Venom headed for the bar and sent a message to Taz, informing him where she was. The man was always late, but that was usually because he had stopped to see his dealer on the way. Neon was always better with a few euphorics in your system. Maybe some Sense or Xcite would diminish the awkwardness between them. After ordering a drink, she sat watching the crowds. It had been so long since Venom had taken the time to relax. At one time, clubbing had been as important to her as eating and breathing, and being here reminded her why. Energy from the music and atmosphere electrified her, re-charging her spirit and psyche.
“Well, hello, little Miss V,” said a voice in her ear, lips so close they brushed her skin. Venom’s head snapped to regard her friend standing beside her. Taz’s slender 5 foot 10 inch frame was bound in a series of neon yellow straps, and the dark tattoos that covered him were a contrast to the bright bands. His dark brown undercut hair was already streaked with neon paint, and a handprint was on his square jaw.
“What happened to you? Piss off someone already?” Venom asked with a smile as she reached up and wiped the handprint from his chin.
“Haha, nah, there are some girls near the door just attacking everyone,” Taz responded as he scrubbed at his face. As he looked at her, his smile wasn’t as relaxed as normal, and she could see the worry in his face.
“That’s always the story. Stop hitting on girls with partners, we talked about this,” Venom said with a smirk as she nudged him with her shoulder. “You’re only ten minutes late rather than the usual half hour. Have you actually got your shit together for a change?”
“Well, what can I say? Mast has really streamlined his deliveries in the past few months,” Taz joked as he swiped her drink and took a sip. Exactly as she guessed, he had been off seeing his dealer.
“You get anything good?” Venom asked. Out of everyone she knew, Taz always seemed to know where to get the best stuff. Well, apart from that one time.
“I got some Sense and a few ‘shrooms for afterwards,” Taz answered as he pulled out a small bag that was tucked into his straps. “I got enough for two.”
“You always know how to have a good night,” Venom said with a grin as she grabbed her drink and finished it. It was good to see Taz, but she would need to reacquaint with him before she was comfortable taking a drug that made her want to touch, smell, and taste everything.
The night carried on as expected. The two started drinking, and as soon as the alcohol started to take effect, the awkwardness between them faded to nothing, and it was just like old times. They chatted, danced, and drank until they were well and truly under the influence. When Taz offered her Sense, she took the green pill with no hesitation, and the world became more vivid around her. She felt truly alive.
After a dance, Venom leaned against a divider, watching over the dance floor as Taz excused himself to go and get them both a drink. She was grinning from ear to ear as she watched the mesmerizing grind of bodies to a fast paced and repetitive tune. Feeling an arm brush up against hers, she turned expecting Taz, but it wasn’t him.
“Can I help you?” Venom asked. She was met by a square-faced man with a stubbled chin, simple framed glasses covering pale green eyes, and dark hair parted pristinely. Unlike so many who occupied the club, he had gone against the unwritten dress code. Instead of the multi colored straps, he wore a simple suit.
“Riley Sutton?” he asked with a questioning brow. Hearing that name caused her fuzzy, drug-addled mind to suddenly become clearer. So few people referred to her by her real name that it was uncomfortable hearing it. It just reminded her of her shitty childhood.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know you,” Venom said, her eyes flickering over his shoulder searching for Taz.
“I know who you are, Riley Sutton, and you have something of mine that I want back,” the man said in a threatening tone. Her brows furrowed as she desperately tried to figure out who this guy was.
“I think you’re mistaking me,” Venom replied.
“You and my friend played a rather interesting game of chess the other day,” the man said, narrowing his look at her. Venom’s stomach churned, and it wasn’t because of the cocktail of drugs and alcohol. This guy had something to do with the SUN. She had two ways to play this, either play dumb or come clean. Playing dumb wasn’t getting her anywhere.
“Your friend played a bad game. Now what do you want?” she asked, trying to show some kind of confidence.
“I want what you took returned,” he replied simply.
“Sorry, that's out of my hands, I haven’t got it anymore,” Venom said.
“You’d better find it,” the man said. Venom opened her mouth to give a cocky reply when she felt something cold and metallic pressed against her naked skin. Glancing down, she saw the muzzle of a gun. This guy meant business. “You will have it done by Monday, midnight. That’s one week. Maybe we shall take something of yours as incentive.”
Venom kept her mouth shut. There were no words; instead, an intense scream echoed through her mind. In her time working with the Network, she had come close to death a few times, but in those moments, she had some recourse, some way to get herself out of that situation. Right now, she had no defense. He could kill her, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.
“One week; you heard me,” the man said. With that, he retracted the weapon and turned to leave.
Venom stood stock still, watching him until he was enveloped by the crowds. She could still feel the imprint of the gun on her skin. The shock of the brief encounter immobilized her. She wanted to run and hide, but she couldn’t convince her body to exhale, let alone move. Taz returned with drinks in hand, his goofy smile quickly replaced by one of worry. Apparently, her emotions were pretty evident on her face. He put down the drinks on the nearby table and dashed to her side.
“V, what’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Taz said, gently cupping her cheek, his green eyes full of concern.
