Sincerely, Vintage

Part 12

Vince

Kol flounced into the darkness at the back of the room. Vince looked across the table at Tracey, fighting the worry roiling in his stomach. Tracey looked at Derrick. He and Hrida had been quietly watching, just in case. After a moment, Derrick nodded.

This is it.

Across the restaurant, Kol was almost out of sight. Vince stood up from his seat, fisting his hands in his pockets and he and Tracey followed Kol across the room. Underneath his barely maintained composure, some strange part of him wanted to take Tracey's hand even though he knew she didn't need it.

They walked down a dim hallway, past two filthy restrooms, and into a small room. The space was mostly empty, furnished only with a folding table and a random assortment of chairs. Kol took the seat at the head of the table, propping his feet up on its edge. Vince and Tracey settled themselves at the opposite end.

"So," Kol began, picking at something in his teeth. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Problem?" Tracey spat. She would've kept going if Vince hadn't stopped her.

"We're here because of several...incidents you've caused."

Kol sat silent, as if waiting for Vince to continue.

"Well?" Vince pressed.

"I'm just curious about what exactly you think I've done."

"Are you really going to make me explain?"

"You might as well." Kol shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable. "I've got nothing else to do."

Next to Vince, Tracey's hands were white-knuckled on the edge of her seat. She looked ready to fling herself across the table at Kol. Vince closed his eyes for a moment, sending her silent support, then began.

As he spoke, a montage of images ran through his head. Shop windows smashed in, glass sparkling on the floor, the interiors completely gutted. Buildings ablaze, throwing sparks to the black sky like confetti. Neighborhoods destroyed by monsters, families torn apart.

Since the Breach had hit their city, everyone had banded together to keep their way of life from falling apart. Little by little, they had clawed bits and pieces of their city back, creating havens where people could go about their lives as if nothing had changed. Of course, there were others who had a different agenda, those who chose to capitalize on a moment of weakness to make their grab for power.

And so, the city had split in two: those who lived for chaos and those fighting against it.

Kol listened to Vince go on. His expression never changed. He looked almost bored, stone-faced as a criminal hearing the list of charges against him. When Vince had finished, the three of them sat in silence until Kol did the unthinkable: he laughed.

"I can't believe you're still hung up on that. It's not like we even bothered you."

"You might as well have!" Vince raised his voice for the first time. "If you mess with our neighborhood, you mess with us."

"Oh?" Kol set his feet on the floor with a thump. He crossed his arms and stared Vince down. "What're you gonna do about it?"

Vince thought he could handle the full force of Kol's gaze, but after a few moments, he wasn't so sure. The other man's eyes glowed like ice in the dim light, tattoos writhing across his face.

Vince had to clear his throat to get his voice to work.

"We'll settle this whole thing. One on one, your best against our's."

"What is this, a Western?" Kol's face hardened. Vince refused to let that scare him and kept talking.
"If we win, you keep your gang on this side of the city. If we lose..." Vince fought to keep the tremor out of his voice. "You have free reign."

Kol sat back in his chair, shadow claiming most of his face. The air in the room seemed to vibrate. Vince looked over at Tracey. She sat like a loaded pistol, one knee bouncing, her eyes ablaze.

"Deal." Kol smiled, his teeth almost glowing. "See you in two days."

Tracey's knee came to a stop, and she looked over at Vince. He knew both of them were thinking the same thing.

What did we just do?