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May-9-2012 18:06

The office door slammed against the wall with a bang, and papers swirled restlessly across the desks of the darkened room. He looked up from his bottle of gin, bleary eyes just registering the figure outlined in the doorway. It was tall, and from the cast of the hips and tucked in-waist silhouetted in the black trench, it was a woman. She stood on black stilettos, and a black snood concealed her hair from view as surely as the netted veil did her face.

"Who is that?" he asked nervously, squinting his eyes. There was a pause, and then the figure moved forward, legs, hips rolling smoothly in an unmistakable way. He paled; rearing back in the chair so that it almost fell. He righted it with a clatter, fingers shaking.

"A ghost?" he breathed, suddenly terrified. Was the moonshine bad? Giving him the jake- was he hallucinating? The black ensemble of the woman suddenly seemed more foreboding than chic. "You...I thought you were dead!"

She moved forward, just inches away from him in the dim lamplight. Slowly, black satin-clad hands lifted up, grasped the edge of the veil, and pulled it back. Her glossy red lips shone in a vulpine smirk in the light.

"I never die. Nine lives, you know." Molly Maltese breathed in her sotto voice. "I've been to the end of the world, my dear, and I've brought back the case to end all cases for you."

Jun-2-2012 10:06

Zeo met Jack Billings on one of those night when his craving was deep. He was already a skull figure of his former self. Jack needed a team to break into a National building to 'retrieve' a treasure. Zeo did not care what it was as long as he receive the cash up front. It was not a simple job, but Zeo still had it in him - what's left of him. Zeo handed the artifact to Billings - an Egyptian jewelry of an Ancient Queen.

Zeo took his cash and turned it into smoke. He pumped as much of it as he could inside of him, in hopes of drowning himself. He chose the pit of Hellfire Club to end it. The name fits his state.

Hours passed by until his vision slowly returned. He did not die as he hoped.

In hazy consciousness Zeo thought he saw his former friends. They did not see him, either because of the lack of light where he sat, or he simply was no longer the Zeo people once knew. As soon as movement returned to his limbs, Zeo staggered out the backdoor. Chilled London air cleared his head. He checked to make sure he was not being followed, before he melted into the darkness.

Jun-2-2012 13:01

Molly was next to arrive at the docks, her rich auburn hair twisted fashionably into a series of whirls and curls under a black velvet travelling cloche. This was matched by a slim black travelling coat trimmed with silver tread and a delicate strip of ermine. Delicate black gloves covered her hands, with tiny bows at the wrists. She carried a black travelling valise, which was resting by her equally black pumps as she stood at the dock and checked her pocket watch. The others took in her appearance in silence. Although every piece was in the height of fashion, the black was severe and made her seem overly pale and thin. It was wondered if she was in mourning for something, but none voiced the question aloud.

"Welcome Marc, ladies." she said brightly as Riza and Vulkie joined them on the dock. "Vulkie, its terribly good to see you again. Off to London we go, to bake in the ovens of the Hellfire Club!"

She didn't voice the misgivings she had as they boarded the ship , or even as they moved down the halls to their staterooms. Her connections in London had whispered something of a familiar face, a vague recognition of one in the rank of the Club. But it was impossible, as the man in question would never sink to the the level of association with Billings notorious crew. It was just an eerie similarity, and nothing more.

"Alright, lads, ladies. I must have my beauty rest." She paused at the door to her room. "We'll collect ourselves later, discuss what we must do."

As she closed the door behind her, she sighed. She could not dispel the misgivings of just what they might find in London.

Jun-2-2012 23:02

"Well I hope you're not planning to jump." The striking man in his sharp three-piece suit barked half-jokingly at the figure crouching by the edge.

"It wouldn't mean much to you, to anyone, even if I did. Our deal was done. You got your little treasure. Just leave me be." The crouching man replied, staring into the river below. If Zeo was surprised that Jack Billings found him at the top of the Tower Bridge where he was hiding, he was too frazzled to show it. He didn't even bother to turn to face his former 'client'.

The city was well lit in the deep of the night, reflection of the lamps jittering on the River Thames. The air was surprisingly crisp and clear for a London spring. The old Zeo would be chain smoking at such a time, finding breathing space away from humanity, but the old narcotic didn't work anymore. It was water compared to what he was taking now.

"Let me cut to the chase," Jack replied coolly. "I've got words that some old 'friends' of ours are on their way to London. I don't want to be bothered while I'm busy setting up the deal with the Museum. You knew them well. You'd know best how to get rid of them."

Jun-2-2012 23:02

Imagines of his former friends blurred in his minds eyes. Nothing seemed vivid anymore except of the memories of Anais and Josee. Zeo suddenly looked up, "You said they're on their way? That means they're NOT here yet?"

