and prepared another drink for the next customer.
Jared watched everything in silence, his finger tracing the edges of the Martini glass in elegant motions. He smiled, took one more sip and set the glass down, ready to go. As he left the bar, the last drop of red liquid dripped from the glass onto the paper, leaving a mark on the headline.
Outside, the cold breeze hit him in the face and he hugged the dark green jacket he decided to wear that day.
Not the best choice now, huh? He thought.
A faint scent of gasoline and pollution tickled his nose, as he tried to breathe in the fresh air. He looked at the sign across the street, a small place called ''Bud Light'', how the yellow letters glowed under the trumpet , surrounded by red and dark blue neon lights. His eyes flickered and he took a step forward, one of the many that led him to the bar.
Once he opened the door and the heat mixed with the strong odor of sweat, alcohol and death hit him in the face, Jared found his way to a small table in the corner, next to Paris, Normie and ZazA. These are three of the many people he was involved with, and so far the most interesting ones. But in Jared's world, interesting was a synonym of danger and he had a radar for that kind.
Paris he knew and hated. The guy was a genius and just as evil as Hitler. Normie he liked, he was shy, reserved, he wore the same glasses as Jared and his hair resembled a pack of weed. But ZazA , he was never sure where to place him. As partners, they could complete tasks, but they often quarreled about codes and mostly about how similar their usernames on Darknet were.
'' What are you doing here?You can't drink!'' Jared told ZazA, taking the glass out of his hands.
'' As if you ever cared about legal things! Give it back!'' The blonde said and tried to snatch it.
'' Oh, the baby got mad. Nah, you can't drink it like that. Who bought it for you anyways?''
'' I did. Got a problem?'' Paris asked and leaned over to take the glass back from Jared's hands.
The light brown haired gave it back to ZazA , who took a big gulp as soon as he reached for it. The golden brown bourbon lingered on his lips for a few moments, gleaming in the dim lights, inviting the night hunters to play. Jared looked at all three of them and smiled, then made Paris buy him a glass too. If he was gonna get drunk, he might as well do it with the people he hates the most.
But hate was a strong word for someone who has no soul to nurture any kind of feelings. And dead people hold no grudge, they can't love or hate. They can only feed.
Jared looked at the others and something inside him clicked. It was neither the Martini he had earlier, although the delicate taste reminded him of blood. But a strange desire rooting deep in his core, like a monster whose seed would explode and spread until the host body breaks and dissolves, leaving bloody traces behind, luring the maggots and the worms to a feast.
He watched ZazA take one last sip and put on his black mask. He had what his friends called the look of a blonde reaper. ZazA's hair was bleached blonde and it made his green eyes pop. The jade shade added a bit of color on his pale white skin, where the only imperfections were the occasional black circles around his eyes.
He got them from staying up all night in front of the computer. Jared tried to imagine the blonde sitting in front of the screen, the black portal casting a shadow on his ghostly porcelain skin, the green numbers loading so fast that some got reflected in the pools of his eyes, looking as if they turned into extensions of the codes.
And if he'd try to watch himself, the black portal would blend with his black hair and the green numbers would reflect on his blue eyes like moss in the ocean. Yet the pallor of his skin was the same. They belonged to the dark and underground creatures stand out from the others through their lack of vitality.
Jared lit up a ganja joint and passed it to the others. Each one took turns into dragging the smoke until their lungs filled and their nostrils itched and burned, before releasing it above their heads. The smoke curled in a spiral, lingered for a bit and found its way up, getting lost into the darkness and adding another brown layer to the hickory plywood ceiling.
ZazA took another long drag and pressed the bud into the glass ashtray, slid his mask back and stood up to leave.
''Where are you going?'' Paris asked.
'' To the graveyard.''
'' Shift or fun?'' Normie wanted to know.
''None, duty!'' ZazA replied and made his way out of the bar, pulling the black hoodie on his head until he blended in with the other shadows.
The three watched him leave and smiled.
Jared pulled another joint and this time he could feel the pungent earthy flavor of ganja dancing on the top of his tongue, leaving a familiar after taste. He knew tonight was gonna be fun...
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