He closed the door and opened the one behind the desk. It led to a set of very old-looking, warped stairs. Ryker stepped up onto the first step and it creaked and groaned, echoing up to the top of the staircase. He decided at that moment that speed would be his friend here. He jumped up the steps three at a time as quickly as he could. He reached the top and opened a door just far enough for him to peek through.
The room was dimly lit by gas lanterns. It had big red chairs and shelves of big leather-bound books that lined the walls. There was a small, unlit brick fireplace in the center of the wall across from him.
Ryker opened the door fully and observed the empty room. It was warm and smelled of tea. There was a small table in the corner with two pots and a stack of white, ceramic tea cups. The room was otherwise empty. Ryker approached a door on the left and pressed an ear to it. He heard faint voices.
“How has business been?” a deep voice asked.
“Slow,” a nasally man’s voice answered. “The murders have made people afraid to come out at night. The influx of customers has nearly halved.”
“Business will return,” the deep voice answered. “Once the rest of the inventors are dead the news will fade into the past, and business will return.”
“You know, sometimes I’m not sure why I let him use this place as a front for his little order. Sometimes I think it’s not worth the trouble, and the risk. If anyone finds out I’ll lose my business for sure.”
“Be careful what you say,” the deep voice replied. “You never know who might be listening. Banding the wrong words about could lead to more trouble than you can handle. Caiden should be back tomorrow.”
“Where did he say he was going?”
“I believe he had some personal matters to attend to. You really shouldn’t concern yourself with it. You just make sure to keep your customers as happy as possible. Our numbers are rising. Soon London will be in Caiden’s control.”
Caiden isn’t even here, Ryker thought. No sense in spilling more potentially innocent blood. Ryker stepped away from the door and descended the stairs to the common room. As he walked through the door, he saw a man step out the main door, look around, and then see a dead body in the bushes. The man slowly stepped back, his body tense and trembling.
Ryker silently crept up behind the man. He wrapped a hand around his mouth, pulled out his screwdriver and jabbed it between the man’s ribs, into his heart.
The man instantly went limp in Ryker’s arms. He sighed. So much for not spilling more innocent blood. He dragged the body outside and dumped the body into a well at the edge of the building. He returned to the bushes and grabbed the first man he killed, hurrying to deposit the other bodies in the well to avoid further detection.
***
Ryker returned to the lab. He was completely soaked from the pouring rain, and everyone was fast asleep. Ryker turned on all the operational gas lanterns and woke everyone. They gathered around Ryker in the center of the lab.
“What’s going on?” Wendell asked sleepily.
“Glad to see you’re still alive,” Adelina said happily.
“Where are Shamus and Livvy?” Ryker asked.
“They’re in the room in the back,” Adelina answered. “Neither of them has come out since your previous confrontation with them.”
“They need to hear this, too,” Ryker said sternly. He walked to the door in the back of the lab and pounded on it. “Shamus, Livvy, we need to talk.” He said urgently. “I’ve found them.”
There was a moment of silence and then the door swung open. Shamus’s face was grave, and he looked as if he hadn’t slept for days. Livvy stood behind him, a similar expression on her face.
“What,” he said sharply.
“Come with me.” They followed Ryker back to the others and Ryker stood in the center of them. “I’ve found Partum Chaos.” he announced. “They’re using a brothel in the center of the city as a base of operations.”
“Get to the point, Ryker. Is he dead or not?” Shamus stood stone-faced with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were hard and cold.
Ryker looked at Shamus for a moment before answering. “He wasn’t there. I overheard someone saying he would be back tomorrow, and that he had some ‘personal business’ to attend to. But I don’t know what it is.”
“How many innocent people did you have to kill to find that out?” Shamus asked angrily.
“Shamus, stop it,” Livvy snapped. “We talked about this.”
Ryker narrowed his eyes. “How many innocent people did you have to kill to test your Bots?”
Ryker and Shamus began shouting at each other. Most of it was inaudible from the echo in the lab.
“Stop it,” Adelina shouted. Her voice cut through the argument and silenced the both of them immediately. Everyone stared at her. “This is it,” she snapped. “The both of you need to shut the hell up about who is the bigger bad guy and concentrate on the serious issue here. Bad things have happened; innocent people were killed. It’s very, very bad. But, it’s over. So quit your bickering and figure out how to put an end to Partum Chaos.”
There was a long pause as Adelina glared at the both of them. “Now, why don’t we all get some rest and we’ll figure out our next move in the morning.”
The group continued their stares for a moment, surprised at how intimidating Adelina could actually be, and dissipated, except for Ryker and Shamus. They stared at each other. Ryker sighed. “Look, I’m sorry about Charles. I only did what I had to.”
Shamus’s eyes dropped. “I imagine I might have done something similar had I been in your situation. Did you really have to kill the old man?”
“It was him or me,” Ryker answered firmly. He extended a hand and Shamus grasped it tightly. “We’re going to get this guy,” Ryker said.
Shamus nodded and released Ryker’s hand. “We’ll weigh out our options in the morning,” Shamus answered. He walked to the back room and closed the door.