“I… please… I need to go home,” Venom stuttered as she looked around a little frantically.
“Hey… hey… what’s going on? Where’s this anxiety coming from? It’s not the drugs, I know that much,” Taz said, gently gripping her shoulders as he tried so desperately to get her full attention.
“Taz, please. Take me home, and I’ll tell you all about it then, I promise,” Venom pleaded. She wanted to get out of here and somewhere safe as soon as she possibly could.
“Alright, alright… let's go,” Taz said, downing one of the drinks. As his hand slipped into hers, she let him steer her through the crowd. Her eyes flickered around desperately, searching for any sign of the man in the suit. The fear was overwhelming, enhanced only by the Sense in her system.
They grabbed their coats and stepped outside. The cool air was like heaven against her warm and sweaty skin. Her eyes darted up and down the street, watching for any sign of movement. She was so on edge and panicked she jumped at the sound of a car backfiring. She grabbed Taz and cuddled into his side. There was something about him that invoked a sense of safety.
Taz stepped forward and flagged down the first cab that drove past. Venom felt so numb that she let him assist her into the back of the car before he instructed the driver to her address. She expected Taz to stay and carry on his night, but instead, he climbed into the back of the car and closed himself inside. The ride back to her apartment was silent. Her mind was moving so fast and through a thousand different scenarios that she just wasn't able to verbalize anything. She could feel Taz’s eyes on her the entire ride.
When the cab stopped on her street, she didn’t even wait for Taz to pay the driver. She threw the door open and ran for her building, needing to be off the street and away from prying eyes. What if the suit had someone follow her? What if they had a sniper rifle? She shook her head in an attempt to quell the paranoia. Shoving the apartment door open, she stepped into her sanctuary. Seeing the curtains open, she rushed around closing them, hiding her from sight of the world. For the first time si
nce the encounter, she felt able to breathe.
“Sooooo… are you going to tell me what was with the speedy departure?” Taz asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice, her heart beating fast as she reeled around to see him standing in her doorway. She hadn’t thought he’d follow her. He slowly advanced towards her, kicking the door shut behind him. “Venom, seriously girl, calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“I fucked up, Taz… I took something that I shouldn’t have…,” Venom stuttered as she began pacing a small square of carpet.
“I’m going to need a little more than that,” he said, cocking his head. Looking at her friend, she saw the wide eyes and the worry that lined his face. She swallowed hard and realized that she couldn’t tell him. She had used Network resources to make the hack, and she could lose her job. If he knew anything about this, then he was an accomplice to the crime. She couldn’t drag him into this, too.
“Don’t worry about it… I had a bad day… a bad hack. It freaked me out a little, that's all. The drugs must have enhanced that or some shit,” she said, trying to brush the whole thing off. No matter how scared she was, no one could know about her fuck up. This was her burden and hers alone.
“Venom, you can’t freak out that badly and then expect me not to ask questions. You’re my friend, and I worry about you,” Taz said sadly as he stepped in closer to her.
“Taz, please… I just can’t… I’ll be alright. I just can’t go into this right now,” Venom pleaded. She watched a series of emotions flicker over Taz’s face, annoyance to sadness, but he eventually settled on acceptance. He sighed.
“Alright, I won’t push, but if you need to talk, please call me,” he said sadly. With a shrug, he turned and made his way to the door. A thrill of panic shot up her spine. She couldn’t be alone. If they knew her well enough to approach her contact at the club, they would know where she lived. What if they came for her in the night?
“Please don’t go,” she said quickly. Taz stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. It must have seemed like an odd request after they had spent so much time apart. She could feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes as the suited man’s threat circled around in her mind. Venom had never been this scared before. Waiting for Taz to respond felt like an age. She wanted to get down on her knees and beg.
“Alright, sure… yeah, I’ll stay,” Taz said awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. The two stared at each other for a moment.
Venom couldn’t stand it and stepped into the kitchen. She fished out two cups and started the coffee maker. The fuzzy drug haze had felt good at first, but now she just wanted to banish it. Coffee was always good for that. Taz followed as far as the kitchen doorway, throwing a shadow over the linoleum.
“Venom. Whatever is going on, please talk to someone. If not me, just anyone… please,” he begged. Venom avoided all eye contact with him.
“Alright, I will,” she lied. Tomorrow she would just focus on getting the SUN’s data back, and then it would all go back to normal. As she went through the process of making coffee, her brain kept going over her interaction with the other man. Suddenly, she remembered something, something that had been lost to the fog so far. The man had commented about taking something of hers; what did she have that he could take? All her data was protected by the Network, and it wasn’t like she had anything else. She had to hope it was an empty threat.
Chapter Seven
Once again, Venom came awake with a groan. A typical hangover had her in its grasp. Pounding head, churning stomach, and a major dry mouth made for a horrific wake up. At least the room was still shrouded in darkness; the blackout curtains she’d installed long ago were a godsend. As she shifted in the bed, she became aware that she wasn’t alone. Panic ran through her as she desperately tried to remember who the hell she had gone home with last night, but unfortunately, her mind was just full of black spots thanks to the alcohol and drugs she’d consumed last night.
