Satin

Zero

|Unedited |

The moon was high in the starless sky. With shaky fingers, Jasper Simmons flicked the indicator switch in his car. None of the streetlights were on and Jasper couldn't help but see this as an omen. Though he tried not to focus on it, he couldn't help but think that tonight might be his last night on earth. That just seemed to be the way Zachariah did things.

They'd never met in person, but from what Jasper could gather, Zachariah was a smooth talking, remorseless shell of a man who valued his life above everything else in the world. Jasper had been approached by a man who was more muscle than sense only a week ago. He told Jasper what he was needed for and shoved a wad of notes into his hand before he'd even opened his mouth in reply. Not that he was going to. It was as if he was under some sort of spell. He wanted to do this. It felt as though his life depended on it.

Jasper parked his car on the side of the road, by the agreed meeting place, but made no movement to get out. The haze that had sat in front of his eyes this past week had suddenly evaporated and left with black and white truth.

Truth: Jasper had broken into someone's house. Again.

Truth: That 'someone' was his long-time unrequited love.

Truth: He didn't feel bad in the slightest.

In fact, he didn't feel anything but scared. Zachariah had power. That much was clear. And according to Batman, power is a very dangerous thing to have. A very dangerous thing indeed.

Jasper's thoughts drifted to the girl in question. His love. He didn't see it as an act of betrayal, really. He was more than happy to help someone else know about her. He thought the whole world should know about her. Know how wonderful she is. What was the best thing about her, Jasper thought. Maybe it was her hair. It had this beautiful shine to it that he could stare at forever. And the smell! It always smelt of coconut. Jasper hated coconut. That was until he smelt it on her, of course. After that, it became his favourite scent. Once, she'd caught him smelling her hair. She called him a freak scowled at him. She had such a beautiful scowl.

Thinking further, Jasper decided that it was her eyes that were the best thing about her. They were brown, almost black and held an unsolved mystery that Jasper couldn't wait to get his hands on. If anyone asked him, however, what his favourite thing about her was, Jasper wouldn't answer. He wouldn't dare admit aloud that there was anything about her that wasn't perfect.

With a bittersweet sigh, Jasper reached to the backseat of his car and stroked the sleeve of her jumper that he stole from her bedroom. It was now or never.

"It's about time you arrived." Said Zachariah, his back to the boy behind him. For two hours he had stood, not moving, in the derelict car park. This was where they had agreed to meet. The car park was conjoined to a shopping mall, both of which hadn't been used for years. On the phone, Jasper had thought that Zachariah had sounded intimidating. In person, however, he seemed much worse.

"I didn't think you'd mind if I was a little late." Jasper's eyes darted around, trying to figure out possible exits should he need a quick getaway. The full moon was the only source of light, making the task near impossible. Zachariah chuckled humourlessly, still making no motion to turn around.

"A stupid mistake that may cost you your stupid human life." He spoke as though it were a chore to do so.

Jasper gulped "May?"

"We'll see how well you have done at the task you were hired to do." Zachariah's shoulders sat loosely atop his body. There wasn't a tense muscle on his toned self, Jasper noted bitterly. The navy fitted suit he wore looked like it cost more than the average person's annual income. Of course, he wasn't the average person. Jasper looked at his own ripped jeans and stained white tee and suddenly felt very self-conscious.