Drops of Sugar and Blood

Chapter 1: Ignorance is Bliss, So I'm told...

  In the middle of the afternoon, the sun shined on the city below, a city close to Boston, Where crowded streets were normal, but less crime ran amuck, unless you count the mafia fights that break loose from time to time but that's it, nothing to be worried about, for they only fight every few months in secluded areas. On this day, little shops open to greet their customers with many eye-catching wares and hoping to make some good sales today. The rightful ching the cash register made when it flew open to collect its feed.

"Thank you for purchasing!" said James Gram, a baker owning a small bakery and pastry shop. He smiled at the elderly couple as they both walked out with the newly fresh loaf wrapped up like a Christmas gift.

James gave out a small huff, besides the couple and a few other adults, the shop was empty. James walked out from the gleaming white counter and decided to finally decorate some pastries that came out of the oven not a few minutes ago. He dabbed on his white apron, that obviously contained various types of color from frosting and color dye. He lifted a tray full of freshly baked muffins that soon shall be deemed cupcakes and walked to a table that was displayed at the back of the room. Mostly for customers who wanna sit down and enjoy their food on the spot, it was also used for Jame's inspiring mind to go to work on new selling items. As soon as he made contact, frost on bun, the door opened with a chime. James looked over to see three men in dressed up suits with accompanied hats. James knew nothing about Mafia, after all, he's only lived here for 6 months. James hopped out of his seat and came up to welcome the guests, not noticing the few other customers scrambling out the door out of fear of the three men

"Welcome to the GramCracker! May I be able to assist you fine gentle-" James was cut off as one of the men stuck out his hand harshly, forcing James to stop where he was.

"We's want something for a kind of celebratin'. You'se got anything like that?" The man lifted his head, revealing scars over his nose, and a chin that jagged out. Definitely, someone you don't assume was friendly. Too bad James was a horrible judge of character.

James nodded eagerly.

"We have plenty of things for celebrations! Birthdays, Anniversaries, Parties, anything that can be deemed as a celebration, we can make! Might what I ask the celebration is for?" 

The man looked at his shoes, thinking of what 'celebration' was exactly occurring. "let's just sees what you'se got up for sales" The man glared to add emphasis.

James nodded and guided the man to a series of cakes and other assortments that can be used for such an occasion. While explaining about a white cake with an assortment of balloons might be a good idea. One of the men's phones rang, and immediately handed it to the scarred man. He picked it up and started to pace while talking to the other line.

"y'llo?.....'Yeah, I'm in a shop-...Still picking someone out, boss..."

James looked back to the cakes, maybe something black and white would go well with this celebration. As he thought about the idea more, a phone was shoved, very rudely, in front of his face. He looked at the scarred man who gave a very concerning look. James cautiously took the phone and put it up to his ear.

"Hello, this is James Gram, baker of GramCracker Bakery." He waited for a response as the static of the phone continued to crackle with noise. He waited until a voice cleared his throat on the other line.

"Hello, James." The voice was deep but warped. It was obvious that a voice distorter was used here. James continued to listen to the warbled voice as it continued its talking.

"So, James. I'm sure you can tell that we are not bakers. certainly not the 3 that stand in your shop now." Upon hearing this, He glances up towards the other three, who were all staring at him-oh geez we're they always like that? James quickly turned his head around, making his eyes stare at a lovely pink cake decorated with various colors of frosted roses.

"None of these idiots I'm guessing gave you a clear description of the, ahem, celebration. What we're doing is a sort of getting together. but in the sense of trying to bring peace. That being said, It's also going to be feeding a lot of people, Mr. Gram. The colors I have been told, are black and blue. I hope you don't disappoint."

The phone called ended and James gave back the phone. All the men stared at James before moving and leaving the store. James looked at the rose cake again.

"Well....I better get started!" James beamed as he started walking to the back room, mumbling different cake shapes that would be reasonable for this occasion.

