Zahn Und Klaue

Chapter Two: The Meeting

Chapter Two: The Meeting

"Life is a hideous thing, and from the background behind what we know of it peer daemoniacal hints of truth which make it sometimes a thousandfold more hideous." 

- H.P. Lovecraft

The sky was stained orange with dark purple clouds that crackled with thunder and lightning as the limo stopped just outside the zone. Dieter stepped out from the vehicle, looked cautiously around, then reached in to help his ward onto his feet, carefully concealing his lower legs.

"Are my legs showing?" Konrad asked with concern.

"No, your coat is long enough to cover you, sir," said Dieter. "You should be fine."

"Don't hang around here for too long, sir. It looks like there is going to be a storm and I wouldn't want to be stuck here when it happens," Heinrich warned. "Call me when you are ready for pickup."

With that, the limo drove off, leaving the pair exposed on the street.

Dieter gestured to the direction of their destination.

"Shall we?"

Together, the men walked forward.

* * *

The area that their contact resided in was a shithole. Known derogatorily as "the Pit", it was a stretch of shoddy, rundown buildings and houses, the windows of the latter either boarded up, broken and/or stained. It was rare to find anything in this place in pristine condition, let alone free from grime or graffiti, and there was plenty of the latter around. No matter where the duo turned or went, there was always graffiti of some form or another on a building, usually depicting phallic imagery, breasts, human or demonic faces, pentagrams, swastikas and gang insignias, although there were occasional quotes, phrases or words in different stylized fonts and colors. Sometimes one could find a whole dialogue exchange in this mess, although they rarely seemed intellectually stimulating. Often it was just racially inflammatory and sexist crap.

'Like an online forum,' Konrad thought as he took note of the graffiti exchange.

Pink neon lights stained the street, advertising brightly triple-X rated entertainment, strip clubs and sex paraphernalia, while opposite of them were pawn shops.

A group of women dressed in long coats, revealing dresses, miniskirts and high heels greeted the two men. To Konrad, the women looked like clowns. It didn't help that some of them stared at him, particularly at the very peculiar gait in his walk. He could only thank God that the cloak had been long enough to conceal his legs and feet.

"Hey fellas," a blonde woman with thick make-up and lipstick said with a sultry smile. "Wanna party?"

"No thank you," Dieter said firmly.

"Aw, too bad, honey," another pouted, then went over to Konrad and placed her arm around his. "How about your friend with the funny walk? What do you say, big boy?"

"Get lost," Konrad said gruffly in disgust as he wrenched himself from her.

The woman stood there in shock, as if a bucket of ice water had been dropped on her head.

"Well fuck you, asshole!" The woman said hotly.

The duo walked away as she and her friends hollered at them with expletives, waving their fists angrily and giving them both the middle finger.

"Always were the charming one," Dieter said amusedly.

Konrad growled. "How far are we from where we need to be?" he demanded.