Wired

Liquor

The room smells faintly of wine. Great. Now I'm stuck with an alcoholic.

I reach into my blouse pockets and remove a handkerchief. Gently dabbing my nose, I glance over the man in the corner. He has a wide moustache that just reaches his cheekbones. His hair is styled back with gel, with exception from a stray piece of hair sticking up near the back of his head. His is stroking his moustache while staring at the ground. I wrinkle my nose up at him.

"Are we going to talk about the matter we discussed yesterday, or are you just going to stand there looking disgusted?" The man asks, tilting his head up to look at me from his corner.

I fidget with the hem of my skirt.

"Yes, well, as you know, I've been having these strange dreams-"

"Memories," he corrects.

I give him a look.

"Continue," he says, gesturing with his hand.

I take a deep breath in and continue. "Well, I was wondering if you could perhaps find the root of these unnatural... memories."

He sighs and stands up, stretching his legs as he does so.

"Give me your hand," he instructs, walking over to me.

"I beg your pardon? I will not just grab the hand of any random man-"

"Would you please just cooperate?" He stares at me with a frustrated look in his eyes.

Biting my lip, I reach into my pockets and remove a glove. He rolls his eyes but remains silent.

Keeping my eyes on him, I put on the glove and place my hand in his.

He places his other hand on top of mine, and I struggle not to fidget.

Closing his eyes, he traces a small circle on my hand, then a larger one. With a small gasp that causes me to jump, he opens his eyes and removes his hands. I take off the glove and wipe my hands on the back of my skirt. "Well, did you find it?" I ask him.

He smiles gently at me. "I'm sure you'll understand, miss, but I only give the answers to those I feel comfortable with. Your attitude towards me currently is not one of comfort."

I press my head into my hands, sighing. "Well, what would you like me to do about that?" I ask, a bitter edge creeping into my voice.

"Have a drink with me," he says, still smiling. He gestures towards the large desk in his room. On it there is a wine bottle with the bottle cap screwed off. So that's where the smell was coming from earlier.

With much reluctance I walk over to a chair and sit down. He smiles at me and sits down in the other. "Now, my dear, tell me... have you ever been to one of these places before?"

I shake my head as he pours out two glasses of the wine. He passes one to me before continuing.

"Well, at these places such as mine, we do not usually let our dangerous patients just walk straight out of here."

I sip at the wine and wince. It is far too strong for my liking. I glance at him. He hasn't touched his drink. I incline my head towards his wine. "Are you going to drink?"

"All in good time, miss," he replies. "As I was saying, we don't let our dangerous patients just leave the place."

"Well then, what do you do with them?" My head is throbbing; I shouldn't have had the wine.

"We dispose of them," he states simply. The pain in my head is growing. I glance up to him. He has an apologetic look on his face.

Suddenly I understand what he means.

"I..I'm dangerous?" I can barely get the words out. Everything is fading away.

"Oh yes, miss, one of the most dangerous I've ever seen."

I fall to the ground and squeeze my head tightly with my two thumbs.

"A..and you've felt with dangerous people before?" I squeeze out.

"Yes, of course I have," he says.

"Well then," I stand up suddenly, dropping my hurt facade. "You should surely know better than to just poison the victim."

He gasps and stumbles back. "H..how did y... what?!"

I tilt my head and smile at him. "Good day sir." I pull out my blade from my stockings and strut over to him. "Goodbye, sir." I stab him with the blade before removing it from his chest. Blood bubbles up from the wound.

I wipe my blade on his shirt and stick it back in my stockings. "Sleep tight, Sir," I whisper in his ear. As I am leaving I have a sudden thought. With a smirk on my face I turn around and pour liquor all over his body.

"Looks like the liquor got to you to," I tilt my head at him. "Or maybe it was me."

I turn around and exit the room.

One down, 3 to go.