[Judge Lynxin + Vel]

[Vel]

* A human RP for mahself and Judge Lynxing with Masquerade and Lynx, yo. :3

Masquerade ducked into the old building as the rain started to pour down. Dammit. It had not stopped raining for the past five days and it was getting to be quite a pain. He had been called here today by his boss for a job offer. He said it would come with a lovely sum of cash. Masquerade could only hope that the bastard was telling the truth this time. Last time he did a job for the Don, his hefty sum was cut in half due to lack of sufficient funds at the time.

As he asccended the staircase, he could immediately tell that his boss was there. There was the blaring of a baseball game coming from the wireless. The dimly lit halway made the haze of smoke only more prevelant to Masquerade as he slowly made his way to the door that was left ajar. His boss really did like his cigars. In fact, Masquerade rarely ever saw him without one.

Masquerade gingerly opened the door, poking his head in to see if his bass was in there. When he saw the slender man sitting at his desk with his feet propped up and his hat over his eyes, he quickly walked in and closed the door gently behind him, clearing his throat to wake the Don up.

The man at the desk cracked on eye open before removing his hat and tossing it on the corner of the desk. "I see you've finally made it. I'm assuming you got the memo." he said, striaghtening up and removing his feet from the desk.

"Yeah, Johnny stopped by my apartment earlier today sayin' that you wanted to see me boss. So ya got a new job for me?" Masquerade asked.

A smile spread across the Don's angular face as Masquerade spoke. "You heard right. The job I got for you should be fairly simple, and you will get paid well for this, seeing as this hit is ordered by me."

"Easy's always a good thing."

"Yeah. All I want you to do is off one of those bitches who I use as visual aid and enticement when I'm making other deals."

"Which one?"

"The red-head. You know her, you've seen her before. I usually take her to the fancier and higher class things. She derserves being there rather than the shady back alley deals."

"I still don't understand why you want me to off her boss."

"Ah!" he exclaimed as he stood up and grabbed a new cigar out of his lapel, taking a moment to light it before walking around the room. "Remember Tony Giovanni and his debt to me? Well lets just say he did not pay in time and I had to take care of business. The bitch was there and had a fit as if she never saw someone killed before. Now I fear that her fear will cause her to go to the police and do something stupid. I just need her out of the way. shes a liability to me. "

Masquerade watched as he walked over to filing cabinet and pulled a manilla folder out. "Here, I put together this little profile of her so you know a but about her. If you wanna go scout things out, I think she's working right now."

Masquerade took the folder from him and nodded. "I
ll go check it out boss." With that he said his goodbyes and left the building, jogging down the road to catch a cab to the strip club.

[L Y N X !]

The club thrummed with the sound of the music drifting through the speakers, the air hazy and thick with cigar smoke and glitter. It was dimly lit, the only true source of light was from the stage where a girl wrapped herself around the silver pole much to many mans' amusement and excitement. Lynx had no problem navigating through the smoke and crowd with several empty glasses clutched together in her fingers. The scent of alchohol was heavy in the air as the sounds of soft laughter and conversation drifted from all corners of the club. The slight, friendly smile on her lips was all but a poker face to what she was truly feeling. She really didn't want to be here - she would give anything to be home curled up by the warm fire in her apartment. But she couldn't afford to take any more time off then she already did, the memory still haunting her everytime she closed her eyes.

She had just been with the Don that day, milling about and not really doing anything important. She sort of liked his company, though the whole 'mob' business was a bit..strange, at times. He was fun when he was in a good mood, though the constant cigar in his mouth always bugged her. He paid her to stick around, and though she wasn't complaining, she would come if he called without the cash reward. Sometimes it was hard to sit with him when he got into his moods when one of his little hitmen brought him bad news, it frightened her when he was angry, but she had never seen him kill anyone before. Well, except for when that man Tony was brought in. She had moved off the Don's lap when she saw a group of men bringing the poor fellow in, and immediatly knew there was trouble. She never expected him to draw the pistol and practically blow the kid's brains out, but he did. She screamed, of course, and stared at the dead body crumpled onto the floor as blood poured from his wounds and onto the carpet. It was a horrific sight, and she nearly fainted from it. The Don tried calming her, telling her it was only business, but it was still murder. She had stormed off in tears and shaking so badly she could barely drive straight, the young man's face imprinted on the back of her eyelids.

