The Shadow Broker

1. Monsters

Underneath the glamorous city of old New York was an underworld filled with the worst thugs and murderers. Dirty cops being paid off by lowly criminals from mugging to full on gang wars. It was a terrible place to live if you weren't white, rich or a man.

it was much worse if you were a monster, though.

Although you held no envy or remorse for those creatures. They had no idea how the real world worked, that you had to slave everyday just to have a meal on the table. To pay the protection fee for the month until the next due date or else. They didn't have to check over ther shoulders incase someone was lurking in the shadows, watching their movement and feeling theburning gazes on their backs.

They didn't have that type of fear living over their shoulders hauntingly.

If you had the money to ditch New York, You'd jump on that wagon and ride out.

But life wasn't that easy. Each savings always went to the protection fee, to rental.

A cheap diner's pay wasn't enough for a train ticket out of here, you knew that.

With both hands on the sink, you took a deep breath to calm your nerves. Slightly rocking back and forth as you slowly looked at yourself in the mirror reflection. Makeup caked your face, making your cheeks a popping red with the blush, a thick salve was smeared over your lips in a ruby shade and your eyes were a light blue.

Your shirt was messily stuffed into your skirt, your socks rolled around your ankle and your shoes were untied. The only thing that wasn't damaged was your hair.

Shaking your head, you pushed yourself away from the sink and covered your face. sniffling to yourself before attempting to shake the feeling off. looking at yourslef in the mirror again, you turned the faust and began scrubbing your face with the bar of soap put aside for costumers.

You knew Mr. Richie would be furious that your washing away the uniformed look - but you couldn't bring yourself to care as you scrubbed your cheeks until they were raw and heated before moving onto the other side, repeating the process all over again until the heavy makeup was no longer sitting uncomfortably on your face.

Ignoring the pain, you lifted your head to peer in the mirror. Droplets of water rolled down your cheeks, dripping into the drain as you took a step back, running your damp hand through your hair with a deep sign.

"Okay.. Okay, girl.. you got this.. Mr. Richie isn't like the rest of 'em. he will understand what your going through." After that peptalk, you began making yourself more presentable. once finihsed, you lganced at the mirror for any slip-ups. Satisfied, You turned on your heel and left the bathroom.

Instantly, The chatter of the diner easily rose over the quietness of the bathroom. Sending your stomach into a nervous dive into a bottomless pit. Swallowing the lump that formed in your throat, you began working. Ignoring the looks your coworkers gave you, ignoring the murmur around you as you waited the tables, cleaned up, and repeated. The burning stares on your back leaving permanent scorch marks.

"Monsters ain't welcomed here. Go find somewhere else to eat, freaks." Linda said, popping a cherry gum.

You flinched at the seemingly loud pop and looked to who she was turning away. Standing infront of linda were two monsters. Both tall and on the slim side -- although that might have been because they were literal skeletons. You blinked in astonishment, unable to tear your gaze from the two, They looked different then that of a typical monster, more dignified, you suuposed.

But then again, any news on the monster population was written on the daily news paper and even that wasn't a reliable source since all they ever cover was the gang wars happening up state.