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"Oh my goodness, that's gorgeous James!" A woman squealed as she walked into the shop, wearing a white sweater with greyish jeans, long flowing white hair flowing down to knees with another woman coming in with her, the exact opposite of the bright, cheerful woman, wearing dark red colors, short hair that barely touched her shoulders, and a menacing look upon her gaze. Luckily, her turned-up smile indicated that she wasn't going to beat anyone anytime soon.

James looked over from his delicate work, working on a diamond shaped pattern on a foot long cake, in fact, many cakes seem to have the same theme all over the shop, with a few differences here and there. Nothing said a theme was going on in the letter he received in his mailbox the day after the three men came to his shop, telling that the colors were black and blue, the time and date, and location.

"Geez, looks like you're baking for a funeral." The punk woman commented. The smaller, obviously more innocent woman turned to her.

"Vicky! Don't say that! James is working on something for a party!" Vicky, Short for Victoria, held up her hands in defense.

"Sorry, Lizzy. I just comment on what I see." Elizabeth huffed before turning back to James, with an apologetic look. James shook his head and gave a hearty laugh.

"Yeah guess it does look like that, huh?" James glanced over each cake. His work carefully crafted onto each cake with care and precision. The girls also took the work in, both taking in the sweet smell that the cakes have. James glanced over to see Victoria silently counting the cakes, her index finger raised to help count each one, like checking it off a shopping list.

"Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty cakes- my god man, how long have you've been working on these!?" James chuckled and looked up to think.

"Oh uh... about maybe 4 days?" Elizebeth gasp. Victoria just had her eyes wide open.

"I hope you've been taking care of yourself!" Elizebeth said, trying to put on her serious tone. James laughed nervously. He has been taking care of himself, but due to it being a big order, he hadn't been taking of himself very well.

"Don't worry Liz, I'm fine! I just gotta work on these cake because of the party due tomorrow-" James stopped in mid-thought.

Now that he thought about it, wasn't it night a few hours ago?

"Guys. What day is it?"

"Uuuhh.." Vicky took out her phone and glanced at the date.

"The 15th of July, why?" James shook his head.

"No, I meant the day." He stood there, like a statue, nothing moving beside his lips to speak.

"Oh.. uh... Saturday"

James practically yelped at the words, like he picked up a hot metal tray.

"The Party is TODAY!" He yelled at himself, quickly scrambling to every corner of his shop, packing cakes delicately into boxes and carefully putting them into the delivery van, and then sprinting off to repeat the step to yet another delicate cake. Victoria and Elizabeth stared in awe, and the twenty cakes soon became ten, then six, then one, then none. James soon came back into the shop, sweating and huffing in and out, trying to regain his breath. His chest visibly struggling with the major workout. Elizabeth controlled her laughter and went over to James.

"Well for a baker, you sure are speedy!" She teased as she helped James stand up straight. Vicky laughed at Elizabeth's joke. pretty much agreeing with her companion. James half heartedly pulled out a laugh as well before wheezing again for air.

"Alright now since you're no longer in a frenzy, Shouldn't you be changing for the party? I'm sure you'll clash with the theme." Vicky put one of her eyebrows in an arch and eyed his outfit, his apron dyed different arrays of color and a pale white shirt and blue jeans. She watched James recollect his rushing thoughts and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I uh... picked a suit out that should go well with it." With that, he excused himself and went into the backroom to get said outfit and put it on. When James entered, it was dark and cool, different than the summer heat that was plaguing the day. He walked up to a nice suit he bought a few years ago just occasions like these. It was an average suit, a classic tuxedo, but with a light blue replaced the typical white. After making sure the cuffs were buttoned and a little pin displaying his bakery's name. He stepped out to show off his more fancy self, only to encounter a concerning scene. Victoria and Elizabeth were over to the side, wide-eyed with suspicion, along with fear. James located the source of unease. It was the three men from four days ago.

and oh boy, they do not look happy.

