Souls & Spirits | ONC 2024

Look What You Made Me Do

It was some sort of punishment for both of them, Mishaal had to supervise the birthday girl and Ivy had to be chaperoned. Ivy didn't hate Mishaal per se, she just found his company to be distant, superficial. Mishaal wasn't fond of physical contact and found social events to be draining.

When Ivy used to be a little girl, she clearly recalled how Mishaal kept his distance. She had met Mishaal when the the young bookkeeper was a 13-year-old who returned from his other job with a broken arm that had been wrapped in a cast. Ivy only had half his age then, a curious 6-year-old with long wavy hair and a bonnet on her head. She used to called Mr. Keller's name in a singsong which made the bookkeeper's skin crawl, “Meee-shaaaall.”

And to think that she used to have a crush on him.

Mishaal wasn't the kind of guy to show his emotions, much less fear though he used to be terrified of her because she didn't understand the notion when it came to personal boundaries back then. He preferred to get shot in the middle of a booze run than to be in the same room as Ivy. Despite the fact that Miss Taylor became a 15-year-old, he still viewed her as a little terror.

“Listen Ms. Taylor, your only occupation shall be to attend the clients and register the orders. Call me in case that you require assistance regarding to the cash register or its devices.” Mr. Keller forewarned as he stood from the opposite of the counter, awaiting for his tea.

“Yes, Mr. Keller.” Ivy deadpanned.
Mishaal's face remained neutral, though his viridian orbs showed a glint of acknowledgement. “Good.” He only supervised her to ensure that she was tech savvy enough to manage electronic transactions and applications. Fortunately, she was doing a swell job behind the cash register that he didn't have to worry about her making his job difficult. Ivy had spent her 15th birthday working at her godfather's establishment, attending the clients while keeping track of their orders.

When the Daisy Dukes stepped into the Cafe, she recognized the band except for the new musician. “Hey guys, do you want anything?” The band picked their usual orders and hors d'oeuvres while Aster requested a stack of flapjacks and maple syrup and a cup of caramel latte.

“Thank you.” Aster grinned as he purchased his breakfast. Ivy couldn't deny that she found the violinist attractive with his blue eyes and charming smile. There was something about him that made her feel fluttery inside.

At St. Louis Police Academy, one of the students collected evidence as part of their extracurricular activities in order to pass the semester. The brunette, Duncan Rodriguez, brought a zipper storage bag that had a powdery substance inside of it. It was a hallucinogenic drug that was found on one of the suspects, a drug addict had been caught recently. After the evidence had been analyzed, there was an additional component was used as a preservative but it couldn't be traced directly.

The drug addict had shaggy ash blonde hair, a white complexion, bloodshot eyes and actinic keratosis. Patches of his skin were scaly, and was beginning to suffer from withdrawals after three days of being detained. He had recognized Drake Simmons and had given a lead to where he was last seen.

Duncan had perused on the documents illegally and found a tidbit of information that remained useful yet heart wrenching for his classmate. Richard Reynolds, the son of Howard Reynolds, grieved for the loss of his father when the person of interest had told how he witnessed Mr. Reynold's demise.

Despite the fact that the tattooed gangster was unrecognizable, Drake Simmons gave his testimony to the authorities in exhange to change his identity.

“I witnessed how the bookkeeper shot Mr. Reynolds on the head.” He confessed.

~

“It's not just you who will be sleeping with the fishes. Your son will follow you shortly. From what I've gathered, your son is currently studying in St. Louis Police Academy.” Mishaal mentioned, Howard's eyes widened in terror.

“No! Not my son!” Howard flailed angrily before the Turk punched him, breaking his nose, knocking two of his teeth out.

“Is such a shame that your son would have to find out the hard way that his own father is nothing but a crook.” Mishaal said as he cocked the gun and shot Howard at the side of his skull. It took around 2 months for the corpse of Richard's father to resurface by the river.

~

The erstwhile gangster had confessed how he survived his near death experience with the bookkeeper. He had been dead for 3 hours, dry as a bone, the only thing he remembered after getting shot in the head was that he woke up in an underground cavern that had a bunker full of containers that stored chemicals and cleaning supplies. His body laid limp on top of a powdery substance mixed with alcohol and he heard screaming from a man.

“Damn it! Look what you made me do! Now I have to clean it up.” Mr. Keller shouted while a man winced and wailed after his fingers got chopped off. In a fit of rage, the bookkeeper chopped Munchkin on the head repeatedly and killed him. Drake had to play dead while the triggermen picked up Munchkin's corpse and went to dispose of it while the gang member had sneaked out of the bunker and hid around the caves as he sneaked out, by following the bookkeeper from a distance until he escaped.

When the two triggermen went to pick up Howard's corpse. They hadn't noticed the disappearance of the gangster until the following night.

Mishaal had two problems to deal with: Ivy and the missing thug. He had requested Ender to be on the lookout for the latter since the burly Turk had more liberty to drive around town than the bookkeeper.

No doubt that the Snapdragons would retaliate once they find out that one of their kin is either dead or missing. There was also a possibility that the Daffodill Gang and the Snapdragons form an truce.

If that alliance came into fruition, the Mandrakes and the Carnations would also join the Snapdragon speakeasy to form a coalition and it would pose a threat to the bootlegging business.

The only allies the Dandelion speakeasy had were the Primroses and the Hydraengeas. If either of them retracted their support, there would be repercussions and that would affect business relations. All because Mishaal had made the grievous mistake of not ensuring that he eliminated the mole in time.

Bootlegging in the criminal underworld wasn't just about the transport of illicit goods or altered transactions for money laundering. It was more about trading living souls and if word got out that the speakeasies were trafficking human souls confined into bottles with ingredients used for witchcraft, there would be consequences.