Masquerade

Part 10: Unwelcome visits

As I come closer and closer to the door I get an odd feeling.
I reach for the doorknob but pull slowly back.
Something is off, a strange feeling in my stomach, like a dark foreshadowing.
I shake it off, just overthinking again Luz, god darn, just accept that once, something good happened in your life.
With this enthusiasm I turn the knob and sprint the stairs up.
"Hey Luz, already back home?", Eda seems in the living room,
"Yeah, ended early today".
A bit silence, the unsettling feeling sets back in.
"Can you please come for a moment?", it strengthens,
"Why?",
"Please".
It startles me, she sounds ashamed, suppressed angry, did I do something wrong?

I slowly push open the door to the living room.
Everything seems fine, Eda just sits there in one of the four armchairs.
"Take a seat, Luz, please?",
"What happened?",
"Please, don't question it",
"I always thought standing is a better option".
If she gonna lecture me of trying to scold for something, she can do it while I stand,
I wont sit there like a child and just take it.
"It would be rude to stand while a guest sits".

Every single hair of my body stands up, a cold shiver running down my spine.
Boots on wooden floor, heavy steps, a sip from a cup.
"Excellent coffee, Miss Clawthrone, maybe you should have opened a coffee shop",
"Fuck off" she whispers, quiet enough that only I can hear it.
He sits down in one of the armchairs.
"Don't worry about me, I have just some questions and if I am satisfied I am gone in no time",
"Well start, so I can get you the fuck out of my home",
"Check your words, I can get more directly if you want".
In seconds he changes, his general body language now more aggressive.
"Now take a fucking seat, I wont talk to someone who stands in a random place",
reluctantly I take a seat, now facing him on eye level.
"I didn't do anything",
"Well, how it comes to your, little application?", another sip of coffee,
"I don't know, it just came",
"So no little talk under friends? Just want to make sure".
This alley way shit again, fuck, it really seems suspicious.
"You are smarter than I thought, so I wouldn't be surprised if you bought yourself into one influential group",
"She doesn't know one thing, believe me, I swear".
He reaches into a jacket, a sound like someone unbuttoned press stud.
"You know, I cant really touch you, unless I want the Feds shuffle around here, but ...", he pulls out his hand, a handgun, looks a bit used, some scratches all over,
"Your new mom isn't innocent and sometimes the past gets you faster than you would know",
"Then point it at me, shit head", Eda now upset, even now he has a look of superiority.
"Don't point your weapon at something you are not one hundred percent willing to damage and now it seems like it don't need to threaten you, or Luz?",
"I already told you the truth, believe me".
He seems to inspect me, checking for something.
"Looks like my job here is done, I hope that I don't have to return, second visits of me, who should I say, ... , they can get messy".
He wipes around the exterior of the cup clean and stands up.
"Well, let us hope, I don't have to visit again, a good day".
I cant really move until I hear the lock of the front door moving back into his place.
"I think you owe me at least a bit of background",
"It was just a dumb mistake, my damn curiosity let me see something I shouldn't have seen",
"Tell me, kiddo, if you can or want".

And we sit there, me just telling her everything, what really happened yesterday.
I am surprised, I opened up about something personal like this, even if it is only this.
And she seems to understand, keeping a interested face, she listens to me, understand what part I really took in this whole thing.
Finally the end comes and I feel, elevated, better.
Eda seems to think about everything, proceeding it.
"Seems like you get yourself in trouble, big one, Kippler isn't an easy one",
"You know him?", I am a bit surprised.
She looks remorseful.
"Everybody in this town knows him, he owns the three motels around here, his boss controls the complete tourism around here and under this they run the illegal market around here",
"Like ...",
"You name it, drugs, firearms, faked documents, they are simply the mob".
A dark feeling creeps up to me.
"Eda, how do you know?",
"Everybody has some dark times, kiddo and mine weren't really a highlight, I tangled with some bad people, the ex-mob mostly, as I saw what happened, I tried better",
"Ex-mob?".
Her glance darkens, she looks out of the window.
"One day, there was a conference in the Luxor, some miles outside town, the complete hotel reserved for it, the whole mob of the county met", she pauses,
"You could see the smoke from here, every single firefighter was called to the fire, nonetheless it burnt to the ground, no one survived and the day after, he arrives and overtake control over the market, if you don't agree with his boss, you take a walk in the woods and some vanished. At this moment I had a realization, if I wouldn't stop, maybe at some point I had to take a little walk".
"He ...?",
"No evidence was found, they said the fire was an accident, just take the cup as example, wiped clean, no traces left, that is how things are done around here, without leaving traces, just another missing person case and a shallow grave in the woods".