The Silver King

King and a Hitman 1

Hours away left of 1999, it felt like the entire world held their breath waiting for the world to come crashing down because of a computer bug. I was convinced I was not going to live to see the new year and wished it was for the same reason the rest of the world was worrying about. On that night I found myself in a dimly lit warehouse, tied to a chair desperately trying to get out of this situation alive.

My father was a no-good sun of a bitch that brought down everyone who ever came into contact with. I was glad to be away from him the moment I was able. The only good thing he ever gave me was a bit of advice that kept me alive during my adult life.

"It doesn't matter if you have jackshit. You just need to convince people you have something they need."

And that's exactly what I did. I conned people thinking I was the right person for the job. Faking skills to get paid until I either learned said skill then, got bored of the job and moved on. Or got caught and fired. Soon I found myself not able to find respectable work that paid enough to keep me living. Slowly I started doing more and more little jobs on the wrong side of the law. It was a creeping downward slide I didn't notice just how far down I'd gotten until I hit rock bottom. I was running too many plans. Too many promises to too many people. It only took one thing to slip up for me to land in boiling hot water and it finally happened.

I was jumped while walking to a bar, beaten and blindfolded. The long trip spent in a trunk of a car unable to get free. I tried sweet talking my captors, giving them more promises I swore I could keep until I was forced into a rough wooden chair and strapped down.

The moment the blindfold came off, I knew I wasn't going to leave that building in one piece. I have many bosses but the man before me was the toughest and meanest of the bunch. My sweet-talking skills may have gotten me the job at first but was not good enough of a skill to get out of the mess I was in. I owed him money I did not have. That was it. That was all the facts. I should accept it. I just couldn't. I needed to believe in a good outcome or else I really had no chance.

No matter what I promised and said in my sweetest of tones, I was still worked over. I was alive so thought must have thought I had something of worth. I feared what would happen when they found out I had no girlfriends, or sisters I could sell out. No hidden money and just a crappy car to my name. I didn't even own my own fridge. If I ever moved out from my apartment it would stay with my penny pitching landlord. The only way they could make money off of me was to sell my organs. My blood type was a rare universal kind that meant anyone could use it for transfusions. In my darker times I sold my blood to get by and that's how I knew. I wondered if that meant my organs could be used by more people and therefore be worth more. I did not want to find out.

"Boss, I keep telling you. I didn't lose your money. I just invested it. If you just give me till the end of the month, I'll get it back in triple! If you off me tonight you'll really be getting nothing." I said as coolly as someone who was strapped to a chair, with a broken nose and a broken set of fingers could speak.

That massive man of pure intimating muscles did not look moved by my offer. Even with all the pain I was in, I felt annoyed. Are you going to kill me or not? Torturing me isn't going to get your money back so just let me go or be done with it.

"I don't think he's worth the time. We should just feed him to that thing and be done with it." One of the grunts said looking at me in disgust.

What thing? I knew the boss I made the foolish mistake of borrowing money from liked cats. Big cats. No one knew the number of illegal black-market pets he owned. He liked them scattered through the country for safe keeping. Honestly, being eaten by a lion or a tiger was almost neat enough of a way to be killed I almost didn't mind. Almost.

The boss looked over at the man who suggested it, then back at me deciding on my worth.

"Triple!" I stammered out but deep down I knew what my future held.

"Yeah, I'm done with him. Bring that thing in. Make sure there isn't a mess left behind." The boss said, giving a wave and walking away completely ignoring me begging for him to just stay and listen.

I was frantic. Almost out of my mind from fear. I started talking to the two men who stayed behind while the third went off to get whatever beast that was about to make me a nice dinner.

"Come on, don't do this! I wasn't kidding about the money. If I can get this much in just a few days just think of how much more I can get in the future! You won't need to work for the boss any more. Think about it, right? In a few months you can just retire somewhere nice and hot and the girls are dirt cheap. Isn't that the best idea you ever heard?" I kept chattering on hoping that if I threw everything to the wall something just might stick.