The road was desolate, owing to the late hour. Duke checked his watch. It was 2 AM and the moon was high in the sky. He walked silently towards the destination he had visited many times before. Only this time, it would not be for merriment or for drinks.
The red and blue neon sign at Crazy Mongers was still on, dazzling brightly on the otherwise deserted road. He crossed the road treading softly, easily walking across the junction that would be any pedestrian's nightmare during daytime.
And as he headed towards the unknown, he could not help but think back to the conversation that he had had with Christian just before they parted a couple of hours earlier; when they stood at the expressway intersection that would branch them off into different cities.
"So BadgerKing, I guess we part ways here."
Duke, a little peeved had haughtily answered back. "Yeah Chris, I guess we do."
Christian looked to his companion's face, trying to read his expression in the dark.
"No one calls me Chris you know. In fact I'm not too fond of it."
Duke pounced on that without missing a beat. "Then stop calling me BadgerKing!"
Duke's reply had been a forced one; almost spiteful. The two had stood silently for a minute before Christian patted his shoulder and headed off into the darkness.
Duke swallowed as the memory played itself through his head. He had not been so much annoyed at being called BadgerKing as he had at the overwhelming probability of the fact that they would never meet again. And now walking towards the bar that Christian had told him to head towards to find Zelderman, he wished he had never met Christian in the first place, and that though made his stomach churn. Then maybe he wouldn't have been in such a pathetic position now.
He sighed as he pushed the maze of thoughts out of his head and stood looking up at the glowing sign of the bar. It was beckoning him to come inside, like a spider enticing a fly to enter its lair.
He gulped and closed his eyes tight as he thought about meeting the beautiful and lethal Miss Zelderman. The last time he had met her, he could hardly wait to get out of her terrifying presence, being relieved beyond words to get out of her aura when he had finally acquired what he wanted form her. And now he was being forced to walk right back to her. He reopened his eyes and with newly mustered courage walked into the bar, swinging the door open.
The insides were sparsely lit. It took a few moments for his eyes to get accustomed to the dim lighting. And when they did, he could make out that the bar was now closed, or almost was.
The first thing Duke noticed as he glanced around was that the place was in a mess, or rather very different from when he usually visited it. There was the silhouette of an old-fashioned movie projector stationed on its tall tripod legs at the entrance and bags of pop corn and party hats and ribbons were strewn everywhere. The place apparently had had some sort of a theme party night. He had been dragged to Crazy Mongers on ample occasions earlier by an over eager Damien to know that the place was famous for its themed nights. A crazy thought went through his head as he thought about how he had missed out on the festivities which must have been taking place till about an hour or so ago.
He never stayed back so late at Crazy Mongers to actually know what time the bar would shut its doors to customers, but at the time there was not a single patron left in the bar. All save the massive frame of a very large and obese man who barely fit on a barstool with his head buried in his arms, peacefully snoring away at the counter, slumping his massive frame which threatened to tip over and crash to the floor at any instant.
And there was the bartender, Duke recognized him from his bald head and signature apron, polishing away glasses and bottles with a white kerchief; an activity he stopped as soon as his eyes fell on Duke. Something along the lines of "We're closed", was about to leave his mouth before he suddenly paused and fished out a cell phone.
Apparently Duke's arrival was being awaited.
And things happened quickly then. The rustle of curtains to the left of Duke signaled the entry of two large hulky men into the bar from a private area and Duke was caught hold of by both shoulders and forced to move in tandem with the two behemoths. A haze of stumbled movements, and growling titans shoved him past a colossal glass cuboid that was apparently a pop corn machine. The words '60's MOVIE NIGHT' splashed in golden glitter that glowed in the dim light confirmed that it had indeed been a theme night. And Duke sighed as he realized the senseless thoughts running through his head at such a time.
The two led him towards a wooden staircase that he had never noticed before, dragging the half-complying man along, forcing him to take two steps at a time as they hurried him to what Duke knew was the inevitable.
"You're in deep shit you know," One of the guards snarled in his ear.
Duke nodded his head acknowledging he knew as he wondered if the two escorting him were the same two men that had ushered him to meet Zelderman earlier.
"Why the fuck you alone?" the other whispered leaving Duke puzzled.
But he hardly got the time to process what was said. They led him to a mahogany door rich in carvings and paused as they turned him round and about, frisking his jacket and pants. Duke watched in dismay as his Colt and cartridges were confiscated by the men and at last when they felt satisfied at having rummaged through him properly, they flung open the massive door and pushed Duke inside.
Duke shrugged his shoulders to straighten his jacket as the door slammed behind him; the two hulks folding their arms across their chests as they stood on either side of the door.
Duke's eyes roamed across the room as he took in the sweet fragrance and the gaudy decoration of lilies and wooden carvings that adorned the room.
"So where's your friend, favi?"
Duke's body temperature dipped five degrees as he heard that unmistakable voice. He slowly turned towards the direction where it came from.
There was Zelderman, sitting on a tiger skin, draped over an auburn sofa, in a bright pink tight coat and white undershirt, her long legs crossed, jutting out of a short pink skirt. She had a cigarette in one hand and a flimsy flute in the other. The glass was filled with a fluorescent green fluid that glowed and bubbled eerily in the dark. Duke's eyes almost hurt as he took note of Zelderman and her dazzling clash of colors through the floral display of white lilies.
He gulped as he regained some composure. And suddenly he realized he had no idea why he was there. His mind seemed to be betraying him too for all he could think of was whether he had disturbed Zelderman at this late hour.
"What do you mean where's my friend?" He spat out surprising even himself. "You've taken him captive haven't you?"
Duke thought Zelderman raised an eyebrow at his paroxysm, but the obtruding flower arrangement and the distance between them made it difficult for him to actually tell.
"C'mere Favi." Zelderman gestured lifting a hand and flicking her index finger.
Duke stepped boldly towards her, walking firmly as his eyes once again took in the sight of her burnt face and the wrinkled skin veiled by curly blonde tresses that reached all the way to her breasts. She let out a puff of smoke in his direction as he moved to a spot directly in front of her.
"Your faggot friend is a guest of ours", Zelderman began in a strangely calm voice as she stared squarely into Duke's eyes who cold feel his courage melting away. "He's living here quite fabulously and will continue to do so until I get Scott in my claws."
"Sc.. Scott?" Duke stammered.
"Yes favi, Scott, Christian, Rumplestiltskin, whatever you want to call him, he's scarred my poor Randy baby and I am going to have to get even with him for that."
"Randy?"
Duke could hardly think straight as Zelderman's two differently colored eyes drew his attention in the midst of the folds of seared flesh on her face. One of the eye colors was a perfect match to the effervescent drink she held in her hand.