Cast-Iron Chris: February 2009 Archives

The black mustang convertible roared into Cyrrous' One Stop Fast Shop.

"Oh fucking sweet!" said Jason Madinger from the passanger seat when he realized where he was being taken. "You should have just said you were taking me to Cyrrous' place!"

Long Barrel Darrel raised an eyebrow from behind his mirrored aviator glasses, "you've heard of Cyrrous' before?"

"Fuck yeah, man," said Madinger, who was starting to squirm in his seat, "this place is the shit."

"Good, then I don't have to deal with the formalities. Jacquie took me for the first time about a week ago."

"The first time?" asked Madinger as he quickly got out of the car before LBD had even turned off the engine. "Damn, he was holding out."

"No kidding. I've been back here almost every day since."

"Really, doing what?"

"Shooting."

"Fuck, yeah," said Madinger as they entered the store. LBD smiled from beneath his mustache.

The little bell on the door rang as the two Gun Bearers entered. Cyrrous was behind the counter reading US Daily and listening to some foreign music that sounded bad to LBD's ears. Madinger ran his hand through his hair and pushed some of it behind his ear. Cyrrous looked up from his magazine.

"What is the goings on, boys," said Cyrrous.

"What's popping, you old fuck?" asked Madinger.

In a flash, Cyrrous had his magazine rolled into a weapon and beat Madinger in the face with it as he walked past the counter.

"Ow, fuck!"

"Show some respect to your elders you worthless peon!"

LBD walked in behind Madinger. He grabbed a toothpick from a little dispenser at the edge of the counter. He lowered his glasses and looked at Cyrrous. Cyrrous didn't say anything to him he just reached under the counter and pulled out some keys. He threw the keys to LBD, who caught them in the air.

The pair walked to the back of the store and opened the door. They walked through a narrow hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door. They stopped two feet from the door. LBD bent down and stuck a key into a dusty lock that was flush against the floor. Once he turned the key he lifted it and a square door opened up.

Under the Fast Stop was a fully constructed shooting range. Madinger and LBD smiled at each other. All afternoon they fired revolvers, lever action pistols, semi-automatic pistols, machine pistols, submachine guns, machine guns, assault rifles, battle rifles, sniper rifles, single barrel shotguns, and double barrel shotguns. LBD shot an Elephant gun. Madinger shot a grenade launcher. Then LBD shot a Gatling gun. They smiled and they laughed as they shot these guns. They smiled as the fired these instruments of death. They saw an imaginary bloodbath in front of them. They imagined this together. And in that imaginary bloodbath, these two Gun Bearers, bonded.

The diner door opened and caught a springy little piece of metal attached to an old brass bell. Long Barrel Darrel instinctively closed the gap between his left arm and his chest, in between was his 12 inch custom made Huntington .22.

He looked around the diner from left to right. He didn't particularly like it. The entire wall behind him was nothing but thin window glass. The sidewalk outside was short and the street was behind it was busy. The windows were lined with booths and a long bar was on the other side of the aisle. At his far left LBD spotted Jacqueline Bloom sipping tea and reading a newspaper.

"So what's good here?" LBD asked as he took a seat.

"Everything and nothing," said Jacquie from behind his paper.

LBD liked Jacquie. He looked up to him, but he didn't like him much whenever he got into one of his ominous moods. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Stick to something simple. The pancakes are good."

The aging waitress with a big ass appeared at the edge of their table. "Hey sweetie, what can I get'cha tonight?"

"I'll just start off with coffee. Is it really strong?"

"Yeah, it's pretty strong," said the waitress.

LBD looked over at the glass container of sugar that you don't see much in restaurants any more, one of the ones that bigger than a soda can. He lifted it up, inspected it, and sat it down closer to his reach.

"Okay, yeah just the coffee. Do you guys bring out a whole pot?"

"We can."

"Yeah that'd be great," LBD said. The waitress looked at Jacquie, who kept reading his paper. She left. LBD looked at Jacquie and sighed loudly.

Jacquie folded his newspaper three times and set it aside, "So?"

"So," replied LBD.

Jacquie folded his hands in front of him. The hand wrapped in white bandages he put on top of his other. LBD looked down and then back up.

"How do you think its going?" asked Jacquie

"Its going pretty good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Things aren't exactly what they fucking seem to be, are they?"

"No," said LBD giving a little laugh, "things are definitely not what they seem to be. I mean the gas station with all the hardware? That, I didn't expect."

"Yeah that's a little fucked up, I guess, when I think about it."

"Yeah, what if a shootout broke out over getting them guns. Everyone would be dead for sure."

