The Wicked End

Somewhere a clock was striking four.
The low soft lighting of the hotel corridor was as muted as the hour, nothing but a glow against neutral walls and something to cast shadows on the carpeted floor. It wasn’t an expensive carpet, like the hotel itself it had seen better days but was still thick enough to muffle the footfalls of the last residents turning in for the night.
Most of the rooms were occupied by tourists that flocked into the city to see its colourful night life and the numerous shops and attractions that lightened its day. As a mid-rate hotel among higher rates the place did pretty well, all the rooms occupied during the high season and fairly full in the winter months. Businessmen used it more frequently then and most were regulars, known to the staff and occupying the various conference rooms during the day.
Room number twenty two was typical of what was on offer, decorated in a pastel blue with views that overlooked the plaza and its bars and restaurants. It was a good size, a high def television mounted on the wall opposite from the king-size bed and a mini bar along with a decently hot shower and a phone direct to room service. Many a visitor had whiled away a few hours on the balcony where the patio door was now ajar and a gently warm breeze caused the curtains to flutter slightly.
Thankfully it was far enough from the ground for the current sounds not to carry. The small bottles from the bar led from that door back towards the bed, all of them now empty and joined by the remains of a larger bottle brought up from the bar downstairs. At least one of the occupants of twenty two was pleasantly drunk and would have one hell of a hangover in the morning. Just lucky for him that he was no businessman and had nowhere to be before midday.
As it was Vinnie Vargas should actually have been at work instead of lying on his back on the rented bed with half lidded eyes and a very happy smile. His job, such as it had been explained, had been to keep an eye on the door at his bosses bar and make sure there was no trouble. His boss didn’t like trouble and normally Vinnie would have been scared enough not to wander away. Door work for the mob may not have been the most glamorous of underworld operations but when Mikey Way told you he trusted you to deal with it, was kind of wise not to say no.
Vinnie was scared of Mikey, the man was rumoured to be clinically insane and was not to be fucked with. You could bump into him and disappear by nightfall which was bad enough but if you fell into the hands of his lover then death was the preferable option. The beautiful city was owned by one man and his four associates, to cross any of them was to fall into hell. Any veneer of city control was in the hands of men loyal to Frank Iero and everyone knew it.
So to Vinnie it was yes sir, no sir and nod politely to both Mr Ways if they crossed his path which thankfully was not often. The only ones that used The Metro Bar were the some of the lower ranked captains and the wives. None of them were upstanding citizens maybe but at least they had a sense of humour, the last lame joke Vinnie had tried with Mikey had earned him four broken fingers that still hadn’t set straight. After that, he kept fucking quiet and concentrated on doing his job, even hanging around after his shift to help clear up and keep his good name in front of those above him on the totem pole. Vinnie was not a smart man but he was smart enough to keep his job.
Which made this current adventure risky and if he had been sober, Vinnie would have never tried it at all. The club didn’t shut till dawn usually and it had been a combination of circumstance and the woman now riding his naked body that had drawn him away. While not ugly, women had never been his strongpoint, a slow brain meant a slow mouth that stuttered occasionally and caused Vinnie to blush at all the wrong times. He hadn’t managed to keep a girlfriend thus far for more than three months which at the age of twenty four was a little embarrassing and had made him an easy catch for a pretty smile and some charisma.
She had pushed past Vinnie at the door a little after two, almost gulping in the summer air and looking upset. This job made him used to drunken women falling out the place and the boss didn’t like the club getting a reputation as a dive so he had often helped them into cabs or pointed them towards hotels in an effort to avoid a scene at the door. This time the person in question seemed angry rather than feeling the effects of alcohol.
“Are you okay Ma’am ?”
Vinnie smiled, a little pride at the sentence coming out without a painful pause that was rewarded with a returned twist up of the lip from the woman in front of him. She could have been anywhere between twenty and thirty, blonde hair falling past her shoulders and resting against the full breasts that pushed up from the tight black dress. Some might have found her face unassuming but there was a strength there that caused the familiar heat in Vinnie’s face.
“I’m good, just dumped an asshole.”
“Would you like me to call you a cab?”
She had paused before walking over to him, her eyes drifting from his face downwards and then back up. He filled the doorman’s uniform well enough and there had been a renewed interest in her face as she met his eyes, a definite smirk now passing her lips.
