Mendelson Shape
07-18-2008, 09:44 PM
Sam 'the Savior' Mortello
I whispered softly the mercy of my nature and left the room where the virgin widow had now been born. I shut the door behind the tears that had rained on my conscience ever since I saw what I did, a dying man with words of regret and of love to his beloved. A man now walked out into the pale, unforgiving night that held too much in its grasp and relinquished little still. A man indeed was walking home.
'Another one went unsolved and another criminal gets his purpose' thought Sam Mortello, the private eye that had recently gone blind due to the rising crime rate. I had so many cases that my desk couldn't even find room for my morning coffee and brisket that would keep me running around to cold trails and heard rumors that have been drifting around these streets. I was sick of it, tired of my broom cupboard of an office and I wasn't seeing any results even with late nights and witnesses saying something about a shadow. Last thing I needed was another ghost, there are enough already in this town sitting in the police department. I had to do something and I wasn't about to sit around to find out. I left the coffee, grabbed my coat and headed out for a pick me up in the case.
The streets have changed, I saw it all around me. Terrified civilians and crooks running amok, it was enough to make me sick to the stomach. I tried a few houses but it seems like the town was the ghost instead of the murderer, no one was answering or giving any information. To me that was enough of a crime in itself to get you locked up but, to get information you gotta go to the boys who made them. I was worried but a couple of gangsters wasn't about to throw me off so easily. I took a cab down to the docks where all the mice hung out in the cat houses, mice that packed alot of heat. I stood outside the dingy bars listening to the salty chatter and swinging music, this could be my grave if I attract too much attention. I mustered some backbone and went inside, my hand in my coat and cool as ice.
"Well if it isn't Sam Mortello! Long time since you walked in here looking like one of my boys Sam, what's that you got in your coat? A cast?" said Don Louie, my partner in crime on a few occasions before I went solo in the detective business.
"I got some questions about a ghost Louie, seems he's as hard to find as you guys," I said with a plastered smile. The Don enjoyed his 'get togethers' and the last one to blow up his joint ended up outside in the dumpster.
"Always on business Sammy never got time to have a drink with old pals anymore, come on have drink," he said and ushered the bartender to send over another round.
"Sorry Don, can't stay long just need some dirt about a new gang that's been haunting the town lately. You must know something about it, you wouldn't be the Don if you didn't."
I was pushing my luck, trying to force the question on him but I had nothing else to go back on and this was the only real lead that I could get.
"Come with me then Sam, we'll get down to business in the back. Johnny, Legs! Make sure we're not to be disturbed I won't be long," he ordered two of his cronies and led me to the back room.
He sat down and poured two glasses of Gin, looking wary as he sipped his liquor. I obliged and waited a moment for him to speak, I had said too much as it was and was being cautious not to give him any reason to get me killed.
"There are ghosts you said? More like demons. They are not an organization, more like a rogue group of criminals and renegades that banded together to make a couple extra jobs but there is a leader. He's the one that's been killing all those people. I don't really know his name or his face and that isn't important to me, what is important to me is that I get back my town. The people living round here don't ask for my protection no more, they think we're criminals," he said angrily and took a sip to keep his calm, "you know me Sam, we helped those that needed our services for a price of course but that was our business and now, this gang are making things difficult for me and my boys to keep this town under our control. Things are getting out of hand Sam and I'm telling you this so that you have your chance to deal with them your way or we will intervene and take back our turf. So make with the arresting and get these bums off my streets!"
"Sure thing Louie, I'll take care of this personally. See you round Don."
I left the joint with a different perspective of these criminals and what's really going on. The Don was holding something from me but I wasn't gonna be dumb enough to ask. There's something else lurking behind masks and I'm gonna find out what.
I got up the next morning with a start and walked out on the front porch to clear my mind of the nightmare that kept coming back. The sun was high in the sky and the day was bright but an emptiness hung around the air that made me feel uneasy. The longer I delayed, the more the gang was taking over and soon the Don would start a war and I don't know who was gonna get caught in the crossfire. I got dressed and rushed out the house, heading straight for my office but when I arrived it seemed like someone had already been there. Trails of paper was scattered all over and draws were pulled out of the desk. Someone was looking for something, every piece of paper from the files on my desk had been pulled out and scattered. It was hard to tell if they had found what they were looking for but I wasn't gonna stay to clean up. It seemed like I was followed last night and someone was feeling uneasy about me digging deeper into this case. I took off into the street with the sun scorching so high up. There had to be clues somewhere, I just had to look carefully.
