Realistic or Modern The Town of Knives

[TheMadNoodler]

The pen scratched across the paper, loops, twists and jagged lines linked to form my name. Derek Moore. With that I tucked the pen back into the lady's pocket, giving her breast an affectionate pat. She blushed and stuttered,


"You're sure about this place?"


"I'm sure."


With that, I sent her packing watching as she wiggled down the road. Great. Now I can get started. Laying out a large piece of newspaper, I put down a few pots of white and red paint. It was about 12 in the afternoon judging by the sun. I say I've got about two hours.


Two hours, I was finished. The brand new coat of pain gleamed in the sun and the sign clearly stated 'Butcher'. Sighing in content, I checked my watch. 1:50. Perfect. Lighting a cigarette, I enter my new shop. A T-Rex glares at me from behind the counter, his mouth opened up in a toothy grin. Not bad, if I do say so myself.


Sinking into the chair, my phone suddenly vibrates in my pocket and I answer the call.


"Hello?"


"Butcher. Have you finished?"


"Runner," I grin. "Yes, just about."


"Good. Shall I bring in the shipment tomorrow?"


"Yes, yes. Let me think, come around maybe early in the morning?"


With not more than a grunt, he hangs up on me and the phone beeps loudly in my ear. What a rude man.


The next morning they arrive. Runner barely gives me a glance as he, none too gently, dumps the equipment on the floor. Once he's ticked off everything, he leaves me to sort out the shop by myself. It's no big deal though. I tend to be more productive when I set myself a deadline. Three days? Yes. Three days.

***

​

"Welcome to 'The Butcher's'~"

​

 

[Atsuko]

The shivering girl sat in a corner of the dusty room, slowly licking her chocolate covered fingers. She could already hear the prim clicks of expensive heels of the client and the loud stomps of her current boss walking through the hallway. With a swift push, she hid the box of truffles under the table, thinking regretfully about how the mice were going to get the leftovers before her.


The door swung open, and two shadows danced into the dark room.


"Michiko...our new client. Madam Boyore," her boss murmured, as he pointed at the well-dressed woman who looked haughtily down at her.


The woman walked forward, and bent down over Michiko, murmuring words of distaste under her breathe.


"She sure is a 'doll', Mr. Raycroff. Are you sure that puny body won't break during this task? Honestly, cutting people open is not a lady's job," she snorted, as she walked back to the tall man.


"It's her lifestyle, madam. I can assure you that she won't fail you," he coldly whispered. "We will have the job done quick and without a trace. You won't have to see that person's face again."


The woman dropped a bag of coins and bills onto the floor, instead of her boss's outstretched hand.


"Do the job well, and hopefully I won't have to come into contact with you two again," she hissed, as she trotted out the door.


The boss sighed, as he glanced over at Michiko. "Here is the target's file. You know what to do. The money will be in the trashcan next to the building the client's husband works at. The workplace will also be where the target is located."


She flipped through the file:


Name: Sarah McKellen


Age: 23


Client's reason for request:

1. target was having an on and off affair with client's husband for 4 years
   
2. extorting money from Boyore family bank
   
3. gave birth to a son and client's husband put the son down as the heir of the Boyore fortune
   
4. target was put onto recently updated will, as holder of majority of fortune until son comes to age
   
5. target threatened to kill client if client got in the way
   

Appearance: long straight blonde hair, blue eyes, 5'5", pale complexion


"How interesting...people truly do want people dead for such trivial reasons," she sighed, as she took out a bag from under her bed.


She silently slid out her double shadow dagger, and blew the dust off of it.


"A beautiful woman deserves a beautiful death, isn't that right boss," she smirked, as she slid the dagger back into its sheath.


The man stared at her fearfully and uncomfortably coughed. "It's almost midnight. You don't have much time."


She pulled on her black cloak, and walked out the door.


Moments later, she found herself at the door of the office of the client's husband.


"A 'lifestyle'...you say," she quietly murmured under her breath, as she walked in.


"Mr. Boyore?," a clear, feminine voice rang out from behind the desk.


Before the figure could react, a gloved hand reached over and grabbed her by the throat.


The woman struggled, choked indistinguishable words spilling out, as drool began to dribble down her chin and her once calm blue eyes bursting out of their sockets.


A shining knife sliced through the darkness, and the only sound that could be heard at that moment was the sound of blood spilling on to the floor like a huge rain pour.


She stared down at the tangled, limp body of the target. The blonde hair was matted with blood, her once shining blue eyes were blank, and her guts were gracefully spilled out onto the floor beside her.


She quickly dipped a pen into the blood, and wrote a message next to the twisted body.


It was fun while it lasted.


-D


As she walked out of the building, a loud scream echoed from the top of floor as lights came on. She quietly grabbed the bag from the can, and ran back into the darkness.

 

[TheMadNoodler]

A big man with bulging muscles and shifty eyes approached the counter.


