Scripted in Blood

Chapter 8: The Joker and The Queen

Ricky/Zach

Time to get my Dr. Pepper- I thought to myself as I walked through the mansion's gigantic hallway. I had decided to take a little stroll when I remembered Dhruv's soft drink misconduct a few days ago. This time no one's here to take it away from me.

That's also what I thought last time though-

I stopped in my tracks when I heard footsteps coming from further one. Out of habit, I ducked behind a stairwell to see what was going on. A few moments later, I saw a tall blond man wearing a dreadfully pink suit with a bright purple shirt walk through the mansion. I had to stare at him for a while before I convinced myself I wasn't seeing weird ghouls. It was the most inhuman sight I've seen.

I recalled the conversation I had with Sabrina the previous day, and decided to investigate. The man strolled down the corridor looking like he had no care in the world and I followed suit until he bumped into Miguel Escobar.

Miguel, the head of the drug trafficking business, was once the right hand man of a major drug lord in mexico. Being a navy captain allowed him to pick up many skills that have let him thrive in this gang.

Adrienne managed to lure him out of hiding many years ago by taking advantage of his greed and promising him riches beyond his imagination. What man wouldn't take such an offer?

"Ah, Don," he said, shuffling some papers he was holding.

"I heard you had a great time at the Armanis. How does it feel to play for two different sides at the same time?" he smirked at the blond man, who only laughed and tapped his hand on Miguel's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but didn't the man you used to work for die?" He chuckled mockingly, passing the heated man.

I raised my eyebrows after this interaction. They had been standing so close one could have mistaken this moment for something very different.

The man made his way upstairs. It seemed like he knew the mansion better than the back of his hand. He walked with confidence, absolutely no sign of hesitation in his step. He went down an unfamiliar corridor, until he disappeared behind a dark, spruce door.

I looked around for a way to eavesdrop, when I noticed a window to my right. I quickly ran for it and jumped out, gently landing on the sunshade below. I jumped from one shade to another until I reached the window below the room in which the blond man now resided. I then grabbed onto a pipe and climbed my way upwards to reach the level at which the window was, praying to all the gods that I neither fall nor anyone sees me spying.

"...Donquixote." a powerful female voice rang out through the open window.

"Oh my, you really look younger by the day, Adrienne," the man said. Adrienne? What was this man doing with the Directeur of the Chausse gang? I slowly peered in towards the window.

Donquixote's lips were grazing Adrienne's cheek while her hands were balled up into fists. Who was he, to treat one of the most powerful women in the city as his equal.

The walls of the office were painted a dark gray colour, which, combined with the spruce door gave off a very dark atmosphere. There was a desk made from the same spruce wood placed near the wall opposite the door, with a very comfortable looking gray chair tucked in underneath.

To the left of the desk, there was a large spruce bookcase which had a plasma tv on it, as well as some books and decorations. To the right, a massive gray couch dominated the corner, almost stretching from one to the other, with brown pillows providing comfort. There was a dipped light shining from every corner on the ceiling, illuminating the otherwise shaded room with a yellow-ish light.

"I have a lot of things on my plate, Don. I don't have time for your cowardly schemes. Just get to the point." She didn't look one bit happy. She leaned against her chair while the blonde man's grin grew wider.

"My! My! You truly are a professional, Adrienne. I mean, aside from all of the illegal activities you do, and I must say, some are quite inhumane," he chuckled while Adrienne shot a deadly glare at him. He finally held his hands out in surrender.

"Fine, fine, I'll get to the point," he said, pouring himself a drink from the table. "You see, Adrienne. I am trying my best to keep the cops away from your activities but Kevin is becoming very difficult these days. Some of the things you do, like human experimentation, are really bugging him."

Donquixote made a sad face.

I raised my eyebrows. Kevin? Could he have been talking about Westwood's mayor? It was no secret that he was not the most honest guy but could he be closing an eye on all of this criminal activity? I made a mental note to follow up on this.

"But since I like you and what you have going on here, I can still make it work but I need to put more effort and, you know, more effort means more pay. I talked to Matteo the other day and he agreed already. So, here I am."

He leaned in towards Adrienne. "A 40% increase in the payoff and then business as usual, Adrienne, my love." He blew her a flying kiss.

The woman rolled her eyes and sat down on an armchair. I ducked a bit more to the right. She placed an elbow on the arm of the chair, the index finger of her second hand digging into her cheek.

"You dare waltz into my house. You dare interrupt me in my own office." Her voice rose. "You dare come to me and ask for a raise?" She stood up as quickly as she sat down. "A forty percent raise? Really? This much money for nothing?" Donquixote opened his mouth to reply but Adrienne won the race.

"It's not like you do any work anyways. What do you need the money for? All you do is walk around like a stray dog, enjoying the luxuries you pick up from Matteo and me." She lifted her head up, an angry glare on her face.

"Donquixote Santiago, my love," she said, slowly making her way towards the blond man. Her head arched higher with each step she took. It must have infuriated her just how much she had to look up at him. I remembered this woman had a pride larger than a continent.

"I will not give you any more money. Not now, not ever. Whatever this was, it's fucking over. Compris?" She took the glass out from Donquixote's hand and tilted it forward, making all the contents stain the front of his suit.

"You better scatter out of my house right this moment," She paused, giving him the most hostile look I've ever seen. "Unless you'd prefer to leave as a corpse." A sinister smile creeped onto her face as Donquixote continued smiling. He put a hand into his pocket.

"Very well then. My tail is between my legs and off I go, I would like to stay alive for a while longer," he laughed before he walked out. I lost sight of him, but one more sentence left his mouth before the door slammed shut. "Best of luck, Adrienne, my love. You're going to need it from here."

Out of nowhere, Adrienne's gaze moved towards the window and I quickly moved away. I took a step back to make sure she couldn't see me, without realising there's no support in the place I stepped on. My whole body clattered down along with the sunshade, the impact knocking the breath out of my lungs. "Holy shit" I murmured just when a familiar voice showed up behind me.

"Would you look at that, it's raining men." I looked up to see Hanna standing above me, looking down with an amused expression. "I would have preferred some money, but I guess I can settle for this just as well." She laughed then helped me back up onto my feet.

"So what's the deal with you going all Tarzan on the mansion?" She asked as we slowly started walking along the alley. I smirked and ran a hand through my cropped hair.

"You know, this is the second time I've fallen for you." I earned another laugh from Hanna. "By the way," I said, seeing an opening there. "A while ago I saw a strange blonde man arguing with Miguel. The poor guy didn't look happy." I laughed, stretching out my muscles, which were still sore from my fall.