Something to lose

[Iron Man]

Just a quick one pager with a bit of malifaux darkness to it. Any comments and suggestions appreciated.

Something to Lose

Jimmy was running through the darkened cobblestone streets of the business district of Malifaux. His heavy woollen cloak was wrapped tight around him and his hood covered most of his face. He was sure something was following him. He could hear laughing and giggling that made his skin prickle, but every time he turned there was nothing to see, just empty streets under the gas lamps shine.

Jimmy knew he shouldn’t have gone into the slums. It wasn’t a smart move, even for a man who had nothing to lose, or at least four hours ago thought he had nothing to lose. His life was now very important to him.

There had been a man in the Drunken Skunk saloon. Jimmy didn’t know his name, but he had seen him around. He was an old man, so old he was corpselike, with a hooked beak like nose and sunken eyes rimmed by round spectacles. The man had sat down effortlessly on a high bar stool next to Jimmy without a word. Jimmy had just finished his measure of throat burning cheap whisky when the man had pushed another over to him. Under the glass was a note. Jimmy unfolded it.

277 Tower Street, find it, bring back the black box, you will be rewarded

When Jimmy turned to ask the man what exactly all this was about the man was gone. Four hours ago jimmy had decided to find Tower Street and get his reward. He was regretting it right now.

He slipped on a wet cobble, twisting his ankle, but he quickly got up and limped in the direction of The Drunken Skunk. Only a few blocks to go. Nearly There.

I don’t like sharing

Jimmy almost jumped out of his skin. The voice wasn’t following him, it was in his head. He gripped the box he had found in both of his hands, so tightly the blood was draining from his knuckles. He turned a corner, barely slowing to do so, and grimaced every time he put his weight onto his busted ankle.

Give it back, It’s mine

The voice this time burrowed deep into Jimmy’s brain. He winced as pain shot through his forehead and behind his eyes.

You don’t even want it Jimmy. You don’t even want the reward. You just want somebody to acknowledge your existence.

Jimmy slipped again, the combination of the wet ground and the voices in his head were doing a very good job of distracting him, and he did his best to protect the box as he fell flat on his face. He rolled onto his back and saw all the gas lamps flicker then go out.

‘Can I have it back now?’

This time the voice wasn’t in his head. A sulphuric stink rose through his nostrils and a small child like silhouette that matched the voice completely crossed his vision. Jimmy couldn’t speak. His head felt like it was going to explode with static like buzzing and the silhouette was blurring in and out of vision so quickly Jimmy didn’t know what was real.

‘I know you want to hand it over.’

Jimmy took the box from where he had been hiding it under his cloak and lifted it up over his head. He knew he shouldn’t, but he had no control over his movements. The buzzing in his head was getting louder. The buzzes were filled with words of comfort and promises of safety, if only he did what the voices said.

The girl materialised completely. She was small, wearing a red night cloak and carrying a basket full of confectionaries. Her overly large eyes blazed in the moonlight and Jimmy couldn’t not look into them. It was as if they were filled with all the wonders of the universe.

‘Can I have it back now?’ the girl asked in a voice so impossibly sweet Jimmy couldn’t refuse.

He handed the small black box to the girl, and she snatched it out of his hands. Jimmy’s arms dropped to his side, and the voices of comfort in his head stopped dead. The silence forced his other senses into action and the pain of his now swelling ankle and the damp soaking into his cloak from the wet ground made him feel completely vulnerable.

The girl opened the box with a click and giggled almost crazily. Jimmy could something metallic glinting inside the box but he couldn’t make out what it was as the box was suddenly snapped shut again and thrust into the basket.

‘Now Jimmy you know you’ve been a bad boy taking what isn’t yours, and bad boys should be punished!’

Jimmy shrieked in terror as the girl thrust with the full force of her body a pair of stainless steel looking scissors through his throat. In the seconds before he bled out Jimmy realised he should have never took the risk. He had lost.

Edited April 19, 2010 by Iron Man
web forum formatting/making easier to read

[Nathan Caroland]

Fun quick read!

[Justin]

I enjoyed it!