The front man stepped up and scowled at the small baker. James visably flinched

"Wells? Where da goods?!" The man shouted with his heavy accent.

"W-well I put them in the delivery truck, I was gonna be on my way there now-" He was interrupted by a howl of laughter. The men looked at him again.

"We ain'ts lettin you take that rust bucket down to the party! You're takin a car that Mr. Moretti has provided fer you." The goon pointed outside to a nice sleek black car.

"N-no offense sir, but-"

"But What!? You are declin Mr. Moretti hospitlity?" James shook his head violently that his head might have fallen off. He didn't like when someone was angry, especially at him.

"No, sir! I am humbly grateful that Mr. Moretti as provided transportation, the problem is, is that I don't think all the baked goods I have made will be able to fit in it!" James hastily explained. The goons stared at him with this quite uneasy tension. The first one scowled.

"What goods? Yer saying that they're invisible or somethin'?!" James laughed at that, which made the man seem taken by surprise.

"Oh, definitely not sir! I already put them in the delivery truck! That's why I was going to take that vehicle instead!" James explained with a smile on his face. The other men grumbled, quickly hushed by the leader of the trio and looked at James again.

"We'll-" He pointed to the group, himself included. "- deliver the goods that'r in the wagon you call a truck. You'se just get in that car or else Mr. Moretti won't take kindly to it." He walked past, one man grabbing keys from behind the counter. and walking out back. The leader again turned to James.

"You have an hour to get to the party." and with that, the door closed. The roar of the engine from the delivery truck signified it was turned on, and soon drove off, past the bakery shop. The man that remained grunted, and exited the shop, waiting outside for James.

 Silence soon plagued the shop. only accompanied by the breath with each person in the room. James sighed took a deep breath, trying to recollect himself before having it knocked right out of him as he was tackled by his friends.

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot you guys were in here!" He grinned at them both but soon realize that something was very wrong because the two females seemed terrifyingly concerned.

"Uh....You guys okay?" He asked with mild concerned until he notices the sudden pain in his shoulders that were from Victoria's sharp nails.

"Owowowowowow-Vic, kinda piercing the suit here-" He looked up to see that Vic was not happy.

"Do you even realize, what kind of shit, you have gotten yourself in?!" She shouted at him, eyes filled with anger, but with a deep, petrifying fear for her friend. James looked clueless, he looked for Elizabeth for some kind of explanation but she looked at him like she was attending his funeral. James looked back and forth between the two in sheer confusion. Vicky scowled and released her grip, standing up, walked over to the wall and punched the living daylights out of it. If it had lights and a life for that matter. Victoria shook where she stood. Elizabeth covering her mouth to stifle her sobbing. James sat himself up and looked at the two of them.

"I....I don't understand, What do you mean?" James looked over and oh boy when he saw Vic's face, might as well be dead. Vic's face pretty much told that he was a god, damn idiot.

"You don't know?... How can you not FUCKING KNOW?!" She screamed at him. James winced. He was being yelled at. again. Peachy.

Elizabeth cried louder, and that pretty much snapped Victoria out of it, rushing over to comfort her sobbing beauty.

James just stared at Victoria as she hugged Elizabeth, comforting her and whispering to her that it's gonna be okay. James continued to stare until he glanced at the clock. He had 50 minutes to get in the car, go to the party and set up the cakes. He calculated that he takes about 20 minutes to get there, so he had about half an hour. James came back when a hand was offered to him to help him stand. He looked at Victoria, who looked pretty much looked at him like Elizabeth did like she was attending his funeral. He took it and stood, but she didn't let go. She took a deep breath before starting to explain.

"I am, very unsure how you don't know about this, but those goons were apart of a mafia group, lead by a Mr. Moretti. They are murderers, and they don't tolerate other people who disobey them. Their leader is worse, said to kill hundreds with no expression, he's such a ruthless man with so many connections it's like a spider web. James, you just cooked a bunch of fucking pastries to a Psychopathic Mafia. Leader." James stared at her fingers as she poked at his chest with every punctuation, making her statement stick, trying to process what he just heard. Soon he removed her hand from his and cleared his throat.