"One of the reasons they are where they are."

LBD thought about that for a second, "Yeah, you're probably right." He thought about something for another second, "And those people that botched the Austin Tellamore job (#25), what the fuck was that?"

Jacquie straightened up, "That is exactly why I wanted to talk to you, LBD."

"Oh yeah?"

"They followed me half across Grimland last night."

"What?"

The waitress returned with a cup and a pot of coffee. They stopped talking until she was gone. LBD poured a cup for himself and added a lot of sugar as Jacquie went on talking.

"I made'em pretty quickly and took off running." He looked around the diner and lowered his head, "I ran. They gave chase. I don't like to be chased. I doubled back around and got one of them. Then..."

"What?"

"They flew."

"They what?" asked LBD as he shot back-straightened in his seat.

"Flew," Jacquie let that sink in a second. "They flew that night on the roof top. They flew last night. I went back around to check the guy I shot and he or she was gone too. I know I nailed him so they must have gone back..."

"Hold on, wait, Jacquie...you're fucking loosing it man. The Tellamore job was way fucked. No doubt about that, but what you're saying is crazy. You told me they got across to another roof from a fire escape that broke as soon as they were over."

"I told you that because I was fucking freaked. Now shut up. There is something bigger than us here. I know it. Gillingham has hinted at it. Simon is missing, probably dead. I'm worried about Cherry going deeper into the Rabbit hole. There is something brewing in the Syndicate. Something bad is happening that I can't explain."

"Jacquie we kill people. We kill a lot of people."

"Most of the deserve it."

"So? We kill because we're told to kill. We're told to kill because someone benefits from someone else dying. We get vast sums of money to kill. All I've ever been good at is killing. These people make sure I get to do that and stay out of jail."

"Motherfucker, do you not get what I'm saying?"

"No, Jacquie, I have no ideas what you're talking about!" The men talk in loud whispered bursts close to one another.

"This is all going to come crashing down. Mark my words. Shit is being put into a pitchers hand. The Syndicate is going to change. We may be there for it but we may end up as casualties."

"You're talking about war."

"I'm talking about the war."

"What?"

"The end."

"Alright, alright, I'm going to allow a small corner of my brain to believe you. What do you want from me?"

(The day of the Tattoo)

One dark night, Jacquie Bloom thought he was being followed by three figures. They were keeping their distance but there were three sets of footsteps behind him. He heard the steps but not the voices.

They were walking but not talking. He walked on. His suspicion was confirmed when he went down a street that he knew to be absent of any businesses still open. They could own one of the closed businesses but he knew they didn't. He was being followed.

He picked up the pace a little. He hoped over puddles. They walked through them. He crossed the street. They stayed on the same side. He turned a corner. They pursued. They didn't seem to be too interested in closing the gap between them and him.

Fuck this, he said to himself. He picked up the pace to a run. They didn't run at first. But he really put his soles into it.

They started to run.

Jacquie ran faster.

They ran faster.

Jacquie quickly took a turn.

He nearly fell on his ass.

They ran faster, harder.

They made the turn with ease.

Now they were pursuing.

He knocked over some trashcans.

He hit some cars, which sounded alarms.

They didn't notice any of it.

He turned a corner and stopped.

He pulled out his newly restored Berretta 93r.

He waited.

The running steps got louder.

He turned out from the corner, and fired a series of shots in rapid succession.

The pursuer on the left got all the shots.

The victim danced as the bullets invaded his body.

The other two, flew.

Jacquie watched.

Then he ran.

He looked up every once and awhile.

Nothing was above him.

He circled back around.

There was no body.

Jacquie ran home.

A man called out in the darkness, "What are you doing? You don't have to do this. Please, I'm begging you. Put me down."

The words were swallowed by the black.

Gloved hands worked feverishly at pulley systems at each corner of the dark room. The last screw was screwed into the floor mounted pulley. The gloved hand squirted a little grease on the pulley. It worked its way to all the pulleys. The black boots climbed a small later to reach the pulleys mounted on the ceiling. The gloves went to the center of the room where the naked man was shackled. The shackles were checked. They were tight. The gloves moved to a vanishan blind and twisted them open to let in a little light. The blue light hit the ground.

"Sorry, buddy. I intended to do this in the dark. It was part of the symbolism I was going for, but after getting those pulleys set up my eyes are strained," the man was covered in black except for his lightly bearded face. He had a tan and was very handsome looking; the naked man on the floor only saw terror.