She was shaken out of her brief moment of stupor by a slight tug on the frilly panties she wore on the top of the elastic line, and turned her head to get a look of who dared touch her. The club was a higher-class establishment, so the girls definately didn't prostitute themselves, unless on the special occasion that someone offered a hefty sum of money. There was a group of men at the table of the one that had grabbed her, and she gave them a quick, sharp look before turning to the one. "Can I help you?" she asked, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly as she gently took his hand off of her. "Perhaps you can," he told her, and smirked as his hand reached for her again and brushed his fingers lightly against her skin, as a soft chorus of chuckles sounded from his buddies. "I'm not a prostitute, so if you wanted to fuck a slut, go drive around on the corners for a while. Thanks, but no thanks, so fuck off." This time she smacked his hand away from her, before striding off back toward the bar.

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[Vel]

Masquerade stepped out of the cab and paid the driver before he sped off into the pouring rain again. Damn this weather! You could not even have a good smoke outside in weather like this. Masquerade scoffed and tossed his package of wet cigarettes into one of the sewers on the side of the street. Useless things. He tipped his head up, careful not to get rain in his face, to look at the sign. At least that cab driver got him to the right place. Last time he trusted one of those New York cab drivers, they took him three miles from where he really wanted to go.

The assassin entered the building with uninterested eyes as he looked around. There were several faces in the crowd of gentlemen that he recognized from meetings, or people that the boss had made deals with when he was around. He was not heere to scope out the next buyer or to make a deal, he was here to work. His mismatched eyes flicked around as he looked each and very girl up and down, sometimes more than once.

His eyes finally rested on a woman sitting at the bar. She was wearing what the other girls who worked here had on (or off in some cases) and she had red hair. That must be his girl. Now it was time to get to know the 'client' as Masquerade liked to call them.

Masquerade sat down at the bar next to her and ordered two drinks, winking at her after doing so. The bar tender quickly gave one to each of them and waited impatiently as Masquerade got out his wallet and paid for his purchases. "You looked like ya could use that." he said to her, pushing the glass her way a bit more. His jobs all started with him getting to know his client. It just made it so much more easier to do the job that way.

[L Y N X !]

She needed a smoke. She didn't have the paitence to deal with the constant harrassment of a few horny men like she normally took in stride as if it were easy as shooing away a pesky fly, and any more comments she would end up ripping someone's dick off and feeding it to the street rats. Her anxiety brought on the itch for one of the Don's fancy cigars he often shared with her when she had loosened up from the booze and quit complaining about the smoke. Hell, that sounded amazing right about now. But she still put it to mind that it was his fault that she was so stressed out, and regretfully settled into one of the leather bar stools with a soft sigh, eyeing the cigaratte in the bartender's fingers with envy. The metal was cold on her bare legs as she rested her heels on the bar stool rings, her green eyes shifting across the club without much interest. What time was it, anyway? She had to be getting off soon, it felt like she had been here forever. Most of the staff weren't too happy with her either - she had refused to go on stage, and after 20 minutes of arguing with her manager, he decided to cut her shift off for the night, but if she didn't straighten out by tomorrow she was fired. Great. She leaned heavily over the counter, resisting the urge to plant her face onto the bar's counter. This week was just getting better and better.

Lynx's eyes shifted over as she was joined by a man at the bar, her interest perking slightly as he ordered two drinks and winked over at her. She sat up a bit more and slid her seat over so she could get a better look at him, her eyes appraising. He looked about in his late twenties - early thirties, handsome, with jet black hair. She was curious about his eyes, one brown and one blue - she swore she had seen them before. A slight smile touched her lips as he spoke, glancing briefly over at the glass as he nudged it toward her, before back to him. She carefully reached for it after raising it a moment to him, then took a sip with a bit more enthuseasm then she had wanted, but restrained herself from downing it and set it back onto the counter. "Thanks," she said, crossing her legs. "Normally I wouldn't take that comment so lightly, but its so true that I can't complain."

[Vel]

Masquerade offered her a half-hearted smile as he raised his glass to her and took a drink before saying "Don't mention it. I can relate, we all have these days." This was going to be easier than he thought. He could see that she was trying to place him, as if she had seen him before. She had, but Masquerade made it a point never to get too friendly with any of the Don's whores as the rest of the gang called them. With Masquerade having the occupation that he did, it was more crucial to distance himself from people who he might have to eventually off for the Don. He had taken care of one of the whores before after she almost spilled the beans about a drug deal that was going down. Masquerade knew this to be more serious since the consequences for what she had witnessed were much greater than that of drug related fiascos.