" I'll be fine you guys. If it's true what you said, then I have to go anyway." He smiled, trying to bring some comfort to the two. It obviously did not help. If anything, it made their faces morph into even more concern.

"Look, I gotta go. I'll call you as soon as I can," he said as he backed out the front door. As soon as he was out he turned to the car. He walked over to the backseat side and climbed in. The interior resembled that of a limo. It was sleek, black, and very leathery. A blue glow came from speakers and from the lights strewn to the ceiling. The Goon from earlier grunted as he got into the car, but the car laid silent as the man struggled to find the car keys on a loop filled with different purpose keys. James processed slowly what he was doing.

I am going to a party....Filled with possible dangerous people....that may or may not kill me.....

The man let out a rumble in his throat in satisfaction as he found the car key and quickly turned on the car. James was relieved when he did. He needed noise to block out those thoughts. He listened to the engine, then to the crackles of the radio while the man tried finding a station, putting on some music before driving off to the destination. James tried not to think of the dreary thoughts that loomed at the back of the head, trying not to glance behind him to his friends that hopefully, he'll be safe.

Hopefully.

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Okay, This was a lot of people.

James stared at least 200 people if not more. and it looks like he wasn't the only baker to be contacted, though he was the one who brought the most. He glanced around, anyone he glanced upon had some sort of importance. Some more than others. James looked back to the drink he had gotten from a waiter. He stared at the light pale color. Oh god, what was he doing here? James felt out of place. Why wouldn't he? He was surrounded by many powerful men and woman that could ruin his life in an instant.
James stiffened with every thought. He knew no one in here, and he doubts anyone wants to give him a thought, much less a conversation. He sighed and glanced around to the other side of the room, spotting a pale yellow cake, much like the color of his drink. Maybe a champagne cake would sell. James amused the thought. Though it could be possible. James suddenly thought it would be a good idea to check on the cakes, see if any empty cake trays needed to be replaced with another beautiful cake to be devoured.
He turned and walked only into a stranger. He gasped as the person looked at him. He stuttered a sloppy apology to the man.

"I-I-I'm S-so sorry!" He stared at the man, as the man chuckled. The man's side swept hair covered part of his face from the motion. He pulled it back and looked back at James.

"I see you're a little jumpy." He smiled and looked back to the dance floor. James nodded. The man's voice was deep and smooth, like butter. James was honestly surprised that a guy like this was at a somewhat dangerous party. Then again, he was wearing the same clothing as them, so he assumed.

"Y-yeah. I didn't know um.." James tried to process this next part when the man again laughed.

"What, that Mafia groups from many cities were going to attend the party?" He smiled to himself until he saw James face, which looked at him like he read his mind.

"Oh my... you really didn't know did you?" James scratched his head.

"Well, I only found out this morning from very panicked friends." James chuckled nervously as he talked. Mostly to distract himself. The man chuckled as well.

"I see, people should do better to inform you." The man took a sip of his champagne and continued to stare out to the room as some chatted, some danced, and some ate food. James nodded in agreement.

"So," James started to say, attempting to start a conversation "Who's your boss?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, like mafia leader? President? Sorry, I don't know how mafias work..." James managed to stumble out the words, his shoulders rised to hide his head in attempts that he'll suddenly disappear. The man stared, and full out laughed like someone said something hilarious. Sooner or later he went to light, spastic chuckles.

"O-oh, heh, I see." The man thought for a bit. Obviously thinking of something, of what? James didn't know. The man then turned back to James.

"Yes, I work for Mr. Moretti, the man running the party." He gestured to the whole room with his arms. James nodded as he looked around the room.

"It's definitely a big party." James looked at the many crowds who were hanging around tables. He turned to look at the table spread when the man started talking again.

