House Red

The Wedding - Chapter 5

~Green Bay, 2009~

I was enjoying some cheese curds and a bacon cheeseburger for the first time in years as it was my first trip back to the United States in recent memory. Of course while in Wisconsin I had to enjoy a beer and the local cuisine. A dark stout washed down the fresh curds and burger cooked to perfection. The door to my temporary apartment on the Fox River was knocked on sharply. As the delivery driver had just walked away not a minute ago, I assumed he remembered the extra blue cheese he had failed to deliver. Opening the door I was surprised to look into the eyes of a random young man, probably in his early 20s holding a bottle of Glenlivet. "I believe you have been looking for me."

His voice was scratchy, far older and dirtier than a man his age should have ever possessed. I still didn't know who he was, but I figured I could handle whatever trouble he may cause. Plus he had good liquor. I stepped slightly to the side and gestured with my hand still holding the pint, indicating that he should enter. I closed and locked to door as I heard the stranger pop the bottle and pour a generous amount into a tumbler from my cabinet. I brushed off him knowing where my glassware was located, assuming he had been watching me for a while. Unsettling, but not entirely surprising as he had just walked right into my apartment without a second thought.

"So you say I have been looking for you. It would probably help if I know who you are." I took a long draw from pint, finishing the last of it so that I can enjoy the whiskey being poured in the second tumbler. I stepped to the other side of the kitchen island and picked up the glass, clinking it against the stranger's before sharing a drink with him.

"I believe you are familiar with my work. I am told you stumbled upon my little trail of breadcrumbs. I was actually surprised it took you this long to find it." He smiled slightly and took another swig, holding eye contact before speaking again. "I have been hoping to talk to you for a little while now. My House has become tedious and does not fully appreciate my talents. I feel that you might more fully respect what I have to offer."

Before my eyes he immediately became an elderly black man, deep wrinkles showing a lifetime of laughter before changing again to a middle aged man with a big paunch overflowing khaki pants and a tan jacket that was two years past needing another one, a bourbon nose at the center of a bloated face ravaged by too many nights at the bar alone. He finally changed back into young man and took another drink, shivering slightly as the warm liquid slid down his throat.

I watched him closely in case he tried to do anything else, processing what I had just witnessed. Being able to change one's appearance was a rare trait, but it never went as far as what he had just displayed. Even without this man's name, if he was even a he, had just revealed a very important secret to one of his supposed enemies. "If you had not repeated your kill pattern, I would not have even recognized anything was amiss. Why did you do it? Which House are you from"

"Like I said before, I wanted to talk to you. I eliminated the informant from my House that was working for you on orders from my House, but the trail was started as a secret message for you pick up on. Now that you know what I have to offer, I believe we have some business to discuss."

"What is there to discuss? As an Ace of House Black, my most intelligent recourse is to end you here and now. What do you have to offer that I would want, and, more important than that, what are you looking for?"

"I think we both know that if I wanted a confrontation with you, you would not have known until it was too late. As for what I have to offer, my complete loyalty. What I am looking for in return is the tricky part. I want out of House Black." He drained his glass to match my now empty tumbler and filled each of ours another time.

I pulled a stool out and sat down, indicating he should do the same. If this was the direction of the conversation, we would be here for a very long time. "What would cause an Ace of a House, one almost equal to a noble, to turn so readily from its Maker to another House? Your loyalty is all well and good but this does not bode well for it being much beyond lip service. And what do you mean get you out? You know a Maker holds you forever." I was starting to suspect this creature was simply insane. Powerful, but insane. That did not bode well for my immediate safety considering I did not know if he had any other abilities beyond his shapeshifting.

"My house is different than yours. My kind are looked at expendable tools, to be sacrificed more readily than any other. Suicide missions are not uncommon for creatures of my kind. The only reason I have been spared is because my appearance allows me to pass more easily through respectable company than the rest of my ilk. But I believe they are starting to suspect that I am looking for more opportunities elsewhere. And we both know that there are ways of breaking the hold of Maker to be taken up by another."

That statement truly took me by surprise. That was a secret even I was not entirely privy to. My Father had hinted at such procedures, but never divulged how it could be done. I didn't even try to hide my surprise at the revelation of the depth of his knowledge. This creature had truly done his homework before coming here. If I were willing to take on the mantle for this creature, there would need to be a lot of planning beforehand. I knew the one most important part of taking the mantle of Maker from another was to eliminate the original Maker. "You definitely have worth to me. Anyone would be lucky to have one of your skill among their Players." This was clearly the negotiation phase of this conversation. We both knew that we could provide what the other wanted, we just needed to make sure we were willing to pay the price. "My name is Silas by the way. What should I call you?"

"Rasp. It is a nickname that has stuck for so long I have truly forgotten my original name. This will not be a fast arrangement, which means I am in a perfect position to act as an agent for you in the meantime. What I want is for this to be done as quickly as possible. My tie to my Maker is the only thing holding me back, but killing my Maker is obviously not an option. That is where I need you."

"I can't promise it will be a quick operation. It will be on my time because I don't believe you have any other options. Any other Player would have just ended you at the door if they could or died trying. Once your loyalty has been truly tested, we will move forward with moving you over to my House. Who is the unfortunate soul I will be murdering for your release?"

The name Rasp spoke was one I was not expecting. It did however change the target's status from unfortunate soul to my idea of a perfect target. It didn't tell Rasp this, but if he had lead with that information, the negotiations would have gone far better for him. Despite that, I almost missed the Packer game because we finished that bottle planning for a mutually beneficial future together.