A sharp rap at the door woke Luff from his sleep. Immediately awake, his mind churned at who could be calling at this time of night.
Liu is dead, his crew is dead. No one conspires to steal from the Tong and lives. No active jobs, no word that anyone was looking for a fixer. This better be important.
He pulled on his linen pants and walked slowly to the door, a cleaved gripped tightly in his hand.
“Who is it?” he called out foggily. Best if they underestimated him.
The only reply was another sharp rap. Luff had reached the door and paused for a moment. He cracked his neck once, twice, three times and opened the door as far as the chain would allow.
“Perhaps you’ve not heard the clocktower, sir, but it is quite late,” Luff gave the ogre equivalent of a pitying smile. On the other side of the door stood two men in pinstripe suits and bowler hats. Antediluvians, by the way they stood.
“I do apologize Luff, but our boss said it was urgent and we all know you’re the best,”
“Shit,” he said. “Well don’t just stand around drawing attention to yourselves. Come on in.”
Luff dealt with the Jews on a frequent basis. He liked them because they were smart. They didn’t have the muscle of some of the bigger gangs but they knew their product and they knew their market. And they put a priority on good old fashioned customer service, something hard to find these days. He walked into the parlor that was off to the right of the store counter. Luff set his cleaver down on the table, slowly, so the Jews knew he’d had it.
“Alright, talk. What’s so urgent that your boss felt it was necessary to disturb my beauty sleep?”
The Jews shifted awkwardly under Luff’s one-eyed stare, unsure if there had been an attempt at a joke or not. “We need somebody taught a lesson. Somebody trying to nose their way into the market. His product sucks, his infrastructure sucks, and honestly he sucks. He’s a terrible gun-runner but we want an example to made out of him. Our boss says you set the best examples so..here we are.”
“I see fellas,” Luff’s eye narrowed causing them to step back slightly. “But you still haven’t explained why you’re here, with no prior communication, at one in the morning!” Luff didn’t yell hardly ever but his tone had taken a flinty edge that caused the messengers to cringe back.
“Y-you’re right sir, we forgot to mention that part. The urgency is this: we have word that the punk has a big shipment coming in tomorrow morning. Instead of preparing to receive it, he’s going to get his dagger sheathed over in the Redlight district. So our boss wants you to make the move tonight so that we can help ourselves to his shipment tomorrow and squash any competitive spirits that might be bubbling up against us in Santa Somabra.”
“Fine, it’ll be done tonight. Though you know how much I hate an under-planned hit. The rate doubles.” The gangsters’ faces paled at that.
“Our boss only gave us one-and-a-half,”
Luff sighed as his false offer was refused as expected. “Fine, I’ll take what you have but I want Jewish protection for my shop’s business in Tranquil Valley.”
“Uh, yeah that’s fine, sir. I’ll see to the safety of your deliveries myself. No one will touch them.”
“Then we’re in business boys. Write down the details I’ll need and see yourselves out,” With that Luff rose and walked into the back of his shop.
****
Luff walked quietly through the Redlight district. It was wholly unnecessary, however. Had there been a riot of undead raging through the streets, the occupants of the most hedonistic district couldn’t have been bothered. Whether it was flesh or drugs, the whole district to a man seemed utterly consumed by the pleasure at hand. Everyone but Luff, that is. His business was far more sinister.
The whorehouse the Jews had pointed him to was fast approaching on his right. He walked right past the front entrance and kept walking until he reached the entrance of the alley leading to the rear of the brothel.
It was a filthy, dark thing the alley. In that way in resembled the brothel to which it belonged. How it differed was the quiet that seemed to block out the bright lights and garish sounds from the the main strip of the Redlight district. Luff found the rear entrance of the brothel guarded by a single orc. He stood half a foot shorter than Luff but brutish tusks protruded from his bottom jaw. The orc regarded Luff warily and placed his hand on his hip, brushing aside his coat and revealing his piece.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Luff held up the large brown paper sack. “Whores gotta eat,” the butcher’s apron completed the charade and the orc relaxed, waving him inside. Luff nodded appreciatively and took the steps up to the door two at a time.
As he ducked to clear the doorway, his nostrils flared at the sickly odor that washed over him. Perfume, sweat, and sex all stewed together and brought up to temperature by dozens of warm bodies. The sooner he could get out of here, the better. It would all be worth it, however, to have his network expanded and protected to another wealthy district. Even if the Jews thought they were just protecting deliveries of meat. Another district ripe with secrets for the eyes and ears of Anansi to harvest.
He’d only had the walk to the Redlight district to plan something special for this new gunrunner. It wouldn’t be his finest work but it would certainly set the kind of example the Jews were after.
The large common area of the whorehouse was circular with private rooms dotting the walls. A square bar located in the center of the room was tended on all sides by what Luff could only presume were vampires. This would need to be delicate.