Masquerde's mismatched eyes flicked up to the ceiling as the lights flickered twice. That damn storm was still raging outside. That was a fact easy to forget in a place like this. "I hope that rain doesn't last too much longer." Masquerade said with a frown as he removed his fedora and sat it on the counter next to him. "So, you been workin' here long?"

[L Y N X !]

She eventually gave up on placing the man; he was probably a customer who had come in here before, and she was just worrying about stupid things. But she had a right to be paranoid, the Don hadn't even tried to talk to her since she had freaked. She could only assume what he had been planning, and as soon as she saw someone from his 'family' come in here, she was booking it for Chicago. She was too afraid to go the police about what she had seen, she didn't want to get tangled into the court system as a witness, and she would have plenty of people after her ass for exposing the underground ring of drugs, sex, and money. That was a risk she wasn't willing to take. She was considering returning to the Don and pleading for forgiveness, anything to spare her life. But she doubted she would successfully appeal; she was just some stripper, someone easily disposed of and not really thought of compared to higher profile people.

It was funny how she got herself into this mess. She was a bit younger and first started out here when the Don had come in, and there had been something about him that appealed to her, that he had some aura around him that made her want to be around him. Gradually over the course of a quick year they had grown closer and she was tailing along with him to important meetings and parties, and felt important. But now it seemed like she was going to be discarded like a piece of trash.

She glanced around the smokey club as the lights briefly flickered, followed by a distant rumble of thunder. Her eyes returned to the man by her side as she took another sip of the drink, allowing the alchohol to relax her tense muscles. Maybe a bit of conversation would help her get her mind off of the looming threat. She nodded her head in agreement, setting down her drink as she glanced toward the door, where a small tinted window showed the rain still pouring. She looked back to him as he spoke again, and ursed her lips slightly. "I suppose. A little over a year, though they still call me a newbie," she replied, forcing a small smile on her lips.

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[Vel]

A smirk tugeed at the corner's of Masquerade's mouth at her words. Newbie. It was funny how even something like a strip joint could consider their least 'experienced' members a newbie. These girl all knew what they were doing and then some some. In the mafia, Newbie was a correct term, for once you got in, you really knew nothing until you were exposed over the years. It was not as glamourous as many people pretended it was. It was a dirty business and destroyed lives. The lives destroyed could be that of other members, hobos on the street, rich business men who had not lived up to their word, and even meaningless whores like the girl next to him.

In Masquerade's eyes, they were all whores. Sure they might say they were 'dancers' or some even straight up said they were strippers. But knowing that every busniess had a darker side, he knew these girls sold themselves to the highest bidder. What he also knew was that the owner and mananger of this joint was not just the average, slight perverted busniessman, but a pawn put in place by the Don to serve as an average owner. The Don took all profits in exchange for the man's comfortable living and protection. That is why he knew exactly where to find this woman, he owned her in a sense.

"Well I'm sure you're better than half the girls here from what I've seen." Masquerade commented after putting his glass down. This girl would not be too hard to take out. Not at all. He just had to chit chat with her for a bit then invite her out for anight on the town. Give her one last thrill before she would be no more. This was how he always did it. She would be out of the Don's way in no time. "Say, what time do you get off?" he asked her, putting on a generous smile, his mismatched eyes searching her face.

[L Y N X !]

This kind of lifestyle always came with dirty business. She probably was the only one on the whole block that didn't sell off her body, and that was saying something. Even though the pay was good if you got lucky, most of the time these girls were stuck with greasy, horny men that wouldn't otherwise get any pussy, and even they wouldn't pay well. A lot of the girls here were jealous of her, that she was in association with him - the Don. That she got to go everywhere, and do things that she wouldn't otherwise be able to do. Everyone in this kind of business knew who he was, and did anything to please him, but mostly to get better chances of not being on his hitlist. Plus, there was always the benefits of being his bitch. She had picked up that - "Don's bitch" was all anyone ever called her here anymore. Of course it was annoying, because it wasn't true. She had never even had sex with him, though she had been tempted several times after he had taken her to a nice party or dinner, but she never gave in. She promised herself she would hold on the last inch of respect she had for herself and save her reputation of the title 'whore'.