"From my eyes and ears, I'm quite sure they're still on Sleuthetania." Billings confirmed. Then what was it that Zeo saw back at the bar?

"It's just my lovely wife and her friends, whom you knew very well." Jack Billings continue, "You were with me at Deir El-Bahari. You saw how I killed her treasure hunting partner and toyed with her." Zeo shook his head. He formed the team for Billings, to break into the National building... or was it a temple in Egypt... his mind was turning sour with each thought.

"Here, this would help." Billings tossed a heavy roll of greens beside Zeo. "I know Bernie got some good stuffs in tonight." He smirked in the dark, eyeing the heap of a man beneath his sight. Jack Billings dashed off with reassuring steps.

Did he witness Molly being chased down by Billings but did nothing for her? Was he the one who found her camp and gave Billings her notes on the location of the artifact? He felt the cravings coming on again. Yes, that would help him escape the confusion; it's the sole solution to all his problems.

Gingerly he curled his fingers around the roll of money and headed down to Bernie's.

Jun-3-2012 10:53

Marc woke up on the third day of the trip. The previous night was a blur. Staying drunk was all he could do to keep himself from throwing up from the sea sickness. He stared at the ceiling of the small room. Something wasn't right.

He felt something move in the med next to him and he jumped at the sight of a young blonde still asleep. "Dear God," he whispered to himself. At that moment a sharp pain filled his head. He was hungover, which didn't happen often. He found his pocket watch on the night stand and checked the time.

It was still early and he hoped that no one knew what happened with him last night. He quietly got dressed and left. He made his way to his room to brush his teeth.

Marc didn't make it to the bar before he vomited in the nearest trash can from the motion sickness. The ship hit a small air pocket and crashed into the water. An elderly couple held their noses up in disgust as they walked past him.
"Yeah, yeah," keep walking he said loud enough for them to hear. He made his way to the bar just as he had the previous night. As he walked in the young girl whom he had spent the night with was their. Marc immediately turned and left, nearly running into Riza.

"You're up early," she said.

"So are you," Marc added quickly.

Riza noticed the girl and smiled hinting that she had seen Marc leave with her.

"My head feels like its about to split open." Marc said running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, that's what happens when you don't control your drinking," she said. Marc laughed and they left to the top deck. London was just a day away.

Jun-3-2012 22:57

"Just want you to know," Bernie stated as he handed Zeo the stash, "that this is the last Cadillac until Mr. Billings give me the green light..."

"He can't do that!" Zeo protested. His blood shot eyes grew hot. Zeo reached out to grab Bernie's shirt and lifted the fat bartender up.

"Don't blow your wig now pally!" A voice called out from behind Zeo. Both man turned to see a dark fellow with an ugly scar that ran from his left eye brow to his lower cheek. Zeo paused, wondering where he had seen the man.

"You really don't remember me!" The burly man barked a laugh, "Seriously this stuff is turning your brain into Jello." He then seated himself by the bar and order a gin and tonic.

"What do you want?" Zeo asked briskly.

"It's what Mr. Billings wants, Zeo. Sleuthetania is docking tomorrow at six in the evening, and you know who are on board that ship." The dark man paused, waiting for a reply, but Zeo remained silent. "Come on pally! It's not the first time that we worked together, we had an incredible time in Egypt!" The man tried to put his arm on Zeo's shoulder but he shook it away.

"Not this time, Leo..."

"It's Theo." The man sighed. "Look, i know they used to be your friends. If you don't want to show your face, that's fine with me. Not that they'd recognize this skull of yours anyhow." Theo sniggered. "You know these people, what weapons they use, how they react to situations, where they'd go if we're to give a chase. Information. That's all, you don't even have a shoot. We have enough goons for that. There'll be a 'party' waiting for them when they dock."

Theo downed his drink and left a tip, "See you at six pally."

Jun-5-2012 10:34

As Vulkie was looking out towards the ocean outside on the deck, she was smoking a cigarette and before that, she had a small talk with the captain of the Sleuthania, while one day remained until they would arrive at London. "Yes Miss Nouson, I'm aware that the clams weren't fresh, we'll do our best next time..." the captain said, in an apologizing way. Vulkie gave the captain a small nod, and responded: "I don't mind it Captain, but I could've gotten seriously sick, and I can't afford that at this moment".

The Captain then strolled off towards the kitchen, probably to give the cook a furious commentary of all sorts of "sea captain language" and all sorts of swear words, for almost poisoning guests. When Vulkie had smoked up her cigarette, she launched the cigarette butt into the ocean. All of a sudden, Molly came strolling towards Vulkie and looked at her with piercing eyes. Molly always did that, to have some sort of advantage over people, but Vulkie got used to it.

