42 | Sitkolson

Chapter Four | Monster

One Year Ago.

The town's clock tower chimed loudly as midnight arrived, turning Christmas Eve to Christmas Day. The few cops willing to work tonight patrolled the streets tirelessly in efforts to locate one of the several super villains calling their city home. Meanwhile, two of those very criminals enjoyed the holiday in the warmth of their penthouse apartment.

Only the purple glow of a neon lamp and the lights peering in from the city illuminated their bedroom. Ricky walked out from the bathroom after just getting out of the shower, only black sweatpants covering his body. He approached the bed his lover laid on. Water dripped from his long black hair, down his sculpted body.

"Fuck me." Ryan groaned. He rolled over on his stomach, leaning over the edge of the bed to reach Ricky's body. His lips kissed down the killer's stomach slowly, trailing lower and lower.

Ricky tilted his head back in enjoyment, running his left hand through his partner's hair. He leaned forward only slightly, then his right hand suddenly darted under the pillow. Ricky retrieved a gun, pointing it towards the shadow that had appeared in front of their window. He didn't even bother to see who it was before firing.

The bullet went beyond their intruder, shattering one of their floor to ceiling glass windows. A gust of cold air and snowflakes wrapped around the winged man. "You missed." He teased.

"I don't miss." Ricky responded, "It was a warning shot."

"Be kind. I've come with a job for you." Beau stepped down from the window's ledge, into the violet lighting. "We'll even pay you double because he's a superhuman."

"A hero?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Villain, actually."

Ricky scoffed, "And you need us, because the goody two-shoes heroes don't kill."

"On the contrary, we need him alive, and as unharmed as possible." Beau said.

"Then you're going to have to double that double." He seethed.

He tossed a file onto the bed, responding, "Deal."

As quickly as he'd arrived, he disappeared. Whether he actually was that smooth or he just removed their memory of his leaving, they weren't sure. Ryan picked up the file they'd been given. Their target was only two hours out, in Scranton—A wanted criminal known as Chris Motionless.

Present Day.

Nearly a month had passed. The third week of October was coming to a close, and thankfully, cell block four had gone without incident. Chris was friendly with Vinny now, and Asher no longer hid from him. He'd managed to develop some form of relationship with nearly everyone here, save Ricky and Ryan. The latter of the two had yet to say a single word, and the former said very few.

Vinny was in the midst of cleaning up after dinner, when a female voice came through on his radio. "Mauro, come in."

He walked over to a screen in the wall next to the door and pressed the intercom button. "I'm here." He responded. This line was rarely used in the time he'd been here. When someone did get a hold of him, it always concerned him.

"You're getting a new prisoner." His coworker responded.

"When?" He asked.

She answered, "He just went through processing, so I'd say about two minutes, give or take. Don't worry. He's got a hero escort."

That eased his nerves only slightly. All his current prisoners heard his conversation. They were watching the world outside of their cells, waiting impatiently. Vinny unlocked the empty cell next to Beau's in preparation. A voice came over his radio again, telling him to unlock the cell block door from the inside.