Chapter 2

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Washing blood off his own hands while being late to a meeting should never be game plan. Which is why it's not. Zac washing the blood off his shirt was the first thing he planned to do after dumping the limp body that lay at his feet. Zac slicked his black hair that was covering the top of his eyes with his wrist, his fingers stained with blood clenched into a fist. Zac breathed a long sigh, leaning slightly against the ventilation pipe that ran down the side of a tall grey building. As he picked up the tall male figure on the ground with one arm, he wiped his other hand with his shirt and pulled out his phone before calling the first name that showed up.

“Good morning my star!” A cheery voice shouted out so loud that Zac winced and held his phone away from his ear.

“I’L needs a car sent to the third house. I'm expecting some packages”

“Of course Zac, anything else? Did you eat this morning? You have a meeting at 11, and 2”

Zac paused for a bit and shifted the body's weight, before answering.

“Yeah… get me a car to the main house, I'm at St Bianca Bridge… and cancel the 2 o’clock meeting.”

“Cars already on it’s way, what reason do you want to make up this time” she replied with a sigh, and Zac could hear rustling of paper in the background.

“Uhm, I'm sick, And we do not have to give them a reason Sam”

“That could contradict your 11 o’clock meeting, and yes, we do” Zac could practically hear Sam’s eyes rolling.

“Both dealers don't talk to each other, it'll be fine. If both know the other is meeting with me, they’ll keep their distance to minimize conflicts.

Zac could hear another long sigh before she replied with an impatient “Fine”

“Great!” Zac replied with a noticeable fake cheer in his voice “Bye!”

Zac cut the call but not before he could hear Sam's voice rise and shout incoherently

Zac breathed deeply as he put his phone back into his jean pocket, and inspected the body that he still had in his left hand. He would have to dispose of it soon. The man was tall. He had stab wounds covering his chest, and his mouth was dripping blood. His forehead had one singular bullet hole. The body was still warm, with blood on the man's knuckles, an obvious sign that the man tried to fight back. Another obvious hint was the growing bruise under Zac's eye. Zac moved quickly towards a dumpster, his strides wide before he opened the lid and pushed the body in. The dark alleyway practically sucked any light that entered, the walls a dark maroon, and the air was thick. He wiped his left arm with a black hoodie that was lying on the floor, the dried blood staining his tan skin. His boots made a hollow echo as he made his way to the front of the alley, his eyelashes flickered as his honey-brown eyes got adjusted to the light. It was around midday, and the sun shone right in the middle of the sky, making Zac wince trying to read his watch. He pulled back into the alley, looking for anything that he might have left behind.

“This might have been one of the sloppiest ones you’ve done” A woman's voice echoed and rolled through the alley,

“I was making it quick” Zac snapped, grabbing a black bag that leaned against a corner and trudging over to the front of the alley again.

“I don’t ever want to see work like this again.” The voice spoke out boldly, a seething snarl at the end of her sentence, The walls of the alley shook faintly, dust falling from it.

Zac rolled his eyes at the noticeable tone change, a small smirk playing on his lips. He thought about openly laughing but thought against it. He was too tired to pretend to bicker with her.

“Never again will you see it” Zac replied sweetly, He did a sarcastic half-bow before throwing his bag over his shoulder.

“Zandra.”

“Madité”

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“You begin to speak out of place once again.”

“Oh, I’m just getting comfortable you know that” Zac jested, a playful glint in his eyes.

“Zandra, you must realize” The voice began, her voice hollow and empty. “This is not how you should get accustomed. You're getting too used to-”

“Yes yes I’m sloppy and slow” Zac interjected. “At least I'm aware right? Also, I still have things to pick up. Now my car is gonna arrive in about 12ish minu-”

Zac's ramble was cut short by a knife that was previously lying on the ground flew past his face, and he felt a sharp pain in his left ear. A trickle of blood dripped from his ear, along with sweat that had collected in his black hair.

