Zellington Park, the epicenter of a disaster that shook all of Cloud City, was miraculously intact and filled with joyful screams of children running back and forth; life was in flux, just as it ever was. Aliceria stood on the other side of the street in an odd daze. She was forgetting something, but could not remember what. Mika's name came to mind along with another, someone important, but as she tried to access the face associated with that name, the visage would submerge deeper and deeper into the subconscious, until all that remained were a pair of green eyes.
Her senses were suddenly overwhelmed by the aroma of hazelnuts as a piece of chocolate waved beneath her nose, "Hazelnugget for your thought?" Detective Cambridge offered, appearing beside her like a ghost.
"No, thank you, Mr. Cambridge," she declined. "I try to avoid sugar…"
"Woof, guess life's always sweet for an heiress, huh?" He teased, "I wanted to ask you a few questions, but you seem preoccupied."
"Is this real?" she asked, staring at the Park.
Cambridge's eyes sharpened, his usually laid-back expression now focused, almost as though he knew what she was referring to, "What do you mean?"
"I mean… I don't know if I'm having a nightmare, and I'll wake up and life will return to its pleasant self… or, if I was dreaming before, and this nightmare is reality."
Cambridge stepped in front of the distressed teen and pointed towards Zellington Park. "What do you remember when looking at the park? What do you see? Is it…"
"A Crater," the two said in unison.
"Well, I'll be damned… you're a Disorderly, like me."
"Dis…orderly?" Aliceria questioned, her face twisted with confusion.
"Let's not talk here," Cambridge quickly pulled out his notepad and wrote down an address. "Meet me here tonight. I'll bring some snacks, so try not to eat beforehand."
"I don't like sugar! What's this about!?"
"You're deep in the greyzone. After reaching the other side, you're gonna want something sweet."
***
Alister paced around his office, waiting for his daughter to show up for her second day of internship. He peeked between the velvet curtains, looking down at the empty streets before calling for Martin.
"Get the car, I'm going home."
Inside the red leather interior of the vehicle was a hidden compartment beneath his seat with a fully loaded sidearm.
"Sir?" Martin looked back at him as Alister cocked the pistol.
"Just drive."
It was a little before noon, and the streets seemed too empty. The Valicars lived in the founders' Ward, Broca, which was known for its low population density, but Alister's uneasiness led him to question even the ordinary. Martin stared at him from the rearview mirror before taking a turn down Port Street toward the city docks. Alister was unaware of this until the shipping containers came into view.
"Martin, where are you—?"
"I'm sorry, sir, they keep showing up at my house…" he said with fear in his eyes, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "...HE told me that the moment you leave the building, I have to bring you here or else they'll kill my family!"
Alister loosened his grip on the pistol, relaxing into the seat; a part of him felt strangely relieved. The anxiety and guilt that had choked him over the past month were alleviated; this is what he deserved. The car stopped in front of a red container, and the two men stepped out at the same time, but when Alister turned to Martin, he was nowhere to be found; in fact, the entire docks were vacant. A burly man appeared seemingly out of thin air and pulled the container door open, directing Alister inside; the low hum of a mechanism echoed from within the darkness. As the door slammed shut, light illuminated the surroundings, and suddenly, Alister found himself inside a tattoo parlor; a girl lay naked in front of him on the table as a man wearing goggles worked on her neck. She looked very young.
"Y'know, despite being the only guy in the city with red hair, you are quite the elusive one," said the man as he traced an intricate "V" over the girl's Adam's apple. "This is Kiara, by the way, say hi, sweetie."
The girl said nothing; her pupils were a hazy white, and she grinned so hard the corners of her mouth were split. Alister knew what this was, but had never seen it to such severity. What was originally meant to be a treatment for the paralysing symptoms of Ocular-Umbrosis spiraled into an addictive party drug that left those who abused it in a catatonic state. This was his sin, and the man that sat before him was god.
The tattoo artist finished the woman's neck and removed the goggles. His eyes were red, the kind of red you would see before the sun was consumed by night. Alister had only met with him a few times in the past, and he distinctly recalled black eyes that felt hollow, as though they were looking back at you from behind a mask. This time was the real deal—this was the Sandman—Barnabus Varghanza.
"Care to explain why both inner city and international trade have been put on hold, indefinitely?"
"Kids…" Alister mumbled, reluctantly.
"Come, again?" said Varghanza, his ear pointed forward; from it a large diamond shimmered in the light.
"You're killing KIDS!" Alister erupted.
"Nooo…" Varghanza turned away, wiping the tattoo needle. "I'm kidnapping kids. I don't give a shit what happens to them after that."
"When you first came to me, you claimed to be god—!"
"I am a GOD!!!" Verghanza snapped. "But the problem is… I'm not THE god. So technically, I never lied. You misinterpreted, typical of Phebians."
Alister looked at the surrounding men; he came to terms with the fact that he would not be leaving this room alive. This was both his end and his freedom. "I'm done. So just kill me and take the damn company."
"Hey, whoa, whoa—we're family, man," Verghanza wrapped his arm around him. "And per our agreement, I can't harm family. So you and little Alice are safe… But Meledina…well… that's where things get interesting."
"My wife?!" Alister's eyes widened as he pushed Varghanza away. "You said you wouldn't harm ANY of my family."
"NUANCE! Ladies and gents," Varghanza shouted, pointing his finger into the air. "Our deal only involves blood relatives… and last I've checked, wives aren't blood."
