Hell's Company

Chapter 10 (Edited)

The next day, I sat in a comfortable chair outside of Mr. Zakari's main office on the top floor of the Pulchritudo. When I came in for work, the attendant in the lobby, Henry, had stopped me, looking rather pale. "Persephone, Mr. Zakari needs to see you in his office. He told me to tell you not to bother changing into your uniform."

I could hear Mr. Zakari talking to someone but I'm not sure what it was about. I only heard faint murmurs behind his door. That was his business and I knew better than to eavesdrop. A huge, intimidating man exited the room minutes after, nodding to me, and Mr. Zakari followed him.

"Oh, you're here, take a seat in my office, Persephone." He didn't look very happy and I figured it was about whatever he and this man had been speaking about.

"Okay," I smiled, got up, walked four paces, and sat down again. I had never been in his office before; Mr. Zakari usually liked to meet his employees at their stations, so I suppose this must be important.

He sat down behind his mahogany desk and shuffled a few papers around before meeting my eyes. I could see sweat drip down his temples as he loosened his tie, clearly distressed.

My smile faltered. "What is this about, Mr. Zakari? What's wrong?"

"You can't work here anymore, Persephone." He said immediately.

The blood drained from my face. "What do you mean?"

"I'm firing you."

"But I thought you liked me..." I struggled for words, entirely shocked. What had I done to provoke this? He had just given me a day off for my work ethic! "Why?"

"You don't fit what the Pulchritudo wants to offer. We've found a replacement for you already."

"Mr. Zakari, I don't understand."

"And you don't have to," He snapped. "Persephone, leave my establishment or I'll be forced to call security to remove you."

I quickly shouldered my bag and left his office, trying not to cry. What the hell had I done? It didn't make any sense to me unless arbitrarily firing good employees was commonplace here. I waved goodbye to Henry and practically ran back to my apartment, wiping away tears before they fell. I had enjoyed working there, along with the purpose and freedom it had given me. I knocked on Michael's door, wanting to be with someone for emotional support, but he didn't answer. Instead, I went home and I was very tempted to help myself to my alcohol and wallow in self-pity, but I really just wanted to go to sleep and forget about it for awhile. When I turned on the light in my bedroom, I noticed a folded note on the chair in the corner of my room. Naturally curious as to how someone got in there, I went to pick it up.

You shouldn't be too busy now, so meet me in my sector. You'll know where.

Luca

I read the note again before crumpling it between my hands. I breathed in and out, trying to calm myself, but that didn't work. The realization of what he had done and the more I thought about how Lord Luca got me fired just because I had said I was busy, the more furious I got. "That son of a bitch. I will fucking end him."

Without thinking through my haze of frenzied emotions, I threw on my jacket, made sure I had my brass knuckles, and headed to Sector Violence.

* * *

I didn't even second guess myself as I walked through the most terrifying neighborhood I had ever been in. Gunshots and screams seemed to echo off every brick and cement building. Gangs I had no knowledge of were having nothing short of wars across streets stained with blood that no one care enough to clean up. In front of me, someone was thrown out of a store's front window, only to get up and walk away with wickedly sharp shards of glass sticking out of his back. Discarded cigarette butts and shell casings littered the cracked sidewalks. Graffiti depicting violent, horrible things was abundant, seeming to cover every inch of every building. The streetlights above me were either smashed or on the verge of burning out, the flickering and annoying buzzing seeming to grate against my nerves. Everything seemed to be broken and vandalized here. The beauty and refinement the other sectors were known for were nowhere to be found.