Brothers of Darkness

Chapter 2: Prelude Michael, Part 2

The job didn't improve; it got weirder and worse. Michael didn't see the masteror anyone for that matter after his interview. The whole place was deserted, except for the butler. The asshole of a butler. The man was too picky. Every time he inspected Michael's work, he'd add something new for him to do. By the third week, he was working into twilight.

Michael slammed the shed door and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The night bugs were already screaming in the trees and lights popped on in the manor's many windows. This might only be three days a week, but it ain't worth this s**t for two hundred bucks.

He clomped toward the house and banged on the side door they couldn't have the lowly help using the front entrance, could they? and waited for the butler. If that jackass finds something to criticize tonight, I swear to God I'll f*****g quit. He can do his own f*****g weed whacking!

The door opened, but instead of the sneering suited man, there was a bald guy with cold gray eyes. "What d'ya want?"

"A million dollars, what do you think? I finished the yard and I'm going home."

"Oh, you're the yard guy. You better come in and tell Geoffrey. This isn't my deal."

Michael wanted to argue, but there was something about the man's eyes that made him shiver. Like that master dude. "Yeah, okay."

He followed the bald guy into the house, through a pair of paneled rooms and into a large sparkling kitchen. The butler stood next to a table, supervising a pair of women who frantically packed ice into a punch bowl big enough to hold a small person. He looked up and narrowed his eyes at Michael. "What do you want?"

The bald guy answered for him. "He's done with the yard and he looks pretty worn out." He clamped a hand on Michael's back. Though the gesture was supposed to seem friendly, it made Michael cringe. "I thought we might invite him to the party."

The butler winced. "As you wish, Master Troy, though perhaps you should ask the master's permission?"

"Claudius won't mind. He was moaning last night about how bored he was."

Though Troy stood behind him, Michael could almost feel his smile. It made his skin crawl. "That's okay. I should probably get home, anyway."

"Nonsense. It'll be great. The best party you'll ever go to." With a little more force than was necessary, he steered Michael toward the door and through the house to the entrance way. Michael was surprised to see several people, all dressed to the teeth, loitering near the stairs. In the center of the group was the blond kidClaudiuswearing clothes from a historical flick.

The master turned to the new arrivals and his face darkened. "What are you doing in the house?"

Troy answered, "It's okay, I invited him inside. We need some new blood at these things." He broke into a boisterous laugh that was taken up by a few of the others.

The hilarity melted away as a group of young women came down the stairs. Michael had to forcibly hold his mouth closed. Holy s**t! They're f*****g hot! Though hot didn't do them justice; they were beautiful, like something from TV or a glossy magazine, and he couldn't look away.

Though they were all attractive, it was the girl in the middle that knocked the breath from his chest. Her hair was long and pale blond, and she wore a blue dress that fell to her feet. She came to a stop before them and Michael choked. Her eyes matched her dress and they were like staring into an endless ocean. For a wild moment he wanted to drown in them and forget everything else, but the reality of her age pulled him back. She couldn't be a day over fifteen.

Too fuckin' young for you. That's jail bait right there.

Claudius caught her hand and brushed his lips across it. As he dropped it, he looked at Troy. "Should your joke go amiss, you'll take his place mowing the lawn."

Joke?

Troy's demeanor changed, like slipping from one shirt to the next. "As you command." He gave a stiff formal bow, then tugged Michael away. "Come on boy, those aren't the ones you're looking for."

Michael followed, still wrapped in the spell of her ocean colored eyes. It was only the giggles of a threesome of women that pulled him out of it. He blinked at them stupidly. Man, more hotties? What is this place? Like the playboy mansion?

The darker of the three grabbed him by the front of his tank top and pulled him toward her. "It could be," she murmured, her breath cool on his face. "Why don't you come with us and find out?"

Warning bells went off in the back of his mind, but they were muffled by another thought: When am I ever gonna get a chance like this again? The answer was "never" and he wasn't about to let this one slip by.

Troy seemed to evaporate. Michael looked around what was obviously a ballroom. One wall was made of shining mirrors and, as he watched, one of the panels opened in the shape of a door a secret doorand a well-dressed couple slid out. The woman dripped with jewels and the man

"Are you coming?"

Michael looked to the girls, and managed to nod. With a chorus of giggles, they led him through a maze of glittering rooms. His eyes strayed from their breasts to the opulent surroundings long enough to think, Holy s**t, this guy's got more money than I thought, but then his attention was pulled back to the ladies, almost against his will.

The room they led him to had the air of a bedroom, but there was no bed. Only a chaise longue and a scattering of other furniture. The girls pulled him to the seat and knocked him onto it. He laid back, a stupid grin on his face as the darker girl hitched up her skirt and climbed on top of him, straddling him with a pair of long tanned legs. She leaned close to him. Her lips moved down his jaw and to his throat, where they stopped. She flicked out her tongue and licked him, as if testing the flavor. He moaned and shifted, arching his back and grinding his hips into her. Over her shoulder he could see the other two girls, holding hands and licking their lips.

"Are you ready for the night of your life?" she asked, her voice a whisper against his skin.

***

Patrick let out a lungful of smoke. "And then what?"

Michael shook his head and snagged the joint back. "I dunno man, it's all a blur after that." He took a hit and held the smoke, though it leaked out with his words. "I'm tellin' ya though, whatever it was, it was fuckin' wild."

"Yeah, no s**t. I can see the hickies." Patrick took the joint back and balanced it in his fingers. "It looks like they chewed on your neck."

Michael exhaled the smoke and ignored his comment. "I been thinkin' about something. I mean, s**t they got a lot of stuff in that house. I mean a lot of stuff that has to be worth a fortune."

"They're rich man, that tends to happen."

"No, you're not getting me. Think about it. They got all this really rich stuff, right? But there's no one there all day. I mean no one."

"So?"

"Are you listening to me? Man, you're like ignoring me. You're always ignoring me."

Patrick giggled. "Okay, say it again. I'm listening."

"They got all this stuff, and there's no one there but that f*****g butler, Geoffrey, hanging around. I hate that prick. I hate that f*****g smarmy master kid; he thinks he's so clever. I know he does. He sat there all smarmy mouthed and s**t like he was better than me, but he ain't, and he ain't smarter. I'm smarter. I'm smarter and I'm gonna use my brains. I hate that job but I need money. We go in, we take the s**t, and we sell it. And if that prick of a butler catches us, we f*****g kill him."

Patrick exploded into laughter. "Are you f*****g serious?"

Michael frowned. "Yeah, I'm serious. We could be rich. Rich enough to get outta this place and buy a real life."

Patrick exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and eyed his brother. "Man, money don't buy a life. You want a life, you gotta do something with it."

"And you gotta have money to do that." Despite his buzz, Michael felt sour. "You in or what?"

"Come on Mikey"

"Don't Mikey me. Are you f*****g in or out?"

Patrick's good mood flickered. "You're just f****d up. When you sober up"

"In or out?"

All signs of amusement disappeared. "I'm out, Mikey. It's a stupid plan that's gonna get your ass back in jail."

"Fine. Who needs you anyway? You know what? f**k you." He jerked to his feet. "I'll do it on my own."

Patrick snorted. "Only a moron would do it."

Angry words stuck in Michael's throat as he slammed out the door.