Ryker leaned on a steel table. He removed the paper from his waistcoat pocket and opened it. There were two columns: one listed clients, and one listed girls. He turned the paper over and there was a list labeled employees. Several of the client’s names had a small letter c written next to them. He stared at the list for a long while. “I’ll bet these are Partum Chaos members,” he said quietly. “It looks as if the tides may have turned, Caiden.”
Chapter 22
Ryker hadn’t slept so well in days. He awoke lying on the table and clutching the list from the brothel. He sat up and looked at his palm-watch. “8:43. Fantastic,” he said. He felt surprisingly good. A good night’s sleep was all he needed.
He climbed off the table and found everyone else sitting around another table drinking tea.
“It’s about time you got up,” Celia said with a smile. “Sit.” She pulled out the chair next to her and poured him a cup of tea. He took a sip and nearly spit it out. “This is quite strong,” he said.
“It’s what I like to call Inventor’s Brew,” Adelina said. She sipped at her steaming tea.
“Have you been up long?” Ryker asked. He tentatively sipped at his drink.
“Not really, no,” Celia answered.
“Well, I’m glad you’re all here,” Ryker said. “I think I’ve come up with a plan.”
“Let’s hear it,” Shamus said eagerly.
Ryker held up the paper from the brothel. “I believe some of the brothel employees are actually members of Partum Chaos. If we can get rid of these members, then Caiden will be at a significant disadvantage. It’ll force him to reveal himself if he wants to finish off the last of the inventors.”
“Certainly a good start,” Wendell said. “How many members are we looking at?”
Ryker looked through the list of names. “It looks like there are only six.”
“Alright,” Wendell answered. “So, how do we do it?”
Ryker looked back and forth at Celia and Adelina. “We’re going to need both of you for thi
s.”
Celia and Adelina looked at each other. “Why us?” Adelina asked.
Celia narrowed her eyes at Ryker. “I think I know where this is going, and I don’t know if I like it.”
“It’ll be fine,” Ryker stated. “And, it’s our best shot at getting to Caiden.”
“What’s your plan, Ryker?” Adelina asked.
“I’ll give you all the details when Celia and I get back from the tailor’s,” Ryker answered.
“We’re going to the tailor’s?” Celia questioned.
Ryker nodded. “Get Adelina’s measurements, though. We’re going to need them.”
***
Celia obtained Adelina’s measurements, and she and Ryker made a quick trip to the tailor’s. When they returned, Adelina rushed to the lift, intrigued to see just what kind of plan Ryker had.
“Put these on and see if they fit,” Ryker said as he stepped off the lift. “Celia, you may want to help her.”
Adelina took the clothes from Ryker and held up a black corset and a very short black skirt. She looked at Ryker. “I don’t know if I’m so comfortable with this.”
“It’ll be fine, I promise. You only have to wear it for a short while.”
Celia and Adelina entered the back room, and returned a few minutes later. Adelina looked like a completely different person. Celia had styled her hair messy, but stylish, and she wore the same black corset that Celia had. Her skirt was very short, and just thick enough to be barely translucent. She had black boots that tied up just below her knees, and tapped loudly as she walked.
Ryker stared at her as she approached. “Ryker, focus,” Celia said as she snapped her fingers.
“You look fantastic, Adelina,” Ryker commented. “This will do just fine.”
“Alright, I put the clothes on, now what is your plan?”
“Come, sit,” he said. They sat around a table and Ryker grabbed the list of names. “There are six Partum Chaos members. I’m sure that these members frequently use the services at the brothel. Each of you will take three of the members and act as if you are taking them to bed. When you are in there, you just kill them and hide the body.”
“Just kill them?” Adelina said. “What do you mean just kill them? I’ve never killed anyone before.”
“Well seeing as how your life is in danger, you’d better learn quite quickly.”
Adelina sighed. “I really don’t know if I’m comfortable with this. I’m an inventor, not an assassin.”
“We can’t leave Celia to do this on her own. I’m sure there’s not enough space to hide six bodies in one room.”
Adelina looked at him, and then looked down at her clothes. “How do you propose we kill them?” she said after a brief silence.
“You’ll keep a blade strapped to your leg,” Ryker answered. “It’ll be easiest to kill them if you get them on top of you. Be sure to stick them in the side. You want their clothes to absorb as much of the blood as possible so you don’t leave a trail.”
Adelina nodded. “How do you know all of this?” she asked.
Ryker paused. “You know, I’m not really sure,” he answered. “It just… makes sense to me.”
“Interesting,” Adelina used her “inventor” voice. The voice she used when she wanted to study something.
“When do we go in?” Celia asked.
“Not until tonight. We should stay hidden today and rest. We’ve been going at this for so long, we shouldn’t get burned out.” Celia and Adelina nodded. Ryker smiled at Adelina. “You’re welcome to change for now,” he said.
Adelina looked at her clothes again and then rushed to the back room to change. She returned a few minutes later in her trousers, shirt and waistcoat—her usual inventing clothes. She smiled. “Much better,” she said happily. She sat back down at the table and poured herself another cup of tea. She glanced across the lab at Wendell, who was quite busy grumbling angrily as he attempted to clean his rifle. She looked at Ryker. “So, how did you and Wendell meet?” she asked.
