“Menias, our scouts have located Gabriel.”
My eyes sparkled with excitement as my lieutenant finished his sentence. I stood to my feet, a smile pushing against my cheeks. “Where is he?” I said.
“He is hiding out in an abandoned part of the city. According to our sources, he has a sweatshop filled with homeless men. Apparently, he is making illegal weapons and selling them,” finished my lieutenant.
“And he hasn’t paid me my money yet!” I turned to face the window behind me. I looked out as the bits of snow flaked across the environment. An evil smirk corrupted my face as I thought. “Ready my men. We move out at nightfall.”
My lieutenant nodded and left the room. I sighed, the smirk still plastered to my face. The day had finally come. Gabriel would soon either pay me my money, or die in debt.
Normally, I didn’t get furious when people didn’t pay me my money right away. 5,000,000 dollars was a lot of cash to come up with and I understood that it might take a while to get. What pissed me off was the fact that Gabriel had lied. If there was anything in the world that I hated, it was liars. Lies are the worst thing you can tell a man, and Gabriel seemed to only speak in lies.
The sad part about this situation is that I was trying to help. When a man as troubled as Gabriel was come to me for assistance, I feel no greater pleasure than when I give aid. He was haunted by his past, and running toward a better future. All he needed was money: my money.
Assuming that he did not start lying to me until after he went into debt, he had endured a tough life. His crazed mind had caused him to murder a few people and he had been caught. He was able to escape from prison with the help of a gang, whom he had befriended in prison. When he was out, his insanity caused him to murder yet again, but this time it was a member of the gang. Gabriel killed the gang’s kingpin’s son, but like any business man, the kingpin was more about money than anything else. The kingpin agreed to let Gabriel live if Gabriel could come up with 5,000,000 dollars within a month. Gabriel, lacking any other options, crawled to me and my associates. We loaned him the money, gave him a time to pay it back, and were double crossed. We gave Gabriel countless opportunities to pay us our money, but the lies continued to pile up. Gabriel fled, but now we have finally found him.
I turned to my wall of liars and folded my arms. Pictures of the men who had lied to me were enclosed in a glass case; their tongues resting on a velvet cushion below their pictures. Gabriel’s picture was the only one without anything below it.
I made my way back to my desk and opened the bottom drawer. The six-inch serrated blade of truth rested on top of some brown folders. I reached out and clasped the weapon with my hand, bringing it to my desk. I took off my shirt and looked in the mirror. The ritualistic self-inflicted wounds made my torso look like a mutated tiger’s. I had just enough space left for one more. I had to do it. I had to cut myself or else the killings would not be forgiven.
I grabbed the knife off of the desk and fell to my knees. I turned the blade to face my heart and prayed. God would only hear my prayers if my own blood stained the steal. I brought the tool to my left pectoral. I had saved the spot closest to my heart for my most vile of enemies. Gabriel had deceived me for far too long.
***
Darkness came and my men were ready. We rode over to the abandoned side of the city: the black motorcade of Cadillac’s that carried us looking like a river of death. We stopped a few feet from the target building and everyone got out.
"My sources tell me that Gabriel and all of his employees are still working. This should be easy,” said my lieutenant.
I smiled and motioned for everyone to move forward. I believed in the essence of professionalism, so my men and I all wore business suites. Everyone had on black suites with white shirts and royal blue ties. We moved like a unit. An ocean of despair that took whatever it wanted.
My eyes watched as my men moved forward. Their shoes sloshed against the mud on the ground. It was cold but no one seemed to care. They were on a mission, and the only thing that they could think of was the completion of that mission. I took out my knife and walked over to the front of the building as my men went inside. A smile refused to leave my face.
Silence engulfed the environment. My men were shadows with royal blue hearts and I knew that they would do their job well. They had never failed me in the past. The silencers on their pistol tips would make for silent kills. They all had the image of Gabriel burned into their skulls; they would be sure to keep him alive for me.
