Thrones of Blood and Dust

The coordinates

“How did you know my name?” Jack wondered, “I can’t remember ever meeting you in the past.”

“Yeah,” Boe said in a low tune and it sounded so deep. He had this cold air around him; it smelt of dust, blood, and gun smoke. Maybe Jack could just feel it from his bogey look, or they were the manifestation of a ruthless lifestyle. Whatever it was, this man was dangerous and crazy. “He wants to talk to you just for a few minutes.”

“Who?”

“He wants to talk to you just for a few minutes. We will alight at the next station. A car will be waiting for us.”

“You must be out of your mind to think I will follow you to whoever you call he.”

A two year old girl clung tightly to her mother and closed her eyes. This happened after she saw Boe come inside. Her mother noticed this, looked at Boe and took off her eyes immediately Boe looked back at her.

“No, my friend. I am quite sane and not too high to get out of my mind. You just left Trisha Bell’s mansion now.”

What! Were they trailing him? Who were they and why was he of interest to them?

“What if I refuse to come with you?”

Boe smiled, “you have a mother and a sister. Alternate duties will cease.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you don’t come along, you will go home to meet your mother and sister dead, I promise. The next station is just six minutes away. The call is yours.”

Jack grimaced and sat back. What a bad luck! He just made the highest amount of money in his life and was hoping to celebrate with his family and now this?

He shrugged. He would go with him.

The train stopped by the next station and Boe tugged Jacks’ shoulder.

“Move it.” He said and smiled at the two year old kid. The child burst into tears and grabbed her mother again.

Doe had alighted through the second door.

Jack alighted and saw Doe standing and was confused for a second. He turned round and saw Boe behind him. They were a pair of twins! So identical the only difference he saw was the color of hair.

Damn!

Boe alone was a force to reckon with and now that he had a replica, then Jack was sunk.

They walked for three minutes before stopping before a limousine. There was a chauffeur behind the wheel. Boe opened the door and they all went in, making sure Jack was at the middle.

“Have you been in a Limo before?” Boe asked.

“No.” Jack said.

“Congratulations! This is a rare privilege.  Let me not lie, I got my first ride three months ago…after meeting him. That is what he does: change lives. He could change it for the better or worse. It depends on how you want it. I hope you know your life is going to change tonight. The direction which it goes depends on you. Be wise and happy First Limo Day.”

Jack did not respond. He wished they knew his life had changed already before they came. He had money that could get them a new apartment, take care of his sister’s tuition fees and give his mother a good life. Now that he had dreams of becoming an author, this could help felicitate his dreams.

Twenty minutes later, Jack was led into a small but well furnished room.

“Sit down.” Boe said. Jack noticed that Doe had not uttered a word since they met. His face was granite hard, looking so saturated and ready to burst at the slightest provocation. A face that told dark stories of the inner; no show of pretence of diplomacy. It was just as explicit as it was: brutal, mean. Pugnacious and stone cold.

Jack sat on a sofa.

“He will be here soon.”

The two men stood still like poles as the man Jack assumed was he came into the room. He was short and chubby. He carried his body like a special package, deciding between being royal or presidential. But the gestures of superiority, elegance and confidence were exhibited.

 His head was balding, with the bald part having an extra shiny surface. Jack wondered if he did that to make him unique and get a title like the shiny head bald man. His eyes were slightly squinted, and he moved them with a great effort to make them look appealing as they set below thick eyebrows. His long, hooked nose sat above thin red lips. He was dressed in an expensive suit, and the Rolex that wrapped his wrist glittered.

He gave Jack a wide grin.

“Hello Jack.” He said warmly. “I am Dolbycato.” He sat down majestically and eased his balk.

“I hope the boys did not treat you badly or make you look like a foe.” He went on, “Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

Jack did not say a word.

“You look like a boy who hates prevarication so I will go straight to the point.” Dolbycato said. “I want  the solution.”

Jack raised his eyebrow.

Dolbycato widened his grin.

“Did you hear that?” Dolbycato said.

“I did but I don’t know what you are talking about.” Jack said.

Even though Dolbycato still had a grin planted on his face, there was something dark and hot that lay beneath those eyes.

