Considering no one likes to be the sober one in a room full of drunk people, it only seemed logical to make a beeline for the bar. Electronic music pulsed in the club as the lights changed and people laughed while they jumped around, their sweat coated bodies mashing with others on the dance floor. I shivered at the thought and took a seat at the bar, pushing my thoughts of envy for all those people dancing without a care in the world, to the furthest corner of my mind. I needed to be present, the target was here, so my undivided attention was as well.
"Hey sweetheart. What're we drinking tonight?" The male bartender shouted over the music to me. His black hair was slicked back and the front of his shirt was wet with an array of different liquors, he lazily slung a towel over his shoulder and rested his hands on the bar.
For a second I even considered if drinking on the job was a good idea, but then again I killed people for a living so were there any rules here that I had to abide by?
"A vodka tonic with a lime wedge please. If you have Tito's I'll take that." I yelled looking into his icy blue eyes, folding my legs and leaning on the bar top as well.
He nodded and gave me a dazzling smile as he turned around and pulled a bottle of Tito's from their display and began to make my drink. I redirected my attention to the dance floor and began to scope out all the visible exits and hallways there were in the building from my seat. Where was the target-- had he not shown up to work tonight? I shook my head as I knew from the file given, he was really time oriented in the way he worked so that he also had "product" to auction off at his showings. My drink was slid to an open space on the countertop beside me and I looked down, grabbing the lime wedge that was positioned on the side of the glass and squeezing it into my drink.
"Thank you!" I said to the man without a name and he nodded, smiling again. I fished money out of my back pocket and slid it across to him. "No change!"
Before he could thank me though I stood from the bar, drink in hand, and made my way to a hightop in a darker corner of the club to continue scoping it out. One camera out front of the main entrance, one in the main lobby, two cameras overlooking the dance floor and one behind the DJ in his booth. Not to mention I hadn't seen what I was dealing with in any of the other rooms of the club yet, nor the target. I sipped my drink and finally caught site of a purple haired bouncer exiting the DJ booth, walking off towards a hallway that I had yet to explore.
Immediately stalking off in his direction, I pushed through the bodies of the dancing crowd and closer to the target before I lost him. The music and lights were overwhelming my senses, but I strained to keep sight of the purple mohawk that belonged to the man that I was meant to terminate tonight. Nudging another man to the side who looked pissed off that I'd even bothered him to begin with, I took another large step and flung my drink forward as I purposefully bumped into the target. My drink immediately soaked the front of his black shirt and the bouncer mumbled as he looked down at the mess I'd made. Looking back up at me, I feigned embarrassment at my "clumsiness" and felt my cheeks heat up slightly.
"Oh my god! I am so sorry about that, here let me help clean you up-" I began and placed my hands on his chest, feeling him flex beneath my hands. He pursed his lips and gave me a smirk looking down at me.
"It's not that big of a deal, I'll be alright." He said looking my body up and down, and it took everything in me to not squirm in disgust under his gaze. I bit my tongue and shook my head in disagreement, redirecting my gaze to the ground and removing my hands from his chest.
"Nonsense. I'm so embarrassed that I just made a fool of myself like this in front of a man like yourself." I pushed a lock of my brown hair behind my ear and forced myself to look into his eyes, they were a darker hazel color and mischief could be seen behind them.
"A man like me?" He wondered, waiting for me to stroke his ego.
"Well it's not often I bump into attractive men, let alone spill my entire drink on them. There has to be a way for me to make it up to you." I bit my bottom lip and the targets jaw clenched as he shifted his weight between his feet, I knew he liked this.
"Maybe there is something you can do for me..." He trailed off, smirking again at me. Boldly I stepped forward again and placed my hand back on his chest, trailing my finger lightly down his peck.
"Tell me." I said lowly, but I knew he heard it. His eyebrows raised slightly and he lightly grabbed my wrist.
"Follow me." He said huskily and turned down the hallway he was heading towards originally. My skin was crawling under his grasp but I nodded and trailed closely behind him, no one seemed to even glance in our direction during our encounter. Then again they really had no reason to, making it easier for me to slip out when the job was done. As we walked further from the dance floor, the music became just a dull hum and I finally felt like I was able to think clearer now that I could at least hear myself speak. The bouncer led me inside of one of the hallways doors and walked ahead of me, I leaned my back against the door and locked it as I stared at him.
