The First Case [3]
The next day, I met Earl Grey near where the slave auction would start in a few minutes. It was also near the one of the docks at the Port of London. The building that where the auction takes place disguised as a traveling agency. We saw that a quite a few people, all men, walked into the building and has not come back out.
We decided that we would also go in the auction to collect information. At first glance, the inside of the building had nothing out of the ordinary, everything made it seemed like a travel agency, from the mini models of ships on the desks, a map of the world which I could see that was inaccurate, to the black and white pictures of various exotic destinations glued to the wall. However, on a closer inspection you would notice that it is strange, how no one seemed to be around the front of this place, how most people went into a door at the back of it and not come out for ages.
We followed the people and also went into the door at the back. It was a flight of stairs leading downwards to another door.
A man was guarding the door, and every visitors had a word with him. When we arrived, that guard said, "Password?"
Damn, that scarred man had neglected to tell us that particular detail.
I saw that Charles' hand edged closer to his rapier. I coughed, and his hand stopped. I took out a pile of cash, which contained a generous amount of money, possibly more than the people of lower class would ever make in their lives.
I gently put the pile into that guard's hand and got his other hand to cover it. He seemed to be fighting with himself as there was a few moments of silence. But then he quickly shoved it into his pocket, and opened the door behind him.
Inside, there were quite a few people already, none of them saying anything. From the way they dressed, I could tell that they were mostly the upper-middle class.
We sat down on chairs of the back row. Many people soon filled the seats and the auction soon began.
A tall man came out from the back of the stage, "Well come, ladies and gentlemen, to the auction of the cheapest slaves of the highest quality you could find in the country."
"That's the boss." I whispered to Charles.
He nodded and we continued listening.
"Firstly, we have one of the best from the selection, an African man of five feet nine, able to move what normally would take three people to move!"
A chained up black slave was escorted onto the stage by another black man, who seemed to be working with the whites. That black tied the slave's chain to a pole.
The boss continued, "Just look at his build! He even knows basic english, making communication way easier. He is worth three men! But we will start the price off with one hundred pounds."
"One hundred and fifty!"
"Two hundred!"
"Two hundred twenty!"
"Two hundred and-"
"I am tired of this already! Let's just get it over and done with." Charles stood up, making his chair fall over.
"Gentlemen, and what might you-"
The boss was interrupted by Charles, who ran full speed at him with his rapier out. The boss quickly realized the situation and involuntarily took a few steps backward. As Charles reached the boss and raised his rapier, the boss grabbed the black man who was working with the whites, and pulled him in front of himself. Charles' slash went into the black man and he was immediately killed. His dead body fell lifelessly to the men's feet.
The participants of the auction were in a frantic confusion. When they saw the black being killed, some screamed and all of them started fighting to run out of the room. I in my gown was caught in the wave of people flooding towards the door, and I was not able to get close to Charles. Between the gaps I barely saw that the boss ran backstage and that Charles followed.
When I was able to break free from the crowd, I quickly ran to the stage, carefully not tripping over the many fallen chairs. I ran onto the stage, but a body stepped in front of me.
I looked up to the giant, and realized it was the black slave. He took a leap towards me, which startled me and caused me to back track, but he was stopped by the chained around his waist attached to the sturdy pole.
"What do you want?" I asked suspiciously.
He stayed silent, and wiggled himself in his chains.
"Oh, do you want to be free?" I crouched down to search for keys in the pockets of the dead black, but to my dismay, there was none.
"Wait..." I said as I fumbled around and found my gun. When he saw that I had took out a gun he immediately was alarmed and got in a defensive position, ready to jump.
"Whoa, calm." I walked around him, pointed my gun at the chain, and fired a shot. That broke the chain and the slave was freed.
"Go." I said to him, and hurried to the back stage where Charles was.
As I neared the backstage, I could hear sounds of gunshots and fighting.
I peered around the wooden board that separates the front and back, and saw a shadow of white flying between the horde of people. And with every stops in front of one of the horde, the person drops down to the floor.
Charles was on a killing spree.
"Too slow!" He shouted in an elated voice, as he cut in half the gun of a man with one slash, and the neck with another.
I widened my eyes when I suddenly spotted a man, aiming his pistol at Charles, to which Charles wasn't aware of.
I quickly raised my gun, aimed, and fire a shot in the man's direction. It didn't kill the man as the bullet went through his thigh, but it gave Charles enough time to finish him off with a stab through the chest.
"Thanks!" Charles shouted as he continued annihilating those men.