“Only if it means you’re going to buy me a drink.”
A groan escaped Vinnie at the memory, his fingers digging into her hips as the upward movement of his body got a little more frantic. There had been nothing he could do but beg a co-worker to cover for him when she told him her name was Mercy and she wasn’t leaving until they had had that drink. Female company that dominated him slightly was something new to Vinnie and had removed whatever common sense and responsibility that had been drummed into his head by fear. Surely his boss was way too busy to be checking up on such a lowly cog in the machine and even if they did, a hot fuck would probably be a good enough excuse.
One drink in the bar opposite had turned into two before Mercy had shown him the room key and promised a bottle of champagne and an interesting night if he accompanied her to the hotel across the plaza. Her boyfriend had seen fit to be drooling over another woman so it was her intention to enjoy herself with a handsome man and Vinnie was him. Lust and alcohol had combined together in his head and now the journey from that point to the bed was becoming a little blurry, all he knew was how good it felt and how he hoped he could remember her name in the morning.
The breath caught in his throat as he looked up at her, both of them covered in a light sheen of sweat and he again counted his blessings and the benefits of revenge sex. Mercy’s head had dropped back a little, her fingers gliding over his nipples as both neared to a climax. He had to close his eyes at that point, a low guttural noise escaping him as he felt her tighten around him with a sweet sigh. He rode it out, feeling her hair brush against his chest as her weight tumbled into his arms. It was good, too good to last all that long but he hoped that there would be more before it was time to go back to his normal dull existence.
“Y-you have to leave me your number at least.”
Her giggles tickled and he yelped as her teeth closed around his sensitive flesh.
“I certainly will and I hope you don’t get fired or worse. I know who owns that club.”
Vinnie smiled, the waning pleasure in his head allowing him more bravery than ever normally showed.
“I’m on good terms with the boss. I’m sure when I explain the urgent circumstances of my leaving….”
Now she laughed in earnest, pushing her hair from her face and looking up into his eyes. He noticed for the first time that her eyes were green and flecked with the palest gold, he revised his earlier thought that she wasn’t stunning.
“I know Mikey Way from a long time back. He’s not a man to be crossed lightly.”
Vinnie shrugged, the alcohol now wanting to force its way back into his head in place of the lust. Unconsciously he flexed his right hand.
“I’m just a doorman, they don’t notice me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. Powerful men like that don’t hire people they can’t trust.”
Vinnie closed his eyes again, fingers trailing down the warm skin of her back as the breeze cooled his fevered forehead. Hopefully the night had gone as well for his buddy that he now owed the big favour to.
“I’d like to think they will notice me like that someday. I would like at least someone to remember who I am.”
There was a pause as she sighed and slid back from him to rest gently against his thighs. The dozing man hardly noticed and certainly didn’t register the dispassionate stare that he was being held in. All he wanted now was to sleep and reached out to pull his lover down beside him, shared warmth and relaxation would make tomorrow a more pleasant reality.
“Don’t worry, they are going to know who you are by tomorrow lunchtime. I guarantee it.”
Vinnie opened one eye and something bright registered against his retinas before it felt like the breath was punched from his body in one lightning fast moment. His hands went numb as he stared down at the impossible sight of a large blade that now protruded from his chest. There was no pain just a spreading weight as he tried in vain to focus his efforts on pulling it out. Guttural noises worked his lips, there seemed to be no breath left to scream as he tried to compute what was happening to him.
The woman who had ended his life contented herself with sitting on his legs until the blood started to froth and run down his chin. It was interesting to watch the struggles fade, the light go out slowly until only blank eyes gazed out, his expression still slightly surprised. Once she was sure he was dead, the knife was slid cleanly out and used to open a larger wound on his thigh. There was no pressure to make it messy, just a dull pooling on the sheets that was enough to collect and congeal while she cleaned up the few fingerprints that she may have left.
There was one last thing to do and that task was easily completed, the first light of dawn barely kissing the horizon when she was dressed and ready to leave. The key to the room rested lightly in gloved fingers as she read the simple message for the last time before stepping out and into the passage. The recipient would understand, enough to at least realise it was for him and that his past was now very rapidly catching up with him. The pale blue set off the drying reddish stains nicely, blood almost as good as paint.

FOR THE WAGES OF SYN IS DEATH, REMEMBER YOUR BIBLE MIKEY ?

Notes