Messed Up

2 - The Observatory

The observatory was a big, old, warehouse-type place that was practically falling apart. But I guess that was where the appeal came from, dangerous people like me and them were drawn to abandoned places that threatened to cave in and crush us at any given moment. It was just the way we were.

I lit up a cigarette and placed it between my teeth, slipping a pair of ray bans from my pocket and placing them over my eyes as I did so. I didn't particularly take any joy in keeping up the whole 'brooding' and 'mysterious' act, but it meant people found me intimidating, and so people left me alone. It worked out well enough for me, so I kept doing it.

The observatory door creaked as I pushed it open, and as soon as I had entered the abandoned building, I was met by a man in a denim jacket who had a poorly inked tattoo on the side of his face that read: PAIN. How fucking tragic.

"Name" the man with the shitty tattoo grunted.

"Shiv"

Shitty tattoo just grunted again and nodded in approval.

"Follow me"

He lead me through a series of damp corridors before we reached another door. This one seemed somewhat sturdier than the rest, and there was light spilling from underneath it, indicating the presence of people inside.

He twisted the doorknob and opened the door, revealing a room with stone walls and a stone floor. The room had a table in the center, and around the table were a series of odd looking people sitting on chairs. There was a man in a 'Pink Floyd' T-Shirt standing up at the end of the table. He looked at the guy with the tattoo as we walked in, as if he was waiting for some sort of explanation as to why we interrupted them.

"This guy says he's Shiv" tattoo guy grunted.

Cassie~

I brought the bubble wand up to my lips and blew softly, admiring the bubbles as they floated through the air and popped against the walls and the table. Although I was supposed to be listening to our boss, Solomon I think his name was, no one seemed to care that I wasn't paying attention. Maybe they weren't paying attention either.

I was worrying about how I was going to run out of bubble mixture by the end of the meeting, when the door handle twisted and the wooden door creaked open, revealing the man with the cute tattoo that read: 'PAIN' that had greeted me at the door, and another person - a stranger.

The stranger had ray bans on, concealing his eyes, he wore a black leather jacket with black skinny jeans and a gray T-shirt underneath. His hair was styled into a black undercut and a single cigarette burned between his lips. His skin was perfect, no scars anywhere. He was either very good at his job, or he was an amateur. I smirked.

"This guy says he's Shiv" the man with the cute tattoo stated.

"Ah" Solomon replied. "Thank you, Derek"

Levi~

"Ah" the man in the pink Floyd T-shirt replied. "Thank you, Derek"

I instantly recognized the voice of the guy in the T-shirt as the voice of the man who had spoken to me on the phone the previous day. He definitely didn't look the way I imagined he would. I wondered if he had left his suit and briefcase at home, and that maybe he threw on a punky T-shirt to fit in better with a bunch of criminals. Of course, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

"Shiv. It's nice of you to join us" the man in the T-shirt said.

I just clicked my tongue, not dignifying his comment with an answer.

"So let's begin" T-shirt guy said. "First of all, I'm Solomon. From this moment forward, I'm your boss. The people sitting beside you are the people I've chosen to work with you for this job. You do exactly what I say, when I say. You fuck up, I'll shoot you. Got it?"

There were a series of grunts and other noises from around the table. I just clicked my tongue with a 'tch'. I'd heard this speech enough damn times, all I cared about was the adrenaline and the money.

"So, here's the plan" Solomon started.

I took this opportunity to get a good look at the other people sitting around the table, these were the people I would be working with. My brow furrowed as I looked around. I wasn't new to the area, in fact, I liked to think that I knew every face within a ten-mile radius of The Observatory, but I'd never seen any of these people before.

I lit up a new cigarette.

Sitting beside me was a woman with brown hair tied up in a loose ponytail, and goggle-looking glasses. She wore a washed out yellow shirt under a brown jacket, and she had a loopy look in her eyes. Just looking at her exterior, she appeared harmless, but she can't have been, otherwise, she wouldn't have been sitting around that table.

Sitting directly opposite me was a younger looking boy with emerald green eyes and short brown hair that was cut poorly. He wore a key around his neck and his face was twisted into a constant frown that made him look more immature than scary. I instantly deduced that he was a moron, and moved on.

Next to the woman with the goggle glasses was another man, he looked older than the guy with the bright green eyes, and more experienced too. He had dark brown bushy eyebrows that contrasted with his blond hair. His expression never faltered, he constantly looked serious and determined and was listening to Solomon as if his word was gospel.

Finally, sitting farthest away from me at the other end of the table was a really weird specimen. A girl, childish looking, with a sinisterly pretty face and a sickening smile constantly playing on her lips. She had pale skin and bleach blonde hair, and unlike everyone else, she wasn't listening to Solomon at all. In fact, she was blowing bubbles. Fucking bubbles. The crazy chick had brought a damn bubble wand with her to the meeting, and no one seemed to give a shit. How was she not taking any of this seriously? Did she want to die? Did she want to spend the rest of her life in a cell? What a freak.

Solomon went on to explain our plan of action in agonizing detail. A gang that Solomon was locking horns with, was planning an attack on the Maria bank in the middle of the city. We were going to wait until the gang had got in, and then essentially, rob the robbers. Solomon said we didn't need to kill anyone, but he had no quarry with it if we thought it was necessary. Best of all, we get eighty percent of the cash to split between us. Sounded like a sweet enough deal to me.

"We meet here at 1PM next Wednesday. Any questions?" Solomon finished.

"Yeah. I've got one" the freaky girl who was blowing bubbles raised a petite hand. She had a thick accent with a distinct southern drawl. Her accent was so strong it almost sounded fake.

"Hmm?"

"Is there a dress code?" She asked. I noticed she was chewing gum.

"A dress code?" Solomon asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah" she smirked. "So that we look cute when we're all over the news"

"Are you kidding me?" I spoke up. "We're about to go out and kill people and all you can think about is what you're going to wear?"

The bubble blowing, gum chewing, annoyingly pretty girl with the bleach blonde hair and the sickly smile averted her attention to me. I noticed that one of her eyes was an emerald green color, and the other was icy blue. That was weird. Was it a birth defect?

"Yeah" she smiled. "Got a problem, honey?"

"Tch" I glared. "Do whatever the fuck you want, but count me out"

The girl mock-sighed. "How dull"

I exited the Observatory after a surprisingly interesting meeting with a bunch of weirdos and got on a bus that stopped near my apartment. I decided to give Antonio a call.

"Shiv" Antonio said as he picked up the phone.

"Do you know who else applied for that job you told me about? There were people in that meeting today that I've never even seen before"

"Really?" Antonio sounded surprised. "That's not like you"

"Yeah I know. So have you got any information or not?"

"I'll see what I can do"