The Job

[Payne]

   We finally found each other in a small cafe in a dead part of town. It wasn't one of those places you see in the movies with the big windows and flashly lights and waitresses in perfect white uniform. No, it was cramped, smokey and cluttered. What there were of windows were covered in gaudy bits of paper advertising special offers.

   I had walked all day, having grown bored of the bleakness of my own four walls. I had stepped out into the warm, damp air, breathing it in like you would breathe the air in a room of fat and sweaty men. That is to say, reluctantly.

   I watched the ground for discarded cigarette ends and loose change, both of which would perhaps keep me going until the next time I ventured out. In my pockets I had the door keys of my place (rent unpaid for four months) some copper coins and a lighter.

   Isn't it funny that we always have lighters when we have nothing else, but can never find one when we need one?

   Anyway, I wasn't going anywhere in particular. Exploring, maybe, the streets I had walked a hundred times, but never really noticed. There were few people, and those that were out and about, I avoided. In those days, I could barely hold a conversation with myself let alone eye contact with a total stranger. That's some fucked up shit huh?

   Down from the gas station I found an almost full cigarette. Someone had obviously stubbed it before venturing onto the forecourt. They were saved from roasting themselves, and I got a smoke.

   I ran through song lyrics in my head as I walked. I counted steps. This was beginning to become a chore. Not only that, but I could see that it was begining to cloud over. It looked like rain.

   About five minutes later, the ground I was watching closely started to glisten with rain drops. I decided to find somewhere to ride it out before I headed back home. And that, of course, is when I found the cafe.

   As I stepped in, I was immediately struck by the sense that this place was different. Not different in any conventional sense, not something you could exactly pin down. The tables seemed slightly disproportionate, the counter top seemed almost irreverant in its scale and placing. Like I said though, difficult to actually quantify.

   The waitress stood behind that counter looked at me as I stepped up. Not glowering or smiling or any other thing. Just looking.

   I cleared my throat and asked for a glass of water, jingling my keys and coppers in my pocket to indicate that I might actually buy something afterward. She poured it in a short, wide glass and passed it over without comment. I glanced at her eyes and the hair on my arms seemed to clench. Weird, there was no way to actually define her age or, really, anything else from that gaze.

   Grunting something that could have been thanks, I turned from the counter, intending to sit a table. I bumped into a stool that seemed carelessly placed and made my way into the gloomy corner at the back. I leaned back in the cheap but solid looking chair and sipped, very slowly, at my water.

   That's when it happened.

   A girl appeared in my peripheral vision, and before I had a chance to turn my head, she had grabbed one of the seats opposite, swiveled it round and straddled it. Placing her arms on the top of the chair back, she rested her chin on her wrists and looked up at me through her eyelashes.

   I hadn't seen her as I came in, nor heard any door open or close. How could she be sitting here? I was about to say something, but she got there first. Sometimes, even now, I wish I had had the chance to put my foot in it, to unhear what she was about to say.

   "Hello. My name is Mandy, and I have a job for you..."

[Payne]

No one interested? Or is this just a pile of shit?

[DJRubberducky]

I try to refrain from posting commentary in threads like this, because eventually when you post more chapters, I will want to read them all in rapid succession, and the chatter kills the flow.

And never ask me to critique writing, 'cause I don't know what I'm doing either.

[Payne]

Cool, I was just worried that the overly emo start was turning people off..

[P3nT4gR4m]

My critique skillz suck serious ass. Most you'll ever get from me is "I like it" or "I don't like it"

This one has me wanting to know what happens next - that's a thumbs up right there.

PS - If I don't find out soon I'll hate you very deeply and from the heart. And I may just take china back (not decided yet)

[Payne]

Phase two is currently scheduled for tonight.

I hate writing stuff when I have people walking around behind me, and I have to write a letter of complaint for my old dear this afternoon anyway.

On the note of the letter of complaint, I may post it here for any additional O:MF I can add in to it.

Or at least a suitable meme bomb or two.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Remember the letter must begin "Darling fascist bully boy"

[LMNO]

"Give me some loot, you bastard."

[Payne]

 

[cyberus]

"May the seed of your loin be fruitful in the belly of your woman,"

EDIT::  PS- I really like it, add more.

[Payne]

   "Hello. My name is Mandy, and I have a job for you..."

   I put my glass down on the table. I had to force myself to look into her eyes, but I managed it.

   "Uh... What do you mean?" I glanced around the cafe, it was exactly as before.

   She raised her head a little, I could see her eyes clearly now, they were a deep aqua colour, and seemed much deeper than any young womans eyes had a right to be. I found I couldn't look away, and suddenly felt like an insect specimen, pinned down in a display case.

