Felix Van Doren was having a good day. He’d successfully tailed his mark up Downwards Street, down a couple alleys and made a note of the house she’d gone into on Widdershins Ave. He’d been followed by a couple of men in suits, but he’d lost them to the labyrinth of the Old City. He had no doubt that they were part of Allegra’s test.
The cobblestones flew beneath his feet.
If you asked Felix what his job was, he wouldn’t be able to give a good answer. Felix worked for The UnIncorporation, that much was certain. What he did was harder to describe. One day he’d be in Monaco selling diamonds, the next in Prussia, delivering a package – or, like today, he’d be following someone through the bustling streets of Luxembourg – the grandest city in the world. Some of his work was even legal. His boss Allegra never told him why she needed the crown jewels of Bohemia, or why the Duchess of Kent needed to be delivered a letter - and he never asked.
He followed his mark – a young woman, whose black and white checkered umbrella stood out in stark contrast to the muted tones of the city - as she left the house and headed a few streets uptown to a small hat shop. Colours weren’t the same in the city. Everything was washed out, in dirty shades of burgundy, yellow, grey and brown.
Checkmate. He dipped his pen in a bottle of golden coloured liquid and recorded the location of the hat shop. He smiled. He’d successfully recorded his mark's every move over the last twelve hours, without incurring suspicion of any kind. He’d heard that the Inspections were coming soon, and he had no doubt that he would pass his with flying colours. Felix Van Doren was good at his job.
Now, he’d have a quick smoke, report back to Headquarters (wherever it was this week), and celebrate his success. Felix was not a fortune teller, but he could see an impressive raise in the near future.
That is, until the manhole cover beneath his feet disappeared and he plummeted down under the city.
**************************
The stone floor wall cool beneath his hands. He stood up slowly, straightening his jacket. Felix was fairly certain that he’d sprained a wrist, and more alarmingly, had received couple of un-mendable rips in his suit. The darkness was staggeringly bright compared to the fading circle of daylight far above him. He was in a cavern. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see that there were a few steps leading further underground. A gentle glow came from the passage ahead. He followed it.
A figure was seated on the opposite wall of the cavern, dressed in a long black robe. The slow drip, drip, drip of water created shimmering patterns of light on one wall of the cave. Felix looked around and realized that he was not in fact in a cavern, but in an underground building that had once been a part of the Ancient City of Luxembourg. The walls were adorned with faded, peeling frescoes, and there were candles on old metal stands scattered around the room.
“And who might you be?” Felix straightened his sleeve cuffs.
The figure stood gracefully, its black robe billowing.
“A friend – or an enemy. It all depends on how cooperative you are.”
Felix raised an eyebrow. The voice was undoubtedly female, and the woman it belonged to didn’t look particularly threatening. “Cooperative? In what sense?”
“You will tell me everything you know about your job and your employer.”
“Or what?” Felix inspected a finely crafted mosaic, still mostly intact after centuries underground. He was wondering how much it would go for.
She shrugged. “I’ll kill you.”
Felix paused for a moment to gauge the sincerity of the threat. She seemed pretty sincere. He stood noticeably straighter.
“Well?” The figure motioned for him to continue, and her sleeve fell open, revealing a multitude of expensive rings.
Felix licked his lips, suddenly aware that his mouth was extremely dry. He surveyed the room. There was no other point of exit besides the way that he had come. Who had removed the manhole cover to make him fall? “Prove it.”
“What?”
“Prove that you’re going to kill me.”
There was a pause. The figure seemed speechless that he would react to her threat with anything but terror. “Very well.”
She picked up a small golden bell from a stand beside her, and rang it gently a few times. From the passageway behind Felix a second hooded figure emerged.
Carrying a knife.
A large knife. A very large knife. A very large freshly-sharpened knife. The kind of knife specifically designed to cleave through human flesh. Its blade glinted ominously in the candlelight.
The figure approached, and grabbed Felix by the arm.
“Do you want me to cut him up a little to show him that we’re serious?” Based on her voice, Felix could tell that the second figure was also a woman, but considerably less elegantly spoken. And considerably more terrifying at the moment.
“That will not be necessary,” Felix said hastily. “I’ll tell you everything I know.”
The boss figure nodded to her minion to step down. She released him.
“I work for the UnIncorporation. My boss’s name is Allegra, but that is all I know about her. We meet at a new location every day, and she gives me a mission to complete.”
“I see.”
“Go on,” the minion encouraged, bringing her knife dangerously closer to his face.
“That’s all I can tell you.”
“He’s lying,” the first figure said. “Kill him.”
“Wait!” The knife stopped barely an inch from his neck. “How do I know that I can trust you? Swear that if I tell you everything, you’ll let me go.
The first figure was silent for a moment. She was not impressed. “You’re not really in a position to bargain here.”
He stared back defiantly.
“Very well, you have my word. Now continue.”
“I've already said that I work for the UnIncorporation. The specifics of my job are a little more difficult to describe. I do – well – everything. I steal things, deliver things, follow people. It all depends on the day. For instance, this evening I delivered a package containing the crown jewels of Bohemia to nine hundred and twenty three East Crescent, where there will be an important company meeting tonight. If you are interested in attending, Allegra will be there, and I’m sure she could tell you more about the activities of the UnIncorporation than I can. Will that do?”
The first figure nodded slowly, “I’ve heard enough.” Her voice was different. Strangely familiar. She removed her hood.
Allegra sighed. “I really am disappointed in you Felix. You showed great promise.” She let the truth sink in for a minute before she continued. “This was your test. You failed.”
“Daphne.” She gestured for the second figure, now revealed as her assistant Daphne, to proceed with his sentence. Knives were much too messy for Allegra. Instead, Daphne reached down to the floor and pulled open a sewer grate.
Allegra sighed again. “At least the alligators will be well fed.”
Daphne pushed Felix Van Doren down into the sewers of the Ancient City to his certain death.
Gender:
Points: 4569
Reviews: 57