“It appears as though the men who hired us are well financed. You must actually present a degree of threat to them. What the hell were you in Belgium?” Ed asked.
“I was just a wonderer, going from place to place picking up work wherever I could—drinking, taking drugs, and making love to lots of women. I learned English too, just in case I wanted to travel here.”
“Now, when the time comes, you can’t hesitate to shoot those guys. It will make a lot of noise and mess, and we have to leave as soon as the job’s done. Now here’s the case.” Ed passed it to me as we reached the room. He tapped the door with his knuckles twice, loud enough for the room’s occupants, but quiet enough not to draw much attention from people staying in adjoining rooms.
I took another long breath, waiting for someone to let us in. As the door opened an inch inward, I heard a familiar voice call us in, the smaller of the two men I was hunting. If I thought my room was impressive, this one made it look like a dog kennel in comparison.
We immediately saw a complication in our plan. The room was packed with party guests. Men in suits danced with scantily clad women to music making me want to stab myself in the head with a fork. I never liked rap music. I had always been a metal fan or maybe a bit of pop if I wanted to seduce a woman.
“Is there somewhere private we can do business?” Ed asked.
The man stared at him for a few seconds and then looked over at me. As his grey eyes hit me, the locked stare made me wonder if he could see through the fake facial hair and make-up and into the real me. I froze until Hayley poked me in the back.
“Follow me,” the man said, leading us through the hazy room.
A woman laid on her stomach, her bare back containing parallel lines of a white powder, snorted up in a snap by one of the suited men. A spa bath near the sliding door leading to the balcony was packed with men and women, not a stitch of clothing to be seen on their bodies from the waist up. One of the women caught my gaze and rewarded me with a knowing smile.
“So, who the fuck is this guy?” The big guy in the bedroom said as his partner led us in. With his legs draped over the end of the bed, a female head covered with blonde hair bobbed up and down between his legs, not caring we were present.
“An associate who has the money. He wants to buy something,” Ed said.
“I thought I would owe you two money for a job you were to do for us. I don’t like this,” the big guy said. “And who said I have never-ending supplies of what you want?”
Long have I heard the saying that all plans go to shit as soon as the battle starts, and this meeting soon travelled down the road of one of those situations. The smaller guy put a hand inside his suit jacket while I opened the briefcase, allowing the piles of money and guns to fall and hit the floor.
The big guy roared, pushing the girl away and not bothering to pull up his pants while he grabbed his own gun and swung it around in my direction. Ed and Hayley both dove to the floor in the direction of the spilled contents of the briefcase. Each of them scooped up a pistol, and in synchronised fluid motion, lined up a target each and fired.
The big man and the small man both fell. The blonde woman interrupted from orally satisfying the big man screamed and ran from the room, Ed and Hayley allowing her to flee.
I looked over at the men I came here to kill, noting the lack of movement in both of their bodies. It was supposed to be my kill, but I couldn’t keep myself together to carry it out, and consequently, felt lucky to still be alive.
“Bjorn, grab one of their guns,” Ed yelled. I had never seen a dead body before, not even those of my friends who died of a drug overdose. So seeing the bodies of those two men who met their demise from such a violent act sent my mind racing and my stomach lurching. I swallowed hard and slowed my breathing until I could move without fear of vomiting.
The big guy was the nearest of the two, so in a fumbled flurry, I rolled him over to retrieve the gun lying beneath his body, dislodged in the short-lived conflict. I made careful work not to touch his uncaged penis while in the process.
“They might have friends. Get ready to shoot anyone who comes through that door,” Hayley said.
A few men in suits popped their faces in, looking at us and probably wondering who the hell we were. I aimed my gun at a random target among the group of men.
“We don’t want any trouble,” one of them called out. “We were just here to party and get laid.”
“Well, leave then, and take those skanks with you,” Ed said.
The men complied. Hayley stacked the piles of money back into the briefcase and pushed ahead of me, “We need to go.”
“Security will be on us in minutes,” Ed said. He pulled a phone from his pocket and made a call. I kept my eyes on the people in the central part of the hotel room, looking for any hostile movements.
“Well, that didn’t quite go as planned,” I said. “Aren’t you a security guard?”
“We should have left you behind in your room,” Hayley said. “You could have got us all killed.”
“I’m not a security guard. I was just posing as one to get closer to you. Maybe we should have settled for the fifty k job and let Hayley stab you,” Ed said. “We need to get to the roof.”
Making our way through the room, we were subjected to people climbing naked from the hot tub while other people were in various state of undress exiting the room to escape to the corridor on the other side. No one seemed interested in hanging around long enough to have to deal with security or the cops when they arrived.
We trailed behind the last of those to leave, making it to the corridor. Ed peeled away from the others, pointing to the stairs and then up. We only needed to ascend one floor, whereas everyone else would have probably been looking to take an elevator to the ground level. Ed held the door open for Hayley and me to go through and allowed it to self-close after he followed us.
The stairs were old concrete, but at least they didn’t smell like those common to car parks and coated in the stench of animal urine.
