i'm a raccoon soul, i like to go through peoples' things [kole]

About a week after the guy Hadley had sent to investigate Kole's little world turned up dead, he sent another clio who was much more experienced at spying. She actually managed to integrate herself into the criminal community, and came back with some very valuable information for Hadley. After hearing what she had to report, he decided it just sounded like too much fun to not to check out for himself.

Hadleyyyy, this is a really bad idea, Nila kept insisting as they made their way through Deilig. People die around here. They get killed!

Nobodies die around here, Nila, Hadley replied, lighting up a cigarette. He needed to make sure he had a fire source with him at all time. If things did go bad, though he didn't think they would, he could always burn the place down. Not overloridians. They won't kill someone important, it would draw too much attention.

You don't know that!

Too late, we're here, Hadley said, walking through the doorway to the club. Based on what his spy had told him, he was dressed to fit in, and no one even seemed to notice him enter. So far so good.

Time to mingle with the scum of society.

"Get rid of him," Kole said while waving his hand dismissively.

One of his many disposable lackeys nodded and quickly slit the throat of a clio who had been begging for his life a moment before. It was so annoying when clio owed Kole money but never bothered to pay him back. Were they stupid or something? Kole had never given any clio a second chance, why should this one be any different? Kole laughed out loud then, and shook his head.

"Sir," said one of his lackeys. "The Overloridian of Earalas has been spotted upstairs."

Damn, Kole thought, his good mood disappearing. That kid just doesn't know when to stop.

"Bring him down here," he said. "I'll just have to have a word with him."

"And clean this mess up before you do!" He bellowed, while glancing at the poor bastards blood on the floor.

Hadley was in the middle of a stimulating conversation about the drug trade in Stonecraft City with some pleasant clio when all of the sudden a large, muscular man appeared before him.

"Excuse me," the guy said in a deep voice. "But Mr. Roden has requested your presence."

The other clio Hadley had been chatting with all went silent. Apparently having Mr. Roden request someone's presence was not a good thing. Hadley had kind of hoped to at least finish their conversation before talking with Kole, but they all suddenly didn't seem interested in talking to him anymore.

He sighed. "Alright then," he agreed, following Mr. Large Man downstairs. As he did he lit another cigarette, he'd finished the old one a while ago. "You don't mind if I smoke in here, right?"

Mr. Large Man didn't respond. He just opened a door to a room that Kole was presumably in and motioned for Hadley to enter.

Kole was kicking back and relaxing in his chair, his feet up on his desk. However, his insides were telling a different story. He was pissed, and rightfully so. This stupid fucking kid wouldn't mind his own business. Didn't he have his own Eilemaiden to take care of? Why in fuck's name was he sticking his nose in Kole's secret affairs?! Brooding and unhappy, he plastered a fake, but convincing smile on his face.

"Earalas," he said. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Let's just kill him now, Briar sneered.

Now, now, Kole replied, while reaching up to pat his daemon on the head. We don't want to get our hands dirty.

Briar was perched on the back of Kole's chair.

Heh. For some reason Hadley found it really amusing that Kole called him 'Earalas.' It was as if Kole wanted to be as un-personal as clioly possible. Which...yeah, that sounded about right. Also amusing; the infamous fake smile. Hadley had seen Kole use it a million times when talking to him or other overloridians. Maybe it convinced the others, but to Hadley, Kole's disdain for everyone and everything couldn't be more obvious than when he was smiling that smile.

"Hey, Kole," Hadley greeted casually, as if they were friendly towards each other in any way. "Wow, I didn't think I'd see you here. Friend of mine suggested the place to me."

Hadley, I really don't think we should be here anymore, Nila said nervously. She might have been imagining it, but she was pretty sure she could smell blood on the floors.

You kidding? This is just now starting to get good, Hadley said without worry.

Hadley wrote: "Wow, I didn't think I'd see you here. Friend of mine suggested the place to me."

Kole didn't believe him for a second.

"Oh did they now?" he asked, sounding curious. "And did my night club meet your expectations?"

Not that he really did care, Kole was just trying to make light conversation. He had to get this kid out of his office and out of his night club somehow. He would make plans for Hadley later. He hoped, that the younger Overloridian would be leaving very disappointed tonight.

Oh, you have no idea.

"Actually, I was a little surprised to be honest," Hadley answered thoughtfully. "The company you keep...it's not really what you'd expect from a fellow overloridian, you know? Not that I'm judging," he added quickly. "I mean, keep doing what you're doing, man. Just be a little more careful. I'm not sure the other overloridians would be as accepting about this."