"How may I help you?" I smiled.


He glanced at me before scanning the room.


"Are there any other customers here?"


"No."


"Employees?"


"No no, isn't it sad? I have to do everything by myself but that's alright, I can manage."


In the time that I had ranted he had pulled out a knife from the display and roughly shoved it against my throat.


"Shut up and give me all your money!"


"And if I say no?"


"I'll take it myself!" He roars and swings the blade towards me. Grinning, I easily stop it with the palm of my hand. It doesn't even cut through the first layer of skin. The man stares at me in disbelief and slight fear.


"Didn't you read the notice I put up outside? For safety reasons, all the blades in here aren't sharpened and wouldn't even cut through butter let alone another person. So next time-"


I swing my hand towards his head.


"Read the notice!"


He crumples to the ground, his eyes still open in shock. Confused, I look at my hand only to realise I had been holding an ice pick. Peering closely, I could see where the pick and entered his skull.


"Whoops! I've done it again. What can I do though? Times like these, my hand just acts on it's own accord."


I must say though, an ice pick is really quite nice. It's quiet and clean. Anyways, I'm glad I've started hitting the gym lately. This guy is pretty big.


I turn on one my favourite songs 'You are my sunshine' and with a grunt, hoist the dead man onto my shoulder. Quickly, I go change the sign to 'CLOSED' and head down to the basement through the double doors. It's about time I have a lunch break anyway. I dump him into the bathtub and cover him with water. In such a cold place like Cherielou, it'll take ages for the body to rot. My best option is to let it soak. As I finish my last slice of pizza I glance over the clock and realise it's about time I should close up the shop. I'll deal with you later.


It's raining hard. This place never seems to stop raining. I don't mind though. The rain is my favourite type of weather. It washes away all the dirt and muck. Ah, I really do love coming home. I can see it in the distance now.

 

[Chocoluver]

Michael sat on the curb, watching a snail slowly make it's way across the pavement. Without a word, he picks it up and plants it on his finger. It's slimy, he thinks as the snail uncurls from it's shell. I wonder if snails can be happy? He looks up at the sky, allowing the rain to trickle down his face, soaking through his hair and clothes. It does rain a lot here. He could feel someone's gaze on him and he looked to the side. From the top floor window, a face peered out from behind a curtain, watching him like a hawk. Ah, watching over me again? There was a sad sort of look on that man's face. Michael supposed it wasn't surprising, considering how he had been sitting outside this person's house for the past three days. He wondered whose house this was. He soon got his answer.

 

[TheMadNoodler]

Eh? It's that boy again? This boy has been appearing in front of my house for a few days now. He doesn't even acknowledge me when I go past.


He never does anything but sit in the rain and play with snails. How weird. But interesting~


"I'm guessing you like snails?" I ask him, giving him a charming grin.

 

[Chocoluver]

Startled, Michael jumps up and gasps slightly. The snail falls off his finger and lands with a crack against the pavement. Gently, he picks it up again and prods the shell, checking for any cracks. He breathes a sigh of relief when the snail pokes it's head out of it's shell and continues oozing along his finger.


Finished, Michael looked up at the man who had spoken. He wore a bright grin that somewhat comforted Michael. He had a feeling that the man had asked him a question but couldn't recall what the question was.

 

[TheMadNoodler]

"Ah, I'm sorry. Did I frighten you? You see, I'm new here and lately I've seen sitting in front of my house so I just wanted to say hi. I hope you don't mind." I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what sort of answer he'd give me. He's completely soaked. Hah, it seems I'm not the only one that enjoys the rain.

 

[Atsuko]

Michiko stared at the row of daggers before her on the ground. Each one was slowly getting duller than the next, and it was harder for her to swiftly kill the victim in one blow, which sometimes caused problematic events.


The rain poured down heavily outside, the sound reminding her of blood dripping out of a victim's body. Not many people would be going out today...today was probably going to be her only chance in getting a new knife without being noticed. Her eye glanced down over at the box of truffles that was clearly already taken over by insects and mice.


Grabbing a recently bought pest spray, she slowly sprayed the box, listening to the harmonious shrieks of pain and rustling from inside of the box...until silence filled the room once again.


'I should probably buy more truffles,' she thought to herself, as she bought the box of poisoned corpses and leftover truffles over to the trash can and dumped it carelessly.


After pulling on her cloak and glove, she walked into the wet empty streets. The musty smell of the fresh fallen rain welcomed her, as she splashed through the dark alleyways towards civilization. One box of truffles, and one knife was all she needed. Hopefully, no one would come and bother her along the way. Or else she would have slowly exterminate them and dump them away somewhere else.


--------


"One box of cinnamon truffles please," she murmured, as she placed the bills onto the counter. The clerk smiled, as he grabbed a box from the counter behind him.


"I already prepared it for you, doll. Are you sure you don't want to try anything else? That's all you buy every single time. Here. I'll give you this box of red velvet truffles for free. Have a nice day!"