I burst through the door at the top, exiting to the rooftop of the casino and looking over the brightly lit city. I would have loved to stay and just sit and watch the city go by in the cool, crisp air with a glass of wine, but the opportunity didn’t exist for such.
“Our ride will be here soon. Bjorn, if you thought tonight was crazy, wait until you see what else we can deliver through our crazy lives,” Hayley said. “Come with us, and I’ll let you make love to me in the morning, any way you want it.”
“Well, I’m not sticking around for the police to find us if I can help it. So this ride you speak off…” my voice trailed off as I looked up and saw a light heading our way along with the sound of helicopter blades chopping through the air accompanying it as it neared.
“Get used to choppers, Bjorn. Where we’re going, you’ll soon find we’ll be using them a lot,” Ed said. I smiled as the wonderful metal transport approached us, and it quickly came to rest on a bare space of concrete roof, using it as a makeshift helipad.
I stared wide-eyed at the magnificent beast, my trance broken as voices yelled at us from the top of the stairs, “Stop right there.”
Hayley ran to the chopper first, and Ed waved me past as he fired wayward shots to keep the security guards at bay. I jumped in, sat next to Hayley, and watched Ed open the front door of the chopper to sit next to the pilot.
The pilot lifted us from the rooftop, taking us away from the zealous security personnel who wanted to prevent the departure of suspected killers. Once again, I soaked up the sights, and upon leaving the city limits, Ed passed me a takeaway coffee.
I accepted it and immediately sipped the warm liquid, savouring the fine blend as it flowed down my throat. My eyelids grew heavy, and I looked at the cup.
Ed looked at me. “Sorry, Bjorn. We're kind of strict about not letting people see the way to get to where we’re going. See you in a few hours.”
Hayley smiled at me. “It will be okay. Just rela
x.” Her hand held mine, and the power of the sleeping agent that was slipped in my drink took effect, turning my world black.
Chapter 2
I awoke in a bed in a room I had never laid eyes on before, my clothes stripped from me, but a sweet familiar face next to me. “Where am I, Hayley?”
“You’re at your new home. We’re going to train you to do some stuff for our organisation, which you’ll be well paid for and in the company of great people.”
I turned to kiss her, noting she was wearing pyjamas. She put a hand up.
“What?” I asked.
“Your breath could melt the paint off that chopper we flew in last night. You need a shower and a toothbrush.”
“Where are my clothes?”
“Destroyed. You won’t need them. We have everything you need and in your size.”
I climbed out of bed, Hayley’s eyes following my movements. I couldn’t see any adjoining rooms able to lend themselves to serve as a bathroom of any kind.
“I’ve never had an uncircumcised man before. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.”
“It’s a European thing. Where is this shower I can take?”
“Grab a towel from your cupboard and come for a walk. You’ll love it.”
******
After walking for five minutes wearing nothing but a towel, Hayley pointed to a building. “This is our morning ritual.”
I opened the door and saw a number of women and two men taking a shower in a communal situation, each of the women beautiful and sexy.
“I like this very much,” I said, taking a glimpse of those before me without my eyes landing and leering on any of them in particular.
“Grab a spot and hang up your towel. Aren’t you Europeans fairly liberal with this sort of thing anyway?” Ed asked. His naked form squarely in my view, he lathered soap all over his body. I couldn’t help but feel a little envious of the size of his penis, looking away in an instant as the jealousy hit.
“Yes,” I threw my towel over a metal rail. “It doesn’t mean we walk around our cities naked, but yes, we’re not so hung up on nudity as you are here.”
“Does it look like we’re worried?” a blonde asked. She smiled at me, and I mentally added her on my to-do list.
I felt someone tap me on the back. I spun around and saw Hayley standing within a foot of me completely naked, but something else was missing. “Where’s your hair?” I asked.
“It’s hanging up. I can be a blonde, brunette, and even a redhead. Of course, the carpet doesn’t match the curtains in a lot of cases, but when a man is about to get some action, they’re not about to express any concern.” She looked me up and down. “So, let’s finish what we started last night.”
“In front of everyone else?” I asked.
“Hell yeah.” She pressed her body against mine, “Well? Are you ready?”
******
As soon as she was finished with me, Hayley grabbed her towel and left me in the shower next to Ed. I couldn’t believe he stood there the whole time and watched me have sex with his stepsister and regular lover. Seeing the other women who occupied the room gave me the feeling that I would like my time at this place.
“Hope you enjoyed it, Bjorn. Experience has shown she’ll only fuck a guy once, and then move on, with the exception of me, of course,” Ed said.
I began to towel myself dry, aware of the fact Ed and I were the only people remaining. “Who is the dark skinned woman? She is exquisite.”
“Her name is Nakato. No one knows much about her, and I can bet you that you won’t get to first base with her. I can tell you she came from somewhere in Africa, but she won’t say shit about her past.”
“You’ve tried and failed then. I will try to succeed.”
Ed laughed at me. “Listen here, you European stud, it’s time to stop thinking about pussy and concentrate on the training you have to do.”
