BAD MOON RISING

Chapter One Alpha

1A

A/N: The scene continues directly from the last chapter.

Silvers hurried past the Town Hall, crossing Greener at a run to slink into the courtyard of the Melody Inn. Lights shining from the windows of the end chalet raised the fear of detection,causing him to avoid the walkway outside the rooms and cross over to the far side of the car park; making his way   towards the faint gleam of dull yellow light coming through the window of the back door to the office shielded by darkness.

No longer concerned about secrecy, Silvers roughly pushed open the door and stepped into the shadowy dimness of the office vestibule.

"Where are you hidin' old man, I ain't got all night," Silvers spat out the words, looking around the room for a sign of life. A figure stirred on the sofa at the far end of the room and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"You have more respect fer me, d'you hear?" The man yelled angrily. "And where the hell have you been. Do you know what time it is?"

Wes Chandler shuffled across the room towards the counter, brushing roughly past Silvers, and switched on a table lamp.

Silvers face screwed up into a leer. "Sure I know what time it is, old man, I got held up and I'd keep your voice down low, the guy in the end cabin is still wide awake and he'll hear you if you screech like that."

Wes hurried across to the back door and peered out of the window to see for himself. Holding the curtain back, he turned to Silvers and snarled.

"What ...what the heck is he still doing awake at this time of the night."

Silvers pushed his face belligerently into Wes's, "Why dont'cha go down an' ask him?"

The boy spoke with unveiled hostility and then abruptly stepped back, covering his mouth with a hand, choking on the foul stench of the mouthful of Wes's morning breath  he had involuntarily inhaled. "Your breath stinks," Silvers shrieked through fingers closed over his mouth.

Wes scoffed, "Huh, just look at yer big man, frightened of a little bit of stink. An' what happened to your face?" He alluded to Silver's battle scars gained in his tussle with Jess by circling a finger around his own face.

"Just a little disagreement with somebody who should've known better than take me on." Silvers spoke through bared teeth, bigging himself up, allowing his finger tips to trace over his abrasions.

Wes sniffled. "Okay, your sales are well down. You gotta get off'n yer butt an' pick up on your lost sales an' do it now. Upstairs thinks you should be doin' a lot more'n y'are. They've increased yer quota by thirty per cent starting now. Did you get that?" Chandler tapped the side of his head with a finger

Silvers moved closer to the hotelier, his eyes narrowed and smouldering. "Upstairs, what upstairs you talkin' about and what you mean I gotta sell more shit. I cain't sell this high priced rubbish yer supplyin. They ain't buyin' it no more" He pulled a number of paper packages from his pocket and tossed them with disdain onto the counter.

Wes hurried forward to look closely at the packages. "What they doin' here? Why ain't they sold a'ready?"

Silvers noticed the anxiety in the man's voice and the trembling of his hand and laughed with exaggerated contempt.

"I get it now. Your folks upstairs are putting pressure on you, and you little man, are trying to put pressure on me, well I ain't having none of it, see?" The boy brushed his fingers several times across Chandler's face in a slap without force, infuriating the man who lost his self-control and grabbed Silvers by his coat lapels.

"Now see here you piece o'... Hey?"

Chandler's punitive action came to an abrupt end. Silvers took hold of Wes's arms, twisted his body and heaved. Wes landed on the floor beside the counter with the boy standing over him, twitching and slobbering at the mouth as if in a drug induced high.

                    A/N: The scene continues in the next chapter