Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Boris concealed the Blade of the Mirror that had been given to him, ignoring the loud breathing he was creating inside his cheap wolf mask. He walked to the bathroom door, grabbed the large, muddy gray silver handle, and pulled it open, the electronic music filling his ears again.
Walking outside into the hallway, he saw his target at the end of the hall, just turning the corner. He trailed him as the lights flashed and lasers danced around them. Boris got closer as they weaved through the crowd. Luckily, no one paid any mind to what he was wearing since there were multiple animals in the vicinity wearing masks as well.
Closer . . . closer . . . almost . . .
The wolf stopped and, thanks to Boris's quick reaction skills, he did the same, looking at the back of his pink tank top. From his view, he saw that the canine's jaw was moving and his hands were gesticulating as he presumably talked to another animal he couldn't see.
Creeping closer, the wolf-masked mammal reached back where he was concealing the Blade of the Mirror and wrapped his small brown digits around its golden handle. He inhaled deeply, then let it go. Okay, Boris . . . Are you sure you want to do this here? Dealing with the chaos after Astrid was a nightmare. But, there's no other choice. I should make it quick.
He began pulling the dagger out when the wolf turned around and Boris pointed his plastic wolf muzzle up at him, letting go of his weapon and bringing his hand back.
The wolf's blue eyes landed on him. "What are you doing?"
Boris stayed silent, blinking his darkened eyes behind his mask.
"Wait a sec, you're the otter from the bathroom!"
"Is your name Amaranthe?" Boris asked, deciding to not beat around the bush.
"You say it so formally," the wolf grinned, crossing his arms and cocking his hip. "What's it to you? Did you hear about me from someone?!"
"Yes, I did."
"So, you're here to partake of my business, huh?" Amaranthe asked, grinning. "Only previous customers recommend me! We never use real names."
Business? What the hell is he talking about? Drugs? "Well . . . yes. I'm interested!"
"Did you hear about me from the online forum? That's how most customers find me."
Boris scrambled to put sentences together in his mind. "Yes, and then someone told me about you in a direct message. They told me I could find you here. Their name was all numbers . . ."
Amaranthe smiled. "Well, they were right. This is where I pick up my customers."
"Pick up?" What is this? Anxiousness bubbled in Boris's chest. "They failed to mention that."
"Ah, not many people do," Amaranthe shrugged. "I only take cash," the wolf said. "There's an ATM outside if you need to use it before we go."
"Uh . . . certainly!" the otter nodded. "I just need to get my friend."
"Oh? A double order?" Amaranthe grinned. "Is he a cop?"
"No. We both want the product. I'm willing to pay for both of us," the otter stated.
"That's a lot of money," the dog said, tilting his head. "Just who are you?"
"Ever heard of customer confidentiality?" Boris frowned behind the gray wolf mask. "I'm wearing this mask for a reason!"
"Well, I can't argue. A lot of you do wear masks!" Amaranthe says. "Makes sense! Get your friend and the cash. I'll wait for you out back."
"A-alright, yes," Boris nodded, but his body wouldn't move.
Amaranthe tilted his head, and his tail swayed, brushing on some animals behind him. "Nervous? Or excited?"
Boris swallowed. "I suppose I'm nervous."
The white wolf put a large paw on his shoulder. "Don't worry! It will be worth the money. Unfortunately, I don't repeat customers, so make sure you don't chicken out."
"I won't. I'll see you in the back!" the otter said, a lump in his throat. What could I possibly be chickening out of? That he'd know of, at least. I don't like this.
Boris made his way past all the animals with their moving bodies, face coverings, and colorful glow sticks, journeying to the bar and glancing at all the seats. Tyler wasn't there. He sighed and turned around, the loud music continuing to strain his ears. It made it hard to focus.
Luckily, the two animals weren't wholly foolish. Boris pulled his phone out of his pocket, ignoring any notifications he saw, and opened it, tapping around and finding Tyler's contact. Once he pressed the call button, he held the phone to his ear, sticking a finger in his other one so he could hear.
"Yep?" the German shepherd answered.
"Tyler. Come find me at the bar."