The naked man's red eyes adjusted to the light and he saw that he was shackled to a system of wires. The wires went up from the straps on his ankles and wrist to the ceiling. Directly above him were four pulleys, one for each ligament. The pulleys guided the wires to the corners of the ceiling, where there were more pulleys that guild the wire to the ground. The grounded pulleys had small clamps in them to prevent the wire from going any further. The wire ends had black metal handles.

"Oh my God! You don't have to do this! Please let me go," the naked man struggled. The wires were fairly loose but he couldn't move enough to get his hands to meet or reach one of his legs. He flailed in pathetic attempt. "I will pay you whatever you want. I have money. Lots of money. Whatever you want it's yours. Just let me go."

"A-a-a-and there it is. I was waiting for that, buddy. I guess you could say it was my signal to start," The black clad man paced the room checking the pulleys. "I know you have lots of money. I did after all break into your office building, drug your coffee, and then waited for everyone to leave for the night. I know all about you Victor Fig, and that is why I will be killing you tonight."

"Oh no, no, no."

"Yes, yes, yes, you see I know about the money you've been taking from your employee's accounts. I know about the second account book. I know about your plans to take it all and run, or file for bankruptcy, did you ever decide on that last bit? Eh, doesn't matter." The darkly clad man reached for a pulley and unclamped the stopper. "You would have gotten away with it too, if not for ME-E-E-E-E!" He pulled hard and Fig went flying up to the ceiling.

The dark man ran to every one of the other pulley and pulled the exact same amount of wire. Once he had the desired level, he clamped the stopper back down. In the end Victor Fig was spread on the ceiling, each limb pointing in one corner. His face was an inch from the ceiling.

"You're right. I was going to take the money. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I know it was wrong. I'll give it all back. I'll give it all back, just pahuullleeasse let me down!"

"Really?"

Fig stopped crying, "Yes, yes, I'll give it back."

"You'll give all the money back if I let you down?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"What are the account numbers?"

"What?"

"The account numbers? I'll take all your money and distribute it amongst the employee's you've stolen from."

"Hey now wait a minute. Not all of that money I stole. Now you're trying to rob me. I wont stand for that you little prick!"

"Vicky buddy, you ain't standing period right now."

"Fuck you, you can't have my money. Not the money I worked for!"

"Oh buddy, you just said the wrong thing," the darkly clad man quickly pulled out a knife and stuck it an inch into Fig's back. Fig whaled and flailed and cried out. He screamed for help as his blood trickled down into a well placed waste basket. "Do you get it now, Vic? You're in the dark, well sorta, just like how you kept all your employee's in the dark. You've been stuck and are now being bleed dry, just like you bleed them dry. You're wound tight and well I guess I could argue that that's how your former employees would feel when they learned of their empty accounts but that's pushing it a bit. You get the idea. I'm Sticker. No, they don't call me Sticker because I stick people with knives. Though I do, as you know. I'm Sticker because I stick people with what's coming to them. I've always had this intense sense of irony. Anyway, enough about me, the account numbers, NOW!" Sticker sticks the knife in the same spot but a little deeper. More blood comes pouring out.

The whaling and flailing slowed to a stop and Victor Fig gave Sticker the account numbers.

"Thanks," said Sticker, and then quickly stabbed Fig even deeper in the same spot.

The next day Fig's secretary walked in on an over flowing waste basket of blood and her boss, cold and stiff, wired to the ceiling.

Half way through Cherry's set on stage she caught sight of Jacqueline Bloom at the bar.

When her set was through, Cherry headed back to the dressing room. She passed one of her girls covered in Freddy Forever's blood waiting to go into the shower.

"Is Ellie in there, now?" she asked the crimson girl.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good, you're on after her Trixie so hurry up and get cleaned up when Ellie is done."

Cherry hung up her clothes and put on a little black dress, conventional by strip club standards.

Jacquie faced the bar mirror and sips on an opaque green drink. Cherry slide up next to him and took a seat.

"Well hello there, stud. Couldn't sleep? I figured after our little adventure in bed you'd be in a coma."

"I don't sleep much anymore, Cherry. My demons are closing in."

Cherry smiled with her lips still pursed. She playfully pushed her forehead into Jacquie's arm to try and make him smile. He just sipped from his drink again without really even noticing. She looked at him more closely, narrowing her gaze.

"What demons, Jacquie?"

"When was the last time you saw Simon?"

"The *funeral, why? When was the last time you saw him?"

"The funeral, Cherry. I think Simon is dead. I think Gillingham had him killed for helping Vasquez.

"Gillingham, killed him? Simon is his number one guy, though."