Days past with nothing new except new bodies and fresh tears. Weeks sped by giving way to hopelessness and confusion. I sat in my office, looking over pages turned yellow and ripped in the corner from looking over them so many times. The Don had already made his move, killing some of them in loud shootouts and standoffs. The town had descended into insanity as there was no one who you could trust anymore. Headlines were beside themselves with stories of murders and suicides, with no leads and no witnesses. Bodies and the stench of death stained the air and instilled a fear that had gripped this town for good. I found no clues on any of the bodies, all clean as though it was wrapped in plastic until now. My patience was stretching thin as was my reliance on the people of this town to come forward with any relevant information. It was all I could stand before I went mad. I packed up my things and headed out of town, hopefully for good. The next I heard of King's Town would be in the stories I told my grandchildren of younger days.
I lay in my bed, so comfortable at last. No shooting or deaths, just the peace of mind that lay in this wooden cabin and the settling snow. I drifted off to sleep, the first time I didn't have to take a sleeping pill in years.
"Hello Sam, fancy meeting you here," she said as her head lifted from her dry hands and give me a mocking smile, "I see you've noticed" and she looked at her hands "yes indeed it was a play I so brilliantly acted out myself. Took you long enough to figure it out but I guess its too late. The town is mine and you're far away having a nice life so I guess we both got what we wanted. See you round Sam."
She turned around and I saw a silhouette with a red outline, a demon looking out of the large windows infront it and smiled. Fire, screams and shooting was echoing through my mind. She stood with arms raised and laughed in ecstasy.
I awoke, drenched in sweat and looked around. The wooden cabin was just the same, no silhouette or demon to be found. I had figured out the case but was far away from home, a choice to make indeed. I packed my things and grabbed my coat, a long journey lay ahead of a man they would come to call the Savior.
I whispered softly the mercy of my nature and left the room where the virgin widow had now been born. I shut the door behind the tears that had rained on my conscience ever since I saw what I did, a dying man with words of regret and of love to his beloved. A man now walked out into the pale, unforgiving night that held too much in its grasp and relinquished little still. A man indeed was walking home.
'Another one went unsolved and another criminal gets his purpose' thought Sam Mortello, the private eye that had recently gone blind due to the rising crime rate. I had so many cases that my desk couldn't even find room for my morning coffee and brisket that would keep me running around to cold trails and heard rumors that have been drifting around these streets. I was sick of it, tired of my broom cupboard of an office and I wasn't seeing any results even with late nights and witnesses saying something about a shadow. Last thing I needed was another ghost, there are enough already in this town sitting in the police department. I had to do something and I wasn't about to sit around to find out. I left the coffee, grabbed my coat and headed out for a pick me up in the case.
The streets have changed, I saw it all around me. Terrified civilians and crooks running amok, it was enough to make me sick to the stomach. I tried a few houses but it seems like the town was the ghost instead of the murderer, no one was answering or giving any information. To me that was enough of a crime in itself to get you locked up but, to get information you gotta go to the boys who made them. I was worried but a couple of gangsters wasn't about to throw me off so easily. I took a cab down to the docks where all the mice hung out in the cat houses, mice that packed alot of heat. I stood outside the dingy bars listening to the salty chatter and swinging music, this could be my grave if I attract too much attention. I mustered some backbone and went inside, my hand in my coat and cool as ice.
"Well if it isn't Sam Mortello! Long time since you walked in here looking like one of my boys Sam, what's that you got in your coat? A cast?" said Don Louie, my partner in crime on a few occasions before I went solo in the detective business.
"I got some questions about a ghost Louie, seems he's as hard to find as you guys," I said with a plastered smile. The Don enjoyed his 'get togethers' and the last one to blow up his joint ended up outside in the dumpster.
"Always on business Sammy never got time to have a drink with old pals anymore, come on have drink," he said and ushered the bartender to send over another round.