“There’s not much to tell, really. Shortly after my mum died I was basically wandering the streets, wondering what I was going to do with my life and how I was going to survive. I turned down an alley and heard a commotion. As I went further into the alley I saw two guys beating on poor Wendell. I grabbed a piece of wood and bashed one of them over the back of the head. The other guy came after me, but Wendell took him down and gave him quite a thrashing. After that we figured we’d be pretty indestructible together.”
“What a charming little story,” Adelina answered semi-sarcastically.
“There are plenty more stories about those two,” Celia laughed.
“Have you known Ryker for a long time, too?” Adelina asked.
“Not as long as Wendell has known him. But I’ve known Ryker for a few years.”
Ryker flashed a smile. “A few very good years.”
Celia smiled and put a hand on top of his.
“You two certainly have an… interesting relationship.”
Celia and Ryker looked at each other. “I suppose it is odd, yes. But we do what we have to in order to survive.”
Celia nodded.
“But, how do you handle it knowing she’s out there with other men, Ryker?”
Ryker shrugged. “It gives her experience.”
Celia threw a hard punch and caught him just below the shoulder. “Ow!” Ryker cried. He laughed and rubbed his arm.
“We manage alright,” Celia said with a smile.
“Well I’m glad to hear it,” Adelina said. She looked at Ryker, and then down into her tea and sighed quietly.
***
As nighttime approached, Adelina and Celia readied themselves for their mission. “Alright,” Ryker said. “As soon as it’s done, be sure to call me on the communicator so I know. Be sure to come directly back here after.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Celia asked.
“No. People saw me last time, and I’m sure they’ve noticed their missing employees by now, so I don’t want to risk going back there.”
“Weren’t you wearing a mask?” Adelina asked.
“It’s just too risky right now,” Ryker answered sternly. “You have your blades?”
Celia and Adelina felt their upper thighs, making sure the blades were secured to their legs, and nodded. Celia checked the back of her upper right thigh to make sure her communicator was securely strapped in to place. “Alright, good luck,” Ryker said.
Ryker kissed Celia on the cheek and placed a firm hand on Adelina’s shoulder. “Remember what you’re doing this for.”
Adelina nodded and followed Celia onto the lift and up onto the main floor of the apartment building. They left the building and briskly walked down the street.
“Why are we walking so fast?” Adelina asked.
“With the way we’re dressed, we’re likely to attract other attention. We have to get there as quickly as possible.”
“I see,” Adelina answered. “I feel like there’s another reason for Ryker not coming. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person to shy away from action.”
“He doesn’t want to go because he doesn’t want to watch me use my seduction techniques. He’s not entirely as okay with my profession as he leads others to believe.”
“I had no idea he was so sensitive.”
“It’s not really sensitivity. It’s more jealousy than anything else. But don’t let him know that you know or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
***
Celia and Adelina arrived at the brothel just before midnight. The roof guards aimed their rifles at them as they neared the entrance, but noted their clothing and lowered their weapons.
Two masked men in fancy black suits greeted them. “Hello,” one of them said. His eyes lingered at Celia’s chest for a moment. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you two around here before.”
Celia smiled. “We’re new to the business,” she answered softly.
“I’m sure you’ll fi
t in just fine,” the other man said. He looked Adelina up and down for a moment, and then stepped up close to her. “I wouldn’t mind trying it out myself.”
Celia stepped between them. “Now, now,” she said seductively. She ran a finger down his chest. “I’m sure we’ll be able to slip away after our shift.”
The man smiled and slipped back. “Shall we set you up with your first clients?” he asked.
“We actually have a few names in mind, if that’s alright with you?” Celia said. Ryker had made them memorize three names each.
The two men looked at each other and then shrugged. “I don’t see why not,” the first man who spoke answered. He took out a piece of paper and a quill pen and set them on the desk at the back of the room. “Just write them down and we’ll send them in.” he nodded at Celia. “You may take the left hallway. The last door on the right.” He faced Adelina. “And you may take the right hallway. The second door on the left. Just send your client out the door at the end of the hall, and pull the rope next to your door when you’re done. Another client will be in shortly after.”
Celia and Adelina nodded and wrote down the names on the paper. They smiled at the two men and walked to their rooms.
***
Adelina sat on the large, silk-sheeted bed and observed her surroundings. The room was warm and smelled of lavender. There were gas lanterns mounted on the wall, and a large candelabrum hanging over the ceiling. Many of the candles were burned down to nothing, providing dim mood lighting.
Adelina’s heart jumped when the door handle turned and the door swung open. A young, muscular, shirtless man entered. His black trousers were unzipped and he dropped them as he closed the door behind him. No shirt. She noted. How am I supposed to hide the blood? She stood up and approached the man.
He immediately wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. His slid his hands up her back, over her shoulder, and onto her chest. She instinctively slapped his hand away and stepped back.
London Darkness- Infernal Inventions Page 14
