The Noonday Mission: The In

The carpet was a dark red shag with cigarette butts and chewing gum littered about. It vaguely reminded me of the floor of an unwashed theater with an even stickier floor. a dog wandered about hungrily with its head hung low. The living room was huge with sofa’s lining the walls. Discarded humans crowded them in various states of undress. A haze of cheap cigarettes mixed with the smell of stale urine hung in the room. I followed my lead into the kitchen. I plopped myself down at the table beside a man smoking meth and arguing with his girl friend over the price of dried meat in Madagascar.

“It’s under fifty cents.” The man said through a huff. He flicked his matted dreads away. “They have an open market and less government, Racheal.” The pixied purple haired girl nodded.

“But is it safe? Has it been tested for parasites or anything?” He took a big swing of a beer. I noticed a scar of an X that spanned the right side of his face.

“Who cares?” He puffed up.

“People avoiding Ebola or salmonella,” I remarked pulling a flask out of my back pocket. He stared at me for a moment.

“I never heard of anyone getting those there.” He remarked arrogantly.

“I mean, it’s probably because they die, don’t report it and call it natural causes.” He snorted and geared up for another hit.

“See Derick!? That’s what I was saying.” He lost focus of his original point to focus on his next hit. “I’m Rachel. First time here?”

“Yeah, I heard this was the place to be. This town man,” I sighed and lit a cigarette. “Too squeaky clean and Stepfordy.”

“Right?!” Racheal agreed enthusiastically. “It’s so uptight.”

“I went out for a cup of coffee and woman covered her child’s eyes,” I said with disgust. Only half truth but my tee shirt DID have a middle finger on it. “Like, there’s no where to just be free.”

“That’s why I like it here so much,” Racheal said leaning in. ”I can do whatever I want and there’s no judgement. I haven’t seen you here before.” Her brown eyes narrowed slightly. I really hope she’s too high to ask questions.

“Yeah I’m new to this town. I came with Sam. I go by the name Smith,” I pointed out my lead and he raised his glass in my direction. “I needed to get out and hang a bit. I haven’t been out much since moving.” Her eyes widened and she smiled.

“How’d you guys meet?”

“Fun story! I do some freelance work with henna and tats.” Rachel’s eyed got big for a moment. “It’s nothing to complicated but its fun.” I might be able to use Rachel to blend in better. “Do you have any?” I inquired.

“I just have the one on my wrist. I haven’t really found another one that I want to invest in.” WE started talking about different tattoos and style she wanted. I asked her if she wanted me to tat her up. She smiled largely and then started to explain her ideas on tattoos. She wanted a sleeve of the classic movie monsters, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Sketching those out are no problem but pulling the perfect butterfly was an issue. I asked if she wanted to here and she preferred that.

The next day I came back to the house which was full of people once more and a party was going on. I now have the chance to cut down chit chat and focus on my environment. It’s easy enough with the music being loud. I noticed several people with x marks across their faces. It couldn’t be a coincidence.  I watched the people around me carefully.  It’s even easier with the sketching. I came in with my kit. We sat down in the kitchen and started my outline.

I spend endless nights watching Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney senior and Junior and of course Boris Karloff terrorizes villages of people laced in black and white. I have every makeup and face permanently etched inside my mind. Before long, people started to surround us watching me work my magic. I added in graceful splashes of color to add contrast. There was this slimy thin man watching me carefully work.

His eyes were too close together and he looked like he hadn’t showered in days. He wore a pair of dirty jeans and a wife beater that looked like he had been working on his car. His skin tone looked as if it was soaked in tea. This dark brow hair and eyes looked as if they too had seen better days. He must be one of the people being fed on. People commonly lose their luster after prolonged feedings.

“It’s rude to stare,” I said while dipping my pen in another pot. Racheal looked around and everyone stopped. “You look like you have a question.” Rachel’s face dropped when she realized who I was talking to. I turned to the rat face man. “My I assist you?” I kept my face blank and stared directly at him. He stared at me long and hard for a moment in a silent game of chicken. A smile spread across his face.

“Nice ink. What did your say your name is?”

“I’m Smith and you?”
“Carlos.” He said shortly while fetching a beer out of the fridge. “Those are some very interesting.”

“Thanks, I mix my own.” I wiped up a bit of my work. Rachel remained very still like a rabbit praying that the predator doesn’t see them.

“What do you use?”

“Mainly some plants. Some of them have some great pigment.”  A light sparked behind his hollow eyes.

“Is it difficult at all?”

“Not for me but sometimes it does take a couple of days especially if it’s a custom job.” I kept focus on the eyes of Lugosi. “But custom jobs are my specialty.”

“What do you mean by specialty?” Who was this guy? Why is everyone edgy. Maybe this was L’roi. “Typically, with ash remains of loved ones. I have a blending process that I’ve worked hard on.” Rachel opened her mouth to talk. “No Rachel, I’m not using that blend on you,” I said winking.  “Just a synthetic- promises.” He huffed a huh and left the room. Rachel released a sigh of relief. “You, ok? Do you need a break?” She shook her head no.

“I’m sorry that’s Devi’s right-hand man. He totally creeps me out.”  I noticed that people were starting to talk again and come back into the kitchen.

“It looks like you’re not the only one.” She looked to make sure he was gone. Leaning in to whisper to me, “He’s crazy, he makes the inner circle perform blood sports in order to get in.” Inner circle? Damn. That means this isn’t going to be straight shot to L’roi. “You see the x slashes on some people faces? That’s the inner circles mark.” I did my best to look confused. “And you see the burn marks on the arms?” That I hadn’t noticed. “Those are the ones who failed the blood sports but still proved their loyalty to become henchmen.” I leaned back. Lawlessness had a downside. Despite the fact you were free to do as you please, that meant so were other people. Bad news for those who didn’t have an army.