******
I believed myself to be in great shape until my first day at the compound proved to me otherwise. We started the day with a run, push-ups, more running, and boxing practice. During my life, I had never needed much use of my fists, but with the training, I guessed I would soon become quite prolific in hand-to-hand combat.
“The boss wants to talk with you,” the naughty looking blonde from the showers said.
“Good, I have a lot of questions for him.” I followed her from the exercise yard to a small building where she pointed me to a desk.
“Take a seat. He’ll be with you shortly.” She walked away leaving me in the little building alone.
A male voice spoke through the intercom with a calmness I normally likened to a yoga instructor. “Good afternoon, Bjorn, and welcome to the compound of the Praying Mantassassins. We are taking a chance here, bringing you on board, but Ed tells me he can see potential in you. We require the services of what we call a cleaner. Basically, you will be responsible for cleaning up a scene if things have gone wrong or we need to cover something up. In return for this, you get to continue living here and are paid four-figure amounts for a job you’re called out to handle. I understand you travelled here on a fake passport,”
“No, I’m here legally. I—”
“Don’t ever try to bullshit me, Bjorn. One of my men or women won’t hesitate to slit your throat if I ever catch you lying to me again. Now back to the passport issue, which, by the way, it was a statement and not a question. Ed is a cop, so he can spot these things and run checks whenever he likes. Anyway, back to what I was saying, if you do right by us, you’ll be heavily rewarded in many ways. The rules for living here are quite relaxed, as long as you turn up for training, turn up when I call you, and that you don’t ruin our recruitment process by informing any recruits on how we pick the one who’ll go onto the next step from an intake. What we do and teach is brutal murder, but we all make a lot of money, and we want to keep it that way.”
“I understand, boss.”
“And please remember that you’ll never meet me. It’s not personal. It’s just the need for secrecy is of the utmost importance. I no doubt have people who want me dead. We might be hard to find here, but we have an arrangement with the leader of this country to stay here and continue to do what we do to enable us to remain invisible to the US authorities. So please don’t take it personal if we can’t let you see the way here or if there are bits of information that you’re not privy to—it’s just the way it is. If the day comes when we’re pissed off at you, it won’t be a case of a group of people bitching behind your back. It will be a case of you being sliced up and your body dissolved in chemicals that will make it like you never existed.”
I gulped as if I had a golf ball going down my throat.
“Bjorn, just toe the line, and you’ll be just fine. Hope you enjoy life as one of us.”
“Thank you, sir.”
When I didn’t hear the voice resume his speech, I guessed it was time to leave. I walked outside and found a wooden bench seat to sit on. I witnessed the sun making its departure for the day, leaving a bright patchwork of orange and red on scattered clouds before sinking from view and bringing with it the night sky.
“Something else to get used to here, Bjorn,” the blonde woman stood next to me. “May I take a seat?”
“Sure.”
“My name’s Emily, and I need you to walk me back to my room, take off all your clothes, and fuck me as hard as you did Hayley this morning.”
I smiled and grabbed her hand, knowing I would indeed enjoy this place.
Chapter 3
A week had passed when I got up one day for an early morning jog. A lap around the compound took about half an hour; such was the vastness of the place. I liked to catch as many sunrises and sunsets as I could, no matter what happened in my life. Those peaceful euphoric moments witnessing nature’s start or end of a day always put my life in perspective and filled my inner bucket of happiness to capacity.
I always said the early hours of the morning were the best time of day, th
e crisp air hitting the exposed parts of my body, the sound of birds singing and the tranquillity of no other human being in my presence. This particular morning had been like the last few, slipping out of bed early away from the sleeping body of Emily, putting on a pair of shorts, and hitting the day head on. That was until Ed crossed paths with me.
“Nice day for a run. Mind if I join you?” Ed asked as he jogged in my direction.
I nodded. Running is one of those things I prefer to do in silence. If I have to talk while I’m jogging, I’m not going quickly enough.
“So, you like it here so far?” he asked.
I nodded again and hoped he wasn’t intending to conduct a full interview while running.
I liked that the jogging paths were all natural, rather than footpaths made of concrete, and that the paths were worn down stretches of grasses and wildflowers.
“Sorry, I guess I’m so used to exercising that I can carry a conversation. Great to see you’re getting in shape.”
I never realised how unfit I had become in my wayward years until day one of my training. Ed must have been at the compound for years, his body ripped, perfect, and one I strived to achieve for myself. He kept quiet for the remainder of our run, which is how I liked it. We finished the run when we reached my room.
“Bjorn, I need to be straight with you. I’m a cop. That’s how I find so many assignments for us and so many recruits. For the most part, I’m a competent policeman, I do my job well and make many busts and do everything I should be doing. But I have this side of me here, of hiring women to sleep with and kill men for whatever reason they pay us for.”
“How have you managed to keep this side hidden from the police force all this time? Has anyone ever investigated you?”
“I have someone high up who takes care of things should the need ever arise. If someone has ever been onto me, they’ve done very well to not be noticed. Because if I catch them…”
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