Chapter forty-fiveHuge massive thanks to Kate who took my crappy chapter and re-wrote it to be the wonderful chapter it now is!(contains swearing and violence)Through the eyes of a madman:Kris watched Jace leave the room and grinned wickedly to himself.
To say he was elated would be an understatement. What Kris was feeling was a mixture of emotions, and happiness was just one of them.
He was very proud of himself for finding Jace. Jace was just as dark and jaded as he himself was, if not more so. He knew that from the minute he had noticed Jace in the pub that day, over two years ago now. Kris knew Jace would be the one to serve him well. Leaning back in his chair, he thought back to that day.
Kris was sitting in the corner of a dark pub with one of his youngest and newest cronies at the time, Connor. He was listening distractedly as Connor spoke to him in hushed tones, advising him of what he’d observed during his day.
“’e leaves th’ house everyday at 11am on th’ dot, boss, it never changes.” Connor said, before taking a rather large gulp of his pint of beer. “Unless that Indiana chick is plannin’ to come round with ‘er current boyfriend. Then it’s 10am.”
Kris gave a small nod. “Fine. What else?”
“Nothin’ else, boss. It is early days. Hangin’ around any longer will jus’ arouse suspicion.”
“
Arouse suspicion?” Kris snorted, amused by the mixture of the boy’s choice of words and his British, cockney accent. “Sitting inside bushes opposite their driveway, which, by the way, has excellent coverage to disguise you, is hardly going to arouse suspicion. It’s not like you’re standing by the main gate with a pair of binoculars, is it?”
Connor looked down into his beer. “S’pose not.”
“There is no ‘suppose’ about it. Start doing your job properly, Connor,” Reaching up to his face, Kris took off the pair of wayfarer sunglasses he was wearing. He fixed his gaze upon the rough, young boy of 21 sitting next to him. Connor looked like he wanted to be somewhere else, preferably somewhere away from the cold glare of Kris. “Or I’m going to have to find someone who will do your job for you.”
Connor nodded quickly, like a child who desperately wanted to do right in case he was going to get told off or refused his pocket money for the week. Smirking to himself, Kris put his sunglasses back on.
It was then that he noticed Jace. Dressed from head to toe in black and complete with a scowl on his face, Jace was trying to get to the bar. He was pushing his way through a crowd of what were probably mostly underage kids, revelling in the fact they could drink as it was their friend’s 21st birthday. As Jace shoved his way to the front, he was met with numerous sharp cries of ‘hey!’ or ‘watch where you’re going jerk!’ Clearly he was not a man with manners. Or at least not tonight, anyway.
Jace had just reached the bar and caught the attention of a barmaid when Kris realised that Connor was now trying to make conversation about the weather. Kris groaned. Did he look like a man who was interested in polite conversation? This boy had a lot to learn.
“Connor, shut up.” He growled, picking up his bottle of lager and downing the rest of it in one furious swig. “I’m going to the bar. Don’t follow me.”
Hearing a squeak of what he assumed was acknowledgement from Connor, Kris took it as his cue to leave. He found his way easily to the bar, most drinkers making a pathway for him to get through as they noticed a burly man with numerous scars on his face coming towards them. He smirked to himself again and sat down at the bar, a few seats to the left of Jace. He was in an ideal position to hear everything said, and to observe it too from behind his sunglasses.
Jace was now leering at the blonde-haired barmaid, an open bottle of beer in his hand. He’d lost his scowl and in its place was a look of pure lust. The barmaid appeared to be enjoying having his full attention.
At that moment she dropped her dishcloth, effortlessly positioning herself to bend over in front of him so he could admire the view. Jace grinned, enjoying the show.
“When do you get off of work, baby?” Jace asked with a smirk, before swigging his beer. “You and I need to have a little game of house.” He leaned into her. “You can be the door, and I’ll bang you all night long.”
The barmaid giggled stupidly as Kris noticed that the man to Jace’s immediate left seemed to react to his words. Kris recognised the signs: Jace had just ruined the plans this man had had for the barmaid tonight. Slamming his fists upon the bar, the man got to his feet, swaying slightly. It took a minute for him to get his balance before he turned to Jace.
“What the fuck ya think you’re doing?” The man spat drunkenly, his face beginning to redden slightly. His sudden announcement appeared to have no effect upon Jace, so the man edged closer to him. His oversized stomach bumped Jace’s left shoulder. “I said, what the fuck ya think you’re doing??”
Jace looked up, a blank expression on his face. “I am talking to this beautiful woman. Now if you don’t mind, fatso, I would like to continue talking to her about our plans to fuck tonight.”
“Ya ain’t fucking anyone, ya son of a bitch!” The man boomed, grabbing Jace by the shoulder of his black leather jacket. He pulled him to his feet. “The only fucking you’ll be getting tonight is a fucking BEATING from me!”
“That’s funny,” Jace chuckled, unfazed by the man’s grip on his shoulder. “But sorry, I’m not gay.”
The man’s face was beetroot. “Ya’ve really pissed me off now, asshole!”