"Molly, I don't like this one bit. You know Jack isn't gonna let us get into London easily... Don't we have some sort of a plan, instead of blasting our way through the docks?" Vulkie asked. Molly, in the meanwhile, stared at the ocean which Vulkie had stared at seconds before.

"What Jack did... He... he killed my friend, Thomas. Point blank, right in front of me. Thomas did what Jack asked of him, and his "reward"? A bullet to the head.." Molly said, while shedding a small unnoticable tear. Molly wasn't the girl that cared much about emotions, but when people got close to her or her friends, she could have the occassional moment of emotions.

"Molly, I swear, we'll make Jack pay, one way or the other. But now, we need a plan! We need to get off this ship, my gut says that Jack'll have spies on this ship and he knows when we're gonna arrive. We need to think of something!" Vulkie said, with an encouraging look towards Molly.

Jun-5-2012 10:35

"Well.. we could always use a lifeboat, but we'll have to disembark when it's dark.." Molly said, while pointing towards a lifeboat. "Get the rest Molly, we'll need to discuss this plan in private and work it out into details" Vulkie replied, while strolling off...

Jun-5-2012 21:34

Molly watched Vulkie go with a sigh.
"Heavens, do we ever disembark these things normally?" she grumbled, then picked her way across the deck towards the hallway containing the staterooms.
"Marc!" she knocked on his door, and presently her friend answered. "We've got to fetch Riza. Vulkie thinks there's spies on board, and she proposes we escape by lifeboat."

"These things never happen normally, do they?" Marc grumbled, and Molly shrugged as they went to round up Riza. They found the woman in her stateroom, looking unusually pensive.

"Riza dear, gather your things. We're going to have to make a hasty departure. Vulkie has it on good information that there's spies on board, and Jack will know precisely when we land."

Just as these words left Molly's mouth, the lights flickered off. There was a tense moment of hair-raising silence, and then Molly shouted, "get down!"
Her hand tangled itself in Rizas hair as she pushed her friend to the floor of the suite, just as the shooting started. The wooden door exploded inwards in a spray of splinters, gouging the floor, the ceiling, and worst of all Mollys new pillbox hat.

Presently the shooting stopped and Marc leaped up to start down the hallway in hot pursuit of the culprits, to no avail. Curious heads were starting to poke out of the neighboring staterooms, and Molly gestured to Rizas suitcases.

"Darling, grab what you need, we're not long for this boat." Saying so, she dashed off to her own room to throw a few things together, and met her friends on the deck where the lifeboats were.

"Simple enough." Vulkie said, gesturing all of them inside the boat, then hitting the lever, scrambling inside as the lifeboat plummeted away from the side of the ship. It hit the icy water below with a resounding splash, and they began to row away towards shore, undetected. It was then Molly decided to voice her fear..

"A connection told me...that there is a man among The Hellfire Clubs ranks now..."she began..and filled them in.

Jun-6-2012 08:58

At twenty minutes past six o'clock Zeo lazily strolled toward Theo where they set their ambush by the dock.

"You're late pally!" Theo hissed.

"It wouldn't make a difference. They're long gone." Zeo laid down on a crate and massaged his eyes with his palms.

"Impossible! We've been here before the ship dock, and we have people on board watching them. They have a radio telegram and would have sent us a message if that is so."

"Yes they would, if they can send messages from their graves." Just then, medics carrying several corpses on stretchers came down from the boat. "The place will be swamping with flatfoots in no time. I suggest that you wrap this circus up." Zeo swung his arms around, indicating the ambush that Theo set up. He didn't bother to get up or open his eyes.

Theo pulled Zeo up by his collar until their noses were 2 inches from each other. "And you didn't say a thing until now?" Veins were popping out through Theo's temples. Even his old scar was turning crimson.

"You told me to come at six... sorry i was 20 minutes late?" Zeo replied sarcastically.

Theo pulled out a knife and laid it on Zeo's neck.

Zeo closed his eyes.

Beads of blood were seeping through.

Suddenly Theo loosen his grip.

"I'm not dumb enough to be your suicide weapon, Zeo." Theo spat, "You're just so weak you can't even kill yourself! And you can't even make up your mind whether to betray your old friends or not! You are pathetic!!"

Zeo remained stone silent.

"Well you don't have a choice, pally." Theo took out a pack of Cannabis from his jacket and shoved it Zeo's. "Take us to them. You know well enough where they'll be hiding."

Zeo clenched his jaws. He stood in silent in eternity, then he slight tipped his head to the South. He walked to his car. Theo and rest of the Hellfires followed.