Sin - [T.Shelby]

Her

The bar was filled with laughter, men all drunkenly sang along with the blonde woman who performed for them. The Garrison was a pub in a poor town called Small Heath in Birmingham, England run by none other than the Peaky Blinders, a notorious gang created by the Shelby family.

    Since the blonde songbird, Grace, came to work at the Garrison spirits have been lifted and life in town doesn't seem so bleak. Many of the men come to get away from the outside world, even for just a moment...but tonight they would be reminded that you can't outrun her.

     The doors opened and the delicate sound of heels clicking against the wooden floor alerted everyone of her presence. The singing ceased, the laughter died, all bar patrons bent their heads and stared only at the tables in front of them.

     Grace was immediately pulled from her stage-a chair-and tugged behind the bar. She went to question Harry-her boss-but upon seeing his expression she knew better than to open her mouth.

    Grace looked the woman over, from her deep red heels to the black skirt that stopped mid-shin and the black corset she wore over a long-sleeved blouse. She was curvy, her hips and bust bigger than her waist to form a lovely hourglass shape. She wore black gloves and from between her fingers was a long sleek black cigarette holder, the other end rested between scarlet lips. Everything about her screamed dangerous.

     Green eyes narrowed as they scanned the crowd before them, smoke billowed from between her lips, no one dared to move or make a sound. The silence seemed to drive one of them mad as a man shot from his chair and bolted for the back door, a loud clatter ringing out as his chair fell backwards in his haste. Her eyes snapped to him the minute he moved, locked on their target. The man tugged on the door, trying with all his might to pry it open, but she had thought of this...of course she had. She was precise and always hit her mark.

  The man turned to face the reaper, shaking his head and begging for his life. "No, please. Please, I promise I will have it by tomorrow. Please, just give me more time!" he begged. Quicker than a cobra strike she pulled a gun from thin air and shot the man between the eyes. The shot echoed through the silence, a puff of smoke coming from the slim silver pistol as the body dropped to the floor.

    A puddle of red quickly formed around him, lines of blood following the way of the wooden floor. The woman puffed from her cigarette as she walked over to the body, she exhaled smoke looking down at him, her face void of emotion. She then flicked her cigarette letting the ashes fall onto the body at her feet.

The woman then turned and walked back the way she came. The clicking of her heels didn't sound delicate to Grace like they had before, no, now each footfall sounded like a hammer hitting a nail into the poor fool's coffin.

         No one moved, no one spoke. It was like they were afraid she would come back at the slightest change. "Ivan, Gregory, take him to his family." Harry spoke up after a long pause, two men rose from their chairs and heaved the dead man up and took him outside.

    Soft murmurs started up amongst the remaining patrons of the bar, but no one laughed or sang again that night. "Why did you let her do that?" Grace asked confused as to why no one made a move to stop that woman from killing that poor man beggin for his life. "When you make a deal with the devil....you pay the price." Harry sighed. 

  "Who is she?" a new voice spoke, Harry looked up to see Thomas Shelby and his brothers behind him. "Mr. Shelby, I didn't see you come in." Harry stuttered out, hoping he did not offend the Shelby clan....though currently he was more afraid of her than of them. "Who is she?" Thomas asked again, more demanding this time. Who was this woman that went against all of their rules? Everyone knew this town belonged to Shelby, this pub, so who was she coming in here and shooting a good man?

"She has many names, The Collector, or you may know her as The Reaper. Men go to her for protection, money, help...she's your guardian angel....as long as you're willing to pay the price." Harry said "You are hers, you do her bidding until you pay her back. If you can't pay your dept, however, she comes for what she's owed." Harry looked towards the puddle of blood on his bar floor "Your life." Grace spoke, she was intrigued by this woman "Knowing this, why would anyone make a deal with her?" Grace asked shaking her head. "Because men would rather take the risk than watch their children starve." 

   Thomas ran his thumb over his lip, cigarette between his fingers, as he thought "Reaper, you say? Isn't that the name of the fella who killed one of our officers?" Arthur Shelby asked. Just a few months ago one of the police officers on the Shelby payroll was found dead in the street. No one spoke up, no one had apparently witnessed what happened, even though it happened midday. The Reaper started showing up more and more, they connected past troubles to this fictitious being. Now they had a face to a name. "I thought it would have been a man." John Shelby said. Thomas's mind was running, thinking of all the trouble this woman has caused their business. Thinking of how to deal with her, or possibly recruit her.