Nightmare into Fantasy- Part 6

The car crawled to a stop in front of the modest storefront. You wouldn’t guess by looking at but the Hoarder was the unofficial center of commerce for the city. Everything flowed through it. Drugs, guns, women, men, exotic animals, political figures, law enforcement, and some amazing rates if you wanted to pawn stuff! Seriously, they gave money away.

All the other pawn shops in the city slowly had their customers syphoned off as the Hoarder paid people well above market value. The items they could resell, they kept. Everything else they recycled. Everything was disposed of in the most environmentally conscious way possible. The Raging Bull may lead a cadre of monsters that have performed unspeakable evil but he’s also a staunch environmental advocate.

Though his methods were menacing, they were effective in producing a progressive environmental plan that included revitalizing the downtown core, increasing investment in public transit and equipping buildings with solar window panels effectively wiping the city off the province’s electric grid.

Jacob was loved and feared by all. If you were in his good graces the man was a giant teddy bear that could rip your arms off. If you weren’t, he would rip your arms off. The lucky ones were those gored with the pair of short swords Jacob carried with him everywhere. The underworld was filled with tall tales of the Bull’s rage. One could understand Parker’s hesitation.

To Parker, the Hoarder represented near certain death. Everything about the storefront was imposing. From the tricycles and musical instruments displayed in the windows to the lack of bars on those windows. Who was he kidding? Parker knew no one had the cajones to steal from the Bull.

There’s an App for that

It was well after dark when Anthony and Parker knocked on the front door. Anthony attempted to peer through the darkness but it was too thick to see anything. A voice crackled over a speaker hidden in a little nook above the door, “Are you gentlemen lost?”

Anthony cleared his throat delivering his best authoritative detective voice, “We’d like to see the Bull.” He looked to Parker who stood there like a man resigned to doom. Anthony gave his friend a “we got this” look. Parker could only respond with a sad smirk.

A minute later the voice crackled back to life, “Do you have an invitation?”

“We do,” Anthony responded. Click. A panel located to the right of the door handle slid open to reveal a digital scanner.

“Have you downloaded the app?” Anthony had heard about this but thought it was another one of those ridiculous legends tied to Jacob. As it turns out the syndicate owned royalty rights on a certain popular app based game. Through this venture they developed an adult only ecommerce business. It’s amazing what you can sell online with multi-layered shell companies.

“No. Is it available in the app store?” Anthony asked. He stared at his phone and started scrolling through the apps.

“Hold on… the email we sent you with the invitation should give you access.” Anthony opened his inbox and there it was, an email with the subject titled, “The Bull has invited you to join Animal Farm”.

“Found it. One second.” Parker, the voice on the other end of the speaker and Anthony all waited patiently for Anthony’s phone to download the app. When the app opened he found he received an in app message from the Bull. He clicked open the message which revealed a QR code.

“Now scan the code on the panel.” Anthony held his phone a few inches from the panel until it beeped. “Best of luck gentlemen.” The crackled voice disappeared and they heard a click. The front door dropped into the ground while another panel on the floor shifted, unveiling a staircase dimly lit by a soft green glow.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this partner?” Anthony said, reaching out and grabbing Parker’s elbow. “We can always find another way. I still haven’t gotten the DNA results back from the blood samples. Maybe there’s another explanation if we go check the house again...”

“Every minute we waste is another chance for me to lose her forever. No. If this saves us time, we’re doing this.” Parker pulled himself free from Anthony’s grasp and descended the stairs, the soft green light solely responsible for preventing a journey into complete darkness.

Boss Level

They reached the bottom of the staircase and found the source of the light. A thin string of lights framed a solid metal door. A panel the size of a letter slot broke the smoothness of the door. When they reached the final stair, the panel opened to a pair of eyes, demanding a password.

“We didn’t get a password,” Anthony responded, startled by the eyes and demands. “Let us in. We have an invitation,” urgency and annoyance flashed in his statement.

The eyes rolled with a bored indifference, like they had repeated this answer several hundred times. “Have you checked the app? It should have arrived after you were scanned in. Anthony checked his phone and there it was… he clicked open the message. A phrase.

“Mother ffff…” Anthony stopped himself. Apart from his environmentalism, the Bull despised curse words. One of his employees once said shit around him. That employee’s body was later found dropped near the outskirts of the city. The coroner had ruled death a result of suffocation. Human feces had been found in his stomach and air passages. “Shitty way to die” became the joke of the investigation. Anthony looked at his phone and repeated the phrase, “Soft as baby poo.”

The eyes vanished and the metal door opened revealing a swanky underground entertainment complex. Exotic dancers (men and women) entertained onlookers from raised stages, every once in a while bending down to conduct transactions with potential clients from the crowd.

