We were set to meet at her favorite place, a place only few in the city really knew about. It was for the higher classes of society, the elite and the playboys of Chicago. It was about 45 minutes into the depths of the city – which is what made these little trips so exciting. It was a chance to escape the mundane and the insane to take up with folks exactly like us.

The night held a heavy fog and a darkness that couldn't be pierced with light of any kind. It made traveling the roads treacherous but the things it did for our moods was something altogether sinister. Very rarely were we all called together like this – some of us were on edge while some were appreciative of the call. It meant that there was a job to be done.

We were the murderers, thugs, thieves and scum the world knew as businessmen. We had our hands in every pot in the city and then some – all for our own benefit. So when she assembled us, we knew something was up...hell she might as well have shone a dollar sign over a searchlight through fog as our own call sign, we would have come running from every point of the globe – as we did at her call.

"Get here." Is all that she said over the phone and we knew to do exactly that. While the world slept, we moved with ease through the darkest hours of the night. It was the preferred time of day for us – the less people saw of us together the better off the world was. It would crush people to know that the big bad wolf had been in cahoots with little red to get rid of grandma, so we remained hidden.

Once we made it inside the fortress, we knew where to go. There were seats assigned to us in a room with low lighting around a large wooden table, as if the monsters really didn't want to know they were in the presence of another just like him but the worst of us all was about to walk through the door.

"Greetings gentleman." Her wet red lips spoke with smoothness and a subtle flirt that caused us to smile. As far as I knew, she hadn't taken any of us for bed fellows but I felt she was just waiting for the right time to do so. What woman could resist the likes of us?

"You'll see before you on the table a dossier of your next mark. I request that you view these in the privacy of your own spaces, not here. We have much to discuss of your activities since last we met. We'll begin with you Mr. Green."

Mr. Green sat with his hands folded in his lap and tie slightly loosened at the neck. His dark wave hair was combed back off of his face and his green eyes pierced the darkness of the room.

"Child's play mostly but...it has been somewhat of a challenge keeping myself in check."

"In check? Do tell." She said resting her hands on the table before her baring her white teeth in a broad smile.

"I made a wager with Mr. Sleep that I could keep my composure, even in the hottest water."

Ms. Black laughed causing us all to join in. The sound of her laughter either settled your restless nerves or unnerved your soul. We were used to it and it brought some of us- those who delighted in her –calm.

"What of you Mr. Gray?"

Mr. Gray always looked uncomfortable in his own skin, possibly because he was. It's a hard thing to keep up a pretense of being someone you're not. He oozed all kinds of discomfort. I often wonder what he's really like outside of this group, this society and this world. I wondered that about them all – how could they keep themselves under wraps the way they have been.

When Mr. Gray spoke, his words were thick sounding as if there were something caught in his throat, like he was speaking through a viscous liquid that had been lodged near his Adam's apple. He would place a pause after each word as if making sure there was no mistake in his speech.

"I...seem to be...having... a wondrous time...limiting my ....engagements and...experiments." His head wavered slightly as the skin beneath his chin waggled a bit as if it just didn't fit. His dark gray hair was slicked back smooth on what could only be described as a bulb of a head. His glasses slid to the end of his nose showing two dark beads for eyes and he always seemed to be moist with sweat. The skin he was in was young – late 30's but the body itself seemed to be worn and tired. A hard life lived.

Ms. Black looked over the group, going from one to the other asking of our accomplishments. we had been given a wager by each other during the last meeting. We remarked how the crime rate had decreased significantly and how that pleased Mr. Gray a great deal but gave Mr. Green a minor headache. She kept this up until she reached Mr. Brown and me.

"Mr. Silver?"

"My darling, there is more than one way to skin a cat."

"Whatever do you mean?" she said leaning in giving me her full attention with a certain gleam in her eyes, a gleam that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than what it was. The look of desperation and pleasure, she felt sure she'd get what she wanted out of me.

"Ms. Black – just because one buries the hatchet does not mean that he has to be without vice." The entire group of men leaned in, some sipping their drinks and others leaning back rubbing their chins in interest. I could see Mr. Green's eye twitch as he fought his anger at the words he was hearing. I wasn't sure if it were jealousy he was abating or anger to tell you the truth...but whatever it was, it wanted out. "Blades suit me fine but I've found that using my hands....give me the same result and a much desired effect of using what one calls "elbow grease"...which gives me a sense of accomplishment and a new skill."

"Were you responsible for what happened at 5th and Market?" Ms. Black asked with excitement. I tossed a smile and winked my right eye in her direction before lifting my glass to my lips to drink. My long blonde hair...so blonde it appeared to be white fell into my eyes and I brushed it back behind my ear with a swagger that I knew had just turned Ms. Black on. She immediately crossed her legs and patted my hand.

"Tell me more." She said staring into the deep pools of my ocean blue eyes.

"My dear, I can show you better than I can tell you." She leaned back in her chair and leaned her head against the red velvet high back while biting her bottom lip. She made no attempt to hide it.

"Well, I bet you could." She straightened her back in the chair and looked on us all. "It looks like our time has come to a close – do remember to take your items with you, wouldn't want you to miss out on the fun."

"Wait a minute – Mr. Blue spoke up – sitting in the far back corner of the room....there's a matter to be settled here."

"Oh yes, your wager. Well let's have it, who won?"

"Mr. Silver you have lost – the rules clearly stated that we were not to use our vices for a given time," said Mr. Gray.

"And I did not – I told you what my vice was and no one said that we couldn't do what we wanted we just couldn't do it in the way we were used to." Everyone but Mr. Blue and Mr. Gray nodded in agreement.

"We'll put it to a vote!" Mr. Blue shouted from the corner. Hands went up in agreement with the decision, it wasn't my fault that they didn't use their own brand of ingenuity to help calm their urges as I had. That is what placed me in our little secret society in the first place – being able to think outside of the box.

We gathered our things and went to our cars without so much as a goodbye to one another. We handled these meetings with less care than we did with business transactions. The less time we spent with each other the better. Mr. Green was already beginning to feel the effects of having to be around the wrong element – so much so that his shirt had become quite snug on his body and looked as though it might rip at the seams. His driver opened the door to his car and waited for him to get inside – Mr. Green opted to walk and I knew then that there was going to be a news report waiting for us by dawn.

The others piled into their cars and drove off, I was the last to leave...purposefully. I wanted to know if she would hold me back but she didn't. She, it seemed. was either sparing me the hurt or holding back to test her own strength. I truly wanted to know if the rumors were true – did she really devour men whole? I'm sure I'd find out sooner or later, a woman as beautiful and demanding as she hates to be kept waiting. I'd find out soon enough.

I looked over the dossier and a breath caught in my throat. The only thing on the list of items to do on a single sheet of a paper was to meet The Employer to receive further instruction. Another first for me; meeting the man face to face...the wolf himself. My, my...what great and terrible wonders wait around the bend. One never knows what terrors lurk in the shadows...not even I.