CaughtInTheRiddle — Roleplayer Guild

Arina stared up at Alexei as he spoke to them, she could tell he was livid about the previous night’s proceedings – but he was the kind of man who wouldn’t let his rage get the best of him. It’s why she admired him, so to speak; he held a sense of professionalism in his demeanour. His life was work, this city, his office – and when someone dared disrupt the order of his workplace… well, hell hath no fury like Alexei’s rage. 

Her lips twitched upward as he mentioned seeing the place for himself… the was literally nothing left to see other than a pile of rubble, ash and burnt corpses. Arina and Christopher had spent the rest of the night, coordinating security at other labs and organising protection for the inner circle – people on Alexei’s level and the like… once The Trident got bored of the labs, he would surely target them next.

Christopher sucked some air into his lungs as he stood, swiftly moving toward his sister and extending a hand, helping her up. He knew she didn’t need the help, but he had been raised as a gentleman, and there was also the fact: she expected it of him. They both entered Alexei’s office, he took a seat in the big arm chair before the Mob Boss’ desk, while she leant against it, draping her arm over the back while resting her hip on the arm. Christopher sat forward, his elbows sat on his bent knees with the tips of his fingers stretching to lightly touch their counterparts. 

“We got a call around eleven thirty telling us to get down and see what the hell was going on…” he spoke up, his hazel eyes glancing up at Alexei’s, “by the time we got there… well, there was literally nothing left. The place was ablaze and the smell of rotting flesh was the only thing to remind us that life was in there.”

Arina continued for her brother, “Our body count is fifty…” she piped up, the words rolling off her tongue with ease, as if the number didn’t bother her in the slightest, “But that’s so far. We’re estimating around that number simply due to who was rostered on last night… but who knows who else was in there for whatever reason. We won’t have a definite number until the police reports come back.” 

“There was one survivor that we know of, his name – Ivan Checkov. He stumbled out as we got to the scene, but he wasn’t much help…” Chris proclaimed, leaning back in the chair and stretching out into a lethargic position, “he all we could make of his incoherent mumbling was that it was a guy in black…” he continued. The two siblings glanced at each other for a moment,

“It matched The Trident’s M.O.” she finished what her brother was saying.

“Ivan is in New Realna Private Hospital, suffering major third degree burns and two gun shots to the back… poor bastard might not walk again.” Chris added, “Not sure if he’s conscious yet, but it might be an idea to go on down and see what he has to say… so far, he’s our only witness.” 

Arina glanced around the room, looking at her colleagues, she was honestly surprised everyone had actually shown up… it wasn’t often they were all in the same room – actually, she couldn’t remember a time when it had happened. Then again… she and Christopher were the main reason for that – getting them to show up for meetings was like trying to get a cat to take a bath. Most of the time it was Arina’s fault… but she’d never admit it. Her animated blue irises turned back to the most formidable of the group,

“So what’s your plan, Alexei?”

Very few people take the while to sit down and watch: simply rest and watch the world pass before them. If you do this however, you’ll notice many new things; details and subtle treaties between each and every human being. If you pass someone you’ll be forever engraved in their memory; although they probably won’t remember you the next time you cross their path.

They do not desire to remember you.

You do not desire to remember them.

This is our covenant. You merely pass by and carry on your merry way, oblivious to the fact you’ve transformed them into an entirely different person.

New Realna, it was the city of ruined dreams. The real life Sin City – years back it was run by gangs who spilt more blood than Hitler in turf wars. But then one Alexei Anosov rolled in – taking control of the city under a new wing of the Russian Mafia. In just a few years, he held the respect of even the most notorious gangs on the street.

Realna’s underworld, or more commonly known, the inner city, was a dangerous place at night; hell, New Realna was dangerous, period. There was always a prostitute on a corner and if not, it was a drug dealer or some other dodgy person. It was normally the time when the world came to life; the gangs came out to play and business was done during the cover of darkness.

This is why the Lécuyer siblings weren’t surprised to hear of the attack on one of Alexei’s bigger drug labs. They had taken the news in their stride – sure, Chris might have shot that one guy he was interrogating, but he was a dick anyway… so it didn’t matter… much.

The two stood before the building, staring up at the flames which were beginning to die down. Their heads simultaneously tilted slightly to the right and Arina opened her mouth to make a comment, but lost her words. So, she simply closed her mouth and folded her arms over her chest. It could be assumed that the siblings were thinking the same things at that particular moment, like – how did this even happen? Or, this is the third lab this month. Perhaps even, why are we always the first ones to arrive on scene? And that the word “Napkins” was pretty cool… scratch that, Arina’s train of thought had snapped elsewhere – indicating her lack of conscience. 