For the next minute, I stood there in awe, watching the man in white performing this dazzling dance of death. The grin on that man's face as he ended each and everyone of them was terrifyingly beautiful.
By the end, there were about twenty to thirty bodies laying stilly on the concrete floor, which was now of a crimson colour.
Charles walked towards me and I saw that his clothes were somehow able to remain completely white despite the slashes of blood all around him.
"Ah, that was fun! Haven't had a fight like that in quite a while!" He said as he flicked some blood off his rapier.
"That was... quite the skill you have there." I said as I glanced at the deformed bodies.
"Of course, my wielding skill is rivaled by few in the Empire." He said proudly.
"By few? Might one of those people be the daughter of Marquise Midford, Lady Elizabeth Midford?"I asked, recalling the fact that Lizzy was revealed to be a genius swordsman.
He laughed, "She is indeed a genius swords-women, I personally think that I am better than her. We have never competed against each other in a match though."
I flashed my eyebrows, "Well, I think we should chase down the boss now."
He nodded and we walked to the only door in the room except the one that we came through. Charles laid his hand on the doorknob, and I raised my gun in anticipation.
He turned it, but the door was locked tightly in its frame. Charles signaled me to step back slightly from the door and with a swift cut of his rapier, the lock was broken and the door swung open freely.
It revealed a small, unfurnished room. And the boss, crouched in the corner of the room, gripping his gun so tight that his knuckles were white.
As soon as the door swung open, he sprung up and pointed the barrel of his pistol at the two impending intruders.
He looked at Charles' blood-stained rapier, and at my gun, then back to us, "You don't look like you are with the Yard. Why are you here?"
"We are here under Her Majesty's order, to eradicate this illegal slave trade." I answered.
He brows furrowed, "How did you find out about here?"
"Oh, you know, what was his name, John Abney, was it? Yes, him, he told us everything before his death."
"John! He... he..." The boss said as he looked away with clenched jaws, in thoughts and confusion.
Charles seised the chance. He ran up to him, and was about to swing his rapier.
The boss had a quick reaction, but instead of pointing the gun at Charles, he pointed it in front of him, which was at me. At the same time, he raised his other arm and got in the way of the rapier, blocking it from taking his life.
The rapier cut sharply into his arm, and he cried out in pain as it did. But he regained his composure in no time. And in a hoarse voice, he said, "Move this sword an inch, and I will shoot her!"
Charles' eyes widened in anger, "You would use this kind of cheap trick? Fight me head on. But this, how low can you get?" I have never heard any one this angry in my life. Charles' voice was steady and low, but he was practically hissing, as if he was trying to kill the man with his sharp words, since he was not able to do so with his sword.
Even I was shaken from the venomous tone of his voice. But the boss merely smirked weakly, and re-steadied his gun.
And for the first time since I came to this world, no, since I was born, I realized that my life was actually in danger. I was breathing slowly, trying to calm down, "That's why you're the boss, isn't it," I said, then looked at Charles, who seemed to be contemplating what to do.
The boss laughed sarcastically, "Shut up. And don't look at him, I don't know what kind of signal you two could be exchanging."
I listened and looked right back into his eyes. He smirked, "Huh, aren't so all tough and mighty now, are you?"
I smiled, in an attempt to cover up my swelling fear. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see that Charles doesn't have anything up his sleeves either. If he tried to kill him, even with his amazing speed, pressing a trigger would still be faster. We were cornered.
I was starting to panic. I had to say something, anything, it might distract him and give Charles a chance to do something.
"How much," I said, "How much do you want? I can give you more than you could imagine. Probably more than you will ever make in your life in this business."
"...Really? How about... fifty thousand pounds?"
That was a lot at that time. Almost my entire fortune.
"Yes, yes, if you want. I'll get fifty thousand pounds to you in no time." I quickly agreed.
"Alright then..." He looked at Charles, who was looking down at him with the scariest gaze, and then back at me.
"Just kidding."
And he pulled the trigger.
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Me: Hahahaha cliffhanger!!!! *continues laughing like a disney villain*
Chapter of the lesson: "Never follow the example of villains in every single movie and talk before you kill someone. It always give time for the person being killed to be rescued or do something to save themselves."
An inspiring quote: "Upon researching the concept of demons, I believe that, among all life, humans are the closest thing to it." -- Migi, Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakurisu.
Me: Haven't said this in a long time but, read-tan, if you liked this chapter and is totally annoyed at me because of this cliffhanger, then plz vote and comment what you thought! :D See you next chapter for the grand revealing of what actually happened!
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