Girls milled around in varying degrees of undress, attempting to loosen the wallets of patrons. Once an agreement was settled, the patron would be led by the hand to a private room. It would not be long before one of the girls summoned up the courage to try and seduce an ogre. Luff needed to find his mark quickly.
It took just a few minutes for him to spot the novice gunrunner. A drink in his hand, the poor sap was talking to two of the cheaper girls. Luff walked up behind him and slapped him on the back.
“G-george, is that you?” he slurred, “I didn’t think I’d see you around this joint for a while. How’s that rash coming along?” the girls gave the man who was not long for this world a disgusted look and stalked off.
“What the hell man? I don’t even know you.”
“Oh, but you will,” Luff whispered in his ear before pricking him with the syringe he had removed from his apron pocket.
“W-what the fu..” George wilted like a flower under mid-day sun.
Luff placed George’s arm over his shoulder and began to lead/drag him away from the common area and towards the restroom. Closing the restroom door behind him, he set George roughly on the toilet. Holding his jaw with one hand, he threw a huge punch into the man’s cheek. The skin over his cheekbone split instantly and began to ooze blood. Within a few moments the skin around the man’s eye had turned a cruel shade of purplish-black. Satisfied, Luff picked the man up and tossed him over one shoulder. Ducking to clear the doorframe, Luff made his way to the rear exit.
“Poor sap tried to touch without paying, boss had me take out the trash,”
“Hah!” the orc guard grunted. “That’s a nasty looking bruise. Boss don’t mess around does he? I can take him from here if you like.”
“Nah, I’ll leave you to the quiet. Got a bit of extra meat, too, if you’re hungry.” Luff removed the hunk of raw beef from his brown bag and tossed it to the orc who caught it greedily.
“You’re a good man! What’d you say your name was? Can’t say I’ve seen you around before.”
“It’s George,” Luff smiled.
****
There were no lights in the warehouse save the pale sheen of the waning moon that shone through the cracked windows. In the middle of the room was a chair, in it a man whose head lolled on a boneless neck. In a circle around him were a dozen small, hooded figures. Each one giggling as Luff walked into the circle and towards the man in the chair.
He had changed clothes. Instead of linen pants and a butcher’s apron, he was covered completely by a hooded, black robe. Over his face was a grotesque mask made of bone. It was a good mask. One Luff had used with great success on many nights just like this one. In one hand was a rusted bone saw.
The closer he got to the unconscious man, the louder the giggling became. It was not a human noise, no, it was higher, tinny almost, and somehow infinitely more wicked. With a vicious slap Luff brought George hurtling back to consciousness.
“Wha-where am I? Who are you? Who are they? What do you want?”
“George, george, you’ll have all the answers you need soon enough,” Luff’s voice had taken on a dusky timbre, throaty and devoid of aggression. When Luff said the man’s name, the small figures echoed it in a round
George, George, George, George
“Whatever you want man, I’ll give it to you. I can pay, just don’t do anything you’ll regret,”
“Why, George, I never do anything I regret. In fact, there is no possible way for this to turn out in a manner I'm not pleased with.” The small, cloaked forms had gone back to giggling amongst themselves.
The man went silent at that, a stony look slipping into his eye.
Oh good, I had hoped he wouldn’t make it too easy.
“I prefer to be straight-forward in these situations George. You had no business bringing guns into Santa Somabra. The Hanged Men simply won't stand for it.” Luff articulated that last sentence slowly, each word rolling gleefully off his tongue.
At that, any remaining color in George’s face drained. Though Luff knew the Hanged Men wouldn’t take kindly to his little impersonation, he didn’t think anyone would tell..
“T-the Hanged Men? I’ve never done anything to intrude on your turf, sir. Never I promise. All I wanted was a little piece of the Jews’ business for myself. That’s it. But I don’t want it if it means crossing the Hanged Men. I promise I’ll give it all up.”
“We already know about the shipment coming in just a few hours George. In fact, we know a lot about you. About your family. It’s a shame, really. They seemed to really enjoy having their insides where they belong, ” it was a long shot, assuming anything about the family but it seemed to pay off. The stony glint was gone, fled tail-between-its-legs at the idea of a headline involving the Hanged Men and his family.
“P-please don’t hurt them. I’ll leave Santa Somabra and never come back, just leave my family out of this. They’re not even in Santa Somalia yet,”
“Tell us about the other shipments George,” the small hooded creatures began to echo tell us tell us tell us.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
“And here I thought you understood the terms of our arrangement. You be honest with me, as I’ve been honest with you, and maybe I’ll let your family live,”
“A-and me? Am I going to live?”
