WnW 3.20

Sullivan stood casually, leaning slightly to one side with his hands in his pockets. A heavy brow hung over serious grey eyes that matched his suit. His clothes looked expensive, but he wore no jewelry, not even a watch.

My eyes slid off of him as I got another intense whiff of cooking meat. Where? On the far side of the room was a round table with old men sitting around it playing cards. They would quietly mutter to each other occasionally, but seemed to ignore what Sullivan was doing.

There was a woman leaning on the back wall of the room, near a staircase that led upwards. She didn’t fit into the classy atmosphere, wearing camo pants and a tank top. Her hair was in dreadlocks and she held a small briefcase loosely in one hand. She was glaring at me and I held her gaze blankly. This seemed to piss her off more.

Sullivan moved, drawing my attention. He took his hand out of his pocket and ran it over his oily black hair. “Alright,” he said lightly, almost amiable. “I’ve let you sit and think for long enough. It’s been my experience that any more time will just make you think in circles or come up with fanciful lies.”

He beckoned to the woman and she approached, opening the case and showing the contents to the person in the chair. I couldn’t see what was in it from where I was standing.

The shaggy-haired head I could just see over the top of the carved wood chair moved slightly. A voice croaked from it, “I dunno. Some dude in a car hooked me up. I didn’t ask questions.”

Sullivan nodded and the sides of his mouth quirked up like he was resisting the urge to smile. “You didn’t ask questions. Just like you didn’t ask me questions before trying to sell on my turf.”

The chair rocked slightly and I realized that there were straps around the chair’s back and legs. “Fuck off man! The Rings split. These streets ain’t nobody’s turf anymore.”

Sullivan nodded patiently. “Right, and I could forgive you if that was your only trespass. After all, I am fairly new to Sillwood. How could you have known? But this,” he said, gesturing to the open case, “this is a much greater sin.”

Sullivan paused and took something from the case. His eyes flicked up and regarded me for half a second. “Graham, good to see you.”

Graham just grunted. He looked uncomfortable with his arms crossed tightly. He pointedly did not look at the man tied to the chair.

Sullivan continued, “What do you think this is?”

“Drugs,” was the subdued response.

“Drugs,” Sullivan repeated. “Good ol’ drugs. Maybe one of the simplest of humanity’s crutches. ‘I wish to not be here for a while’. That’s the sentiment anyway. Perhaps it’s more accurately described as ‘I want to think differently for a time’, wouldn’t you agree?”

There was a noncommittal noise from the chair.

The Boss’ face turned to grave solemnity. “This is not that kind of drug. One injection is all it takes to make sure you never think the same again.”

Chills ran down my back as I realized what was in the case.

Sullivan paused, “I can see that this isn’t sinking in. You still think that what you did wasn’t that bad. Let me guess, you’re thinking: ‘I’m just living off of other people’s vices, just like you do’. Am I right?”

He gestured to Graham, although the man in the chair couldn’t turn to look. “The man standing behind you is Graham. Yes, I can see in your eyes that you know that name. Dullahan Graham, as the streets have coined.” 

I was having trouble following the conversation. The aroma of cooked chicken was making my skin crawl with heat.

“You know the name, you’ve heard the legends. I can confirm, they’re all true. I could ram a steel pipe through his guts and he wouldn’t die. I could shoot him in the head and he would still be able to talk. No, this is not some drug.” Sullivan’s hand rested on the back of the chair, next to the man’s shoulder. In his hand was a syringe full of clear liquid. “There is no escapism in this substance, unless you desire to escape from humanity itself.”

I could see Graham’s fingers digging into his suit sleeves as the needle danced close to the captive man’s neck. The Boss frowned deeply. “You don’t believe me.” The hand holding the syringe disappeared from my view. “Your carelessness could have made four monsters out of men. I see in your unrepentant face that it is necessary to make one to save four.”

The shaggy haired head lurched to one side, like there was a kink in his neck. Sullivan’s face held the frown as he worked. A syringe plinked to the carpeted floor, empty. The woman handed him another. He raised this to the man’s neck and then another empty syringe fell to the floor. The man struggled, rocking the chair and panting heavily. By the time Sullivan stepped away, sweat shining on his brow from the grisly task, four empty syringes littered the floor. 

A small voice inside me screamed danger, get out. But any fear that should have been there was drowned out by hunger, roaring to be satiated. It sapped my strength, pulling it out of my muscles and muddling my thoughts.

Sullivan gestured to the captive as he walked back to a small stool which had a glass of water sitting on it. “Take him to the dump site by the river and watch him. Graham, help Miss with the chair.” He took a long drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing, finishing the glass in one breath. He exhaled slowly. “Once he starts to change, fill him with lead.”

