Black Sunshine

Chapter 7 - Even in a Friendly Monster’s Den, it is Wise to Be Wary of the Price for Safety

Rain slinked with satisfaction through the crowd of bodies as they bobbed mindlessly to the music. She could tell at a glance which of them were hers and which were nearly ripe for the deal. As a kaizen, deals were meals. She gained energy from the small portions of souls that became hers when she made a deal with someone.

It was a misconception that this was somehow detrimental to the people she dealt with. Small pieces of your soul were constantly being chipped off. A bit like flakes of skin. It’s true that bigger deals took bigger pieces, but more often than not if you traded something else of equal value you didn’t lose anything.

She scanned the crowd and her eyes stopped on a beautiful woman in a red dress dancing with reckless abandon, her golden curls bouncing with each movement. She was having fun, and Rain couldn’t help but smile at the youthful vibrancy she was exhibiting. Until she saw him in the shadows. There was a man watching the woman in the red dress from the shadows eagerly. Hungrily.

Rain sniffed.

Vampire.

There was nothing that Rain hated more than competition in her territory. Except maybe a deal slipping through her grasp. She nodded at the muscle-bound ogres at the entrance and gestured at the pest. No one even noticed as the vampire was dragged kicking and screaming through a curtain at the back of the bar. They definitely wouldn’t hear his bones cracking under the punishing hits of the ogres from the back alley.

She smiled at the woman in red.

“All this dancing must be making you thirsty.”

The woman stopped dancing but still bobbed along to the driving beat.

“I am actually.”

“Can I get you something?”

“Sure,” Rain loved the way the woman laughed.

“What’s your name?” Rain asked, once they had their drinks and were settled into the soft cushions of her private booth.

“Enera,” the woman said before taking a sip of her drink.

“What brings you here, Enera?”

“I’m a singer.”

“Really? What do you sing?”

“I’ve been busking in Park Center, but I really want to be on a stage. Musicals, lounge singing, at this point I can’t be picky, but everyone seems to have no interest.”

“I’ll bet you have a great singing voice.”

“My family thinks so. That’s why they supported me coming here. More opportunities in the city. Most places won’t even give me a try though.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Enera sighed, “the Singer’s Guild requires a huge fee if you don’t have experience, and I can’t get the experience to make it cheaper because no one hires outside the guild.”

“That’s terrible.”

“I have a bit saved up, but most of what I make goes to renting this attic space in Eastown.”

“That’s a rough area for a cute thing like you,” the vampire suddenly made sense to Rain. She was glad she had taken care of it.

“That's all I could find.”

“Would you consider working here?”

“Here?” Enera choked on her drink, eyes wide, “You don’t want an audition?”

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“I have someone who could mentor you through any difficulties. She’s tough, but good.”

“What about the guild?”

“I have,” Rain paused, trying to think of the best way to put it, after all words were important, “an understanding with them.”

“I would love that. Wow. My friends said I shouldn’t come here, but I’m glad I did.”

“There’s just one thing, I like to seal my deals with a kiss,” Rain smiled and leaned on her arm.

“Oh? Isn’t that a bit,” Enera pursed her lips nervously, “odd?”

“Oh, it’s just a cultural thing. Is this your first time meeting a kaizen?”

Enera nodded.

“I’m not surprised. There aren’t many of us left. Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“It’s not that,” Enera’s face turned beet red, she emptied her glass, and she leaned in toward Rain, “Okay. I’ll kiss you. I know we just met but I trust you for some reason.”

Rain gently cupped the woman’s chin in her hands. Enera let out a breath of anticipation as Rain inched closer. Her bright red lips eager for the kiss that would seal the deal. Rain could practically taste the woman’s soul. She swallowed in anticipation. She didn’t need more than a small piece. You’d lose more by swearing at your mom, and it was tantalizingly close to being hers.

“Helios City Police Department! This is a raid!” the familiar voice boomed out over the music, “Everyone on the ground and hands on your head.”

The panic that rippled through the crowd was quickly suppressed with an annoyed thought from Rain as she pushed power through the spells that covered every wall. This was not the first attempt at a raid, and she somehow doubted it would be the last. Everyone listened to the order and lay on the ground.

Everyone except Rain who sighed.

“Detective Mackie,” Rain turned from Enera, standing and speaking in her customary sultry tones that she knew worked on almost every species, “to what do I owe the unexpected pleasure of your company?”

“Stow it, Rain,” Mackie responded in much more subdued tones, “I know your tricks, and everyone knows they don’t work on dwarves.”

“Oh dear, whatever could you be referring to, detective?”

“I’m referring to…,” she watched, intrigued by the odd dwarven man in front of her, “I’m going to… You are interfering in a police matter, you-”

“Oh, but I have immunity within the confines of my property according to article five of the kaizen Accords. And we should not forget that as the Denmother I have special dispensation within Helios City. Have you forgotten that?”

“Yes, but… fugitive… and article whatsit. Exempt?”

“My dear detective, I think you should sit down and have a drink,” she gently led him by the shoulder to the bar, “I’m sure we can settle this amicably. I am a great supporter of our boys in brown after all.”

“Yeah, drink… amica-,” the detective slunk down in the bar stool, as the plain clothes officers behind him looked at each other in the doorway, warily.

“Gentlemen, why don’t you have a seat while I have a discussion with the nice detective,” as one, they sat on the floor with legs crossed like kindergartners on a fieldtrip, and she turned her attention to Detective Mackie, “Now detective, I have been here since before your great great grandfather could pick up a pickaxe. What made you even think to attempt something like this?”

The man she kept behind the bar slid a sizable glass of whiskey in front of the detective who grabbed it and took a sip. She always marveled at the power of alcohol to dull the mind, and even more that people would not only willingly but happily drink it in her presence.

“You know Nera Neroni?”

“I am familiar with the White Lily’s old enforcer. Didn’t she retire?”

“Retired, my ass. She just came bursting into the precinct waving a gun and threatening to shoot everyone.”

“She didn’t.”

“Oh, yeah. The dumb bitch put the barrel right under my chin,” he downed the rest of his glass, signaled for the bartender to refill it, and pulled his collar down to show her an angry yellow bruise under his chin.”

“Nera did that?” Rain was shocked, she knew from experience that Nera was capable of great violence, but it was never unprovoked, “Why?”

“Something about a kidnapping, and the nuns of contempt. I knew she’d come looking to you for information so,” the detective turned and proudly gestured at the policemen on the floor, before squinting in confusion, “Were they always that short?”

“So, you want revenge on Nera?” Rain prompted, regaining the detective’s attention.

“I want to wring her funting neck, before I empty a clip into her worthless ganger hide.”

“You know, detective, I might be willing to help you,” Rain’s mouth salivated at the thought of this juicy deal, “For a price, of course.”

“It’s always something with you kaizen. Fine, what do you want? My first born? My left pinky toe? Some other weird little thing that will ultimately lead to my downfall?”

“I want to remain unharassed by you and the police for your life span.”

“Funt, you don’t start small do you?”

“What do you say?”

Dwarves were famously resistant to mental tampering. They generally lacked the creative thinking skills to be susceptible. In this case, his abilities as a detective were his downfall.