Lynx kept up her tight, fake smile as he spoke again, nodding her head at him in thanks even though in true honesty, everyone thought she was useless here. She rarely stripped or went to the back rooms, and the only reason why she was still here was because of the Don. She was sure that as soon as Paul figured out he wanted her gone, he wouldn't let her leave until someone came in and gunned her town. It would be best to be leaving early tomorrow. She was calculating her trip when the man spoke again, and she was brought back into reality, blinking several times. She studied him for a second, becoming unsure. She glanced over at the clock and was surprised at the time. "In five minutes, actually.." she said, turning her gaze back to him. She had an idea of what he was implying with asking her that question, and she really wasn't too keen on going out into public with a hitman possibly after her. "I'm going to go get dressed, nice meeting you. And thanks for the drink," she said, shaking off the hidden invintation with her words as she stood up. She gave another half-hearted smile before she turned and headed to the staff area, where she kept her regular clothes. She blew out a breath and retrieved the small sum of cash from her garter, and replaced it with a handgun. She glanced around and slipped on her navy dress, and fixed her makeup and hair in the mirror. She slipped on her overcoat and traded her heels for more comfortable ones. She made sure she took all of her things with her, because she wouldn't be coming back. Not wanting to risk going back out the front entrance with the guy possibly still being there, she exited out the alleyway and into the rain.

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[Vel]

A smile crept onto his face when the woman answered, saying that she got off in five minutes. Perfect. He could get this job done within the next hour or so, collect his pay, and not have to worry about anything until the Don called on him again for another hit. Hits were becoming less frequent these past few months, not to mention there had been more cop activity. The Don had plenty of people on his hitlist that he was waiting on to make one more mistake so Masquerade could go do his job. But with all the coppers around, the Don was being careful about contributing to any more mob activity that they were alread suspicious of. Masquerade did not blame him for wanting to lay low. Then again laying low only meant other gangs were moving in and challenging the Don. It was just a big mess.

Just as Masquerade was about to open his mouth, the girl said that she was going to get dressed and leave. She thanked him for the drink before standing up and leaving Masquerade alone at the bar. Well that was just fantastic. The man frowned as he stood up and put his hat back on his head. Damn. She was not as easy as he thought. With an annoyed huff, Masquerade got up from the bar and strode out of the building.

It was still raining. Dman the rain. Masquerade pulled his overcoat tighter around his body as he ducked into the alley next to the old brick building. It was just quicker to get to where he was going by taking shortcuts like this. Not to mention there were overhangs and various things on the sides of buildings that would hold off some of the rain.

Masquerade stopped in his tracks as he heard the clang of metal. What was that? It could have just been the rain, but Masquerade was not stupid, he knew that in his occupation you should always be cautious of every little noise. Before Masquerade could turn around he felt a shoulder on his hand as a large man turned him and punched him square in the face.

Masquerade fell to the wet pavement, holding his jaw before scrambling up. "What the hell was th-" his words faltered as he looked at the large man in front of him. This man towered over him and was built like a tank. Where did they find this guy. Masquerade would have pulled out his pistol and gotten this over with, except for the fact that this man had a rather large shotgun trained on him. What the hell was this?

His mismatched eyes sought an descape route. There was nothing. Even if he tried to run he would be shot in an instant. "What do you want?" he snapped, his eyes boring into the man.

"For you to shut up and stand still so I can get a clean shot" he asnwered, raising his gun.

spellcheck is not working for me so please excuse any silly mistakes

[L Y N X !]

The ran was cold on her skin as it picked up, causing her to shiver and regret even putting any effort into her hair today, because it was getting ruined anyway. She sighed, glancing up toward the sky, which had taken on a dark gray. This storm was probably going to last all night. She shook her head and brought her coat closer to her and lowered her head to shield it from the rain as she hurried out from the alleyway. It was hard to see with the driving rain, and many other people must of observed that as well, because there was barely anyone on the streets. Looks like she was going to have to walk home, seeing that there were no taxis. Just greeeaaat.

