kth | short stories

Happy New Year

The smell of alcohol and loud music made the environment almost unbearable, but, little did these drunk bastards know, I was on the job.

New year's was the perfect time for my kind of work; humans, for some odd reason, have developed a tradition of getting wasted when the calendar ends. For me, I'd rather take the time and relax through the final days of the year, but my job says otherwise.

I scanned the club for any decent merchandise, but all I got was scandalous girls nearly throwing up on each other with how much booze their bodies have consumed in the past two hours.

"Ugh."

I swear I developed a hangover just looking at them. I began to think I'd only get half pay after the night was over, until I spotted a gem sitting at the bar.

She was dressed in simple, modest clothing, unlike every other female in this room, her hair was straight with a slight curl at the end, and her face gave a more cute appearance rather than sexy, but most importantly, she sat alone.

I made my way over to her, bumping into careless partiers; saying they were party animals would have been an understatement, more animal than anything.

"Hey, there." I said, taking the seat next to her's.

"Um, hi." She responded cautiously.

It was then that I saw her eyes, they were absolutely flawless, round and glossy. I knew she'd be worth more than any whore I've collected before.

"Mind if I buy you a drink?"

"Oh, uh, thanks but no thanks, I'm the DD, gotta stick to my water and Shirley Temples, you know?" She laughed, looking down shyly at her glass of water.

Dammit, that meant she came with friends, oh well, the more the merrier- and money.

"That sucks." I laughed along. "There goes my attempt at flirting with a pretty girl."

She looked up at me again, this time with a shocked yet flattered gaze.

I was taken aback by her; something inside me fluttered and my hands started to sweat; I've never reacted this way to merchandise before.

"Oh, I'm not that pretty. I'm actually a very boring person if you got to know me." Her cheeks flushed pink and her thumbs continued to fiddle and wipe the condensation off her water glass.

How could she say that? She was absolutely stunning; and her personality seemed that of an innocent little girl. It'd be a shame to see such a pure and perfect specimen in the hands of such disgusting costumers; the women I sold to them were either dead or wishing they were. Perhaps, I could keep her for myself?-

"What is it?"

"Uh, what?" I stuttered, my attention drawing back to reality.

"You were staring at me." She giggled slightly.

I couldn't believe how amazing she was; she was entirely different than anyone I've ever met, she was- special, sweet, and mannerable. There were plenty of other women that I could collect later, but her, I had to have her, just for me.

"Oh, it's nothing. At least let me order you another glass of water so my pride isn't too hurt."

"Alright, if you insist. A glass of water with a little umbrella would be great." She joked.

Funny and cute; she was like something out of a dream.

As the bartender sat the glass down, one of her friends came up to her.

"He's cute!" She murmured, her words slurring and her filthy index finger pointed at me.

"Shh, Tiffany!"

As the two bickered at each other, I slipped one of my small dissolvable pills into her drink without being noticed, thanks Tiffany.

"We'll be leaving soon, okay?"

"Noooo~ the nights jus begun!" Tiffany yelled, then danced herself back into the crowd of people.

"Sorry about that." She said, facing me again and taking a sip of her drink.

"Don't be, the festivities only call for wasted friends, right?"

"I suppose." She laughed, taking another drink.

I couldn't help but smirk at her; knowing that, at any moment, she'd be asleep in my arms, ready to take home. But, I suppose my smile was off putting to her, as she put her glass down.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, still a slight smirk on my lips.

"Yeah, I'm just- tired." Her eyes began to flicker quickly.

"Huh, maybe the bartender confused your drink with someone else's?"

"Maybe-" she fell backwards off her seat, but I managed to catch her; holding her against my chest.

"Shhhh, it's alright." I whispered, looking around to see if there were any eyes on me; of course not. "How about we get some fresh air, yeah?"

She nodded and I helped her to her feet. When we got outside, the drugs finally took full affect as she collapsed to the ground. Scanning over my shoulder once more, I knelt down, removing the hair that had fallen in front of her face.

"What a beautiful gem you are."

I then scooped her up into my arms; she was so delicate and small in my embrace. The rear doors to my car were always unlocked to make collecting merchandise less of a hassle, so, I pulled the door open and gently placed her in the back seat. I then took a pair of zip ties from the glove box and bound her ankles together and her hands behind her back, just in case she woke up sooner than I planned. I figured, once I got her to my place, I could come back for Tiffany and possibly a few others, I mean, I still want to get paid for something tonight.

As I began driving away, approaching the empty highway, I glanced at her through the rearview mirror. She slept so peacefully, her body in a slight fetal curl. I've never kept one for myself, hell, I've never even thought about it; the thought of keeping one always disgusted me, that is, before I saw her.

"Happy New Year, to me." I muttered and pressed on the gas.