"Nope, that's me now. We had a meeting about it a little while ago. He just said Simon was unreliable and I was in. I think he manipulated things to get me more time with my son."

"How is he?"

"Amazing, which just makes everything so much worse. I think there is serious evil within the Syndicate's plans. Of course, I've always known what we do is wrong. We do bad things. We all have our own demons that pushed us into Gillingham's arms and I think mine are making me into something awful, Cherry."

"What can I do, Jacquie?"

"Nothing. Keep doing everything as normal. I just wanted you to know. I'm going to figure this out. I'm going to get some answers. Gun Bearers are supposed to just do their assignment. Enjoy the money and the women that Gillingham throws at us."

"Simon sure did. He enjoyed all aspects of the job."

"Not at the end, Cherry. Something changed him. I know he went to work with Lee Fook. I think that had something to do with it."

"The Lotus Wolf?"

"Yeah, the Gun Bearer Executioner. I think he told things to Simon that made him go against Gillingham?"

"That fuck? Why would Gillingham's little lap dog use Simon to go against Gillingham. It doesn't make a fucking bit of sense."

"It does if you figure the lap dog thought he was helping Simon. Fuck he was probably the one that killed Simon. I bet he thinks that was helping Simon too."

The two sit in silence. Jacquie finishes his drink.

"Cherry, I gotta go. We probably just fucked up talking about this in the club."

"Fuck'em."

"I'll call you if I find anything out."

Jackie hesitates to go in for a kiss. He backs away and the decides to just lay one on her. He kisses her. Her lips follow his to make it last a little longer. He's gone when she opens her eyes.

There are only eight people in the world who know that The Damsel strip club has a hidden second basement. Other than Cherry and her Six Nines, Gillingham, the man who owns the club, is the only other soul aware of the small space. Sometimes however, that number grows, but only briefly.

The small room was burning hot. A dozen hanging light bulbs and lamps caused every possible space to be lit up. Freddy Forever hung shackled from an exposed pipe. Blood mixed with saliva drips from his mouth while blood mixed with sweat and oil covers his face. One eye was swollen shut. Cherry reared back with a bloody fist and went to work on the other eye.

"P-p-puhleesss," murmured Freddy.

Cherry stopped, it was the first Freddy had said since his arrival. His lips were a puckered asshole when he arrived but it looked like he was relaxing a bit.

Cherry briefly left the room and came back with her six other friends. One of the girls picked up a knife from the table of instruments and sliced a "C" into the side of Freddy's face. He screamed a little followed by a whimper. The blood oozed and Freddy's eye deflated. He blinked half a thousand times until the bright room became somewhat clear. The girls all stared and waited.

"Alright Freddy, it's confession time. This is your chance to not end your life like the asshole you've been while you lived it," announced Cherry.

Freddy tried to speak.

"No, no, no, not just yet. I want to introduce you to the women who helped bring your reign of terror to an end."

One of the girls stepped forward. She had short blonde hair that stopped at her jaw line. Her eyes were large and beautiful but dark, "This is Ellie Grey, my second in command. If I'm otherwise indisposed she's the one who fucks you up. When I give commands, she acts the out."

Ellie stepped back and another girl stepped forward, "Janice Killdragon, tougher than nails, she'll give you a lap dance that'll set you on fire." The girl had deep, red hair that flowed down her back. Her skin was milky and smooth, and her eyes were a light hazel. She stepped back and another girl stepped forward.

"Zelda Zee," said Cherry. The girl had long curly blonde hair but everything else about her was long and lean. Her breasts were small and pointed.

"Trixie Revolver," a blonde with a cowboy hat, chaps, and two revolvers. "Men think their props, they're real. If you knew a man named Long Barrel Darrel, you'd know these two were destined for each other."

"Lacey Lu, she is my little half Chinese half Japanese all American badass. And last but certainly not least is Dame Leslie, who has two talents. She can make men cum in their pants by whispering in their ear, and she can...well...you'll see soon enough. Well, that's it for me. I just wanted you to meet the women who are going to kill you."

Freddy's eyes bugged and he began shouting and spitting. "I'm sorry. I did it. I'm sorry. I killed those children. I raped them. I'm sick. I have a sicknesssssss."

Cherry popped him hard in the jaw. "Now, now, I don't care about any of that. We caught you in the act Freddy. We already know. My Six Nines will take good care of you. Ladies, skin this fucker. I have a show to do in five minutes and I look like hell."

"Yes ma'am," said Ellie, "Leslie?"

"Right," said Dame Leslie.

Cherry walked out of the hidden door in the basement wall, and closed it behind her sealing in Freddy's cries.