He heard the sound of metal unsheathing and whirled around in time to grab another spearpoint knife by the hilt. The blood dripped onto his neck. A small glowing sparkle caught the corner of his eye. Then there were two, then three. After a few seconds, around a thousand small glowing pixie lights bubbled and danced, clustering together in front of Zac.

“You haven’t learned when to speak have you?” Madité hissed, “And to think of how long we’ve been aligned” The light glowed harsher.

Zac bit his tongue, thinking of how to acknowledge her in a way that wouldn't result in his immediate decapitation.

“Madité, I apologize. I was rushing because I wanted to get it done and not be late to my meeting…which I will be late to if I don’t get to the bridge in time.” Zac said bluntly with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

The lights dimmed, and a breeze flowed into the alley, almost like a sigh. “Move quickly, traces of you are left everywhere.” Without warning, the lights fleeted, hiding in the innermost cracks of the walls before vanishing.

Zac finally stepped out of the alley, breathing in the fresh air and zipping up an extra jacket that he kept in his bag. His boots left no mark of blood as he walked down many streets before arriving at the bridge. A sleek black car was waiting for him, the windows so tinted that it was looking at a mirror. The windows lowered and a glove-covered hand gestured for him. He opened the car door and made himself comfortable. “Main house was it?” asked the driver.

“Yup, take me home” Zac sighed and rested his eyes as he leaned against the seat, slowly dozing off.

When he woke up, his driver was looking at him from the front rearview mirror nervously, unsure if he should wake him up.

Zac chuckled and thanked his driver, paying him quite handsomely. He walked into his house and moved quickly into the bathroom taking off his jacket. He saw a large stain of blood and fluids on his shirt and he opened a shelf with hydrogen peroxide put it on the shirt, then soaked it in water in the sink. He swiftly took a shower, cleaning especially his black hair, letting the water fall on his platinum roots which coated the top of his head. He washed his arms and face well then changed, adding foundation under his eye and other places where he had noticeable bruises before moving into his study, sitting in his leather chair as he checked his watch.

10:50

His phone vibrated on the dark wood desk, and picked up the incoming call.

“Hey! You up?” A radiant loud voice came through.

My God why is everyone loud today

“No shit Jace.” He rubbed his eyes “What do you want”

“You busy?”

“I will be”

“A meeting?”

“Yeah”

“What about the tour you’re planning”

“It's in process”

“Where”

Zac breathed exasperatedly. “I'm not sure Jace. What do you want”

“Gosh impatient much? I just wanted to say I found where that guy you were looking for is.”

Zac's eyes brightened a bit, sitting up, keenly listening. “Really? Where is he?”

“France. Paris to be precise. He’s part of a university board. Let me see here… Yup! The University of Art and Visuals. He works there.”

“Interesting, that's good info Jace, Thanks.” His eyes clouded as he processed.

“I was wondering why you needed all this though. He’s not someone important, nor overtly rich. He is well off. Do you know him?

Yes… I met him but never got any information on him, so I could never contact him. He is a very interesting character. A pen flipped around his fingers as he fiddled with it. “Thanks so much for the info Jace”

“Oh, that's nice. No problem Zac” His voice was still bright and cheery.

“Hey bud, I got a meeting now. I’ll talk to you right after it alright.”

Jace agreed and said his goodbyes, making sure that he made Zac owe him dinner for the info.

Zac laughed and murmured some curses into the call, resulting in a loud chuckle from the other side.

Zac breathed deeply, thinking for a few seconds, before opening his computer and joining the meeting. “Hey Zac! Nice you could join us!”

“Good morning Zac”

“Hey, how you doing?”

Were all part of the first things he heard.

“Hi! Hi! Good morning to you all. I'm doing great thanks! I was just thinking over our plans today.”

Zac noticed stained blood under his nails and picked at it under the desk. He then asked

“Anyone up for a tour in Paris?”