Stain [H.S] - Major Editing

35

I nodded and looked away. This was all pretty serious stuff. Gangsters and Mafias and shady business. It was damn scary, really. This was all real and happening.

"Do you have more questions, Alice?" Jeff asked, knocking me out of a trance.

"Yeah, I...I do," I said. "Why did you come back?"

"Harry needs all the help he can get. Louis Tomlinson will be sleeping with the fish soon."

"And that means?"

"He's gonna get whacked," he said with a sly smirk. "We're gonna put him to sleep. Bash those fucking eyeballs off his pretty face, throw him in the lake-"

I waved my hands around. "Yes, yes, I get the picture."

He chuckled, picking up an apple from the fruit basket. "Don't worry"- he took a huge bite and munched loudly –"the racket will be clean."

I stood up and folded my arms over my chest. "Jeff, have you ever...killed anyone before?"

He considered the question carefully. "Well, in order to become a made man, an untouchable so to speak," he said slowly, "you go through an induction. Like a ritual. Inductions vary from family to family. I was instructed to kill this guy. Forgot his name. Bondoni something. 'Twas a contract killing. Nothing...personal. So yeah, I've killed a man once."

I shuddered. "Did Harry ever...?"

"Nah," he munched on, "Guy couldn't kill a fly. He's not a pussy; he's in the business for his intelligence. Guy's a philosophical brainiac. Bet you already know that but...ah..." he took another apple and tossed it to me "I better go take a shower. If you need anything, just tell me. Capisce?"

I snorted. "Should I reply with a Joe Pesci threat?"

"If you can," Jeff said with a challenging tone.

"Hey, I've probably watched Goodfellas more than you. So go home and get your fucking shine box."

He grinned widely. "Oh my fuck. Nice. You're an okay girl, Alice."

He exited the kitchen, and I thought he was gone but he stuck his head in and said, "By the way, if you value your life, stay out of the common room. Greg told me those dudes tend to be a bit more cranky and short-tempered in the afternoons."

"Noted."

He smiled and turned away.

The rain began to slow down as I entered the bedroom I'd previously slept in. I walked around, like I had last time. Everything seemed fine. But again, it all just looked way too sanitized. It almost appeared as if a maid had been in the house just a few moments ago. I was now becoming more and more disturbed by how clean the whole house was, but I was also determined to not let it get to me. At least I didn't have to climb over piles of trash on the floor.

After finishing the apple Jeff gave me earlier, I found myself half asleep when someone knocked on the door. I pulled myself up, yawning. I opened the door slightly and saw Harry standing in the hallway, smiling at me, but I could see the worry in his eyes. Something was definitely bothering him.

"Hey, Alice."

"Hello."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Are you okay?" I asked him suddenly. "Be straight with me. Something's up."

He blinked away his surprise. Straightening himself up, he said, "I'm...good. Actually I have a surprise for you."

"Really."

"Yes," he managed a faint smile, "Come with me."

He led me down the staircase and to the way leading to the kitchen.

I stopped just a few feet away from the doorway. "Wait. The surprise is in there?"

"Yeah. Come on."

Nervous, I walked slowly into the kitchen and saw a man sitting at the dining table, hands clasped on the table top, shoulders tense. From a distance it had looked as if he was smiling, but as I walked closer, I gasped. The man had two horrendous scars, one on each side of his mouth, twisting all the way to his ears. It was as if someone had at some time attempted to cut his face in half. The scars were a gruesome shade of mauve. There were smaller, fainter scars where at one time his cheeks had been stitched. He had a shaved head, like a prisoner, and I thought he looked familiar.

He turned his head to face me and forced a smile. I squinted my eyes and studied his face. I opened them in awareness.

It was Fry.

I was petrified. My heart was pounding; my mouth was dry; my stomach was churning.

"Hey, Ally," he rasped.

My hands covered my mouth immediately. I moved closer to inspect the wounds and scrutinize the damage in more detail. The scars were horrendous and I wished that I'd not now chosen to look. They were so deep that he looked as though his face had nearly been cleaved in two, almost butchered like a piece of meat.

He was unrecognizable. His face was marred beyond restoration. He did not look like the bubbly, cheerful Fry anymore. He was almost an entirely different person.

I kneeled in front of him, crying. "What happened...what have they done to you?"

"What happened Alice, is they beat the living shit out of me."

"Why?" My voice was weak, wet paper.

"Why? Because I'm a dumbass."

I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a long glance at his face. "God, Fry. You're such an idiot."

Harry leaned against the counter and I looked up at him. "How?"

"Made him an offer he can't refuse."

I looked at him confusingly.

Greg emerged from a shadowy corner in the doorway and said, "Harry will give himself up to the crazies."