A brisk wind chilled my heart and I welcomed it. Warmth was the last thing I needed right now. My heart needed to be as cold as possible if I was to execute the will of God.
***
They came while I was going over my reports. I needed more time. Just another week and I would have Menias’s money. Why did he have to be so impatient? I was alerted by my sensitive ears when I heard a thump outside my door, but I was too slow. It was late and my reflexes weren’t what they should have been. My gun was so close to my fingers. I could easily have reached out and grabbed it. A quick two shots would have taken them out and I could have alerted the guard, but not tonight. Tonight they came too swift. They pointed their guns at me before I could grab my own. Their eyes were so dark, so filled with evil and hate. Why couldn’t they just wait one more week? I didn’t mean to take so long. I was trying! Why couldn’t they understand?
Their cold fingers wrapped around my wrists after they threw my pistol on the ground. They yanked me through the door and I feared for my life. All I saw was royal blue ties floating in the air below rows of dark eyes. The floor was slippery; slick with the blood of my men. Had these buffoons killed my entire staff? Had they taken out the innocent homeless men as well?
The moonlight reflected off of the wet grass and made the environment seem surreal. My eyes scanned the environment. There had to be hundreds of them. My eyes let a tear out as I saw the one man I feared more than the devil.
Menias stood with his back facing me. He was playing with something, but his hands were in front of his body so I couldn’t tell what it was.
The two men pulling me along by the arms brought me within a foot of Menias. If only I had a weapon, I could end this whole thing right here. I heard two pistols cock and I peered over my shoulder. The two guys who had been dragging me, pointed their loaded weapons at the back of my skull. Two more men walked up and yanked my arms behind my back.
Menias turned around and his cold, evil eyes pierced my soul. His look was intense, but it wasn’t hate that I saw. It was joy. He would enjoy killing me. He took a step forward until his face was in front of my own. His Roman nose nearly brushed against my own. His lips were twisted into a perverted smile. His eyes studied my face and he could tell that I was scared.
“Well hello Gabriel, how are you?” asked Menias.
I struggled a little, but the men who held me held on tight. “I’ve had better days,” I said.
Menias laughed through his nose and revealed what he had been playing with earlier: a six-inch blade. My eyes bulged at the sight of the weapon. I feared the worst. Menias was a cruel man, and knives were never pleasant when in the hands of a psycho. I gulped and stared Menias down.
“Menias, listen man. I will have your money in a…”
A quick backhand struck my lip and burst it open.
“There will be no more lies from your mouth heathen!” bellowed Menias as he fingered the blade.
“But I’m telling the truth! I have all of your money in the safes in my office.”
Menias chuckled. “You see, I honestly don’t care if you’re telling the truth right now. You’ve lied enough times to me already.”
I looked up at him. Soon the grass would be stained with the life force from my body. I started to tremble as I realized that my life had come to an end. Menias grabbed my chin and I tried to struggle. His grip was firm and his hands were cold. He pointed the blade towards my mouth and my heart erupted into beats. My brain exploded with urges of freedom. I tried to scream but the fear twisted my tongue. Menias let out a laugh as he watched my pathetic attempts to withdraw. He inched the knife closer. The fear grew. The laughter grew. My hope shrank. Pretty soon, all I felt was numbness. Trying to scream was pointless. I let go. My life was in his hands and I knew he was going to kill me. There was nothing that I could do but pray that he took my life quickly.
A morbid curiosity piqued my brain and I began to wonder what he would do to me. I don’t know why I asked, but I felt the uncontrollable urge to know how it would all end. I knew I wouldn’t like the answer, but I had to ask anyway.
“What…what are you going to do?” I said, the weakness thick in my voice.
Menias stopped and his eyes almost started to glow. It was almost as if he was waiting for me to ask the question. His cheeks dimpled as he spread his evil grin even wider and clutched my face even tighter.
“Oh you’ll see my old friend. You’ll see.”
No comments:
Post a Comment