Their heads tilted back upright as their attention was drawn to a man who was stumbling out of the rubble. He was burnt and beaten – Arina raised a perfectly curved eyebrow as he attempted to limp past the Lécuyer siblings. Christopher’s had shot out, gripping him by the remnants of his collar, his hazel eyes narrowing into the man’s dull brown ones. Arina was sure she heard a growl from the depths of her brother’s throat, but she didn’t question it as she flattened the white fabric of her thigh length dress before clasping her hands behind her back. The two looked out of place – a lady like her didn’t belong in such a grungy area, much less in front of a demolished meth lab.

“What the hell happened?” Christopher’s words were sharp and held a particular threatening demeanour to them. The beaten man stared up at him wide eyed – he was feeling weak, and the last thing he needed was an interrogation.

“I… I don’t know… there was a man… in black… and then…” he trailed off, hardly able to utter the words, but that was all Chris needed to hear as he released the man just in time for him to collapse beside him, his face making a ‘splat’ sound as it was greeted with open arms by the pavement. 

A small smile played on Arina’s features as her animated irises flickered from the unconscious man to the building. There was a silence as a large piece of wood crashed to the ground from the third storey; adding to the rubble. “That wasn’t nice Chris, you could have caught him.” Her voice was stoic, however, few could pick the amusement laced in her words.

He completely ignored his sister as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, the flame glowed against his hard features as he lit it up, before taking a deep breath in – savouring the nicotine that entered his lungs. He placed the lighter back in the pocket of his jeans before speaking, the smoke exiting his mouth with every word. “A man in black… shit.” He cursed under his breath and his words were barely a whisper, but Arina heard them.

“The Trident, I assume.”

His eyes narrowed into slits as he shot his sister a sideways glare, even the name pissed him off. That asshole had cost them a lot of time and money. The sooner he was put in the ground, the sooner they could get on with their lives. He and Arina had better things to be do than run around clean up this guy’s messes. 

Arina could feel her brother tense up at the mention of the vigilante, not that she would guess that his main goal was justice – simply because his methods weren’t so honourable. He’d put plenty of innocent men in the ground over the last couple of months… well, perhaps innocent was the wrong word; but she would go as far as saying they didn’t really deserve death. Her vibrant green eyes glanced down to Christopher’s hand, his knuckles were turning white, emphasizing the pressure which was put upon them. She could tell he was visibly ticked off by this guy who seemed to be gaining the upper hand on the Russian Mafia. Day by day, their influence grew weaker, not that it was noticeable… yet.

Chris noticed his sister staring at his hand, he didn’t even realise he was visibly angry – and he released his fist, opening his palm to allow the circulation to flow freely through it once more. His face was free of emotion, but he was fuming. They had no information on this Trident guy whatsoever, only that he was a man in a black getup who was targeting the Mafia for some reason. How, after so many months, could they still be pulling up jack for this guy? 

He glanced at his sister for a moment, and it crossed his mind that perhaps she knew more about this guy than she had originally stated. What her motive for withholding information like what was, he’d never know. She was strange and he couldn’t decipher what went through her head. And if she was hiding such information, he imagined Alexei would be less than pleased. But that wasn’t his problem – she would deserve it anyway.

She met his gaze and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, “Chris, if I truly had any more information on this guy, I’d share it.” She assured, and he frowned, wondering if she’d somehow developed telepathy overnight… or was he just that easy to read?

Ash fluttered off the end of his cigarette which was still in his mouth, handing slack. He ran a hand through his blonde hair before exhaling a deep sigh… this was all too much.

He turned away from the building and strode towards the Aston Martin, placing his hands in his pockets. His brow still scrunched in a troubled frown, this guy would be in the ground by the time Chris was through with him… he could count on that.

Arina’s features were care free as she spun around and gracefully glided towards the passenger door of the car. “Can we get ice cream on the way home?” she questioned, and he glanced up at her, over the car. 

“No.”

---------

The Next Day

If you sit down, quietly, and silently, you will notice – if you take the time and watch, that you follow the same procedure every day; your customs and intentions always different, yet a structure always similar. A human is an animal of usage – our guiding star is “what’s of use”.

Christopher and Arina were waiting patiently to see Alexei; she had a new dress on today, a black strapless cocktail dress – which Chris had told her not to wear. It was too formal, but she had argued that she had to look good and if she couldn’t wear that dress she’d go naked… and he’d believed her. He wore a pair of black jeans with a white dress shirt which had been rolled at the sleeves, with a tie that wasn’t done up properly.

His hazel eyes glanced to his sister who was sitting with perfect posture in one of the arm chairs in the waiting room. She was staring down at her smartphone, a small smirk tugging at her features as she tapped away. She was probably ruining someone’s life. He noticed how she still held her head gracefully up, even when she was looking down. She was too much of a lady for a crime syndicate. 

He was sprawled out in his chair, his arms resting on both arms and he was slumped down in his seat – he held a certain demeanour of class, but he didn’t care much for it. What he did care for, was explaining to Alexei that one of their biggest labs had been levelled last night. And they had no clue as to who had done it, or why.

All they had was a guess as to a name.

The Trident.

How bothersome.

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