In one swift movement, the man’s right fist connected with Jace’s face. The force of his punch knocked Jace into the bar, sending several glasses of drink crashing to the floor. As the glass began to smash, the pub fell into a hushed silence. Everyone’s attention was now on the disagreement between Jace and the man. Kris didn’t attempt to hide his amused smile. This evening was starting to become more entertaining than he thought it would actually be.
Jace was sluggish to recover from the blow to his face. Why this was, Kris did not know. As Jace straightened up and turned to face the man, Kris noticed that there was a slight gash on his face, just below his left eye. Obviously the drunken man was wearing a ring which had caught him there. A quick glance to the man’s right hand confirmed his theory.
Jace’s facial expression was unreadable. There was no evidence of anger, hatred, or even sadness on his face, and Kris found this somewhat surprising. Had he done this before? Did he make a habit of hitting on slutty female bartenders and getting into fights with drunken men? Or was he purely just a man good at concealing his emotions?
Admirable, Kris thought.
A man with a fantastic poker face. Just the sort of man I need.
It wasn’t difficult for Kris to predict what Jace’s next move would be. Was he the kind of man to simply walk away? Kris doubted this; Jace’s demeanour when he entered the bar did not suggest he’d have cowardly reactions. So that left only one option: Jace was going to fight back.
Almost too rapidly for Kris to register what was happening, Jace had grabbed the drunken man’s t-shirt and pushed him down to the floor with an almighty thump. He was kneeling over the man, one leg on each side of his body, his right arm pressed down against his neck. From the gurgled noises the man was making, it was obvious Jace was cutting off his oxygen supply. Too soon the man was gasping for breath.
Kris watched closely as Jace grabbed an empty, discarded bottle of beer from the floor. He smashed it against the wooden linoleum flooring, breaking it into pieces. The neck of the bottle, the part he had been holding, was fully intact. The break however had left it with a few dangerously long, sharp edges and points.
Jace switched his right arm for the bottleneck. The man gasped as Jace pressed it against his collar, the razor-sharp glass immediately drawing a small amount of blood. As the people surrounding them started to gasp in shock, Kris watched in fascination as the mad under Jace went slack and limp as he passed out.
“I think the gentleman has understood that he won’t be getting any tonight.” Kris announced, with a chuckle he got off his barstool. He ignored the petrified stares sent in his direction as he made his way over to Jace. He laid a hand on Jace’s shoulder.
Jace did not react immediately to Kris’s touch. After several moments he pulled back from the drunken man, dropping the bottleneck in his hand to the floor. Kris still had his hand on Jace’s shoulder when he got to his feet.
Gradually, the pub began to regain momentum and returned to its normal state. Drinkers happily went back to their alcoholic beverages; abandoned conversations which stopped abruptly were resumed. No one bothered to check on the now unconscious man lying on the floor.
Jace studied the drunken man with a scowl as he lay on the floor unmoving, except for the slow rise and fall of his large frame before he turned to acknowledge Kris’s hand upon his shoulder.
“Would you get off me?” Jace declared. His sentence was more of a statement than a question.
“No,” Kris replied, squeezing his shoulder a little tighter. “In fact, I’d quite like to buy you a drink.”
Kris remembered the rest of the evening with a smirk.
He’d taken Jace to the darkened corner of the pub he occupied, dismissed a bewildered looking Connor and then talked shop. As he propositioned Jace, he couldn’t help but notice his eyes. Jace had the eyes of the devil himself: they were dark, ominous, and hinted that crime had been part of his life for a long time. In fact, his eyes looked considerably lifeless and were presumably as hollow as his soul.
Perfect, Kris thought. Jace agreed to work with him, starting immediately.
In the weeks which turned into months, and the months which soon turned into years, Jace served Kris well. On numerous occasions Jace saved Kris from being shot in the back by ex-employees, jaded dealers, and even petty, incapable thugs who were completely unaware of his past. There was also a time when Jace saved Kris by murdering a yob who he’d encountered when out one night. This thug had been talking to the police, and the discussion had been about Kris.
Kris had killed before and lusted to again. However, he recognised that it’d be impossible for him to come close without attracting extreme police attention. That was why he hired Jace. While he stayed under the radar to plot, Jace did all of Kris’s dirty work for him with no hesitation at all. Jace was much worse and perhaps even more capable of crime than Kris had ever been. With Jace around, Kris had nothing to worry about, and his plans were always guaranteed to succeed.
Kris’s smirk grew into a wide smile as he thought about how close he was to his goal. He was so close he could almost taste it. One part of him was yearning to have it all done and finished with, but he had learned his lesson the first time around. Having spent all those years in jail, he’d learned to take his time and not rush. Yes, the elation victory brought was one of the most incredible feelings, but the feeling of invincibility was even better.
Now that he had Jace, the victory would be even sweeter. Jace gave him the edge which so many others lacked; the edge which, to him, was his best kept secret. Jace was different. While the others were merely thugs, pure and simple, Jace could easily gain the trust of others, no matter what his dark eyes showed. Females flocked to him, attracted by his raw behaviour, and males admired him. Jace was his trump card in the dangerous game he was playing.
Kris chuckled to himself. No, he had to wait. He had to be patient.
He would get his life’s wish…
soon.