Really, Kole was lucky Hadley had been the first one to find out about his little activities as opposed to, say, Aspen or Tamar. The other overloridians would want to put a stop to it all. Hadley, on the other hand, had no intention of stopping Kole's operations. They were way too interesting.

Hadley wrote:"The company you keep...it's not really what you'd expect from a fellow overloridian, you know? Not that I'm judging,"

Kole sat up then, taking his feet off the desk and replacing them with his elbows.

"The only rules I have for this place," he replied, while resting his chin onto his intertwined hands. "Is that you dress accordingly. I could care less who waltzes into the place."

That was actually mostly true. Kole did have clients who came in and out of Shadowland, but there were plenty of other idiots who liked to party their pitiful lives away. Some found it thrilling, others were so drugged up they didn't even know what was happening, and a few lost their lives, only because they found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Oh, that's weird," Hadley remarked. "Some of the guys I talked to upstairs were under the impression that they had some sort of business connection with you. You might want to clear that up with them, you know, to avoid any confusion."

Kole had to know that Hadley knew that this wasn't just a night club. He'd been talking to clio a good half hour before anyone noticed he didn't actually belong there. He wondered why Kole was feigning innocent instead of just whipping out the threats and whatnot. Maybe he was planning something for later.

Stupid. So stupid. Unfortunately, Kole would have to find those clio who opened their idiotic mouths and kill them. He hated losing business, but if his clients couldn't keep quiet he had no choice. He hated other clio.

"How strange," he replied, with a bored expression. "I did say I don't care who comes in...there are plenty of freaks out there."

He sighed then, as if he was clearly annoyed by the fact that clio were making up lies about him.

"So," Kole said. "Were you planning on getting high with the rest of the losers up there?"

Hadley vaguely wondered if the clio he had talked to tonight were going to make it out of this place alive. The poor saps. Oh well, not his fault that Kole didn't keep company with tighter-lipped clio. He really did need to be more careful with who he did business with.

"Haha, of course not," Hadley laughed. If he was gonna do drugs it wouldn't be in a place like this, that would just be asking for a bad experience. "I'm not into that stuff. I came here for the social aspect, that's all. I'm always looking for new friends."

He smiled innocently.

Hadley wrote: "I'm not into that stuff. I came here for the social aspect, that's all. I'm always looking for new friends."

Kole got this amused sort of look on his face. This kid really didn't know what he was getting himself into. Hadley could play games, but so could Kole. In fact, Kole was the game master.

"Are you sure these are the kind of friends you want to make?" He asked, all nonchalant-like. "I mean, you said it yourself. Overloridians shouldn't be keeping this kind of company."

"Well I didn't know that before I got here," Hadley said. Was Kole trying to catch him in a lie? It wouldn't be that easy, Hadley was always able to keep track of his own lies. And he'd definitely said he was surprised by the type of people here, as if he hadn't known ahead of time. "But hey, I'm not here to judge anyone. I'm sure there are some perfectly nice people here too, such as yourself."

A lesser clio wouldn't have been able to say that last sentence with a straight face, but Hadley managed just fine.

"Ah yes," Kole replied. "I'm sure there are."

This moron was really starting to piss Kole off, although he wasn't going to let it show on his face. Hadley would be too satisfied by a look of disgust on Kole's face, and he didn't want to give him that satisfaction. Instead, with a bored expression on his face, Kole leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on his desk again, and summoned a small tendril of shadows, that delicately danced through his fingers.

"Now then," he started, watching his shadow friends dance. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Heh. One of the things Hadley liked about Kole was his restraint. All those dark, violent feelings hidden underneath a calm, well-mannered facade. It was fascinating, really, to talk to someone so calmly while knowing they wanted nothing more than to murder him on the spot. Most people would find that terrifying, but Kole couldn't murder a fellow overloridian and realistically expect to get away with it, so Hadley wasn't worried for the time being. Especially since he had left behind documents explaining exactly where he was going and what he was doing just in case.

"I guess not," Hadley replied with a shrug. He smiled. "I enjoyed our talk though. We should do it again sometime."

"Oh yes," Kole replied, still playing with his tendrils. "Let's."

He spread out his hand, and the small shadows disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He dismissed himself, or Hadley dismissed himself and with his back turned, Kole's bored expression turned into a glare.

"We're going to have to do something about that boy," Kole said to his daemon as she hopped onto his shoulder. "We're going to have to do something soon."

<<END>>