Jack saw suppressed desperation, impatience and hope.

“You are Jack Brian. We got that immediately Lorenzo contacted you. It takes us just a few minutes to find out about whomever Lorenzo contacts. Even though they all  failed, like the breakers we also sort for, we still did not relent in keeping an eye on her. That paid off…you decoded it. You don’t know how I feel sitting before a genius like you. I guess you will have to sign an autograph for me today. I need the solution.”

“She asked me to solve some bizarre code and I could not.”

“Ohh..so you admit that there is a code that needed to be solved and you even made an attempt. Good. Let me have it.’

“I did not…”

Dolbycato glanced at Doe.

The glance was full of messages; messages Doe understood so much and seemed to be very glad to have. He was standing still before the glance but made a sudden deadly move, well calculated and mean. He grabbed Jack by the neck, closed his big hands round his neck and raised him with ease. Jack felt his eyes bulging out at once, and his breathing labored. His sight blur, all of these happening within seconds. The effects were connected. His head ache and the giant seemed to be draining life out of him.

It was only after he was released and he fell down he noticed that Boe was bringing out his money while Doe held him.

Jack was still breathing hard. That was a hold that could have gotten him killed within a few minutes.

“Five hundred thousand dollars.” Dolbycato said . “That is not the usual ten dollars she gave. This means one thing: you got the solution. Get his money back to him.”

Boe gathered the money and dropped it in front of Jack.

“I am not after your money. I am not after your life. In fact, I need you to work with me. I am offering you five million dollars now if you give it to me. You will still keep whatever you got from her. You win on both sides. I am generous and I love to touch lives. All you need is tell me the direction you want your life to go. This gesture of mine made me see the idiosyncratic nature of man. I have set some blokes up on the way to new dimension, but instead they chose the way to hell.” He chuckled, “that is so crazy, right.  Another good example is what is happening right now.  You have what I want, I am offering you an amount that is higher than what she offered, and I ask you to keep it all, and you will enjoy working for me, and what? You decide to go along with it, is that not cleaving the new dimension to the path of hell? Who would do that? Only the lost soul, broken into shatters, awkwardly retrogressive, and thick-witted. I know you are a smart guy.”

Dolbycato looked at Boe.

“Get the briefcase.”

Boe went out leaving Doe standing like a statue.

“Take the new dimension. The world is stupid and oblivious to realities. The co-ordinates of the BL are dynamic but the masters capture it, and fixing a permanent adjustable pack for BL eternity. The coordinates must lead to only one dimension, and refracted angles are allowed according to the laws. It is closer than you think and that is why I have to be part of the glorious change. I feel ashamed to have been part of this word and could do nothing to redirect it. I hope humanity will forgive me someday but that day is near because having you find the solution right under my nose is a sign that my coordinates fall into place.”

Jack did not understand the things he said. Was he even normal?

Boe came in with a briefcase, opened it and Jack saw bundles of dollars neatly packed.

Jack could not deny that he could not resist the feelings he got whenever he saw money. He felt guilty as his egoistic mindset mentally added five million to three million and he found himself with eight million dollars.

“I will give you one hour. If you have solved it, you have one hour to decide which dimension you want to go. If you have not solved it, then be sure that you will never leave this room alive. See? Give it up, get your life, make more money and follow the new dimension. I was not always on the top. I was like a ladder, being used to climb up. I discovered my coordinates, matched with the path, I took a new dimension. One hour, young man. You can request for whatever you wish: wine, weed, women, cigarettes, and whatever you want. Time starts now.”

Dolbycato got up.

“I just returned from a trip. I was very angry when Laine was killed without any information but you obliterated my anger. Doe and Boe owe you. You saved their careers and powers. Please excuse me, Jack. I should change my clothes while you paint your life to the color that suits you.”

He took two steps forward and turned at once.

Jack was shocked at his sudden transformation from a man trying so hard to be diplomatic to a cold blooded killer. He had a gun in his hand and he pointed the barrel at Jack.

“Hey chill,” Jack shivered, “You said one hour. You don’t look like the type of man who breaks his promises.”

“I know.” Dolbycato said, turned the gun and fired two shot at Boe.

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