“That’s twice now you’ve not answered my question George,” Luff tapped him on the leg with the bone saw. “Don’t make me ask again,”
George sagged, any resistance faltering, a look of helplessness in his eyes,“It’s next week. Different spot. It’s coming by Wyvern Rock. Same time as the one tonight,”
“Thank you George, that really was quite helpful. You’ll be pleased to know I’m not actually associated with the Hanged-Men so you’re corpse won’t be raped or some such nonsense. And until you confirmed it, I had no idea that you even had a family. So they are perfectly safe as well,” George’s face was a frozen mask of surprise. “You will be dying, however. The Jews don’t take kindly to competition. They wanted to send a message so I suppose that’s what we’ll be doing,”
“You bastard! You think you can just screw with me like that?” Luff ignored him.
“Now, the biggest problem I’ve run into in my years of business is that it’s impossible to be in two places at once. Perhaps you’ve encountered a similar conundrum? Well I believe I’ve finally found a solution. In fact, I’m going to put you in four different places at once. All over the city! An opportunity of a lifetime!” With that, Luff set to work quartering him with that bone saw. It was messy work but he always delivered.
****
Luff yawned as he walked out of the warehouse. He wore his butcher’s apron and held in his hand a large brown bag. A passerby may have noticed him, certainly, but they would not have noticed four small shapes scurrying into the darkness carrying a package of their own. From the warehouse in the Redlight district they seemed to head in opposite directions.
As Luff rounded the corner of the final stretch before he could be rid of this foul district and its smells of greed and lust, he heard shouting from the alley on his left.
“You stupid bitch! I’ve never met a more useless whore in my whole life. It’s not that hard. Men are simple all you have to do is make them happy and nothing bad will happen to you. But you can’t even do that! Now I’ve got a pissed off customer with mob connections who wants your head. Del, I don’t give a shit about you but I hate to lose all of my investment. Can you turn it around and figure out how to whore correctly or should I give you to your most recent customer. I’m sure he can think of how you can repay him for taking a chunk out of his dick!” Accenting his words were open handed slaps across the woman’s face.
Luff turned to watch as a young dark elf women with flowing white dreadlocks spat into the man’s face. This was about to get very bad so Luff turned to continue walking. Or he would have if something in his gut didn’t twist and turn at the thought of that woman’s fate.
“Sir,” He called, making his way down the alley and disbelieving his own actions. “It sounds like you have a problem that I may be able to assist with. How much for the girl?”
“Back off you animal this doesn’t concern you,”
“Oh but I believe it might,” ignoring the man’s bigotry, “If I heard you right, you hate to lose an investment but you can’t keep this young woman. Well I’ve been in the market, so to speak, and would like to purchase her from you. I’ll ask again, how much for the girl?”
The man paused to think at the proposition. Luff could tell the benefits of it were registering in his mind. The dark elf woman just stood there and glowered at him.
“$500. She’s worthless to me but she’s still flesh. At least I can recoup some losses.”
“Deal,” Luff pulled out his wallet and handed over some of the money from the job he'd done for the Jews. The man shoved the Dark Elf towards him. Luff steadied her with his large hand and nodded at the man.
She attempted to bite him but Luff just forced her jaw away with one large finger. She couldn’t have been more than five-and-a-half feet tall. She looked positively tiny standing next to an ogre, even a runt of one. He lead her out of the alley and onto the street. They walked in silence for a few minutes, her glare never faltering, before he stopped and turned to her.
“What’s your name, girl?”
“Why do you care? You name all your whores?”
“I’ve never owned a whore before, to be truthful, so there’s really no precedent. But that’s besides the point. I don’t own you. I just paid the price of your life, that’s all. I’d just like a name and you’re free to go. Try not to become a whore again. It seems you’re quite dreadful at it.
She glared at him, softer than before but just as unrelenting. “What do you mean I’m free? You paid for me, right? Why would you do that if you didn’t want to use me? That’s how this works you idiot”
“If you knew anything about the mating ritual of ogres, you would not be even suggesting it dear. I’m just not fond of men who pick on those who can’t help themselves. So I paid for you to be free of that asshole. That’s all.”
“I can stick up for myself, thanks. I was doing just fine before you showed up,”
“Well then prove it. Scurry along and have a nice life.”
The glare finally faltered at that. “My name is Delwyn. If I ever see you again, you can call me Del. And, uh, thanks I guess,”
“Have a nice life Del,”
Shaking his head, Luff continued on his way home. Luff, the defender of cheap whores, how magnanimous. Despite the oddity that had just occurred, for Luff was still somewhat surprised at his own actions, the night had been a resounding success. The Jews would be pleased and his networks could expand with absolute safety. Additionally, he was the sole possessor of the whereabouts of George’s next and final shipment. That information had to be worth something to somebody, right? Luff cracked a toothy grin at the thought of it.
