Chaos and Corruption (Jeff the Killer Fanfic)

10. Smoke sesh

Eyeless Jack

It was raining tonight but I didn't mind it much, the cold water dripping down my nose while I skated through town. Most people didn't look at me twice as I passed them on the street these days, kept their heads down and stayed to themselves, even with the new bodies on the news they didn't seem at all disturbed or even slightly concerned. Not my city, not my problem, apparently.

The Café's neon lights greeted me as I rounded the corner and I kicked up, the bell ringing overhead while I set it down against the wall and waved to my girlfriend. Tim and Brian were already here, sitting in a corner booth with coffee in their hands. They seemed to be pretty normal people as far as I was concerned and it was nice to have a break from power-hungry proxies and mutated monsters. Tim greeted me with a nod as I took a seat, shrugging my hoodie off and taking a moment to breathe as the warmth of the room finally seeped in.

"The girls should be here in a few minutes," Chelsea said with a smile as she came to wait on our table, handing me a cup, "once they get here I'll lock up and clock out."

"What's she like?" Tim asked when she walked away, "Jeff's girlfriend. I know she was on the news a lot, didn't look like someone to snap and go on a murder spree."

"Yeah I thought the same until she cornered me and broke a couple bones, Kitty's a wild card," I admitted while their eyes widened. "She's relatively easy going, sarcastic, quick on her toes. You'll see for yourself once she gets here but don't worry, she's not the one that bites."

Just as I mentioned it the bell rang, three girls walking in and looking pretty content with themselves. Jules touted around a hefty gray denim jacket and her hair was as bushy as ever, Nina dressed in her purple jacket and jeans with her mask over her lips. Kitty looked a lot better than she had when I saw her last, the circles around her eyes had faded and her skin had flushed with color, her smile genuine instead of forced. I waved to them and she cracked a warm grin while the others ordered coffee, taking a seat beside me at the table and holding her hand out to the men across from me.

"Sorry I was out the other night, had to go take a little break from reality for a while," she explained with a cheeky little wink. "Kitty Snow, call me either and I'll respond. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, I'm Tim Wright," he started, Kitty's hand moving to Brian's and gripping it tightly, "this is Brian Thomas. We're Jeff's messengers, I guess."

"He's always got to make things difficult," she chuckled, "how did he look when you saw him? Seem pretty healthy?"

"Well he hit me pretty hard so I'd say he's in good shape," Brian laughed to himself.

"He managed to get me to back off before I could whack him with a crowbar, sent him away with a pretty decent right hook to the jaw but Operator's real good at fixing his proxies up."

"Ouch, what'd he do to deserve that one?"

"Oh, he asked me to."

Kitty sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose while she shook her head but I couldn't hide my low chuckling, trading a stifled smile with Brian while he did the same. The rest of the troupe finally joined us though, forcing me to slide further in and rub shoulders with Brian who offered a faux-scowl and got a threatening scalpel jab in response. He was definitely the more relaxed of the two, Tim's constant scowl somewhat off-putting, but I could at least understand it.

"This is my cousin Nina and my best friend Jules," Kitty introduced everyone, Nina waving and pulling her mask off to reveal her smile, Brian did a double take while Tim barely raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Pleasure to meet you," Nina chirped with a pleasant grin, "a friend of Jeff's is a friend of ours."

"I'm sorry we can't do much to assist right now other than offer you guys our help once the time comes," Kitty started, "I really appreciate you coming out all this way to deliver my necklace, though. We haven't heard from Jeff since November and it's been...rough, to say the least."