FLASHed

25. Bossferatu

Don't disappoint Bossferatu or she'll suck you dry, that's what we'd say, and justifiably so. One step out of line, and that was it, you're ruined. I never would have gotten involved with 'the operation' had I known how cutthroat she was. But, with a mortgage for a house I didn't live in, child maintenance, rent, ongoing tax remediation, car repayments, payments for the overdue credit cards...after payday from the regular job, I was left with enough money to buy exactly minus three bottles of gin. The moonlighting helped--big time.

It was good work too, the official job title was strategic assets miner and involved finding and exploiting weaknesses in the infotech of multinationals, syndicates, religious bodies, and sovereign nation dictatorships (my favourite). Victimless crime, at least on an individual level, but we could really screw things up for the hierarchy if we put our minds to it.

You're reading this and thinking, if you could fleece these guys, then why do you need a day job?

That was all down to her. She didn't want us to have too much of the good stuff, keeping us hungry, so we'd come back next week and the week after that. Come to think of it, the gig was like a drug. And, like all drugs, sometimes you O.D.

It was an excess line insurance company. They had this scam where they'd sell policies to small businesses that were legally prohibited from making claims against the subject of the plan. Mostly involving government contracts yada-yada. My job was to go in and take control of the assets that would allow us to appropriate their legal budget. Payments that wouldn't be noticed by the massive law firm that handled their dirty laundry (we had that end covered too).

Let's get this straight, these guys were arseholes. Their whole billion-dollar business was based on ripping people off. If you had the opportunity to make a few bucks and then press a couple of buttons that would take the crooks down, you'd do it too. Well, maybe not you.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity found in a moment of weakness. The effects weren't instantaneous, 'the operation' would make their money, I would make my money, then the target would pay. Perhaps, if I'd been sober, and not drunk also on my own technical conniving brilliance, I would have thought about the consequences. Still, there I stood before the doors to her office.

You want to know what Bossferatu feeds on?

She feeds on fear, weakness and the dependency of others. The door opened before me. Her office was rich, the walls laminated with panels of rosewood, the floor Axminster, and her desk was the size of my Chrysler. She was glamorous and strong (I mean really fit: mind, body, and, ah, maybe not that) and sat on a soft fancy couch, her long legs crossed, her feet bare. The scene was a classic, like out of the old movies. There was a crystal decanter with amber spirits next to the couch, she held a full glass, it was for me.

So, what would you do next? You're prey either way. Me, I take the hard road. . .

Making love with a vampire is like sex on another level. The magic mesmerises, and the moment those fangs sink into your neck, your being explodes into a kaleidoscope of fire and pain. You don't remember climaxing, it's like it's all becoming.

She drained me that night, sucked the life-blood out of me. But, it turns out, I was one of the rare unlucky ones that she kept unalive. Perhaps it was because I thanked her before she took me, just like I'm thanking you for inviting me into your company's systems.

Working late, Director?

See you soon. 

<◕.◕> first published here Jan 06, 2022