"No…Y-You can't—"
"Wait! You're gonna want to pay attention to this next part…" he took a long pause before grinning menacingly. "Tool."
The "V" on the girl's neck glowed an eerie white as she rose from the table. Her body moved as if manipulated by a string, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
"Someone get our guest a chair."
One of the thugs dragged a chair behind Alister and forced him into it; the girl stepped off the table and stood in front of the sweaty man, moaning as she rubbed her breasts.
"Pretty, isn't she, Alister? I think she's the same age as little Alice, possibly younger; I didn't bother to ask. Age is a human construct."
The girl moved closer with a lecherous stare, kneeling and spreading Alister's legs. "S-Stop—what are you…?"
"Whoa, whoa, Alister, c'mon man," Varghanza took photos with a digital camera. "Chasing young tail at you're age. Tsk-tsk, what will the missus think?"
He wriggled in the chair as the girl's peeled fingernails unzipped his pants, exposing him completely. Her cold hand gripped him firmly as her mouth inched closer toward his pelvis. He was powerless as she was; all he could do was cry his wife's name, "Meledina…"
"Hehe, feels pretty good, huh? Chuckled Varghanza. "She's a real drooler that one… Now. If you wish not to play ball, these pics are going into an envelope, and one of my boys here will then take a drive to ole' Broca Ward and slip 'em under your door. Your wife, like Kiara here, is sporting one of my brands on her neck. Once she sees these photos, she's been given strict orders to take the nearest pointy object in the room and jam it into her throat."
"N-No…Urgh!" Alister twists in the chair. "You can't…"
"Uhhh, yeah, I can. Anyway. She'll be dead, and you'll most likely be forced to step down from the company, shamed, blah blah blah… And all of your shares transfer to Aliceria, making her the majority shareholder and new CEO…"
With a deep gasp, Alister slouched shamefully in the seat as the girl wiped her lips clean, smiling back at Varghanza, "Your turn, baby!"
His amused grin dissolved into a cold gaze. "Kill yourself, whore."
Blood splattered across the room as her head exploded, her eye landing in Alister's lap, its original color restored. He could not move; betrayal and fear turned his body to stone. Varghanza kicked the chair down and loomed over the weeping man, his red eyes glowing. "Once the company belongs to Aliceria, I'll have to start ALL over and approach her with a new deal… but this time… the conditions will be far, far worse than anything you've seen tonight. That, I promise you, won't be misinterpreted."
***
The rain fell heavily over Tempora Avenue as night fell. The wet streets were drenched in neon as Aliceria made her way to the address given to her by Cambridge. Most cops call you down to the precinct for questioning, not the red light street of the entertainment district. She clutched her umbrella closely, passing bars exploding with laughter and clubs shaking with music. She and ___ would come here after school to search for Mika, the delinquent loved to ditch class and spray-paint alleyways.
"The Picaro's Shadow," Aliceria read, looking up at the red and blue sign. "This is the place."
She tapped the cold steel twice, her eyes darting around the dark alley before the door opened. A flamboyantly dressed, dark-skinned male answered, shocked to see the heiress of the Cloud City standing outside such an establishment. He pulled her inside and examined her closely, worried for the girl's well-being. "What are you doing on this side of town, princess. You're in the jaws of the serpent."
"I'm looking for Detective Cambridge…?"
"Willy? Now why would you—"
"It's okay, Donny," Cambridge assured him, leaning over the second-floor balcony. "Let her up."
Upstairs, the rooms were loud with the pleasures of nightly activities. The ladies tugged seductively on Cambridge's clothes as two walked to his room; Aliceria noticed a pattern of Vs on their necks. Cambridge locked the door behind them and immediately went to the mini fridge to retrieve the aforementioned sweets. He held a candy bar out in front of her, to which Aliceria declined once again. "More for me," he said with a huge bite. Steam slipped from beneath the bathroom door, accompanied by the sound of running water.
"Who's that?" Aliceria pointed.
Cambridge intended to answer, but became lost in his indulgences. The water stopped, and the door slid open. A woman with long, wet strands of black hair emerged from the veil of mist, wrapped in a thin, purple robe that rested delicately atop her supple skin. She was someone you could only find on the cover of a magazine; Aliceria was red with admiration.
"My, my, such luscious red hair and fabulous bone structure," said the gorgeous woman, examining Aliceria's face with her soft hands. "Disorderly or not, if this girl had gotten hurt on her way here, I'd never forgive you, Cambridge, darling."
"To be fair… *GULP*…" Cambridge swallowed the chocolate. "I expected her to meet us a lot earlier."
"Well, sorry, I had a few reservations about meeting a sleazy detective—"
"Sleazy?"
"—at a brothel with his mistress."
"Heehee," the woman giggled. "I wish I were his mistress. No, I'm just Neveline."
"You know I hate that name…" Cambridge glared.
"Would you prefer Eveline?" she teased, her smile causing him to turn away.
"Look, I didn't come here for a course on infidelity," Aliceria interrupted. "What is this Disorderly-thing all about? Why doesn't anyone remember the CRATER that vanished from Zellington Park? WHY DO I FEEL LIKE THERE'S A GAP IN MY MEMORY!?"
Neveline took a seat next to her on the bed before lighting a cigarette… "How familiar are you with the Grim Reaper?"