Messed Up

8 - The Pink Oyster

I closed my door and walked out into the fresh evening air. I was wearing a white shirt with a black blazer and a cravat. I didn't usually wear a cravat or a blazer, but then again I didn't get out often either, so I thought I'd make the effort.

It was about 10:30 at night, the sky was pitch black and littered with stars that shone brightly due to the absence of clouds. I walked to the nearest road and hailed a cab.

I told the cabbie where I wanted to go and he chuckled as I climbed into the back seat.

"In for a treat tonight eh?" the driver said.

I decided to stay silent, not really understanding what he meant.

I gazed out of the window as we drove silently through the city, the hum of the evening traffic was the only thing that was audible inside the cab. We passed skyscrapers and nightclubs, coffee shops and convenience stores. It was nearing 11:00PM. A funny time of day really, everyone was either packing up and going to bed, or waking up and heading out to party; or in my case - to work.

Finally, we pulled up outside the venue and I paid the cabbie.

"Enjoy your night" he chuckled sarcastically, before driving away.

I looked up at The Pink Oyster, the place where my victim should supposedly be on this night.

There were neon signs everywhere, inviting customers in. I sighed when I read them:

'THE PINK OYSTER - BEST STRIP CLUB IN THE STATE'

"So that's why the taxi driver thought it was so funny" I grunted.

There were two security guards outside, but with my switchblade in my pocket, they didn't pose me much of a threat. There were also a group of men gathered a few meters from the entrance, some were carrying briefcases. A few of them were looking over at me and whispering amongst themselves. There was one guy amongst their ranks that looked awfully familiar.

He stood much taller than the rest, he was broad and muscly, with blond hair and dark bushy eyebrows.

Ah, The Commander.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked over to the group, instantly directing my attention over to The Commander.

"Good to see you, man" I said to him. "What are you doing here?"

The Commander nodded and offered me a smile which I didn't return.

"Same as you" The muscly man replied. "Work. These guys too"

The Commander gestured to the men around him, who nodded at me as I scanned them.

"Wait" I said, slightly confused. "We're all here on the same job? You sure?"

"Pretty sure"

"But, we're just killing one chick right? Why hire so many people?"

The Commander shrugged. "I know just as much as you"

A tall-ish man who wore sunglasses and a leather jacket stepped forward. In my opinion, he looked like a moron, wearing sunglasses at this time of night, but I decided not to comment.

"The woman we're dealing with is dangerous, she's killed our guys before" sunglasses guy said.

"Whatever" I replied. "Let's just get it done"

Truth be told, I wasn't feeling awfully good about myself for murdering a woman. Call me sexist, but it just didn't feel right. But then again, fifty thousand dollars was fifty thousand dollars.

Sunglasses guy nodded. "Our target is hard to miss. She's kinda freaky looking. She's blonde, and her eyes are like, two different colors"

I froze.

Freaky looking? Blonde? Eyes that are different colors? Sounds awfully similar to that crazy Cassandra girl I worked with a while back.

I shook my head.

There are thousands of people with eyes that are different. There's no way that chick would be at a strip club anyway. She's probably out robbing someone blind.

"What about my pay?" I demanded.

Sunglasses guy handed me a silver briefcase. "Twenty-five thousand, cash" he said. "You'll get the rest when it's done"

I saw someone else handing The Commander a briefcase similar to mine, and I nodded before letting some of the other guys lead the way into the club.

We entered at the back of the club, and made our way through an unguarded door. It wouldn't be a good idea trying to get through security when everyone was armed to the teeth.

The strip club was deafeningly loud, electro-rave music blasting from the numerous speakers. I felt the bass from the music humming beneath my feet. Definitely not my taste, but a strip club wasn't my usual hangout either, so whatever.

The carpet was a dark pink color, and there was glitter and scrunched up dollar bills littering the ground around us. Posters of girls plastered the walls, which were also pink, and of course, there were numerous dancers dotted around too.

The closest girl to us was dancing around a pole onstage with a group of hungry looking men gathered around her. She was brunette, and her hair was short, styled in a bob-cut. She wore a pair of black shorts, if you could even call them shorts, and a black lace bralette. Her skin was dark, like her eyes, and there was something about her face that almost invited you in. I'd be lying if I said she wasn't gorgeous.

We passed by the brunette girl, and I continued scanning the room for our target, alongside the rest of the group. I fiddled with my switchblade in my pocket.

A girl with medium length bleach blond hair passed by me, she was wearing a red miniskirt and absolutely nothing else. She was carrying a tray of drinks, and before I knew it she was walking by me. I could only see the back of her, so I couldn't tell if she was our target or not.

"Hey" I spoke up, trying to raise my voice over the music.

I gained the blonde woman's attention, and she turned around, smirking at me It grossed me out a little bit. I scanned her face, quickly noticing her eyes were in fact, both brown. I scowled.

"Never mind" I grunted, before turning and catching up with the group.

The woman in the red skirt cursed at me as I walked away. These women sure didn't like being turned away.

"That's her?" I heard the Commander ask as I approached the crowd.

"Yeah" one of the hired men replied.

I was - kind of - on the short side, so I couldn't see the person that the group was looking at. I pushed through the crowd until I was standing next to The Commander. I looked up at the girl dancing on the stage, and my eyes widened.

Shit.

She had wavy bleach blonde hair that fell down to her waist, one of her eyes was emerald green and the other was icy blue, and she had a sinisterly pretty smile on her face. She wore white thigh high socks with yellow stripes on them, a yellow skirt, and a yellow crop-top. She was more covered up than any other girl in the club, and yet she attracted the largest crowd. There was no doubt in my mind that the girl I had been hired to assassinate was in fact, Cassandra Fiennes-Talbot.