Graham hesitated. “Sir-”

“I got it,” Miss snapped, glaring at Graham. Then she tilted the chair back and started to drag it towards the entrance, where Graham held the door open for her. The man’s face was pale and his eyes were squeezed shut like he was having a nightmare.

Once she was through, Graham let it close and walked forward. “Sir, Alek wanted these two sent to you.”

Sullivan watched me and Nell, expression unreadable. He wiped his hands on his pants and took off his suit jacket. The white undershirt was dark with sweat spots. “What’s your name, kid?”

Nell held her broken arm to her stomach, her face pale. “Nell,” she answered, putting on a brave face.

“Are they from a rival Ring?” Sullivan asked.

Graham shook his head. “No tattoos. The male jumped us a few blocks away. Seems to have some beef with Alek.”

Sullivan rubbed his forehead with a knuckle. “Of course it was Alek… Still, it’s unlike you to bring me some hazed out druggie, Graham.”

Graham blinked. “I, uh, what?”

Sullivan examined me with a piercing stare. “He’s not all there.”

Movement over his shoulder caught my attention. A pair of shoes appeared, coming down the staircase in the back. The person wore a server’s outfit and held a large round tray. The smell of food grew stronger and I saw the meals that were on the tray. Braised meat and steaming vegetables practically gleamed like gems. The server brought the tray over to the men playing cards in the corner and began to place meals in front of them, along with cutlery. The old men ignored the food and continued to argue passionately but quietly about their game.

“Joseph,” Sullivan said, “bring one of those over to the young man here. And for the lady.”

“Not hungry,” Nell said defiantly.

The server did as they were told, handing me a plate of heavenly smelling food. I took it numbly and without thinking, I grabbed a piece of meat with my hands and bit into it. The next few minutes were a melty blur to me. All I felt was the taste of good food and the fire getting quieter until it was just background noise.

“I’ve seen that look once before, on Alek’s face. He’s a Wolf, isn’t he?”

Sullivan’s composed voice cut through my reverie. Fire had been replaced by cold ice that snapped my mind into clarity. I felt a wave of fear crash into me and I nearly cried out as Nell’s emotions scraped across my raw mind. She had been distraught this entire time, I just hadn’t been able to feel her. I struggled to contain myself as the Boss watched us.

“I thought so,” Graham said.

“And his Witch?” Sullivan said expectantly.

“I’m not sure…” Graham said, glancing at Nell.

The Boss gestured again, like he was flicking water off his hand. “You’ve got one half of the puzzle, Graham. I prefer to have both the lock and the key before we start making deals. Makes things less messy. Although,” his gaze slid over Nell, “the simplest answer is often the correct one.”

“They were being pursued,” Graham said. “By what I believe are a pack of Aberrants, acting with some intelligence. It’s quite strange, I haven’t seen behaviour like this before. Individual-”

Sullivan silenced him with a wave. “I’m not interested in your science projects, Graham. Have they been dealt with?”

“The men say they are still outside, waiting out of reach, watching,” Graham said, shifting uncomfortably.

Sullivan turned back to us. “You bring monsters to my territory, jeopardizing the safety of my men. Not exactly a good first impression. Perhaps we should just rough you up and throw you back outside to the metaphorical wolves?” He eyed my bloodied, tattered clothing. “Although the roughing up may not be necessary.”

Dozens of lines filled my head, but when I opened my mouth to speak, something stopped me. It was something about the way the Boss’ eyes didn’t move. His gaze was steely, hard, metallic. Like he had decided something, and now was fully focused on accomplishing that task. Was a brave line full of nothings going to change this man’s mind? How many others tried to manipulate this man with puffed-out chests and foolish confidence? I closed my mouth. I had been lured in by his casual demeanour. He was fully prepared to kill me and Nell without a second thought. He had already thought of it, planned how it would be done. This was as close to death as when the gun had been pressed to my head. All that was needed was a small twitch of his finger.

Slow down. Think. I was letting emotion run ahead of my thoughts. From what I had seen, Sullivan was logical. He had clearly explained why he was acting almost righteously to the unfortunately man in the chair. He had principals. Ironclad rules of sin and punishment. He also seemed to be a keen reader of people’s intentions. I couldn’t lie, couldn’t fake power I didn’t have.

I looked Sullivan in the eyes. “I have valuable information for you.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re desperate and grasping at straws.”

“We need protection, yes, but you could stand to gain.”

“I would rather rid myself of unnecessary complications.” Sullivan gestured to Graham. “Go fetch some of the men and have the girl thrown outside. We will see quite quickly if she is a Witch.”