"Okay!" He hung up, and Boris sat down on one of the stools, looking down at the dark blue carpet floor. The gears of his mind were running in overdrive as he contemplated really meeting Amaranthe outside and going with him or just taking him out back there. Patience, Boris. The further away from a public place, the better.
Tyler came up to him rather quickly. "Is it over?!"
Boris lifted his head. "Let's get our shoes and go outside."
"What the fuck are you wearing?"
"I'll explain in a minute. I'm sick of yelling." Boris hopped off the stool, and the two walked to the expanded lake of shoes. Boris groaned as he slipped those horrible purple flip-flops back onto his feet.
After Tyler got his shoes, they walked back down the red hallway with all of the posters and out of the glass doors, the warmth of the night hitting them as soon as they exited. There was a shorter line to the right than when they had arrived, but still pretty lengthy. Boris looked to the left and saw the small ATM there, a Pursue Bank machine, which was luckily the bank Boris's family used.
"So what the hell are you wearing? Where did you get that?" Tyler asked. "Did you . . . do the thing?"
"Slight complication," Boris said. "But certainly better news for us. I haven't done it yet, but it turns out he runs a business, and he's going to take us there."
"Business?" Tyler blinked. "What?"
"Some business that's only recommended online or something. I'm unsure. I think it might be drug-related," Boris explained, sliding his card into the ATM and tapping around on the screen.
Tyler felt his throat go dry. "Recommended online only? Did he say anything else?"
"He said there were no repeat customers," Boris said. "He also asked if I was nervous or excited."
Tyler stood still, the fur on the back of his neck standing on end. "This sounds seriously dangerous."
"Why?" The otter asked. "Drat. I forgot to ask him how much to take out."
"Don't you know about any shady online shit?" Tyler asked. "Did he say anything about the deep web? And why are you wearing that mask again?"
"No, he just mentioned that there was a forum," Boris answered. "And I'm not sure. Some wolf and sheep metaphor Absalom said."
"Boris, you're getting yourself into something scary," Tyler warned. "I . . . don't have any weapons. I'm not gonna go."
"You're not?" The masked animal turned his head. "It can't be that bad. And need I remind you I'm already in something scary? This is the perfect chance to isolate him and not have a repeat of Astrid."
"I'm not an idiot, Boris," Tyler said. "I'm gonna fucking wait in the car and hope that he brings you back."
"I'll take out two thousand, then," Boris stated, having originally decided on five hundred. ". . . Are you going to call the police?"
"Nah. And I'm not gonna leave you, either. Actually, I'm gonna follow behind with the car. At a distance, of course."
"Wait, so you can drive?"
"Yep. But we'll talk about that later. Keys?"
Boris placed the money in his billfold and exhaled, fishing out his keys and handing them to Tyler. "Then, I'm going to get going. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can rest. Don't lose my keys or crash my car."
"You can just buy another one if that happens."
"Tyler!"
"I'm not gonna!"
"Mm . . . ."
The canine in front of him stared at him for a while. "You should take the mirror knife out."
"Actually," Boris turned around and lifted his shirt, revealing the little round pink makeup case in his back pocket.
". . . Okay. I'll be behind you guys. Let's just hope I don't follow the wrong car, haha." Tyler waved. "Good luck."
Boris sighed, then began walking past the vending machine, around the side of the building without the line. He passed two large garbage cans and a side entrance with a sign: "Employees Only." There were only a few sparse cars parked in the back, but there was no entrance there. The brick of the building did contain some vulgar graffiti, though.
Amaranthe was waiting, leaning against the wall. "You got the money?"
"Yeah, I do. Do I pay you now?"
"I run a fair business," the wolf smirked. "Once we get inside, you'll pay me, and then you'll get your money's worth." He pointed to a golden sedan that was already on, the low roar of the engine apparent as smoke released from the tailpipe into the night.
"I'm ready to go, then," Boris stated.
"Where's your friend?" the canine asked. "You said he was coming?"
"He chickened out before we got too far into it."
"You gonna take his, too?"
"I'll pay for both of them, still. Sure."