Lockers lined the wall of the dimly lit room and I'd assumed this is where all the employees left their belongings at the start of their shift. He turned to look at me and smirked again, placing his hands on the front of his belt buckle. My eyes narrowed slightly on his southern region and I swallowed my disgust as I knew where he assumed things were going.
"I don't usually do this but... I get the feeling you want this just as badly as I do." He said and undid his belt slowly, watching how I'd react. My jaw clenched briefly but I stalked toward him slowly, swaying my hips a bit more than usual. I stopped right in front of him, and could feel his hot breath on my cheek as I looked down. My fingers wrapped around his belt loops and I pulled him closer to me, his breathing was labored and the smell of my vodka tonic on his shirt lingered in the air between us.
"I don't even know your name yet..." I trailed off as I hovered over his neck, my hands making their way down his sides.
"Levi. You'll be moaning it shortly enough though baby." He mumble, his tone still laced with arrogance.
I pursed my lips and leaned closer to Levi's ear, my hands by now were creeping up his back and had taken refuge on the top of his shoulders.
"Oh Levi-" I whispered lowly, he inhaled deeply and placed his hands on my hips.
"Yes?" He asked, his hands gripping the bottom of my shirt.
"I'm going to make you suffer for what you did to those girls." I said, my knee instantly shooting up and into Levi's manhood. He instantly doubled over groaned aloud as I socked him in the jaw with my right fist.
Although Levi was most definitely taken off-guard with my surprise attack, he recovered just as quickly. Grabbing my fist mid-swing, I felt his hand wrap around my throat as I was slammed against the wall of lockers. The breath was knocked out of my lungs and I grabbed the front of his shirt, head butting him. Levi cursed and held a hand to his head as I collapsed and greedily sucked in air. A swift punch connected with my left temple and I could feel blood dripping down from a newly formed cut. My vision swam and I felt him grab me by my hair and pull me up, I scratched at his face and Levi had his teeth bared in an animalistic way. He quickly bent me over and roughly kneed me in my ribs and I moaned in pain again as Levi dropped me to the floor. He stood over me and chuckled, shaking his head sarcastically.
"You really thought you'd be able to get the drop on me? I will admit, you had me there for a minute. I figured you were just another dirty slut that was going to beg me for a night she wouldn't forget, but this? Well this was unexpected. Too bad I always win." Levi leaned in closer to my face as I stared up at him from the ground, still trying to catch my breath.
"Such a shame that a pretty little mouth like yours won't be put to good use tonight." He said while pulling a gun from his waistband. Levi pointed it down at me, his eyes devoid of all emotion.
Quickly, I rolled from the barrel as a loud gunshot rang out next to my ear. My ears were ringing but I slid my Sai's from my jacket sleeves and plunged one right through Levi's ankle. His wailing was instantaneous and his knees immediately buckled as he clutched his ankle with the hand that wasn't holding the gun. Pulling it out, I kicked the gun from Levi's hand and hit him in the back of the head with the handle of my Sai. He landed flat on his stomach and reached his hand out in front of him, towards the gun that had been discarded on the floor. I swiftly kneeled down next to him and plunged my Sai through his outstretched hand and for the second time tonight Levi cried out harshly. My ears were still ringing as I shook my head in a disoriented manner, trying to ground myself. Tears were now streaming down his face as he looked back at me, his eyes dull from the pain.
"Why... Why are you doing this?" He wailed and glanced at his injured hand.
I snickered and twisted the blade, relishing in the sounds of protest that fell from Levi's mouth as his other fist pounded the ground helplessly.
"For the same reason you blackmailed those girls into filming those inappropriate recordings for you." I stated icily.
"The money." I shrugged and Levi's eyes widened right before I plunged my Sai through the front of his skull. The life in his eyes instantly left his body as he slumped forward, I clenched my jaw before placing a foot on his head and removing both the Sai from his head and hand. In disgust I wiped the blood off on the back of his shirt and flipped them up and back into the sleeves of my leather jacket. My jeans were ripped slightly from our fight, and the front of my shirt was stained in my own blood.