Venom rolled over slowly. She didn’t want to risk waking whoever was here with her until she knew who it was. Relief flooded her when she saw a head of dark hair and some very familiar tattoos. It was Taz. The moment was short-lived when a couple of pressing questions came to mind. Why the hell was Taz in her bed? Had they slept together?
The panic seemed to push back the haze of her hangover, allowing her access to the memories of the night before. The guy in the club, the threat, the gun in her side, and her begging Taz to stay the night. When they’d gotten back, he was going to sleep on the couch, but her paranoia had skyrocketed, and she’d ended up dragging him in the bed with her. They hadn’t had sex; her drunken self had some sense. The cocky and confident mech-head appeared so calm and serene. It was a look rarely seen on him.
Venom had wanted to go back to sleep. but the harder she tried, the more her brain reminded her of the threat. How the hell could she relax when that was hanging over her head? Logically, she needed to shake off this hangover before she could immerse in the Nexus, but right now her brain cared little for logic. If she immersed in her current state, her mind would be sluggish and slow and would increase the chance of mistakes or even severe Neural Feedback. With everything else going on, she didn’t need a brain crush.
Not wanting to wake her bedmate, she slipped carefully from the sheets and grabbed her pack of cigarettes from the bedside table before heading through the door to the balcony. Winter was quickly approaching. The chill in the air was indicative of that as well as the haze of drizzle that hung in the air. Standing in just underwear and a shirt, she couldn’t give a shit about the weather right now. She had far too many issues to be dealing with. She lit the cigarette and took a deep drag, inhaling the smoke. Smoking was usually reserved for when she was drinking, but today she really believed she deserved it. Exhaling the smoke, she tried to clear her mind, to think about anything but the shit state she had found herself in.
Leaning on the cold, damp railing, Venom watched the world from her fifth floor vantage point. A sea of umbrellas beneath her, cars crawling down the congested road, people going about their daily lives without worry. Well, of course there would be some worry, but did any of them have the panic that they would be murdered? How many of them had had the barrel of a gun pressed into them?. Venom shivered, entirely unsure whether it was caused by the cold or the memory.
The first cigarette was quickly followed by a second as she spaced out, considering everything that happened in the last couple of days. The mess that she found herself in, and it was all because of Fenric. That stupid pretty hacker boy and his debt had gotten her into all this trouble. She should have said no and just gone home and slept like she had been planning to. She was going to kill him. That's how Venom would end up in prison. Not hacking charges like she expected but the murder of Fenric.
She dropped the second cigarette butt off the balcony to join the rest of the detritus and stepped back into the apartment. A chill ran through her, so grabbing some fresh clothes, she stripped the damp nightwear and changed. Her head was still pounding, and her mouth was drier after smoking. She was so annoyed at herself right now. If she hadn’t gone out drinking, she could have immersed. Heading to her kitchen, Venom made herself a coffee and sat at the breakfast bar as she considered her position. Summoning her gauntlet’s AR interface, she activated some search programs and inputted OwnPlace as the target. Shit. So now she had to hack the hacker bar. That was asking for trouble, but it wasn’t like she’d get the data back if she asked nicely. To make matters worse, she had a shift in four hours, meaning the hacks would have to be quick and concise.
As she devised her strategy, she watched her hacking programs work. Lines of code scrolled over the gauntlet’s interface, software that she had predestined to do certain jobs. When she was immersed, she could manipulate the programs further, but unfortunately, she had to make do with hardlining. First target was the owner and announcers of the Colosseum; that would dictate her next move.
“Good morning, beautiful
,” Taz said from behind her. She jumped a little. She had been so distracted that she hadn’t even heard the bedroom door. As he rounded the breakfast bar, she noticed he was already dressed.
“You are far too chirpy after a night in the club,” Venom growled as she sipped from the cup of hot tar that she grasped for dear life.
“I feel like warmed up shit, but I’ll pop a couple of uppers on the way to work, and that will hold me for the day,” Taz said with a weak smile as he grabbed his shoes and started pulling them on.
“You gotta go now?” Venom asked. She still didn’t fancy being alone here, but in her sober state, she wouldn’t resort to begging.
“Yup, I start in an hour,” Taz responded. He worked with the Network requisition team, but that wasn’t where he excelled. He was an outstanding driver and mechanic, but after their team had fallen apart, he had refused to be reassigned. “So I’m going to look like an ass going in wearing last night's clothes, but fuck it.”
“Just be glad you wore plain clothes to Neon and changed there. Could you imagine doling out equipment in your straps?” Venom joked. The image of him walking around the requisition floor just wearing yellow latex was amusing. The neon against the black tiling would make him stick out like a sore thumb.
“I’m not sure whether my boss would laugh it off or fire me,” Taz said as he straightened up. Fumbling in the pocket of his suit trousers, he pulled out a small professional looking pill case. It had multiple compartments each with different pills and powders of different colors, shapes, and sizes. Most people used them for prescription medication, but not Taz. Venom shook her head as he extracted two small white pills and tossed them in his mouth before taking a swig of her coffee.
Caustic (The Seraphim Network - Everyday Series Book 1) Page 7