"Sorry Don, can't stay long just need some dirt about a new gang that's been haunting the town lately. You must know something about it, you wouldn't be the Don if you didn't."
I was pushing my luck, trying to force the question on him but I had nothing else to go back on and this was the only real lead that I could get.
"Come with me then Sam, we'll get down to business in the back. Johnny, Legs! Make sure we're not to be disturbed I won't be long," he ordered two of his cronies and led me to the back room.
He sat down and poured two glasses of Gin, looking wary as he sipped his liquor. I obliged and waited a moment for him to speak, I had said too much as it was and was being cautious not to give him any reason to get me killed.
"There are ghosts you said? More like demons. They are not an organization, more like a rogue group of criminals and renegades that banded together to make a couple extra jobs but there is a leader. He's the one that's been killing all those people. I don't really know his name or his face and that isn't important to me, what is important to me is that I get back my town. The people living round here don't ask for my protection no more, they think we're criminals," he said angrily and took a sip to keep his calm, "you know me Sam, we helped those that needed our services for a price of course but that was our business and now, this gang are making things difficult for me and my boys to keep this town under our control. Things are getting out of hand Sam and I'm telling you this so that you have your chance to deal with them your way or we will intervene and take back our turf. So make with the arresting and get these bums off my streets!"
"Sure thing Louie, I'll take care of this personally. See you round Don."
I left the joint with a different perspective of these criminals and what's really going on. The Don was holding something from me but I wasn't gonna be dumb enough to ask. There's something else lurking behind masks and I'm gonna find out what.
I got up the next morning with a start and walked out on the front porch to clear my mind of the nightmare that kept coming back. The sun was high in the sky and the day was bright but an emptiness hung around the air that made me feel uneasy. The longer I delayed, the more the gang was taking over and soon the Don would start a war and I don't know who was gonna get caught in the crossfire. I got dressed and rushed out the house, heading straight for my office but when I arrived it seemed like someone had already been there. Trails of paper was scattered all over and draws were pulled out of the desk. Someone was looking for something, every piece of paper from the files on my desk had been pulled out and scattered. It was hard to tell if they had found what they were looking for but I wasn't gonna stay to clean up. It seemed like I was followed last night and someone was feeling uneasy about me digging deeper into this case. I took off into the street with the sun scorching so high up. There had to be clues somewhere, I just had to look carefully.
Days past with nothing new except new bodies and fresh tears. Weeks sped by giving way to hopelessness and confusion. I sat in my office, looking over pages turned yellow and ripped in the corner from looking over them so many times. The Don had already made his move, killing some of them in loud shootouts and standoffs. The town had descended into insanity as there was no one who you could trust anymore. Headlines were beside themselves with stories of murders and suicides, with no leads and no witnesses. Bodies and the stench of death stained the air and instilled a fear that had gripped this town for good. I found no clues on any of the bodies, all clean as though it was wrapped in plastic until now. My patience was stretching thin as was my reliance on the people of this town to come forward with any relevant information. It was all I could stand before I went mad. I packed up my things and headed out of town, hopefully for good. The next I heard of King's Town would be in the stories I told my grandchildren of younger days.
I lay in my bed, so comfortable at last. No shooting or deaths, just the peace of mind that lay in this wooden cabin and the settling snow. I drifted off to sleep, the first time I didn't have to take a sleeping pill in years.
"Hello Sam, fancy meeting you here," she said as her head lifted from her dry hands and give me a mocking smile, "I see you've noticed" and she looked at her hands "yes indeed it was a play I so brilliantly acted out myself. Took you long enough to figure it out but I guess its too late. The town is mine and you're far away having a nice life so I guess we both got what we wanted. See you round Sam."
She turned around and I saw a silhouette with a red outline, a demon looking out of the large windows infront it and smiled. Fire, screams and shooting was echoing through my mind. She stood with arms raised and laughed in ecstasy.
I awoke, drenched in sweat and looked around. The wooden cabin was just the same, no silhouette or demon to be found. I had figured out the case but was far away from home, a choice to make indeed. I packed my things and grabbed my coat, a long journey lay ahead of a man they would come to call the Savior.