Standing up straight and readjusting my jacket, I cleared my throat and heard a knock on the door behind us.
"Hey! Anyone in there? I really need to get in there for my phone charger, I'm at like seven percent. Why's the door locked?" A muffled voice called out.
My eyes widened and I looked down at Levi's crumpled body, then back around the room. A fire alarm was on the opposite wall of us and I scrambled over to it, roughly pulling down on the handle as a loud alarm rang out signaling that people needed to evacuate immediately. I leaned against the door and heard footsteps as obviously whoever was waiting on the opposite side of the door had ran to the nearest exit. Cracking the door, I peered out at the empty hallway and quickly slipped out of the room. I zipped my jacket up and pulled my hair down in front of my face, looking at the ground so no one would see the bruises that were forming. The sound of my boots on the tile floors rang out among the sound of the alarms that were still flashing and screeching, the dull pulsing of the music was gone.
I glanced up and slid in among the crowd of frantic people trying to evacuate, one bumped into my shoulder harshly and I hissed in pain. Shuffling out one of the emergency exits I immediately broke off from the crowd of people and started down a back alley, glancing behind me where the sound of fire trucks and police sirens were becoming louder. I whipped my head back around and began jogging away from the club. My muscles ached but my coursing adrenaline kept me from slowing down as I took off towards my motel. It was only a half hour walk, but at my pace I covered the distance in half the time. Sweat rolled down the back of my neck as I stopped in the parking lot, heaving as I bent over and my heartbeat pounded in my ears. Straightening up, I walked to the motel stairs and climbed them two at time so that I could get into my room faster. I stopped in front of room fifty-three and scanned my keycard, the red light changing to green and an unlocking sound being heard from the gears of the door. I pushed the door open and quickly stumbled inside.
The room was dark as I felt along the wall for the light switch, flicking it on and surveying my room. Everything was how I left it, car keys and phone on the end table and my duffel bag lay unopened in the middle of the bed. By now my muscles were screaming in protest and I sluggishly unzipped my jacket and let it fall to the ground, my Sai's along with it. I moved to the edge of the bed, where I unlaced my boots and kicked them off, standing slowly and starting towards the bathroom. I flipped the switch and was taken aback by my appearance, dried blood caked my forehead and was dripping down from my lip. The underside of my left eye was a lighter shade of purple, I could only imagine how much worse it would look in the morning. An outline of Levi's hand was seen on my neck from where he grabbed me, and lifting up my bloody shirt I could see a large purple bruise on the side of my ribs. Peeling all my clothes off of me in disgust, I ran the shower and stepped under the hot water, welcoming the way it soothed my muscles. I hissed as it ran over my face and my wounds, but began scrubbing nevertheless. I wanted to get rid of as many reminders of tonight as I could, and the first one was ridding myself of Levi's blood.
Running my hands through my hair and closing my eyes I leaned against the shower wall hugged myself, standing there for a long while before the water began to run cold. Stepping out and wrapping myself in a towel I grabbed my phone from it's place on the nightstand and powered it on. I resumed my earlier position on the edge of the bed and scrolled through my new text messages.
"Jamie just got home, no need to worry."
A small smile rose on my lips at the message and I felt some of the anxiety I carried lessen slightly. Before leaving, Benji begrudgingly agreed to keep an eye on Jamie just incase anything were to happen to her, even if she had my car I still hated that I wasn't there to watch over her myself.
My phone pinged again as another text message from earlier came through.
"Hope you're not having to much fun without me, I missed you tonight."
My heart twitched at the message from Jamie and I realized that I missed her too, but instead of admitting that I decided against sending a reply so late and just set my phone back on the nightstand. The familiar sound of a deposit going through to my account rang out and I winced at the sound, recalling my actions of tonight and feeling nauseated. I shook my head and brushed back my damp hair, changing into an oversized shirt and sitting down with my Sai's in the corner of the room to polish them up silently.
Another night spent alone in the dark, and another night without rest.