Michiko stared blankly down at the extra box, as she stiffly grabbed the bag. When she walked out the door and turned around the corner, she immediately dumped the extra box into a trash pile.


"Special treatment is not needed," she muttered.


As she turned back to go home, she came face to face with a large sign.


The Butcher's.

 

[Chocoluver]

"Um…No…I don't mind." Michael tells him. It's common courtesy not to complain after all, he thought, remembering back to David's lessons.

 

[TheMadNoodler]

I stared at him with curiosity and chuckled.


"You are quite strange. Well anyways, my name is Derek. Derek 'Butcher' Moore. As you probably could've guessed, I run the butcher shop on the other side of town. What's your name?"

 

[Chocoluver]

"Um…my name?" He rummaged his brain for even a fragment of a memory of what his name was. Something M… Moreno. Yes it was Micheal Moreno.


"Micheal….Moreno."

 

[TheMadNoodler]

"I see...Nice to meet you Micheal. How long have you lived here? Did you just move in? You don't seem like a local. Do you have family? A girlfriend? Where do you live?"


I knew I was bombarding him with questions but I was truly curious about this boy. He might be potential prey.

 

[Chocoluver]

"Ah! Um… arm….I don't know how to answer. The owner of the opposite house saved me so I stay with him now. Mr. David, do you know him?"


Michael wasn't used to someone taking such an interest him. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. This man seemed nice enough, though there was something behind his smile that Michael just couldn't put his finger on. Perhaps he was just being paranoid. Not that he knew what that meant.


"Thank you…for talking to me. It's the first time someone has come up to talk to me."

 

[TheMadNoodler]

"David? I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him. I do apologise for asking so many questions, I am just a stranger after all."


I raised my eyebrows upon hearing the last remark and grinned. "Really now? How very interesting..."


Interesting indeed. Such a weird kid. Doesn't seem like an act...It's weird and I can't explain the reason behind his actions. He seemed to lack any emotion or caution easily giving me information. There was no...fear in his eyes. Maybe I can change that?


"Do you like sweet things?"

 

[Chocoluver]

"Huh? Sweet things?" Michael wondered if he did. He couldn't remember the last time he ate something sweet. What was sweet? "I don't know."

 

[TheMadNoodler]

"Well well, now's the perfect time to test out my butter cookies then." I pulled out a small, slightly damp brown paper bag from the inside pocket of my trench coat. "Try it," I say tossing the bag to him. "I don't know the level of sweetness you like. Anyway, where are you working right now?"


This kid looked about eighteen, nineteen, though the gauntness of his face made him look slightly older.

 

[Chocoluver]

"Thank you for the cookies." He said, pulling out the crumbly biscuit from the bag. As he eyed it, he moored over the question. Work? He wondered. Does doing house chores count? I have a feeling it doesn't…"I don't…work."

 

[TheMadNoodler]

"Really now?" I noticed him staring at the cookie and chuckled. "The cookies, you can eat them you know. They aren't poisoned or anything. Tell me if it's too sweet."


I felt pleasant watching him eat. It reminded me of something though what I could not recall at that exact moment in time.

 

[Chocoluver]

"You want me to try it now?" When Derek urged Michael, he obliged and gently nibbled at the edge of the cookie. "Hmm…It's sweet but…not too much." Michael wondered if this is what friends did. Share food with one another.

 

[TheMadNoodler]

"Yeah? That's good. Then... what's your favourite food?" I do wonder, actually, if he actually has any likes or dislikes. So far he's really not expressed much. It was fun prodding him like this.

 

[Chocoluver]

"Favourite food?" What's a favourite food? Michael wondered. "I don't know."

 

[TheMadNoodler]

He doesn't know? Does this boy really have no preferences to anything at all?


"What do you eat most often?"


Surely he would understand that.

 

[Atsuko]

The boss stood before her, glaring at her.


"What were you doing outside? You catching a cold would be the last thing I need," he growled, as he tossed her a towel.


"I saw something interesting today....a new shop downtown," she smirked, as she lifted her head up towards the tall man. "The Butcher's...was it? It doesn't feel like a place where they sell animals. They didn't have any carcasses displayed."


The boss sighed. "It's probably because they just opened. You know better than to go outside during the day time don't you?!"


Michiko stared at him with bitter eyes.


"It was raining. And dark."


"Your a Doll. You shouldn't act without your Master's permission...or else who knows when you will break apart," he snarled. "You have another client today. Get ready."

 

[Chocoluver]

"Um…Eggs, toast…sometimes pancakes." Is that what favourite food means? Thought Michael. Michael wondered if this man often asked strangers so many questions. He didn't mind though.

 

[TheMadNoodler]

I grin. The typical western diet.


"Tell me, have you ever tried pizza?"


I had a feeling he hadn't tried much outside of what he listed.