"Wonderful cakes aren't they? I'm surprised the baker had the talent to bake so many yet decorate them all to look delicate." James beamed at the compliment and took a sip of his drink. He was proud that someone was impressed with his work. The man glanced at James' face. James probably gave it away he was the baker because the man straightened and gave another smile.

"Oh my, I didn't realize you had made these. You should have said something sooner. It is wonderful to meet you Mr.?" The man offered his hand for a shake. James took it and shook without complaint.

"Grams. James Grams. I'm certainly glad you like the cakes! I just hope that they're satisfactory to your boss." James smiled, they stopped shaking hands.

"Oh I assure you, Mr. Gram, Mr. Moretti finds them delightful." The man looked amsued. James wasnt sure if that was a good thing or not. He forced his mind to say it was good. James looked down as their conversation drowned to music that played in the large room. 

"Oh, I realized, I never asked for your name." James glanced at the man to see again, a smile.

"Not a problem, you may call me Damien." Damien smiled, but mostly to himself. James nodded and stared at his now empty glass. A microphone came on over speakers, and everyone's attention looked towards a makeshift stage with a man standing on it. James recognized him as the scarred man from before, with the jagged chin, he tapped the microphone and spoke into it.

"S'cuse me Ladies and Gents. Mr. Moretti would like to welcome you'se all to the treaty party." Claps protruded from the room, the man held his hand, to silence the room.

"Due to the many processes that treaties take, you are all asked to stay here for the next two to three nights, though you'se all know this, considering that this was in the letter given to you, five days prior." Everyone mumbled to themselves. James looked around. He wasn't asked to stay here, maybe he was free to go? He somewhat doubted that and looked to Damien, who was paying attention the speech very seriously. The scarred man continued to talk, saying other things, like where rooms were located, What time meetings will take place with which families. James hardly paid attention to the speech, rather he just wanted to go back to the bakery.
He remembered he had some pies specially ordered by an old lady down the street.
He'll have to give a refund.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked to see a random goon staring him down.
"All cooks and non-guests will sleep in the east wing. Guests are going to sleep now. You will follow other bakers."
The man's gruff voice made James nervous, so he quickly nodded as he was shoved aside to encourage moving already. Quickly, James followed the other caterers to bedrooms. James soon entered his room, after walking around confused on where he was staying till someone helped him out.
He entered to find a small guest room, closing the door gently behind him. It was clean, but obviously needed dusting. James sighed. If he knew he was staying somewhere, we would at least brought pajamas-
The door slammed open, James jumped and turned around, seeing a goon he hasn't seen before. He was wheeling a cart around and tossed something to James, which he caught easily. Oh hey! Speaking of! James held out his temporary pajamas for a view and started to thank the man when he just slammed the door closed and left. James sighed.

Man, people were rude.

James climbed into bed after changing into the pajama's provided. His thoughts were running through his mind. He was terribly scared of dying. Yes, established one thing. He was unsure why else he was there. He was just a baker, but that was it! James shifted to his side to get into a more comfortable position. He decided to check his phone when he finally saw the time. It was 9:37 pm, and oh boy he had a lot of missed calls.[27 in total] All of them was either from Victoria or Elizabeth. James looked at the screen before dialing Elizabeth's number, knowing that she was calm.

When she answered, he was pretty much screamed at and berated with questions. He held the phone out from his ears until they finally stopped ringing. He hesitantly put the phone up to his ear after he could no longer hear any screaming.

"Um....Hi?" He questioned

"Oh thank god, you're alright!" he heard Elizabeth exclaim, then heard some talking he couldn't quite catch.

"Are you okay? Where are you?"

James explained how people were told to stay at the location till 'treaties' were dished out and signed. He expected that all cooks of any kind were to stay to make food for the many guests here.

He heard sighs of relief on the other line.

"We're glad you're okay." Elizabeth's tone still told James that she was worried. James smiled at his two friends.

"I'll be alright. I was able to talk to another person, they seemed kind enough." James yawned.