She looked over as she heard a deep male voice, wondering who was crazy enough to be out in this weather, and her eyes widened at the sight. The same man she had been talking to minutes before was on the wet pavement, with a gun pointed right at him. This wasn't good. Without even thinking she reached under her dress and pulled out her handgun, cocking it back and taking quick aim. After a loud bang, she blinked, and the large man was on the ground. Her eyes widened as she inched closer, and got a chill that wasn't from the cold when she saw the blood pooling on the pavement and the bullet wound in his head. She dropped her gun, continuing to stare for a moment in shock before she turned and ran, heading for the safety of the alleyways. She couldn't stay in this town any longer now. As soon as she got home, she was grabbing a bus and leaving. Her tears blended in with the rain that fell down her face, not believing what she had just done. But if she hadn't, the other man would have been killed.

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[Vel]

Masquerade squeezed his eyes shut, knowing that this was probably his final breath. Only the gunshot that came was not from the man in front of him, but from behind. Mismatched eyes opened to see the man laying face down with blood pooling around his head. Masquerade reached inside his jacket as he whipped around, his hand finding his revolver he always kept on him. His grip loosened and the gun was not pulled when he saw who had killed the other man. It was that damn girl from the strip joint.

She was standing in the rain, looking at the gun in her hand with tears streaming down her face. Masquerade frowned and stared at her for a moment. This must be her first kill. He could understand how that felt. Of course, he had sociopathic tendencies that were satisfied through his job. He did not mind killing. She, on the other hand, was a normal, moral (or as moral as a whore could be) human being. This was so much harder than it was for him.

Masquerade's head snapped around as he heard angry voices, probably belonging to to the dead man's friends. The hit man quickly closed the distance between himself and the girl as the voices grew louder. "As much as it bother you honey, y'gotta get outta here." he snapped, reaching for her wrist to pull her along. He might as well spare her so he could live (and collect his paycheck).

His plan was quite simple. She was in shock from what she just did so she would not be very alert as to what was going on around her. He would run with her down the road to the nearest car, hot wire it and get the hell out of the area before those men could come to finish him off. He would then have the girl in the car and could take her where he pleased. Perhaps he would even take her to the Don personally and kill her in front of him. That way her death could be confirmed and Masquerade would leave a wealthier man. Yes, that plan was quite simple, but only if she would follow him.

[L Y N X !]

Had she gone insane? She continued to eye the gun in her hand, as if she were holding a snake. She didn't hear the angry voices, but when the fallen man had sprang from the ground. She looked over at him with wide eyes as he grabbed her wrist, staring into his pair of mismatched eyes. It then hit her where she had seen him before. With the Don, he was sometimes lurking as his men often did. She never spoke to him before, but she knew enough that the reason he was here was because of her, and she had just saved her would-be assassin. Could she really be that idiotic?

She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again, shaking him off her arm with an angry jerk. "No, you should get out of here," she snapped, placing the gun into his hands. "I'm just a stupid whore, what could I do? I can easily pretend you just killed him infront of me, they wouldn't expect me. So fuck off." She glared at him, her panic bringing on a fit of anger. She turned away from him and glanced to where the voices were coming from, and realized he wouldn't have time to get away by now. Well it would be a waste of effort if she just left him here. She sighed and grabbed his elbow, pulling her with him into the alleyway between the stripper joint and some other business. She bit her lip as she contemplated quickly, before she opened the door and pulled him into the joint, the building considerably warmer than outside. She pulled him to the left and down a maze of hallways filled with many doors, one or two having a series of noises coming from them. She went to the farthest room and unlocked it. She let out a breath before turning to face him, glancing down before taking the gun from him again. "Stay here for as long as you think they're still out there," she told him, scowling in disgust at what she was doing for him. She should be waving him about to those men, not hiding him. She pulled up her dress and slipped the gun back into her garter, then smoothed her dress back out and moved past him. "Tell the Don his bitch gives him the best wishes," she called over her shoulder before storming back toward the door.

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[Vel]

Damn that bitch! Masquerade was not sure if she had figured out what exactly was going on, but by the tone she was using and the rather defensive body language she was displaying, she had either figured out he was after her in some way, or she had already let killing that man go to her head. She had to get out of this place just as much as he did. It did not matter if she said he killed the man, for Masquerade knew that they would assume she was with him and kill her anyway. Hell, they might not just kill her but rape her first and then put a bullet in the back of her pretty little head. What?! Why was he concerned about this? He was supposed to kill her anyway. She was just a stupid whore. Why should he give a rat's ass about her?