   "I mean, I have something for you to do. When you do it, you will be paid. You know, work? A job?" She said.

   "Maybe, you have the wrong person. I'm just here for a drink of water," I said, tilting my glass hopefully, wishing she would leave me alone. I was begining to panic.

   "Look, I know what I'm doing. I have been waiting here for you." I was about to reply, to say that I hadn't even planned on coming here, but she held up a finger to her lips. I could almost hear her say 'Shut the fuck up!' with that single action. "I have been waiting here for you, and you will listen. I have a problem, I need someone to sort it out for me, and I want you to do it."

   She straightened, reached into her hip pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, a dog eared pack of cigarettes and what seemed like a necklace. Placing them on the table, she indicated my glass with a nod. "Finish up quickly, you will not be staying for long."

   I couldn't help but do as she asked. Things were moving very fast, and I seemed to have no control over what was happening. When I lowered the empty glass, she was gone. I glanced around. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, except... Even the waitress was gone. I picked up the paper, cigarettes and necklace and stood up. I had to get out of here. Now.

   I got outside, and the light made me momentarily dizzy. When my sight cleared, I realised my head had too. Stuffing everything into my pocket, except the smokes, I started a loping walk down the street. Not quite running, but nonchalantley fleeing. I looked at the pack of smokes, they too were oddly proportioned, and only had a symbol on them, shaped like a snake with a sphere of some kind in it's mouth. I pulled one out and lit it, and put the pack in my free pocket.

   It was still raining, but that didn't matter. I thought back on the strange encounter, and a strange emotion welled up in me. A mix of fear and shame. I felt an unaccountable tug towards something unknown, but ignored it, kept on walking.

   Being so engrossed in my thoughts, I didn't notice the man following me for quite sometime. I only saw him because I had that guilty look-round I always do when I throw a spent cigarette on the ground. He was about 50 feet behind me, dressed in grey, with a hat that covered his face in shadow. When I was looking at him, I felt a chill run up my spine, felt my hands go clammy.

   He rasied his hand to his hat when I looked a moment longer than would be necessary, almost like he was about to lift it, but I turned quickly and continued walking, only a little faster. I put my hands in my pocket and bowed my head. I could almost feel his gaze on my back.

   As I stepped around the corner by the gas station, I stopped short. The man with the hat was right in front of me, leaning against the wall. He turned his head towards me, and I was still rooted to the spot, frozen with shock and creeping dread.

   "I can't believe she did that, son. It takes a lot of balls to play the game that way." I couldn't understand what he meant, but there was a definate, hard edge to his voice. He spoke with a British accent, but I couldn't place it.

   "I normally wouldn't do it this way, believe me, but she sets the rules." A sharp blow to the back of my head brought me down. He lifted himself away from the wall and walked over to me, I could feel him going through my pockets, taking everything. Trying to resist, I realised I couldn't move. I could see his feet turn around and walk away. A sudden spasm running through me started to take conciousness to the abyss, and just before I passed out, I realised I still hadn't seen his face. Then blackness.

   I woke up with a strange face hovering over me. I couldn't quite focus on it, so the features seemed to shift and blur into one another.

   "Can you stand?"

   I nodded weakly, and did so, swaying like a drunk on a three day bender.

   "Follow me, I have a place to go. And whatever you're thinking of saying? Don't." He placed a hand on my shoulder, and guided me, stumbling, down the street.

   Like a mantra running through my head, I thought over and over: 'What the fuck?'

[Payne]

I was going to wait until tomorrow, to make certain I got it reading right, but fuck it, I'll post pt.3 now
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


   I was being led down the street by a man I didn't know. My mind still fogged by whatever it was that had knocked me out.

   It was starting to turn to twilight, casting the buildings in an ethereal light. They seemed to rear back over me, and the doorways were deepening shadows.

   Not feeling particularly threatened, though I suppose I should have done, I was about to turn my head to my guide, walking a half-step behind me. His hand tightening on my shoulder convinced me otherwise. Maybe I should wait until we got where we were going, or until it was necessary..

   I didn't know this part of town well. I may have been here back when I had been content, when I still went to parties and stuff, but I certainly hadn't been here recently. It seemed like a ghost town, there weren't even any cars parked here.

   We took some strange turns. Right, Left, Right. Always going in roughly the same direction, and always going slightly uphill, I noticed. We walked for about 30 minutes until we reached three cul-de-sacs, one ahead and one each left and right. Fuzzily, I pictured it as a cross.