Graham moved to leave.

“Really?” I said, trying to inject confidence into my voice. “Leaving yourself without protection doesn’t seem wise. Graham has no idea what we can do.”

Graham paused at the door.

The Boss tsked. “Making threats are we? You’ve heard that I’m a newcomer to Sillwood’s crime circles. If idle threats were enough to scare me then I would have left the day I arrived.”

I spoke quickly, “Not threats. Just observations. I have no wish to harm you. But I’m also not going to lie to placate you.”

“You don’t understand.”

I halted, waiting for the Boss to elaborate. He seemed content to stare at me, never letting his gaze drift at all. Most people’s eyes would at least drift around the face a bit while they spoke. The Boss was examining me like a boring document. 

“I… don’t understand?” I asked.

“Yes. That is your fatal flaw in this conversation. You don’t understand that anything you say will not be held as a lie or truth by me. This is not a court of law. I am taking what I need from your words.” 

As the Boss talked, Graham unfroze from his stance of being perpetually almost out of the door. He quietly shut it and the uncertainty he had shown was gone. “Your lack of understanding has allowed me to do this with ease. For example, you’ve immediately revealed that Nell here has Shaping ability when you said ‘what we can do’.”

“You’ve also revealed to me that you care about her well-being. And that you are blind to the measure I have in place to protect myself. “ Sullivan didn’t smile so much as just relaxed his eyebrows, yet I could tell he was enjoying himself. Not good.

“While I have been speaking you failed again. You reacted, and by your reaction to everything I just explained, I have confirmed those things as true.”

I was frozen. Graham had played a part in this tactic before, it was well rehearsed. An effortless game to pry back any facade I may have had in place.

Sullivan spoke slowly, letting each word sink in, “And by your reaction now, you have revealed the extent of your stupidity. You don’t know what game you are playing. You’re like a child in a casino. You don’t know the rules.”

Anger bubbled softly. This is all a game? But then I considered his words again. You don’t know what game you are playing. Are playing. Currently. The game wasn’t over. It was almost as if the Boss was inviting me to step back up and bet more on the table.

“Nothing I say is taken as lies or truth…” I said slowly.

The Boss nodded. “That’s right. To be certain, honesty must always be taken unwillingly. If it is given there will always be the chance it is lies. Many men are good at verbal sleight of hand. Only the dealer knows what is true. So one must make themselves the dealer, even if the cards are not their own.”

“By that logic, I could be faking my reactions, knowing you would take your conclusions from it. You might think you’re taking what you want, but there is a chance that I’m letting you take the cards I want you to take.”

The Boss didn’t respond. His eyes finally moved off of mine, to Graham, who stood to one side of the door. When he looked back at me, his eyes seemed different. They lacked the hardness I’d seen a moment before. Like he no longer had a definite decision in mind. 

Finally he spoke, “That’s true. You could be a master of deception. I can’t claim to know your tells.” He put a hand into his pants pocket, relaxing his posture. “But I am a gambler. The odds of you being that are very low. My intuition tells me that you’re in over your head.”

I took a gamble of my own. I tsked, imitating him. “Intuition? A smart gambler like yourself should know not to lean too heavily on that.” He didn’t seem the prideful type, I doubted I would offend him. Please, please, don’t be offended. The Boss smiled. It was a tight-lipped grin that sent shivers up my spine. Oh no.

“I happen to agree with you. So I’m giving you a choice, keep dealing me cards or fold and give me something in exchange for your safe release.”

I thought quickly. The scene I’d been hazily observing before I’d eaten was coming back to me. I pointed to the needles that still lay on the ground. “I’ve seen the face of someone who was distributing that substance before.”

A hand settled heavily on my shoulder. Graham loomed over me, a wrathful expression on his face, his thick eyebrows furrowed deeply. Sullivan’s expression didn’t change, but his hand dropped out of his pocket less than casually.

“That’s helpful,” Sullivan mused. “But it isn’t enough to earn your freedom. I’ve been catching a dealer every other day it seems, already deep in money earned from selling that curse.”

I shook my head emphatically. “I mean I saw someone who was giving the drug to a subordinate, with orders on how to distribute it.” Sullivan opened his mouth to speak, but I kept talking, thoughts falling into place as I spoke, “And you misunderstood me.”

Sullivan closed his mouth.

“We’re not trying to earn freedom. Our intent is to find the answers that you yourself seem to seek.” I saw a way forward. “I want to know who is changing people into Casts. Let us help you. Let us join the Rings. We will help you find the Queen.”

The words were like magic. Sullivan’s face showed surprise for the first time. Graham’s hand felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, affixing me to the spot I stood. Awaiting judgement.