"That's a lot of money but fine with me if you have it." Amaranthe led him to the car and even opened the door for him. The otter got inside and noticed the immediate chemical smell that came from the vehicle and the fact that the air conditioner was on full blast. It was practically winter there—chemical winter.
The large wolf got in on the other side, immediately released the emergency brake, and put the car in reverse, pulling out of the parking spot. "One rule I have is that we don't talk about it until we're there, got it?"
"Yes," Boris nodded. He wouldn't know what it was anyway.
The car pulled around the building and began driving straight toward the entrance to the road. As they passed, Boris saw Tyler was waiting in the small parking lot intersection, flipping the left blinker on of the fancy navy blue car that belonged to the mustelid.
Amaranthe stayed silent as they pulled out into the road, and Tyler turned, not waiting at the exit and following right behind them. "Most customers don't talk on the way. I'm used to it. If you'd like to keep this strictly business, that's fine with me."
"Thank you," Boris muttered, keeping his hands on his lap.
The drive took a while longer than Boris had been expecting. They had exited downtown and even went past the suburbs, now in a rural area that the otter didn't even recognize. Using the rearview mirror, Boris was able to look to the right of his bloody reflection and see that Tyler was still tailing them.
Amaranthe frowned after a few minutes. "This guy's been on us for a while."
"Oh?" Boris looked back behind them, acting like he hadn't noticed. "I haven't even been thinking about it."
"I'm sure it's nothing," the wolf said. "But it's making me nervous."
"Nervous? Why?"
"Always makes me nervous when a car is on my ass for too long." Amaranthe kept checking the mirror. "Can't turn on any side roads, either." The two cars continued down a winding road with rather skinny lanes. "That car's blue, though. Not an undercover cop car. No weird lights or double antennas. I'm probably just paranoid. This kind of work always puts you on edge."
"You said we aren't talking about it," Boris said. "I'd like to keep it that way."
"You're the client," Amaranthe shrugged as they continued.
Behind the golden car in front of him, Tyler kept his eyes closed on the white wolf, ensuring he didn't make any sudden moves on Boris. From everything he said, the dog was confident that this was a dangerous animal, somehow connected to the deep web. Whatever business he ran, it wasn't normal.
The canine was also having an angel and a devil on his shoulder moment. The angel told him to do the right thing and call the police on both of them so that way he could be out of this mess. The devil told him that Boris was his friend and that he couldn't leave him alone with this animal.
He was glad he hadn't drunk too much before driving. In fact, he hadn't drunk at all. No alcohol, at least. When he got to the stool at the bar, the bartender asked if he wanted anything to drink, but something told him he didn't want to consume alcohol during a crazy murder mission, so he just chose water instead.
Tyler was also happy that he hadn't lost the car yet, due to it being pretty late and the traffic being low. He did find it concerning, though, that they were in the more hilly part of Austin, where no one could hear you scream if you were to be attacked, suddenly.
Then his mind hit him like a truck with a thought. Holy shit. They're both killers. They're going to try and kill each other or something. But which one will strike first? There's no way this guy isn't more experienced than Boris. Fuck. How are we already in a situation like this?
The drive went on just a bit longer until a dirt road branched off to the left, the silhouette of a mailbox stuck inside the ground next to it. Tyler couldn't quite catch the address as his lights flashed on the metal.
The brake lights of the golden car turned on. The left yellow brake light began to flash as the car slowed to a crawl, the front wheels turning and the vehicle's body wiggling as it left the asphalt.
Tyler wasn't stupid, so after the car was out of his way, he slowly pressed the accelerator and continued down the road, the lights from the car that was now behind him growing smaller and smaller as he drove away.
"Phew. For a moment, I thought that fucker was gonna turn into my driveway," Amaranthe exhaled.
"Your driveway?" The otter beside him asked as the dirt below them crunched, and the car moved to respond to its unevenness. "We're at your home?"
"Yep. I run my business out of my home," the wolf nodded as they pulled up to a garage with a large white door, the headlights seeming even brighter against it. The driver brought the car to a halt and put it in park, pulling the brake. "We're here."