Frank hated this. Watching the shipments was a complete boring waste of time. No-one would bother hitting Crackles shipment of angst tonight, let alone know about it. Besides Frank there were five other guys at the warehouse, each of them carrying the same automatic rifle as him with two extra clips on their person.
Frank took another drag of his cigarette looking out into the night. It wasn't a bad night, wasn't a hot night but it wasn't too cold like most nights. The humidity felt good on his lungs, reminding him that at the rate he was going on this pack of cigarettes, he'd be coughing himself awake when he got home in the morning. The thought prompted him to finish the one he was on and move the pack to a different pocket, a passive aggressive way to remind himself that he was done smoking for tonight.
"Where the fuck are they?" frank mumbled to himself. It's not like it takes this long to move one stash from the east side to the north side of the city.
They weren't moving much angst yet. The drug was still new to the streets and few people knew about it. It was a new hallucinogen that made people shit bricks in fear of even a squeaky floor board. They were selling small amounts to high school and college kids. The only people after it was the fear junkies that need their horror films to feel a bit more real. A bit might be an understatement. Last week one of the kids he sold angst to ended up cutting up a movie attended when she asked him for his ticket. The kid stated that the attendant had a gun on him under the counter, but she obviously didn't, he just took the stuff to early and got paranoid enough to attack someone. Luckily, everyone thought he had a mental breakdown after getting kicked off his sports team. Cops won't have any idea that angst even exists till Crackle's operation is well established.
Frank checked his watch. 11:54pm. The shipment is 14 minutes late.
Frank sighed and looked to the guy standing next to him. Oreo had the same bored look as frank while twirling his long white and black hair between his fingers.
"Stop doing that! Makes you look like a school girl." Frank said while batting Oreo's hand from his hair.
"Sorry, force of habit since I started growing it out. Never had long hair before." Stated Oreo. He then forced his hands into his pocket to stop his hand from going to his hair.
Frank looked around for the other three guys positions in search of someone else to pick on. He froze. One of the other guy's automatics was lying next to a chair in a dark puddle, which he assumed was blood or hopefully coffee.
"Where the fuck is everyone?" Frank said in to no-one in particular. Oreo turned to look in the direction of frank's gaze.
"They go to take a pis-" dumbly questioned Oreo before he cut himself off at the sound of a distant man's whimper. The whimper was followed by the sickening sound of what sounded like 30 pounds of meat dumping across the ground.
"Against the crate. Now!" Frank forcefully whispered to Oreo while pointing to a dark corner they could hide behind. Both Frank and Oreo quickly moved behind the crate, raising their guns in the direction of the noise. Frank strained his eyes trying to see on the other side of warehouse, beyond the light of the single lamp hanging from the ceiling. He could tell there was something over there, but it seemed that in a spot a car's length wide it was darker than it should be. Then a humanoid figure moved in the darkness. Like an animal raising its head from a kill, the figure hung its head as if listening. The figure then turned its head to the crate Frank and Oreo were behind and opened a pair of snake-like crimson eyes. Frank heard a distorted feminine chuckle as if the figure's lungs were filled with smoke. The area around the creature darkened a shade, then lightened to match the surrounding area, taking the shape of the figure with it.
"Is it gone?" asked Frank watching the area where the creature was crouching.
"Mhhh!" whimpered Oreo. Frank looked to Oreo seeing the man's panicked eyes and a hand of black mist over his mouth and neck. He could see the creature's face over Oreo's shoulder looking at him. The creature had a lean build and was made complete out of black swirling mist, except for the pair of snake-like crimson eyes frank saw on the other side of the warehouse. It had a reptilian-like tail flicking back and forth like a cat. Frank could see the shape of a sly smile in the mist of the creature's face, mocking him. Suddenly, Oreo's head was whipped to the side with the sickening crunch of the man's neck snapping.
"Wha! Nooo!" Frank screamed. He frantically staggered back from the creature falling on his back. Frank continued to shuffle back toward the center of the warehouse in a pathetic attempt to put as much distance between himself and the creature. The creature stood up from Oreo's body and walked with slow confidence towards Frank, its hips seductively swaying. Frank made it to the center of the room, underneath the only source of light in the room. The creature continued to walk towards him, then stopped just at the edge of shadows untouched by the glow of the lamp. The creature then placed one foot forward into the light. The black mist surrounding the foot was peeled back as it entered the light, revealing the heeled black leather thigh-high boot of a woman. The figure confidently continued into the light and walked towards Frank as it had before. The black mist peeling away from the figure to revealing a stunning woman with long black hair and blue eyes emphasized by black eyeliner. She was clad in a black leather catsuit tailored to the exact shape of her body. Frank guessed the suit was armored lightly, based on the repeated hexagonal texture faintly visible on the surface. From the neck to just below the navel ran a metal zipper that was pulled down between her breasts to reveal her cleavage. She wore a black mask that attractively outlined her eyes, seemingly to be more of an aesthetic then to conceal her identity. The gloves she wore ran up to her elbow and had what looked like painted black metal claws at the finger tips, while the knuckles were protected by metal pieces of the same colored metal.
"Few people are lucky enough to see me outside of the shadows" she spoke. The woman finished walking up to Frank and crouched before him to meet him at eye level. She placed a gloved hand lightly on his cheek. "It's a shame that you won't be able to tell anyone about it" she said as she ran her clawed finger down his check and across his chest, just lightly enough to not break the skin. "Although, even in death you can still leave a message for me" her finger started tracing the outline of his chest through his shirt. "What if I told you that I would let you live if you tell me what the black stuff was in the truck I stumbled across?"
"I... umm..." shuddered Frank. His heart was racing, making it hard to say any thing without choking up. Tears started to weep from his eyes, he was terrified. He never really liked Oreo or the other guys, but he would never wish them dead. The way she looked at him as she snapped Oreo's neck, like she was showing him that necks were supposed to do that. He couldn't meet her eyes and he stared down at his pants. "It's drugs" he managed to mutter.
"Funny, it looked like black tar." She said with zero humor in her voice. "What are the drugs called, hot stuff". Her hand no longer tracing his chest and moving to his neck.