"Suit yourself." Masquerade snapped back, turning away from the girl, not caring what happened to her next. Before he could run away, she grabbed his elbow and started to drag him the other way. "What the fu-" Masquerade's words died when he realized she knew the area way better than he did and was trying to get them safety. What the hell was this now? She obviously knew he was out to kill her, so why bring him along to save his sorry ass? Sometimes Masquerade would never understand the female mind.

The pair quickly made their way into a much drier, warmer building and dashed down the labyrinth of hallways until they stopped at a door. It only took a minute for the woman to unlock it and turn around to face him. She offered him the option of staying here as long as he liked until he thought those men were gone. Masquerade narrowed his eyes at her. What was this? This had to be some sort of trick. He had been in the business way to long to just expect such generosity from people, especially after they just figured out that he was trying to end their lives all for a handsome sum of blood money.

He continued to stare at her as she put her gun back and smoothed out her navy dress. Next thing he new, she was telling him to give he Don her best wishes as she pushed past him and stormed down the hall. A sneer appeared on Masquerade's face as she walked away. Yes, this had to be some sort of plan. Masquerade quickly moved forward, his long stride quickly closing the distance between him and the whore. "Now wait just a damn minute." he called out, grabbing her by the shoulder and turning her to face him, his grip only tightening so she could not try to jerk out of his grasp. "What have you got in store, huh? You obviously know why I am here. Why are you doing this for me?" he asked, shaking her to emphasis his words. "If anything you will stay here with me until they leave. I don't want any funny business goin' down." he snarled, grabbing her wrist and attempting to drag her back to the room with him.

[L Y N X !]

Lynx tried ignoring his call as she went along down the hallway, her lip curling. Her emerald eyes narrowed as he spun her around to face him, glaring heatedly up at him when his grip only tightened on her. Couldn't he just leave her alone? All she had to do was scream loud enough, and the bouncers would come running to her aid. More than once one of the girls would get roughed up more ways than one, and if a man didn't cough up the dough or tried to play Jack the Ripper, the bouncers always had their backs. She grit her teeth as he shook her, her nails digging into her palms. "I don't know," she replied honestly, her brow furrowed as she looked at him. "But excuse me if I'm trying to do you a favor. Maybe if you weren't killing people all the time, you'd be used to kindness a bit more often," she snapped at him.

When he began to try and pull her into the room with him, she grunted, and quickly threw her weight back to try and escape. She was frankly way too scared to be in a room with him, and if she got away now she probably would get a headstart and be on a train to Chicago before he even realized she left the city. Even though to him her life was probably meaningless, but she didn't want to die. Not like this. "Let go of me, jackass!" she snarled back, but he was too strong for her, and she was eventually forced into the room. It was larger than the other rooms because it was meant for their higher class customers, and far more luxurious. It was well furnished, complete with a fireplace and a queen sized bed. She continued to glare at him, still trying to break free from his grip.

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[Vel]

Naturally, Masquerade rolled his eyes at her words. Kindness? Ha! That was something he had not heard in a long time. He figured she would know how mob members worked, for she had been around them more than long enough to know. Just look at the Don and what he was doing to her. That was how the mafia worked. Kindness was in their vocabulary, but it took on a different meaning than people like her thought it meant. As far as Masquerade was concerned, he was one of the kindest men in his group, and hey, could a man not do his job? Being an assassin was not exactly the kind of job associated with kindness. In short, Masquerade was not used to kindness like this, nor could he fathom these random acts of kindness.

Masquerade had figured that she would try to get away as he dragged her back with him. Everyone always wanted to get away from him. Luckily, his vice-like grip stayed steady as he successfully dragged her into the room with him, throwing her in front of him into the room. He turned and slammed the door shut behind him. Masquerade quickly turned his attention back to the whore in front of him. "Well, seein' as you're not as stupid as I thought, you put together why I'm here." he stated. "And this is the exact reason I want to know why y'tried to save me."

Masquerade reached in his blazer and pulled out his pistol, and held it in his hand, mismatched eyes staring at it as he weighted it up and down in his hand. "Well I can't say you're as smart as I thought. Sure you may be able to put things together, but you're dumb enough to save my sorry ass. Now, do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?" he asked, cocking his gun, looking at her, waiting for her to answer.