Pseudosapien

Poker

There was a semi-loud ring as Anemone stepped through the doors of 'The Limping Crane'. It was a bar that was, oddly enough, on its last leg. Just like the little club that kept it from drowning in poverty seemed to be; just tittering on the edge of extinction. She let her eyes fall over the others as she kept a shy expression. Aside from her, there were six members of the club left.

The President, Mason Christner, the one who had started the Poker Club and funded the bar to keep the bartender silent. Emmanuelle Muster, Tower was his nickname but the papers called him Ripjaw because his trophy taking of choice was the lower jaw of his victims that he kept in a spare freezer in his basement (he had shown them pictures once that he'd no doubt burned later).

Then there was Willow Whisp, Tracy McLane, she was handy with a cleaver and the paper had called her that as well. Shawshank, Felix Mortimer, was a throat slicing extraordinaire. Those were the top four in the club. Then there were the twins Sixer and Visceral, they worked together. It was hard to believe but only at first. They worked in the art of confusion and illusions alike. They had figured that since they were identical twins that they could benefit one another. The stories they told were always some of the most interesting ones. Annie had decided to skip them and maybe have them as third to last on her list.

She loved their stories that much.

"Lizzie, Darling." Started Mason as his eyes wandered over her grey slacks, black two and a half in ankle boot heels, and grey suit jacket over a black blouse."Travel here from work, did you? I thought you were off today." Lizzie was Anemone's club name and it was short for Lizzie Borden. She had the only serial killer nickname.

"There was an emergency. Hope I'm not late." Her voice had gotten quieter to give off a more demure appeal as she checked her wristwatch. She had changed into this more business looking attire to throw them off what she might have been doing. True, for a job as a therapist, one had to dress in a semi formal way but not full suit. What she'd been wearing before was tightly folded in the briefcase she had left in her car.

"No, no, dear. Please, have a seat. You're just in time. I was about to worry that the Reaper may have gotten you." For one of the Dead, Mason could sound so caring. She took off her suit jacket and set it on the back of her chair, smiled at them, and took the spare seat in between Visceral and Mason.

"Speaking of the Reaper...what do you think happened to them? The papers said they stopped." Willow Whisp informed with her large blue eyes skirting around out of nervousness and paranoia. She was the last female left in the bunch that was on Annie's list...but that couldn't show on her face; it'd give her away after all this time.

"Yeah, I've been kind of getting worried about that too. Maybe he just got better." That came from Sixer. The only Feelers left in the club were the twins and Whisp. Annie felt that, for now, it was a good ratio among Feelers to Dead. One Feeler could equal out one of the Dead. Mostly because one Feeler made three Dead seem normal.

"Maybe he just stopped. Wouldn't that be the best thing to think? It just feeds their ego if you guys get too scared to keep up with your routine." Tower mumbled. Would it? Probably not, but it would be funny to watch them all squirm and get suspicious of one another at a steady pace. Mason would probably be the last one to crack...unless his experience and whatnot got to his head and made him waver.

This was highly unlikely.

The thing she didn't want to happen is for him to get caught by higher authorities or killed by someone else before she could get her hands around his throat.

Stories were told by those that had recently had made a kill that they were particularly proud of. The twins utilized alleyways and narrow pathways the best with their 'Burning the Candle at both ends' type play through. Wintry nights and morning fogs were well used by them on the nights they killed. They used their likeness to give off a type of illusion that drove their victims mad. The two never tired of the charade and still seemed to get a kick from it. Whisp was more Borderline Personality Disorder compared to the twin's comedic relief. Mason liked to refer to Annie as the 'Watchful Mother' of the group for one reason or another. Perhaps it was the soft smile she gave to everyone; one that bore the power to calm any one of them and Mason deemed it maternal. If that was the case then she had her occupation to thank.

Anemone was considered a Feeler that didn't speak often. She liked it that way because that meant when she spoke that others listened. As Tower told the tale of his latest murder, she smiled at him with a knowing twinkle in her eye. It was a look she gave everybody so they wouldn't be able to tell the difference when she gave her next victim of her choosing such an eye. The gentleness of it hid the patient predator in her.

Now the only question that begged answering was Shawshank or Tower?

Shawshank was the obvious answer. He gave the air of an easier and weaker target compared to Tower; he hadn't gained his name from a Tarot card. Plus, it would send a much more exciting message to those remaining after he'd been slaughtered.

The thought was almost enough to make her toes curl in delight.

The thought of toes brought her mind uncharacteristically back to Garth and her relationship with him. She had never really had what someone could call a friend before so she didn't know how to think of him. Knowing that she enjoyed her encounters with him and actually wanted him to feel the same was odd and almost worrisome. In her studies of psychology, she had come up as one with Anti-social personality Disorder and people with such a personality were deemed practically emotionless. Why was it that she was acting like a Feeler more than usual? It bothered her, but she didn't know the way in which it did. Annie was not very familiar with actual feelings compared to the expressions one showed while feeling them in such a situation.

"So, Lizzie, darling. Do you have any recent nightly events that you'd like to share?"

"Well," She started as she was drifted out of her thoughts."I did manage to push a cheating bastard from a cliff a few days back." She grinned almost leeringly at Whisp, who cackled at her facial expression.

"The fellow hadn't even gone through with the murder yet. He had a journal full of plans though; the fool." She whispered with a roll of her eyes.

"How did you find it?" Mason asked. He seemed to share everyone else's enjoyment and appreciation for a good killing. That was the only reason she could really muster up for him bringing them all together. He had single handedly sought them out.

"Slipped a bit of a sleeping pill into his coffee and ransacked the house. For someone so lanky he sure was heavy. Had to carry his dead weight up a flight of stairs and my arms are still quite sore from it." Annie shook them out and rubbed her right arm for effect.

"Then I made it out to look as though we had both simply taken a nap before his wife got home from work. What a surprise she's going to have when she's found guilty of murdering her husband."

"Oh, that's rich." Shawshank chuckled before downing the rest of his beer. The twins clapped a bit while the others laughed.

"First time you caught one before the act." Whisp beamed before she giggled and it was a signal to everyone else that she was tipsy."Did you cut off his beloved tes-"

"Okay, Whispy, you're done. I'll give you a lift home." Tower cut her off before she could finish her question. One that would've made the twins cringe with discomfort at the thought and possibly even make Mason discomfitted. Whisp became very graphic when tipsy and even worse when full on wasted.

"I think it's time to wrap up anyways." Mason informed."Quite the wrap up it was too." He said with a wink to Annie, who thanked him.

"Been awhile since I had a kill good enough to share." She admitted.

"Feels nice to tell the story, doesn't it?"

"Better every time." Anemone agreed, unable to contain her honest smile.

It would be so satisfying to watch him squirm once she took Tower out of the picture.

BB@Q4