A customized mahogany bar had epic images of the founding five members of the Animal Farm syndicate. Each image depicted the tragedy of the member’s life that led to them starting the syndicate. In all cases, a loved one was lost.

As Anthony and Parker took in the scenery around them, A woman in a striking red dress approached. The dress hugged the woman’s shape in all the right ways, accentuating the curves one might think about when indulging in self love. The ankle length dress had a slit extending up the woman’s thigh to right below her hip. It was an alluring seduction meant to capture attention. It gripped Anthony at this moment.

“Would you gentlemen care to follow me? The Bull has invited you to a game in his private suite.” The woman was one of the Bull’s most trusted advisors, Fox. She was responsible for establishing the financial infrastructure of the organization. All the dirty cash and crypto currency was washed through the pawn shop… it's the reason why they were able to offer such incredible rates for people’s unwanted items. If dirty money is everywhere, how do you track where it came from?

She guided them through the maze of vices to a spiral staircase which led to a maple door. The door opened to a room cloaked in luxury. Red velvet walls surrounded black marble floors. Positioned in the middle of each wall was a maple door leading away from this invitation only affair. Seated at a poker table with a few others was the Bull. “Boys! You finally made it!” Jacob boomed as he stood up with excitement while nearly flipping the poker table.

Cry Me a River

He ran over and scooped Parker and Anthony up like they were children. “It’s been too long my friends. Come sit, have a drink, maybe play a few hands,” Jacob hinted, glancing at Parker with a slight smirk. “However Parker, currently you are unfit to sit at my table, so I’m going to need you to change.”

“Me?” Parker exclaimed in insult. “What about that guy?” He said pointing to Anthony. No one knows why, Anthony looked stellar in his charcoal grey tailored suit. And Parker looked like a man clothed in misery.

Jacob snapped his finger summoning a tailor to his side. “Strip!” the Bull commanded. “It’s not a request,” he rumbled. As fast as he said it, Parker was in his boxers. The tailor moved swiftly, taking Parker’s measurements like he was being fitted for a suit. The tailor finished and scurried off through a door.

“You could use a shave as well,” Jacob ordered. Parker complied. A barber entered through another one of the fours doors. It was getting hard to keep track of where they came in. The Bull invited Parker to take a seat. “Just don’t fart on the upholstery, it’s ostrich leather imported from Africa.”

Parker leaned back in compliance and terror as the Bull’s barber shaved him with a straight razor. The barber finished quickly and Parker relaxed after five minutes of pure panic. The tailor returned with a handsome burgundy custom tailored suit for Parker. “Put it on!” The Bull barked. Parker continued to obey. Plus the suit fit great. Like DAMN! “Excellent, now we’re ready for our little game,” he said, inviting Parker to the table.

Anthony began to take the seat next to Parker when the Bull shook his head. “Not you Snoopy,” he stated, referring to Anthony’s uncanny investigative abilities. “This game is heads up.” Anthony pulled away cautiously not wanting to abandon his friend to this fate. He joined the few other observers milling around the table. He recognized Fox, she was talking with the Mayor, two other councillors. The Chief of Police was speaking with Panther, another syndicate founder. There were a few more people who he couldn’t identify but one of them looked a lot like the city’s top judge.

“What are the stakes,” Parker asked, finally finding his voice.

“Oh Parker, I’ve been waiting a long time for this day. Now it’s finally here. This night’s been pretty rough on you, eh pal. Family gets taken, best friend in the hospital, fingers missing, blood everywhere… Yes, I know everything. I even know where Tanya is.” he mentioned casually. “How about my information, for a favour?”

A FAVOUR! Nothing good came from owing the Bull a favour. It was dangerous. Your morals were guaranteed to be corrupted because his information was that good. He knew exactly how to compromise you. He stared at Jacob hard studying his demeanour. He was relaxed, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Fuck this guy. “Done.” This was Parker's best shot to find his family.

“One hand. Winner take all. I know you’re a little strapped for time.” He chuckled at the thought of Parker’s pain.

“Just deal the cards DICK!” Everybody stopped to watch the hand. Dick was borderline for the Bull but he let that one slide. Parker was under a lot of stress after all. A dealer joined the table as the two sat across from each other. He deftly shuffled the cards, dealing out the first two to each player face up so everyone could see.

The Bull had pocket aces. Parker, the king and two of spades. The dealer delivered the flop. Queen of Spades, Ace of Diamonds, 10 of Spades. Three Aces for the Bull. Nothing for Parker. The next card, the turn. An Ace of Spades. Even with the Spade flush, how was Parker supposed to beat four Aces? The river… Jack of Spades.