The White Shadow 1: The Dancer

Chapter 8

The Dancer was very intrigued as to how Nia"s "Introduction" to Darryll would go. After all, Darryll was much less susceptible to seduction than his partner, who still refused to believe that Nia was anything more than a perfect girlfriend. Moreover, Darryll had met the Dancer much more intimately than Diane when he'd had a knife to his face, without ever meeting Nia beforehand. He was therefore much more likely to notice similarities to the Dancer in this mysterious woman who stood beside Diane. The Koslovian accent, the long ginger hair, the height.  It was very plain to see if one wasn't blinded by love. The Dancer knew plenty about Darryll, and she wasn't sure he recognized any type of love.

As Diane pulled Nia closer to the end of the isle, Darryll's eyes narrowed a little. They peered thoughtfully at the floor, at the ceiling, and to both sides, before settling on Nia, who stood above. Darryll spoke first, "Diane, who is this?"
Diane went to speak, but found that when she looked Darryll in his beady, imploring eyes, the words got caught in her throat, "Well, I, uh, I-"
Darryll saw Diane recoil, the gravity of the situation weighing upon her, as she folded both her arms over her chest. Darryll intervened, "Diane?"
Diane looked up, and Darryll continued, now realizing what he needed to do, "Don't worry, I'd be a horrible roomie if I didn't let you meet people." He smiled, "I'm just interested? New friend?"
Diane relaxed her grip, and let her hands fall to her sides, and bought them behind her back, "Yeah, kinda-"
This time Nia interrupted, "Girlfriend, actually, isn't that right Sunshine?" She bought her arm to Diane's hands, and took one in her own hand, moving it to her side. Nia bought herself closer to Diane, who felt her face heat up, as she added, "Yeah, we met a few days ago, after I had the big project in work, you know the one, right Micheal?"
Darryll stared through Nia intently, his blackened sockets eyeing her up and down with a deep focus. Eventually he relented, and, having taken note of the fake name Diane had given him, he reached out a hand, which Nia took, and he looked over at Diane, "Yeah, I remember you telling me about that kerfuffle, real pain. Anyhow," He looked back at Nia and shook her hand, "As you heard, my names Micheal, and it's nice to meet you... Remind me of your name? My memory truly sucks sometimes." Nia smiled sympathetically, "I never said,"
The Dancer did her best to read her target's perfectly crafted expression of curiosity and goodwill. Darryll couldn't also be that stupid, right? He'd killed three men with nothing but an old, faulty gun and his wits...
The Dancer shook off her feelings of doubt, and simply tried to enjoy her good fortune at Darryll's seeming incompetence. Nia continued, "My name is Nia, Nia Swing, and as you can tell from the card," She took her lanyard in her free hand and shook it at Darryll, "I'm the soon-to-be owner of this fine establishment." Then Nia saw Darryll's left arm, encased in a cocoon of plaster that was growing a dark, muddy red from the horrible bleeding underneath, and gasped in mock horror, "Oh my! Would it be improper to ask what happened to your left arm?" Darryll chuckled, and removed his right hand from Nia's grasp to gesture at his cast, "An accident involving a window. If you recognize the term "Defenestration", you'll understand." Nia's eyes narrowed, but she nodded nonetheless, "I see..." Darryll, noticing doubt, took control on the conversation once more, "You mentioned that you own this business? Im actually doing my major in business."  He placed his hand upon his chest, "I have plans to become a financial advisor soon, y'see," And then Darryll suddenly turned to Diane, "Speaking of money, I'll buy you that CD player you mentioned. And don't think I didn't hear your..." He turned to, and pointed at Nia, "...wonderful advice. I should let her use her own money, nobody ever made no mistakes."
"Exactly!" Nia exclaimed, "She's her own person, and you're not her father!"
Diane was beginning to feel rather small and insignificant, and wanted a place in the exchange between her friend and girlfriend, but as she opened her mouth to speak, suddenly there was a loud, thunderous bang, and with a wiry hum floating through the air, all the lights went out in an instant, alongside any working electrical appliances, which were a lot. Television sets, the smartphones, the music in the background that once added a needed coziness to the superstore suddenly vanished, and now all that was left was the eerie, eerie cold darkness that flooded the halls. Nia, now just a smudge in the sea of inky black, looked down at her company and apologized for the sudden power outage. She then briskly walked off, and once she turned the corner, Darryll reached out and, in one swift motion, snatched Diane by the arm and pulled her close, so that he see into her shrouded golden eyes, and he whispered, "Now."