   The man turned me around, his hand having been on my shoulder the whole time. He was taller than me, with wide shoulders, he had Presence, with a capital P. His face seemed to be somewhat stern, but not serious. I was relieved that I could see his face properly now, given what had happened so far today, I wouldn't have been surprised if his face really was as fluid as my first glimpse of it had been.

   "O.K. Listen carefully. We will be going inside in a moment, and until I say, I don't want you to say a word. Nod if you understand." I did so.

   "The people in here don't want to hear what happened to you, they know already. We will need to leave you alone in a room for a while, so we can discuss what we do next, but you will be given anything you want after. I recomend you sleep, though, you fuckin' need it." I nodded again, and he grunted his approval. He pointed to the door way opposite, and indicated with his finger that I should go that way.

   We climbed the dingy stairs to the top, and the man opened the door there. I expected it to follow form and be somehow strangely proportioned, but it was a perfectly ordinary, black door door. The plaque on it read 'No. 14a' and had a couple small lines of writing I didn't have time to read before I was led through the doorway.

   I was led down a hallway with bookcases on either side to a half-opened door at the far end. Light and voices came from the room behind, and I stopped dead in my tracks. One of those voices were Mandy's.

   The man glanced at me, an unsaid warning to keep my mouth shut, and pushed the door open.

   There were about eight people in the room, sitting on chairs, sofas or the floor. Some were reading, some were talking. Other than the number of people there, it seemed a perfectly ordinary room. Mandy was sitting cross legged on the floor, at the feet of an older man. She was holding an ashtray for him. When I walked in, she handed it to him, and come over to me.

   Looking me in the eyes, she placed a hand on my cheek. She seemed apologeticm but didn't speak. Neither did I. She turned me towards another door off to the side and led me to it. When she opened it, I walked through. The door closed behind me, and I found myself in a small room with a bed and nothing else. I sat on the edge of the bed and tried to hear anything of what was being said in the next room. Silence. So I lay down and watched the ceiling until I fell asleep.

   When I awoke, I had a strong sense of deja vu. It was the same face that greeted me, but this time, perfectly solid. He was even smiling.

   "Mandy has told us a lot about you. We've decided to help you." He stuck his hand out, and I raised myself to half-sitting to accept the hand shake. "The name is James, but call me Jim." I half smiled back at him, still nervous.

   "Steve, Jim, thank you for helping me." He pulled me up and handed me a mug with what appeared to be coffee. I was still going to question everything until I figured out what was going on.

   As if he had read my mind, Jim nodded at the mug, "It is coffee, but keep on questioning. You're going to have to for what we want from you." With that he jerked his head towards the door. I followed the direction, and stepped back into the outer room.

   The furniture had been cleared and a large table placed in the middle of the room, ten chairs were placed around it, all occupied bar two. I took one, and Jim took the other. Everyone had a mug in front of them, and a large pile of carelessly open books and odds and ends of papers had been pushed into the middle. To my right sat Mandy, to her right was the man she had been sitting with earlier. She handed me another pack of smokes, one of which I lit, noting it was the same brand as she had given me earlier.

   Jim, to my left, cleared his throat and slid an ashtray over to me. " You know Mandy already. To her right is Roger. Introductions for everyone else can come later."

   I nodded, not sure if I should speak or not yet. Jim looked at me with a raptor gaze, judging my silence.

   "You are here to do something important, but we can't tell you what it is. We will help you where we can, but you have to be allowed to do what you want."

   Mandy put her hand on mine, to get my attention. "I'm sorry I had to do it this way Steve, but we hope it will turn out for the best."

   I finally found the courage to break my silence. "Let me get this straight, you want me, a complete stranger, to do something important, but I have to figure out what that is. I hope to Christ, it's not something fucked up like killing someone, 'cause if it is, count me out." A few quick glances passed between those sitting at the table.

   "We know who you are. Mandy has watched you for a couple years now, watched as your 'life' has crumbled around you." The voice was gruff, deep, iron. It was Roger. "And don't be hoping to Christ, boy. That's not how we do things 'round here..."

[cyberus]

!

[Payne]

Cheers Cyb. Might take a couple days before the next part. I know where I'm taking it for the end, but I want to add moar tentacles!

As you might have noticed, a couple of the characters so far vaguely resemble posters in this forum, even if only in physical description compared to avatars. I read some old post's earlier that I want to incorporate into the story line.

Not only that, but I rushed the last two parts, and I feel they suffered a little for it.

[Payne]

Just to update, it might take longer to get the next part, I'm having a little trouble fitting the story arc in. Thats what I get for starting off by making it up as I go along, then making a "plan". Sorry if anyone is following this, but that's the way it goes eh?